Chapter One Hundred and Three: The Grand Dao Discussion Ceremony, Part One

In the one-hundred-thousandth year of the Divine Court, the Divine Court openly proclaimed to all under heaven that it would hold a grand convention of the Way, inviting immortals and gods from every quarter.

As its name implied, the convention was a splendid gathering for debating the Great Way.

In truth, it was a martial contest, meant to select the strongest immortals and gods in the world for the Divine Court’s use.

Of course, in order to make the event eagerly sought after, the Divine Court prepared rewards of astonishing richness.

Since the Divine Court was presently based in the Northern Wastes, the convention could only be held there, and these rewards were especially tempting to the beings of the Northern Wastes.

The prizes included divine weapons, secret arts, heavenly treasures, elixirs, and miraculous medicines.

But the convention organized by the Divine Court also offered a more extraordinary reward.

That reward was office and rank within the Divine Court.

The Divine Court declared that anyone who entered the top ten thousand of the convention would receive an official post and a divine station.

With such office and rank, one became a god of the Divine Court, able not only to wield authority and enjoy immortality, but also to stand beneath the Court’s protection and live in ease and peace.

By now, who in the Northern Wastes did not know the uses of office and rank?

Thus the beings of the Northern Wastes were most fervent in their pursuit of the Divine Court’s rewards, and one after another threw caution to the winds to sign up for the convention.

From great clan experts seeking the benefit of their race and the strengthening of their own power, to lone wandering powerhouses seeking a backer and a path to greater strength, all took part with eager zeal.

More importantly, the Divine Court issued a special divine law: anyone who entered the top ten thousand of the convention, except for those guilty of the gravest offenses such as defiance of the divine race, would have all crimes pardoned.

Once this decree was issued, the powerhouses of the Northern Wastes who had been wanted for minor faults all went mad with enthusiasm and rushed to join the convention.

In an instant, the convention of the Way became the most fashionable phrase in the Northern Wastes.

In the Northern Wastes, within the Northern Cold Domain.

The Northern Cold Domain was the highest-tier domain closest to the Northern Plains, and also the one nearest to the boundary of the Five Worlds.

Because it lay so near the Northern Plains, its terrain closely resembled them: vast glaciers and endless snowy wastes.

As a high-tier domain, the Northern Cold Domain was controlled by the Northern Cold Clan, a renowned great clan of the Northern Wastes.

Northern Cold City, Northern Cold Palace, Hall of the Way.

Under the Divine Court’s decree, every domain and water region had a Hall of the Way, and this hall served as the registration point for the convention.

Though the convention was to invite all the immortals and gods of the world, it was impossible to have countless immortals and gods travel directly to the City of All Gods to participate.

Thus the convention was divided into two levels: the domain-level convention and the wasteland-level convention.

First, the Divine Court directly dispatched large numbers of divine officials, who set up registration points in the central cities of each domain and water region to accept sign-ups from the immortals and gods of the world.

After registration ended in each domain and water region, the divine officials sent by the Divine Court, with the support of the local divine lord, would hold a domain-level convention on the spot.

The top ten of each domain-level convention would then be led by the divine officials to the City of All Gods to take part in the wasteland-level convention held there.

At this moment, the Hall of the Way inside Northern Cold Palace was already in an uproar.

Although the Divine Court stipulated that only divine kings could take part in the convention, the approaching age of chaos had caused the wilderness to give rise to a vast number of divine kings in endless succession.

Take the Northern Cold Domain as an example: before the Gate of the Heavenly Veil was broken, there had been at most one hundred thousand divine kings.

Now, the Northern Cold Domain had at least one million divine kings.

Even if not every divine king in the domain had signed up, there were still several hundred thousand applicants.

Just imagining several hundred thousand divine kings registering at once was enough to make even the gods tremble.

The divine officials dispatched by the Divine Court numbered only about a thousand, yet they had to receive tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of divine kings. The workload was indeed immense.

A tall man in white robes, with silver-white hair cascading over his shoulders and an air of commanding majesty, stepped into the Hall of the Way.

The silver-haired man swept his gaze around the hall and found that most of the divine kings inside were holding a golden brush in one hand and a sheet of golden paper in the other, writing without pause.

Yet strangely, the silver-haired man did not recognize a single character written on the paper.

He could not help but show a puzzled expression, staring at the sacred and solemn golden script that combined beauty with dignity, and thought to himself, "For a million years I have roamed the wilderness, yet I have never seen writing like this."

"It has the boldness of dragon script, the pride of phoenix script, and the qualities of other writings as well. This kind of script not only perfectly unites their strengths, but also carries a sacred and solemn aura."

"This script is truly remarkable. The being who created it is likewise truly remarkable."

As the silver-haired man regarded those sacred and solemn characters, he could not help but think inwardly.

Just as his thoughts were drifting, the conversation of two silver-armored divine kings nearby drew his attention back.

"Snow White! I’m done writing. What about you?" one silver-armored divine king said, setting down the golden brush and looking at the divine king beside him who was still writing.

Snow White Divine King quickly finished a few strokes, then laid down the golden brush and smiled. "I’m done too."

"You have to admit, this divine script is indeed profound, vast, sacred, and beautiful." Snow White Divine King looked at the golden characters he had written, his eyes filled with delight.

Indeed, these golden characters were the newly established ten-thousand-character divine script of the divine race.

Only, the divine race had used divine script for the very first time as the designated official writing for the convention, forcibly making the Northern Wastes recognize and accept it.

After all, since divine script was the official writing, one could not register without it, let alone participate in the convention.

The beings taking part in the convention were numerous and powerful beyond measure, basically the middle and upper elite of the Northern Wastes.

Once these divine kings who participated in the convention used divine script for the first time, they would never wish to use those crude old writings again.

By then, even if clan leaders like Profound Heaven Martial and the rest realized the harm of using divine script, what could they do?

The unification of Northern Wastes writing under divine script had already become the will of the masses and the longing of all beings.

It had to be said that the divine race and Nan Luo were indeed far-sighted and deeply scheming.

The other divine king clearly had little interest in divine script and hurriedly said, "Enough! Let’s hurry and submit our registration forms. Today is the deadline."

Watching the two silver-armored divine kings head toward the registration desk, the silver-haired man slowly followed behind them.

After the two silver-armored divine kings submitted their forms, the silver-haired man approached a divine official at the registration desk and asked, "May I ask how I should register?"

The divine official looked at the silver-haired man before him, took out a golden brush and golden paper, and handed them over.

Perhaps because the silver-haired man had such a commanding presence, the official kindly said, "The registration form must be written in divine script. The divine script is contained within the golden paper."

"Thank you."

The silver-haired man accepted the brush and paper and thanked him with a smile.

Holding the brush and paper, he found a place, set up a barrier, and began to read the divine script hidden within the golden paper.

Seeing the blank golden sheet, the silver-haired man showed neither surprise nor doubt; he evidently had long been accustomed to such books without words.

With a roar, he sent his spiritual sense into the paper, and the ten-thousand-character divine script within immediately transformed into a streak of golden light and flew into his sea of consciousness.

Looking at the golden ten-thousand-character divine script within his sea of consciousness, the silver-haired man began studying it character by character.

One hour later, the silver-haired man opened a pair of black eyes. Golden light flashed within them as he said with reverence, "The ten-thousand-character divine script seems simple, but in truth it is vast and profound. It can actually manifest the three thousand laws. Truly formidable!"

He looked down at the golden paper, lifted the golden brush, and suddenly revealed a mysterious smile.

"From the divine script, one can discern the strength of the divine race. It seems I came to the divine race for the right reason."

On the golden registration form, the brush swiftly wrote two golden divine characters: Water Kun.