Chapter 201 - An a.s.sembly of Talents
Entering the mountain gate, a mountain road as long as five kilometers was up ahead. At the end of the road, was Heavenly Sword Villa. After Xiao Sect’s party of seven entered the mountain gate, a conscious difference in pacing appeared as the distance between them grew larger. Xiao Juetian, Xiao Kuangyu, and Xiao Kuanglei walked in front; Xiao Boyun and Xiao Zhen walked in the middle, while Xiao Wuji and Xiao Nan fell to the rear.
Xiao Sect’s Sect Master Xiao Juetian had a total of four sons with the names “Wind, Rain, Lightning, Cloud”. From the eldest to the youngest, they were individually named Xiao Kuangfeng, Xiao Kuangyu, Xiao Kuanglei, and Xiao Kuangyun. Xiao Kuangfeng became famous during the ranking tournament before the last. Xiao Kuangyu placed third in the previous ranking tournament, and was equally as famous everywhere. This time however, was the current twenty year old Xiao Kuanglei’s turn to be on stage. As for the youngest son, Xiao Kuangyun, although he was younger than Xiao Kuanglei by a month and was also a full twenty years old, it was known to everyone that he was a playboy. If being blunt about it, he was a one hundred percent idiot who only loved wine and women, so it was obvious that Xiao Sect did not bring him to make a fool of himself.
But in Xiao Sect, Xiao Kuangyun was the most pampered. Afterall, he was the son of Xiao Juetian’s one and only true wife.
Xiao Juetian indifferently shot a glance behind him and said to Xiao Kuanglei: “Lei’er, the heavy responsibility of breaking away from the name of the “Thousand year old Number Three” in the ranking tournament this time is now up to you. I, your father, am not hoping that you will defeat Ling Yun but with your innate talent, aside from Ling Yun, there is no reason whatsoever for you to lose to any other… This of course includes Xiao Zhen. He is like a tiger watching his prey when it comes to competing against you and seeing who is better.”
"Your child understands, and will definitely not disappoint Father and the sect." Xiao Kuanglei said while nodding, as a hint of resolution appeared on his face.
“Yu’er, in regards to the matters of ranking tournament, you have to explain it again to Lei’er tonight. Also, when the last sixteen knockout stages begin, don’t forget to give the ‘Earth Shocking Sword’ to Lei’er. It is our secret trump card for this ranking tournament.” Xiao Juetian warned.
“Rest a.s.sured Father, I know how I ought to instruct Third Brother.” Xiao Kuangyu faintly smiled.
Behind them, what Xiao Boyun said to Xiao Zhen was pretty much the same. Xiao Boyun’s long eyebrows slanted slightly and had an expression that did not look gentle at all. He said in a low voice: “Zhen’er, this ranking tournament is your chance to be world famous! Your opponents are not only the other sect disciples, there is also Xiao Kuanglei! That time during the struggle for the Sect Master position, I lost to Xiao Juetian, and could only end up as the Sword Sect"s Elder in the end. This, I have accepted. However, my son, definitely will not lose to his son! Not only do you need to seize second place for Xiao Sect, you also have to defeat Xiao Kuanglei and make your father proud.”
Xiao Zhen nodded his head seriously: “Father can be at ease, this child of yours will definitely not disappoint the sect, and will more so not disappoint father.
As for Xiao Wuji’s conversation with his grandson Xiao Nan, it was even more simple: “Nan’er, bringing you to the ranking tournament this time, was an opportunity Grandpa fought for with difficulty. You are still young, so entering the top ten is fundamentally impossible. But as a Xiao Sect disciple, whatever happens, you must not place outside the top fiftieth. You have concentrated so long in cultivating, so this time’s real combat is the best experience for you, and is the best place to check of your hard work.”
“Yes!” Xiao Nan respectfully replied: “Grandfather, a few days ago when this child of yours came out from closed door cultivation, he has occasionally heard that the one you engaged Yuerui to… I think his name was Xiao Luocheng, was crippled by another? Is this true?”
“That did indeed happen.” Xiao Wuji nodded, but his expression was neutral. It was evident that he did not care about this matter too much: “Yuerui’s apt.i.tude is mediocre; her appearance and temperament is definitely not that showy. Instead of looking for a ‘phoenix tail’ within the main sect, why not look for a ‘chicken head’ at a branch sect? And with Grandfather here, n.o.body within the branch sect would dare bully her. Although that Xiao Luocheng’s apt.i.tude is only so-so, in New Moon City, he is still regarded as a top genius. If he did not get crippled, he ought to have already married Yuerui by now.”
“Hmph, just let him be crippled. Only his looks are pretty decent. Our Xiao Sect has a few hundred branch sects, wouldn’t finding someone stronger than him be a dime a dozen. What’s more laughable is that the people from the New Moon Branch Sect actually said it was a youth of sixteen years impersonating the Divine Phoenix Empire’s “Eccentric G.o.d Hand” Huangfu He that crippled Xiao Luocheng, and even stole everything in the Sect’s Treasury; they are virtually treating me like a fool, how extremely ridiculous! They obtained an Emperor Profound Dragon Core from the Black Moon Merchant Guild, and even the Black Moon Merchant Guild confirmed it. Yet they kept on saying that it was only a fake, and actually took out a Nascent Profound Beast’s Profound Core to fool me. It’s simply outrageous. Not crippling their entire Branch Sect was already as benevolent and humane as possible of me.”
As he spoke of the later parts, Xiao Wuji’s voice already carried hints of hatred and anger within.
“So something like that actually happened. A insignificant New Moon Branch Sect, actually dared to keep such a treasure like a Emperor Profound Dragon Core and not offer it to us. When grandfather lowered himself and personally visited, they even deceived Grandfather again and again. How really unforgivable; it’s fortunate that Yuerui didn’t marry over.” Xiao Nan chimed in, agreeing.
“No need to mention these little things anymore. You should stroll around some more in the Heavenly Sword Villa tonight, then rest early and store up some energy. Grandfather awaits to see your performance tomorrow.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
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In front of the mountain gate, the appearance of a group of five, instantly attracted the gaze of everyone around them.
All five of them were females. Their attires were very similar to each other; all of them wore a snow-gauze long dress that covered their feet and almost touching the ground. The long dress was originally pure white, but as they walked, bits and pieces of ice-blue glimmers that were like stars naturally floated around their bodies, embellis.h.i.+ng ice-blue colors and a fantastical aura on the hems of their dresses.
The age of the five females all seemed very youthful. Other than the young girl in the back who wore a white gauze on her face and seemed to only be sixteen or seventeen, the other four women all appeared to only be around twenty. Two out of the five women, who were at the front and the back had their face covered with light gauze, hiding their facial features, only revealing their crystal like charming eyes. The other three women had nothing covering their face, and every single one of them was extremely beautiful. All of the three extremely beautiful faces were hazed by a kind of deep coldness. They didn’t apply any make up, yet their skin were as soft and smooth as snow jade. It made people subconsciously think of the words “Skin of ice and bones of jade”, “Face of snow and lips of scarlet” the instant they saw them.
Although each of the three charming faces were different from one another, they were all flawless and impeccable. Within the peerless allurement, they revealed a trace of sacredness and loftiness that others almost would not dare to look directly at. They were like G.o.ddesses that stood over the nine heavens, not stained by any trace of the mortal world.
Looking at them from afar, one would clearly feel a wave of ethereal aura mixed with ice-cold air directly penetrating one’s chest cavity… On their right hand side, a sect’s group that was also walking toward the mountain gate stopped in their tracks at the same time they saw them, and watched them in stupification, as if all of their souls were sucked out in that instant.
As they walked closer, the Heavenly Sword disciple that stood guard in front of the mountain gate froze for an entire five seconds before he finally bit the tip of his tongue with effort. Only after concentrating his attention with all his might while regaining his mind and calming his heart, did he finally calm down with difficulty. But his head remained downwards, and no longer dared to look at them directly with his eyes. Taking a step forward, he spoke while somewhat stuttering: “I... I a.s.sume that five esteemed guests are fairies of Frozen Cloud Asgard? Ple… please present the invitation letter and list of names.”
After this Heavenly Sword disciple finished speaking these words, he wished he could slap himself twice on the face right then and there. Greeting guests at the mountain gate was a serious affair that affected the Villa’s face; it was why he, who was an important disciple that was able to deal with any kind of situation, was chosen. He wasn’t fazed at all and had no change in expression even when facing Sect Master-ranked personages from the Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan, but facing the fairies of Frozen Cloud Asgard, his mind still became chaotic. After all, he was but a normal man.
Even though he had not seen the invitation letter yet, women who possessed such transcendental beauty and disposition could only belong to no other place than Frozen Cloud Asgard. Those floating fantastical ice auroras, was furthermore the ironclad proof. In addition to that, in order to more easily control the possibility of unexpected situations arising, there was a hard regulation in the ranking tournament’s rules. For every single partic.i.p.ating force in the tournament, the total number of partic.i.p.ating disciples plus escorting personels must not surpa.s.s seven, and even forces like the four major sects would not be an exception. A limit of seven people, was too little even for a small sect; a situation where less than seven people from a force would almost never appear… Except for Frozen Cloud Asgard! It was extremely rare for the Frozen Cloud Asgard to be willing to contact the outside world, especially places where there was a lot of men, and everyone was well aware of the reason. Only five people coming this time from the Frozen Cloud Asgard, was not surprising in the slightest.
Standing in front of him, the impeccable beauty who wasn’t wearing a veil took out the invitation letter and name list, and handed them over to the Heavenly Sword disciple. Looking at the jade hand that was seemingly made of snow and wax, the Heavenly Sword disciple’s heart rate instantly sped up. It was the first time in his entire life he had learnt that a woman’s hand could actually be beautiful to such an extent. He even had a feeling that he would die willingly if he could just touch at this jade hand a single time… However, even if he had ten thousand times the guts, he still would not dare to do so. He carefully reached out his hand, pinched a corner of the invitation letter and the name list, and received them.
With his gaze sweeping across the invitation letter and the list of names, he hastily lowered his head and said: “So it is the Fairy of Frozen Gla.s.s and Fairy of Frozen Beauty from the Frozen Cloud Asgard that have personally graced us… Ah? Frozen… Fairy of Frozen Beauty?”
The Heavenly Sword disciple subconsciously raised his head and looked toward the woman who wore a face veil and had a gaze that was as cold as ice. The moment he contacted her gaze, his entire body ran cold with a startle, and immediately realized that he had already seriously lost his composure. He once again hastily lowered his head, and spoke with respect: “The Fairy of Frozen Beauty’s name, is like thunder striking through my ears. Please forgive this junior for losing composure. Five esteemed guests, please enter…”
After he finished speaking, he moved aside with weak steps. As a wave of ice-cold fragrance swept over his front, he didn’t even dare to lift his head.
Only after they had walked far away, did the Heavenly Sword disciple completely regain himself. He looked at their receding back silhouettes in a somewhat stupefied manner; his mind was a little unhinged for a while. At this time, the disciple beside him suddenly spoke: “Senior Brother Haiya, what you called out before was… Fairy of Frozen Beauty? Don’t tell me it was the rumored Chu Yuechan?”
“Yes!” The disciple called Haiya nodded: “Chu Yueli, Chu Yuechan, Shui Wushuang, Wu Xuexin, Xia Qingyue… That is indeed Chu Yuechan’s name; she actually personally came…”
“Should I report to the Villa Master immediately? If Villa Master knows that Chu Yuechan actually came, he will definitely be excited…”
“Report your head!” Ling Haiya smacked his head: “Villa Master and Villa Master’s Wife are currently welcoming guests together. In the Villa, even idiots know the name Chu Yuechan is an enormous taboo to the Villa Master’s Wife. If you were to report this and make trouble arise, let’s see how you can handle the consequences!”
“Then, then how should I report it?”
Ling Haiya thought for a bit, and said: “Just say Frozen Cloud Asgard has arrived, a total of five people, and the Fairy of Frozen, Chu Yueli, is leading. In any case, her name is the first name on the attendance list. You must not bring up Chu Yuechan!”
“Oh, alright.” The Heavenly Sword disciple moved hurriedly, took out a Sound Transmission Talisman, and spread the news within the Villa.
At this time, the group of people that had been struck dumb finally walked over, and the middle-aged man in the front said with cupped fists: “This junior brother, were those people just now the fairies from Frozen Cloud Asgard?”
“Yes.” Ling Haiya nodded simply.
“Sure enough, hearing about it a hundred times is truly not as good as seeing it once, and seeing it once is far better than hearing about it a hundred times.” The middle-aged man sighed emotionally, and said: “I came from the Eastern Domain’s Profound Sword Sect, just to visit the Heavenly Sword Villa…”
A bunch of sect groups arrived continuously. Although every group only had seven people, not one of the elderly wasn’t famous in an area and an overlord-level person, and not one of the youths wasn’t a peak genius. In the past few days, these overlords, with names that shook the world, as well as genius youths that stood at the highest summit, gathered at this Heavenly Sword Pavilion to decide their relative superiority at the Ranking Tournament.
At nightfall, a somewhat unusual group of people arrived at the mountain gate. The reason they were unusual was because the group only consisted of four people, which was even fewer than the number of Frozen Cloud Asgard people.
These four people, were precisely Qin Wushang, Cang Yue, Yun Che, and Xia Yuanba.
Just as they walked in front of the mountain gate, Ling Haiya strode over, and said respectfully: “Guests, please halt. Our Villa is preparing for the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament these few days, and we’re not accepting guests. Please leave.”
There were only four people; other than the elderly man, two of the three young people were only at the True Profound Realm, and the third person was actually only at the Elementary Profound Realm. In this a.s.sembly of talents at the Heavenly Sword Villa, this was simply a spectacle too terrible to behold. No one would believe they were here to partic.i.p.ate in the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament.