Within the Immortal Dynasty, the more Immortal Dao guardians one possessed, the more exalted their status.
The most distinguished figures in the entire Great Northwest were the three Estate Lords of the Immortal Estate, who held the rank of Six-Star Immortal Officials.
Yet among the envoys arriving from the Immortal Dynasty now, Five-Star and Six-Star Immortal Officials were merely the lowest tier. The majority were Seven-Star and Eight-Star officials, and there were even Nine-Star officials among them. The countless cultivators kneeling around the Immortal Domain watched, dumbstruck. They had never before seen Immortal Officials of higher status than the three Estate Lords of the Northwest Immortal Estate. Now, they finally did—and over a hundred of them at once.
It was truly an object of envy and jealousy.
Envy, because possessing more Immortal Dao guardians not only meant greater strength but also a more stable cultivation path and a higher likelihood of attaining the Dao and ascending to immortality in the future.
Given this, who wouldn't be envious?
Who wouldn't be jealous?
However, beyond envy and jealousy, there was more awe and reverence.
Because everyone present could see that this group of over a hundred Immortal Officials were uniformly Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables.
Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns in the Great Northwest.
One must understand that major powers like the Hunyuan Sect and the Huwei Wang Family might have Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables in seclusion, but at most only three to five, all of whom had been in closed-door cultivation for many years and had never appeared in the current era. Whether they were even alive or dead was unknown. For the Immortal Dynasty to send over a hundred Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables at once was truly astonishing.
Even more terrifying was that each of these Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables also bore Calamity Marks—ten calamities, twenty, thirty, fifty...
Some even bore ninety calamities.
The more Calamity Marks one bore, the longer their cultivation years, the higher their cultivation realm, the purer their spiritual power, and the more unfathomable their strength.
No one could imagine just how powerful these Immortal Official envoys truly were.
It seemed there were more than just these hundred-plus Immortal Official envoys arriving!
Not long after, another flock of cranes arrived in a grand procession.
This time, over two hundred Immortal Officials came, similarly Seven and Eight-Star officials, all Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables, each bearing dozens of Calamity Marks.
Looking out, there were now nearly four hundred Immortal Official envoys at the Dharma Aspect Grand Venerable realm!
Heavens above!
Many gasped in astonishment. They had known for days that some Immortal Official envoys would come from the Immortal Dynasty, but no one knew how many or what ranks they would be. No one had imagined the Immortal Dynasty would send over four hundred envoys, all around the Seven to Eight-Star level and Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables.
It was utterly staggering.
The previously bustling Immortal Domain fell deathly quiet as the Immortal Dynasty envoys descended. Everyone knelt on the ground, not daring to speak loudly.
What puzzled them, however, was that after the four hundred-plus Immortal Officials descended, they did not enter the Immortal Estate. Instead, they stood neatly in two rows, clearing the central path, their expressions solemn.
Could it be that some even greater figure was about to descend?
Who could it be?
Among these four hundred-plus Immortal Officials were many Nine-Star officials. Even they stood on either side of the estate monument stele, as if awaiting someone. What kind of figure could be more exalted than a Nine-Star Immortal Official?
Just as everyone was wondering in shock, another chorus of crane cries echoed from the sky.
Looking up, another flock of cranes approached.
This flock, however, flew in a perfectly ordered formation, over a hundred strong. And the figures standing upon these cranes were all Nine-Star Immortal Officials.
That's right!
All Nine-Star Immortal Officials.
This hundred-plus cranes also arranged themselves in two rows. Traveling down the center were nine Grand Carriages pulled by spirit beasts.
Each Grand Carriage was constructed of white jade, as luxurious as a sacred palace. Pulling each carriage were nine single-horned immortal beasts. Standing upon each beast was a person—also Nine-Star Immortal Officials, Dharma Aspect Grand Venerables. The difference was that these individuals all bore a hundred Calamity Marks.
Those with a hundred Calamity Marks were also known as Hundred-Tribulation Elders.
These individuals shared a common trait: no one knew how many years they had cultivated, how many eons their Primordial Spirit Dharma Aspects had been nurtured, nor how terrifying their strength truly was. Some Hundred-Tribulation Elders possessed strength that could rival even Earth Immortals.
Each Grand Carriage was guarded by nine such Hundred-Tribulation Elders.
With nine carriages, there were eighty-one Hundred-Tribulation Elders in total.
Adding the accompanying hundred-plus Nine-Star Immortal Officials and the earlier four hundred-plus officials, the Immortal Dynasty had sent over five hundred Immortal Official envoys this time, with nearly a hundred Hundred-Tribulation Elders.
At this point, not only were the countless cultivators kneeling around the Immortal Domain stunned senseless, but even the people within the Immortal Estate were overwhelmed by the sight, at a complete loss.
While stunned, they all fixed their gazes on those nine sacred and luxurious immortal beast-drawn Grand Carriages.
None could imagine what level of exalted status would require protection by Hundred-Tribulation Elders and an entourage of Nine-Star Immortal Officials.
Suddenly.
The three Northwest Estate Lords—Murong Han, An Qiongshan, and Li Feiyuan, who were kneeling on the ground—once again shouted with utmost reverence: "The Northwest Immortal Estate welcomes the nine Immortal Noble Lords!"
The three Estate Lords' combined shout was thunderous, its sound rolling like waves, shocking the countless cultivators kneeling around the Immortal Domain as if struck by lightning, leaving them dumbfounded.
However.
What struck them like lightning was not the sheer volume or the rolling sound waves, but the four words: 'Immortal Noble Lords'.
Although the Great Northwest had no Immortal Nobles, that didn't mean those present didn't know what the title signified.
On the contrary, almost everyone knew what an Immortal Noble represented and how exalted such a status was.
Immortal Noble.
As the name implied, they were nobles of the Immortal Dynasty.
This status was even more exalted than that of an Immortal Official. Even a Nine-Star Immortal Official had to bow and salute upon meeting an Immortal Dynasty noble.
Because they all knew that Immortal Dynasty nobles were almost all 'immortal second-generation'—meaning their fathers and mothers were both true immortals. They were born with innate, heaven-bestowed immortal roots. Not only were their talents exceptional and their comprehension transcendent, but their cultivation speed also left ordinary people in the dust. An ordinary person's hard cultivation for a year might not match what an immortal-rooted individual achieved in a single day.
Exaggerated?
No.
Not at all.
Immortal roots were just that miraculous, just that profound.
In the current era, over the past century, most who attained the Dao and ascended to immortality possessed immortal roots. Some didn't even need a hundred years—ninety, eighty years were common. Some only needed fifty, or even thirty years. Because their parents were immortals, they absorbed immortal essence, energy, and spirit from their parents while still in the womb. Some even began cultivating in the womb, achieving immortality the moment they were born. Such individuals were not few in the current era, but the Great Northwest was a remote borderland, so many were unaware.
However.
The true terror of these 'immortal second-generation' lay not merely in their unparalleled cultivation speed.
The real terror was that, having absorbed their parents' immortal essence, energy, and spirit in the womb, their very flesh and blood carried an 'immortal aura'. Their physical bodies were like this, and so were the Golden Cores they condensed, their Primordial Spirits, and their Dharma Aspect manifestations. In other words, although they were not yet true immortals, they possessed the power of immortals.
That was what was truly most terrifying.