The three-day period passed in the blink of an eye.
Before the first rays of morning light could fully pierce through the clouds, the long-standing deathly silence of Kurong Peak in the Piaomiao Sect had already been shattered.
This was originally the peak with the thinnest Spirit Chi and the most treacherous terrain within the sect. Usually, even the outer sect disciples responsible for sweeping avoided it, fearing it would bring bad luck. But today, it had become the center of attention for the entire Cangwu Province.
At the summit, on the edge of a massive stone platform that had been forcibly leveled by human power to a width of a thousand feet, the astral winds were as piercing as knives, making one’s skin sting.
Wu Yan stood alone at the very front of the Piaomiao Sect’s formation.
Today, she still wore her signature high ponytail and the moon-white Daoist robe that represented her status as the Chief Disciple.
Though the robe was clean, the cuffs and collar were washed to a faded white. It flapped loudly in the morning wind, appearing somewhat thin and fragile.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. How pathetic.”
Deep within her Sea of Consciousness, that lazy and mocking voice rang out right on time.
A red shadow flashed in the void. Wu Yan (Inner) stood barefoot in Wu Yan’s shadow, her fire-like red dress standing out exceptionally against the grey backdrop of Kurong Peak.
She pinched her nose in disgust, as if smelling a wave of poverty wafting from the surroundings.
“Little Wu Yan, look at those Junior Sisters and Junior Brothers behind you. Every single one of them is shrinking back like a bunch of quails. And look at you, standing at the front like a wooden block. If people didn’t know better, they’d think the Piaomiao Sect was the Beggars’ Gang.”
Wu Yan’s expression remained unmoved, like a statue carved from clay or wood. This only served to validate what Wu Yan (Inner) had said about her being like a block of wood.
“Boring.” Wu Yan (Inner) rolled her eyes and her body floated up light as a feather. She hung upside down in mid-air, her red skirt draping down and just grazing Wu Yan’s shoulder.
“Right now it’s just some small sects. When those great sects arrive later, I’ll see how you can hold your head up.”
Just as her voice fell, a dull roll of thunder suddenly echoed from the eastern horizon.
“Rumble—!”
The clouds surged, and the originally pale blue sky was instantly dyed a purplish-black.
Accompanied by the deafening roars of beasts, a massive bronze war chariot burst through the clouds.
The creatures pulling the chariot were not horses, but nine Iron-backed Thunder Rhinos with bodies as large as mountains, covered in black scales.
Purple lightning spat from the nostrils of each rhino. Their iron hooves stepped onto the void, each stride causing the air to explode with a boom.
Atop the chariot, banners fluttered, embroidered with a golden wild lion roaring toward the heavens. Dozens of men with bare torsos and muscles knotted like rock stood proudly. A wild Baleful Chi rushed toward the onlookers, making them seem like a pack of beasts charging out from a primordial wasteland.
Ten Thousand Beast Mountain.
Only they would make an entrance in such a manner, and only they had the power to command so many demonic beasts.
Behind Wu Yan, several Piaomiao Sect Inner Disciples turned pale and subconsciously took a half-step back.
The bloody stench and overwhelming pressure made it difficult for them to breathe.
Wu Yan (Inner) floated in mid-air, twining her long hair around her finger with a look of utter disgust. “A bunch of uncivilized savages. You can smell that rank stench from miles away. If they enter the secret realm, they could probably kill the demonic beasts just with their body odor.”
Following that, a soft silvery-white light suddenly lit up the western sky. The originally noisy winds seemed to turn gentle. A distant, ethereal melody of zithers and flutes drifted over, seemingly washing over one’s soul, bringing peace and making people unconsciously want to lower their guard.
A flying boat carved like a crescent moon, entirely semi-transparent, sailed slowly toward them.
Faint mist lingered around the hull, making it difficult to see clearly, as if it were a mirage.
At the bow, dozens of female cultivators dressed in snow-white light gauze stood. Their faces were covered with thin veils, revealing only eyes as clear as water. They were not dancing, but merely standing still. Lunar radiance seemed to flow around them, making them look extraordinarily elegant, like fairies descending from the Moon Palace.
Queyue Palace. This was a sect that only accepted female disciples. Usually, their primary focus was on illusions and mental attacks. They were effective against cultivators, but against demonic beasts, their impact would likely be significantly reduced.
“Tsk, a bunch of pretentious women.” The look of amusement on Wu Yan (Inner)’s face turned into disdain. She curled her lip, her eyes full of mockery. “They clearly cultivate the most vicious mental killing techniques, yet they insist on acting like ethereal fairies who don’t eat mortal food. That zither music is laced with the frequency of Soul-Disturbing Powder; it only fools those stinky men who haven’t seen the world. Hypocrites.”
Then came the Tianyan Sect and the Taiqing Sect.
One was filled with flying talismans and shifting nebulae, as if all things were within their calculations; the other had Daoist rhythms flowing around them, with Five Element Spirit Boats passing by and causing withered wood to bloom, demonstrating their staggering foundation.
As the four great sects gathered, various phenomena intertwined, making the small Kurong Peak of the Piaomiao Sect look as tiny as an ant.
The disciples of the Piaomiao Sect trembled under this immense pressure. Right then, a purple figure stepped out from the crowd.
Xia Lingshuang was dressed today in the deep purple robes of an Elder, her silver hair styled meticulously.
She did not retreat even slightly in the face of the four great sects’ might. Instead, she kept her back straight. The pressure of her Nascent Soul Stage cultivation suddenly released, and while it wasn’t as grand as the four great sects, it stabilized the Piaomiao Sect’s wavering morale like a stabilizing pillar.
She took a step forward. Her voice wasn’t loud, but bolstered by spiritual power, it rang clearly across the field, neither humble nor arrogant:
“Xia Lingshuang of the Piaomiao Sect welcomes all fellow Daoists to Kurong Peak.”
She nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping over the leaders of the four great sects with perfect etiquette that lacked any hint of sycophancy. “The Cangwu Secret Realm is about to open. This place is simple and crude; if our hospitality is lacking, I hope for your understanding. However, the secret realm is dangerous. Regardless of which sect one hails from, once inside, life and death are up to fate. I hope all disciples will take care.”
These words fulfilled her duties as a host while also carrying a hidden edge, reminding the major sects not to be too reckless on Piaomiao Sect’s territory.
The leader of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain was a burly man. Hearing this, he laughed heartily. “Elder Xia is too polite! As long as there are enough treasures in the secret realm, we can get used to living in these wild hills!”
The female leader from Queyue Palace gave a slight bow, her voice cold as broken jade. “Elder Xia’s words are too heavy. We have come only for experience and will naturally follow the rules.”
Wu Yan (Inner) floated above Wu Yan’s head, pointing at the shivering fellow disciples and laughing. Her red eyes were full of contempt. “Truly a bunch of trash. Little Wu Yan, look at these guys. They haven’t even started competing and their legs are already soft. If you ask me, why not just sacrifice them all and let me out to slaughter everyone? I guarantee I’ll wipe out those savages and those fake, high-and-mighty types entirely.”
Wu Yan looked straight ahead, automatically filtering out the noise in her ear.
She replied coldly in her Sea of Consciousness: “If you keep being noisy, go back to sleep in the Soul-Nourishing Jade.”
“I don’t want to; it’s pitch black in there.” Wu Yan (Inner) floated around Wu Yan once and finally leaned on her shoulder, blowing a non-existent cold breath against her earlobe. “Besides, the good show is just about to start.”
Before her voice could fade, a sudden silence fell over heaven and earth.
All the beast roars, celestial music, and sword hums were seemingly suppressed by some invisible force in that instant.
To the true North.
There were no flashy phenomena or noisy displays.
Only a giant sword-shaped flying boat, pure white as if carved from a single piece of mutton-fat jade, silently broke through the clouds. It came extremely fast, yet extremely steady. When it hovered over Kurong Peak, a vast, righteous, and terrifying pressure—one that seemed capable of suppressing all evil—slowly descended. It wasn’t a deliberately released killing intent, but rather a sense of high-standing, absolute order.
Lingxiao Sect.
The leader of the righteous path, the head of the ten thousand sects.
Aboard the jade boat, dozens of white-clad disciples stood with their hands behind their backs. Each of their auras was profound, all being at the Foundation Building Stage or even the Golden Core Stage. At the very front, a woman stood like the moon surrounded by stars.
She wore a pale gold embroidered palace dress. She didn’t wear any complicated jewelry, using only a white jade hairpin to hold up her long hair.
Her face was peerless, yet it held a cold indifference that kept people thousands of miles away. Her temperament was as chilly as the eternal black ice atop a snowy peak.
She didn’t carry any magical treasures, only an ancient longsword on her back. Her entire person was like an unsheathed blade, sharp and exposed, yet held in check.
Wu Yan could tell at a single glance that this was the Saintess of the Lingxiao Sect—Ji Xuerou.
“Oh?” The originally lazy Wu Yan (Inner) instantly sat up straight. Two clumps of burning, dangerous light erupted within her red eyes.
“It really is her.” She licked her lips, her gaze locked onto Ji Xuerou like a beast that had discovered its most desired prey. “The aura on this girl is still so clean. It’s so clean it makes me want to dye her black, to see her struggling in the mud.”
Like a cat that had found a new toy, she flew toward the jade boat in the air with a swagger.
“Come back!” Wu Yan’s heart sank, but it was too late to stop her.
Wu Yan (Inner) had no intention of listening.
She floated to Ji Xuerou like a ghost, circling the iceberg Saintess twice. Finally, she actually reached out her semi-transparent finger with a mischievous, wicked grin, wanting to flick the white jade sword tassel at Ji Xuerou’s waist that symbolized her identity.
“So this is the legendary Natural Sword Bone? The Glass Sword Heart? Let me see if it’s really that amazing…”
Just as Wu Yan (Inner)’s finger was about to touch the sword tassel.
“Clang—!”
The ancient sword on Ji Xuerou’s back suddenly let out a clear and spirited dragon’s cry!
A surge of pure, righteous Sword Intent specifically designed to suppress evil automatically rose to protect its master, rippling outward in a circle!
Visible ripples surged through the air.
“Yikes!” Wu Yan (Inner) was singed by that sun-like Sword Chi. She let out a cry that only Wu Yan could hear and instantly shifted back behind Wu Yan in a flash.
She clutched her chest, but her face held no fear. Instead, it was filled with an even more excited and distorted smile. “She really is that sharp! Little Wu Yan, she almost cut me! Isn’t that intuition just too sharp? I love it!”
Ji Xuerou’s eyes snapped open. Those glass-colored eyes instantly locked onto the void where Wu Yan (Inner) had just been. Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, as if seeing through the nothingness.
“Who is it?” she barked in a cold voice.
The surrounding Lingxiao Sect disciples looked at each other in confusion. “Saintess, what’s wrong?”
Ji Xuerou didn’t answer. Her gaze followed that fleeting sensory connection, passing through the layers of people and piercing straight toward the direction of the Piaomiao Sect, finally landing on Wu Yan.
The two made eye contact across the distance.
Ji Xuerou’s eyes held scrutiny and a sliver of deep confusion.
She had clearly felt an extremely offensive, even somewhat evil, prying aura just now. The source seemed to be related to that Eldest Senior Sister of the Piaomiao Sect.
But the woman before her had a clear face, wore a washed-out Daoist robe, and possessed a calm expression. Her aura was righteous and peaceful—perhaps even too quiet—hardly looking like someone who would possess such an evil aura.
‘An illusion? Or some kind of hidden high-level demonic creature?’
Wu Yan met that gaze without changing her expression. She nodded slightly as a polite greeting.
But in her heart, she spoke coldly to the red-clad ghost behind her: “If you run around again, I will use the Sutra of Calming the Heart to seal you away.”
“Hmph, no fun.” Wu Yan (Inner) curled her lip and finally shrunk back honestly into the depths of the Sea of Consciousness. “I was just teasing her. Is there a need to be so nervous?”
“The auspicious hour has arrived! Open the array!”
The Elders of the five great sects shouted the command in unison, their hands performing complex incantations.
In the center of Kurong Peak, the ancient teleportation stone array let out a dull roar. Countless runes lit up in sequence, and a massive deep-blue vortex appeared out of thin air, like a giant maw leading to the underworld, swallowing the surrounding light.
“Enter the array!”
At the command, the disciples of the five great sects turned into countless streaks of light and charged into the vortex.
Wu Yan took a deep breath and turned to look at her fellow disciples behind her.
Her gaze swept through the crowd and landed on the girl who had been keeping her head down, trying to minimize her presence.
Yu Qingyao was standing in the middle of the line, her fingers tightly clutching her sleeves, her face somewhat pale.
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