This meeting with Wei Jin and Chu Tian was different from the one three years ago. The hostility was gone, replaced by a sense of maturity.
Seeing the change in Wei Jin, Chu Tian didn't tease him. "I heard... the old City Lord has left Wan Shou City?" Chu Tian directly asked what was on his mind.
Wei Jin nodded. "You know about the Wan Shou Sacrifice three years ago, right?" Chu Tian nodded in affirmation. He recalled that during the Wan Shou Sacrifice, he had also received a side quest: [Turn the Tide of Faith]. The quest reward was +2000 human respect points. The quest was still in his quest log, and he had no idea how to complete it. His initial thought was to suppress the demon beasts with his human identity. If that failed, he would annihilate them all. Later, he realized that not all demon beasts were evil, like the Ming Quan tribe and the Giant Tooth Tiger tribe, who maintained their pure-blooded traditions. Only some traitorous demon beast tribes constantly bullied humans, even debasing humans and producing many hybrid races. Even these hybrids looked down on ordinary humans, believing their bloodline was noble.
Unfortunately, before he could even participate in the Wan Shou Sacrifice and the subsequent trial, he had fallen into a coma. He woke up three years later. Missing the centennial grand event, he felt like he had lost a hundred million. He heard that the ultimate reward of the trial was to bathe in something called the Wan Shou Pool. Humans could break through their realms and temper their bones, while demon beasts could purify their bloodlines and evolve their levels.
Seeing Chu Tian nod, Wei Jin got straight to the point. "The Wan Shou Festival is our centennial grand event in Wan Shou City. Forget City, Clear Water City, and Hurricane City also have similar grand events at the same time."
"Did the old City Lord go to others to gain benefits?" Chu Tian asked directly, his eyes flashing with excitement. Seeing his demeanor, Wei Jin shook his head in speechlessness. "Father is going to participate in the millennium-once... Death Sea Four Regions Sacred Assembly."
"Four Regions Sacred Assembly? What benefits are there?" Chu Tian asked. The thought of a millennium-once grand assembly, which surely came with extraordinary rewards, made him itch with anticipation. Wei Jin, hearing Chu Tian's words and seeing his expression, had already guessed his thoughts. Chu Tian truly asked about benefits for everything he did; he was certainly someone who wouldn't stir without profit. Very speechlessly, he said, "Come with me, I'll tell you slowly..."
Soon, the two arrived at Wei Jin's previous room. Chu Tian had seen a woman sleeping by the sand table before. She was now awake and got up to greet them as they entered. "This is Dong Dong, my wife!" Wei Jin introduced.
"Oh... Greetings, acting City Lord's wife!" Chu Tian smiled teasingly.
"Uh..." Dong Dong blushed and curtsied. "City Lord Chu, I'll take my leave if there's nothing else."
"There is something..." Just as Dong Dong was about to retreat, Chu Tian suddenly said that, making both Wei Jin and Dong Dong look at him in surprise.
"Gurgle, gurgle..." Before Chu Tian could speak, his stomach made a sound. "Is there anything to eat? I feel like I could eat a whole cow!" Chu Tian rubbed his stomach.
"Pfft... I'll go prepare it right away!" Dong Dong was amused by Chu Tian's appearance and turned to leave.
"Little Wei, your wife is quite something! Come, tell me about this Four Regions Sacred Assembly and its benefits." Chu Tian walked to the sand table in the center. He had seen Wei Jin staring at it before, wondering what he was looking at.
"I'll tell you slowly..." The Death Sea had always been led by the four regions. The main city of each region governed a territory, surrounded by many large tribes. Each region had a grand event like the Wan Shou Sacrifice every hundred years, essentially a nationwide competition. In reality, most of the rankings were won by these major tribes. Winning rankings could enhance their strength, and greater strength allowed them to obtain more resources. With resource cultivation, there would be more powerhouses within the tribes. Tribes accumulated strength for thousands of years, all for the sake of winning the rankings and rewards at the Four Regions Sacred Assembly.
Wan Shou City was somewhat of an exception because in the southwest region, there were not only humans but also demon beasts and half-human, half-demon hybrids. The other three main cities were different; they were entirely human. In the past few Four Regions Sacred Assemblies, the official teams from Wan Shou City had almost always been wiped out. They were eliminated as soon as they entered the trial. In the southwest region, humans were in decline, but demon beasts, with their formidable strength, had somehow managed to ally with Hurricane City. They were even allowed to participate in the Four Regions Sacred Assembly, becoming a fifth force, and had achieved good rankings in every competition. Furthermore, those scoundrels from Hurricane City were secretly supporting the demon beasts, attempting to seize control of Wan Shou City. The reason Wan Shou City could still participate in the Sacred Assembly was that the control of the Wan Shou Seal remained in human hands. Wei Jin angrily slammed the table.
He continued, "My mother, eldest brother, and second brother died under foul play more than twenty years ago. My father and I traced clues and found that the mastermind behind it was from Hurricane City."
"How many people did the old City Lord take to Hurricane City for the Sacred Assembly this time?" Chu Tian sensed that the old City Lord's participation in this so-called Four Regions Grand Assembly might not be as simple as it seemed.
"Father didn't take anyone with him this time; only he, Old Qin, and Old Li went... He said that if you woke up... you should choose people to go to Hurricane City. If you didn't wake up... I should be prepared to defend against the enemy, and make sure to hold on until you woke up!" As Wei Jin said this, his eyes held a hint of determination, and he looked at Chu Tian with immense confidence!
Chu Tian had always been curious about why Wei Du trusted him so implicitly, and now Wei Jin did too. He decided to ask what was on his mind. Wei Jin spoke again, explaining the reason for Wan Shou City's predicament. It turned out that the Four Regions Sacred Assembly had restrictions. The trial entrance was limited to those under thirty-five years old. This was where the unfairness lay. Human cultivation speed was extremely slow, while demon beasts were the opposite. Some with strong bloodlines were born with Heavenly Soul Realm strength. After twenty or thirty years of cultivation, they could easily enter the Samsara Realm, and some prodigies could even reach the Life and Death Realm and the Netherworld Realm! Even Wei Jin, known as a genius, was only at the early stage of the Netherworld Realm at thirty-one years old. Ordinary humans with similar aptitudes who reached the late stage of the Heavenly Soul Realm by thirty-five were considered very good. Those who could reach the Samsara Realm before thirty-five were the focus of major powers.
However, demon beasts also had their drawbacks; when they reached the Nirvana Realm, they faced heavenly tribulations tens of times more intense than humans. It was almost a situation of certain death. However, this did not affect their participation in the Four Regions Sacred Assembly.
"Demon beasts are so strong... Why don't the other cities object?" Chu Tian asked with a frown.
"Object? With what? The trial entrance is in Hurricane City. The demon beast tribe has latched onto Hurricane City's coattails. Clear Water City and Forget City want a share of the pie, so they can only agree!" Speaking of this, Wei Jin sighed and continued, "However, fortunately, each city has ten participation slots. The demon beast tribe is only allowed to send three participants. Hurricane City... can send fifteen people."
"Damn... This broken Sacred Assembly, do we have to participate? Let Hurricane City play by itself!" After hearing this, Chu Tian felt that this Sacred Assembly was completely manipulated by Hurricane City, a black-box operation. Why participate in such an unfair competition?
"No... we must participate!" A forceful voice suddenly echoed from the doorway. Old Yang, at some point, was already standing there. Chu Tian was startled; he hadn't noticed Old Yang approaching until he spoke. He knew that although his divine sense wasn't fully active, it covered a hundred-meter radius.
"Old Yang, your... strength..." Chu Tian looked at him in astonishment. At this moment, Old Yang's appearance had not changed in any way. However, in terms of aura, a powerful presence soared to the heavens, making it impossible to look directly at him.
"What 'your'? I just recovered my cultivation!" Old Yang took a step forward and reached Chu Tian.
"What cultivation level?" Chu Tian smacked his lips.
"Guess, and if you guess wrong, you owe me a few more barrels of wine!" As soon as he said this, Chu Tian felt speechless.
"If you want wine, just say so, no need for this nonsense!" Saying this, he waved his hand and threw five barrels of white wine on the ground.
"Heh heh... Good, good, good... I didn't dote on you for nothing!" Old Yang excitedly collected all the white wine and muttered, "Can't let Old Li, that drunkard, see this this time!" Hearing his words, Chu Tian remembered the dangers they had encountered multiple times before reaching Wan Shou City. Old Yang had feigned cowardice, and they had almost died several times. It was Chu Tian who had stepped in to save Old Yang, Nie Yun, and Dian Dian at the cost of his own safety. If he hadn't pretended to be weak, why would they have suffered so many tribulations?