Long Xue’er lead Shen into the busy market area of the city. There were small and large shops with eye catching signboards littered about on either side of the wide street.

There were the guards wearing the same uniform as the gate guards patrolling the streets. They rode on menacing monster beast mounts.

Shen and Long Xue’er blended into the crowd going from shop to shop. They looked rather plain from the way they were dressed as they did not carry eye catching magical tools. Their aura has been restrained to look almost like mortals.

Long Xue’er stopped in front of a clothing store. There was a large signboard that read “Misty Cloud Boutique”. The entrance was grand with pretty female cultivators lined up at the entrance to welcome customers.

“Every time I come to this city, I would come here to buy new clothes. But it was never this busy before. The city also has more cultivators than usual.”

Long Xue’er pondered as she said to Shen. She still hurried into the shop while pulling Shen’s hands.

Inside of the shop was just as exquisite as the outside with gold and jade being lavishly used to decorate. However, the store was packed with female cultivators looking around excitedly while their male companions could only follow and comment with tired smiling faces.

Shen took in the sight and thought ‘where have I seen this before…’. He recalled a world where females similarly like to shop for clothes where males followed them with dead eyes.

He chuckled and glanced at Xue’er. ‘They are the same no matter what world it is huh.’

Xue’er looked at Shen. She tilted her head cutely and asked, “What’s wrong Uncle Shen?”

Being called ‘Uncle’ caused some of the surrounding people to look at Shen and Long Xue’er before looking away with funny faces.

Shen’s back drenched in cold sweat from those looks for some reason. ‘Hmm, I didn’t mind being called that but why do I feel like I’ll regret it if she continued calling me that.’

Shen and Xue’er looked to be of similar age while their facial features had nothing in common. Some of the male population probably thought Shen was one of those eccentrics.

“No, nothing’s wrong Xue’er. Haha. Xue’er, how about you call me just Shen from now on?” Shen said in a low voice.

“I can’t do that. Let’s see. How about I call you Big Brother Shen from now?”

“Ye..yeah, that’s fine, that’s fine, haha.” Shen stressed that it was ok twice while looking around once more.

Xue’er sweetly smiled at Shen before she ran into the crowd to look for a dress she wanted.

Shen had to wait in an open area since even the almighty being of the universe was scared by the momentum of those females.

There were a few chairs with fruits and drinks laid out on a small table. A few male cultivators were similarly waiting for their companions.

Shen sat down in a vacant seat next to two cultivators. They seemed to be talking about the reason why the city was packed with cultivators recently.

It turned out that there was a competition jointly held by the five large sects. The first stage of the competition was to be held in the outer area of the forest.

The competition is open to all cultivators and is limited to juniors under the age of thirty.

“Five more elders from each large sect has arrived in Jade Leaf city. Now there are ten Sky Immortal experts in this city!” (Green robed male)

“There are also pretty female cultivators rushing here, hehe. They must be here to catch a glimpse of the ‘Shadowless Sword’ young master and the ‘Thunder Spear’ young master.” (Blue robed male)

“Oh, I wish I was as handsome as those two….” (Green robed male)

“Cut, take a look at your face in the mirror. How dare you say that.” (Blue robed male)

This city was named Jade Leaf city and is managed by the five large sects. Normally there would be one Sky Immortal elder from each sect to oversee the city. However, for the competition, the five large sects have sent another elder each in addition to many senior cultivators.

The five large sects each had a few famous geniuses that stood out from the rest of their generation. They each had titles given by other cultivators. The Shadowless Sword and Thunder Spear young masters were known for this strength as well as their handsome looks.

There were many females that wished to devote their entireties to those young masters. This competition was held once every ten years. Those famous young juniors were all under the age of thirty as there would be a new generation of geniuses every ten years.

Shen listened to their conversation with great interest.

“Hello friends. May I ask when the competition is starting?”

The two males looked at Shen as if he was an alien.

“How could you not know this. Ah You must be newly arrived from the mortal sects right. Otherwise how could you not know about this competition.” (Green robed male)

“It starts in ten days from now. We can only actually see the participants and the end results. The competition is actually in the forest after all.” (Blue robed male)

“Thank you, friends. This one is named Shen.” Shen thought those two were rather nice as normally one would be seen as an idiot and viewed in contempt for asking such question.

“Ah hello. My name is Wen Cai and he is called Shi Wei. We got dragged here by our junior sister. She is a fan of the Thunder Spear young master, hahaha…” Green robed male laughed with a defeated expression.

“So, it is Brother Wen and Brother Shi. Fortunate meeting. I’ve also been dragged here by my female companion.”

Shen, Wen Cai and Shi Wei chatted about trivial things while Shen learnt a few more things about the upcoming competition.

The increase in the population of the city was due to the competition and a lot of juniors were aiming to get a good position due to the prizes given out.

It was a once in a life time chance for some rogue cultivators as if they were to catch the eye of an elder from large sects, they would not have to worry about their future again.

“Brother Wen, what is this Enlightenment Tower?”

“Brother Shen, you don’t even know this? Which hole did you crawl out of?”

Shen could only laugh drily in response.

“Well anyway, rumour has it, Enlightenment Tower was constructed by an Immortal Saint. He imparted his knowledge and inheritance in the tower as a trial. There is no life-threatening danger but there is actually an age limit for entering. It opens once every ten years and only lets in five people.

This is why this competition has an age limit and the top five gets to enter the tower as a prize.” Wen Cai replied although he was rather shocked at Shen.

“It is also said that any new Immortal Saint would add his own knowledge and inheritance before he leaves this world.” Shi Wei further added.

“All geniuses that entered would come out even stronger and they would become heaven shaking cultivators in the future. There are also many top grade magical tools. There are even spirit tools in the tower!” Wen Cai seemed very excited as he thought about the Enlightenment Tower.

“Are Brother Wen and Brother Shi entering the competition?”

“Of course! Even though we are only at mid-Foundation stage, we can’t lose face for our Wind Sword Sect!” Shi Wei replied with fervour.

“We have almost no chance to make the top five though. There are a lot of late-Foundation stage and even two people at half-step Core Formation stage.” Wen Cai on the other hand seemed to have cooled down as he thought about the difference in strength.

Shen chose to not give false encouragement as strength was the only solution in the end.