Chapter 364

Chapter 364: How Could He Be Here?

Today, Jieshi City was bustling with activity. Many palaces flew in during the morning, and by noon, three Flying Peaks descended from the sky, scaring many practitioners into hurriedly inquiring if there was a crisis in this place.

The dark moon hung in the air, casting a gray haze throughout the day, but at noon, when the sun shone brightly, it tore through the murk and brought a touch of warmth to the land.

Suddenly, a voice echoed, announcing, “This ceremony is hosted by the Heart Refining Branch and the Water’s Edge Branch. All disciples from various sects are to gather immediately. Today, we will clean the sea trenches and exterminate the transformed sea beasts, which will serve as the criteria for evaluation.”

A ceremony? So this is the ceremony.

Chu Chu approached the Heart Refining Branch, which in turn contacted the Water’s Edge Branch, hastily bringing disciples from various sects together to hunt the sea beasts! This was the hierarchy from top to bottom!

Nearly a thousand practitioners gathered, with true disciples from all major sects present; at the very least, everyone was an elite from the inner sect. Dozens of true disciples from the Haotu Sect arrived earlier than Li Hui and the others, led by two young sect leaders.

Chen Zhi Cheng looked proudly around while Chen Nuo Er smiled lightly. The numerous true disciples behind them were merely their entourage, for their spots had been predetermined by their mother; they were here only to go through the motions.

Jin Tian Sect occasionally released a few entry spots, and did not reject “predetermined” candidates. Why? Because no matter how you got in, if your age and cultivation didn’t allow you to break through, or if you couldn’t accumulate enough accomplishments, you would be directly demoted and ordered to leave the sect.

There was no room for sentiment in this. Things were either efficient or they weren’t. Even if a disciple from the Mirror Lake faction returned, they still had to follow the rules.

Once you truly touched upon the environment of the Jin Tian Sect, you would find you didn’t even have time for a sip of cold water. While others tirelessly put in twelve hours of work each day, you had to create opportunities to work for thirteen hours.

Who said there are only twelve hours in a day? If you have treasures to accelerate time flow, and you cannot obtain them, that is your failure. If you are slow to accumulate accomplishments, that too is your failure!

Failure, failure, failure!

This path is arduous and lonely; this path is called the "Way"!

Chen Zhi Cheng and Chen Nuo Er felt quite confident and did not doubt their abilities. They were like dragons and phoenixes among men, consuming the best elixirs, the finest Miao Jade, possessing the greatest treasures, and mastering powerful cultivation methods, secret techniques, and spells, with guidance from top teachers. Standing among many practitioners, they had a unique sense of superiority.

They were the cranes looking down on the chickens, finding the cacophony amusing yet boring at the same time. However, when they glanced towards the Surveillance Pavilion’s altar, their pupils involuntarily constricted as they spotted someone who shouldn’t be here.

“Li Yingjun? What is he doing in Daxia?” Chen Nuo Er exclaimed in shock.

“Hmph, is it true that the Mirror Lake faction has an outer disciple order from the Jin Tian Sect?”

“Regardless of its truth, his presence in Daxia is surely disadvantageous for the Haotu Sect. He will likely cause trouble at the main sect.” At this moment, Chen Zhi Cheng transmitted a message to Wen Shaolun, secretly warning him.

Even if Wen Shaolun later discovered something was amiss with Li Hui, he still pinned the blame for killing his brother, Wen Shaobao, on him. He didn’t dare seek revenge against the Ghost Fox Sect, so he targeted a lower goal to regain some face—this way, he had an explanation for his family.

Receiving Chen Zhi Cheng’s advice bolstered his courage. In front of so many practitioners, he shouted, “Li Yingjun, who gave you the guts to stand on the altar? You are a traitor of the Haotu Sect, a cold-blooded killer! Come down, I will avenge my brother today.”

“The courage I gave you; come and try to take revenge if you dare.” Lian Luosha stepped forward, her face pale, but her form had improved significantly from before, even if she still looked quite sickly.

Lian Luosha appeared haggard, and at that moment, Qian Qiu Yue emerged, standing alongside Li Hui. Now that was a sight to see! Like golden boy and jade girl, they exuded envy and jealousy. One should know that the Saintess of the Heart Refining Branch still held a certain status; as long as she hadn’t fallen, she had a chance to become the head of another branch.

“This…” Wen Shaolun broke out in a cold sweat, thinking, “Is this Li’s ability to attract women so strong? Just arriving in Daxia and already he’s with two female cultivators from the Heart Refining Branch.”

“Stop your babbling; my handsome Junior Brother likes to stand here. Do you dare to say otherwise?” Chu Chu declared, asserting her territory.

“Uh!” Wen Shaolun felt as if his heart was dying. It turned out it wasn’t just two, but rather three, and one of them was even an Inner Sect Disciple from Jin Tian Sect.

As he was about to withdraw, Chen Zhi Cheng suddenly spoke up: “Fellow cultivators, you all know I am the young sect leader of the Haotu Sect. I must stand and speak on this matter: Junior Brother Li has been arrogant since he was in our sect. As a successor of the Mirror Lake faction, he disregarded Master during tribulation and ran to Daxia—while we thought he was seeking enlightenment, he was actually looking for a backer. Hmph, what a mighty backer he found, courting an Inner Sect Disciple?”

Before he finished speaking, someone chimed in, “That’s right! I heard Li Yingjun has been arrogant, even playing tricks on many practitioners during the trial at the Ancient City of Yin Ruins. Even till now, those practitioners are still clueless.”

“He’s clearly a person of the demonic sect! I’ve heard rumors that this lad has connections to the Hongmo Sect. Could he be a spy sent by the demonic sect?”

Nearly three hundred practitioners stood by Chen Zhi Cheng’s side, and Chu Chu declared, “With so many people targeting Junior Brother Li, I, as his Senior Sister, give you all the opportunity to go to the sea trench and kill the Yin Ghost sea beasts! Just us six against all of you—we’ll see who can accumulate more accomplishments.”

“Six people challenging a thousand?” Chen Zhi Cheng found it laughable. They were elite members from various sects; even if the three female cultivators were at Bosa stage, so what? Many at the Late Condense Essence stage easily surpassed Bosa stage practitioners, and if they didn’t have confidence in fighting above their level, would they even be eligible for evaluation in Daxia?

Li Hui chuckled; this suggestion suited him well, but he wanted to raise the stakes. He stepped forward and boldly declared, “Since we’re going to compete, we can’t do it without a prize. Let’s wager one hundred pieces of medium-grade Miao Jade—whoever wins gets it.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Zhi Cheng was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter, pointing at the altar and saying, “Kid, do you think a hundred pieces of medium-grade Miao Jade can cover the costs when the wealth of the Haotu Sect’s Mirror Lake faction is that substantial? You’re just embarrassing yourself! Even a sliver of our Miao Jade is worth more than that.”

“Alright then, let me borrow from the three Senior Sisters, and I’m sure I can gather one hundred pieces of high-grade Miao Jade. Is that acceptable?” Li Hui appeared confident, yet the onlooking practitioners found it hard to take a hundred pieces of high-grade Miao Jade seriously.

Chen Zhi Cheng sneered, “If you want to bet, bet big! How about fifty thousand pieces of high-grade Miao Jade, plus a hundred magical treasures? Do you dare to wager?”

Lian Luosha suddenly interjected, “That’s too little. How about we bet fifty thousand pieces of high-grade Miao Jade and a thousand magical treasures? With so many of you practitioners, it shouldn’t be too hard to gather that.”

“If we lose, we risk our entire fortunes!”

At her words, all the practitioners gasped, then quickly realized they had fallen into a trap.

That little brat Li was quite cunning, deliberately setting the stage. Chen Zhi Cheng, the foolish one, shouldn’t have multiplied the stakes so much. Originally, he intended to wager only a hundred pieces of high-grade Miao Jade, but he insisted on going big; it was entirely within reason for the other side to escalate it tenfold for pride!