I tried to kill the heroines of destiny, but they ended up chasing after me.

After calming himself down, he continued, "We have people infiltrating these four hidden families, but I am the only one who can come here, so the task of contacting you falls on my shoulders."

"Was it from the moment I came into contact with the Tree of Time?" Huang Quan suddenly asked again for no apparent reason.

“Yes, because you have not only been chosen by the Tree of Time, but also by us, and perhaps by others, but none of that matters. I just hope you can help us,” Huang Shaotian said.

"Help? Hehehe! How could I, a Nirvana Realm cultivator, possibly be of any help to you? Don't joke around." Huang Quan said with a laugh.

"Don't joke around. Your affairs... are known not only to the Tree of Time, but also to us as long as we can break free from the control of the Jade Tree of Time." Huang Shaotian paused before speaking.

"Tsk tsk! Alright! What do you want me to do? Or rather... what can I do?" Huang Quan replied.

"Don't make us your enemies, don't help the Tree of Time, and don't do anything unnecessary..." Huang Shaotian said directly.

"Wait, wait, wait! You want to occupy my hometown, you want to abandon the True Profound Continent, you even want to destroy the cultivation world of the True Profound Continent in order to escape smoothly, and now you actually want a person from the True Profound Continent to not help the True Profound Continent, there's something wrong with you! A big problem!!" Huang Quan said with amusement.

But Huang Shaotian replied, "No problem, not at all. You're referring to our previous plan, but we don't think that way now. You have to understand that we don't have many people left. Even if we go to the new world, we might face some threats. So we plan to..."

"Hey, hey, hey!" At this moment, Huang Quan's eyes flickered slightly, and he said with great emotion, "Don't tell me you want to leave here with the people of the True Profound Continent, right?"

"Hmm? You could say that! But it's not entirely accurate," Huang Shaotian said.

"Incorrect?" Huang Quan frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Because we don't intend to take away everyone on the True Profound Continent, we only choose those who are useful to us," Huang Shaotian said matter-of-factly.

"People who are useful to you? What about the others?" Huang Quan's mind stirred, and he seemed even more puzzled.

"The others? We can only let them fend for themselves. I'm sure you understand that in this situation, sacrificing the pawns to save the king is the most correct course of action," Huang Shaotian replied.

"You mean..." Huang Quan's brows furrowed even deeper.

“It’s very simple. As soon as our clan leader rescues the true god, we will immediately start this plan. It will take about ten years. I know you can only live for two more years, but our clan leader will plead with the true god to save you.”

“You should understand the power of our true god. It’s not difficult to do this. The key is that we don’t want you to become the medium of the Tree of Time again…” Huang Shaotian said.

"Oh? I see. You're worried I might suddenly do something rash, right?"

“That’s right, the Tree of Time is too deeply involved with you. We can almost consider you to be the Tree of Time, and the Tree of Time to be you. During the Tree of Time’s causal cycle, we cannot leave that space. Even our clan leader can only stay for an hour…”

"That doesn't make sense either. Then how could you... how could you people have escaped the influence of the Tree of Time and hide in the True Profound Continent?" Huang Quan suddenly asked a very serious question.

"Of course we can't avoid it, so the only way is to use my limited life to truly integrate into the True Profound Continent, that is, to become a person of the True Profound Continent," Huang Shaotian explained.

"To become a person of the True Profound Continent?" Huang Quan asked in surprise.

"Simply put, we people only possess the consciousness of outsiders, but our souls and bodies belong to the True Profound Continent. However, this greatly reduces our lifespan. Take me for example, I probably only have three years left to live," Huang Shaotian said somewhat nonchalantly.

"I see, the risk is quite high." Huang Quan said with some admiration for Huang Shaotian.

"It's alright! Some things still need to be done by certain people. In short, because you have reached a cooperation with the Tree of Time, the Tree of Time's causal cycle has been temporarily stopped, so we have our only chance. Now our clan leader has begun to prepare to save the True God. But if you change your mind during this period, then all our previous efforts will be in vain, and we might even die under the Tree of Time's causal cycle. Do you understand what I'm saying now?"

"I understand, I understand! You're afraid of me!" Huang Quan said succinctly.

"Of course we're afraid of you! You're the person we fear most right now. You can say you hold the lives of those of us from the outside world in your hands, and more importantly, we can't kill you. You're too strong. Those of us left behind on the True Profound Continent are simply powerless to do anything to you..."

"Moreover, even if we use people with that kind of strength, the Tree of Time is unlikely to let us act freely. So you are a real problem for us. We can't kill you or trap you, so the only way is... to talk to you about cooperation."

"Cooperation? What would be my benefit?" Huang Quan asked, his eyes flashing.

"The benefit is that I can get a spot," Huang Shaotian said.

"One spot? A spot to leave here?" Huang Quan guessed.

“That’s right. If you feel it’s not enough, I can discuss it with our clan leader and give you two spots. We know that you have some very important people in your life, people you care about, but unfortunately, our abilities are limited. This is the biggest concession we can make to you,” Huang Shaotian said, unusually earnest.

"Making concessions?" Huang Quan murmured, then paused before asking, "How many people from the True Profound Continent do you plan to let leave? And what are the conditions?"

"The conditions are that the cultivation level is above the Nirvana Realm and there is no resistance. As for the number of people... I'm sorry, we can only take one thousand people with us," Huang Shaotian replied.

“A thousand people…a thousand people…the True Profound Continent has at least hundreds of millions of people, and only a thousand people can survive, and even then, they are barely clinging to life…this result, this result…” Huang Quan murmured, his tone seemingly still carrying some emotion.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. After all, this world is beyond saving. Even if the cycle of cause and effect of the Tree of Time reopens, it cannot resist the destruction of the universe. It doesn’t have the ability to control the time of the universe. So those who are destined to die will still die, and those who are destined to live can only try their best to live. You’re not stupid… you should understand what I mean,” Huang Shaotian said clearly.

"Heh! This whirlpool is really deep! It's making me want to pee!" Huang Quan said, pretending to be relaxed.

“Yes! Yes! Not only you, but I have some too. I won’t make you answer me right now. Our clan leader will give you time, after all, you don’t have much time left. But you don’t need to worry about anything, you just need to do nothing,” Huang Shaotian said.

"Alright, alright, let's talk about this another day!" With that, Huang Quan let out a sigh of relief, then turned around and walked lightly toward the banquet hall in the East District.

Huang Shaotian did not follow; he remained standing in place, quietly watching Huang Quan.

At that very moment, a sound rang out in the sky—it was fireworks.

It's not nighttime now, and daytime fireworks aren't very pretty, but these fireworks weren't set off for the sake of being pretty; they were to announce that the marriage ceremony had begun.

……

Not long ago, inside the Green Pavilion in the East District.

The main people had basically all taken their seats, including the host, Zhang Shen, the patriarch of the Emperor Sword Clan; Zhu Yongri, the patriarch of the Bamboo Sky Clan; Dao San, the patriarch of the Dao Spirit Clan; Yan Tian, ​​the patriarch of the Flame Life Clan; Hei You Venerable, the new leader of the Imperial Demon Domain; and today's protagonist, the eldest son Zhang Jian, and Liu Xiyao, the daughter of Zhu Yongyue.

There were seven people in total, occupying all seven seats, except for one empty seat, which belonged to Takeyuki.

As Liu Xiyao's father, he should have been present, but for some reason, he didn't show up.

No one found this situation strange, because they all knew that Zhu Yongyue's relationship with the Zhutian Clan was not very good, and the possibility of them sitting together was not very high. Although Zhu Yongyue could be considered a member of the Zhutian Clan to some extent, that was a long time ago.

Therefore, Zhang Shen wisely did not mention Zhu Yongyue. After exchanging a few polite words with the guests at the dinner table, he walked out of the Qingge Pavilion with the six people present and looked at the crowd outside the Qingge Pavilion.

It was clear that the ceremony was about to begin.

Upon seeing Zhang Shen and the others appear, all those who came to participate in the ceremony turned their attention to the seven of them. However, among these people, there were also a few rather unusual gazes.

In the small seating area on the east side, the man named Zhu Xin narrowed his eyes. He looked at the young master he had never seen before with some hostility, and at Liu Xiyao beside the young master with some affection, as if he was thinking about something.

Looking at the seats a little to the west, some members of the Flame Clan seemed eager to try their luck. But the most eye-catching one was a young man in the innermost part, wearing a fiery red robe and with a very delicate appearance. If Huang Quan were present at this moment, he would probably be surprised, because he... knew this person.

In a small seat slightly to the east sat a woman dressed in white. She was Dao San's only disciple and the second-in-command of the Dao Ling Clan. She seemed somewhat engrossed in watching the spectacle.

However, besides these people, there were some other people hiding in several secluded spots around the small seats. They were none other than Zhang Hu and the other four who had allied with Jueyi, and they were waiting for Jueyi's signal.

At this moment, Zhang Shen, who occupied the middle position among the seven, slowly stepped forward. His face was calm as he looked at everyone and laughed like a host: "Hahahaha! In any case, I must first thank the Crown Prince for traveling all the way to attend my son's marriage ceremony. The Ice Plains are full of dangers and the environment is not good. I'm really sorry."

In short, for the next period of time, Zhang Shen exchanged some necessary pleasantries with the people from the four major families before finally getting to the main topic of the marriage ceremony...

"Alright! I won't say anything more. After all, the main characters today are not me, but the two newcomers beside me. As is the tradition of the Emperor Sword Clan, you can now have a friendly sparring match with my son, which can be considered as increasing the harmonious relationship between the four major families," Zhang Shen said with an unchanged expression.

The so-called sparring match, aside from Zhang Shen's verbal claim of harmonious relations, was actually a test of the strength of the younger generation of various families, so as to make a reasonable assessment of the family in the future.

This kind of assessment is important in some ways, but not so important in others. It's important because the young people of any ethnic group will become the backbone of the group in the future, and their abilities are worth considering. It's not important because in this situation, some families will keep their members hidden and will not reveal their true strength.

However, in the midst of a battle, some unexpected things might happen. The rational ones might be able to resist the thrill of defeating their opponents, but the people who are sparring are, after all, young people. They still have that hot-blooded side, so if that side is provoked by their opponents, they might also go all out to defeat them.

Of course, this applies not only to other ethnic groups, but also to the Emperor Sword Clan itself.

"Then..." Before Zhang Shen could finish speaking, he simply waved his hand, and a firework-like sound resounded directly in everyone's ears, clearly indicating the official start of this sparring match.

As the sound of fireworks appeared, Zhang Jian, who was next to Zhang Shen, didn't wait for Zhang Shen to say anything. With a flash of his eyes and a movement of his figure, he instantly teleported to the wide platform.

Although he was dressed in a red robe, which gave off a festive feeling, his aura was overwhelming, giving the crowd below the platform a sense of shock, or rather... provocation.

"This young master... is a bit arrogant, isn't he?" At this moment, Zhu Yongri, who was next to Zhang Shen, said softly while looking at Zhang Jian on the platform, but there seemed to be something else in his words.

"Hehehe! Young people! That's normal," Zhang Shen said, seemingly not caring about him at all.

Upon hearing this, Takenaga Hiroki revealed a half-smile and said nothing more.

Meanwhile, an ordinary-looking member of the Zhutian tribe slowly made his way to the platform.

Perhaps because he was the first person to go on stage, he quickly attracted the attention of the audience, including Zhang Shen and Zhu Yongri in the Qingge area.

"Oh! I didn't expect that the first person to challenge my son would be someone from your Zhutian clan. This is quite a surprise!" Zhang Shen said in surprise.

"Hahaha, just like you said, they're all young people! That's normal!" Zhu Yongyue replied in the same tone as Zhang Shen, showing him considerable "respect".

"Ha! Very well! Then let's see if this young man from your Zhutian clan is stronger, or if my son is better." Zhang Shen smiled and replied as if he didn't care at all.

And so, amidst the discussion between Zhang Shen and Zhu Yongri, and under the gaze of everyone, Zhang Jian's first battle finally began.

The person standing in front of Zhang Jian was an elite disciple of the Zhutian Clan.

His name is Zhuli, and he possesses the strength of the first level of Nirvana Realm.

He's no small fry; he's very strong.

Chapter 214 Competition

He wasn't disgusted by Zhang Jian's arrogance and provocation; he simply wanted to know the difference between himself and the eldest son of the Emperor Sword Clan. Zhang Jian wasn't his real target; his target was only one person: the young patriarch of the Bamboo Sky Clan... Zhu Xin.

Before coming here, he had already figured out that Zhu Xin regarded this young clan leader as an opponent, so he wanted to prove that he had the ability to fight Zhu Xin by defeating Zhang Jian.

This battle ceremony doesn't end when Zhang Jian is defeated by someone. Instead, it's based on a certain time limit. Whoever stands until the end is the final victor. So, in this sense, it's a battle for the young people of the four clans, and a way for them to prove themselves to their elders.

Of course, Zhu Li did not underestimate Zhang Jian. Although he appeared casual on the surface, he was extremely vigilant in his heart because he had not sensed a trace of Zhang Jian's cultivation aura since he stepped onto the stage.

"That kid has no chance of winning." Zhu Xin glanced at Zhu Li on the stage and shook her head.

"Really?" asked a member of the clansmen beside Zhu Xin, sounding doubtful.

"Sigh!" Zhu Xin sighed softly and said no more.

At this moment, Takeri gradually calmed down his thoughts, and his eyes showed more determination and fighting spirit. Since he had already taken the stage, he couldn't just surrender without a fight!

"No matter how powerful this guy is, I'll just have to fight him first."

In a flash of thought, spiritual energy swirled around his hands, and he threw out both fists, instantly transforming into an incomparably majestic white wolf. After roaring, it charged directly towards Zhang Jian.

Judging from the white wolf's ferocious state, it seems that Takeri intends to end the battle quickly, so she went all out from the start.

Just as the white wolf was about to strike Zhang Jian, Zhang Jian waved his left hand, and with a casual gesture, the entire white wolf inexplicably disappeared, leaving only a faint stream of spiritual energy to prove that the white wolf had ever existed.

"As expected!" Zhu Xin slowly uttered these two words when she saw that Zhang Jian had dealt with the white wolf so easily.

"What's wrong? What happened?" The tribesmen around him were still completely bewildered.

But Zhu Xin said nothing more and continued to watch the battle between the two.

At this moment, Zhu Li on the stage also looked at the vanished white wolf in disbelief. His gaze returned to Zhang Jian's plain face, but he could no longer remain calm.

"What...what's going on?" Zhu Li wondered to himself, cold sweat pouring down his back. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a powerful pressure coming from Zhang Jian.

Fortunately, he was no ordinary person either. In just a few breaths, he forcibly regained his composure. Although he seemed to have no other options for the time being, he did not want to give up easily!

Zhu Li watched Zhang Jian warily, wisely deciding to observe the situation quietly.

At this moment, Zhang Jian spoke for the first time.