"Where will the fight take place?"
"In Qing City," Ye Fa explained.
"Alright."
"I'll go there alone," Li Shen emphasized.
The man turned around. He took another step outside the sect's main building. With force, Li Shen flew out of the Azure Pillar Sect to accept the challenge of the Qing Palace Elders. His heart was really upset that the Qing Palace had taken the Azure Pillar Sect too lightly.
Ye Fa stepped out of the sect's main building, bumping into Gu Mei who looked curious about Li Shen's leaving.
"He's leaving to accept the challenge from the Qing Palace Elders," Ye Fa replied.
"Qing Palace Elders? But their cultivation is in the Nascent Soul to Soul Formation Mid-stage. Can he fight against them?" asked Gu Mei.
Ye Fa nodded, then smiled widely as he watched Li Shen leave. There was a trace of Li Shen's spiritual energy in the air, traveling towards Qing City.
"He can definitely do it."
From Li Shen's direction, he flew quickly past several cities along the way to Qing City. Li Shen's two eyes saw the look of Qing City with three grand palaces set on three floating hills.
With his current cultivation, it was easy for Li Shen to arrive at Qing City even if he had to travel tens of thousands of miles.
Although he was only a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator, but he could ensure that no one could defeat him.
Even King Qing Fei would have to kneel before him if Li Shen used all his abilities.
Li Shen stopped his flying, flew low and slow until he set foot on the main street of the city. The location of the battle must be in Qing Palace, Li Shen guessed it because the person challenging him was part of the Palace Elders.
Without using magic, Li Shen stepped in the crowd, passing through several city intersections, until arriving fully in front of the huge golden-colored gate that connected the city land with the floating hill.
"Stop!"
"Who are you? What is your purpose in coming here?" asked the soldier guarding the gate.
"I'm the Azure Pillar Sect Leader. I came to fulfill the Qing Palace Elders' invitation," Li Shen explained.
"Azure Pillar Sect? How come I've never heard of it?" asked the soldier.
"Don't lie! Do you know the punishment for lying in front of the city authorities?!" he snapped, still not believing Li Shen.
As Li Shen was talking to them, a startling sound rang out from the top of the flying hill, precisely from Prince Qing Feng's Red Palace.
Three middle-aged men came in red-gold colored robes, making a distinction between elders and the royal family.
"What's all the noise? Your voices are bothering the Young Master!" said one of the elders.
Li Shen turned his head to the sky, watching the three men arrive in red-gold elder robes. Li Shen smiled bitterly, they were just Nascent Soul cultivators.
The two soldiers guarding the gate bowed their heads. They said that Li Shen had come to accept the invitation of the palace elders. Yet, they didn't believe him outright.
"Which sect are you from?" asked one of the three elders.
"I'm from the Azure Pillar Sect," Li Shen replied.
Through the eyes of the three elders, they saw Li Shen's cultivation was only Nascent Soul mid-stage. They were heard sighing, feeling that their time was wasted dealing with something like this.
"What did you come here for, boy?" the elder asked.
'WHAT? He called me a boy?!' Li Shen was annoyed.
"This has to do with the Huang Valley Trials. The Azure Pillar Sect plans to participate, but we are restricted by the palace's approval," Li Shen replied.
"Hmm. The Pillar Azure Sect is an outcast sect that doesn't even deserve to be in Qing Yan Kingdom," explained the elder, insulting the Pillar Azure Sect right in front of Li Shen.
"However, thanks to His Majesty King Qing Fei's generosity, he allowed you guys to exist. We all know how the capacity of a weak sect that has always been the strong sect's butt for training!"
Li Shen clenched his hands firmly, his sharp piercing eyes staring at the three elders. Their Nascent Soul cultivation had no right to judge a True Immortal's sect!
"If you want to get a slot in the Huang Valley Trials, then you must be able to defeat the three of us!" the fellow elder emphasized.
"Alright. I can beat you all in 10 breaths!" challenged Li Shen.
"HAHA!"
"You're so arrogant, even though your sect status is only a 1st level sect."
While Li Shen was arguing with the elders, another man came from the King Qing's Golden Palace.
He came with five people behind his back, wearing the same color robes but with different cultivations.
Among the nine elders in front of Li Shen, only the man in the middle had already reached the intermediate Soul Formation stage. Li Shen guessed that he was a grand elder of the Qing Palace.
"The Azure Pillar Sect is a sect that once reigned supreme throughout the Qing Kingdom. Apparently, there is a promising inheritor of that sect," the Soul Formation man said.
"I'm Huang Lei, I'm the Great Elder of Qing Palace," said Great Elder Huang Lei.
Li Shen tried to be polite, clasped his hands together and bowed his head, saluting him. Huang Lei smiled as he nodded.
"We did invite you to come, Azure Pillar Sect Leader," Huang Lei explained.
From the man's hand, two participation tokens for Huang Valley Trials participants were revealed.
Huang Lei said that he would give these tokens to Li Shen if he could defeat one of the Qing Palace's Nascent Soul elders.
Li Shen nodded. He was ready to accept Huang Lei's challenge, defeating a Nascent Soul was as easy for Li Shen as stepping on an ant.
"Sure. I accept your challenge!" said Li Shen firmly.
"HAHA! Good, come with me, boy," Huang Lei pleaded.
'Damn! He called me a boy again?' complained Li Shen.
However, Li Shen couldn't get angry. He could only hold it in until the challenge was over. That way, suspicions wouldn't arise about his true identity.
Li Shen flew following Huang Lei to the Royal Princess's Red Palace. At this time, Young Miss Qing Ru Yi was off hunting monsters to improve her cultivation. That made Huang Lei able to use the battle arena there.
They landed on a red-colored and circular-shaped arena. Li Shen stood on the other side, while one of the elders stood on the opposite one. He was just an Intermediate Nascent Soul cultivator, just like Li Shen.
"Are you sure about him? I don't want you all to regret it later," Li Shen said, snickering.
"How arrogant of you! Elder Yan is one of the best elders in Nascent Soul. Although his cultivation only reached Nascent Soul Mid, his strength is equal to Nascent Soul Peak!" said another elder.
"Are you ready, Fellow Dao?" asked Huang Lei.
"I'm ready."
Huang Lei turned to the side, Elder Yan nodded ready. As the two agreed, Huang Lei would lead this fight.
"Acceptance battle... begins!"
Elder Yan flew into the sky and began to form a hand formation, bringing up a five-piece medium-sized magic circle behind his back. It was a fifth-level technique, the Serpent Devouring Thunder.
Li Shen could feel the spiritual energy fluctuations from it. What the elder said turned out to be true, Elder Yan's strength was the same as Nascent Soul Peak.
But that didn't make Li Shen frightened.
[Crimson Sky Descent!]
Li Shen also formed a hand formation, then directed his spiritual energy into the sky. A giant portal was created, bringing forth a huge blaze and a legendary bird, Vermillion.
Huang Lei gasped, as did the other elders. It was obviously a long-lost sixth level cultivation technique. Meaning, it was an ancient cultivation technique.
'What? A sixth-level Cultivation Technique?' asked Huang Lei.
'What is that man's identity exactly?' asked Huang Lei again while looking at Li Shen.
Li Shen's hand shot forward, aiming the flame Vermillion technique lunging downwards, targeting Elder Yan. Elder Yan panicked, he had never seen that power before. Doubts arose about whether he could defeat Li Shen or not.
"H-How can you use a sixth-level technique?!" asked Elder Yan.
"It's just a common technique to me!"