A streak of light, like a comet ascending, trailed a tail of flames thousands of miles long, causing terrifying fluctuations that made the entire landscape world tremble violently, as if the whole microcosm was about to shatter.

The thousands of magical treasures and secret techniques were destroyed by the light as easily as dry weeds, annihilated into nothingness.

The arrow’s light burst out of the landscape world and arrived at the Great Xia Imperial City, where the overwhelming fluctuations caused many Earth Immortals and wandering souls to emerge, and many Heavenly Immortal powerhouses to change color dramatically, feeling a deep sense of impending death.

The black-robed Xia Emperor stepped forward, reaching out to grab the arrow’s light, but his expression changed the moment he touched it. He immediately slashed at the void with a hand as a blade, tearing open a crack dozens of feet long and diverting the arrow’s light into it.

Only then did the terrifying fluctuations disappear.

The Heavenly Immortal powerhouses looked at each other, each seeing a deep shock in the others’ eyes.

What happened?

How could an arrow shot by a mere Transcendent realm youngster instill fear in these old Heavenly Immortal ancestors?

What kind of power was this?

Inside the Bright Moon Landscape Painting, all the geniuses were already scared out of their wits. Even Xia Mang Purple Mountain and others, recalling that arrow, couldn’t help but tremble, feeling nothing but darkness and certain death before their eyes.

Even Xu Zong himself was startled by this anomaly.

“Damn, did I really cause such a big commotion?”

Since he had mastered this level of mental strength, he had never truly exerted it with all his might. This was the first time he had done so, and he hadn’t expected to nearly destroy the landscape microcosm!

At the Tian Mang Hall, there was dead silence.

“My fellow Daoists, could this be…?”

After a long while, the Great Momentum Bodhisattva looked at the other Daoists with disbelief.

“It’s definitely the third level of mental strength!”

Emperor Hao let out a deep breath, his eyes still filled with amazement.

“The third level of mental strength has reached the pinnacle of Heavenly Immortal strength, stepping into the threshold of True Immortal. His arrow just now could have killed a high-level Heavenly Immortal!”

“Incredible! The third level of mental strength, even those with the talent for it would have to reach the Celestial God or True Immortal realm before they could comprehend it, right?”

“Among the three realms, there have been a few who reached the third level of mental strength at the Return to Void stage, but it’s unheard of for someone at the Yuan Shen Realm to do so. For someone like him to reach the third level of mental strength in the Transcendent Realm… it has never happened since ancient times!”

Several True Immortal powerhouses looked at each other, feeling as if they had witnessed history.

They were standing right here, they had seen that scene, yet they still felt an unreal sense of absurdity!

In the landscape painting, all the geniuses had lost their will to fight.

This was not even a contest of the same level; it was like placing a Titan giant among a flock of sheep!

With no one to play with him happily, Xu Zong had to amuse himself by teasing Xia Mang Purple Mountain, Nine Deaths True Person, and others.

A day later, Xu Zong was moved out.

“I’m really sorry, Your Majesty, I almost destroyed this landscape painting.”

Back at the Tian Mang Hall, Xu Zong apologized awkwardly, scratching the back of his head to the Xia Emperor.

“Hahaha, it’s alright, it’s alright, we also got to see a good show!”

The Xia Emperor was not angry at all; on the contrary, he seemed even more amiable than before.

Emperor Hao, Great Momentum, and the others also treated him very kindly.

Reaching the third level of mental strength in the Transcendent Realm, he was bound to become a major figure stirring the Wind & Cloud of the three realms in the future! The possibility of achieving the path of a Celestial God was also quite high. The Xia Emperor and the others couldn’t wait to befriend him, let alone a landscape painting. Even if he destroyed five or eight, the Xia Emperor wouldn’t say much, but would feel that having a future Celestial God owe him a favor was the most profitable deal!

“My friends, what do you think? Whose disciple could he be?”

“Extraordinary archery, mental strength talent the first since ancient times… I can only think of one person!”

“Hou Yi! Could he be a disciple taught by Hou Yi?”

The Xia Emperor and others communicated through voice transmission, speculating about Xu Zong’s origins.

Among the ancient divine archers, Hou Yi was undoubtedly the first, his mental strength so strong that it was unparalleled in the three realms. However, after the ancient cataclysmic war, he disappeared without a trace.

Now, seeing Xu Zong and witnessing his unprecedented talent in comprehending the third level of mental strength in the Transcendent Realm, they all thought of Hou Yi. Perhaps only Hou Yi could have taught such a terrifying disciple!

However, in reality, Xu Zong had not received any guidance in mental strength.

He was able to comprehend the third level of mental strength purely because his second Yuan Shen had spent nearly a hundred years in the Bright Moon Landscape Painting! With his bottleneck-free talent, he easily broke through two levels and comprehended the third level of mental strength in one go.

Bottleneck-free talent was the strongest talent for secluded cultivation; as long as he had time, he could keep improving!

The Immortal Fate Assembly continued, and although many people were making a fuss about Xu Zong’s performance in secret, they couldn’t do much during the Immortal Fate Assembly.

As the boss, Xu Zong still went in for one day each month, but this limited-time boss battle had changed from players trying to defeat the boss to the boss teasing the players.

“Xia Mang Purple Mountain, don’t run! Charge towards my flying boat!”

“Why are you bothering me? Can’t you find someone else?”

Xia Mang Purple Mountain’s face was ashen as he hurriedly used an escape technique to flee.

“I know where Nine Deaths is, you go chase her!”

“Xia Mang Purple Mountain, you bastard!”Seeing Xia Mang Zishan fleeing, Xu Zong once again piloted his flying vessel to chase after the Nine Deaths True Person, who cursed angrily and also began to flee.

“Don’t chase after me, go after the True Person Fei Xue! She’s prettier than me, and I know where she is!”

“Nine Deaths, you deserve to die nine times over!”

The silver-haired beauty, True Person Fei Xue, was in a difficult position and also hurriedly fled on a cloud.

From the beginning, all the geniuses were looking forward to the boss, but later they became fearful of the boss, and eventually, they would run at the sight of the boss. On the days of the boss battles, countless geniuses were in misery.

During this time, Ji Ning and Yu Wei also encountered a crisis. The two successfully affirmed their love, but Yu Wei was also eliminated, which excited Lu Dongbin immensely, while Ji Ning continued to fight alone inside, breaking through his strength several times.

And so, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

“The trial of the Landscape Painting has ended!”

The grand, bell-like voice of Emperor Xia entered the Landscape Painting.

The hundred or so geniuses still alive inside all felt a great relief, each revealing joyful smiles.

“The 80 people with the most talismans, I will move you out first.”

In a short while, a total of 80 figures emerged from the Landscape Painting, returning to the plaza below. Ji Ning, Teng Qingshan, Pei San, Qin Seventeen, Xia Mang Zishan, Nine Deaths True Person, True Person Fei Xue, and others were all among them.

“The rest of you will compete for the last 16 spots.”

All the remaining people inside the Landscape Painting were moved by Emperor Xia to a valley.

After a fierce battle, another 16 were decided.

These 16 were also moved out, joining the previous 80 to form the final 96. As for the other contestants, they could only go back to their respective homes.

“Congratulations to you 96 for successfully passing the first round of trials.”

Emperor Xia stepped forward, arriving above the plaza, looking down at the many geniuses below.

“Next, you 96 will fight one-on-one until the final three are decided. However, before the start of this conference, I promised to reward you a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and naturally, I will not go back on my word.”

“Those 48 who win the first round of fighting will each receive an Immortal-grade magical treasure!”

There was some commotion below. In previous Immortal Fortune Conferences, only the top three would receive Immortal-grade magical treasures, but this time, just by winning one round and entering the top 48, the reward was indeed increased by more than a hundredfold.

“Those who win the three rounds of fighting, the 12 victors, will each receive ten million jin of Yuan liquid!”

“After five rounds of fighting, the final three will each be allowed to choose one divine ability secret technique from my Great Xia’s treasury, and my master will also choose one of these three to take on as a named disciple!”

Even those who already knew this couldn’t help but get excited at this moment.

“Prepare yourselves. In one hour, the first round of the arena battle will begin.”

After Emperor Xia finished speaking, he returned to the Tian Mang Hall.

The many geniuses below hurriedly seized this last opportunity to recuperate, adjusting their states, while many Heavenly Immortal ancestors continuously transmitted their voices to them, urging them to be among the final three.

Atop the Tian Mang Hall.

“Qing Hu, you’re not planning to participate in this arena battle, are you?”

Emperor Xia smiled and looked at Xu Zong beside him, teasingly asking.

“Of course not.”

Xu Zong naturally waved his hand.

If he were to participate, even Ji Ning would be slapped away by him.

Moreover, this Immortal Fortune Conference was Great Xia’s own event, a process for the citizens of Great Xia to compete for fortune. If he insisted on participating, Emperor Xia would certainly give him face, but as a disciple of the Dao Ancestor, his own fortune was already prosperous enough. There was no benefit in competing with these youngsters.

He would just watch here, to see how far Teng Qingshan and the others could go.

Beside him, the chat group’s live broadcast had been ongoing, and at this critical moment, many Xu Zongs also logged on, intending to witness the final arena battle.

An hour later.

“The opponents for the arena battle will be decided by me. The first battle of the first round will be True Person Hei Shi against True Person Wu Hui!”

On the plaza, a bald, dark-skinned youth and a youth in green clothes flew up into the air and entered the Landscape Painting, clashing fiercely. True Person Hei Shi was clearly more powerful, easily defeating True Person Wu Hui.

Following that, the second and third battles began one after another, with Ji Ning, Xia Mang Zishan, and others easily defeating their opponents.

Emperor Xia arranged the opponents, clearly intending to leave the stronger ones for later.

Teng Qingshan and his two companions also each faced their opponents. After some probing, they easily won. All three of them had comprehended the true meaning of the Dao and penetrated several minor paths. In terms of strength, they were undoubtedly among the very best.

After the first round ended, the remaining 48 all received the Immortal-grade magical treasures bestowed by Emperor Xia. After another hour of rest, the second round began.

In this round, the hidden masters burst forth one after another.