This time, the army from Love Valley was indeed quite big. Huang Xingyin nodded his head at Gu Yingbin again as he asked, “Are the rest of you not here yet?”
Xue Ao’ying chuckled, “The both of you are the first to arrive. Please have a rest inside. We’ve already prepared a place for you to rest, and big brother will come and see you two in person later.”
Huang Xingyun shook his head, “It’s alright. This is the Grand Tournament. There’s no need for all these formalities at all. The arena will be here, am I right? I’m sure the rest will arrive soon. We’ll just stay here and wait for them. This year’s Grand Tournament is the most troublesome. It’ll better if we can finish it early.”
Xue Ao’ying did not press the matter any further. Instead, he turned to Gu Yingbing and said, “Yingbing, please invite big brother here. Let him know that Valley Lord Huang and Yun have already arrived.”
Gu Yingbing nodded his head before turning to go inside the Heavenly Snow Mountain. On the other hand, Huang Xingyun and Yun Ruoyun brought the Love Valley’s powerhouses to the south of the vast platform. The Heavenly Snow Mountain’s disciples immediately brought them seats and tables. Fruits and food that had already been prepared beforehand were also served to them.
Although the Grand Tournament was only held once every decade, the tournament would not take too long each time. Due to the fact that these powerhouses from different Saint Lands were unwilling to socialize with each other for an extended period of time, they usually would not stay for too long. After all, among the few Saint Lands, even Love Valley and Heaven’s Expanse Palace who looked as if they were quite friendly with each other on the surface also had their guards up against each other. They would never let the other party seize any opportunity or exploit any loopholes for their own use.
Other than the two Valley Lords, the other 34 powerhouses from Love Valley did not even utter a single word ever since the moment they arrived. They continued to calmly wait there and no emotions could be seen on them at all. However, when these 36 people stood together, that invisible oppressive force was so terrifying that even Xue Ao’ying who was a Heavenly Emperor did not want to go near them.
After all, during the previous Grand Tournament, the Love Valley only sent out four Heavenly Emperors. However, the number had increased to six this time.
At this moment, Huang Xingyun suddenly pulled Yun Ruoyun up from her seat and smiled, “Our old friend is here. Tiger King, let us welcome them together.”
The couple had already walked ahead to the summit entrance as he spoke.
Everything looked completely white from the mountain. However, if one were to observe carefully, one could see that there were many white dots jumping around like stars all the way up to the summit.
Two gusts of cool breeze surged up. Two white figures had immediately taken the lead and reached the top. They did not even use the mountain wall to assist in their climbing. Instead, they looked like they were flying close to the mountain wall. A pair of tall and sturdy figures garbed in white landed on the ground in an instant. Oh, weren’t these the two brothers, Shangguan Tianyang and Tianyue?
Huang Xingyun laughed loudly, “How are you, my brothers? Tianyang and Tianyue?” He took the initiative to welcome them as he greeted them.
Shangguan Tianyang smiled, “You’re early, Xingyun. Here I thought we would be the first to arrive.”
Huang Xingyun smiled as well, “We’ve only just reached as well. Brother Tianyang, you really brought a lot of people with you this time, huh?” He even cast a meaningful glance towards Shangguan Tianyang while he spoke.
The smile remained plastered on Shangguan Tianyang’s face as if he did not see anything at all. “Well, I can’t help it. I feel compelled to bring this many. How’ve you been, Tiger King?” He finally greeted Xue Ao’ying.
Xue Ao’ying appeared to be unbothered by it. After all, the Heaven’s Expanse Palace and the Heavenly Snow Mountain had always been rather hostile towards each other. It would be more accurate to say they both see each other as their biggest opponent. Moreover, he could not be compared to Huang Xingyun from Love Valley as far as their status was concerned
“Greetings, Palace Master Shangguan. It’s still good. I’m in the pink of health.” Xue Ao’ying replied nonchalantly.
At this moment, all the others from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace had also reached the top. To Xue Ao’ying’s surprise, the number of powerhouses that the two Shangguan brothers brought with them this time was a lot more compared to the previous tournament. Not counting the two brothers, there were a total of 108 powerhouses who came this time. Although all of the 108 people were only at the Heavenly King Tier, everybody knew that the Heaven’s Expanse Palace had an ultimate technique called the Heavenly Expanse Infinitum Formation. The greater the number of people who cast this technique, the more powerful and mighty the technique would be. During the last tournament, Xue Ao’tian had no choice but to give up in the end because he could not win against the Heavenly Expanse Infinitum Formation that was led by Shangguan Tianyang. It resulted in the Heavenly Snow Mountain placing second in the tournament. Moreover, the Shangguan brothers only brought 64 people with them at that time. Now that they had 108 people with them, it was apparent that this was the strongest lineup from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace so far.
However, it was only right that there should be at least one or two Heavenly Emperors in the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. Yet, it seemed like none of them had come for this tournament.However, it was kind of understandable. It was obvious that they were stationed behind to guard the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. After all, it could be said that they had brought out the entirety of their main forces this time.
With the same smile still plastered on his face, Shangguan Tianyang said, “Tiger King, where’s your brother? All of us old friends are here! He should at least come out to meet us, right?”
The Tiger King’s face changed slightly. Just as he was about to say something, a cold voice came from behind, “Since when were the Heavenly Snow Mountain friends with the Heaven’s Expanse Palace?”
Everyone could immediately feel a heavy pressure suddenly coming off from the Heavenly Snow Mountain Summit. All of them shifted their gaze towards the voice. They saw the Mountain Lord of the Heavenly Snow Mountain Xue Ao’tian walking out slowly to the front escorted by Gu Yingbing.
Shangguan Tianyang’s face darkened slightly, and the smile on his face faded a little. His gaze clashed with Xue Ao’tian’s in mid-air. Invisible sparks seemed to be ignited at once.
They were old rivals. Strong hostility burst out without reservation as they met once again.
Huang Xingyun and his wife from Love Valley watched from the side. He proceeded to move half a step to stand next to Shangguan Tianyang. They clearly shared a common hatred towards the enemy. In reality, Love Valley had always been standing alongside the Heaven’s Expanse Palace in going against the Heavenly Snow Mountain. Just like how the Blancpain Empire had been working together with Zhongtian and Fei Li Empire to go against the Wan Shou Empire for so many years.
Xue Ao’tian was not bothered by Huang Xingyun’s gaze at all. It was as if all he could see was Shangguan Tianyang alone. A hint of ferocious killing intent could be seen in his sharp gaze. It was as if he would launch an earth-shattering attack at any time he liked.
Shangguan Tianyue also took half a step forward and stood on the other side of Shangguan Tianyang. They still acknowledged Xue Ao’tian as the world’s strongest powerhouse. No one here was strong enough to be his opponent if they were to go against him one-on-one. They even feared the Mountain Lord of the Heavenly Snow Mountain would suddenly react and launch a full-blast attack on Shangguan Tianyang. If Shangguan Tianyang was not well-prepared, he could be hurt by that attack.
However, Shangguan Tianyang did not back down at all as he stared straight into Xue Ao’tian’s eyes. It was as if he was just staring at an ordinary opponent as he glared coldly at him. Yet, a faint white light had already begun to appear around his body. This was a sign that the Heavenly Expanse Infinitum was about to be launched.
A sneer appeared on the corner of Xue Ao’tian’s mouth as he said nonchalantly, “You’re still standing at the same spot after so many years. I’m so disappointed!”
Shangguan Tianyang’s face immediately darkened when he heard Xue Ao’tian’s words. It was obvious that his words had touched a sore spot, “So what? We Heaven’s Expanse Palace still remain as the best Saint Land in the world. One person’s strength can never win against a group of people.”
Xue Ao’tian snorted in disdain, “That might not be true. God knows who’ll be the best Saint Land after today!”
“Excuse me, would the two you kindly listen to my humble opinions?” Huang Xingyun took a step forward again and separated the two Great Saint Land Lords’ gazes from each other. However, he had placed himself in a situation where he had to bear a very heavy pressure. These two were the Great Saint Land Lords after all. It was a good thing that he at least still had the support from his wife to support him. For this reason, he was finally able to separate Xue Ao’tian and Shangguan Tianyang’s clashes of force like a pin against an awn.
When Huang Xingyun sensed Shangguan Tianyang and Xue Ao’tian’s eyes on himself, he continued, “Today’s the day of the Grand Tournament of our five Great Saint Lands. Since it’s the Grand Tournament, let us do everything in accordance with the rules. Since the people from Blood Red Hell and Heavenly Demon Sect have yet to arrive, let us all stay calm. We’ll have our turn to claw at each other’s throat later. Not only that…”
Huang Xingyun suddenly paused as he reached here and cast a glance at Xue Ao’tian and Shangguan Tianyang who was standing behind him. His face turned dimmer as he continued, “Over the past few years, the Dandun Empire has been too aggressive to the point that it even wiped off the entire Geritimo Empire. I’m certain that the Blood Red Hell must be pulling the strings behind this incident. That’s why this time, we must interrogate them thoroughly when they arrive.”
Xue Ao’tian snorted disdainfully, “The Blood Red Hell’s only a petty little rascal. Huang Xingyun, you’d better just take your excitement back home. Even if the Dandun Empire had truly become strong, the Wan Shou Empire will definitely not be the ones that would be affected.
Shangguan Tianyang’s face instantly darkened, “So does this mean you’re going to join hands with Dandun Empire to attack us?”
Xue Ao’tian scoffed, “Why can’t I do that? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unfortunately, that Blood Red Hell is still not qualified to join hands with me. Shangguan Tianyang, don’t be fooled by the illusion that you’re really the best in the world just because your Heaven’s Expanse Palace has Zhongtian Empire in your hands. It’s true that the Zhongtian Empire has occupied the most strategic location in the central plains. However, don’t forget that there’s absolutely nothing around your Zhongtian Empire as support. It’s not that difficult if someone really wants to annihilate all of you.”
Shangguan Tianyang bellowed all of a sudden, “Xue A’otian you wolf! Don’t think that I really fear you! You told me I’ve not made any progress, right? Fine! Let me see how much your cultivation base has improved in the past ten years!”
As he was bellowing, he strode forward and overtook Huang Xingyun before thrusting out a palm all the way straight towards Xue Ao’tian.
A milky colored palm-shaped force emerged at once from his palm. It was only the size of a palm when it first materialized. However, it started to grow at a horrifying speed within seconds. By the time it arrived in front of Xue Ao’tian, it had already grown to one meter in diameter. Although not an ounce of energy force was leaked out to the surroundings, everyone was clear on how terrifying the amount of force that was contained in this one palm.
If Shangguan Tianyang did not put on his Boundless Infinitum Set, he could never go against Xue Ao’tian 1 . However, he would possess the strength to go against a Heavenly Emperor-tier powerhouse the moment he put his set on. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Heaven’s Expanse Palace to defeat the Heavenly Snow Mountain with their collective strength alone.
He snorted disdainfully again. Instead of retreating, Xue Ao’tian slammed his right palm out. Everyone present could see that the fist that he had just thrown out was completely covered in a gold color.