Due to the Sanqing Immortal Sect's procreation encouragement policy, for the past eight hundred years, everyone was either making babies or on their way to do so, resulting in the birth of many offspring. In the last hundred years, the number of disciples capable of bearing children was far greater than in other Immortal Sects, so naturally, the number of young people under one hundred also remained high.

In contrast, the other Immortal Sects had only begun to make such efforts within the last century. Since it became progressively harder to produce offspring the higher one's cultivation level was, their efficiency was average at best.

"But we still can't underestimate them. Among that group are direct offspring of Saints!" Guan Shanyue suddenly warned, his expression turning solemn.

The direct offspring of a Saint were different from a Saint's descendants, whose bloodlines had been diluted over thousands of years of inheritance. These were true second-generation Saints.

With extraordinary talent, they overshadowed all other prodigies. They were born at the pinnacle, a height many of heaven's favored children could hardly hope to reach.

Wang Xiu was surprised. "Are there any under a hundred years old?"

"Yes. Our luck isn't very good this time... there just happen to be two!" Guan Shanyue sighed.

The difficulty for a Saint to produce an heir was extremely high. What's more, with the time limit of needing to do so within the last century, the difficulty had more than doubled. The Holy Realm might open several times without a single one ever appearing.

And this time, there are actually two? To have to compete on the same stage with figures like that... I have to say, our luck is truly rotten to the core!

"There's Ye Guhong of the Taixu Cave Heaven," Guan Shanyue began to explain. "He possesses the Innate Taixu Holy Body, making him naturally attuned to the Dao of the Void. His strength is formidable, and though he's only in his twenties, he has already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage. He has an arrogant personality and looks down on everyone."

"Just the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage?" Wang Xiu was a little disappointed. I thought I'd get to meet a young Great Ability. Now *that* would be something worth bragging about!

Guan Shanyue continued, "He reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage a year ago. With his foundation and the full support of the old ancestors of the Taixu Cave Heaven, he could enter the Soul Travel Realm at any time...

"However, he is too proud to oppress others with a higher cultivation level, so he has deliberately held off on breaking through. He plans to dominate all the prodigies of this generation while in the Nascent Soul Realm to prove his true strength!"

Wang Xiu asked thoughtfully, "And the other one?"

"As for the other one..." Guan Shanyue's mouth twitched as if he had a toothache. "It's better if we don't speak of them!"

His response only piqued Wang Xiu's interest further. "Go on, tell me! It won't hurt anything."

"You'll know when you see them!" Guan Shanyue still refused to elaborate, looking extremely troubled at the mere mention of that person.

...

The flying boat crossed over the mountains and through the vast, boundless Ancient Forest, arriving high above a colossal ancient city.

This was Xinhuo City. At first, it was merely a temporary foothold for the prodigies entering the Holy Realm. As more people stayed behind, it gradually developed into a proper city where all the Great Immortal Gates established their headquarters for the Holy Realm.

The city was massive. Its walls were thousands of feet high, seeming to touch the sky, and were covered with dense runes that shone with divine brilliance in the sunlight. This barrier, clearly the handiwork of a Saint, prevented even the most terrifying Fierce Beasts of the Ancient Forest from approaching.

The city's interior was vast yet spacious. Since there were not many people in the Holy Realm, there were no densely packed residential areas. Every main road was incredibly broad and magnificent.

Prodigies gathered here, and powerful auras surged from every direction.

"Senior Brother, look!" Jiang Ling'er tugged at Wang Xiu's sleeve, pointing ahead.

A giant butterfly danced gracefully through the air. It was luminous and colorful, over ten feet long, with ancient patterns covering its wings that gleamed like treasures. Auspicious light radiated from it, making for a truly magnificent sight.

A woman was sitting cross-legged on its back, her eyes tightly closed. She had an air of indifferent detachment and was enveloped in a hazy mist.

This creature was clearly an ancient, exotic species. Even in the Ancient Forest, few could rival it; it was truly one in ten thousand.

"The Star-Shattering Demon Butterfly! It is said that with a single beat of its wings, it can tear the starry sky asunder. It's recorded in the ancient texts!" a prodigy from another Immortal Sect whispered, a look of dread on his face.

Of course, the ancient books recorded the pure-blooded Demon Butterflies of ancient times. The purity of the one before them could not possibly reach that level, but it was still astonishingly powerful.

Such a potent and exotic species, with its own pride and intelligence, would rather fight to the death than submit to a human. Yet, it had become that woman's mount!

"This is quite normal in the Holy Realm," Guan Shanyue quietly explained to the group. "Cultivators have long lifespans, but the Holy Realm is too monotonous. Without motivation, cultivation stalls, so they seek companionship. Many prodigies raise ancient exotic species as pets or mounts. As for the woman you see, while she looks young, she's actually over four hundred years old. She is one of our seniors!"

He wasn't exaggerating.

As they proceeded, the group encountered many other ancient, exotic species. There were strange, humanoid creatures with bodies made of metal, vines that could speak and walk about freely, and a divine-looking Demon Hound, its body crimson red with a single horn on its head.

Although the cultivation levels of these creatures' owners varied, each one was undeniably a favored child of heaven. However, some were over a hundred years old and had lost any chance of returning to the outside world. They radiated a faint sense of decay, their eyes filled with unconcealed envy as they watched Wang Xiu and the other young prodigies.

As the number of people in Xinhuo City grew, they gradually began to see many familiar faces.

They were all prodigies who had come from the outside world. After three months of special training, their auras had become more condensed. Many carried the intense aura of battle, as if they had just survived a brutal fight, which was unnerving to behold.

Wang Xiu noticed that many prodigies who had been hovering at the peak of the Golden Core Stage had now stepped into the Nascent Soul Stage. Their strength had surged tremendously.

This was quite normal, as many disciples within the Sanqing Immortal Sect had also chosen to do so. They were not the peerless prodigies on the Golden Core Ranking who sought to push a realm to its absolute limit—to the point where there was no path forward—before attempting a breakthrough.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.