Myriad Tribes Ceremony

Every Myriad Tribes Ceremony is held at Moon Field Slope. Hei Lou Lan finds the place empty and desolate, with yellow sand everywhere. Lu Tong Lan says it differs from the Thousand Tribes Ceremony: it involves the entire Myriad Beast Fusion Color Heaven, once every ten thousand years, and is her first time taking part too. ^{ch. 2114}

Before combat, tribes take turns slaughtering and contributing sacrificial tokens at the central field. Weak tribes offer desolate beasts. Tribes slightly inferior to Blue Phoenix Tribe offer ancient desolate beasts. Strongest forces like Yellow Bell Tribe offer many ancient desolate beasts and plants, or even immemorial ones, and from time to time outsiders of at least rank seven are killed in public. Yellow Bell Tribe even executes rank eight outsiders. Sacrifices melt into the yellow soil as if the ground were a silent beast. Inhabitants cheer each outsider death and call them otherworldly demons, treating the grotto-heaven as the whole world. Historical records say such otherworldly demons appear each time the ceremony is held. ^{ch. 2114}

The sacrificial ceremony lasts a day. Super tribes hold it openly at the central field; other tribes sacrifice at their own camps. On the night of the ceremony there is a large bonfire celebration. ^{ch. 2114}

The Myriad Tribes Competition then starts. Each tribe has blank space in front as a field. In the ceremony a challenge cannot be rejected, but the challenged side may invite others to help, which is why weaker forces join or side with super forces. Lu Tong Lan challenges Stardust Tribe Leader by betting a divine peacock feather, wins, and takes a white thread tendon of the five emperor eel for Hei Lou Lan. ^{ch. 2114}

Combat reaches a cruel stage. Any Gu Immortal who dies during the ceremony is sacrificed on the spot, merging into the yellow soil land. Only totems can be used in battle, so the death toll is lower than ordinary life-and-death fights that mix other killer moves. ^{ch. 2115}

When three rank eight Gu Immortals die on Moon Field Slope, the yellow soil emits faint yellow light and a road appears. The tribes call it Myriad Life Road. Hei Lou Lan realizes the sacrifices are meant to open that road. Only publicly recognized experts may enter to seek immortal opportunities left by Great God Reckless Savage. As sacred physique, she is qualified without testing. After discussion the tribes choose eighty-eight people, eleven of each rank, with no rank nine among them. Lu Tong Lan and Jiao Huo are among those eighty-eight. ^{ch. 2115}