The moment Glazed Royal City released this piece of information, it brought the entire tug-of-war to a definitive end.
Pill Fire City had been escalating their offers at a furious pace, but faced with this final bombshell from Glazed Royal City, they realized with bitter helplessness that no matter how high they raised the stakes, they simply could not match this mad rhythm the Glazed Royal City had set.
Myriad Abyss Island?
In the human domains, the average person had no idea such a place existed. Only a small number of the most exalted cultivators had heard faint whispers of it.
But whether it truly existed had always been a mystery.
Now, Glazed Royal City had not only pierced through that mystery — they claimed they would bring an expert from Myriad Abyss Island to lecture on the Dao of Pills and martial cultivation.
Whether the rumor was true or false, after this long string of competitions, Young Lord Zhen had unconsciously cemented an image of absolute reliability in everyone's minds.
If one carefully traced Young Lord Zhen's meteoric rise, it became clear that everything he had ever promised, he delivered. Not once had he ever boastfully overpromised and then failed to follow through.
Myriad Abyss Island — a place that existed like legend, a mysterious sacred ground that haunted the dreams of countless martial cultivators.
Never mind the mysterious expert from Myriad Abyss Island; just the words "Myriad Abyss Island" alone carried an indescribable magic — the magic of being impossible to refuse.
When "Myriad Abyss Island" was put on the table by Jiang Chen, the invisible contest between Glazed Royal City and Pill Fire City was officially declared over.
Pill Fire City clearly could not compete. In this drawn-out battle, they had no choice but to concede defeat.
It was not that Pill Fire City didn't want to continue — they simply had no power to do so. They could not find any favorable condition that could overpower the three advantages Glazed Royal City had presented.
"Your Majesty, at this point, continuing would be futile. It seems to me that Glazed Royal City has gone completely mad — they even dare to drag out Myriad Abyss Island. Could that kid Zhen really know some mysterious powerhouse from Myriad Abyss Island?" Baili Shengzhi was still half-skeptical.
Regarding Myriad Abyss Island itself, he harbored doubts. As for the notion that Young Lord Zhen could actually summon an expert from there, his instinct was outright disbelief.
"Asura, you spent three thousand years in Glazed Royal City. How much do you actually know about Peacock Holy Mountain? What is the deal with this Young Lord Zhen?" At this point, Emperor Danji was completely baffled by Young Lord Zhen as well.
The Asura Great Emperor was thoroughly frustrated these days. Seeing that even Pill Fire City was being driven to its wit's end by Young Lord Zhen, his bitterness was tempered with a measure of consolation.
Even Pill Fire City couldn't handle that kid Zhen — so his own failure didn't feel quite so humiliating anymore.
When Emperor Danji posed the question, the Asura Great Emperor dared not be negligent and answered, "The Peacock Great Emperor always liked to roam about outside. Whom he met and what he did — he rarely shared any of it with me. Originally, Peacock Holy Mountain didn't have any 'Young Lord Zhen.' There had been a Young Lord Fan, also a martial arts prodigy, but he had no talent in the Dao of Pills. Later, this Young Lord Fan perished under inexplicable circumstances. I assumed the Peacock Great Emperor would hand Glazed Royal City over to me to manage. Who would have thought he'd drag out this monster from who knows where?"
"So you're saying even you have no idea where he came from?" Emperor Danji said, somewhat irritably.
"The official story from Peacock Holy Mountain is that Young Lord Zhen was always a hidden piece the Peacock Great Emperor had been secretly cultivating all along — the true young lord of Peacock Holy Mountain. And the previous Young Lord Fan was merely one candidate for the position, not the best one. But in my estimation, that's all nonsense. This Young Lord Zhen is not someone the Peacock Great Emperor could have nurtured."
The Asura Great Emperor was seething with resentment toward the Peacock Great Emperor, and every word about him dripped with bitterness.
"Has Peacock Holy Mountain ever had any dealings with people from Myriad Abyss Island?" This was what Emperor Danji cared about most.
If Peacock Holy Mountain had a connection to Myriad Abyss Island, that would be the thing that alarmed him more than anything.
Like everyone else, Emperor Danji harbored an instinctive wariness toward that unknown, mysterious place.
If Peacock Holy Mountain had ties to Myriad Abyss Island, while his Pill Fire City had none — the comparison would be disastrous for Pill Fire City.
The more he dwelled on this matter, the more uncertain he felt, the more panicked he became.
Without the wildcard factor of Myriad Abyss Island, even if Glazed Royal City possessed the Pine Crane Pill, Emperor Danji would not have been overly concerned.
After all, Pill Fire City's deep reserves of heritage were right there for all to see. For Glazed Royal City to challenge Pill Fire City's dominance in the Dao of Pills — the gap was still enormous.
But with Myriad Abyss Island as an unforeseen variable, everything became impossible to predict.
In Emperor Danji's view, that Young Lord Zhen most likely had backing from Myriad Abyss Island. Otherwise, how could that kid be so brazen? How could he openly provoke Pill Fire City, name them directly as his challenge target, and demand they send people to Peacock Holy Mountain for an alchemy competition?
In the entire human domain, who had ever had the audacity to challenge Pill Fire City in the Dao of Pills?
Young Lord Zhen was, without question, the first in thousands of years.
And yet, on precisely this issue, Pill Fire City found themselves in a terrible bind. To go or not to go? They wanted to go — but whom could they send?
Sovereign Jilang? He was a defeated opponent of Young Lord Zhen. Having lost twice in a row, he had absolutely no courage left to face Young Lord Zhen again.
Pill Fire City certainly had figures in the Dao of Pills whose heritage exceeded young Sovereign Jilang's. After all, Pill Fire City's reserves were formidable — among the old guard of alchemy titans, there were two or three Pill Emperors at least. The trouble was, convincing those venerable elders to step forward was exceedingly difficult.