The long-anticipated Dragon-Tiger Summit drew ever closer. Rogue cultivators from every corner of the land poured into Glazed Royal City by the tens of thousands.
Had the city not made thorough preparations well in advance, that staggering influx would have crushed Glazed Royal City under its own weight.
The personal guards of every Great Emperor's faction had been mobilized almost in their entirety to maintain order within the city.
Such a grand gathering was exceedingly rare in the annals of Glazed Royal City. The sheer flood of rogue cultivators was utterly unprecedented.
Of course, Glazed Royal City had made its position clear well ahead of time: only rogue cultivators at the Sovereign realm or above would receive official reception. Those below the Sovereign realm had to arrange their own lodging and meals.
As a result, occupancy rates at every inn and guesthouse in Glazed Royal City climbed steadily higher, and the city thrummed with a feverish, boisterous energy.
Within just a few days, tens of thousands of rogue cultivators had already arrived, injecting a fresh wave of excitement into the city.
Tens of thousands — that was merely the preliminary stage. By the time the Dragon-Tiger Summit officially commenced, the number was projected to swell to one or two million.
Rogue cultivators were as countless as fish crossing a river. One or two million was but a fraction of the total roaming the world.
Not every rogue cultivator would come, of course, and not every one qualified to attend.
First, those with low cultivation simply would not bother. Even if they showed up, they would have no part to play — this was not a stage for the weak.
Since it was the Dragon-Tiger Summit, anyone below the Saint realm would be too embarrassed to even appear at the gates.
And Glazed Royal City had enforced a hard rule: no cultivator below the Saint realm would be admitted. If the gates were thrown open to all, the number of rogues flooding in would easily surpass ten million.
After all, the regions surrounding Glazed Royal City — and indeed the entire Upper Eight Regions — harbored a truly staggering population of rogue cultivators.
Fortunately, everything had been planned down to the last detail, keeping the city lively yet orderly.
As the days ticked by, only three remained before the Dragon-Tiger Summit began.
"Young Lord, I am pleased to report that we have already received over twenty Emperor-realm rogue cultivators and more than a thousand Sovereign-realm cultivators. They hail from every corner of the human territories. The farthest have even come from the Extreme North."
The Extreme North was territory normally controlled by Pill Fire City.
That even cultivators from that distant region had made the journey proved the Dragon-Tiger Summit was, at the end of the day, a resounding success.
"How many of the Upper Eight Regions' sects have sent representatives?" Jiang Chen asked.
"After our initial announcement, many factions across the human territories expressed willingness to dispatch observers. So far, the Xia Yu Heavenly Sword Sect, the Celestial Cicada Ancient Court, the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect, the Celestial Dragon Sect, and the Celestial Sound Temple — representatives from all five first-rank sects have arrived. Of the eight first-rank sects in total, three have yet to send theirs."
There were eight first-rank sects across the Upper Eight Regions:
The Xia Yu Heavenly Sword Sect, the Celestial Cicada Ancient Court, the Heavenly River Palace, the Celestial Dragon Sect, the Celestial Sound Temple, the Indestructible Heavenly Capital, the Moon God Sect, and the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect.
In terms of martial strength, the Xia Yu Heavenly Sword Sect, the Nine Sun Heavenly Sect, and the Celestial Dragon Sect boasted the deepest foundations. The Indestructible Heavenly Capital and the Celestial Sound Temple followed close behind. The Celestial Cicada Ancient Court, the Heavenly River Palace, and the Moon God Sect ranked a tier below.
The gaps, however, were hardly pronounced.
Even if one of the top three sects clashed head-on with a sect like the Celestial Cicada Ancient Court or the Heavenly River Palace, the outcome would at most be a pyrrhic victory for both sides — an overwhelming triumph was out of the question.
Among first-rank sects, even slight differences in strength were never fatal. That was precisely why they stood together in the same rank.
Jiang Chen had organized this Dragon-Tiger Summit precisely to invite representatives from every major faction across the human territories to witness the gathering.
It was, in truth, a statement of intent.
His ultimate goal was to forge a grand alliance of the human territories and establish Glazed Royal City as the universally recognized leader among all human powers.
Jiang Chen harbored no personal ambition behind this vision. He drew his inspiration from the ancient Demon-Sealing War. Had several great leaders not stepped forward to rally the human race at that critical juncture — turning the tide when all hope seemed lost — the humans of the Divine Abyss Continent would surely have been subjugated entirely, crushed beneath the iron hooves of the demon race to become slaves for eternity.
The human territories today were scattered sand. Every faction stood at odds with another, none willing to bow to the rest. Each ruled its own domain, and skirmishes between them flared up from time to time.
If the demon calamity erupted now, the human territories would be utterly incapable of mounting a defense. It would be a rout — collapse after collapse, defeat after defeat.
Jiang Chen's goal was to unite the human territories into a single, cohesive force.
He knew this would be an immensely difficult undertaking. The human heart was the most unpredictable thing in the world, and selfishness the hardest force to overcome.
To forge unity from the current disarray, several conditions had to be met. First among them was the emergence of a formidable authority — a figure powerful enough to bring every rival to heel.