đź“– Chapter 962 - Viewing the Planets as Ants!
Obviously, someone of the Starfall Emperor’s cultivation base wouldn’t make a mistake about a Spirit Immortal Realm cultivator. Indeed, the masked woman… failed to beat the drum a ninth time.
It wasn’t that she didn’t try. She even used a secret art, but unfortunately, the ninth beat was different from the sixth beat. With the help of a secret art, the little fatty was able to force out a sixth strike, but even with a secret art, the masked woman couldn’t make the ninth strike.
The gap between nine strikes and sixth strikes was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Although she was disappointed, the masked woman had a decisive mentality. In the end, she chose to fuse with a violet Planet that was among the three brightest Special Planets. She disappeared in an instant, and when she reappeared, she was already inside her chosen Planet.
Next would be the process of completely fusing with the Planet and breaking through to the Planet Realm. This was the last step of every trip to the Starfall Realm, and the Chosen didn’t have any concerns about their safety.
After the masked woman’s turn, the other Chosen went up and beat the drum one after another, to varying degrees of success. Brother Expert beat the drum seven times and obtained a seventh-grade Special Planet. The two unfamiliar cultivators also stopped at six or seven strikes. Although they, too, obtained Special Planets, those Planets were generally of the lower grades.
Wang Baole paid close attention to everyone who went up, constantly comparing himself to them as well as learning more about the beating of the Heavenspan Drum.
By now, there were still four Chosen who had yet to go up – the scholarly cultivator, the young man in black, the bell girl, and the little girl. Wang Baole straightened his back in anticipation as he waited for them to take their turns beating the drum.
Among them, the little girl was the first to go up, and she was also the strangest. Gritting her teeth, she managed to beat the drum eight times, summoning the second-grade Special Planets, but in the end… she actually gave up, not choosing any of the Planets there.
When it saw this scene, the Starfall Emperor’s eyes glowed with a profound light, and it reexamined the little girl several times.
Wang Baole was also extremely surprised. If it were any other time, he would definitely analyze the matter carefully. However, his attention at that moment was drawn entirely to the performance of the next three Chosen. What they did not only shocked Wang Baole, but also shocked every existence across the entire Starfall Empire.
The scholarly cultivator from the top sect of the Heretical Dao was the first to beat the drum a ninth time. Although he had reached his limit and was unable to lift his hand to strike a tenth time, wobbling on his feet, he managed to remain standing. As he looked up to the dazzling vault of heaven, he saw a great number of second-grade Special Planets, as well as three Planets shining brighter than all the others!
Looking carefully, it could be seen that on those three brightest Planets, there seemed to be the faint figures of beasts. Clearly, they were no longer simple Planets but had given birth to a preliminary form of life!
“In today’s Starfall Realm, there are only 37 first-grade Special Planets. For this child to summon three of them… He isn’t simple!” The Starfall Emperor’s eyes revealed a look of admiration as it spoke. Wang Baole gazed intently at the Special Planets shining in the sky, but… no matter how bright those three first-grade Special Planets were, they didn’t even enter the scholarly cultivator’s eyes!
As he stared up into the vault of heaven, his gaze wasn’t flickering between the three first-grade Planets. Instead, it constantly roamed the sky, searching for… the Dao Planet that he was fated with!
“Dao Planet, why haven’t you appeared yet…” The scholarly cultivator was breathing heavily. If it was before, he would definitely settle for one of the three first-grade Planets, but today… he only had the Dao Planet in his eyes.
Full of anxiety, the scholarly cultivator revealed a touch of madness in his eyes. He raised his right hand and executed some unknown divine ability, causing him to bleed from his seven orifices. As blood spewed out from his mouth, he waved the drumstick in his hand, and with a resolute expression, struck the drum again!
With a boom, the tenth beat of the drum suddenly echoed out. The vault of heaven shook and seemed to flip upside down, and countless more Planets instantly manifested. However, at the same time, the drumstick in the scholarly cultivator’s hand shattered, and his body seemed to lose all its strength, directly falling to the ground. Struggling to stand up, his eyes were red with madness as he frantically swept his gaze across all the Planets in the sky, looking for the Dao Planet. In the end, he couldn’t find it and let out a miserable laugh. Clenching his fists, he roared in indignation.
“I only want the Dao Planet! The rest of the Planets are no better than ants to me!”
As soon as those words came out, an incredibly bright light appeared in the vault of heaven, and all the Planets dimmed, gradually fading away. Even the three first-grade Planets were no exception and disappeared after a short time. Suddenly, a single ray of light fell from the sky and landed on the scholarly cultivator.
At that moment, a blindingly bright Planet appeared in the sky. It instantly outshone all the other lights in the sky, like an emperor of the vault of heaven. However, only its silhouette appeared, not the Planet itself. Moreover, the ray of light that had fallen didn’t mean that it had chosen an owner. Rather, it had… marked a backup option!
Although he was only marked as a backup option, the scholarly cultivator was still moved, and his despondent aura instantly sharpened. All the cultivators of the Starfall Empire trembled and simultaneously bowed in worship to the Dao Planet that had appeared in the sky!
Even the Starfall Emperor inclined its head slightly to offer respects. As for Wang Baole, his heart pounded rapidly, and his eyes shone with intense longing. This Dao Planet was his greatest goal for this trip to the Starfall Realm!
However, the Dao Planet was too arrogant. It seemed to have become used to the worship and subservience of all living things. Although the scholarly cultivator had gone all out and managed to beat the drum ten times, an extremely rare accomplishment throughout history, the Dao Planet had only revealed its silhouette and marked him as a backup.
As for Wang Baole… the Dao Planet didn’t even look at him. However, it did shine some light on the young man in black and the bell girl, making their minds tremble. The two instantly rushed out, simultaneously arriving on either side of the Heavenspan Drum. Clearly, they were both about to beat the drum!
They seemed to be competing to show off. They wanted to attract the Dao Planet’s attention and let it choose them!
Although this was against the rules, with the silhouette of the Dao Planet hanging high in the sky, even the Starfall Emperor didn’t speak up. Everyone else seemed to have completely forgotten the rules of the ceremony, and the only thing reflecting in their eyes was the brightly shining silhouette of the Dao Planet.
Wang Baole’s eyes flashed as he witnessed this scene. Although he had the feeling that the Dao Planet seemed to be ignoring him, he hoped that it was just a feeling. When he saw the bell girl and the young man in black beating the drum at the same time, he gritted his teeth and rushed out. He, too, flew straight toward the Heavenspan Drum!
The hurried Wang Baole didn’t noticed the helpless and regretful glance of the Starfall Emperor behind him. Naturally, he couldn’t hear the red-lined paper human cutout’s whispered words, either.
"It won't choose you…"
With intense longing in his eyes, Wang Baole flew across the plaza in an instant and arrived next to the Heavenspan Drum almost at the same time as the bell girl and young man in black. Just as they were swinging the drumsticks in their hands, Wang Baole’s drumstick appeared as well. All three struck the Heavenspan Drum at the same time!
With the first beat, heaven and earth seemed to invert. As for the lofty Dao Planet looking down on all living beings, it quickly disappeared back into the vault of heaven. It seemed to be waiting for these three drummers to prove that they had the qualifications to make it reveal itself again!
With the second beat, points of light reappeared in the dim vault of heaven. However, these lights were sparse in number and much dimmer than before. If they were humans, they would definitely have downcast expressions.
With the third beat, more points of light appeared, but they were still quite dim. It wasn’t until the three people at the drum struck a fourth and then fifth time that the lights in the sky seemed to regain some vitality. Mortal Planets, Spirit Planets, and Immortal Planets appeared in the vault of heaven one after another!
Then came the sixth beat, then the seventh, then the eighth!
The vault of heaven rumbled, and countless Planets manifested simultaneously. Special Planets also revealed themselves. There were countless low-grade ones, many middle-grade ones, and even several hundred of the second- and third-grades.
The vault of heaven instantly became bright and magnificent beyond description!
For the young man in black and the bell girl, beating the drum eight times in a row wasn’t anything difficult. However, it came with a pressure and sense of exhaustion that still caused their auras to turn slightly chaotic and their faces to pale. Wang Baole was no different; at that moment, he finally knew how the others had felt when they were beating the drum previously.
Every beat of the drum was like a storm battering his body and divine soul. He even had the feeling that he wasn’t using a drumstick to strike the drum, but rather his very life!
In particular, the eighth beat had shaken his soul, causing Wang Baole’s vision to swim. Although he recovered quickly, he sensed that he would need to pay a certain price to strike the drum a ninth time.
“This is nothing. I’ll definitely beat it ten times!” Wang Baole gritted his teeth, and a ruthless expression appeared on his face. To his sides, the young man in black erupted with a baleful aura, and the bell girl’s eyes blazed with ferocity. In unison, they all waved the drumsticks in their hands and… struck the ninth beat of the drum!