King of Creation

In the following days, although the Shuili Market became increasingly lively, Ye Zhen remained low-key, only visiting the market daily to see if there were suitable wood attribute cultivation techniques, while spending the rest of his time quietly staying in, rarely going out.

Ye Zhen had somewhat mentally prepared for the appearance of his destined enemy, Jie Tianhe, the leader of the Dragon League. But truth be told, he preferred not being discovered if possible!

What frustrated Ye Zhen was that although he found several wood attribute cultivation techniques at the Shuili Market, none of them caught his eye.

Eventually, Ye Zhen realized that in the Shuili Market, there was basically no chance of finding something truly valuable.

Those better treasures would all be concentrated at the upcoming auction event on Shuili Island organized officially, where they could fetch a good price, and naturally would not appear at this time.

Understanding this, Ye Zhen no longer hurriedly wandered the Shuili Market, calmly awaiting the start of the Shangdan Assembly.

On the morning of the fourth day, as the sunlight illuminated the entire Shuili Island, the Shuili Market instantly became bustling. Streams of light flew quickly towards the Pill Tower of the Shuili Residence at the island's center.

This was a large building specially constructed by Shuili Island to host the Shangdan Assembly.

Outside, there was a huge plaza that could simultaneously accommodate ten thousand martial artists, and inside, there was a five-story auction hall capable of accommodating a thousand people.

To welcome the once-in-a-decade Shangdan Assembly, it had been entirely renovated.

As Ye Zhen and the Sea-Breaking Great Saint flew into the sky, Ye Zhen was taken aback by the grand spectacle.

Nearly ten thousand breaths of Establishment Kings simultaneously spread within a hundred miles. What kind of feeling was that?

Those with lower cultivation or unstable mentality couldn't stay here for even a half a quarter-hour.

It was fortunate that the breaths of nearly ten thousand Establishment Kings were each scattered individually. If gathered together, the mere aura could frighten some to death.

"You've witnessed the prestige of Shuili Dan King, haven't you? Even if no one owed him a favor, solely relying on his influence, no one would dare provoke him in the Outer Domain Dead Sea," said the Sea-Breaking Great Saint.

"Indeed..."

The plaza in front of the Pill Tower was vast, and martial artists arriving here gathered in twos and threes, occasionally looking towards a high platform facing the plaza on the Pill Tower.

Today, the renowned Shuili Dan King would appear here to announce matters concerning the Shangdan Assembly.

Due to Shuili Dan King's character, and his intention to promote the Alchemy Dao, invitations to the Shangdan Assembly were not too difficult to obtain.

Each Shangdan Assembly gathers strong individuals from all directions; fewer than ten thousand or more than fifteen thousand, yet so many martial artists gather to admire or bid on a few pills, which is clearly unrealistic.

However, Shuili Dan King is not an ordinary person, nor is he mundane. He won't set financial thresholds to reduce auction attendees.

Therefore, at each Shangdan Assembly, Shuili Dan King devises many rules and methods to eliminate some participants, then selects a few hundred to nearly a thousand to attend the actual Shangdan Assembly.

To compensate the martial artists who travel from afar, Shuili Dan King offers many prizes to comfort those who are eliminated.

Thus, even though many martial artists are eliminated and ultimately cannot attend the true Shangdan Assembly, people are still eager to come.

The most interesting part is the elimination rules and methods designed by Shuili Dan King, differing each year.

It is said that the most absurd session involved guessing lantern riddles, and winners could advance.

Those who benefited from the oversights joyfully proclaimed their luck.

What the rules and methods are today is hard to say.

So, martial artists gathered here are waiting for Shuili Dan King to appear and announce this year's specific rules.

Additionally, today's event is also an assembly for strong individuals from various factions to meet each other.

Especially those martial artists with broad social networks and high status, they are overwhelmed with interactions at this moment.

Jie Tianhe, the leader of the Dragon League, was one such figure.

As the leader of the Dragon League, Jie Tianhe often dealt with such affairs and was adept at social interactions. Moreover, he quite enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention.

But today, he had no interest whatsoever.

He was indifferent to any greetings or questions from others, leaving the Green Robe Dragon King Yuh Changkong and Wind Wing Dragon King Bian Ben, who followed him, to continuously bow and greet, sometimes having to offer explanations.

Jie Tianhe was truly anxious.

Over these few days, his lips had developed a layer of blisters. For a strong individual at the Dao Entrance Realm, such intense anxiety was required to cause lip blisters!

After being on Shuili Island for nearly seven days, he could clearly sense with his divine sense that his destined enemy was on Shuili Island, even within a thousand miles.

But the exact location was extremely vague.

During these seven days, he tirelessly inspected every accessible place on Shuili Island, yet found nothing.

The most infuriating thing was the present moment; he could sense his search target was here, but looking around, among the gathered thousands, who could it be?

That anxious almost crazed feeling nearly drove Jie Tianhe to the impulse of wanting to obliterate everyone here.

Despite this, Jie Tianhe kept admonishing himself over and over, searching each suspicious target.

"Let's stay away from him!"

From a distance, seeing the Sea-Breaking Great Saint Jie Tianhe, quietly led Ye Zhen in another direction.

Just as Ye Zhen touched down, he heard a soft exclamation from the crowd behind, but he paid it no mind.

However, in the next instant, a blatant killing Qi locked onto him without any reservation.

Sensing the killing Qi, Ye Zhen was slightly surprised. Who dared to so openly display murderous intent before a pill reward ceremony?

As he turned his head, Ye Zhen's eyes revealed a slight shock.

"It's actually you, and you're still alive?"

"Ye Zhen!"

Yan Yijun, like a wild beast, let out an angry roar from his throat, his eyes red as if they were bloodshot, glaring at Ye Zhen as if he wanted to devour him.

That gaze was filled to the brim with malice.

In that instant, Ye Zhen's expression also became unusually bewildered.

Yan Yijun, a direct lineage descendant of the Xuantian Yan Family, who had been personally slain by Ye Zhen during the Spirit Returning Assembly, was now standing alive right in front of him.

If Ye Zhen hadn't clearly sensed Yan Yijun's bloodline Qi fluctuation, he would have thought he was seeing a ghost.

At this moment, not only was Yan Yijun alive, but his cultivation had even reached the peak of the Seventh Stage of the Vein Forging Realm, just a step away from the Establishment Realm.

"Ye Zhen, who would have thought, I'm still alive?" Yan Yijun chuckled maliciously, "Today we meet again here, it's destined by the heavens for me to avenge my blood debts!"

Yan Yijun's words were filled with malicious intent.

The unrestrained killing Qi that Yan Yijun locked onto Ye Zhen with not only alarmed the surrounding martial artists but also the Yan Family members who came with him.

"Yijun, what are you doing? This is Shuili Island, withdraw your killing Qi quickly!" The Fifth Elder Yan Wuluo of the Yan Family, whose cultivation reached the early stage of Ninth Stage Establishment, was startled by Yan Yijun's killing Qi, quickly dashed over to scold him.

With this rebuke, all the Xuantian Yan Family members who were greeting martial artists from all directions gathered over.

Despite the reprimand, Yan Yijun showed no intention of withdrawing his killing Qi.

Instead, he laughed sinisterly, "Fourth Granduncle, do you know who this person before us is?"

"Who? Regardless of who, retract your killing Qi first."

"Ye Zhen, the one who personally killed me, nearly wiping me out for good! The Ye Zhen who led the Sun and Moon Divine Sect's martial artists to slaughter the Stars Tower in the True Spirit Domain, causing our Yan Family tremendous losses.

And according to intelligence, the death of Third Granduncle is also linked to this Ye brat, he died in Qinglan Martial City because of this kid's treachery.

If one were to discuss the culprits behind our Yan Family's heavy casualties, this kid would definitely rank among the top three!" Yan Yijun said.

"What, you're Ye Zhen?"

The expression of Yan Wuluo, the Fourth Elder of the Yan Family, instantly grew incredibly grim, and his gaze towards Ye Zhen became exceedingly cold, like a venomous snake.

The name Ye Zhen in the Stars Tower, especially within the Yan Family of Stars Tower, was as well-known as thunder piercing the ear, as several direct lineage bloodlines of the Yan Family had died at Ye Zhen's hands.

Upon realizing that the young man in front of him was indeed Ye Zhen, Yan Wuluo's heart trembled, and he instinctively locked his killing Qi onto Ye Zhen.

But he was also very aware of where they were, and he immediately responded, letting a trace of killing Qi flash and disappear.

Yet, the killing Qi of a Ninth Stage Establishment King was unimaginably terrifying.

At that moment, as it flickered past in front of the bustling Shangdan Building square, it was akin to a thunderclap exploding above everyone's heads.

Immediately, all eyes and attention turned to this spot.

Out of curiosity, some martial artists even took to the skies, looking down on the unfolding conflict from above.

It had been many years since any martial artist dared to stir trouble on Shuili Island, and today someone dared to release killing Qi at Shangdan Building, exciting these martial artists greatly.

Not only the martial artists, but several Shuili Island martial artists patrolling the area were also startled by Yan Wuluo's trace of killing Qi, and their gazes simultaneously turned toward this place.

At the same time, Ye Zhen's heart constricted sharply, as a gaze like a piercing needle was cast onto his back.

The moment this gaze was cast, Ye Zhen sensed who its owner was—Jie Tianhe!

The Leader of the Dragon Alliance Jie Tianhe!

As the gaze fell upon Ye Zhen, an indescribable sense of familiarity surfaced in Jie Tianhe's heart, making it impossible for his gaze to leave Ye Zhen! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)