Soon, a portion of the fourth-tier Immortals withdrew, leaving just enough people to meet the requirements for the Immortal Kingdom War.
Very quickly.
An hour passed in a flash.
The System prompt sounded again: "Ding! The Immortal Kingdom War has officially begun. Host, please lead your team into the teleportation channel."
The moment the System prompt rang out, a massive space-time tunnel appeared before everyone, leading to some unknown place.
"Let's go!"
Ian Song released a surge of immortal yuan force, wrapping all 442 who would follow him into the Immortal Kingdom War, then led them straight into the space-time tunnel.
In an instant, Ian and his group found themselves out of the tunnel and standing in a mysterious space.
This space was a colossal platform. Ian's group wasn't the first to arrive, as there were already twenty-two groups present on the platform.
Immediately after, figures flashed by and another team appeared not far away.
At that moment, a man in white robes walked up to Ian Song with a smile. "My name is Ethan Ye. How should I address you, fellow Host?"
"Hello, Brother Ye. I'm Ian Song!"
As the saying goes, you don't hit a smiling face. Ian responded with a friendly smile.
"Would you be interested in forming an alliance with me, Brother Song?"
Ethan Ye kept smiling as he spoke.
"What kind of alliance?"
Ian asked calmly, showing no emotion.
Ethan explained, "There are over eight thousand Hosts participating in this Immortal Kingdom War, but only one hundred will win. If you rely on solo combat, it's nearly impossible to break into the top hundred. Only by forming alliances can we increase our chances. If we make a pact, we'll watch out for each other and face difficulties together. What do you think, Brother Song?"
"So why are you asking me specifically to form an alliance?" Ian asked again.
Ethan smiled, "To be honest, Brother Song, the first twenty-two Hosts to arrive have already formed an alliance. From what I know, those who complete their missions first are transmitted here first. You must be the twenty-third, right?"
"That's right!"
Ian nodded.
"So, Brother Song, what do you think? Are you willing to join us and become our ally?" Ethan asked again.
"Alright!"
Ian nodded again.
Ethan smiled with satisfaction. "Brother Song, why don't you go greet our other allies? I'll go invite more people!"
With that, Ethan walked over to the twenty-fourth Host who had just arrived.
Anyone who made it this far and completed their mission ahead of time was no ordinary person. So Ian led his team over and greeted each of the twenty-one Hosts.
Including Ethan, there were twenty-two Hosts: nine female and thirteen male.
All the Hosts responded to Ian's greeting politely, without putting on airs.
Maybe in the future, they would become enemies, but for now, they were allies and could be trusted.
Among these twenty-two Hosts, none of their followers were weak. One female Host, for instance, had six eighteenth-layer Ancestral Immortals under her command.
That was seriously powerful!
The Langya Immortal World could hold at most five eighteenth-layer Ancestral Immortals, but other Immortal Worlds, depending on the strength of their Heavenly Dao, could accommodate more or fewer.
Even the 'weakest' Host had three eighteenth-layer Ancestral Immortals by their side.
As for Ian, he had only two eighteenth-layer Ancestral Immortals with him.
Just then—
Ian noticed that Ethan Ye was rejected by the twenty-fourth Host. Fortunately, the twenty-fifth Host arrived with their team, so Ethan quickly moved to approach them, a look of regret flashing in his eyes.
After that, more and more Hosts continued to arrive.
Of the first hundred Hosts to arrive, Ethan managed to recruit eighty-seven with his silver tongue. Including himself, the alliance gathered eighty-eight of the first hundred qualifiers.
About half an incense stick later—
The one hundred and first Host arrived.
This was a female Host, but when Ian saw a familiar figure behind her, his body trembled. He stepped forward and called out emotionally, "Lynn, is that you?"
Back in the Trial World, Lynn Ning disappeared and Ian searched for her in vain, leaving that world full of regret. He never expected to see Lynn again here in the Immortal Kingdom War.
Lynn was no longer the same as before; now, she had advanced to seventeenth-layer Ancestral Immortal, radiating a cold, aloof aura that warned others to keep their distance.
Hearing Ian's voice, Lynn trembled too. She stared at him in disbelief and tentatively called out, "Husband, is that really you?"
"It's me!"
Ian nodded firmly.
"Husband!"
Like a swallow returning to its nest, Lynn darted into Ian's arms in a flash. "Husband, this is wonderful! I never thought we'd see each other again!"
Ian hugged Lynn tightly, face full of guilt. "Lynn, it's all my fault—I lost you!"
As he spoke, Ian suddenly shot a cold glare at the female Host. No wonder he hadn't been able to find Lynn before—she must have taken Lynn out of that world.
Sensing Ian's change in aura, Lynn seemed to guess his thoughts and quickly said, "Husband, don't misunderstand Sister Mona. If she hadn't saved me back then, I would've fallen into enemy hands!"
Ian was stunned. Realizing the truth, he led Lynn over to the female Host, bowed deeply, and said, "Thank you for saving my wife!"
"You must be Ian Song. Hello, I'm Mona Meng."
She smiled and extended her hand.
Mona looked about twenty, strikingly beautiful with a full figure—at least a 36D bust—and wore a fiery red cheongsam that made her look incredibly sexy.
After a brief, polite conversation, Ian invited Mona to join their alliance, and she gladly accepted.
Mona's team included two eighteenth-layer Ancestral Immortals, five seventeenth-layer, and the rest were sixteenth-layer.
As time passed, more and more Hosts were transmitted over.
Ian's alliance quickly reached one hundred members.
After hitting one hundred, Ethan stopped inviting anyone else.
Since only one hundred could win this time, inviting more would mean internal strife even if they succeeded, with everyone harboring their own agenda.
That would defeat the whole purpose of forming an alliance.
Meanwhile, the twenty-fourth Host who rejected Ethan also formed a team. But even after reaching one hundred, he kept recruiting aggressively.
In the end, his group grew to over three hundred Hosts.
Finally, after several hours, all the Hosts had arrived—a total of 8,327.
They split into a number of alliance teams.
Most alliances capped themselves at one hundred Hosts, but the largest team recruited more than five hundred—an intimidating force.