Rolling white clouds appeared in front of Lin Feng before it trembled and split open to reveal a young man with black hair and white sideburns. He seemed like he was in his mid-twenties.
It was the current leader of the Great Void Sect, Yan Nanlai.
He was situated between the thick white clouds as two streams of energy - one black and one white - orbited his body.
Lin Feng watched Yan Nanlai as the two of them stared at each other in silence.
This encounter was a little different from the conversations that he had with the other illusions. However, Lin Feng was clear about what Yan Nanlai"s projection represented.
He wanted to become the greatest cultivator and create the number one sect in history - there was just one giant mountain in his way that he could never seem to cross. It was the most powerful sect in the history of the Divine Lands, the Great Void Sect.
This was because of the Conservative Party that was currently in power. They ensured that the Great Void Sect was generally directed the events of the world with a low-profile. Even though they were used to playing the world like chess pieces and they still interfered once in a while, many people still frequently forgot about how powerful the Great Void Sect was.
At Lin Feng"s level, along with people like s.h.i.+ Yu, Xin Longsheng and Liang Pan, they were acutely aware of how powerful the Great Void Sect was and did not underestimate them at all. However, most other lower-level cultivators were not so clear-headed.
Outsiders aside, even Lin Feng"s own Celestial Sect of Wonders was a clear example. The new disciples that had recently joined the sect disregarded the Great Void Sect like they were nothing. "The Great Void Sect wants to be the "Big Brother". They are nothing!"
The truth was that it was not that the Great Void Sect wanted to be the "Big Brother". This sect was the "Big Brother" of the human world of cultivation in the Divine Lands; they had enjoyed this status for millennium after millennium.
It was not Lin Feng"s intention to regard his adversary too highly and deflate his own determination and motivation in the process. To know one"s enemies and to recognize his adversaries" power was the right way to go about trying to overcome them.
Lin Feng had always been clear about this point.
The Great Void Sect had existed even during the days of the Human Emperor during the Antiquity Age. Before the rise of other great powers and other great sects, the Great Void Sect was already the only powerful sect in the Divine Lands that was not under the control of the Human Emperor. They recognized the divine rule of the Emperor, and had no intentions of usurping the throne and taking the power for themselves. All they did was focus their attentions on the demons and the happenings inside the Barren Expanses.
The cultivator that established the Great Void Sect was the Great Void Holy Man. He existed in the same era as Emperor Tai, and was there when the Primordial Age ended and the Antiquity Age begun. He led the human cultivators in their perennial battle against the demon uprising, and his level of mastery was no less powerful than that of Emperor Tai. Still, he had no intentions of wresting control of the throne from Emperor Tai.
After the demise of Emperor Tai, the Great Void Holy Man gave the throne away once again. This led to the ascension of Emperor Ru to the throne, which eventually led to him retiring from his post and forming the Great Thunderclap Temple in the process. The Great Void Holy Man refused to take the crown for himself for the third time, even till the end when he vanished inside the Death Sea and was since never heard of again.
This was the famous story of the "The Three Chances of the Great Void" in the human emperor era of the Antiquity Age.
Even though the Great Void Holy Man disappeared without a trace during his venture into the Death Sea, the Great Void Sect remained on top of things and retained their superior status to all others. They remained so till the end, all the way till the time when they worked together with the Heaven"s Gate Sect in the revolution to overthrow the Human Emperor and officially ended the Antiquity Age.
There were several reasons to explain this phenomenon. Besides the fact that the Great Void Sect produced a great many talented prodigies, the most important reason was the magic treasure that was pa.s.sed down by the Great Void Holy Man and anch.o.r.ed down the sect - the Supreme Heavenly Mirror.
The t.i.tle given to it, "The Number One Magic Item of the Grand Celestial World", explained everything.
Not much explanation was needed as one could simply look at the list of powerful individuals who perished under the powers of this magic item.
Emperor Jue, who went by the name of Xuan Shang, and Emperor Ji who was also known as Shen Yuan were amongst the list. Even the Hades Emperor, Tian Hai, also eventually met his demise at the hands of the Great Void Sect. They were known as the three greatest Demonic Emperors in history, and every single one of their unfortunate demises were closely related to the Supreme Heavenly Mirror.
This Destiny-Level magic item was like the core of the human world and ensured the peace and safety of all humans living in the Divine Lands.
The Supreme Heavenly Mirror sustained three great injuries over the course of history. These injuries were related to the three Demonic Emperors - Jue, Ji and Hades - and every time it was damaged, the Supreme Heavenly Mirror needed a long period of time to recover and return to its pinnacle form.
In the process of recovery, the Great Void Sect would never use the Supreme Heavenly Mirror lightly as this would hinder its progress and lengthen its recuperation time.
Of course, it using the Supreme Heavenly Mirror was inevitable, the Great Void Sect would not hesitate at all.
From the same perspective, even some humans in the Divine Lands who wanted to challenge the leaders.h.i.+p status of the Great Void Sect had these three demon emperors to thank.
Lin Feng watched Yan Nanlai in silence. Even if the Great Void Sect was all-powerful and was full of powerful cultivators and could rely on just themselves to control the entire Divine Lands, even if the Great Void Sect had the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, Lin Feng would never be afraid.
The fact that they were presently inferior did not mean that they would not be able to surpa.s.s them in the future. Everything was up to their respective efforts and methods.
Lin Feng"s motivation and starting point was to create the number one sect in the world and become the greatest cultivator of all time.
In that respect, just simply surpa.s.sing the Great Void Sect may not be enough to realize his ambitions. Since that was the case, then what was so frightening about trying to overcome and surpa.s.s such a gargantuan ent.i.ty?
His ambition was to become even more immense and powerful than the Great Void Sect.
Lin Feng was never fearful of the Great Void Sect. The projection before him right now represented his worry that the continuous expansion and rise in power of the Celestial Sect of Wonders and himself could eventually lead to a hostile standoff between him and the Great Void Sect. He was worried about what this would mean for the human world of cultivation and what cost he would possibly incur with the realization of his dreams.
Even with the "Three Chances of the Great Void" that came before and the current low-profile disposition of the Conservative Party, the Great Void Sect was used to playing the big boss after all. Over the long course of history, whether it was the Heaven"s Gate Sect, the Great Thunderclap Temple, the Ancient Satanic Sect or the Mount Shu Sword Sect amongst others who wanted to shake their supreme leaders.h.i.+p status from time to time were ultimately unsuccessful.
However, when the Celestial Sect of Wonders grew to a point where it possessed the power to "overthrow" the Great Void Sect and usurp their supreme leaders.h.i.+p position, could the Great Void Sect still remain calm then?
Even though they were all trying their best to focus their attentions on the demons of the Barren Expanses, and avoid as much infighting as they could in order to prevent the demons from benefiting for free, how could everything go exactly according to their wishes? People like the Heavenly Charms Grand Sage and the Golden Roc Grand Sage, amongst other powerful demons, were not puppets that followed the ups and downs of his emotions.
Everybody had their own calculations and their own plans. Who would have the last laugh was hard to say.
Lin Feng was unable to accept it if the demons took the opportunity to turn on the humans due to infighting.
Perhaps, when he was in a higher status in the future, he would change his thinking and adopt a new perspective towards the conflict between the humans and the demons. However, from his current position, he had no choice but to perceive the demonic threat with care, just like the Great Void Sect.
One man"s disaster would bring his whole family into it.
Lin Feng continued staring at Yan Nanlai and suddenly started laughing. Yan Nanlai, who had a plain expression all along, began to laugh as well. Even though they looked very different, the expressions on their faces were extremely similar, as if they were born of the same mold.
"What a challenging problem," Lin Feng chuckled, "But that"s the beauty of it all. The challenge makes the view from the top all the more exhilarating and worthy."
Yan Nanlai"s figure withdrew into the thick white clouds and quickly disappeared.
This was the last projection. Lin Feng did not encounter any other illusions as all that was left in front of him were flickering sparks of light.
He was suddenly free again. He looked up and found himself back inside the Ying Sea. He turned around and noticed a layer of pale light that was almost transparent and refracted the outside world.
The illusion he had just encountered came from that layer of light, which projected the deepest worries of his heart.
However, if he was not clear-headed and steadfast in his beliefs, his soul would have been eroded by the illusion and would have eventually been a.s.similated into the layer of light - he would have been trapped forever.
This kind of illusion tested one"s willpower and resilience and had nothing to do with one"s level of mastery.
This spatial illusion was as strange as it was profound. After one individual"s pa.s.sage, the spatial illusion began to dissipate as Lin Feng watched the layer of light break down in front of him. Immediately after, Zhu Yi, Li Yuanfang and the others appeared from within the remnant sparks of flas.h.i.+ng light with troubled expressions and looks of anxiety.
"This is one dangerous illusion. However, it"s good for grinding the soul and training our willpowers." Lin Feng laughed heartily as Zhu Yi and the others nodded in acknowledgement.
Everybody casted their gazes towards the far horizon and, lo and behold, a giant mystical mountain that resembled a tiny island appeared in front of their eyes and was drifting along the ocean surface.
A trembling voice could be heard from the Green Gla.s.s Jade Stand. "The Yingzhou Celestial Mountain!"
Zhu Yi and company held their breaths as they took in the sight of the majestic mountain that loomed before them.
The s.p.a.ce around the magical mountain was slightly twisted and out of proportion. This caused its volume and surface area to seem a little smaller than it really was as the mountain drifted along the Ying Sea.
In reality, the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain was not that different from the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain; the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain was so vast that it was comparable to a small island. Even though it was not as immense as the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain, it was more than four thousand miles in circ.u.mference.
Lin Feng raised his eyebrows as he scrutinized the mountain. "It"s an ancient magic formation that was birthed by natural law."
Zhu Yi and Li Yuanfang started to observe the mountain as well. Indeed, there were countless transparent planes and panel-like crystals drifting in the disproportionate and twisted s.p.a.ce above it.
These panels were incredibly huge as well. They were rectangular and each one was almost three hundred square meters and were layered together while spread out at the same time. The panels encircled the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain like a dome.
"Even though it"s unique and ancient, it"s a lot weaker now." Li Yuanfang took in a deep breath as he continued to study the ancient magic formation.
Lin Feng waved his hands around and said, "Let"s not waste any more time. Down we go." With that, he brought Zhu Yi and the others along as the company flew towards the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain.
Everybody behind them, including the Vivant Joy Holy Man, had their eyes wide open as they stared at the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain before them. Every single person was itching to make a move even though they knew Lin Feng was in front of them.
Lin Feng paid no attention to the people behind him as they journeyed towards the mountain. All of a sudden, he raised his head and began staring at a patch of void above the mountain. "It"s here."
The white clouds and mist above the mountain began to burn and transformed into a million rays of golden light.
A vast shadow could be faintly seen within the flashes of golden light. Even though it was not clearly within vision, one could tell that there was a royal and majestic aura coming from it, as if it bore the mantle of the entire world and was the true ruler of the earth.
Numerous glyphs and runes floated around and expanded outwards along with the rays of golden light. And then, a sprawling royal palace that resembled an entire city s.h.i.+mmered into sight.
Pavilions, halls, courtyards and skysc.r.a.pers formed a royal palace in the sky that resembled the residence of heavenly saints and divine beings and possessed a near-una.s.sailable majesty.
Lin Feng nodded his head slowly. "The Imperial Palace!"
The Imperial Palace! This Destiny-level magic item was forged by the late Emperor Tai, and was eventually pa.s.sed down to the Great Zhou Empire.