After dawn, the middle-aged woman disappeared from the grand imperial city of Daxing.
She needed to return to make some preparations.
Meanwhile, Gong Yan acted as if nothing had happened and began to move between the surrounding palaces, exchanging experiences with the cultivators who had arrived from other immortal cultivation sects.
Everything was just like the Five Dynasties Prodigy Competition of the past.
Time quickly arrived at the tenth day of the fifth month, and the Five Dynasties Prodigy Competition began.
The grand imperial city of Daxing also fell silent.
The venue for the Five Dynasties Prodigy Competition was located outside the imperial city. It was a magnificent complex built by mortals and inscribed with formations by cultivators.
Each of the Five Dynasties had such a complex.
This was because the Five Dynasties Prodigy Competition was hosted in rotation by the Five Dynasties, once every five years.
"This venue looks even more magnificent than the imperial palace!"
Accompanied by the three old eunuchs, Old Wang, Old Li, and Old Liu, Yang Hong, dressed in a scholar's blue cotton robe, walked out of the cold palace in broad daylight for the first time.
Given Yang Hong's cooperation and his contributions, Yang Jian and Yang Zhong decided to reward him.
This was why he was allowed to leave the palace.
"Sixth Young Master, this complex was built collaboratively by the imperial courts of the Five Dynasties and all the martial sects. It is said that powerful figures from the Upper Sects inscribed the formations,
which is why it is so grand and magnificent."
"Upper Sects? Formations?"
Yang Hong's eyes lit up. This was it. This was the true power of this world.
"Cultivators?"
He did not know what the Upper Sects were at this moment, so he could only guess.
As the four of them approached, they truly understood what magnificence meant.
It was a small city without walls. On the periphery were tall buildings, each occupying a hundred zhang and standing ten to dozens of zhang high. These were the temporary residences for the participating teams.
There were a total of 360 such tall buildings.
Powerful factions usually occupied one building per faction, while those with insufficient strength had to share with others.
Outside these small buildings were over a thousand houses, about three zhang high. These were buildings spontaneously constructed by merchants.
"Edamame~ Edamame, fragrant and crispy edamame for only three coins."
"Sunflower seeds~ sunflower seeds~ sunflower seeds for one coin."
"Tea eggs~ salty and fragrant tea eggs, ten coins per tea egg."
"Oh~ esteemed guest, you've arrived. What kind of tea would you like? We have good tea, premium tea, excellent tea, top-grade tea..."
At this time, this area was bustling with people, and vendors were shouting, selling goods and food.
The common people seized the opportunity to earn some money during such a grand event that occurred only once every twenty-five years.
Passing through the vendor area and entering the tall building district, the noise gradually subsided.
In the center of the tall building district, there were many wooden small buildings built alongside the tall buildings. These small buildings had signs hanging on them.
These were shops.
Shops such as [Chen's Weapon Pavilion], [Wang's Tailor Shop], and [Chaoyang Pharmacy] occupied the originally wide road, leaving only enough space for three people to walk side-by-side.
"Sixth Young Master, would you like to take a look inside? There are still quite a few good things in these shops."
Old Wang, the eunuch, saw Yang Hong constantly looking at these shops and couldn't help but suggest.
"No need. Our time is limited, so let's not waste it."
Yang Hong still shook his head and refused. He was just curious to see shops in another world for the first time.
Want to go shopping?
Weren't the shops in Daxing City more prosperous and lively than these temporary ones?
Continuing forward was the arena, hundreds of zhang high and tens of thousands of zhang in area,
which was the venue for each Five Dynasties Prodigy Competition.
The arena had 16 entrances, and each entrance was guarded by people from the Five Cities' Military Command.
Entering the arena required payment. VIP seats, a hundred zhang away from the four arenas, cost one hundred taels of silver per match,
and only people from major sects and powerful factions could purchase them.
Good seats, from a hundred zhang to a thousand zhang away, cost from one tael to one hundred taels of silver, depending on the distance.
As for the seats beyond a thousand zhang, they were cheap, costing only 1 copper coin to sit.
Whether you could see the matches or not depended on your own ability.
Yang Hong and the three of them presented four wooden tokens, passed the guards, and arrived at four positions about 150 zhang away.
The seats were directly facing the arena for the junior group's competition.
"Sixth Young Master, the Seventh Young Lady's match is still two matches away, so we need to wait patiently."
As soon as Yang Hong sat down, Old Li, who had gone ahead to gather information, reported back.
"It's alright. It's good to watch other people's matches. I'm here to join the fun anyway."
The arena before them was a giant circular platform, a hundred zhang square and 300 meters in diameter.
Currently, a young man and a young woman were fighting fiercely.
"Young Master, the fighters on stage now are the Sixth Princess Li Lizhi of Great Tang and Wu Xiuwen of Peach Blossom Island.
According to the intelligence, both of them are at the peak of first-rate strength."
Old Wang introduced to Yang Hong, clearly having done his homework.
"They're fighting quite intensely."
Yang Hong replied noncommittally. Old Wang smiled and said no more.
He remembered that this Sixth Prince could not practice martial arts.
In fact, after undergoing灌顶 cultivation of over 500 low-level martial arts, Yang Hong already had extensive martial arts knowledge in his mind.
He could easily discern the skill level of other martial artists.
As for the level of their cultivation, he would have to get close to sense it.
The match in the junior group before him seemed evenly matched, but after just a few glances, Yang Hong realized
that this battle was a process of the young girl in the yolk-colored dress toying with the young man in the blue training outfit.
If that girl got serious, she could defeat the young man in at most three moves.
Just as Yang Hong was shaking his head inwardly, discussions came from behind him.
"Brother Li Jun, how much longer do you think Young Hero Wu Xiuwen will take to win?"
A sweet female voice asked her companion with a hint of urgency.
"Wu Xiuwen is a personal disciple of Grandmaster Guo of Peach Blossom Island. Although he hasn't received Grandmaster Guo's true teachings, his foundation is extremely solid.
His Falling Blossom Palm has been practiced to perfection. Although his movements appear broad and powerful, his transitions between moves are actually fluid and smooth.
According to my estimate, once Li Lizhi's strength wanes after another thirty moves, he will win."
The one who replied was a clear young male voice.
Yang Hong just curled his lips and said nothing. Others were blind, and it had nothing to do with him.
"That's good. As long as Young Hero Wu Xiuwen wins this match, three of our Great Song contestants in the junior group will advance."
The young girl's voice came again. It turned out she cared more about Great Song's victory than about Wu Xiuwen.
"Heh heh~ Great Song has invested the most in the junior group contestants this time. We've already won two matches in a row. Although we might not be able to get the championship, it's still good to get the runner-up and third place,"
said Young Master Li Jun with a hint of pride.
"Young Hero Wu Xiuwen's moves are becoming more rapid. Is he launching a final assault?"
"That's right, beautiful sister. Look at this move, 'Scattered Flower Rain.' The palm shadows are like a rain of flowers, leaving nowhere to hide."
On the arena, Li Lizhi flashed behind Wu Xiuwen.
"Wu Xiuwen remained calm in the face of danger and used the move 'Wind and Rain Nightfall' to force Li Lizhi back..."
On the arena, Li Lizhi exchanged a palm strike with Wu Xiuwen. She stood still,
while Wu Xiuwen staggered back three steps before stabilizing himself.
"Cough cough~ This must be an accident. Beautiful sister, look, Wu Xiuwen is counter-attacking..."
The young man behind them was a bit embarrassed but continued to comment,
and then was repeatedly proven wrong by Li Lizhi.
Yang Hong felt that listening to this kid's commentary was more exciting than watching the match.
Whether it was a coincidence or not, after 30 moves, Wu Xiuwen was knocked off the stage by Li Lizhi with a beautiful sweep of her leg.