The final candidates for the brutal battle in the Great Death Realm were finally determined.
There were a total of thirteen people.
Apart from the two rear service personnel Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong, the remaining ten were all above the fifth level of the Heaven Mending Realm, and they were all children of prominent families.
There was also a Heaven Mending Realm twelfth level elder who would serve as the anchor.
Wang Yangzi arranged a simple meeting for them, which was a rough introduction.
In fact, most of the cultivators already knew each other. After all, they were the top geniuses of the realm, and they had fought before, so they were already acquainted.
Therefore, the only ones who really needed an introduction were Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong.
The two could not fit into the circle of top geniuses, so they gathered together.
"Nalan Ziyue White Lotus Immortal Three Lifetimes." Chen Xia said.
"Ah, where?!" Ma Xiaohong's expression tightened as she hurriedly asked, then her pretty face turned red as she lowered her head in embarrassment and said shyly, "You still remember it?"
"Well." Chen Xia nodded, "After all, such a unique alias is rare."
"Ha... ha, it's okay." Ma Xiaohong smiled awkwardly, her short hair covering some of her cheeks as she kept her head down, her hands secretly grabbed some delicacies from the table next to her and stuffed them into her mouth.
"Are you very hungry?" Chen Xia asked in confusion.
"I'm not hungry, I'm just afraid I won't be able to eat this anymore in the future." Ma Xiaohong said somewhat unclearly, her pretty face slightly red as she kept her head down chewing.
"That makes sense, eat more then." Chen Xia thoughtfully brought over the delicacies from the table next door to her as well.
"Thank you." Ma Xiaohong said politely, her mouth bulging round, her eyes still glancing at other food.
It made Chen Xia, who had been fasting for many years in the Falling Sea Realm, also feel hungry. He started eating with Ma Xiaohong.
Of the entire meeting place, only the two of them behaved a bit peculiarly.
The other cultivators were there to meet up, while these two were truly there to eat, and they were quite dedicated.
"There you two are. I wanted to get acquainted with you when you arrived." A sudden voice interrupted Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong's feasting.
Ma Xiaohong was nervous. Her round mouth was stuffed full of food and she didn't dare spit it out. She could only desperately swallow it down.
Chen Xia was surprised and politely asked, "Have you considered developing a side business?"
This was naturally meant as a joke.
He shifted his gaze to look at the cultivator who had spoken. It was a handsome man dressed in golden armor. Even his hair and eyes were golden.
"Who are you?" Chen Xia asked in confusion.
The golden cultivator laughed. "Heaven Mending Realm seventh level, the Great Sun Mountain Sect leader, Zuo Ri. I've heard of your reputation before and wanted to come meet you specially."
"What reputation?" Chen Xia curiously asked. After all, he did have quite a few reputations.
"Hmm..." Zuo Ri thought for a moment. "Probably the youngest alchemy grandmaster in the realm, also the first Falling Sea Realm cultivator to kill a Heaven Mending Realm cultivator, the future emperor seed, and the person with the highest talent in the realm for the past thousand years."
"In short, the evaluations given are very high. I don't know the specifics either. I hope to learn more after we go to the Great Death Realm."
"Oh." Chen Xia nodded noncommittally.
Zuo Ri glanced at Ma Xiaohong again without saying anything, the smile still on his face.
Ma Xiaohong lowered her head, not daring to look at Zuo Ri. She was so nervous she started wringing her hands.
Zuo Ri smiled at Chen Xia again. "The candidates for the Great Death Realm battle this time are the strongest in thousands of years. The lords of the forbidden zones are too eager to regain their reputation, so you must take this seriously. I will not allow anyone to drag us down. Do you understand?"
"I'm only responsible for alchemy anyway." Chen Xia directly brushed it off.
"I..." Ma Xiaohong hesitated, not daring to speak anymore as her head sank almost to her chest, nervous to the point of tears.
"Just focus on your own responsibilities and that will be enough. I will bring this glory back to the realm."
Zuo Ri said confidently with an arrogant smile.
After that, no one else approached Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong to talk during the entire meeting.
They couldn’t integrate into the circle of top geniuses either, so they could only chat casually with each other.
Chen Xia left first, returning to his hut to say a word to Zhang DaoMing, and asked Mount Kaisheng to help take care of Zhang DaoMing as he owed them a favor.
Chen Xia's favor was priceless, so Mount Kaisheng was naturally eager to do it.
After that, time passed faster and faster.
There was no chance to linger.
Wang Yangzi's notice came for Chen Xia to go to the upper realm in half a month to prepare to enter the Great Death Realm through the Star Gate.
The wind was strong that day.
It blew Chen Xia's blue shirt fluttering and his hair dancing.
Zhang DaoMing stood at the door with a jug of wine, saying he wanted to see Chen Xia off.
But Chen Xia felt that seeing someone off didn't require bringing a jug of wine. It looked more like a farewell.
"I'm going, old Zhang." Chen Xia waved.
The sound of the wind was loud, blurring his words.
"Okay, okay, go slowly." Zhang DaoMing stretched his diminutive body as straight as he could, raised the wine jug in his hand, and smiled back.
He didn't ask Chen Xia when he would come back.
He had never intended to ask.
He would just let Chen Xia leave slowly.
The howling wind finally died down.
Zhang DaoMing's hunched body could no longer stand up straight. He bent down slowly and walked back into the hut, holding the wine, not knowing what to do, so he simply spaced out.
Chen Xia walked very slowly, but no matter how slow, he kept moving forward.
He couldn’t wait for anyone, so he could only walk slowly by himself.
Now he couldn’t even do that.
He shook his head, feeling that he should just let nature take its course. Thinking too much would bring out his heart devil to act crazy again.
The upper realm was not far for Chen Xia. The Great Death Realm's Star Gate had already opened.
It was a huge, pitch-black void portal. The edges were made of mossy bronze, and it was even more lifeless inside.
The other cultivators all had fellow sect members to see them off.
Only Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong looked like two orphans standing there alone.
When Ma Xiaohong saw Chen Xia, her pretty face showed a trace of joy as she came over and asked, "Is it just you too?"
"Just you." Chen Xia replied cruelly.
Ma Xiaohong pursed her lips, forcing back her tears.
"The battle in the Great Death Realm, begin!"
With the old man's shout, the portal opened wide. The aura of lifelessness reached a terrifying degree.
"Go on in. The teleport locations of the Star Gates are all fixed. You will appear in the same location." Wang Yangzi said from the side.
Without any hesitation now, led by the elder who was the anchor, the thirteen people entered one by one.
The rich lifeless aura instantly enveloped their whole bodies.
Chen Xia had some resistance, so he didn't feel particularly uncomfortable.
Ma Xiaohong was so scared her face turned white.
The thirteen people had no discipline.
As soon as Zuo Ri entered, he said something about revitalizing the glory and went far ahead to explore, probably wanting to seize the opportunity first.
The other twelve cultivators walked together.
Chen Xia and Ma Xiaohong walked closer to each other. Both having given up attitudes, they chatted a lot.
Over the next half month.
They did not find Zuo Ri.
It was as if he had disappeared.
Six months later.
Some cultivators discovered Zuo Ri's corpse.
He had been killed by a golden divine spear on a dead star!