On the thirteenth day of the Drifting Cloud Sect’s selection, the final round was currently being concluded.
At that moment, there were eight Core Formation cultivators a.s.sembled together in a pavilion at the center of the mountain discussing something. Two of them were the mountain lords of Dayspring Mountain, the middle-aged man surnamed Xin and the fierce-looking, grey-clothed old man surnamed Yu.
A blue-robed old man with a white fluttering beard and a faceful of wrinkles frowned and asked, “Are there any Junior Martial Brothers willing to escort the disciples to the Sword Trial a.s.sembly?”
A middle-aged man with a lazy expression and a long, thin mustache snorted and indifferently replied, “Senior Martial Brother Feng, the Sword Trial a.s.sembly will always be dominated by the Ancient Sword Sect, and that vitriolic fellow Jiang Yun is always the one to bring the Ancient Sword Sect members. I don’t wish to be embarra.s.sed without reason.”
A yellow-faced old man shook his head and said, “That’s right! I’ve even heard that in the past few years, the Ancient Sword Sect picked up a disciple that possessed a Ninesword Const.i.tution. They will be certain to have him partic.i.p.ate. As such, there is no hope of winning this Sword Trial a.s.sembly. Although we do hold a few disciples that possess a peculiar const.i.tution, they are inferior in comparison. And there is also news that the Hundred Possibilities Sect had acquired a direct descendant of the Guan Clan. It is said that while he was still in Qi Condensation, he defeated his clan’s elders by using his personally refined magic tools. I fear this could be quite a difficult trip!”
When the white-haired old man heard this, he revealed an expression of dissatisfaction. He gravely said, “Junior Martial Brothers, you aren’t wrong. The Sword Trial a.s.sembly has already become a stage for the Ancient Sword Sect to display their power, but that is something beyond our control. If our sect does not send over any disciples that partic.i.p.ate in the a.s.sembly, I fear we won’t even acquire a quarter of the Wine Nectar. Besides, this could easily cause the Ancient Sword Sect to view us with hostility. It would be detrimental to our sect’s development in the Dreamcloud Mountain for ages to come. We have more things to worry about, like the many clans that are covetously eyeing the three sects of Dreamcloud Mountain. We cannot reveal any weakness to them.”
A square-faced, red-robed old man with a formal appearance suddenly proposed, “Since Senior Martial Brother Feng said this, I’ll be the one to bring the disciples. Rather, I haven’t seen the Hundred Possibilities Sect’s Elder Chang Zheng in quite a while. A chance to chat would be nice.”
Old Man Feng glanced at him and hesitantly said, “Junior Martial Brother Duan, as the Mountain Lord of Firecloud Mountain, you have the most disciples under you. It would be improper for you to leave the sect.”
The red-robed old man nonchalantly said, “It is of no matter. Junior Martial Brother Li will still be there to handle Firecloud Mountain. Besides, it’s not like I’m leaving the Dreamcloud Mountains. I’m just traveling to the western range.”
With that said, the white-haired old man didn’t persist in his objections and nodded his head. He then swept his gaze over the other cultivators before staring at the fierce-looking, grey-clothed old man. He slowly said, “Junior Martial Brother Yu, I know that you don’t have any pressing responsibilities at Dayspring Mountain. How about you a.s.sist Junior Martial Brother Duan? Junior Martial Brother Xin, do you have any objections?”
The middle-aged man surnamed Xin faintly smiled and said, “Of course not. I’m sure Junior Martial Brother Yu is completely willing to go.”
The grey-clothed old man cold expression stirred for a long while before he briefly said, “Fine, I’ll go!”
The white-haired old man smiled and nodded his head, saying, “The group of disciples will be headed by Junior Martial Brother Duan. Junior Martial Brother Yu and Junior Marital Sister Song of White Phoenix Mountain will be accompanying him. Once the final round has been concluded, you will meet with thirty selected disciples and give them guidance. Perhaps there will be a chance for our sect yet. After all, we have quite a few powerful candidates this time around. We should be able to give the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Possibilities Sect quite the contest.”
A sly-faced cultivator that had been hiding in the corner yelped in surprise, “Junior Martial Sister Song will also be coming along? How did I not know of this? If that’s the case, I can take the place of Junior Martial Brother Yu.” When the rest of the cultivators in the pavilion heard him, there was a brief moment of restlessness. Three of the cultivators wore an annoyed expression.
The white-haired old man’s face grew sullen and he snorted, “Junior Martial Brother Meng, what do you mean? I’ve spoken for half a day, and you didn’t speak a single word. But now that you’ve heard Junior Martial Sister Song wishes to go, you jump at the chance. I’ll tell you the truth, Junior Martial Sister Song raised the condition that she would only accompany the disciples if I didn’t mention that she was going to begin with. Otherwise, given her temperament, why else would she depart from White Phoenix Mountain?”
As this old man had already reached late Core Formation, the sly-faced early Core Formation cultivator didn’t dare to dispute this and lowered his head.
There were other cultivators that were also tempted, but each of them glanced at one another in dismay, not daring to speak.
At that moment, footsteps suddenly came from the outside. A man’s voice said, “Reporting to Master and Martial Uncles, the last round has just finished. Three Foundation Establishment disciples have been selected along with twenty-one Qi Condensation cultivators. I’ve come with the list of names.”
The white-robed cultivator’s expression relaxed and he said, “Oh! Since that’s the case, come in. Let’s take a look.”
“As you wis.h.!.+” The man respectfully replied. Afterwards, he opened the door and entered, revealing himself to be a late Foundation Establishment cultivator with a stately appearance and a tall body.
“Here are the names and details of the twenty-four finalists.” The man took out a white jade slip from his robes and handed it over to the old man.
“I’ll be taking a look first!” The old man nodded his head and took the jade slip into his hand.
“Huh?” After taking a look at it with his spiritual sense, he revealed a trace of astonishment.
The red-clothed cultivator’s expression stirred and he asked, “What’s the matter? Is there something amiss with the list of names?”
The others also oddly glanced at the old man.
“It’s nothing. Junior Martial Brothers have a look!” With that said, the old man calmly pa.s.sed the jade slip to the yellow-skinned old man at his side.
After taking a look at the jade slip, he also revealed astonishment and handed the jade slip to someone else. Not longer after, everyone had looked at the jade slip and each of them had turbulent expressions.
When the Dayspring Mountain Lord Xin read through the jade slip, his expression stirred with particular surprise.
The middle-aged man with the thin mustache sighed and slowly said, “I truly didn’t expect that there would be six disciples from Dayspring Mountain to be selected. It seems Junior Martial Brother Xin has instructed his disciples well.”
The sly-faced cultivator sourly said, “It seems Junior Martial Brother Xin is determined to win this Sword Trial a.s.sembly. You must’ve spent quite some effort to cultivate these disciples!” Only three disciples from his Hidden Sword Mountain had made it on the list, which lost him a considerable amount of face.
“No, it definitely wasn’t like that. I myself am surprised to see so many people from my Dayspring Mountain being selected. And two of them are even at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, named Han Li and Du Dong. If I’m not mistaken, those two entered the sect just this past year. It is baffling how they managed to take a place on the list.” The middle-aged man surnamed Xin then muttered to himself for a moment and calmly said, “Martial Nephew Gao, how did they manage to acquire victory?”
The man who had just entered the room promptly replied, “Their methods weren’t anything strange. Martial Nephew Du Dong possesses an extremely powerful ice attribute top-grade magic tool. It seems capable of both attacking and defending, and it perfectly compliments his techniques as well. As a result, once he froze the ground with his magic tool, all of his opponents were left helpless against his strikes.”
The middle-aged man with the long mustache interrupted, asking, “Oh! What kind of magic tool is it? Can you give us a description?”
“It is a wheel type magic tool. It has a diameter of about a foot and is engraved with a curved moon. It sparkles with white light when it is activated, can activate an ice attribute barrier in an instant, and can attack with a mist of freezing Qi.”
The middle-aged man’s eyes flickered and he said with surprise, “That seems quite similar to the clan suppressing treasure of the Du Clan, the Ice Moon Wheel. The Du Clan was exterminated two hundred years ago. Could this Du Dong be a descendant?”
The white-haired old man curled his beard and unhurriedly said, “En! That seems quite possible. After all, the Du Clan wasn’t a small clan. There were sure to be a few direct lineage disciples that escaped calamity and lived in concealment. They probably now believe that with so many years having pa.s.sed, their enemies are no longer paying any attention to them. As such, they revealed themselves once more.”