Taoist Master

The Grand Final 1

In the entire history of the Taoist Grand Final, never had Lord Pua taken so many registrations and nor had he been forced to move the event due to the sheer number of entries.  It was as if the Lady Grand Master had opened the flood gate to every women in creation, because the number of women entries far outnumbered the men ten to one.  Though in order to bring the numbers down, a trial of sorts took place which quickly weeded out those who were not suitable and though she was the Grand Taoist Master, Bai Qian did not escape this preliminary trial either.

It was straight forward and required an answer to a simple question which she managed easily enough while far too many hopefuls just didn't have the basic concepts of Taoism to even guess at an answer, so the number of entries were lowered considerably.  And once he was done, the seventy five contestants were ready for the first debate which had to be shifted to the Celestial Palace.  It held the largest hall in the Immortal world which was necessary to contain the spectators who were also the largest he had ever seen.

Every maid and guard had been put on notice to not only oversee the guests and visitors, but to also ensure the grounds were immaculate and ready for viewing at a seconds notice.  It wasn't every day the Celestial Palace got to host such a prestigious event and on such a grand scale and nor had Lord Pua ever been placed in such an elevated positions before either.  In fact, he was still quietly chuckling to himself at the way every new entrant almost kowtowed just to get their names on his list.   Of course being the overseer of all punishments, he had a reputation for being a ruthless god without mercy, but it was the first time the people had rushed to him rather than try to flee.

 Now watching as the first of the entrants began to take their places behind the thick Celestial energy barriers which kept their identities hidden, he couldn't help but notice the enormous differences between the spectators of old and those seated this day.  The Demon Lord had entered along with three of his best students, so his spectators were also present and though this would have caused a slight ruffle of feathers among the spectators, the excitement was just too high for them to even notice.  But what he also noticed was the presence of some highly ranked officials, leaders and people who had never attended in the past.  It seemed that the Queen of Qing Qiu had made Taoism the new interest of the moment because many were sporting the new Yin Yang scarves which had appeared only a month before and not only were they amicably mingling, the excited atmosphere was almost party like.

Most were there for the Lady Grand Master to see if she would keep her title while several who had noticed the demons supporters, along with several supporters from the West Seas Palace soon had their heads bent low to discuss who exactly the Grand Master was up against.  Of course he knew that Queen Liu Fei had entered and he would be lying if he said he hadn't been rendered speechless when she arrived on his doorstep to register much less the Demon Overlord himself, but to also register their own students who were considered exceptionally talented in Taoism circles, suggested this debate was going to be the best one yet.

And not just for them either.  But Di Jun had also entered much to his utter surprise, along with the three High Gods of Qing Qiu and The Peach Tree Woods.  That being Bai Zhi, his son Bai Zhen and Zhen Yan, all of whom were considered masters but as yet had not participated in the event.   And as their numbers were called the moment they entered, his eyes quickly shifted to the side wall where the Empress of Qing Qiu was quietly observing the crowd while also listening in on the gossip surrounding her daughter.

Bai Qian on the other hand, was calm even though she knew this competition would be difficult.  Mo Yuan might not have said much to her, but she knew that he knew who was entering this year and not only had he taken every opportunity leading up to this day to prepare her for it, she couldn't help but wonder if he was only entering to increase the pressure on her.  Die Feng was entering as was his second disciple Chang Shan and from what she had overheard, Die Fengs father was also entering which was a first for his people having never had an entrant from the West Seas because Die Feng always entered under Kunlun Mountain.