Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

Tonight.

The newcomer banquet was being grandly held at Yunshan Port.

All newcomers from the major organizations would be making their debut, known to the public.

"Sounds a bit like a debut performance."

Shen Ye said.

"You could say that—newcomers from the clans and the Three Major Organizations will step onto the real stage beginning with this banquet—hurry it up!" Qian Rushan's voice came through the phone.

Shen Ye put down the phone and twisted the throttle.

The Ghost Fire Motorcycle roared to life and soared into the sky, heading towards a building resplendent in gold and jade.

"Can you go any faster?" Xiao Mengyu shouted loudly.

"In Jianghu, safety comes first!" Shen Ye shouted back.

The island hung above the vast blue sea, while heaven was an even deeper blue, high above the island.

Xiao Mengyu sat sideways, lightly pressing on his shoulder with one hand and supporting herself on the seat with the other, watching the birds flying freely between the heavens and the earth.

Clear skies for thousands of miles.

The bright autumn waters mirrored the setting sun, while the fading light vanished behind the distant mountains.

The windswept her hair tips.

Her hair constantly brushed past her eyes and nose, making her giggle.

"Will you die if you're a bit bolder, speed it up, will you!"

Xiao Mengyu slapped his shoulder hard.

"Big sister, this is a Ghost Fire Motorcycle, but I'm no Ghost Fire Boy!" Shen Ye protested loudly.

"What's a Ghost Fire Boy?" Xiao Mengyu shouted back.

"Charge—clang—mamma mia!" Shen Ye acted it out, mimicking being hit.

Xiao Mengyu caught on and couldn't help but burst into laughter.

The birds had already flown far away.

Below the azure sky, the Ghost Fire Motorcycle suddenly picked up speed.

Shen Ye tightly controlled the motorcycle with both hands, drawing an arc in mid-air as they flew past the closely packed skyscrapers.

The explosive roar was incessant.

Amidst the girl's cheers, the Ghost Fire Motorcycle dragged a long cloud trail in the sky, tracing a graceful arc before steadily landing on the helipad atop the Renjian Wudao Building.

Qian Rushan, dressed in a sleek black suit and wearing sunglasses, was anxiously watching his watch.

"Humph, you really timed your arrival—didn't I tell you to be careful tonight?"

He glared fiercely at Shen Ye and then turned to Xiao Mengyu with a courteous smile,

"Welcome, Miss Xiao, are you accompanying Shen Ye tonight?"

"Hello, yes, I'm with him tonight," Xiao Mengyu replied with a slight bow.

Shen Ye put Xiao Mengyu down and rode the motorcycle away, only to return a few minutes later to join in the conversation,

"Careful about what? I don't think you mentioned anything."

—Xiao Mengyu stood by his side, also showing concern.

"Scions of the noble families want to make a name for themselves by beating newcomers like him, Miss Xiao should understand," said Qian Rushan.

"Oh, it's the same every year, so boring."

Xiao Mengyu nodded slightly, immediately dismissing the concern, then turned to gaze out at the cloudy expanse.

Seizing the moment, Qian Rushan subtly gave Shen Ye an exaggerated look.

—The kid's got his game, managing to invite her to join the banquet!

Shen Ye's eyelids drooped, too lazy to bother with him.

—Actually, I had no ulterior motive; I just wanted to help her.

That's right.

"It's almost time, we should get going," said Qian Rushan.

The three of them looked towards the edge of the building.

Outside the building—

A long staircase suspended in mid-air.

Following the staircase upward would lead to a palace deep in the skies.

Many tall buildings had their tops align perfectly with the skyward extended suspended steps.

—This was by design from the very beginning.

"Let's go!"

The three stepped onto the staircase, ascending one step at a time.

Clear skies stretched out endlessly without a cloud.

The tranquil blue firmament began to succumb to the night, with just a spot of golden light slowly descending towards the horizon, blending the afterglow and the sunset glow into one, casting a radiant sheen upon the trio.

"It really feels like graduation season…" Shen Ye murmured under his breath.

"What?" Xiao Mengyu asked.

"Ah, nothing!" Shen Ye quickly said.

"Don't be too brash tonight; as I said earlier, those noble scions will come after you. Find a private room to hide in when the time comes, and just make it safely to the examination room after the banquet," Qian Rushan chattered on the side.

"I thought this place was supposed to be safe?"

Shen Ye, admiring the beautiful sky, turned his head to look and responded nonchalantly.

"If someone challenges you and you don't accept, it looks bad for the group; if you do accept, it becomes a formal one-on-one fight, which Kunlun won't interfere with," Xiao Mengyu said calmly.

"Wow, so scary, I'm going back," Shen Ye turned to leave.

Qian Rushan grabbed him by the arm and dragged him back.

"Tonight is when the cards give their final assessment, you idiot."

"Besides, your Strength is at 5, Agility at 4, and spiritual power at 3. Even among your peers from the noble families, that's quite decent. What do you have to be afraid of?" Qian Rushan barked.

"Noble scions have a heritage; they've been practicing various things since childhood, but we have nothing," Shen Ye spread his hands.

"Didn't I hear you learned a set of Fist Technique?"

"You mean Northeast Fist..." Shen Ye's thoughts were brought back.

"What Northeast Fist! That's the Northeastern Divine Fist!" Qian Rushan corrected.

—That Fist Technique seemed to require specific conditions to activate higher affinity and increase its power.

What were those specific conditions?

Further exploration was needed.

"This is a formal debut ceremony; the big shots of the clans and various major organizations are watching. Every newcomer must participate," Qian Rushan emphasized again.

"I know about the clans—are there any other organizations I don't know about?" Shen Ye asked.

Qian Rushan continued to walk up the stairs suspended in the air.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu followed behind him, chatting as they went.

The three of them kept walking towards the sky.

The sun was setting, sinking below the horizon.

But as they walked on towards the sky, they could continually see the sun, witnessing the last rays of the day.

Qian Rushan talked as he walked, with Xiao Mengyu occasionally adding a few comments.

Shen Ye listened sporadically.

Eventually, night fell.

Nightfall draped low.

Starlight scattered between heaven and earth.

As Shen Ye walked, he slowly came to understand the situation.

In this world, the clans occupied a ruling position.

They joined together to form the United World Government, governing human society, and used the United World Army to deal with various internal and external threats.

Besides them, there were three major organizational forces.

The Human Martial Arts Group;

The Zhilie Equipment Research Institute;

The Eternal Science and Technology Union.

The Human Martial Arts Group possessed various martial arts knowledge and was the strongest heritage-possessing organization outside of the clans.

The Zhilie Equipment Research Institute held the core intellectual property rights for Mecha and bionic prostheses.

Even the clans needed to purchase a large amount of military equipment from the institute for warfare, exploration, archaeology, and maintaining public order.

Luo Feichuan's battle arm was a product of the Zhilie Equipment Research Institute.

As for the Eternal Science and Technology Union—

This organization was dedicated to developing medical, evolutionary, and life-extension genetic technologies.

The clans didn't interfere lightly with these three major organizations.

After all, both the Human Martial Arts Group and the Zhilie Equipment Research Institute had several individuals who stood at the pinnacle of humanity.

The Eternal Science and Technology Union belonged to Kunlun.

It was intelligent, and any excessive interference with it could lead to unpredictable consequences.

This was generally the case.

Of course.

There were some other organizations as well.

For example, the Archaeological Association, which was an organization comprised of members from the clans and the Three Major Organizations.

Various churches, due to their excessively incendiary nature, were still not recognized by the World Government to this day.

As for mysterious organizations like the Tower of Tarot, even ordinary professionals rarely heard news of it, so it was not worth mentioning.

Shen Ye suddenly brought the conversation back:

"Hey, Old Qian, who exactly wants to deal with me?"

"You stirred up the trouble yourself; don't you know by now?" Qian Rushan glanced at him sideways.

"I don't know," Shen Ye spread his hands.

"Then don't worry too much; just go have a meal, and when the time comes, we'll leave. I guarantee you'll be fine."

Before long.

Stepping onto the last stair, the three of them finally arrived at a Floating Island.

This was a palace with red walls, green tiles, and ornately carved beams.

—the Heavenly Palace.

Standing at such a high place and looking around, nothing else could be seen, just the vast expanse of sky.

The last beautiful shades of pink at the edge of the world disappeared over the horizon.

The sky had turned completely dark.

The bright moon rose straight up, the mountain clouds wound gently, and all was silent as it ascended into the sky.

The world turned into an empty blackness, with only this Floating Imperial Palace suspended alone in the sky, radiating layer upon layer of hazy haloes, like the colorful neon of a past life, light floating amidst the shades of black, reflecting with the moonlight into a dream, illuminating the boundless ocean beneath the vast sky.

A gentle breeze blew.

Frost-like moonlight fell on Xiao Mengyu's gentle cheeks.

Shen Ye watched for a few extra seconds until Xiao Mengyu noticed and he quickly looked away, pretending to brush past her gaze casually, as if admiring the clustered flower shadows on both sides of the red carpet.

"Kid, maintain a proper attitude for the examination," Xiao Mengyu huffed.

"I've always been proper," Shen Ye said earnestly.

Melodious violin music began to rise from the banquet hall, seeming to relax people's emotions, so they could fully immerse themselves in this grand evening banquet.

"Are you ready?"

Qian Rushan adjusted his sunglasses.

—He felt more nervous than the two candidates behind him.

Shen Ye glanced at Qian Rushan and suddenly said:

"What would happen if someone were killed here?"

"Nonsense, there's absolutely no way that would happen. The big shots are watching," Qian Rushan scolded.

He had been worried that Shen Ye wouldn't come, and now he was worried Shen Ye would cause trouble.

Bringing new people was indeed a headache.

"Sigh," Shen Ye let out a sigh.

"I haven't even sighed yet; what are you sighing for?" Qian Rushan said discontentedly.

"Boring," Shen Ye said.

"You like to fight that much? Now I remember, the first time I saw you, you had just finished a fight," Qian Rushan's headache began again.

"He fights? With those skinny arms and legs, he can fight?" Xiao Mengyu joined in the conversation.

"He fought several at once, even claiming he was being bullied. Can you believe that?"

"I do believe that; he's got thick skin," she responded.

As the three talked, they reached the entrance of the palace.