Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Without anyone noticing, the moon was setting in the west. Ruoxi’s dress fluttered in the air and the pine branch created multiple shadows as it swayed. She shattered the sword aura created by the Sword Aura of Green Smoke and had engaged in a battle with Choushi till now.
She was steady and calm as before. Her sword force was akin to clouds, clear and crisp as a bell.
The disciples who were spectating thought she reminded them of the headmaster – equally calm, equally gracefully.
In fact, Ruoxi did not even use the sword incantation that embodied the essence of Yin and Yang to generate Four Forms and Eight Trigrams.
Even though Choushi was unable to take Ruoxi down, he did not seem too troubled by it.
When the moon was at the same level as the platform, it shone towards Ruoxi’s direction. He took out a yellow gourd from his sleeve. The stopper flew out and showed its opening. Hundreds and thousands of yellow rays emerged from it and they flew towards Ruoxi like an inescapable net.
Anyone could tell that this was a fine instrument.
The yellow rays from the gourd were the essence of the sun and the moon. After performing ceremonial cultivation on it, they were tenacious. As flying swords could not harm it, the moment one was caught by them, there would be no escaping.
Ruoxi remained calm when faced with the ferocious yellow rays.
Everyone took a deep breath as they saw a pair of butterfly wings emerged on her back. As her wings gently flapped, the entire world seemed to have fallen into a dreamy and poignant state.
On the clouds, flowers were blooming. Everyone picked up the pleasant scent and felt happiness welling up within them. They felt as though they had turned into a butterfly too; as though they broke apart constraints and were flying happily in the sea of flowers. The peaceful happiness was indescribable.
A human’s life was dull and boring life, unlike the free and easy life of a butterfly.
This was why when they dreamt that they were a butterfly, it was a dream that most would not want to wake up from.
At that moment, Ruoxi flapped her butterfly wings and flew into the endless stream of yellow rays. Her gentle voice fell on everyone’s ears. They could see the beautiful butterfly flying around under the light veil of moonlight. She was right in front of Choushi.
Suddenly, the sea of flowers disappeared. The light was clear as water. A skinny and dried branch was pointed against the middle of Choushi’s brows.
In just a flash, Ruoxi had won.
Choushi sighed, “I have lost.”
He released his tight fist. If it was a battle of life and death, there would not be any winner. After all, he had only regained his sense when the pine branch was pointed the middle of his brows; the brief period of time was sufficient for one to do certain things.
However, he gave up. He did not have to go to such extreme lengths.
The pine branch Ruoxi was holding turned into ashes and was dispersed in the wind. This was caused by Choushi’s impressive mana.
She was not bothered by it. Her gaze met everyone in Qing Xuan; most disciples lowered their head as they found it hard to look at their little junior apprentice-sister.
With one look, one might just be caught in a dream world.
At the same time, they understood that Junior Apprentice-Sister Shen was comparable to any doyen in the sect.
No one laughed at Choushi’s defeat. If anything, they were more convinced of his strength and that he was fit to be an elite of Qing Xuan. He was no longer grouped together with the normal disciples.
Shen Lian’s voice floated in the air, “Shen Ruoxi came in first place in the Dao assessment. From today onwards, along with Choushi, they will be the true disciples of Qing Xuan and may access Taiwei Pavilion at will.”
This was the normal course of events, and no one was surprised.
However, what the headmaster announced next shocked everyone.
“Choushi, are you willing to be the Temple Manager of Temple of Longevity?”
Choushi seemed shocked. After a momentary hesitation, he replied immediately, “I shall obey your orders.”
Shen Lian chucked, and this marked the end of Dao assessment.
The disciples in the sect thought that the days that followed would be plain, little did they know that the true events had barely begun.
Guangqing Celestial Sect announced the death of Daoqing to the entire cultivation community of Yuan Continent.
It had been a long time since an immortal Zhenren had fallen. Moreover, amongst the Five Celestials of Guangqing, Daoqing had attained Dao for the longest period of time. People started asking around. There were rumors that Zhenren Daoqing was killed by Zhenren Shen of Qing Xuan. No one believed this when the news first went around. However, the next news came – Zhenren Lingguang of Guangqing had become the servant of Fairy Ziling.
The uproar caused by this news was comparable to that of the death of Daoqing Zhenren.
Some tried to verify this with Qing Xuan, who then had answered in the affirmative. The truth could no longer be concealed.
One could only imagine the wrath of Guangqing Celestial Sect.
They did not dare to attack Qing Xuan directly. However, they had their eyes on Temple of Longevity and Temple of Killings. They were determined to eliminate these supplementary branches of Qing Xuan.
For a few months, there were conflicts between the disciples from both sects. At the foot of the mountain where Temple of Killings was situated, there were ten over new tombstones. Those were the bodies of the disciples of Guangqing Celestial Sect and their allies. The person who was guarding Temple of Killings was a weak lady – Chen Jianmei’s direct disciple, Fang Yanying.
Initially, Fang Yanying could barely defend Temple of Killings with the help of the Dao restriction placed on it. After a month, she started to strike back. It was unsure what sort of unexpected encounter she had, but her Shapeless Sword Incantation advanced at an unbelievable pace. Within just a month, she was at the tenth level. Her power was comparable to that of Chen Jianmei when he first made his name.
Moreover, she managed to defend the temple without asking for help from Qing Xuan.
The demons and monsters who had faced Chen Jianmei before spoke of Fang Yanying as the next Chen Jianmei, something that would definitely happen in the foreseeable future.
After rounds of probing, the disciples of Guangqing and the rest of the cultivators surrounded Temple of Killings. Amongst their rank, there were those of the demon clan too.
However, even after these intense waves of attacks, Temple of Killings remained unmoved, just as the rocks embedded firmly in the river bed.
On the other hand, Temple of Longevity too took the world by storm. This was so as Guangqing’s main forces were directed at Temple of Longevity.
The temple manager there was not Gu Caiwei, but a young disciple of Qing Xuan named Choushi.
Initially, no one thought much of Choushi. As time went on, Choushi utilized Qing Xuan’s name and his own resources to gather a large group of cultivators beyond the sea. With Temple of Longevity being the nucleus, he formed an influential alliance that acted against Guangqing. It seemed as though he was ready to strike back.
After countless death and injuries, the hatred between both sides was piling up. The cultivators from beyond the sea had to join either the Guangqing camp or the Temple of Longevity camp in order to survive. Another option would be to escape to Xuantong Demon King’s celestial market, at which they could receive protection after offering up a huge amount of spiritual material.
The peace that the cultivation community had been enjoying ceased to exist. Due to the official falling out of the two big sects, Qing Xuan and Guangqing, the cultivation community was undergoing turbulent times.
After all these years, Guangqing was more influential than Qing Xuan. However, ever since the disappearance of the Twelve Powang Zhenrens, their influences could not be united. Hence, Choushi latched onto the opportunity and formed an alliance to guard against Guangqing’s first wave of attacks.
By the time Guangqing managed to reorganize themselves, Temple of Longevity was unbreachable.
The two sects were caught in an intense predicament, and yet the immortal Zhenrens did not do anything. They were observing the turbulent times; it was as though they had agreed on something and were in the midst of plotting something..
Mount Shouyang, Xuandu Dong.
This was the location of the mysterious Taishang Daoist Sect.
An uninvited guest came to this sacred place of the celestials.
