While the spiritual conference may have ended, the situation in the Divine Lands was even more precarious.
With the third sect-opening ceremony of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, troubles in the Divine Lands, which had been calm for three years, once again began to stir.
All factions and sects, big and small, began to plan as they sought to protect themselves in the upcoming storm, or perhaps even benefit from it.
Wu Yunliang of the Ethereal Mountain Sect was one such person. After the spiritual conference had ended, he finally obtained a chance to meet Lin Feng face-to-face.
However, Lin Feng only met with him. The other members of the Ethereal Mountain Sect did not receive the right to meet him, not even Meng Chaoran
"Senior, your action will determine the future of our Ethereal Mountain Sect, please be... careful!" A middle-aged cultivator next to Wu Yunliang said to him in a low voice. It was the second-most important person of the Ethereal Mountain Sect, Li Botao.
Meng Chaoran said from the side, "This was all planned beforehand. Please don"t worry too much, Second Senior. With his current position, the Master of the Celestial Sect of Wonders won"t ask unreasonable requests of us."
Li Botao turned and looked at Meng Chaoran. He nodded his head and said nothing.
Wu Yunliang said, "Junior Meng is right. Everything shall according to plan."
Li Botao looked Wu Yunliang in the eyes and said slowly, "All the best, Senior."
"I hope so too," said Wu Yunliang. With that, he stepped into the Grand Heavens Pavilion.
In the main seat of the pavilion, Lin Feng sat quietly. Behind him, there was en expressionless young maiden. Her hair was half-black and half-white and she carried a huge scabbard.
When Wu Yunliang came in, Lin Feng smiled and said, "It appears that you have made your choice."
Wu Yunliang bowed solemnly to Lin Feng and said, "The Ethereal Mountain Sect shall look only to the Celestial Sect of Wonders from now. We only hope that in the turbulent days to come, you would be able to come our aid, if needed, and save us. I will be forever in your debt."
Lin Feng asked, "Do you mean everyone in your sect?"
Wu Yunliang sighed and said, "I don"t dare to make false promises, but I can a.s.sure you, Master of the Celestial Sect, that most members of my sect prefer you."
Lin Feng laughed softly and said, "If that"s the case, all you need to know is we shall try our very best to help all sects that are dependent on us. However, if any sect seeks to undermine us, we shall destroy them no matter who and where they are."
"I know what your intention already. For the specific details, you can liaise with my disciples."
Wu Yunliang said politely, "I shall follow your every instruction, Master of the Celestial Sect."
After they finished their exchange, Wu Yunliang exited the Grand Heavens Pavilion. Li Botao and Meng Chaoran gazed at him.
Wu Yunliang"s expression was calm but his gaze was complicated. He met their gazes and nodded slowly.
Li Botao sighed and said, "Now, all we can do is to wait." While his gaze appeared relaxed, there were signs of worry. Like Wu Yunliang, his gaze was slightly complicated.
Wu Yunliang said nothing. His expression was heavy but when his gaze met Meng Chaoran and the rest, the flash of worry disappeared as quickly as it came.
However, Chu Yang, who was most familiar with Meng Chaoran, could feel that he had relaxed his usually anxious heart in that split second.
"That"s good, that"s good..." Chu Yang"s expression did not change but he exhaled in his heart. "In future clashes, our Ethereal Mountain Sect may be able to avoid calamities."
Silently, he followed behind Meng Chaoran and the other seniors as they descended from Mount Yujing and left the territory of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Chu Yang could not help but to look into the void. He sighed, "Qingwu..."
While he had only seen her for a short while, the purple-robed silhouette in the Dharma Hall of Mount Yujing matched the red-robed outline in his memory.
He did not know if it was a dream or a memory from a past life. However, after he dreamed/visualized that Ethereal Mountain Sect was destroyed, he devoted all of his effort to cultivation to find out the reason for it.
In the process, he managed to obtain the Pa.s.sion Ending Way of the Middle Ages, which required him to fall in love before extinguis.h.i.+ng all sentiments. He chose to use the red-robed young girl of his memory to cultivate.
Actually, the young girl knew of all these. However, like a moth that was attracted to fire, she still chose to love up without regret till her death.
However, Chu Yang, till the moment he died in this memory, realized that he was unable to extinguish his feelings for her.
Regret, guilt, hate and pity filled Chu Yang"s heart. He could not fully get rid of this feeling.
Chu Yang could feel the wind of the Kunlun Mountains gently ruffling against him. He slowly closed his eyes and then opened them again. He could only hear himself mumbling, "Regardless whether it"s a dream or memories from a past life, since I have another chance at it, I shall not make the same mistake."
"Qingwu, this time, let"s be together!"
The black-robed youth"s eyes regained their clarity. However, another silhouette appeared in his heart.
The person looked ordinary. However, he brimmed with vast amount of powers that nothing under the Heavens could rival. He was clad in purple robes.
Chu Yang coughed bitterly, "The Master of the Celestial Sect. In my memory, this person had never appeared. Because of that, I fear looking at him directly. I just want him to leave. I only want to get away from him.
He smiled bitterly, "However, before him, I can"t hide my secrets."
In his heart, Chu Yang felt that while others had yet to see the secret of the sword shadow in his soul, Lin Feng saw it.
He had no proof, only intuition. However, Chu Yang felt that Lin Feng was the one who helped him to cover up this secret of his from others.
Because of Lin Feng"s subtle hints, many people who wished to kill him because of their intuitions decided against it. They realized that it was not worth to do something that no concrete proof at the risk of offending Lin Feng.
"The Master of the Celestial Sect helped rid me of my problem so easily. However, he did not seem to be claiming credit for it, nor does he want me to join him," sighed Chu Yang. "I am really in his debt."
Thinking about it here, Chu Yang smiled suddenly, "Qingwu is able to find such an interesting personality to be her master. She is truly destined for greatness. I am chasing the impossible."
"Sigh, I need to continue working hard. If not, I will be crying more in the future," Chu Yang smiled in his heart. "Men who eye the young disciple of the Master of the Celestial Sect, watch yourselves. That is my wife!"
On Mount Yujing, Lin Feng looked thoughtlessly at the void underneath the mountain. Then, he retracted his gaze and shook his head. Interestedly, he thought, "I managed to recruit four of the destined heroes I had met into my sect, but not him."
"Eh, young man, let me see how far can you progress," Lin Feng smiled, "If you want to marry my disciple, you have to see your own abilities. I don"t need to say much, but you have many obstacles you need to surmount."
Smiling slyly, he looked at Luo Qingwu, and the many people standing behind her, such as Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, s.h.i.+ Tianhao etc.
Luo Qingwu felt his gaze and lowered her head to look at herself.
Did she wear her clothes inside-out?
"Master?" She tried to ask but Lin Feng waved his hands at her. "Today, you managed to make a name for yourself. While Yuanfang did nothing, no one will underestimate him too."
"Today, the two of you can have your own abodes too."
With that, Lin Feng smiled and pushed his palm forward. Just like how he made the Inferno Precipice, the Heavenly Temple, the Forest Abode and the other abodes, he used the rocks of Mount Yujing and the leaves from the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree and turned them into a Rainbow Clouds Bridge and a separate mountain. While they were connected to Mount Yujing, they existed independently.
Li Yuanfang, who was usually calm, could feel his heart pumping. Luo Qingwu began to exclaim, "Master, is this for Senior Yuanfang and I?"
Lin Feng smiled and said, "You can design it to your heart"s content. I will help you."
Just like how Xiao Yan and the rest customized their abodes, Li Yuanfang and Luo Qingwu customized their abodes according to their cultivation and their personal styles.
With Lin Feng"s help, the mountain rocks began to take many different shapes and forms. He also incorporated the image of the Eight Trigrams inside.
The Eight Trigrams formed a huge formation and in its center, there stood a small house.
The center of the house was uncomplicated. It was a simple house with a garden. However, the materials that were used to construct the house were all arranged perfectly without any mistake. The various types of stones appeared to have been measured with a ruler before they were laid into the foundation. There was no imperfection.
Xiao Yan and the rest looked at each other and smiled. s.h.i.+ Tianhao shook his head and said, "Sixth Senior"s life is tiring."
Li Yuanfang did not rebut. Instead, he smiled and the words "River Abode" appeared in the plaque above his house.
Up next, Luo Qingwu too started to work on her abode. She used the rocks from Mount Yujing to fas.h.i.+on a canyon and the canyon, she built a tiny pavilion. While it appeared exquisitely made, it was slightly haphazard in many areas.
The black seawater in the Yin-Yang Sea underneath Mount Yujing were summoned by her. They turned into a flowing spring of black and white water that surrounded the pavilion. It looked exceptionally other-worldly.
Outside of the pavilion, she casually wrote "Qingwu Pavilion" on a rock.
Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Junior Luo, you are lazier than Little Junior!"
Luo Qingwu giggled, "I know."
s.h.i.+ Tianhao protested, "Big Senior, you aren"t much better."
Li Yuanfang looked at Lin Feng and asked, "Master, does this mean that Junior Luo and I can start taking in disciples too?"
Lin Feng nodded and smiled, "That"s right. During the next a.s.sessment of our disciples, they can choose to be either your or Qingwu"s disciples."
s.h.i.+ Tianhao said suddenly, "Master, other cultivators have honorary names when they are in their Nascent Soul stage, or even Aurous Core stage. However, we don"t. Won"t it be more awe-inspiring to have one?"
Lin Feng pointed at them and asked, "Aren"t you lot awe-inspiring enough?"
Then, he said with a smile, "Furthermore, who says that you lot don"t have them?"
Lin Feng waved his fingers in mid-air and before everyone, a screen of light appeared. When they looked at it carefully, they could see names on them.