The bell toll resounded through heaven and earth.
At this moment, the divine mountain suddenly erupted with a vast and mighty radiance, illuminating the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, permeating the six directions and eight wildernesses. An aura of supreme divine might surged forth.
A broad channel of divine radiance extended down from the lofty, unreachable divine mountain.
In a daze, the people of the world saw a majestic, peerless figure descending along the divine radiance channel.
He was entirely enveloped in flawless divine radiance, his features indistinct. Clad in white holy robes, layers of divine halos manifested around him, setting him off as incomparably noble and extraordinary.
Around him, divine lotuses bloomed one after another, and seven-colored light rain drifted down, a profusion of falling petals.
A Heavenly God!
This was the Heavenly God of the Gu Lan Holy Church, descending step by step from the unreachable heights of the Nine Heavens, his majesty peerless.
Holy angels also circled around him, Heavenly Dragons soared across the sky, and Phoenixes spread their wings. Immortal light shimmered brilliantly, the extraordinary phenomena were magnificent.
Among the endless crowd, Ye Chen looked up at the Heavenly God on the divine radiance avenue, but he had no impulse to try and see through the Heavenly God's visage, as it would easily be sensed.
All the pilgrims who had come to the holy city on this day, from the most ordinary common folk to sect masters who lorded over their domains, and even powerful Saints, all knelt down, their expressions fervent as they paid homage to the Heavenly God, shouting loudly: "The Heavenly God is supreme, the Holy Church is paramount!"
"The Heavenly God is supreme, the Holy Church is paramount!"
The roaring cheers, like a tidal wave, thoroughly shook the entire holy city, and people from all across the human domain were shouting loudly.
Hundreds of millions of people were cheering, causing the entire vast human domain to tremble.
Moreover, accompanying their shouts, streams of Faith Power flew out from above each person's head, merging into the sky above the divine mountain.
Visible to the naked eye, hundreds of millions of strands of Faith Power flew out. The more powerful the cultivator, the more intense and potent the Faith Power emerging from their head.
Across the entire human domain, from the endless human populace, strands of Faith Power flew out in their entirety, all merging into the heavens above. Like an abyss or an ocean, the Faith Power practically transformed into a vast, boundless sea, flooding the sky above the holy city, even more magnificent and terrifyingly astonishing.
Because this day was the Pilgrimage Day, the Faith Power was unprecedentedly strong, far surpassing ordinary times, thus sufficiently powerful and grand.
Even Ye Chen, feeling that sea of supremely potent Faith Power up close, was shocked.
Too powerful. The tiny bit of Faith Power within his body, compared to this, wasn't even a pond—it was merely a small puddle. The difference was immense.
Boom—
The supreme divine being of the Holy Church released endless light, illuminating every corner of the human domain, a thousand, a hundred times more intense than the sun in the sky.
Under the illumination of this endless light, various divine miracles appeared. Many who suffered from illness or injury were healed. And the closer one was to the holy city, the more they felt a benevolent power at work, giving them a sense of sublimation.
Moreover, in the desolate lands, verdant green sprouts appeared, quickly turning the entire earth lush and green, brimming with vitality.
Dried-up rivers quickly filled up.
All the people continuously shouted the slogan—
"The Heavenly God is supreme, the Holy Church is paramount!"
A full half-day later, everything calmed down, as the Heavenly God raised a hand to signal for calm, then nodded towards the people before disappearing, the light fading.
But at this moment, the holy city became even more fervent, because the selection competition for the younger generation officially began.
How many prodigies and outstanding talents were there in the human domain of Gu Lan Continent? Countless. On this day, ten slots would be contested to ascend the divine mountain and receive the Heavenly God's personal baptism, to be reborn bathed in radiance.
Clearly, this would be the most prosperous clash of the younger generation in ten years, an unprecedented intensity, truly a grand event that captured the attention of all.
Dong—
The bell on the divine mountain tolled once more.
Not long after, a Holy Elder from the Holy Church appeared, clad in holy robes edged with gold thread, kind-faced. Addressing the countless people in the vast holy city, his voice infused with divine power, it resonated across the holy city's sky: "Today, following the mass pilgrimage, is the once-in-a-decade selection competition for the younger generation. The Holy Church will select ten of the most outstanding young talents to exceptionally ascend the divine mountain to receive baptism and gain rebirth."
Boom—
Instantly, the entire city erupted, because this selection competition for the younger generation was what everyone paid the most attention to.
Once every ten years, it represented the most intense competition among the younger generation of the entire human domain. What a grand event it was.
A full moment later, the clamor in the holy city gradually subsided. The Holy Elder spoke: "I invite all the young talents participating in the selection competition to step forward and proceed to the Ascension Platform!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
From within the holy city, young figures shot into the sky one after another. The men were outstandingly heroic, the women extraordinarily beautiful. They were all young prodigies from various regions of the human domain, each quite powerful, the focus of all attention.
Naturally, Ye Chen would not miss this opportunity either. He directly shot into the sky, following the numerous young prodigies, landing on a massive stone platform at the foot of the divine mountain, the world-famous Ascension Platform.
On the Ascension Platform, there was a broad and long flight of steps, called the Heavenly Path. Starting from this point, it led to the divine mountain.
Generally speaking, unless one was a high-ranking member of the Holy Church, to enter the divine mountain, one must ascend step by step from the Ascension Platform. Even the leaders of major powers were no exception, as a sign of respect for the Heavenly God.
However, upon learning the names 'Ascension Platform' and 'Heavenly Path,' Ye Chen couldn't help but sneer coldly.
The Heavenly God of the Gu Lan Holy Church truly had great ambition. Did he want to make himself into Heaven, treating all under heaven as lowly beings beneath him, only fit to worship and revere him?
So-called, the Heavenly Dao is merciless, treating all beings as straw dogs.
It's just that the Heavenly God of the Holy Church harbored such thoughts, sitting aloft on the unreachable divine mountain, overlooking the vast human domain with its hundreds of millions of people, comparing himself to 'Heaven.'
Unfortunately, 'Heaven' was a taboo, not to be touched, otherwise it would involve immense causality.
The Ascension Platform was exceptionally vast and enormous. At a glance, the number of participating young prodigies alone exceeded ten thousand. Each one was so outstanding and excellent. To compete for ten slots from among them, one could imagine the difficulty.
The Holy Elder landed before the young powerhouses. These young powerhouses all saluted, paying their respects to the Holy Elder with reverent expressions.
The Holy Elder nodded with a gentle smile, then pointed towards the Heavenly Path and said, "This time, as in past generations, the ten who can ascend the steps and remain highest on the Heavenly Path shall be the victors."