Chapter 53: Still the First to Leave

The three demon cultivators from Cliff of the Crescent Moon, Master One-Claw Earth Dragon, along with the Abyssal Fierce Monkey and the Thousand-Form Worm, hurriedly flew out of the Spirit Sky Tree and hovered in the air, staring at it in awe.
losing face in front of the powerful cultivators from the six sects was less concerning; the three demon cultivators from Cliff of the Crescent Moon felt heartache upon realizing they had used up the Breath-Space Flowers they brought. In the upcoming competition for the Heavenly Abode, Cliff of the Crescent Moon no longer had the confidence to compete against the cultivators from other sects.
The powerful cultivators from the other six sects merely smiled upon seeing the reactions of the three demon cultivators from Cliff of the Crescent Moon, without uttering any mocking words.
Suddenly, Master One-Claw Azure Dragon of Peak of All Beasts shouted, “That Qu Yi entered the Spirit Sky Tree—why hasn’t he come out yet? Could he be dead inside?”
Before entering the Heavenly Abode, Azure Dragon had taken the initiative to befriend Qu Yi for the sake of a spot in the Eight-Directions Sword Group. Now that Peak of All Beasts had entered the Heavenly Abode, they no longer regarded Qu Yi as important.
The powerful cultivators from other sects were also puzzled but none could guess Qu Yi’s current situation.
Meanwhile, the powerful cultivators from Qingyun Sect and Yingtian Sect had already pledged allegiance to the lower-grade immortal weapons through blood sacrifice and entered the light barriers generated by those weapons before leaving.
Naturally, seeing that Taiyuan Sect—the first to leave—followed by Qingyun Sect and Yingtian Sect, the other sects had no interest in checking on Qu Yi’s fate. They too pledged allegiance to the lower-grade immortal weapons through blood sacrifice and left.
Inside the tree core space, Qu Yi noticed that all the cultivators from the eight sects had left, and only then did he feel relieved.
“Spirit Sky, let me out now,” Qu Yi said suddenly with a relaxed smile.
It turned out that Qu Yi had already regarded the tree core as a friend and given it the name “Spirit Sky.”
Hearing Qu Yi’s words, the tree core pulsed joyfully and suddenly sent a stream of energy to envelop Qu Yi. Using some unknown ability of the tree core, Qu Yi unknowingly left the trunk of the Spirit Sky Tree and rose into the air.
Once in the air, Qu Yi smiled and flew back into the Spirit Sky Tree. He reached out and picked up the remaining two lower-grade immortal weapons. As for the hundred thousand immortal weapons on the tree, Qu Yi did not take them right away.
“Spirit Sky, do you want to follow me? I can take you to various places in the cultivation world or even to the Immortal Realm,” Qu Yi said cheerfully while sitting on a tree branch after obtaining the lower-grade immortal weapons.
It turned out that Qu Yi’s reason for not taking the immortal weapons was that he planned to take the entire Spirit Sky Tree with him.

Hearing Qu Yi’s words, the tree core immediately shook the entire Lingkong Tree. The hundred thousand spiritual artifacts cast spells, creating countless sparks that filled the space with a spectacular sight. Clearly, the tree core was now intrigued.

Qu Yi smiled even wider as he admired the beautiful scene before him, then instructed the tree core to control the Lingkong Tree, shrink it, and lift it off the ground. Sure enough, the tree core possessed incredible powers—it seemed to control countless spaces—and successfully moved the entire Lingkong Tree into a space it created, reducing its size to that of a human.

Qu Yi immediately released the Dimensional Sphere and used his vital energy to pull that space inside it. By the lake in the Dimensional Sphere, a Lingkong Tree suddenly appeared—the tree core had brought it there. Qu Yi looked up at the tree inside the sphere and said with a smile, “Lingkong, wait here for a while. Once I leave Haotian Immortal Mansion, I’ll take you to every corner of the cultivation world.”

The Lingkong Tree shook again, and the hundred thousand spiritual artifacts cast more spells, producing yet more dazzling fireworks. Qu Yi chuckled, left the Dimensional Sphere, and immediately claimed ownership of a lower-grade immortal artifact through blood sacrifice. The artifact immediately generated a light shield that enveloped Qu Yi, who then vanished and appeared on a stone altar, where there was a spatial teleportation array.

The area around the altar was still covered in green grass, stretching as far as the eye could see, seemingly connected to the grassland where the Lingkong Tree stood. At that moment, the warriors from the Eight Sects—Taiyuan Gate, Qingyun Sect, Yingtian School, Jinyang Sect, Cangyang Valley, Bai Shou Peak, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island—were still on the altar, having not left the world of magical treasures.

Meanwhile, the altar had been divided into nine sections, each marked with the numbers one, two, three… nine. The four members of Taiyuan Gate stood in the circle marked with “one,” the three from Qingyun Sect in the circle marked with “two,” and the three from Yingtian School in the circle marked with “three.” These three cultivation sects, having left earliest, immediately occupied the three frontmost positions.

But did standing in the front areas guarantee priority in being teleported away? Qu Yi landed on the altar but did not enter the nine circles right away; instead, he walked around the rest of the altar.

“Qu Yi, why aren’t you entering the circles? What are you doing standing around idly?” Tai Ming shouted angrily.

It turned out that unless everyone entered the nine circles, the space teleportation array on the stone altar would not activate. Therefore, the four members of the Taiyuan Sect who arrived at the stone altar first were the ones most eager for everyone to enter the circles.

Qu Yi chuckled as he continued walking on the stone altar, not in a hurry to enter the nine-circle formation.

“Qu Yi, you’re such a scoundrel! Hurry up and don’t waste everyone’s time.”

“Why rush? You still haven’t entered the circles! Anyway, you’ll definitely be the last to leave this magical world this time.”

“What’s the point of stalling? We certainly won’t give you our circles.”

……

The powerful warriors from the eight sects, watching Qu Yi leisurely enjoying the surroundings, couldn’t help but shout angrily, their faces filled with frustration.

Qu Yi turned around then and faced the warriors from the eight sects, smiling and saying, “Wait a bit longer. After all, we’re all at the Tribulation stage, so living for ten thousand years isn’t a problem. A few extra days don’t matter.”

Hearing Qu Yi’s words, the warriors from the eight sects were so angry they almost spat blood. They realized he meant that if he didn’t leave first through teleportation, he planned to stay on the stone altar and refuse to enter the circles.

“That’s outright cheating!”

“Bastard! One can’t be this shameless!”

“You want to waste time, huh? Fine! I’ll stay with you and sit on this stone altar for ten thousand years if I have to!”

“I’m giving you a friendly warning—don’t act shamelessly in the Haotian Immortal Mansion. If you anger the Emperor, you’ll be reduced to ashes!”……

The warriors from the eight sects cursed angrily once again.

Qu Yi laughed heartily. Then he walked over to the four members of the Taiyuan Sect and said calmly, “Tai Ming, how about your Taiyuan Sect goes to the ninth circle?”

Thinking Qu Yi was threatening them, the four quickly drew their top-grade spiritual weapons, ready to fight to the death.

“Qu Yi, this time, you must not leave first under any circumstances. Don’t think just because you have the Poison Fruit that you can threaten us at will,” Tai Ming declared firmly.

His words immediately won the approval of the powerful warriors from the other seven sects. Everyone was deeply resentful because Qu Yi had left first through teleportation in previous worlds.

Qu Yi glanced at the warriors from the eight sects and saw that they were indeed determined to fight to the death. He could only smile.

“Alright, I understand what everyone means. It seems you don’t want me to leave first through teleportation. Then I’ll compete with you—I’ll go to Circle Nine,” Qu Yi said with a strange smile.

Immediately afterward, he leisurely walked into the nine-circle formation.

The warriors from the eight sects all showed smiles, thinking that Qu Yi had finally given in this time. But just as Qu Yi entered the nine-circle formation, he suddenly laughed and shouted, “Everyone, who said that the person in Circle One must be the first to leave?” Hearing this, the warriors from the eight sects were surprised, not understanding why Qu Yi suddenly said such a thing. Perhaps the stone altar sensed that people were in all nine circles, and suddenly light beams shot upward from the edges of each circle, forming nine columns of light that enclosed everyone inside. These nine columns of light created their own space, preventing those inside from escaping. At that moment, the light column in Circle Nine where Qu Yi was suddenly rose vertically before moving horizontally into the space transmission array. As soon as the column entered the array, it disappeared, and Qu Yi’s body fell into it. The warriors from the eight sects were shocked to see Qu Yi enter the space transmission array first, followed by endless curses. “Damn it! I knew it—the first person in must have received special guidance from Emperor Hao. Once again, this bastard Qu Yi has taken advantage.” “There’s no justice! Circle One should be the first to transmit. Heaven can’t play tricks on our Taiyuan Sect like this.” “How could such a thing happen? I’m speechless—completely speechless.” “Qu Yi is too cunning. He deliberately hid in the Spirit Tree to force us to go to the stone altar first, so we’d enter the first eight circles. He’ll arrive last, avoiding our pressure and easily entering the nine-circle formation.” “I hate it! I was too hesitant. I should have resolutely and mercilessly self-destructed as a Yuan Ying to kill that bastard Qu Yi.” … In an instant, the warriors from the eight sects kept cursing. But Qu Yi, inside the space transmission array, raised his hand and waved, laughing, “Everyone, it’s time for the final challenge. Goodbye.” The warriors from the eight sects quickly calmed down; cursing now was useless. A flash of white light appeared in the space transmission array, and then Qu Yi’s figure disappeared—he had already been transported away. The four members of the Taiyuan Sect, seeing Qu Yi leave and watching the warriors from the other seven sects depart wave after wave, felt as if a volcano was forming inside them, eager to vent their anger. They had thought they would be the first to leave, but instead, they were the last. How could the four members of the Taiyuan Sect, who had been favored everywhere, bear this?

But the four of them could only endure!