Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"..." Silence pervaded throughout the hall. The sequence of events was unprecedented and entirely unexpected. Firstly, Yan Zaizen, a newcomer barely anyone knew outside of rumors appeared. With an astonishing amount of confidence, he swaggered into the hall amidst the gazes of peak leaders and talented youths.

To the crowd, Ma Xiuren suddenly rose from her seat and directly laid a wet one on this unfamiliar Yan Zaizen. To all the young elites who strove to establish a relationship with or obtain her unique features, they felt stifled and enraged. Some were so shocked by the events that they, to this very second, had blank expressions and empty minds.

Then, Yan Zaizen, an outsider and nobody, called the Xiuhei Sovereign - a peak character - Grandpa Xiu. After having been angered, he was sent away by the Xiuhei Sovereign. What was truly unfathomable was Yan Zaizen’s last words that felt completely and thoroughly out of place.

"Hmph!" Zhou Xiuhei coldly snorted. His mood obviously didn’t seem to be best, and it wasn’t. Yan Zaizen had acted too unruly. In truth, he knew that Yan Zaizen didn’t do so on purpose. After all, Ma Xiuren was the one who kissed him initially. All he did was accept it completely and enjoyed every last second.

Could he blame him? Yes. Should he? Hell yes.

That doesn’t take away Ma Xiuren’s fault. However, he suspected something greater at play.

"Oh?" The violet robed scholar with a silver-dot on his glabella frowned, his eyes flickering with suspicions as he gazed at the closed rift. Turning towards Zhou Xiuhei, his eyes slightly widened. Others may not have noticed but Zhou Xiuhei had stealthily used his grand heavenly powers to, in the shadows, nab an assortment of cakes nearly unnoticed.

There was even the white cake with the golden lotus. The reasons he noticed was that he had his eyes on that cake and his personal understanding of space exceeded everyone else.

A little disgruntled, the scholar said nothing in the end.

"Continue," the scholar ordered the host. After a brief bout of confusion, the host cleared his throat and continued. No one could argue that what Zhou Xiuhei did. Sending the two away was the most appropriate decision.

-----

Yan Zaizen was seated within his cultivation room back on the Xiuhei Earthly Moon. With a bored expression, his mind wondered.

Zhou Xiuhei had segregated Ma Xiuren and him during spatial rift transit. However, that didn’t stop him from replaying the kiss in his head countless times. The Ma Xiuren now was different than the Ma Xiuren of yesteryear. She was a top-class beauty who looked age-appropriate. No longer was she a six to seven year old girl in appearance.

With that, he felt completely satisfied that she was his first kiss.

Pinaka had been thoroughly silent since. To her, she felt both stifled and relieved. Stifled for some odd reason and relieved that Yan Zaizen wasn’t enamored. As she was connected to his soul, she also understood his feelings and thoughts to a certain extent. Yan Zaizen may be physically attracted or liking the act of physical contact, but he wasn’t in love.

This brought her endless amounts of relief.

However, that didn’t mean Yan Zaizen wouldn’t develop to that point someday.

After several days, Yan Zaizen was thoroughly bored. He had to stay in this room without leaving in isolation. He felt like a kid, and it’s not like he didn’t try to leave. Whenever he did, a formation would activate and cease any and all attempts he made. It was frustrating.

"I wonder if Ma Xiuren is being punished like this? If not, that’s double standards! Not like it was my fault, anyhow." He pouted a little. For some odd reason, he didn’t feel too angered from being imprisoned. He was just mildly annoyed.

"Haaaa," a soft sigh resounded throughout his soul. This sigh felt incomparably familiar.

"Grandpa Xiu! This isn’t fair!" He shouted verbally as if ready to throw a tantrum. Just as he was about to complain further, using his cultivation base to amplify his voice, a small rift appeared before him. From this rift, rays of light appeared and arrived before Yan Zaizen.

"This?!" He was shocked but then he became incomparably excited. These were the assortment of cake laid out during the banquet. He didn’t stand on ceremony, bringing out his personal eating fork. It was slightly curved, sharp ends, and made of a metal similar to white-gold.

On that day, all cakes of the world cried as they lost a few more brethren to this legendary cake killing fork and man duo.

After finishing, he had a face of ecstasy. Rubbing his stomach, he felt thoroughly satisfied. Since he could remember, his love for sweets reached near unfathomable levels, especially cake-like pastries. They were his one true weakness. As he cultivated, this became even more intense.

This actually wasn’t uncommon among cultivators. With long lives and loneliness often occurring from cultivation, cultivators typically overly attach a liking or importance to specific things. Some choose objects or sex, some choose fighting or money, and quite a few choose food or wine. This was why the Xiantu Banquet amassed and brought out top-tier food in vast quantities.

For cultivators, especially those who cultivate the Essence Path, food and air is a non-essential factor. One’s body is nourished and tempered and survives by essence alone. Therefore, it is a pleasure and not a need.

Even Zhou Xiuhei had his own likes. The violet scholar was similar to Yan Zaizen in his likes. This was why he noticed Zhou Xiuhei’s sneaky robbery.

"You satisfied?" Knowing this, Zhou Xiuhei finally transmitted.

Yan Zaizen heavily nodded with a solemn expression, "Yes, Grandpa Xiu. I forgive you."

"..." Stunned by Yan Zaizen’s casual shamelessness, he didn’t even try. "You’ve been challenged. Ready yourself."

"What? Challenged by who?" Yan Zaizen was a little shocked. This came out of nowhere.

"After the banquet, the fierce fighting of tokens cease. The next phase is challenging for the right to hold the token and participate in the trial." Zhou Xiuhei explained. The chaotic, outside fighting for the trial tokens was actually an unofficial matter. Long ago it was decided that those not of the younger generation could not participate in the fighting for the token.

This was why Yan Zaizen only faced the hundreds of younger generation cultivators and no one else. After all, the Yun Clan was a seventh-tier force with an actual Heavenly Commander. When all candidates are chosen, the banquet is held.

When the banquet is completed, nine days later, the trial would be initiated. If the tokens haven’t been gathered in twelve hundred years within the Titan Sirius Realm, a formation would activate to bring the tokens back with their wielders. However, this formation was controlled by the Heavenly Commanders. The trial itself doesn’t have a deadline.

Then the banquet would be held. This was why Ma Xiuren executed her previous plan, to get more time before the trial was initiated. Unfortunately, Yan Zaizen arrived in a little over a hundred years. With all the tokens gathered, the banquet was held.

"During the gathering, those who believe themselves worthy can pay a price and challenge wielders to battle. If they win, they claim ownership of the token and right to participate in the trial." Zhou Xiuhei further explained. His voice was quite calm. "You’ve been challenged by Yun Xuli."

"?" Yan Zaizen’s brows furrowed. That name was familiar. After some thinking, he recalled Lang Xue and her grand-sized breasts. "Wasn’t he the one that Lang Xue needed to be with for one hundred and fifty thousand years?" After some recollection, it was indeed so.

However, "why should I accept this challenge?" Yan Zaizen didn’t feel like fighting for this token. In truth, he didn’t even care about this trial.

"If you win, the payment he offered to issue the challenge is yours."

"Hm? Payment? Mines?" Those words perked up his ears quickly. "What type of payment are we talking about here?"

Chuckling inwardly, Zhou Xiuhei felt like he understood Yan Zaizen’s personality a little more. He actually admired this, even if it was a little troublesome.

"Ten heavenly law crystals."

"..."

"..."

"What did you say?"

"Ten heavenly law crystals."

"No, no. What does that mean?"

"..." Zhou Xiuhei was shocked. He expected Yan Zaizen to be shocked but not confused. In truth, Yan Zaizen had never heard of heavenly law crystals, only liquid. Similar to essence liquid and essence crystals, one is a higher form of currency and used with those of a higher cultivation base. It had a thicker heavenly aura in vaster and purer quality. Those in the younger generation without a grand background or luck could go their entire lives not knowing about it.

"Heavenly law crystals are condensed and purified heavenly law liquid, it’s worth about one million heavenly drops each."

"...what?"

"Ten million heavenly drops total." This price to challenge was by no means small. Tokens rarely changed hands during the banquet due to the obscene amount of wealth required to issue a challenge. This was decided to prevent everyone and their mothers from challenging. Essentially, even the Yun Clan, a seventh-level heavenly force would be losing an arm and a leg to do so.

"...Then why are we talking Grandpa Xiu, let’s fight! We can’t keep our mone- i mean, challenger waiting." With that, Yan Zaizen readied himself and waited to be zipped away by a spatial rift. By this point, he was already used to being snatched away by Zhou Xiuhei. Licking his lips, he felt excited!

Ten million heavenly drops!!!