There was only enough time left in the day for one more battle after Yin Long returned to the venue where the contest was taking place. Of course, a team battle like this could easily drag on for half an hour or more if the two teams were about equal in strength. But that didn't end up being the case with the final battle for the day, which ended in a mere two minutes since the Starsong Territory had sent out their weakest team to face one of the Winged Blood Territory's somewhat stronger teams.

There might have been enough time to squeeze in one more battle since this one was so short, but this was after all an official contest so it had to follow certain schedules. As such, when the 10th person was knocked down from the stage, the seductive Jie Yue swept out her arm and sent a bolt of crimson lightning into the sky, the thunderous rumbling drawing everyone's attention as she stepped forward with a charming smile.

"Quite a fight to end the first day on, doesn't everyone agree? We've had many exciting battles and seen many sublime abilities and techniques, this little one is truly looking forward to seeing who amongst our talented juniors will receive the great honour of moving on to the lofty Province Championship. But no matter how much this one wishes to see the results straight away, I'm afraid that we have a schedule to follow, so we'll have to end the first day here. But please do join us again tomorrow, we'll be starting up again a mere hour after sunrise."

Jie Yue's soft words and subtle movements elicited several cheers from the audience, especially some of the men. It was to the point that she got more cheers than the people who had taken part in the previous battle, leaving their faces a little dark. But that was exactly why Jie Yue had been given the responsibility for this contest, her mere presence would draw people and eyes, would show off the province a bit more.

As for those juniors that couldn't handle being overshadowed by the host, they would just have to put in more effort to ensure that they overshadowed her instead. If they couldn't do that then they were worthless and there was no point in bothering about their feelings.

Her words truly marked the end of the first day, the spectators and contestants within the large hall starting to flood out through their respective hallways. Of course, each of the various teams was given a strict order that they had to be on time tomorrow, it would be extremely shameful for their territory if a team or team member was absent when the fights started.

Lan Yun stuck close to Yin Long as they left, her arms wrapped around his left arm as she held him close. She didn't know exactly what caused him to say what he did when he returned, but who wouldn't love to hear things like that from the person they loved? Her mind was already working out various things she was going to do to him once they reached the inn and got some privacy.

They sat on Jin Wang as they moved through the streets, Lan Yun forced to shift her position so that she sat behind Yin Long, her arms wrapped around his waist. Yin Long didn't have to control Jin Wang in any way so he could easily turn his head to glance at Lan Yun, once again observing her.

He paid especially close attention to her brown eyes, which constantly overlapped with their verdant-filled state in his mind. Each time that happened, she lost control of herself, and each time brought with it the risk that she would self-destruct just to kill him. In those times, it didn't matter what she thought, the Celestial World controlled her every move and emotion.

If they wanted her to kill herself then that was exactly what she would do, if they wanted her to get closer to someone else, then that was exactly what she would do. And that fact was one that stung Yin Long's heart, fuelling an extreme indignance. Thinking that they could control the one he had given his heart to, who did the Celestial World think that they were?

He turned his gaze away again before Lan Yun got the chance to question him, raising his pupils to the night sky once more. He stretched out his arm again and opened his palm, the stars continuing to seemingly slip through the gaps between his fingers. But his eyes were firm all the while, for he had already made up his mind earlier.

"Lan Yun, I am yours and you are mine, that is a fact I refuse to let anyone else change. So please continue to remain by my side, I promise you that there will come a day where my sword is so sharp that nothing can interfere even if it tried."

Yin Long's original ambition was just to see how high he could take his sword, how sharp he could make it before he reached the end of his road. In essence, his sword was aimless, it didn't have a tip that pointed it forward. But it did now, and it was aimed straight at the highest heights of the sky, at a destination where not even the Celestial World would be able to interfere with or control those around him. And should they try to stop him before he reached that point, then he would angle his sword and point that tip straight at them.

Lan Yun still didn't know exactly what Yin Long had encountered to spur him towards these thoughts, but she had no intentions of asking. If he wanted to talk about it then he would have already done so, his silence meant that it was something he didn't want to talk about yet, or maybe even couldn't.

But not understanding their origin didn't mean that they didn't tickle her heart, especially the exceedingly sharp light she just barely saw in the corner of his eyes. The curve of her lips grew a little bit larger as she leaned against Yin Long, pressing her chest against his back as she put her lips right next to his ear, whispering so softly and enticingly that it could melt bones.

"Young Master, I planned on waiting until we returned to the inn, but if you keep talking like that then I'm afraid that I'll end up dragging you into a back alley and just stripping you there and then."

Yin Long felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up when Lan Yun's warm breath tickled his ear, his arm lowering as a faint smile spread on his face. He enjoyed the soft sensation on his back, wondering to himself is this was the reason his sister had told Lan Yun the truth and allowed her to go with him, just so that he would have someone else at his side like this.

They returned to the inn, Jin Wang letting out a loud and disgruntled puff of air as he slumped down on the ground in front of the room. He was smart enough to know that entering the room was pointless, his master's mate would just kick him out so that she could ravage him.

Yin Long ruffled Jin Wang's mane and flashed him a somewhat apologetic smile, but Lan Yun pushed him into the room before he could say anything. She locked the door after them, Jin Wang releasing another heavy puff of air, resting his head on his paws as he guarded the door through the night.

The night quickly passed within the soundproof room, the artificial light of dawn quickly shining in through the windows and rousing Yin Long and Lan Yun from their slumber. They washed off the lingering sweat from the night and slipped into their robes, Yin Long into his white and Lan Yun into her yellow ones.

Jin Wang rose up in a lazy manner as the two left the room, the group of three making their way through the inn. Jin Wang was obviously a bit annoyed at having to spend the night guarding outside the room, but there was no way he was going to let that annoyance hinder his duty of preventing the unworthy from approaching his master. His imposing demeanour gave them plenty of space as they made their way through the city, quickly reaching the large dome where the competition took place.

Each of the three territories technically had their own entrances due to the fact that they were seated on different sides of the stage, this way they could reduce the chance that smaller fights broke out between rivals from opposing territories. But despite this, a familiar face from a different territory was waiting for them as they approached the entrance, Fang Yau walking over to them while tossing a star-shaped crystal to them

"Yo, Brother Long, you're already kicking up some small waves! Check spot 9781."

Yin Long caught the crystal with a raised eyebrow, sinking his mind into it to scour through the information inside it. The crystal was a rather peculiar information-storage treasure that contained a list of the 10 000 most noteworthy people that had revealed themselves during the first day of the contest. And of course, it didn't just show the participants of this Three-Fold Territory clash, it showed the most noteworthy participants among the 18 different Three-Fold Territory Clashes that were currently taking place over the entire planet.

Each of these 10 000 people was the cream of the crop, they had shown great talent or skill that warranted future observation. And as one would expect from a list like this, it changed every day as more and more battles took place, the changes automatically appearing inside the crystal so that the holder could always stay updated. Only those who could remain on the list to the end were worth paying full attention to, and the 180 public competitors of the Province Championship would be selected from this list.

There would be 360 competitors taking part in the Province Championship, 180 that were selected from this competition and a further 180 that would be sought out and selected by the Province Emperor's themselves. These 180 would usually be found amongst the descendants or disciples of the Province Emperors, people with such high standing and talent that it was beneath them to take part in a territorial clash like this one.

Yin Long focused on the position that Fang Yau had mentioned and did indeed find his own name, a small note added to his name to detail why he had been added to the list.

'Low cultivation but excellent combat sense and sword skills, should be able to fight people two or three levels above him. Wields what appears to be elemental swords he has crafted himself. Known user of the law of space. Prince of Fallen Leaves.'

Yin Long wasn't conceited, he was fairly certain that the main reason he was put on this list was his law of space, the rest probably wasn't worth mentioning in comparison. He swept the rest of the list with a quick look before he tossed the crystal back to Fang Yau, clicking his tongue slightly.

"You say that, but you've already landed yourself on the 1765th place just thanks to your cultivation."

Fang Yau had reached the 4th Earthen Door already, he had the second-highest cultivation out of everyone taking part in this Three-Fold Territory Clash. As such, he didn't even need to show any of his laws or skills to earn himself a place on the list, his mere presence alone was enough to ensure that. Fang Yau caught the crystal but just tossed it straight back to Yin Long, shrugging his shoulders as he turned his body and followed the group down the hallway.

"Keep it, I doubt your territory is willing to hand one of those to their 4th ranked team. And don't sell yourself short, ending up on the list by cultivation and ending up on the list by merit is completely different. Then again, I fully plan on soaring through that list later on as I show my skills, but I fear that entering the top 10 is going to be extremely hard. Hell, taking the 1st spot from that monster will probably be as difficult as ascending the heavens."

Yin Long caught the crystal again and handed it to Lan Yun so that she too could check it. He nodded his head with a rather serious expression as he agreed to Fang Yau, the person ranked 1st was indeed someone who could oppress others just by reading the small note.

'Rank 1, Zhao Feng, 38 years old, Cloud-Devourer Province, 1st Skyborne Door. Heaven-Smashing Fist.'

It didn't list anything other than his name, age, home province, cultivation and title, meaning that he hadn't even had to move during the first day of the competition. But just his cultivation level alone was enough to leave others speechless, especially when you also saw his age. It would already be considered extremely good by others if Yin Long could reach the Earthen Realm door by the time he turned 50, yet this Zhao Feng had reached the realm above the Earthen Doors while he was just 38 years old.

Some might just consider him extremely talented, but talent alone wasn't enough to reach such a realm. You also needed to be lucky and you had to put in an immense amount of effort, nothing could be lacking if you wanted to achieve something like that.

Lan Yun swept the list with her mind, a slightly grave expression appearing on her face when she saw the number 1 spot. But her eyebrow rose in surprise a bit later, Yin Long tapping her on the thigh to gesture that she shouldn't say anything. She quickly nodded her head, a small smile appearing on her face. And it was a smile that Yin Long mimicked, because he had also seen the name that caused her eyebrow to rise in surprise.

'Rank 4, Lang Huo, 20 years old, Sunsong Province, 4th Earthen Door. Sun's Firstborn.'