Chapter 228: The Nine-Tiered Sky

The atmosphere within the Central Continent's Grand Court was fundamentally different from the first day of the tournament.

The initial, boisterous arrogance of the Upper Division had been replaced by a tense, hyper-vigilant paranoia. The air crackled with suppressed Qi. Tens of thousands of cultivators packed the vast, open-air amphitheater, their eyes darting nervously between the provincial pavilions.

When the Zhao Province delegation, led by Lord Zhao Shenming and Lin Yuan, entered the arena and took their designated seats on the eastern terraces, a massive, collective hush fell over the crowd.

Thousands of eyes locked onto the man in the pristine black and white robes.

He was no longer the suicidal fool who had invoked the Ascension Clause. He was the predator who had walked into the Void Ascension Battlefield and completely stripped a Half-Step Transcendent expert of his tokens.

Whispers erupted like wildfire across the benches.