Second Time

Chapter 36 - The Domain Opens

On the morning of the Eternal Ore Domain's opening, the continent's major powers started to gather in front of the massive array. Even though only 1100 would be entering, there were already a few thousand people gathered. The sects had escorts and a good number of people simply wanted to spectate or see the legendary figures.

Cai Fei and Shao Yue sat off to the side on their own, blending in with the spectators. Shao Yue pointed out various sects that she could remember.

"Remember the Howling Forest Sect from the auction? They're that group over there with the monster beasts. Each of them has a contracted monster beast, so keep that in mind if you cross paths. They can hide and summon them at will."

"Those people have strange uniforms. They're probably foreign. If I had to guess, they're the Western Tiger Continent's top sect, the Heaven Spiral Sect. They only recruit lightning users."

"The tanned group with the sabers are from the Ocean Emperor's Central Qilin Pavilion. They're the richest sect, so their members might be carrying nice things, but also could have a lot of life-saving treasures, so it's probably not worth going after them specifically."

Cai Fei did her best to remember everything.

A group of nearly a hundred cultivators flew over, standing on various flying weapons. Almost everyone immediately looked up and pointed them out, discussion erupting among everyone.

"Hey, you should know this one," Shao Yue said. "That's Lai Qiao's Immortal Steel Sect."

The Steel Emperor stood with his arms crossed, his two wives on either side of him. He scanned the crowd before noticing Shao Yue and quickly descended towards her.

"I knew you'd be here!"

"Did you come personally just to see me? I'm honoured," Shao Yue said, her voice neutral.

Lai Qiao laughed. "How's your cultivation progress?"

"Spiritual Manifestation Seventh Stage," Shao Yue reported, then gestured to Cai Fei. "She's Core Formation Eighth Stage."

"Both of you are truly incredible!"

The rest of the Immortal Steel Sect disciples landed behind Lai Qiao. The majority were at the peak of either Spiritual Manifestation or Nascent Soul with about a dozen Heavenly Realm experts as escorts.

Shao Yue scanned the crowd. "How many tokens did you get this time?"

"Twenty gold and fifty silver," Lai Qiao answered. "Not as much as we'd like."

Cai Fei's eyes widened. "That's a fifth of the gold tokens!"

"Their sect focuses on weapons," Shao Yue explained. "They need massive quantities of materials to supply everyone. Try to remember their uniform. We'll be spending some time with them in the future, so don't kill them if they don't attack you."

"Mm, got it."

Shao Yue hadn't lowered her voice at all. The Immortal Steel Sect disciples glared at her, taking her words as a confrontation.

Lai Qiao just laughed it off, then turned to his disciples. "These are the two most dangerous participants of this Eternal Ore Domain. Try to avoid provoking them. Especially the red-haired one. If all seventy of you attacked her at once you still wouldn't win."

"I'd leave them alive, at least," Shao Yue said. She gestured to Cai Fei. "I can't say the same for her."

Cai Fei nodded. "If you attack me, be prepared to die."

Cai Fei wasn't actually that confident, especially against the Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivators. However, with her closed meridians, they couldn't tell how strong she was, so bluffing would work fine.