254: Chapter 253 The Visitor is a Guest

The torn clouds slowly closed.

Only the stranger wearing a starry robe remained, suspended alone in mid-air, drifting gently with the airflow until he finally landed steadily on the open ground of the central arena.

It was too abrupt.

Today was the final day of the Daming Dynasty Prodigy Tournament. The entire Imperial City had long been layered with city-protecting Formations, security Restrictions, and sky-patrolling barriers.

Over the past three months of the grand event, not even a bird had been able to intrude into the core area of the arena. Every spatial fluctuation, spiritual energy anomaly, or plane tremor would have been instantly captured by the Formations and triggered an immediate warning.

Yet, this person had forcibly torn through the spatial void, falling from the outer realms into the mortal world, all without a sound, bypassing all Formation detections.

On the high platform, Yuan Chen still leaned lazily in the main seat, his white robes loose and casual, his eyes carrying his customary cynical charm. He appeared nonchalant, but a faint trace of scrutiny had already flashed through his eyes.

He did not speak or issue orders, simply watching the strange visitor in the center of the arena.

However, the Dragon Clan powerhouses guarding the perimeter of the arena dared not be negligent in the slightest.

Those stationed here to maintain order were all elites of the Dragon Clan.

The moment the stranger landed, four Dragon Clan experts broke through the air simultaneously!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four brilliant golden dragon shadows tore through the air with extreme speed, instantly sealing off all retreat paths in the north, south, east, and west of the arena. The vast Dragon Qi, spreading scale patterns, and rolling pressure locked the entire arena space, leaving the opponent no room to escape or maneuver.

"Who are you?"

The leading Dragon Clan Elder's voice was like thunder, shaking the entire arena. "You dare trespass into the Forbidden Ground of the Imperial Dynasty's grand event? Surrender immediately and await the Dragon Emperor's judgment!"

Faced with the sudden encirclement, the man in the starry robe in the center of the arena was visibly stunned, his face filled with unprepared bewilderment.

The next moment, he turned to run.

"I, uh, I just..."

But the Imperial City was not a place one could just come and go as one pleased.

The four Dragon Clan experts acted immediately.

The stranger, having no choice, hurriedly turned back to defend. Being in a strange place, surrender was impossible, so he naturally had to fight.

"Watch this, Fighting Qi Shield!"

Immediately, everyone noticed something amiss.

When ordinary Cultivators attacked, Spiritual Qi surged, rosy light bloomed, and Dao rhyme roared. Yet, as this person raised his hand, the obscure, grayish halo surging in his palm was lightless, heatless, and soundless. It was neither the orthodox Spiritual Qi of the Immortal Realm, nor the Evil Qi of the Demonic Path, the demonic power of the Yao Race, or the Yin Qi of the Ghost Path. It was a bizarre energy system that no one in the arena had ever seen before.

As the gray light flowed, ripples appeared, subtle and strange. It looked unremarkable, yet it could forcibly dissipate the powerful attacks of the Dragon Clan.

Bang!

The first collision exploded into violent airwaves. Fierce winds swept across the arena, causing the stone tiles on the ground to crack layer by layer. The watching Prodigy Cultivators retreated in haste, their expressions filled with shock.

"Strange footwork! Bizarre energy!" A Dragon Clan expert shouted in a low voice, his eyes solemn. "His cultivation style is not right!"

The stranger's figure was elusive, his footwork shifting between reality and illusion. After dodging and maneuvering several times, he actually slipped out of the gaps in the blockade, avoiding the fatal capture.

However, his raw strength was ultimately limited.

It was equivalent to the Mahayana Stage.

While this cultivation level made him a master anywhere else, it was completely insufficient against the encirclement of four veteran Dragon Clan experts of the Immortal rank.

"This person's methods are too strange. His combat power is average, but his techniques are unique. His background is definitely not simple!"

"I have never seen such methods. It is too strange."

"His speech also has an accent. It is similar to ours, but there are differences."

On the stands, countless Sect Masters, Clan Chiefs, and reclusive experts whispered among themselves, all with solemn expressions and uncertain hearts.

Only Yuan Chen couldn't help but sit up straight, his expression strange. What did this person just shout?

On the arena, the battle ended in an instant.

The four Dragon Clan experts stopped testing him and exerted their full power. Golden dragon chains crisscrossed, locking the space, suppressing his Qi, and sealing his movement. Layers of dragon might crushed down.

In just three or five rounds, the gray strange light on the stranger shattered, his protective power completely collapsed, and he was tightly bound by the dragon chains. His shoulders were firmly gripped by the Dragon Clan Elder, and he was completely suppressed to the ground, unable to move.

He struggled twice, finding that his spiritual power and strange energy were completely sealed, so he had to stop, his face full of grievance and bewilderment.

The arena fell completely silent. The gazes of billions were focused on this strange, uninvited guest in the center of the arena.

On the high platform, Yuan Chen finally raised his eyes slowly. His lazy gaze fell upon the other party, and his voice was light and leisurely, yet it clearly spread throughout the entire Imperial City.

"Are you from the Immortal Realm?"

This question was not groundless.

Everyone in the venue knew that only people from the Upper Realm could tear through the spatial void, cross the plane barriers, and descend into the arena out of thin air.

This strange man in front of them had arrived using the same cross-boundary method as Zhao Miao, making it hard not to be suspicious.

Although the opponent only had the strength of the early Mahayana Stage, Yuan Chen had learned from Zhao Miao that there were also many Human Immortal Cultivators with low cultivation in the Immortal Realm. It was not impossible!

The suppressed stranger raised his head in confusion upon hearing this, blinking his eyes with incomprehension: "Immortal Realm?"

Then, he was overjoyed: "Is this the Immortal Realm? Have I ascended?"

Everyone looked at each other. It seemed not!

Yuan Chen rubbed his temples helplessly: "Pay attention to the question. Since I asked if you are from the Immortal Realm, doesn't that imply this is not the Immortal Realm?"

"Oh, oh, then where is this?"

"Am I asking you, or are you asking me?"

"Uh... I don't know either."

His tone was sincere, without any pretense or evasion, filled with innocence and confusion: "I was on my way, but in an instant, the surrounding space suddenly changed drastically, the world spun, and by the time I came to my senses, I had been pinned down and beaten by you all."

"I have no idea where this place is, nor have I provoked anyone. Why did you all suppress me without a word? Isn't this too overbearing and unreasonable?"

His words were full of grievance.

Yuan Chen raised an eyebrow and continued to ask calmly, probing layer by layer: "Not the Immortal Realm? Are you also from the Cultivation World?"

Upon hearing this, the man nodded heavily, his tone extremely certain: "Naturally, it is the Cultivation World! With my strength, I cannot go to the Immortal Realm!"

Hearing this, everyone was puzzled. Since when did the Immortal Realm have such a strange fighting style? It was as if he had changed his entire cultivation system.

Before everyone could be confused, Yuan Chen continued to ask.

"Since we are both from the Cultivation World, report your Sect, territory, place of origin, and your name."

The stranger did not dare to be negligent and replied obediently: "Junior's name is Ling Yue, from the Qingxuan Dao Sect. I have lived in the Liuyun Domain in the Northern Territory for many years, focusing on comprehending the Dao and quietly cultivating. I have never participated in disputes or wars, and I have always been law-abiding."

He looked like he had the words 'don't hit me' carved on his face.

On the stands, countless Sect Masters, Clan Chiefs, and older generation experts looked at each other, their eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Qingxuan Dao Sect? Never heard of it!"

"Liuyun Domain? Is there a Liuyun Domain in the Northern Territory?"

"I think this person looks shifty and dishonest. Let's just beat him!"

Everyone shook their heads, as no one knew any of the places or Sects he mentioned.

Ling Yue looked at everyone's bewildered expressions and became completely confused, his face full of shock and incomprehension: "How can this be? My Qingxuan Dao Sect is at least a major Sect, and the Liuyun Domain is a famous Holy Land for cultivation. How can none of you have heard of it? Are you all bumpkins?"

"..."

"Just beat him. Beat him until he smokes."

"I know a little about interrogation. Let me do it!"

"No, no, no." Ling Yue hurriedly admitted defeat.

He still had doubts in his eyes. What was going on?

Just as the whole arena was confused, an old man in simple robes with white hair and beard slowly stood up in the corner of the stands.

The old man bowed respectfully to the high platform, then looked at Ling Yue in the center of the arena, his aged and heavy voice slowly resounding throughout the arena.

"Dragon Emperor, this old man has read through the fragmented secret scrolls from ancient times. Perhaps I can resolve this confusion."

Yuan Chen gestured with an inviting posture: "Speak!"

The old man spoke slowly: "People have lived in this world for generations. From childhood, they have called the land beneath their feet the 'Cultivation World', assuming it is the only Cultivation World in the heavens, the only territory for Cultivators to comprehend the Dao. But historical records sporadically mention: the heavens are vast, the universe is boundless, and in the vast void, there is not just one cultivation plane."

"There are countless independent Lower Realm Cultivation Worlds in the heavens, and each world has complete Heavenly Dao rules, cultivation systems, Sect Legacies, and regional territories."

"The various Cultivation Worlds have always been strictly separated and independent, with very few precedents of cross-boundary travel."

"Fragmented historical records state that more than 700,000 years ago, in the Northern Wilderness, three strange Cultivators appeared out of thin air. Their origins were mysterious, and no one could find their roots! Those three had ridiculously strange methods; they did not Cultivate Spiritual Qi, but with a wave of their hands, they could affect the withering and flourishing of the earth and reverse the flow of Earth Qi. It was completely different from our native cultivation path! Dozens of Sects in the Northern Territory joined forces to surround them, but they still managed to escape and have since disappeared."

"There were also two people from outside the domain who suddenly appeared in the Southern Mountains more than 140,000 years ago... It's just that such cross-boundary Opportunities are too rare, occurring every few hundred thousand years, so not many people pay attention."

"Therefore, the 'Cultivation World' in this person's mouth is likely not the same world as ours!"

The old man pushed the wrinkles on his forehead and said word by word: "There is only one truth. He is a person from outside the heavens!"

The analysis sounded like a thunderclap in everyone's ears.

"Don't say it, don't say it..."

Yuan Chen narrowed his eyes, closely watching Ling Yue's reaction. He had already had this guess before.

Now that he heard the old man say that people from other Cultivation Worlds had indeed entered this world before, he was certain.

Just as everyone was whispering and discussing in realization, Golden Immortal Ao Li appeared beside them and spoke slowly:

"That is correct. This Lower Realm, in the Heavenly Dao records of the Upper Realm and the registration of the heavens, has an official name: [Canglan Cultivation World]."

"It is just that as generations have passed, the local Cultivators have passed it down from generation to generation and gradually forgotten the official name of their own realm. For simplicity, they collectively call it the 'Cultivation World'. Over time, the name 'Canglan' has been completely drowned in the long river of history, and no one mentions it or remembers it."

"But the Upper Realm rules the heavens and the universe, governing billions of Lower Realm planes. In order to accurately distinguish, categorize, manage, and register the origins, every independent major Cultivation World has a registered exclusive realm name, which will never be confused or disordered."

Although Golden Immortal Ao Li's Dao foundation was destroyed and his cultivation was lost, he had studied in the Immortal Realm and knew the secrets of the Upper Realm's governance of the heavens. His vision was far beyond that of mortal Cultivators.

"If nothing goes wrong, this young friend comes from the Xuanzhou Cultivation World. This world and the Canglan World are in the same Star Domain."

Everyone in the arena was completely enlightened.

"So that's it! It turns out there is a heaven beyond heaven, and a world beyond worlds!"

"We have been trapped in the Canglan world our whole lives, and only now do we realize we were just frogs in a well!"

"The heavens and myriad worlds, the endless universe—it turns out the path of cultivation is far more vast than we imagined!"

Inside the arena, exclamations and sighs echoed one after another. Everyone's cognition was completely refreshed at this moment.

On the high platform, Yuan Chen's expression remained relaxed and calm, but his heart was thinking rapidly.

Could it be that Golden Immortal Ao Li and Zhao Miao coming to the Lower Realm this time damaged the barriers of heaven and earth, which allowed the two Lower Realms to open a temporary passage?

He would have to investigate carefully. If he could open up the surrounding Cultivation Worlds, it would be a huge benefit to him.

As for whether it was related, he would know just by checking what happened before the previous appearances of people from outside the heavens.

Yuan Chen glanced at the old man and casually threw a bottle of Medicinal Pill: "Who are you?"

The old man opened the bottle and took a look, gasped, then hurriedly put it away. Pressing his trembling heart, he said quickly: "This old man is Dongfang Mu, Vice Dean of the Nanmen Academy in the Yellow Domain."

"Good, Dongfang Mu. After school... pfft, after the grand event ends, don't leave yet. I have something to ask you!"

"Alright!" Dongfang Mu agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, in the center of the arena, Ling Yue, who was firmly bound and suppressed, finally understood his situation completely. His handsome face slumped instantly, full of grief and grievance. He looked at Yuan Chen on the high platform with pathetic, pleading, and panicked eyes, his tone carrying a bit of begging.

"Everyone, it seems this is all a misunderstanding. We didn't know each other before, but now we are friends. I will treat you to local specialties, so please let me go!"

"You all know now, I am also a victim. I was just traveling honestly, and inexplicably I crossed the border and got stranded!"

As he spoke, he suddenly looked up: "By the way, can I go back?"

Dongfang Mu spoke leisurely: "You probably can't go back. Historically, there have only been a few spatial rifts connecting the two worlds. By the time you find one, you would have already ascended."

"Impossible! Impossible!" Ling Yue shook his head in despair, ignoring the expressions of the people around him, staring fixedly at the direction where he had fallen: "Where is the rift? Where is the rift? Where is that rift?"

He wailed: "Damn it, open up for me!"

Everyone: "..."

Yuan Chen, who was also stranded in a foreign land, felt very empathetic, and his tone softened by two degrees:

"Look on the bright side. Don't worry, guests are guests. I will cover your food and lodging. Just live well and don't be too sad."

He waved his hand:

"Come, take him down and keep a close watch on him."