163: The newly arrived, despised Yungong team

Time flew by.

Three days before the official start of the Tournament, Long Aotian and his companions were still in seclusion.

By then, the Azure Ancient Empire, Heavenly Dao Palace, Sea Sand Sect, and Divine Wood Gate, the four State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions from the Eastern Continent, had arrived one after another. Gu Yu, Sha Maike, Mu Tianxiao, and Jiang Zhahui, who had previously gone to the Eastern Wilderness to recruit cannon fodder, were also in the entourage, serving as Protectors.

Each State had several State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, but this was only relative to the Eastern Continent and Western Continent; the Northern Continent and Southern Continent were exceptions.

A so-called Giant Cultivation Faction was a Cultivation Faction that had at least reached the Sub-State Level and above to be considered a Giant Cultivation Faction.

The Northern Continent had only one Giant Cultivation Faction, and it was a Continent-Level one: the Tianxu Immortal Mansion.

The Southern Continent also had only one Giant Cultivation Faction, a Sub-Continent Level one, which was one level stronger than a State-Level: the Holy Fire Sect.

The Eastern Continent and Western Continent had quite a few Giant Cultivation Factions. There were no Continent-Level or Sub-Continent Level Giant Cultivation Factions, but there were more State-Level and Sub-State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions than one could count on two hands.

The Eastern Continent alone had four State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions: the Azure Ancient Empire, Heavenly Dao Palace, Sea Sand Sect, and Divine Wood Gate. There were more than a dozen Sub-State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, such as the Flower Sect, Haotian Mansion, Lingyun Sect, and Divine Hidden Gate.

The Western Continent also had quite a few State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, including the Heavenly Pool Empire, Heavenly Secret Immortal Pavilion, Nine Heavens Immortal Palace, Ten Thousand Swords Immortal Sect, Guiyi Sect, Divine Blade Gate, Heavenly Fiend Hall, Heavenly Soul Hall, and Demon Suppression Hall, totaling nine State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions. The number of Sub-State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions was more than three times that of the Eastern Continent.

Judging from the number of Giant Cultivation Factions, the overall strength of the Western Continent was undoubtedly at least twice that of the Eastern Continent.

As for the Martial Dao Holy Land, the Central Continent?

It had even more Giant Cultivation Factions.

Of the six Continent-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, four were rooted in the Central Continent.

They were the Central Continent Immortal Mansion, Pill Pavilion, Honghuang Shop, and Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

The Demon Alliance was in Tu Shan, which, like the Eastern Wilderness, was an overseas enclave, belonging to the Western Continent but not ruled by the Heavenly Pool Empire of the Western Continent.

The Tianxu Immortal Mansion was the absolute overlord of the Northern Continent.

It is worth mentioning that the Tianxu Immortal Mansion of the Northern Continent and the Holy Fire Sect of the Southern Continent were both theocratic Giant Cultivation Factions, each governing their respective States. The main reason was that the population in these two States was too small to form a country.

Aside from the four Continent-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, there were also many Sub-Continent Level Giant Cultivation Factions in the Central Continent, such as the Spirit Beast Immortal Sect, God Slaying Hall, Tian En Temple, Jiuli Mountain Villa, Jietian Immortal Mansion, Death Immortal Valley, Yunmeng Immortal Sect, Wuji Immortal Sect, Purple Cloud Immortal Palace, Misty Immortal Palace, Luoli Immortal Gate, Great Forest Immortal Sect, as well as the four great Cultivation Families: Ye, Chu, Xiao, and Qin.

There were as many as sixteen of them.

Below the Sub-Continent Level Giant Cultivation Factions, there were even more State-Level and Sub-State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions, such as the Divine Talisman Gate, Ancient Law Gate, Ancient God Sect, Ten Thousand Artifacts Divine Sect, and Lingxiao Pavilion. There were hundreds of State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions and thousands of Sub-State-Level Giant Cultivation Factions.

The Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts gathered all these Giant Cultivation Factions. This was a once-in-a-millennium martial arts spectacle. Many people, even if they did not participate in the grand competition, wanted to come and see the world, to see how strong and Heaven-Defying the Prodigies of Various States and various Giant Cultivation Factions truly were.

Therefore, during previous Millennial Martial Arts Tournaments of the Heavenly Ruins, millions of Cultivators gathered above Sky Battle City, with half of them being Disciples brought by their Sects to see the world.

With three days left until the Tournament began, the Giant Cultivation Factions from the Central Continent began to arrive one after another. Because they were close and familiar with the route, they were not in a hurry to arrive early and wait.

Of course, Giant Cultivation Factions from other States or those located somewhat remotely also did not arrive too early to wait. They mostly came in advance to make friends and then probe the strength of some opponents to prepare for battle.

Furthermore, arriving early gave them ample time to rest and recuperate.

In general, arriving quickly had its advantages, and arriving slowly also had its advantages.

On the last day before the Tournament began, almost all Giant Cultivation Factions had already entered the venue, and the enforcement team at the entrance and exit of the Tournament's Protector team began to feel a bit impatient.

No one had yet disembarked from Long Aotian's flying ship?

"Which Giant Cultivation Faction does that flying ship belong to? Why haven't they disembarked yet?" the captain of the enforcement team, Cang Jue, couldn't help but furrow his brows slightly, muttering in a questioning tone.

"It is indeed a bit strange!"

The two vice-captains, Wei Wu and Xiong Zhuang, did not directly answer the question, but their words conveyed a single meaning:

They also did not know.

Cang Jue frowned slightly: "Why not send someone over to ask them what's going on?"

They judged Long Aotian and his companions to be a Giant Cultivation Faction participating in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts primarily by the grade of the flying ship and its defensive Formation.

Long Aotian and his companions' flying ship was an Immortal-grade Magic Treasure, which was standard for a Giant Cultivation Faction's battle team. Furthermore, the flying ship had a Level 10 Defensive Formation, a Level 10 Divine Sense Isolation Formation, and so on, which were also standard configurations for a Giant Cultivation Faction's flying ship.

If Long Aotian and his companions were not a Giant Cultivation Faction participating in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts, they would not believe it even if beaten to death.

"Alright, we two will go take a look..."

"No need!"

However, just as Wei Wu and Xiong Zhuang were about to investigate, Cang Jue sensed movement from Long Aotian and his companions' flying ship and quickly stopped them.

Movement was good; movement proved that there were indeed people inside. Not to mention that the Tournament was about to begin, if they were participating in the Tournament, it was time to enter.

If they did not enter today, their participation qualification would be revoked.

"Cloud Palace Team?"

Long Aotian opened the layers of Formations on the flying ship and announced that they could disembark. The team's banner was the first to unfurl.

Upon seeing the unfurled banner, Cang Jue, Wei Wu, Xiong Zhuang, and the others couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

"Which State's Giant Cultivation Faction is the Cloud Palace Team? Why do I have no impression of them at all?"

"Me neither, but I can confirm that it shouldn't be a Giant Cultivation Faction from our Central Continent!"

"I remember all the Giant Cultivation Factions from the previous Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts, and there was no 'Cloud Palace Team' on the list."

"Good heavens, after guarding for so long, has a troublemaker finally arrived to let us stretch our muscles?"

"Heh, no wonder they hid on the flying ship and didn't dare to come down. So they were hesitating, or even scared by us into not daring to come down? I don't know which State's Cultivation Faction this Cloud Palace is. With such a cowardly demeanor, coming to participate in the Heaven Ruins Millennium Grand Tournament of Martial Arts is simply to make a fool of themselves. I'm afraid they won't even be able to enter the venue's main gate."

"..."