The nine regions were the overlords of Hunyuan Heaven, a common knowledge that everyone knew.

The founders of the nine regions were apex existences even in the other heavens apart from the sacred race heavens. It was their existence that allowed Hunyuan Heaven to become the hub of the resistance against the sacred race.

However, competition was unavoidable as long as there were people, and the nine regions were no exception.

Although the nine regions would fully support the resistance against the sacred race without objection, they were fiercely competitive on all other matters. All nine regions were overwhelmingly powerful, and each one wanted to suppress the others to become the true overlord of the nine regions.

However, if entities like them warred against each other to determine who was best, the entire Hunyuan Heaven would fall into chaos, allowing the sacred race to take advantage of their disorder. Hence, an entire region could not war against another, and the nine regions also did their best to avoid such a scenario.

Since the high-class battle powers could not cross swords, the fights were left to the mid- and low-tier cultivation groups. Hence, the birth of the nine regions tournament.

The participants of the nine regions tournament were the most outstanding super heaven prides of the nine regions. As representatives of the nine regions, the outcome of their battles would determine the rankings of the nine regions, allowing the entire Hunyuan Heaven to know who was the mightiest of each generation from the nine regions.

The winner would undoubtedly become the goal of the countless heaven prides of the next generation.

The tournament was a rather important affair. Only with enough talented new blood could these powerhouses ensure that every generation had their own outstanding heaven prides to lead the rest.

Besides this, it was also essential to decide who would hold the Ancestral Dragon Lantern.

The Ancestral Dragon Lantern was one of the most powerful Saint treasures—a three lotus Saint treasure—and possessed endless power. Even peak Saint stage experts regarded it with extreme importance. Moreover, the Ancestral Dragon Lantern could not be put under the sole care of any of the nine regions. Hence, only the victor of the nine regions tournament would gain the right to hold onto it until the next tournament.

Over this period, the region possessing the Ancestral Dragon Lantern would have increased their authority and influence in Hunyuan Heaven.

Due to these various reasons, the nine regions tournament was one of the grandest and most important events in Hunyuan Heaven. Hence, the announcement of every nine regions tournament would draw the attention of countless people in Hunyuan Heaven.

This time was naturally no exception.

The uncountable factions in the entire Hunyuan Heaven soon began to discuss this topic.

Amidst the discussion, the Hunyuan Heaven Divine Dwelling List became a focal point once more. Countless individuals studied the rankers on the list, trying to find any hidden dark horses among them.

Though there were dark horses, the majority still turned their attention towards the top few rankers, especially the one who had reigned as number one for many years, Zhao Mushen. Many felt that the immeasurable Zhao Mushen was most likely to defeat all his foes and become the final winner in the upcoming nine regions tournament, allowing him to truly stand at the apex of this generation.

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In the Tianyuan Region, news of the nine regions tournament likewise drew heated debates. Contrary to the others, however, the atmosphere in the Tianyuan Region was somewhat negative and gloomy. After supreme sovereign Cang Yuan’s disappearance, the Tianyuan Region’s strength and reputation had fallen substantially.

In the previous nine regions tournament, the Tianyuan Region placed last and lost a tremendous amount of face.

This time, the Tianyuan Region’s strongest Divine Dwelling stage expert was the chief pavilion master, Zhou Yuan. But even he was only ranked fourteenth on the Divine Dwelling List. Although this wasn’t a low ranking, it did not match the status of the Tianyuan Region in Hunyuan Heaven.

Hence, many felt somewhat pessimistic. After all, they could not imagine how Zhou Yuan, ranked fourteenth, would be able to vie with the top-ranked super heaven prides.

If the Tianyuan Region ended up last place again, it would be an unrecoverable blow to the Tianyuan Region’s reputation.

But what could they do?

They had no one to blame but themselves for being less skilled.

While countless people in the Tianyuan Region were feeling hopeless, something else suddenly happened that caused the entire Tianyuan Region to curse in anger.

The source of this matter was the neighboring top-tier faction, the Tri-Mountain Alliance!

The Tri-Mountain Alliance used to be three first-class factions of Hunyuan Heaven. These three factions subsequently allied together, forming the Tri-Mountain Alliance. In turn, their strength soared, leaping from the first-class level to the apex, making them a top faction second only to the nine regions.

As their power grew, their ambition naturally followed. They began to covet the status of the nine regions, desiring to elevate themselves to such a level.

However, the structure of the nine regions had already been fixed for countless years. How could it be easy for a new faction to join their ranks? Hence, the Tri-Mountain Alliance could only wait patiently till a chance presented itself. Their waiting finally bore fruit in the form of supreme sovereign Cang Yuan’s disappearance. Without its leader, the Tianyuan Region’s strength began to wane, while the Tri-Mountain Alliance started to stir restlessly.

In recent years, the Tri-Mountain Alliance had been constantly challenging the Tianyuan Region’s dignity in all areas, making their ambition known to all.

In response to such provocation, the Tianyuan Region was naturally extremely angry. They had nothing but disdain towards this new faction. If supreme sovereign Cang Yuan were still around, the Tri-Mountain Alliance would not dare to look them in the eye!

This situation was truly akin to a dog bullying an injured tiger!

The Tianyuan Region refused to back down or compromise. Hence, the conflicts between both sides grew increasingly intense over the years, deepening the enmity between them.

This time, the Tri-Mountain Alliance began stirring things after the announcement of the nine regions tournament. Their goal was obvious: they were after the qualifications to participate in the nine regions tournament because, according to the rules, only the nine regions were allowed to participate.

But other factions were not without any chances. If they could defeat the Divine Dwelling stage representative of any of the nine regions, they would win the right to participate from that region.

This rule was originally set to motivate the nine regions. If one’s right to participate was lost, it would be a massive loss of face.

However, having the right to participate snatched away had never happened before. After all, no faction would willingly offend the nine regions. Hence, even if a super genius appeared, they would rather keep their heads low than challenge the dignity of the nine regions.

But this time, the Tri-Mountain Alliance had no such intention.

As such, they sent a challenge letter to the Tianyuan Region not long after the tournament’s announcement.

Countless copies were dispersed all over the Tianyuan Region and even to the other regions. For a time, this matter became the hottest topic in the Tianyuan Region and the neighboring lands.

The challenge letter was sent by the Divine Dwelling List’s rank-nine expert, the super dark horse Chen Xuandong, whose reputation had soared recently in Hunyuan Heaven.

The contents of the challenge letter were simple and direct and filled with confidence and aggressiveness.

“Chen Xuandong of the Tri-Mountain Alliance requests chief pavilion master Zhou Yuan of the Tianyuan Region to yield his position!”