This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder

In the end, Yulong did not grab another life peach. The difficulty had increased and exceeded his expectations by many times. What made it unacceptable was that someone actually grabbed more than one peach. He had been the only one to grab more than one, but that person didn't grab two. No, he grabbed three.

Among the many emissaries or priests-in-training, only a few could even grab one, like Yulong himself. He didn't do an in-depth check, but he was sure that less than one percent of the people present could grab a peach. And he noticed that most of them were on the younger side.

What was even more shocking was that the immortal who guided them to the palace actually appeared and accepted the trainee priest as his disciple. This meant that the trainee priest would not have to return to his original realm and could stay in the immortal realm. Even his master and junior brother received benefits. Although they couldn't stay in the immortal realm, they would receive many resources. Using these resources, ascending was almost guaranteed. If they wanted to meet again, it would depend on whether they could ascend to the immortal realm through their own efforts in the following years. But it was extremely unlikely.

Unknown to the temporary residents of the palace, the other palace also had similar objects. It might not be a life peach tree—it could be a sword or some other miraculous treasure. They all had one thing in common: they tested cultivators. For these immortals, they were only the lowest of the low in the Immortal Court. Otherwise, they would not have been assigned to take care of these mortal cultivators.

For the true immortal guides, they could take any outstanding mortal as their disciple. Anyone who could grab the opportunity must have great potential, and their potential might even surpass the true immortals guiding them. For these true immortals, it could be considered a perk of their jobs.

It would be a lie to say Yulong was not envious. Since young, he had always been the one chased by others. There were many people stronger than him, but it was because they were all older than him. Now, he saw someone of a similar age and strength but with more potential. How could he not feel envious?

Yulong attempted to grab another peach multiple times. He was not the only one. A few had only grabbed one, like himself. The rest hadn't even grabbed one.

He didn't know what drove the other people, but he knew unwillingness drove his own determination. Yulong couldn't accept being inferior to others. At the very least, he had to grab a second peach. Alas, even if he rested for the bare minimum, Yulong simply did not have time because the day of the ceremony came upon them.

In fact, his performance was already outstanding enough. Many of the people that arrived with him had already given up, and only he persevered. Even if they did not give up, their enthusiasm had obviously lessened. Instead of advancing, they regressed. Had the person who plucked three peaches not appeared, the true immortal leading them would have been tempted to accept Yulong as his disciple.

But if that person had not plucked three peaches, it remained unknown if Yulong could have persevered without something driving him. And his efforts were not in vain. His willpower grew, and his will became firmer. After being in the presence of the life peach tree, his body had subtly changed, making it more suitable for cultivation and weakening the bottlenecks to the Nascent Soul Realm. The benefits were less than actually eating a life peach, but it was better than nothing.

"I shouldn't have eaten it," Yulong's master said with a sigh upon seeing his disciple's gloomy look.

"Master, I'm not unhappy because you ate it. It's something else," Yulong said. No matter what, he would not regret giving his master the life peach.

The two didn't have time to talk for long because the people around them were constantly moving. Yulong couldn't tell before because he had only arrived in groups of hundreds, but when all the emissaries and trainee priests gathered together, it was enough to form a human tide.

Even in his home realm, Yulong had not seen so many people. More than that, all of them were not ordinary mortals but cultivators. No matter how proud he was before, he could only see himself as one of the many at this moment. Many of the people had stronger cultivation bases than him; many also had weaker cultivation bases than him. In total, he could only be considered below average.

Yulong felt his confidence take another hit. It was another truth that made him realize that he was not special.

He looked up. High in the sky, countless humans gathered from afar. Although they could not blot out the sky like how Yulong and the others covered the land, they also covered a large portion. Each one exuded a terrifying and powerful aura, like the immortal who had led him and the other emissaries and trainee priests to their palaces. Yulong couldn't differentiate their power, but his instincts told him that a hundred of those immortals could not defeat one of those flying immortals.

It wasn't just immortals either. Yulong could see giant ships in the sky. Their sterns sliced through the clouds like seawater, and strangely, they did not have any sails, seemingly moving forward miraculously. Not that flying ships weren't miraculous enough, but they were the most normal vehicles Yulong saw in the sky.

Yulong saw a large, flattened robe with seven people standing atop. He saw a golden wheel soaring through the sky with three people. He even saw many powerful monsters, many of whom did not have any visible wings, with people standing on their backs or heads.

It was only at this moment that he realized why this was the immortal realm. Fantasies that could only be conjured in one's mind back in his lower realm were reality here.

All of them had one destination: the highest mountain of Buzhou Immortal Island—Central Peak!

Mortal cultivators like Yulong could only walk up step by step. Even true immortals had to walk on foot. The only difference was that they could use the main stairs. Even if they could cross kilometers with each step, they still had to put their foot on each step, as if it were a ritual. Only immortal monarchs had the right to fly in the air, and only immortal emperors could ride on flying vehicles or steeds.

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No matter their origin, no matter their level of power, these people only had one goal. It was the highest point of the entire Huang Realm, where a light radiated. It was soft and unnoticeable at first, but as the hours passed, it turned brighter and brighter until it covered the entire Huang Realm in eternal day. Even so, the light only grew stronger and did not diminish. The light broke the confines of the Primordial Realm's dimensional boundaries and shone into the Vast Void, shining onto the lower realms.

All of them moving toward it were pilgrims on a sacred journey.

Bathed in the divine light, Yulong did not feel fatigue. If anything, he felt healthy and full of energy. This state only increased the closer he got to the light.

Eventually, they reached the mountain peak. Upon arrival, Yulong saw a grand palace. It didn't have walls or a roof, but the impression it gave off was of a magnificent place—the greatest in the world. For some reason, the sentence "The sky is my ceiling, the earth is the floor, and the world is my walls." appeared in his head. The more he looked at the abstract palace, the more fitting this sentence came to be.

Although he was kilometers away, separated by a sea of people, he could see the details of the palace in crystal clarity. His eyes could not see so far, but it was as if the world itself wanted to imprint this moment into his soul. Not just him, but everyone present.

The immortal monarchs and immortal emperors had already arrived at their designated spot: floating mountains orbiting Central Peak. They weren't as crowded as the people on the ground, but each individual floating mountain emitted an aura greater than the aura of all the people on the ground combined.

Yulong and the others continued to move until they could not move forward anymore. Yet, they still stood. Without any instructions, they waited, as if guided by divine providence. There was no impatience, no extraneous emotion, only solemnity.

"Hmm?" Yulong looked up. He saw a massive gathering of clouds above Central Peak. Although they were white in nature, the sheer mass of them together cast a shadow that made them look black to all those underneath. The clouds not only covered Central Peak but continued to grow until they covered Buzhou Immortal Island. They did not stop, as if they would not stop until they shrouded the entire world in darkness. Not just the Primordial Realm—it even extended to other realms.

Even those unknowing of the Divine Ascension Ceremony became fearful of the darkness, especially the ordinary mortals. After all, it was life's instinct to fear the dark. This fear continued to spread as the clouds increased, and only the people on Buzhou Immortal Island remained unaffected, thanks to the light radiating from the mountain itself.

Many of the invitees became worried. This strange phenomenon had never occurred in past Divine Ascension Ceremonies. They looked around and saw the calm expressions of the Immortal Court officials, and their uneasy hearts also calmed down.

Just as it seemed that the darkness would engulf everything, a pillar of light erupted from Central Peak. It was like a divine sword slicing through the darkness. It impaled the center of the cloud and caused it to dissipate from the center.

From there, a warm but divine light filled the entire Primordial Realm. Like before, the myriad realms were basked in this omnipresent light. Accompanying the light was the vision of the palace on Central Peak. Everyone, from the highest immortals to the lowliest beggars, could see a group of immortal officials walking into the court hall and standing in place. They stood facing across from each other like statues—not moving but waiting.

Not just them, but immortal soldiers garbed in armor of sterling silver descended. Two powerful ones, armed with three-pronged spears, guarded the gates to the palace. Thousands of soldiers with weaker auras stood at the ends of the steps leading up to Central Peak, their posture like pillars separating heaven and earth. The mighty immortal army stood on standby, waiting.

The "who" in question did not remain a mystery for long.

Yulong zeroed in on the figure at the bottom of the mountain. The distance was farther than he was from the immortal palace, but he could still make out that the figure was female. She stood alone at the foot of the mountain. One by one, she walked up the steps, her appearance becoming more and more clear little by little.

He could make out her purple dress, gilded with golden embroidery. Her golden hair accessories did not make her seem gaudy and accented her appearance. Although he still couldn't make out her features, it was undoubtedly a beautiful woman—perhaps even the fairest of them all.

Her figure was extremely small against the entire Central Peak, but each step was like a baptism. Her height did not change, but her presence increased with each level she rose. Or perhaps she was walking closer, and that created the illusion—but it was impossible for everyone to feel that way.

Yulong discovered that his heart beat faster with each step the figure took. He was afraid it would jump out of his chest before the figure could even reach the midway point, but once he saw her features, he ignored everything. His eyes widened, becoming dazed as his cheeks flushed.

A distant expression, like a lofty yet lonely flower on high peaks. Hair as black as ink, and skin more luminescent than moonlight. And most of all, those pair of bedeviling eyes that could capture the world.

He was in love. Yulong was undoubtedly not the only one, but in her presence, they could not help but feel inferiority. Knowing they were unworthy of such a person, the love turned into admiration and worship, but he was different.

Yulong clenched his fist. He thought that he only wanted to pursue greater heights, but at this moment, he had another goal. He wanted to reach a realm where he could stand side by side with that woman!

Wherever the woman passed an immortal soldier, they would kneel on one knee, bowing their heads and exposing the napes of their necks. This was offering not just their loyalty, but their lives.

The two powerful guards at the entrance also knelt, following the same actions. Despite their greater power, they expressed their ordinariness in front of her. When she passed the immortal officials, they knelt on both knees, hands on the ground, and foreheads touching the jade floor.

The woman paid no heed to them, as if everything were natural. She was born divine, and all beings in the world should kneel in front of her.

She did not stop after walking past the first row of kneeling officials but continued. She stepped onto the nine-step dais and walked toward the throne. It was golden, seemingly forged of pure divineness. Sculpted on the throne were nine coiling dragons.

This was the throne of heaven.

The woman turned around when she stepped in front of the throne and sat down. The moment she did so, the radiance emitted by Central Peak reached its peak, causing all those touched by the light to kneel down—voluntarily or involuntarily.

A crown appeared on her head, and stars dangled down from the edge, hiding her features behind a curtain of stars.

She was the Heavenly Empress.