A Surprising Display

Emperor Hu Wenxi sat silently observing the raging battles before him. His son Hu Jin Shen had encountered several powerful beasts and managed to kill them all earning himself 32 points total. Of course he was also generous to his followers and they all held between 12-20 points from collected herbs.

Jin Shen's group was in actuality a political ploy by the aristocracy. Between the 6 sects, powerful factions, and the aristocracy, the nobles were definitely the weakest. Many families only rose up in the past 200 years by riding the coattails of the Hu imperial clan. Of course the Hu clan was riding off the coattails of the Creation God sect who were riding the coattails of Hu Wenxi himself.

Jin Shen's group was carefully selected by his mother Qiang Mei Hua and consisted of the more promising members of the generation. Of course they were a means to an end for Jin Shen's rise. His talent was far superior.

It is without a doubt that emperor Hu's eldest son was a supreme talent. He was on par with the 4 heavenly chosen of yesteryear who was also participating. It's funny because although they are younger the 4 heavenly chosen can be considered to be in the same generation as the emperor give orate a few centuries. Just goes to show how much of a monster Hu Wenxi is.

"His highness' performance is astonishing" commented one of the Human Immortals.

"Indeed, I remember young Shen'er when he was a child, he truely had grown a lot."

"Ah, but sect master Qiang, his royal highness is also the son of his majesty. Like father like son, both super geniuses"

To the side Wenxi signed. It was always like this, being in a position of high power always led to this same scenario. Of course Qiang Mei Hua always wants him to play along but at this point he just doesn't care. Good thing was that Qiang Wang was also here, he could speak on his behalf for while.

That's not to say Hu Wenxi did not bother with politics, he kept a very close eye on the empire and have secretly personally put down rebellions before they even began. He simply rarely participated in public gatherings preferring to cultivate all day. 'It was luck that I reincarnated into such a world, I have a chance to gain eternal life'. This was the thought process of Hu Wenxi. Of course dominating the heavens in the process was a sweet bonus. For all his gripes, being emperor was awesome especially a cultivator one.

"Jin Shen can still make more improvements, his lobo fist art is still flawed" Wenxi stated as he watched his son's battle with an opposite team. Strictly speaking teams weren't forbidden hence some weaker cultivators will team up for now. Jin Shen's group was special as politics were involved.

"Your majesty is too modest, his highness is very good for his age" Lao Fu chimed in on the side. He had always been a staunch supporter of the emperor. That and the Acala Buddha temple got a lot of benefits from the emperor.

"That I will not deny"

Truthfully he had never expected to have a son. In xianxia novels cultivators were lonesome figures who join a sect get stronger and moves on. All his friends and family are forgotten about and never brought up. Sitting here as an emperor, a realm king of an upper realm with 33 lower realms in his domain was not what he expected to be when he was just reincarnated.

Unlike in a xianxia novels, cultivation speed is not stupid. You don't become an immortal in 3 years of cultivation, you have to study and practice years of complex techniques to learn the Dao. It is not just about absorbing natural phenomena.

In the pocket dimension something interesting was happening. Hu Jin Shen have made his way into a herbal garden containing many high ranking herbs.

"Great with these we will all get at least 100 points. Good find brother Hu" one of the youngsters exclaimed.

"Yes brother Hu is great. How did you find it?" Asked another.

"It was no issue, a strong enough immortal sense can detect nearly anything". For Hu Jin Shen, finding a large collection of valuable herbs was easy due to the thick amounts of spiritual energy they produce. In fact any half decent expert can repeat the same feat. It was just that the area was also rich in monsters. Hu Jin Shen's group was special as Hu Jin Shen was one of the few Crossing Tribulation stage cultivator present and was able to scare off monsters.

Monsters and humans have different cultivation styles. While most humans either cultivated the heavens and become immortals or the grand tao to become a god. Monsters cultivate the world to become demons. This why monsters and beasts are categorically classified as demons.

The pocket dimension had very few Crossing Tribulation stage demons. Truthfully the tournament was rigged in that no one will die. Every participant was tagged unknowingly by the Hu clan and so were in no danger. The Hu clan must didn't tell them so they will remain on edge.

"Alright boys, we best get to work, every gets a share of 50 grams crimson rain grass, 40 grams of silver leaf plant…" Hu Jin Shen made sure to split everything evenly. He himself will keep 50% of the total as the leader. His title as prince was also a contributing factor.

"How generous" an observing saint expert commented from the seats. The stadium currently held over 300 saints and thousands of Crossing Tribulation elders and many more Heavenly Connection experts. Only the top figures were allowed into the VIP box with the emperor. Naturally this included all the Human Immortals.

Down below, Jin Shen's group were picking herbs when bushes from both the southeast and southwest bristled. Sensing two experts Hu Jin Shen turned and called out, "Fellow taoists, there's no need to hide, come out!"

From the southeast direction came a handsome young man with a cold face. He had an arrogant domineering aura around him and carried a massive heavy sword. "Greetings fellow taoist" he said in an even voice without bowing remaining standing tall with arms behind his back.

Jin Shen's group raised their eyebrows. This man was only at the Xiantian realm two steps below Heavenly Connection which most of them were at. Yet this man greeted them as equals. One has to know that the gap between even a single realm was larger then the difference between the ground and outer space. This is intensified as the stage increases. Even a weak Heavenly Connection expert that's quadriplegic can still slap an Essence Condensation expert to death in less then a second. Of course exceptions exist but these were few and far between, one in untold trillions of cultivators. Cultivators themselves being one in a million.

"May I inquire as to fellow taoist's name?" Hu Jin Shen said evenly. He did not wish to antagonise unknowns and as his father taught him, 'you never know if the old beggar on the street is a secret old monster'.

"Off course, I am surnamed Yun, Yun Xiao Che" said the man.

"Oh so its brother Yun" many of Jin Shen's subordinates were unfamiliar with the name. Hu Jin Shen on the other hand had a vague recollection. 'Isn't that the fellow sister Jun told me about?'. This sister Jun was one Jun Xilei one of the four heavens chosen. She was 360 years old and was at 5 meridian Crossing Tribulation realm expert and one of the top talents in the entire Thousand Flames upper realm. She was also participating in the tournament.

Just then another figure walked out from the southwest direction. It was another man, no it was better to say boy. A boy with long spiky blond hair and European features. He wore a karuta and held a giant fan in one hand and a giant butcher knife like sword in the other.

"Hello there, I am Sam" he said with a smirk that oozed 'I'm better then you'. For obvious reasons this grated on everyone's nerves, even Yun Xiao Che. 'The heck, this guy is only at xiantian. What gives him the right to be so arrogant?'.

"Sa-Sam?" Jin Shen tried out the name, It was a strange one. Shaking his head Jin Shen said "fellow taoist, us brothers came here first. If you'd like you can join us, there should be enough to give you share. How about say 10 grams total of any herb". As they were not friends nor enemies, I was better to be friendly. Besides there were some left over.

Yun Xiao Che seems to be weighting the idea in his head. It was a good offer, his opponents were all very strong even with his secret abilities he doubt he could beat them.

Sam on the other hand scoffed. "What, I didn't come all that way for that". He felt it unfair as he had walked along way and expected an even share as equals. He raised his sword and said to the prince "That seems a little unfair, how about a bet".

"What? How dare you, this is the crown prince you're talking to. He is a mighty figure at the Crossing Tribulation stage" one of Hu Jin Shen's subordinates called out.

"Blah blah, so what if he's a prince" Sam said uncaringly and started picking his ears. "How am I supposed to remember all the Aos and the Hus and the Sues".

At this point Jin Shen was annoyed, even Yun Xiao Che felt his eyebrows twitching. "That is awfully rude of you. You clearly lack discipline" Hu Jin Shen bit back. "This prince was feeling generous, but since you have that attitude, scram".

Everyone nodded, this child was unbelievable. "Prince this prince that so what, I'll kick all your asses" Sam raised his hand and dozens of golden portals opened up.

"GATE OF BABYLON"

They all reacted before the weapons fired yet the sheer speed they came was unbelievable. Sonic booms were created as they exited the portal. However everyone was unfazed as they dodged and repelled the weapons.

"What!" Sam exclaimed, everyone up till now couldn't react. When he first arrived on the Azure Sky continent he reigned supreme, many Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation elders perished under his hands. Even Xiantian cultivators couldn't stand up to him.

As such Sam decided to come to the central continent. In fact her arrived by sky ship only a week ago. In the Thousand Flames upper realm, the oceans were incomprehensibly vast stretching millions of kilometres. A Xiantian cultivator and even Heavenly Connection cultivator cannot cross that distance on their own. Only with a sky ship can they travel at a reasonable speed. Of course saints and Human Immortals and traverse the entire world under their own power very quickly.

Everyone here aside from Yun Xiao Che was an established powerhouse at the Heavenly Connection realm at least. Even Yun Xiao Che was not normal. They had no problems avoiding him.

"Impudent scum, let I Bai San teach you a lesson" one of Jin Shen's subordinates walked forwards and unsheathed his sword. With one wave he unleashed a crescent shaped pink sword energy at Sam.

"Hmph" Sam raised his Knife sword and swung it.

"Geeeeetsuuuuuugaaaaaaa Tenshoooooooooo"

Bluish white met pink and the result was a massive blast radius that went on form many dozens of kilometres. One must understand that a Heavenly Connection cultivator was the limit one can reach in lower realms, they can easily erase continents. Surprisingly this Sam kept up with Bai San.

"This Sam is not all talk" Hu Jin Shen stood valiantly in the air watching this exchange. Beside him were his subordinates and Yun Xiao Che. They all nodded.

Outside many experts were discussing as to the identity of Sam. This stranger with a foreign name was quite powerful, there was no way he's a nobody.

"Who is he?" "Is he from the 6 sects?" "The Hu imperial clan perhaps?"

In the VIP box, all the elders were shocked at this boy's power. For a mere xiantian to clash with a Heavenly Connection expert was unthinkable. "How old is he?" One of the Human Immortals asked, this was taoist Infinity Heaven.

Lao Fu gazed at Sam with curious eyes but it was Qiang Wang who answered, "from his bone age, I'd say 15 or 16".

"WHAT!" Although Wang Qiang was in the VIP box his voice was herd by the saints in the lower seats. They could see it for themselves but with Wang Qiang's confirmation this…this was just…too unnatural. 16 year old xiantian was one thing, 16 year old xiantian that could fight a Heavenly Connection was another beast entirely.

"Is-Is he like Nezha from the legends?"

In the VIP box the emperor was still. The only though going through Hu Wenxi's head was, 'What in the actual Fuck'.