Ten chief seats, positioned on either side of Mingxi’s main course.
Downstream of the main course were ten large tributaries. Each tributary, ten zhang wide, also had ten chairman seats on either side, totaling one hundred seats.
Zhang Ruochen did not vie for the ten chief seats, but he would not pass up a chairman seat.
Hundreds of cultivators, around three to four hundred, were competing for the hundred chairman seats. Their cultivation was immensely powerful, almost all having broken over ninety shackles or having reached the Great Perfection of the Hundred-Shackle Realm.
The competition for chairman seats was even fiercer than the upstream battle for chief seats.
Beside each chairman seat sat several top-tier Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Sages, analysing the forbidden inscriptions on the jade’s surface.
The contest for seats at the Hunting Heaven Feast was not won through combat but by who could first decipher the prohibitions around the seat and sit upon it.
The first to sit claimed the seat, and no other cultivator could take it.
Thus, each cultivator had to accurately assess their strength, choosing the seat they were most confident in securing, ideally as close to upstream as possible.
A wrong choice, even for a Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm expert, might relegate them to the last seat. Before the feast even began, they would lose all face.
The faster one could analyse the prohibitions, the greater their advantage.
Zhang Ruochen, unhurried, approached the chairman seat closest to Mingxi’s main course. His eyes, covered with the Rules of Truth, emitted a dazzling light as he gazed over.
He found that within a three-zhang radius around the seat, numerous forbidden inscriptions were densely packed.
Only one Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Sage, at the Great Perfection level, was beside this chairman seat: Da Senluo Huang of the Death Clan. In the Star Sea World, Zhang Ruochen had met him once, standing beside Prajna.
According to Luo Ji, Da Senluo Huang held a grudge against Zhang Ruochen for killing his brother.
Of course, having killed too many Hell Realm cultivators, Zhang Ruochen could hardly recall who his brother was.
Sensing a cultivator approaching, Da Senluo Huang sneered inwardly, “Some fool dares to compete with this emperor for a seat, without weighing their own strength?”
When he opened his eyes and saw Zhang Ruochen, he was momentarily surprised, then released a strong wave of hostility.
“You’d better go for another chairman seat, don’t humiliate yourself,” Da Senluo Huang said.
Zhang Ruochen did not leave, saying, “It’s just the prohibition of one seat, does it need so much time to analyse?”
Da Senluo Huang gave Zhang Ruochen a look as if he were an idiot.
This was one of the best chairman seats, with immensely powerful prohibitions. Even a Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm expert couldn’t analyse and break it quickly.
Not hurrying to find his own seat but wasting time here, Zhang Ruochen was truly foolish.
Seeing Da Senluo Huang’s silence, Zhang Ruochen invoked the power of Truth, enveloping the three-zhang space around the seat, analysing at top speed.
Half a quarter-hour later.
“Three hundred divine inscriptions, thirty thousand Great Sage inscriptions, three million Saint inscriptions, including thirty types of prohibitions: space, darkness, fire, ice, fate… intertwined and layered,” Zhang Ruochen said.
The prohibitions were fully analysed.
Zhang Ruochen strolled toward the seat, reaching the edge of the three-zhang area. He extended a palm and pressed lightly forward, instantly breaking the forbidden inscriptions.
When Zhang Ruochen sat on the chairman seat, Da Senluo Huang remained seated on the ground, petrified, staring at his back.
What kind of joke was this, analysing the prohibitions so quickly?
Da Senluo Huang, ranked twenty-first on the Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm list, was qualified to compete for a chief seat. He thought securing a chairman seat would be effortless, yet he had only analysed a quarter of the prohibitions when Zhang Ruochen, a latecomer, already sat on the seat.
With such speed, why not compete for a chief seat instead of stealing his?
“Deliberate, Zhang Ruochen must be deliberate, targeting this emperor, damn it. I haven’t settled scores with him, yet he provokes me first,” Da Senluo Huang gritted his teeth, feeling Zhang Ruochen was intentionally humiliating him.
This time, Zhang Ruochen had simply chosen a seat at random, not targeting him.
Seeing Da Senluo Huang’s unwilling expression, lingering, Zhang Ruochen frowned, saying, “Why are you still here? If you don’t hurry, the hundred chairman seats will be taken.”
“Zhang Ruochen, don’t get too smug. Soon, we’ll settle old and new grudges together.”
Da Senluo Huang snorted heavily, knowing he couldn’t waste time. He swiftly left for another chairman seat.
Zhang Ruochen paid no mind to his threat, his gaze shifting upstream to observe the Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm experts vying for the ten chief seats.
After carefully identifying each, Zhang Ruochen shook his head, unable to find the cultivator corresponding to the black figure practising the Way of Nothingness.
“Could he not be a Hundred-Shackle Realm Great Sage? Or perhaps he’s not a feast attendee?” Zhang Ruochen wondered.
Clearly, the higher the seat, the harder the prohibitions were to analyse and break.
With one hundred and ten seats, chief and chairman combined, Zhang Ruochen was the first to sit, naturally drawing countless gazes: some puzzled, some shocked, some envious.
“Zhang Ruochen’s speed in analysing prohibitions is too fast; he could have aimed for a chief seat. Why choose a chairman seat?”
“The difficulty of analysing chief seats far exceeds that of chairman seats. Even if Zhang Ruochen could analyse the prohibitions, with his Immortality Realm cultivation, he might not break them. I think he lacked confidence, so he settled for less.”
…
Across the Hell Realm, those watching the Hunting Heaven Feast were discussing Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen’s mental power monitored the entire Mingxi.
Yi Xuan Great Sage and Gu Chenzi, to conceal their strength, followed Zhang Ruochen’s instructions, forgoing chairman seats for lower-tier secondary seats downstream.
Zhou Zhen, Hong, Shentu Yunkong, and the eighteen Six-Tribulation Ghost Kings carrying the Seven-Star Emperor Palace, being mere attendants, could only take the lowest end seats downstream.
The entire Hell Realm had only ten thousand official feast attendees, one thousand per clan.
Zhang Ruochen’s main focus remained on the upstream Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm experts vying for chief seats. After all, on the Hunting Heaven Battlefield, they were the greatest threat.
“The ten chief seats, the two cultivators beside the topmost positions, should be Lan Ying, ranked second, and Yan Huangtu, ranked third.”
One on Mingxi’s left, one on its right.
One a cosmic divine foetus, the other a peerless talent of the Yama Clan.
No cultivator dared to challenge them for the topmost, most prestigious seats.
Below Lan Ying was Luo Shengtian, ranked fourth. Below Yan Huangtu was Wujiang, ranked fifth.
No one dared to contest their seats either.
But further down, the competition grew fierce, no longer uncontested.
Zhang Ruochen realised that even among the top ten Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm experts, there were clear tiers of strength. Lan Ying and Yan Huangtu were the strongest tier, followed closely by Luo Shengtian and Wujiang.
Those ranked lower, like Xi, Yanhong Great Sage, and Dao Yu Huang, were a significant step below the top four. This gap ensured no one dared challenge them.
The fourth chief seat on the left had three Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm experts competing, including Xi and Yu Huang.
“It seems Yu Huang is dissatisfied with my assessment, wanting to challenge Xi. Women, always so stubborn,” Zhang Ruochen thought.
He could see Xi’s analysis speed was slightly faster than Yu Huang’s.
In this contest, Yu Huang was likely to lose.
“If she loses to Xi, not only will Yu Huang miss a chief seat, but she might not even secure a chairman seat. As the Blood Heaven Tribe’s public champion, losing so badly would harm morale.”
Zhang Ruochen began to regret letting Yu Huang challenge Xi.
At that moment, the third Great Perfection Hundred-Shackle Realm expert vying for the seat decisively withdrew, heading downstream to claim a chairman seat.
Unable to win, one had to retreat.
At the very least, they had to secure a chairman seat.
As time passed, the situation clarified, with more cultivators retreating from upstream to the chairman seat area.
Yet Yu Huang persisted in her struggle against Xi.
Their gap was small, with Xi’s analysis and breaking speed only marginally ahead.
But Zhang Ruochen gradually saw that Xi was deliberately toying with Yu Huang, creating the illusion she could catch up, keeping her pinned there.
Giving her hope, only to plunge her into despair at the last moment.
Many cultivators saw this, but Yu Huang, caught in the fray, couldn’t. Her mind echoed with Zhang Ruochen’s claim that she was inferior to Xi, fuelling her persistence to prove herself.
“Zhang Ruochen, I’m not weaker than Xi. This time, you’re wrong!” Yu Huang thought, biting her lip, taking another step forward.
The seat was within reach, just one zhang away.
Mu Yang Tianjun, Zhi Yuan Xue Di, and three other Blood Heaven Tribe Great Sages under a thousand years old, whose cultivation exceeded the Hundred-Shackle Realm, also attended the feast. Their venue was not Mingxi but a divine bone jade tower above, overlooking the entire Mingxi venue.
“Xi’s speed in analysing inscriptions surpasses Yu Huang by far, yet he deliberately slows down, clearly toying with her,” Zhi Yuan Xue Di said angrily, clenching his fists.
Each Hunting Heaven Feast saw the Earth Fiend Ghost City target the Blood Heaven Tribe, their enmity deep-rooted.
“Yu Huang is the Blood Heaven Tribe’s top champion for the hunt. If she falters now, it’ll affect not just her mindset but the entire tribe’s morale. Should we remind her? Even if she can’t secure a chief seat, she must at least take a chairman seat,” Xi Yuan Empress said.
Mu Yang Tianjun shook his head, saying, “Yu Huang is stubborn. Once she’s set on something, no one can change her mind.”
“Not necessarily. Her view of Zhang Ruochen has changed drastically,” Gun Huang said.
Mu Yang Tianjun paused, then smiled, “Then send a message to Zhang Ruochen, let him remind Yu Huang. Perhaps he can sway her…”
“Look, what’s that Zhang Ruochen up to?” Gun Huang exclaimed.
Mu Yang Tianjun, Zhi Yuan Xue Di, and the others turned their gazes toward Zhang Ruochen’s position.
