Not a single sound could be heard within the grand hall, even the sound of the audience's breathing was low and stilted. All eyes were focused squarely on Yin Long, his two sinister wings fully unfurled as he held two swords, his entire body radiating an aura of calm and confidence. But it was exactly this aura that battered the hearts of all who gazed upon him.

Just like a king never questioned his reign, it seemed like Yin Long had never once questioned his ability to win, nor did it seem like the outcome excited or even surprised him in the slightest. Complete and utter confidence, to the point where it bordered on arrogance that didn't even put his opponents in his eyes.

But as he stood there, his white robes drenched in both his own and his enemy's blood, no one dared to say anything about that arrogance, nor did anyone think that it was unfounded. What sort of feat had he just accomplished, what sort of might had he just revealed? Just the fact that he had been able to beat someone at the 5th Immortal Door while at the 1st Immortal Door was shocking enough, but now he had beaten someone at the 9th Immortal Door while just at the 4th Immortal Door.

The strength of cultivators grew exponentially, being able to beat someone a sub-realm above you in the early stages of the Immortal Door realm was not the same as being able to beat someone a sub-realm above you in the late stages of the Immortal Door realm. The higher you went, the greater the difference in strength was, and yet Yin Long had completely disregarded that fact as he carved his name into the minds of everyone present.

In fact, if they looked at the entire battle, it had always been under Yin Long's control. The two people at the 9th Immortal Door were kept in check by him, the people from the 1st to the 6th Immortal Door were beaten by him, and even those at the 7th and 8th Immortal Door were quickly beaten thanks to him working together with his companions. It was to the point that it was hard to think of him as someone just at the 4th Immortal Door.

But whether or not it was hard to accept didn't matter, the truth was still the truth. And as everyone realized that truth, a thought started to quietly spread among the audience, festering in their minds like an invasive parasite. What if he could increase his cultivation by a bit more? He could beat those at the 9th Immortal Door now, but what if he reached the 5th, 6th, or even 7th Immortal Door? Would even people at the Earthen Door fall to him at that point?

Yin Long swept his gaze across the crowd, the weaker ones feeling a sensation akin to a tugging on their souls as his black eyes swept over them. He saw the awe and slight fear in his eyes, as well as the faint tinge of curiosity that had surfaced from the depths of their minds. He turned his gaze onto the charming Jie Yue, who jumped slightly when she met his completely still gaze. But she was still a professional who had been given this job by the Province Emperor's own faction so she quickly gathered herself and hopped onto the stage.

"Wow, can you really say anything other than that to a fight like this?! Winged-Blood Team 4 put up an extremely valiant resistance, but their abilities were simply too restrained by Bloodgrass' new team. It might be a shame for them to lose like this and have to hand over all their accumulated wins, but I believe that seeing such a majestic spectacle might just be worth it, at least for us onlookers! Luckily, that was only Winged-Blood Team 4's second loss so they can still participate, we can only hope that they'll make the best of it. As for Bloodgrass' new team, they've instantly propelled themselves into a rather good position, haven't they?"

Yin Long allowed Jie Yue to chatter on, his wings and the crack in his forehead vanishing as he deactivated his bloodline and leaned on Lan Yun and Jin Wang. They quickly left the stage and sat down in front of the barricade that separated the seating area from the stage and its surrounding open area. All three of them had suffered some rather bad wounds so it was necessary that they recuperate, Jin Wang's wound was especially bad and would likely need several days even if they used medicinal pills.

But they had achieved what they came for, they had shown just how strong they were. Only 10 of the people here would be selected to go to the Province Championship and it would obviously only be the 10 strongest. Among all the contestants present, there were currently 12 people who had reached the Earthen Door realm, and if things went as normal, 10 of them would be selected to head out.

Fang Yau and Xiao Yin Yu were no-brainers, they were guaranteed to be selected unless they suddenly died or were crippled, it was the remaining eight spots that everyone was fighting for. But Yin Long knew that now there would only be seven spots remaining for others, his show of force had simply been too great, there was no way it could be ignored.

Just one month of absence was enough for him to become this strong so it was obvious that everyone was wondering what would happen if they gave him a bit more time and a bit more resources. And he would find both in the Province Championship so how could people not wonder just what sort of realm his strength could reach if he went there?

And not even Province Emperor Starblood could stop him thanks to how public his show of force had been. Recordings would definitely spread out to the other provinces before dawn, everyone would get to see Yin Long's strength and abilities. There was no telling how many people would pressure him if Emperor Starblood refused to send Yin Long to the Province Championship.

After all, the championship was directly tied to the glory and fame of the province, every organization in the province wanted nothing more than to see their own province command a dominant spot. And it would only be even better if the ones that created this dominant position came from the 10 contestants that were chosen publicly rather than the 10 people chosen personally by the Province Emperor.

Of course, there was still a chance that Emperor Starblood would just disregard all this and prevent Yin Long from participating in the Province Championship. Yin Long wouldn't give up at that point, but his odds of succeeding would be drastically lowered, it wasn't easy to go against the will of a Province Emperor after all.

Yin Long used his law of blood to stop Lan Yun and Jin Wang's bleeding, covering their wounds with a thin layer of blood that quickly dried and formed a sealing crust. Both he and Lan Yun brought out their respective medicinal pills and weren't shy about sharing, stuffing a few into Jin Wang's mouth so that his own healing would also be accelerated.

But overstuffing yourself on pills wasn't really a good thing, only pills on the divine level wouldn't start accumulating waste in your body. As such, they would also require a period of rest where they used their own Qi to nourish their wounds, even the one with the least wounds, Lan Yun, would need at least five or so days to fully recover.

But considering the battle they had just won, and how strong their opponents had been, coming away with only this level of injuries could actually be considered the best possible outcome. Yin Long's wounds were the worst, he had suffered the full assault of a 9th Immortal Door cultivator after all. But even so, he didn't remain seated for long before he stood up again, spending half a minute to make sure that his wounds didn't open up again before he left behind a few words and walked away.

"I'll be right back, gotta go deal with something."

Lan Yun immediately understood what he was planning, a slight grimace surfacing on her face. What he was about to do was quite dangerous, but she had no way of helping him, following him would actually only make things even more dangerous for him. As such, she could only do the thing she disliked the most, sit around and wait for him to return.

Yin Long left the dome with slow steps, but his calm expression made it impossible to know if he moved slowly on purpose or if it was because of his wounds. The sun had already started to approach the horizon when Yin Long and the others rushed over to the dome so the night had already arrived while they were fighting, a cool breeze rustling his hair. He walked for almost half an hour, eventually reaching a deserted street that snuck around behind some shops and inns.

"You can come out now, and you'd best have a good explanation ready for me."

Yin Long's gaze turned icy and cold, as if it disregarded all creation. A faint blur flashed in front of his eyes as his voice dropped, the kneeling figure of Emperor Starblood appearing in front of him. His dark silver hair was still tied into a bun, his head lowered so that his light crimson eyes couldn't be seen as he spoke reverently.

"Milord, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to escape your sight."

Yin Long didn't reply to Starblood's flattering, maintaining his cold and icy gaze. Each interaction with Starblood was a gamble on his part, he had no idea how the Lord of Everburning Trees acted in the past so he could only guess based on the assumptions he could make after seeing the subordinates that followed him in the Netherworld, as well as guessing how a powerful lord from the Netherworld would act.

But he had felt Starblood's gaze on him ever since he left the training ground so he knew that this was a confrontation that couldn't be avoided. Starblood didn't immediately start talking as Yin Long looked at him, but he seemed to feel a bit pressured as Yin Long maintained his gaze in silence, lowering his head a bit further.

"I judged that there was no longer a need for you to participate in such a small clash, nor the following championship. Your time would be better spent recovering your previous strength here, where you can remain hidden for longer."

His words were a confirmation of Yin Long's earlier guess, it was indeed Starblood that had set things up so that Yin Long would stay in the training ground and miss the rest of the competition. His mind was moving at full speed, calculating his next move as he stepped forward, sneering disdainfully as if he had seen through all of Starblood's schemes.

"Where I can remain in your clutches, isn't that what you wanted to really say? After all, isn't this just a perfect opportunity for you to try to control me before I fully recover?"

Starblood raised his head slightly as if he wanted to respond, but a faint surging of the Netherworld Energy in Yin Long's soulsea quickly shut his mouth. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt Netherworld Energy of such purity, it was beyond anything he had ever encountered. And as he was sensing that pure Netherworld Energy, Yin Long continued to step forward, maintaining a disdainful and slightly distant expression.

"I'm going to the Province Championship, and I won't stop there. This small planet isn't enough to hold me, so why would you think that your tiny little province would be able to? My aim is far higher, on a far grander stage."

Those words weren't a lie, Yin Long had never planned on staying in just this province. This planet was just one of the larger ones in this dominion, there were still five other dominions out there, he still had an entire universe to explore. Starblood raised his head once more, but Yin Long's hand landed on his head just as Starblood opened his mouth.

"Mil...!!?"
"And who do you think you are, to judge what is best for me? Only I get to decide what I'll do and what is best for me, don't you ever forget that."

The Netherworld Energy in Yin Long's soulsea burst forth as his cold and insidious voice sank into Starblood's ears. Yin Long's wounds were healed almost instantly as the energy coursed through his body, but Starblood only felt an immense and dreadful pressure bear down on him. Not only was the Netherworld Energy far purer than anything he had ever felt, but it also contained a strange sinister force that magnified its horrifying aura by several magnitudes.

Yin Long only unleashed the Netherworld Energy for a short second before he retracted it, showcasing it this grandly in front of Starblood should only further ingrain the idea that Yin Long was the same Lord of Everburning Trees that Starblood knew. It was a risk, but just standing in front of Starblood was a risk so it didn't matter if Yin Long added another risk on top of that.

He slowly removed his hand from Starblood's head, turning around and walking away without even dignifying Starblood with one last glance. Starblood raised his head as Yin Long's figure started to vanish in the distance, a conflicted expression containing a very faint chill flashing in his eyes as he muttered to himself.

"...Why...where did you change...Are you really still Tien Huo?"

Yin Long had already walked so far away that Starblood wasn't in the range of his senses so he didn't see his movements or hear his mutter, Starblood's body vanishing into the dark of night. Yin Long returned to the dome-shaped building where the arena was, the battles hadn't ended despite the advent of the night since they had entered the final stages of the clash.

But Yin Long didn't even have to wait until dawn arrived before he received the news he was hoping for, he had been selected as one of the 10 people from this clash that would head to the Province Championship. He had expected it, but getting confirmation still allowed him to let out a soft breath, now it was time to step onto an even grander stage, one where he could even meet up with his sisters again.