At first glance, the entire small building looked like a vertical well. But this "well" did not descend downwards, but extended upwards.
The building had only two stories, but was not short. The two stories were divided equally, yet both appeared slender and tall.
The top and bottom of the building were of the same size.
The material of the small building was some unknown type of wood. In truth, it did not seem very suitable for construction, because the wood itself was not smooth at all, but rather full of knots, like burls. These ugly protrusions hung irregularly on the walls of the building.
To build a small building with such wood must have required considerable thought.
This small building had no windows on any side, or rather, its only window was at the very top, because it also had no roof.
When a person sat in the center of the ground floor and looked up, they could see the sky with a single glance.
The reason there was a concept of "two stories" was not only because there was a circle of wooden eaves on the exterior of the building at the corresponding level, but also because the interior was practically divided into two floors.
However, in the center of the second-floor floor, there was a circular hole large enough for two people to embrace—there was no staircase to the second floor, and this served as the passage to go upstairs.
Overall, the roof of this building, the central passage on the second floor, and the ground floor were three completely parallel circles.
The only difference was that the roof and the ground floor were exactly equal, while the circle in the center of the second floor was much smaller. It was shaped like an hourglass.
This small building actually had four doors, facing the four cardinal directions. The doors were all curved arches that bent inward, perfectly fitting the "well walls."
Only the door on the north side was unlocked; the other three doors were all wrapped in black chains, as if they were locking something in.
Only the north door had a vertical plaque inscribed with the name of the small building, which also signified that the north door was the main entrance.
The vertical plaque read—"Assistant."
The Tian clan members all knew that the Assistant Building was an absolutely critical and restricted area. Only clan members of a certain status were allowed to approach.
This Assistant Building was where Tian Anping lived.
Tian Anping was born relatively late.
He was exactly seventeen years younger than his own elder brother, Tian Antai, the current Town Pacification Commissioner of Rizhao Commandery.
And Tian Antai, who had served in the military for many years and always maintained an imposing presence, was completely subservient to Tian Anping.
Even though Tian Antai held a position in one of the Nine Regiments, the Autumn Slaughter Army, and had even reached the lofty position of a full-fledged Town Pacification Commissioner of an entire commandery—waiting for Yangdi to fully submit so he could become a true Governor, a frontier official in the real sense—
At this moment, Tian Anping was alone in the Assistant Building.
He was bare-chested, barefoot, wearing only a pair of long trousers, sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking up at the sky.
He was always looking up at the sky.
The sky held all the complexity of the world. White clouds and grey dogs, the sun, moon, and stars—he only looked at this single window of sky.
He called this "observing the sky from a well."
His upper body was quite muscular. The muscles were not excessive, but very well-defined. Most striking were the whip marks everywhere on his body, the dense blood stipples, as if he had just undergone some form of torture.
But his expression showed no pain whatsoever.
"Interesting."
He repeated again.
He remained motionless, looking up at the sky.
He seemed to have countless questions, and the sky hid all the answers.
...
After another satisfying battle ended, Jiang Wang withdrew from the Ethereal Realm.
He discovered that challenging the rank of an Ethereal Six Harmonies cultivator again was not as difficult as before.
Although he had indeed not ceased his cultivation and was improving every day, it was not to the extent that he had become so much stronger in just a few short days.
Rather, it was because the opponent was genuinely not as strong as before.
He had continued challenging until he reached the fourth position in the Soaring Dragon realm, and the opponents he encountered were still not as formidable as the young man in the brocade robes he had faced when earning the Ethereal Six Harmonies cultivator's title.
If he fought that person again now, he was not confident he could win once more. Of course, he would not lose his confidence either. After all, he had been the one to win back then; there was no reason he wouldn't dare to win again.
Just analyzing from an objective perspective of combat power, he had indeed been completely defeated in terms of Dao arts. Whether in the strength of the Dao arts he commanded or his control over them, he was far inferior.
He guessed that the young man in the brocade robes must have ascended to a higher ranking by now, which was why they had not met again.
And the opponents he encountered now were, of course, also very strong, but none matched the young man in the brocade robes who excelled in water-element Dao arts in terms of raw combat power.
The benefits enjoyed by the fourth and sixth positions in the Soaring Dragon realm of the Ethereal Realm had not changed. Perhaps only the top three, or first place, would bring new surprises.
Jiang Wang stayed at the inn for three days. Strong cultivators from all over the State of Qi were converging on Jicheng.
Li Fengyao rarely went out either, but Little Tong visited frequently, passing along various bits of gossip to help Jiang Wang prepare for the upcoming gathering at the Seven Star Pavilion.
The scale of this Seven Star Pavilion gathering, compared to its peak years, was not considered particularly grand.
Although the so-called "Year of Brilliance" rumor was spreading everywhere, the fact that the yields from the Seven Star Pavilion had been gradually declining was already an established truth.
Of course, this "not particularly grand" was only relative.
At least from Jiang Wang's perspective, it was already quite terrifying.
Every time the Seven Star Pavilion opened, there were a full one hundred and eight positions. Apart from the twenty spots that the Tian family inherently reserved, there were eighty-eight spots for experts from all regions to compete for.
The cultivators who came were all above the Soaring Dragon realm, nearly three hundred in total.
And in the end, only eighty-eight people were qualified to enter the Seven Star Pavilion.
The odds were roughly one in three.
Three hundred cultivators above the Soaring Dragon realm gathering in one place—what kind of concept was that?
In a vassal minor state like the Yang Kingdom, a peak Soaring Dragon realm expert could hold the position of a city lord.
And among those who ultimately secured spots for the Seven Star Pavilion secret realm, strong cultivators like Li Fengyao at the Inner Palace realm were not uncommon.
The Inner Palace realm was already the level of a powerhouse who could preside over a region. Even if one had only opened a single palace, it was enough to hold the position of a city-domain lord in an independent minor state like the State of Zhuang.
If not for a top-tier prestigious family like the Tian family of Daze, and being on their own home ground with enough formidable power to oversee things, they could never have organized such a grand event.
A normal faction could not even maintain basic order.
Conversely, being able to handle such a grand event was a testament to the strength of the Tian family of Daze.
Of course, for a secret realm of the Seven Star Pavilion's caliber, if the Tian family could not handle it, there were plenty of powerful factions willing to take it on.
Little Tong's chattering did help Jiang Wang build up sufficient mental preparation.
The most noteworthy figures at this Seven Star Pavilion gathering, the ones watched by all parties—
The first was Lei Fuqian, the genius of the Lei family, mother clan of the eleventh prince Jiang Wuqi. According to the betting odds set in the underground market, he led by a wide margin with the highest win rate.
Most people agreed he would leave the Seven Star Pavilion with the first position in the Heavenly Spirits ranking.
Next was Fang Chong, a first-rank executive of the Four Seas Commerce Alliance. He was a veteran Inner Palace realm expert with profound cultivation and exceptional combat prowess. He had fought north and south for the Four Seas Commerce Alliance, establishing a tremendous reputation.
After that came Li Fengyao.
Although she rarely fought outside and had no notable battle records displayed before the public, the name "Shimen Li" alone, combined with her Inner Palace realm cultivation, was enough to make all parties sharpen their attention and treat her with utmost caution.
These three were the top favorites for the first position in the Heavenly Spirits ranking.
As for Jiang Wang, who had secured a spot through connections... he was not on the odds list at all.
When the gambling establishments set their odds, they mostly based them on performance during the recent competition for Seven Star Pavilion secret realm spots, while also monitoring various disputes and conflicts in Jicheng during this period.
Jiang Wang was mixed in with the Tian family's quota, so he didn't need to compete at all. And these past few days, he had stayed behind closed doors, completely silent and unnoticed.
The few battles he had fought in Linzi had all been within a small circle and had not spread.
This feeling of being ignored...
It made Jiang Wang quite satisfied.