Chapter 965 9th
One has to understand that the Valley of Geniuses, as a singular example, was responsible for maintaining the souls of often long dead or transcended geniuses alive, and also supplying them with enough power to pass on their legacies. For a tower that's been functioning for millions of years, the amount of energy that requires is astronomical.
Simply put, celestials would be able to make a mockery of the system, even to the point where they could forcibly take legacies that weren't meant for them. If you were a celestial? Go fight it out in the Valley of Geniuses on your floor. It was as simple as that.
Of course, since the tower was capable of having the energy to support another level of the Valley, energy constraints weren't the main focus behind its reasoning. Rather, it was to allow other geniuses the chance to grow.
The martial world was never short of shameless individuals who used their higher cultivations to bully those weaker than them. There were even individuals who purposely sought out geniuses to cut off their growth before they could become a threat. The tower was filled with enough dangers, it definitely didn't need bastards like those making things any worse. It was just a shame that not everyone was like those prideful dragons.
The most important point was that the Valley of Geniuses was meant to be a measure of talent. If you failed as a saint, but still came back as a celestial, you hadn't proved anything.
It was a good thing for Sokzac that Lilith had stopped him from coming, or else he would have wasted a trip.
"HAHA! Am I late?" A booming voice cut through the fierce cold winds before an explosion of ice and snow that could have been mistaken for an avalanche erupted into the skies.
The millions of young geniuses, who were all capable in their own right considering they too had traversed the harsh climate to reach here, looked over. For someone to be so bold as to show off in front of them, this man had to have some ability.
When the snow finally cleared from the young man's violent drop from the sky, no one had the heart to berate him for his arrogance any longer...
There was no mistaking the fierce red armor, the ridiculous size and the overbearing aura. This was a member of the Clyanne Giant Clan. And the fact that the young man who spoke out was leading more than a dozen massive men and women, he had to be the 7th Clyanne young master, Amory Clyanne!
How could any of them have the heart to look down on a prince of an Emperor God Clan of the 14th ranked quadrant. Wasn't that asking to be embarrassed?
"Since Brother Amory has stepped onto the scene, I should make my own appearance lest he feel peerless, no?"
At that moment a world-toppling beauty descended from the skies, but what shocked them all was that this very same beauty wasn't the one who had spoken, rather, it was the young man she followed respectfully behind. Such a beauty was only a servant? Was there any justice in this world?
However, when they saw the twin moon sabers by his hips, his flowing silver hair, and his starry-like eyes, they lost all their conviction. Reprimanding the 11th young master of the Streyluna Clan and offending the 12th ranked quadrant? On top of the fact that the beauty might not even appreciate their help? Which of them here wasn't a genius? How could they also be stupid?
Seeing the pretty boy descend from the skies, Amory's battle intent soared. "Good, the esteemed gigolo Cullen is here."
Cullen Streyluna didn't seem perturbed by being called a gigolo, clearly he was used to it by now. Instead, he looked off into the skies, it seemed a few more world-shattering geniuses were arriving.
It seemed like all the greatest geniuses were extremely fond of arriving fashionably late as one after another descended from the skies. None of them introduced themselves, after all, with their level of abilities, their fan groups would do all of the work for them.
However, none of the those who arrived earlier minded doing this kind of work. After all, the Valley of Geniuses was incredibly fair. The geniuses with the audacity to appear so late were obviously all so powerful that the terrain of this ice world meant next to nothing to them. As a result, they'd be capable of heading much deeper into the Valley of Geniuses and as such not bother with them as small fry who would remain in the outskirts and garner attention from the lesser statues.
Immediately after Cullen descended, members of the 21st ranked Gemini quadrant appeared. The lauded members of the Gemini Clan were actually an odd race of humanoids who were always born in twin, triplet, quadruplet or even quintuplet sets.
Their foremost geniuses were actually sextuplets, made of two pairs of triplets born at the same time, to the same mother. They were overwhelming prodigies, each having reached near unattainable heights in cultivation in just a short time.
Despite the seemingly low ranking as compared to the quadrants of Cullen and Amory, neither looked down on them. First and foremost, those clans ranked 12th to about 25th didn't have a large gap between them, much like those ranked 4th to 9th often swapped places randomly from time to time.
Secondly, all rankings, and most trials of the like, were taken as individuals. However, the Gemini race was known for their abilities as siblings. A Gemini fighting without their twin brothers and sisters would lose more than 70% of their battle effectiveness, yet they still managed to rank so high! It was no surprise then that during mass events like this one, the Gemini clan truly shone because it was only now that they could unleash their full strength.
The sextuplets casually touched to the ground. Three brothers and three sisters, but all of one mind. Despite their skin being slightly grey in color, they still reached a realm of attractiveness that very few could, especially the three sisters, they were no less beautiful than the beauty Cullen had brought along with him.
Even more shocking was that the Gemini race was rumored to have roots in ancient times. If a genius among them managed to retrace their bloodline back to its origins, the Gemini race might once again stand atop the martial world.
Despite Amory's Giant race having faint traces of ancient dragon blood within them, he still took these dainty looking sextuplets seriously.
However, the shock over the Gemini race didn't last long before yet another odd race of people appeared. It was yet another Giant race, however, they boldly grasped the name of Emperor Giants.
Yet.... No one dared to challenge them on it.
There were many Giant races throughout the 100 quadrants. The term Giant actually reached back to ancient times as well, originating from the Nephilim Tribe.
If Dyon were here, he would immediately recognize that this Nephilim tribe was transcribed in lore for his people as well and were known as the offspring of the sons of God.
Back then, the Nephilim Tribe had many branches traced back to anything ranging from ancient beast bloodline to even faint angel bloodlines!
Giants were essentially the result of other races having children with humans, resulting in "super-humans".
So, what faint bloodline could make even Amory's Clyanne clan concede the title of Emperor despite having dragon blood roaring through his veins?
Angel blood!
The Emperor Giant clan descended, booming outward with an aura even more oppressive than that of the Clyanne clan.
They were at least twice as large, standing at almost 6 meters tall. Dozens of them fell roughly onto the land of the snow, their chest's and backs bare, showing off the dark tattoos on their backs.
"Look," Someone whispered to a member of the clan, "Their leader has already earned his second set of angel wing tattoos!"
The murmurs of the crowd couldn't help but get louder. There was only one member of the Emperor Giant race that could earn a second set while still in the saint realms, Anak the King! An actual God level character had appeared!
Unlike Dyon's angel tattoos, the Emperor Giant Clan's weren't natural. Instead, they had their own harsh trials to be acknowledged by the clan. Usually, one would have to be at least of the middle celestial realms to earn a second pair, while the first pair would require the peak saint realm!
Yet, Anak had actually earned his first before he even stepped foot into sainthood, then repeated the same feat again! He had even stripped an elder clansman of 'the King' epithet, taking it for his own! He was truly logic defying!
However, if he wasn't so powerful, would he really deserve to be the Prince of the 11th ranked quadrant? He had even boldly proclaimed that he would snatch a top ten spot for his quadrant once he stepped onto the celestial floors, yet no one dared to doubt him.
Suddenly, everyone's lips twitched. They had been so distracted by Anak's imposing aura that they didn't even notice that petite beauty sitting leisurely on his shoulder, looking at him with an affectionate gaze.
Thinking about the logistics of such a matter, everyone shuddered, feeling pity for the small woman until someone suddenly recognized her.
"That's actually Princess Chrysanthemum of the Warm Mist Sect!"
They could hardly believe their eyes, because this petite princess was actually an Empress level character of the 9th ranked quadrant!