Seven Places

As Tushan Ju was speaking, another middle-aged man in a white robe and a crown walked onto the high platform.

He was mature and handsome, with a gentle, refined air that made him seem as warm as jade. His goatee was half white, and a smile danced in his purple eyes.

After stepping onto the platform, he first bowed to Tushan Ju, then turned to face the crowd below.

Tushan Ju took the initiative to step back a few paces. “Next, our new king will address everyone.”

“Hello, everyone. I am Bai Qi, the new king of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan.”

Everyone below looked up at the Nine-Tailed Fox King standing above them.

They were all quite curious about the king of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan.

Xu Mu also raised his head and used the God’s Eye to inspect the middle-aged man’s information.

Name: Bai Qi

Role: Nine-Tailed Fox King

Favorability: 0

Destiny Level: 5 (Maximum Level: 10)

Seeing his Destiny Level, Xu Mu nodded inwardly. This Myriad Races Contract was indeed quite reliable.

A person with a Destiny Level of five, as long as he developed properly, would most likely become an outstanding figure in the future.

Although Bai Qi was already middle-aged, as a member of an otherworldly race, he still had plenty of time to develop.

Perhaps he could even advance further in the future.

At present, his cultivation had already reached the sixth level of the World-Breaking Realm. Reaching the eighth or ninth level in the future was not impossible.

“Back then, our Nine-Tailed Fox Clan paid a great price to secure places for everyone. Accepting your congratulatory gifts could be considered compensation for our efforts, but this time is different.”

Bai Qi smiled. “As for your gifts, we will only keep those belonging to the people who are selected. The gifts from everyone who is not selected will be returned in full.”

At this, the crowd below erupted in surprise.

Countless people began whispering among themselves. In the past, they had handed over precious treasures, only to find that after failing to be selected, they could not get their gifts back.

Every time, it left them feeling as miserable as if they had swallowed excrement.

Even so, they had no choice but to come again. After all, the allure of the Battlefield of the Gods was simply too great.

What did these so-called gifts matter if they happened to obtain a divine artifact or a Heaven-tier cultivation technique?

Now that the gifts of those who were not selected would be returned, they no longer had anything to worry about.

“We will follow the old rules. There is no need to come forward with heavenly treasures below the eighth rank, or with Yellow-tier or Profound-tier cultivation techniques.”

Bai Qi smiled. “We are only trying to save time. In previous years, none of the gifts we selected were below this standard.”

Hearing this, those who had originally intended to try their luck withdrew from consideration.

They had not expected the people presenting gifts to be so generous.

Even so, many people still lined up to offer their gifts.

Xu Mu followed the crowd to the high platform. Like those before him, he took out a spatial ring, tied a red cord around it, and attached the other end to a tag bearing his name.

This was something Tushan Ju had asked Xu Mu to prepare the day before.

When Xu Mu returned, he immediately sensed several gazes fixed on him.

He paid them no attention. With so many places in his hands, the only one he could confirm for now was the seventh-level expert An Ce.

He asked for nothing else. As long as An Ce could protect Fu Jinyu, Nalan Shisan, and the others, that would be enough.

Besides, Zhang Que was here as well. Xu Mu had originally planned to go over and greet him, but he discovered that the man had vanished.

Even after carefully searching with his senses, he could not find any trace of him.

“Could I have seen him wrong just now?”

Xu Mu frowned.

After all, he had not seen Zhang Que with his own eyes. He had only sensed him moments earlier.

Xu Mu returned to his previous seat and waited quietly.

Continuing to scan the surroundings with his perception, he discovered that neither Sheng Qiu nor Dantai Quan had personally come forward. Instead, they had sent others to act on their behalf.

On the high platform, the elders of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan began inspecting the contents of the rings one by one.

In the end, they selected several rings.

This time, Tushan Ju personally announced the results.

“Li Yang—six places.”

A gray-haired, middle-aged man stood up from the crowd with a faint smile.

Xu Mu looked over and recognized him as Li Han’s third uncle.

“Lu Jing—six places.”

Tushan Ju continued announcing the names.

Another person stood up from the crowd.

Xu Mu was surprised to discover that this bearded middle-aged man was the very person who had been sitting at Sheng Qiu’s table.

“Shi Chenjiang—five places.”

…

Xu Mu noticed that aside from Li Yang, the remaining people whose names were announced did not seem particularly powerful.

They appeared to be only slightly above the World-Breaking Realm.

Clearly, they were merely the representatives appearing in public, while the true experts did not want their identities exposed.

That was perfectly understandable. Take Sheng Qiu, who was sitting over there. As a member of the Great Wilderness Clan, she might be targeted by everyone if she revealed herself.

“Finally, Xu Mu—seven places.”

Tushan Ju took the initiative to announce his name.

At this, Xu Mu immediately rose with a smile.

Everyone around him turned to look at him.

Wu Tian toyed with the dagger in his hand as Li Poshan’s voice echoed in his mind.

“I wonder what kind of treasure this kid offered to obtain seven places.”

“Who cares? This time, we’re not in the outside world. I’m definitely going to kill him.”

Wu Tian did not move his lips. Instead, he used telepathy to answer his master.

“Keep a low profile. This time is different from before. Experts from the four major races are all here, along with forces hidden in the shadows. Your priority is to obtain the treasures, not deal with him.”

Li Poshan warned him.

“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

Wu Tian nodded inwardly.

Sheng Qiu also raised her head and looked toward Xu Mu. Her eyes, which were usually calm to the extreme, showed the slightest ripple.

[Favorability +5]

In a corner, the Heavenly Demon patriarch, An Ce, wore a black robe that concealed his face.

He muttered, “What exactly is going on with this Xu Mu? How did he manage to obtain so many places?”

He truly could not understand it. Since Xu Mu had obtained seven places, the treasures he had offered must have included at least three Earth-tier cultivation techniques.

With cultivation techniques like those, why not simply give them to Fu Jinyu and the others?

Why had he gone out of his way to request cultivation techniques from the Heavenly Demon Clan?

“Patriarch, what should we do?” the other black-robed man beside him asked in a low voice.

“You stay here. I’ll go over.”

An Ce spoke softly.

On the high platform, Tushan Ju smiled as she looked around. “All right, the places have now been distributed. Those who were not selected may line up and retrieve their gifts.”

The crowd surged forward, taking back their spatial rings one after another.

As far as they were concerned, they had suffered no losses this time.

An Ce arrived beside Xu Mu and said quietly, “Brother Xu Mu, it’s me.”

“Senior, you’re here.”

Xu Mu smiled. “This time, I’ve reserved two places for you. Does that count as completing their task?”

“Of course it does.”

An Ce nodded.

Originally, he and the second elder had planned to come over together. They had not expected the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan’s enthronement ceremony to happen so quickly.

They had initially intended to have Xu Mu build closer ties with them, but unexpectedly, he had simply solved everything by spending a fortune.

“Counting the two places for Senior, we now have six people.”

Xu Mu pointed toward the few people sitting beside him. “We’re still short one.”