Chapter 3739: Dugu Lan
Everyone knew who it was right away after hearing the voice. A figure flashed into existence at the base of the mountain.
Eyes turned bright due to her presence, especially the young male cultivators. They couldn’t avert their gaze.
A dragon seemed to be visiting this region; immortal light scattered and commanded attention. This gorgeous woman obtained the spotlight just by merely existing.
She wore a white dress and had her hair rolled up in a topknot, looking like she had just come out of a painting. The way she held her sword made her look heroic. Her eyes stirred the spectators, rendering them unable to be arrogant.
Instead of a feminine air due to her beauty, she exuded the temperament of a solitary dao seeker. The duality of her appearance and aura charmed the men.
“Dugu Lan…” Even the older cultivators were in awe.
“Her beauty matches her name, so gorgeous.” One youth became enamored.
“First Sister!” The students from Duality shouted.
Dugu Lan - one of the four geniuses of the holy ground and Five-colored Sacred Sovereign’s disciple.
The reason for her fame was more so her power rather than her beauty. There was a reason why she was the First Sister of Duality.
It had nothing to do with seniority and age. There were obviously older students than Dugu Lan. Nonetheless, they still had to call her “First Sister”.
There were always unconvinced geniuses and students who came to challenge her position. Thus, battles were relatively common even though she never actively sought them. The result was always the same - ending in her victory.
Nonetheless, she kept a low profile and didn’t s.h.i.+ne like Phantom Sacred Child in his tribe.
The latter also had to fight repeatedly in order to maintain his position as the successor of the Divine Ghost Tribe. Being the disciple of Eight-tribulation Blood King didn’t deter others enough from challenging him. This allowed him to train and polish himself through actual battles.
This was the same for Hu Ben. Martial Hall was a place where the strong ruled and the weak were eliminated. Hu Ben had to defeat his peers in order to be at the top.
The only idle one among the four geniuses was Golden Cicada Buddhist Child. Of course, this didn’t mean that his cultivation was lacking.
Due to his love for traveling and eating, he visited many temples and proved his Buddhist attainment there. The young generation had no chance of out-debating him. As for the older generation, perhaps only his master - Wisdom Sacred Monk - could best him.
Ultimately, Dugu Lan fought in public the least compared to the other geniuses. This still didn’t deter her position. Most considered her the strongest out of the four.
There were rumors of Golden Cicada and Phantom coming to Duality for a spar. The outcome remained unknown to outsiders.
Her lack of battle records didn’t diminish her status. The other three geniuses respected her enough to never dispute the rumors.
Her arrival caused quite a stir. Many cupped their fist to greet her since she was the first to answer, saving the holy ground’s face.
Just imagine, if no one had dared to do so, the holy ground’s reputation would be in shambles. Its young generation would have no prestige left to speak of.
Most importantly, she was actually qualified to accept the challenge from the scion due to her power.
It only took the blink of an eye for her to effortlessly appear on the steps of Virtuous Rank.
“Fairy Dugu.” Both the arrogant Hu Ben and the prideful Phantom Sacred Child came to greet her.
She sat down beneath a tree in the meditative pose with her sword resting on her knees. She looked at the crowd and said: “No need for me to say how strong Righteous Scion is. I alone am not his opponent.”
The crowd felt as if she had just poured cold water on them with her words. This killed their enthusiasm.
“But, the holy ground must fight.” She added: “We are on the same boat now and I need your a.s.sistance. There are plenty of talented cultivators in our land, let’s try our best.”
She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone instead of some persuasive rhetoric. Hearts became heavy afterward.
Nonetheless, she knew how strong the scion was. Making a bold statement to increase confidence wouldn’t be effective. The only way they could win was through actual power.
Having said that, she glanced over at a creek nearby for some reason. She looked back at the crowd after seeing a lack of response.
“We have your back, Fairy Dugu.” Phantom said: “If one-on-one doesn’t work, we’ll all go together. Righteous Scion didn’t ask for a one-on-one duel.”
“Yes. I have one million men ready to start a grand formation. It’ll be enough to delay him at the border to buy time for everyone.” Hu Ben added.
“It’s a good idea.” Phantom replied: “If we just let him come straight to Minor Sacred Mountain without any resistance, it would be too shameful. Some have to at least slow him down.”
“Just give us the command, Fairy.” Other geniuses nearby expressed their stance.
The older experts shook their head. Numbers didn’t actually matter against someone like Righteous Scion. The truly effective fighting force was still the four.
Maybe if they fought together, they would have a chance to win.
“Let’s invite a dao lord weapon. It"ll give us a better chance to win.” One genius said.
Most thought that this wouldn"t be too effective since the scion would surely have one too.
“Let’s prepare to the fullest extent. We must do our best.” Dugu Lan said. She knew that relying on a weapon wasn’t enough to make up for the gap. It had to be an insane ace card.
“Is there really no hope?” Another felt her pessimism and quietly asked.
“No, I’m sure there are hidden masters at the holy ground capable of stopping him.” She calmly said, not offended in the slightest.