As he said this, his smile became downright malicious as he exited the Ancestral Temples Ground.

****

The day of the tournament had finally arrived and Long Di and company were making their way towards Golden Lion Gate.

In fact, it was not just them, a steady stream of people were heading to Golden Lion Gate.

Violet Flame Noble’s expression wasn’t good at the moment. This was the case ever since he learned that Long Di decided to join the tournament.

Since he became aware of some of Long Di’s more… extraordinary means. He didn’t really feel that much confidence in himself.

But then, who could blame him? Long Di was possessed of the means to run the fade of every single member of the younger generation by just ‘barely trying.’ Which was something that Long Di’s face told him was his motivation every waking moment.

The ‘barely trying’ part, not the ‘running the fade’ and/or ‘bodying’ the entirety of the younger generation part. Then again, for someone like Long Di, Violet Flame Noble reckoned there was much of a difference between the two.

Seeing this, Long Di tried to console him. “If it makes you feel any better-”

“Big ‘IF’ there,” Violet Flame Noble sprinkled in. He also came to realise that Long Di’s skill in social interaction was as jacked up as the boy was powerful.

“I’ll be using the lesser of my two strengths,” Long Di continued, undaunted by Violet Flame Noble’s lack of trust in his consolation skills. “So you guys have hope… ish.”

“Well, that’s encouraging,” Violet Flame Noble didn’t miss that confidence-instilling addition of ish. “So not only I will lose to you, but I’ll also be losing to you at less than your best.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who told you guys to exist at the same time I did, which weirdly enough sounds like something a racist would say. Regardless, that sounds like a ‘you’ problem, my guy.” Long Di continued down the street with everyone by his side.

Everyone was accompanying him this time. Shen Ling was by his side, well more like hitched up to him like a conjoined twin.

Well, maybe not as close as conjoined twins, but her shoulder was rubbing against his and Long Di knew that the Wondercat currently nesting on his shoulder was to blame for this.

The girl’s face was as red as a baboon’s ass. Not the most flattering of comparisons out there, but it was the first one that came to mind.

Completing our little group, we have Xiannu Liang beside her, Violet Flame Noble was on the opposite end, while the Sun siblings trailed behind us. Mina also hung back with them since being near Pebbles set the two of them off like a pair of explosives.

Moving back to our previous conversation, Long Di added. “Think of it like this. I’ll be using the lesser of my two strengths at full strength.”

Violet Flame Noble looked up to see Lord Whiskers parkouring across the rooftops above them like some athletic white-furred angel.

‘He has a shidashi mao under his command. I’ve heard that those things are both a natural and unnatural disaster. A walking catastrophe if nothing else, but he rides it like a common horse whenever he so pleases. The cat thing on his shoulder engenders a feeling of mortal danger within me that I think rivals my master. He has a Nymph with him, though she hides her identity as best as she can. He puts ish at the end of that word like it didn’t just redefine the entire thing.’

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“Firecracker.”

And he calls me Firecracker. It’s not a testament to his strength, but it’s a thing.’

“Firecracker.” Long Di called with a little more force.

“Y-Yes?” Violet Flame Noble was dragged from his thoughts.

“You think me invincible, don’t you?” Long Di asked as he once more surveyed the city. It truly was magnificent, if nothing else.

All the buildings were clean, and the cultivators were multitudinous. The spiritual energy was quite rich here, and it was now that Long Di truly appreciated the difference between the Demon Region and the land of the humans.

“Nigh.” Violet Flame Noble answered, after thinking about it for some time.

“You’d be wrong,” he corrected him, causing Violet Flame Noble to look at him.

Long Di then went on. “My talent is… unusual,” he chewed on that last word for a while. “Still, I have been in very hard fights throughout my cultivator journey.”

“You’ve fought cultivators on your own level? Cultivators your own age?” Violet Flame Noble asked incredulously.

Long Di was about to agree at the outset when he remembered that the answer to both of those questions was no.

Violet Flame Noble looked at him with a sliver of hope.

“… Okay, just lemme explain.”

“I knew it!” Violet Flame Noble threw up his arms in exasperation. Long Di never really had any hard times with a coeval.

“Will you be quiet!?” Pebbles yelled at Violet Flame Noble for his constant interruption of the former’s catnap.

“Sorry lord Pebbles the Wondercat.” Violet Flame Noble hurriedly cupped his fist in apology to Pebbles. This existence, he was sure of, was not someone he could afford to offend.

Pebbles waved his paw. “It’s fine. Just…” he stopped and looked to a point in the sky.

Long Di then did the same followed by everyone else.

Whoosh

A chilly wind blew by that caused everyone’s breath to frost in front of them.

Boom!

The void above the city exploded as an ice carriage emerged from within. It appeared to be completely made up of ice and whatever was inside was blurred beyond recognition.

Runes were engraved into the sides, while elegant designs lined the entirety of it. As it travelled, snow and hail trailed in its wake.

It raged into the city below, changing the weather of the denizens within.

“That carriage is a spiritual artefact!” Violet Flame Noble remarked.

“Who could that possibly be?” Another nearby expert asked.

“Are we really doing this?” Long Di asked, deadpan.

“What do you mea-”

“It’s the divine daughter of the Ice Phoenix Hall.” Long Di pointed out. “It’s an ice carriage made out of ice, with hail and snow trailing behind it. If you really question who that is, I’m kicking you out of the group.”

Violet Flame Noble shut his mouth immediately. Can’t a guy just question things?

“It’s heading to Golden Lion Gate.” Shen Ling advised.

“It’s the divine daughter!”

No one knew who shouted that, but as soon as it was revealed, the steady stream of cultivators turned into a roaring river.

Long Di was a bit taken aback by the crowd of people. “I’m sorry, do the hormones of cultivators get stronger as well? She’s just a girl… I think.”

“It’s really about what it means. Her status is not something that even we as the Five Heroes can compare to.”

Long Di really listened to what Violet Flame Noble was saying. “You’re saying that people already know about the level above the ten great sects.”

Violet Flame Noble’s expression changed. “So you’re aware of it then.”

“Heavenly Sun Noble may have said something about it.” Long Di admitted.

“So what now?” Violet Flame Noble asked.

Long Di looked at him. “What do you mean? Obviously, we should still-”

Without warning, a cold and unfeeling voice echoed in his mind. ‘Come to Golden Lion Gate.’

“Qin Ling?”