War Sovereign Soaring The Heavens

“Amazing! Truly amazing!” The old man applauded as he said, “Your strength is more than enough for you to easily become the first Imperial Tutor of the Profound Nether Mansion in 30,000 years! Moreover, you’ll definitely rank at the top if you enter the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm!” His eyes were as bright as the stars in the night sky when he looked at Duan Ling Tian.

‘Rank at the top in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm?’ Duan Ling Tian was, naturally, familiar with the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. After all, he had entered the lower realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm before joining the Simplicity Celestial Sect. He had even ranked second, after Ling Jue Yun, at that time. Moreover, if he did not deliberately let Ling Jue Yun win, he would have ranked first. He asked curiously, “Old Qi, is the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm similar to the lower realm apart from the limit on the cultivation base of those who enter the realms?”

Duan Ling Tian knew the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm was divided into the lower, middle, and upper realm… Only those who were peak Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestials or below could enter the lower realm. Similarly, only Ten Directions Celestial Dukes or those below could enter the middle realm, and only Ten Directions Celestial Kings and those below could enter the upper realm.

“Almost the same?” Qi Tian Ming shook his head. “The difference between the two realms is huge… If you want to know more about the realms, I’ll explain them to you during our journey back to the Profound Nether Mansion.”

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

At this moment, Qi Tian Ming rose to his feet. He looked at Sun Liang Peng and said with a smile, “Little Peng, I’ll leave with Duan Ling Tian now. Be patient, you’ll definitely be rewarded by the mansion master.” He was sincerely happy for Sun Liang Peng. Not only was Sun Liang Peng his junior nephew whom he had watched grow up, but he also treated Sun Liang Peng like a son.

“Senior uncle, why don’t you stay for a few days?” Sun Liang Peng asked, clearly reluctant to part, “It’s been a while since I last listened to your teachings.”

“Since when have you been willing to listen to my teachings?” Qi Tian Ming asked as he cocked an eyebrow.

Swoosh!

In just a moment, Qi Tian Ming brought Duan Ling Tian with him as the duo disappeared in front of Sun Liang Peng’s eyes, leaving Sun Liang Peng alone and embarrassed in his courtyard.

…

Meanwhile, Qi Tian Ming and Duan Ling Tian were a great distance away from the Simplicity Celestial Sect’s estate. Since Qi Tian Ming was a Ten Directions Celestial King, their speed was rather fast.

“Old Qi, since you’re the sect leader’s senior uncle, you must be his master’s senior brother. Does this mean the sect leader’s master is in the Profound Nether Mansion as well?” Duan Ling Tian asked curiously.

“His master is indeed my junior brother.” A hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. “In the past, both of us had entered the Profound Nether Mansion together. However, he wasn’t as fortunate as I was and perished in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. It was unfortunate he was not able to see his disciple becoming the Sect Leader of the Simplicity Celestial Sect. In any case, he should be happy wherever he is since Little Peng has become the Sect Leader of the Simplicity Celestial Sect. It was his lifelong wish for Little Peng to become the sect leader after all.” He heaved a long sigh after he finished speaking.

“The middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm?” Duan Ling Tian frowned slightly. “Only Celestial Dukes and those below Celestial Dukes could enter the middle realms… This means the sect leader’s master died before he became a Celestial King?”

The old man nodded. “Both of us were Ten Directions Celestial Dukes when we joined the Profound Nether Mansion and entered the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. He perished, but I managed to survive. After his death, I returned to the Simplicity Celestial Sect and became the grand elder before returning to the Profound Nether Sect to compete for the position of an inspector of the mansion,” he explained.

Duan Ling Tian could sense the old man’s sorrow when the old man spoke about his junior brother. The old man seemed much more solemn as well when the old mentioned competing for the position of an inspector in the Profound Nether Mansion. Therefore, he nodded and said, “I see,” before he quickly changed the topic. “Old Qi, you said earlier that there’s a huge difference between the lower and middle realm apart from the cultivation base restriction imposed on those who enter… Can you explain how they are different?”

“The lower realm is merely like a test conducted by the Profound Nether Mansion to weed out the weak peak Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestials as the peak Overarching Heavenly Supreme Celestials search for fortuitous encounters. However, the middle realm is where grade-six Celestial Mansions send their Celestial Dukes to kill each other to rise to the top of the ranking. The rankings of the representatives of the Celestial Mansions would greatly affect the rewards the mansions would receive from the Ten Major Clans. For example, if the representative from the Profound Nether Mansion ranks first consistently in the middle realm during the entire month, the Ten Major Clans would greatly reward the Profound Nether Mansion and its representative. Needless to say, the higher the rank, the greater the rewards,” the old man explained in one breath. Then, he further described the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm to Duan Ling Tian.

With Qi Tian Ming’s explanation, Duan Ling Tian realized how vicious it was in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. It was a dog-eat-dog world! The grade-six Celestial Mansions sent their representative into the middle realm to kill their peers just so they could obtain rewards from the Ten Major Clans.

Generally, grade-six Celestial Mansions were required to offer a huge tribute of Celestial Crystals to the Ten Major Clans they were affiliated with every month. However, if their representatives managed to rank in the top twenty, they would not be required to pay tribute the next month. If their representatives ranked in the top ten, apart from not having to pay tribute the next month, they would also be rewarded by the Ten Major Clans. However, there were many rules that they had to adhere to.

Duan Ling Tian was slightly taken aback when he learned about the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm. Initially, he had assumed the middle realm would also be filled with fortuitous encounters like the lower realm. He did not expect it to only be a place for Celestial Dukes to battle so the forces they represented would be rewarded and would not have to pay tribute for a month.

“The ranks will constantly change for a month, and the ranking on the final day of the month will be the final ranking. At the beginning of the following month, the rank would reset again, and the same process will repeat itself,” Qi Tian Ming continued explaining.

Duan Ling Tian took a deep breath before he asked curiously, “Old Qi, is it possible to obtain Royal Grade Celestial Weapons in the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Heaven?” Although he possessed the divine artifact and a few Royal Grade Celestial Weapons, he could not openly use them. After all, it would only attract trouble. However, if it was possible to find Royal Grade Celestial Weapons in the middle realm, it would be considered as him obtaining the weapon through proper channels. He would not have to worry about others trying to snatch the Royal Grade Celestial Weapon since the weapon could be considered as a reward from the Profound Nether Mansion.

“There’s such a possibility.” The old man nodded. Duan Ling Tian’s eyes had just lit up when he added, “However, it’s rather difficult…”

“Why?” Duan Ling Tian asked.

“Like I mentioned earlier, the rankings of the middle realm of the Southern Heaven Ancient Realm reset every month. In other words, even if you rank first the previous month, you’ll have to start over again the next month. The Ten Major Clans have an agreement that if a representative manages to rank first consecutively for 12 months, the representative would be rewarded with an offensive Royal Grade Celestial Weapon. If a representative manages to maintain the first rank for 24 months, they’ll be rewarded with a defensive Royal Grade Celestial Weapon. At the same time, the representative would be given a chance to join any of the Ten Major Clans and become a disciple even if one doesn’t bear the clan surname. In fact, the representative’s treatment and resources might be even better than members of the clans,” Qi Tian Ming replied.

Duan Ling Tian’s eyes lit up again. This was undoubtedly one of the fastest ways for him to grow stronger. 24 months were 2 years. After two years, he would be able to join one of the Ten Major Clans. At that time, he could take advantage of the better resources from the clan to grow stronger.