On the fifteenth of May, the Buddha Bathing Festival.

All Kaihuang City was aflutter with excitement, homes were decorated with lights and colors, and the citizens rose early to bow before the Buddha statues in their homes.

If they could, they’d also go to Kaihuang Temple to pay respects to the Buddha and provide a meal for the monks, thus commemorating the Worldly Venerable’s birth, which illustrates the people of Kaihuang City’s devout Buddhism and their reverence for the Worldly Venerable.

Even someone like Lu Yang, who didn’t understand the Power of Incense and Fire, could feel its emergence at that moment.

Perhaps the leaderless Power of Incense and Fire in Buddha Country was so profound precisely because it had been nurtured day after day like this.

Yet there was one person who had some reservations about this.

"It’s not this Immortal’s birthday today," Fairy Eternity pouted, clearly not pleased.

Lu Yang’s heart stirred, and he asked, "Then, Fairy, when is your birthday?"

Considering how long he had known Fairy, he still didn’t know her birthday.

"The first of June."

"So what’s special about today?" Lu Yang felt there must be some significant reason for creating a festival out of nowhere; there had to be a commemoration behind it.

Fairy Eternity touched her chin and squeaked softly, thinking Little Yang’s question was particularly tricky: "The fifteenth of May, well, this Immortal has been through it so many times, who knows… Ah, no, wait, this Immortal is only sixteen years old."

Fairy Eternity looked at Lu Yang warily, hoping he hadn’t overheard her muttering to herself.

As a minister, Lu Yang knew all too well that even if he heard something, he should pretend he didn’t; he asked with a look of utter cluelessness: "Fairy, why are you staring at me like that?"

Fairy Eternity then relaxed and continued to reminisce.

"I remember now, today is the anniversary of my first victory over Yingtian Immortal and those four after I became a fairy!"

Lu Yang looked at the crowds splashing water in celebration of the festival, his expression becoming subtle.

Was today really worth celebrating?

The streets of Kaihuang City were bustling, more crowded than ever before in the city’s history, surpassing the excitement of any previous Buddha Bathing Festival.

Even Master Duanchen was overjoyed; he knew of the influence of Lu Yang and his companion, but he hadn’t expected it to be so great, several times higher than the previous record, to the point where even the monks maintaining order were insufficient, and manpower was somewhat stretched thin.

As they passed by, Lu Yang and his partner glanced at the noisy arena, which was surrounded by crowds of people.

On the stage, Qi Refinement, Foundation Establishment, and Gold Core Period Cultivators showcased their Divine Abilities, all vying for a place in the preliminary round.

As judges, Lu Yang and his companion obviously couldn’t comment on each and every match—that would be devaluing themselves too much.

Only when the cultivators made their way through the preliminaries, stood out from the crowd, and entered the top eight would Lu Yang and his companion appear as judges to comment.

Therefore, every cultivator, regardless of the prizes, wanted to find a way to squeeze into the top eight to earn the feedback of the two judges.

If either of them praised someone even a bit, it could make that person famous.

"The levels are all quite average," Lu Yang observed briefly; they were all mid-level in their respective ranks, the good ones were just above the midpoint, hardly able to challenge those of a higher level.

"Make do with it. You think this is our Sect, where Geniuses are a dime a dozen."

Suddenly, the crowd started to stir, and someone pointed at a Gold Core Cultivator stepping onto the stage, visibly astonished: "Look, that’s Huo Ying; it’s said he completed the Vermilion Bird Trial at Vermilion Bird Temple and rose to the ninety-ninth place on the Earth Rankings!"

"Why would he come here?"

Lu Yang looked puzzled and turned to Meng Jingzhou, "What the heck is the Earth Ranking?"

Meng Jingzhou shook his head as well, "I’ve never heard of it."

Lu Yang patted the shoulder of a spectator shouting the loudest on the outer edge, figuring he would know.

"Excuse me, could you tell me what this Earth Ranking is?"

The man turned around, surprised at Lu Yang’s question, "You don’t know what the Earth Ranking is?"

"Um, we’re cultivators from Great Xia, here in Buddha Country to compete," Lu Yang honestly explained.

"No wonder you don’t know. Our Buddha Country’s Western Paradise Temple initiated the ranking to inspire cultivators, giving our Buddha Country cultivators their own ranking."

"There are three lists in total, People’s List for the Foundation Establishment Stage, Earth Ranking for the Golden Core Stage, and Heaven Ranking for the Nascent Soul Stage, each with a hundred slots."

"See that Huo Ying on stage? He’s ranked ninety-ninth on the Earth Ranking of the geniuses, the ninety-ninth among Golden Core Stage cultivators. It’s said that even the average Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator is no match for him. Although there’s no record of his battles yet, everyone says his strength is on par with that of veteran Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivators!"

The man became increasingly excited as he spoke, as if Huo Ying were some kind of big shot.

"Who would’ve thought he would participate in Kaihuang City’s Buddha Bathing Festival? With him here, I’m afraid the other cultivators won’t stand a chance!"

Lu Yang suddenly realized why this Huo Ying looked somewhat distinguished — to rank among the geniuses of Buddha Country’s Golden Core Stage was to be on par with Lady Whitebone herself.

"Why don’t they continue the rankings above the Heaven List? I wanted to see where I could rank myself," Meng Jingzhou said regretfully shaking his head. He had come to Buddha Country too late; had he known about the rankings, he would’ve come during his Nascent Soul Stage.

Suddenly, the crowd cheered again, louder and more excited than before.

"It’s Fang Wudi, ranked ninety-fifth on the Earth Ranking, he’s here too!"

"What, the Fang Wudi who acquired the supreme technique from the Hengsha Secret Realm?"

"Even he’s come!"

"A battle between dragons and tigers!"

Two great Earth Ranking cultivators clashing — such a rare fight!

"Fang Wudi, I didn’t expect you’d come," Huo Ying said, his expression serious, as if facing a great enemy. He had never sparred with Fang Wudi but had heard many stories about him. The one ranked above him had valid reasons for it.

"I heard you’re a Venerate Exalted Body, born with a Golden Dragon coiling into your body and becoming your birthmark.

Then at noon, you absorbed pure Yang energy, beginning Qi Refinement, achieved Foundation Establishment in a hundred days, condensed your Golden Core in the Hengsha Secret Realm, and with immense Body Refinement turned your body as tough as iron and copper bones — taking the Body Refinement path almost to the extreme!"

"Just passing by, thought I’d try my luck," said Fang Wudi as he took out an iron staff made of refined steel from his Storage Ring, which had claimed the lives of countless desperate souls.

"You’re not too shabby either, Huo Ying.

I’ve heard your mother is the Holy Daughter of the Profound Mystery Land, and that you were tempered with great medicine before birth, born holding a strand of innate purple Qi, then you fought against wolf thieves and flying corpses, traversed three thousand miles of the desert, escorted the sacred object to fight Wudi, burst into rage for your beloved, left the Holy Land with no regrets — you’re admirable…"

The two men locked eyes, a fight ready to erupt at any moment!

The audience was boiling with excitement, not expecting to witness such a battle at the start of the Buddha Bathing Festival!

Lu Yang watched the fight between Huo Ying and Fang Wudi closely, observing them being evenly matched, and couldn’t help but marvel at the difficulty of imagining the three people ranked between them.

"Buddha Country really does have its experts, ah, such a small gap and yet they managed to come up with a ranking."

Meng Jingzhou watched for a long time without seeing anything outstanding about the two.

"No, these two have been bragging about each other for half the day, is this all they’ve got? Back in my Golden Core Stage, I could’ve taken on both of them at once."