The Sword God of the Universe

Chapter 2149: Four Great Forces

Beneath the silver-white palace where Yuantong Immortal Venerable resides, there lies a vast canyon full of buildings.

Jing Yan and other cultivators recruited as hired individuals were also arranged to live within this canyon. Within this canyon, there reside a large number of Golden-armored Guards, as well as several Guests of Yuantong Immortal Venerable.

As Guests of such a prestigious Immortal Venerable, naturally, they are extremely powerful cultivators, generally at the Immortal Rhythm Level. Among the Guests of Yuantong Immortal Venerable, it’s nearly impossible to qualify if one is at the Nether Sky Realm, unless there are some extremely special circumstances. However, if one is selected as a hired individual by Yuantong Immortal Venerable, there is a chance to become a Guest as well.

For this opening of the Yellow Spring Cave, among the hired individuals selected by Yuantong Immortal Venerable, three have already officially become Guests of him.

Being a Guest of an Immortal Venerable is an honor.

Wuxia Venerable also resided in the canyon for two days, after which she bid farewell to Jing Yan. With three hundred years still remaining until the Yellow Spring Cave opens, she would return here near its opening.

Jing Yan, along with the other nine hired individuals, only got to know each other briefly without much communication. The nine hired individuals had all witnessed Jing Yan casually pinning Qu Chen down, unable to stand, and thus they had a full understanding of Jing Yan’s strength, so none dared to challenge him further.

Thus, Jing Yan temporarily resided within the canyon.

In the silver-white palace, an elder dressed in a brown robe entered.

"Immortal Venerable, did you summon me?" the elder in the brown robe politely inquired.

"Hmm, I have a new list of hired individuals here. Please pass it on to the Four Great Forces," Yuantong Immortal Venerable said.

Before he finished speaking, a piece of Beast Skin slowly floated out, suspending itself in front of the elder in the brown robe.

The elder in the brown robe glanced over it, nodded, and said, "Immortal Venerable, I will pass on the new list to them immediately!"

"Hmm, go ahead," Yuantong Immortal Venerable said with a smile.

After the elder in the brown robe left, Yuantong Immortal Venerable squinted his eyes and murmured softly, "Interesting, this Jing Yan is quite extraordinary. He seems to have hidden much of his strength in the bout with Qu Chen."

The Four Great Forces soon received the new list sent from Yuantong Immortal Venerable.

In fact, they had already received a list earlier, and now receiving a new list, they were a bit puzzled. Comparing the names on the list, they realized that the list had been changed, although only a single name was different from before.

Such temporary replacements of hired individuals have precedent in the history of the Yellow Spring Cave openings, but overall, it’s rather rare. In the majority of cases, once a list of hired individuals is confirmed, it’s never altered again.

"Who is this Jing Yan? Never heard of him before!"

"Never heard, doesn’t seem to be famous. But he managed to push Qu Chen off, so it seems his strength should surpass Qu Chen."

Qu Chen was quite renowned in this whole region, and even if the Four Great Forces hadn’t paid attention to him in the past, upon receiving Yuantong Immortal Venerable’s list, they certainly conducted investigations.

"Investigate this Jing Yan, see where he emerged from," someone suggested.

Within the Xin Family’s lair, the high-ranking members of the Xin Family discussed casually.

The Xin Family is one of the Four Great Forces in the region. The Xin Family has its own territory and counts as a Lord Family. However, the Xin Family differs greatly from ordinary Lord Families. Ordinary Lord Families occupy a piece of land within the Divine Continent, but the Xin Family directly governs multiple Divine Continents.

The Xin Family is an extremely ancient family, existing for unknown eons of years. According to legend, the founder of the Xin Family, their Ancestor, is still alive and is a cultivator at the Immortal Venerable Level. It was this Ancestor who cemented the Xin Family’s status and position among the Four Great Forces in this vast region.

Within the Xin Family, there aren’t many descendants in the bloodline. Powerful cultivators indeed find it difficult to propagate offspring, but since this family has existed for such a lengthy time, the bloodline descendants have accumulated over time. Moreover, like ordinary territories, the Xin Family also recruits strong cultivators or those with great potential to join them.

In this way, through long-term development, the Xin Family has become undoubtedly one of the Four Great Forces in the region. Within this region, they are truly a power that no one dares to provoke. Even Yuantong Immortal Venerable must negotiate with the Xin Family to distribute the interests of the Yellow Spring Cave.

The second of the Four Great Forces is the Ancient Land of Morning Light, which is a very special force with a sect-like nature. The lair of the Ancient Land of Morning Light is within an ancient relic, interacting infrequently with the outside world. However, the strong cultivators of the Ancient Land of Morning Light would often leave the relic for exploration and find potential cultivators. Once selected by individuals from the Ancient Land of Morning Light, these cultivators are taken to the Ancient Land of Morning Light to undergo a ceremony known as "Baptism."

Cultivators who survive this ceremony acquire awesomely terrifying physical bodies. It is said that a considerable proportion of cultivators undergo Baptism and instantly gain combat power equivalent to that of cultivators at the Nether Sky Realm. Such combat power stems from their transformed physical bodies. In other words, many cultivators, once taken to the Ancient Land of Morning Light or having undergone Baptism, can immediately rival cultivators at the Nether Sky Realm.

This is an extremely eerie and mysterious ability.

The third among the Four Great Forces is the headquarters of the Mystic Moon Trading House within this region. The regional headquarters cannot be compared to the headquarters within the Divine Continent. In the Blue Rain Divine Continent, the headquarters of the Mystic Moon Trading House is just one of the subordinate Divine Continent headquarters under the regional headquarters.

The regional headquarters of the Mystic Moon Trading House boasts several dozen Divine Continent headquarters, with the Blue Rain Divine Continent’s headquarters merely one among them. Originally, the Building Owner of the Mystic Moon Trading House headquarters in the Blue Rain Divine Continent ordered the person in charge of the division in Divine Martial City to meet Jing Yan and try to recruit him, but Jing Yan did not meet the person in charge of the Mystic Moon Trading House in Divine Martial City, possibly causing the Blue Rain Divine Continent headquarters’ Building Owner to harbor some resentment towards Jing Yan.

The Mystic Moon Trading House has a significant influence across the entire Immortal Domain, and this regional headquarters is just one among many regional headquarters under the Mystic Moon Trading House. According to rumors, the true owner behind the Mystic Moon Trading House is a high-ranking Immortal Emperor who creates order. Even if the rumors are exaggerated, the figure is at least a powerful cultivator closely linked to an Immortal Emperor.

The fourth and final force among the Four Great Forces is relatively less well-known, called the Shadow Association. This force is seldom talked about among ordinary cultivators. Even those who are aware of the Shadow Association find it very mysterious and unreachable.