A small area of space that was close to the bone-like mountain rippled, Yao Jun stepping out of it. Just a short second ago he had been about 200 kilometers away, so he couldn't help but once again marvel at the power that the law of space contained, it truly deserved to be one of the more supreme laws in existence. Yao Jun couldn't even begin to fathom how others were supposed to gain insight into a law like this.
His current position was only a few kilometers away from the rest of the people that had gathered at the foot of the mountain, only a short walk away. Now that he stood so close to the mountain, he could feel a strange energy pulsate within the center of the mountain. This energy prevented him from checking out the inside of the mountain, it even prevented him from using his law of space to teleport directly to the center of the mountain, pushing him away whenever he tried.
Yao Jun calmly walked the rest of the distance, keeping a constant watch on his surroundings. This was a grand competition that encompassed the entire universe, everyone wanted to show off their skills and receive the attention of the various clans and sects. In here, no one had any allies, only enemies that were waiting for a chance to stab you in the back, so keeping a constant watch was paramount.
Yao Jun quickly got closer to the group of people, who were all standing outside the entrance of a large square cave that went deep into the bone-like mountain. The edges of the cave were all completely flat and smooth, as if the cave had been carved out using quick strokes of a blade. The walls of the cave pulsated with the same strange energy that Yao Jun sensed in the center of the mountain, so he guessed that this cave went all the way to the center of the mountain.
Standing in front of the cave were thousands of people, some huddled close together and some standing a few meters away from each other. There was one thing all these people had in common, and that was that they made sure to keep a good distance from the five people who were standing closest to the cave. These five people stood with their hands behind their backs, their indifferent eyes sweeping over the surrounding people, looking at them as if they didn't exist.
They were acting quite arrogantly, but they had the right to do so, as each of them had reached the early stage of the Earthly Deity realm. This competition was open to anyone below the middle stage of the Earthly Deity realm, so these people could be said to have the highest possible cultivation for this competition.
Of course, having the highest possible cultivation didn't mean that they had the highest strength. Yao Jun had been able to fight against people at the Immortal Rebirth realm while he was still at the Xiantian Heaven realm, so there were certainly people like that in this competition. Depending on their laws and techniques, there might be people who were at the early stage of the Earthly Deity realm but could battle against normal people at the late stage of the Earthly Deity realm.
But Yao Jun wasn't particularly worried. Anyone who had this type of strength was a competitor for the top ranks of this competition, and they were all heading towards the center of this hidden realm, the place where all the best inheritances were located. Yao Jun found an empty spot at the far back of the gathered people, calmly observing the other people that had gathered, especially the five Earthly Deities.
Of the five, four seemed to be humans, while the last one was a Demonic beast that had taken human form. She had short yellow hair and piercing brown eyes, her figure somewhat flat, and although she looked completely human, Yao Jun was able to tell that she was a Demonic beast thanks to his God Gate.
Of the four humans, three were men while the last one was a woman. The woman was rather tall, standing at around two meters. She had a slim yet muscular figure, long black hair, and deep green eyes that were filled with so much vigor that her eyes seemed to burn. She had a large black tattoo covering the left half of her face, depicting a screeching eagle.
Two of the men seemed to be twins, both having a somewhat fat face, the same short green hair, and the same brown eyes. The only thing that told them apart was the strange markings on their faces. One had scar-like markings that resembled a turtle's shell covering the lower half of his face, everything beneath his nose. The other one had similar markings covering the top half of his face, but these markings were clearly tattoos, not scar-like.
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The last of the men was the one who looked the most normal. He was about the same height as Yao Jun, had short black hair that was slightly spiky, somewhat cold blue eyes, and a slim if a bit thin, frame. None of these five people restrained their power, fully showing off their cultivation and might, using it to establish their superiority over the rest of the gathered people.
The five people merely swept Yao Jun with a quick glance as he arrived, the eyebrows of the human-shaped Demonic beast pricking up in confusion for a short moment. But as Yao Jun only had a cultivation at the middle stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm, they quickly lost interest in him. This was the rightful arrogance they earned when they became Earthly Deities, the arrogance to disregard anyone below the Earthly Deity realm.
Yao Jun couldn't be bothered with their arrogance or their indifference, continuing to quietly observe the surroundings for a bit. While scanning the area, he also took the chance to eavesdrop on what the surrounding people were saying, quickly learning exactly why so many people had gathered here.
The reason all these people had gathered here was because of the cave carved into the mountain, it apparently led to a previously unknown inheritance. It was first discovered by the human-shaped Demonic beast, Selova, but she failed to enter it on her own, so she could only spread the news and wait for more people to gather.
With so many people taking part in this competition, it didn't take long for several thousand people to arrive. Selova probably hoped that no more Earthly Deities would arrive, but the four others had sadly been rather close when she started to spread the news, so they rushed over. This was, after all, a previously unknown inheritance, who knew what sort of treasures it contained.
As for the four other Earthly Deities, the woman was known as Elysa, the normal looking man was known as Radager, the twin with the top half of his face covered in a tattoo was known as Meridus, and the other twin was known as Mortier.
After learning about the cave and the unknown inheritance, Yao Jun decided to stay here and join the fray. He had to not only gather points but also increase his strength before the competition entered the final stages, clearing out inheritances was a great way of doing both at once. The Earthly Deities might prove troublesome, but Yao Jun wasn't truly afraid of them.
More and more people started to gather as time passed, the area in front of the cave becoming completely filled with a sea of people. Even if the odds of them getting anything were low, these people were still willing to risk everything. If they failed, they might very well die, but if they succeeded, they would rise as dragons.
After waiting for two days, the five Earthly Deities locked gazes, nodding their heads at each other, it was time. The five of them looked at the sea of people, the muscular and tall Elysa speaking up, her voice strangely smooth and soothing.
"I am Elysa Dragontooth, but you probably know me better as Xiao Yan's adoptive sister. I won't mince my words, you can all enter this inheritance with us, but after entering it, it'll be every man for himself. Everything you find will be yours to take, but you better make sure you have the strength to hold onto it. If you aren't confident you can keep whatever you find safe, we will be more than happy to help you keep it safe."
Yao Jun felt like sneering when he heard Elysa's words. She made it sound like they were being kind by letting everyone enter alongside them, but the truth was that none of the Earthly Deities dared enter on their own. They wanted to use the remaining people here as guinea pigs, checking for any traps or dangerous areas in the inheritance. It was also quite clear that the moment someone picked up an item that any of the Earthly Deities wanted, they would kill the poor soul who picked up the item, stealing it from him.
Yao Jun wasn't the only one who realized this, but what were they supposed to do? They were weaker than the Earthly Deities, so they could only accept being treated like this. They could even be treated worse than this, but they would still risk it, that was how great the allure of becoming strong was.
But he also had to admit that Elysa pulled off a rather clever move. She was clearly a bit worried that the people gathered here might gang up on the Earthly Deities to deal with them, so she immediately mentioned her backing while introducing herself, ensuring that no one would dare kill her.
Yao Jun had read over the ranking list several times, memorizing some of the more important names. Elysa herself was ranked in the back, at about seven billion. But her backer, the adoptive brother she had mentioned, was ranked very close to the front. Her adoptive brother also happened to be someone who Yao Jun had made sure to memorize while going through the ranking list. Xiao Yan, member of the Heaven's Gate sect, rank 189.
Just the fact that he was able to reach rank 189 was amazing enough, he was at the very forefront of the younger generation in the universe. But the reason Yao Jun had made sure to memorize his name was for a completely different reason, it was his title. 6th Lord of Demons, Sixth Heaven Demon King Xiao Yan, a fragment holder who carried a piece of the Supreme Law of Demons.