Chapter 197 - Guests from all over
Deep in the mountains, a middle-aged man was hiding in a cave wearing tattered clothes.
"Why is this happening? All of them are here to capture me. Who did I, Wu Jun, offend? Even if I did take the Qin family"s array formation treasure out of greed, it should be nothing to a family as large as the Qin family. They shouldn"t have sent so many people to pursue me," wondered the middle-aged man, Wu Jun. Back when Qin Yun was trapped in the immortal abode for a prolonged period of time, the cultivators that had pledged allegiance to Qin Manor panicked, resulting in three cultivators leaving. One of them was Wu Jun.
The rest had left without a fuss but Wu Jun took some treasures with him.
Wu Jun believed that if he fled with the treasure out of the Jiang Prefecture, the Qin family would not exert the amount of effort it would take to pursue him.
"Wu Jun."
In midair, a Daoist riding a cloud looked at the cave. "Come on out. I have already discovered you."
Wu Jun"s body jolted. He carefully peered out of the cave and saw a Daoist smiling at him.
"Senior Liu." Wu Jun hurriedly walked out and carefully put on a reverential stance. "Might I know what I did to offend Senior Liu? Why would you be so troubled as to come capture me personally?"
"Cut the nonsense." The Daoist threw a rope in midair. It was a rope Dharma treasure that flew over and bound Wu Jun.
"Spare me!" Wu Jun pleaded immediately.
Phew.
The rope pulled him up onto the cloud. The Daoist scoffed as he looked at the pleading Wu Jun before heading south on the cloud.
"Senior Liu, might you tell me why you are capturing me?" Wu Jun was still unsure of the reason.
"You will know in a while." The Daoist could not be bothered to explain.
After two hours of flight, the Daoist steered the cloud down over an expansive manor.
"The w.a.n.g family?" Wu Jun"s expression changed drastically. "The Lu Prefecture"s w.a.n.g family? Why… why would such a large family clan want to capture me?"
The Lu Prefecture"s w.a.n.g family was one of the top family clans in the entire Lu Prefecture. That was because the w.a.n.g family"s patriarch was a Connate Golden Core expert! There might be plenty of Connate Golden Core experts in the Daoist or Buddhist sacred lands but each prefecture only had a small few.
Soon.
"Family Head, Wu Jun has been captured." Daoist Liu was rather pleased.
"Good, well done. Quickly lead him to meet Patriarch with me." The w.a.n.g family"s head was excited as well.
Moments later—
The inc.u.mbent patriarch of the w.a.n.g family was w.a.n.g Qingzhi. Despite being more than two hundred years old, he looked middle-aged. He sat cross-legged on a mat and watched as the w.a.n.g family"s head brought Daoist Liu and the captured Wu Jun to him.
"Patriarch, Wu Jun is here," The w.a.n.g family head said respectfully.
"Haha." Daoist w.a.n.g Qingzhi beamed. "Alright, this will be the perfect gift to congratulate Daoist Qin for his attainment of the Paramount realm. More suitable than any treasure."
"Daoist Qin?" Wu Jun was somewhat dumbfounded.
"I"ll be making a trip to Jiang Prefecture"s Grand Dominance for a few days. Quite a number of my old friends will probably be there." w.a.n.g Qingzhi beckoned with his hand as the rope on Wu Jun"s body flew over. However, Wu Jun remained motionless.
Following that, w.a.n.g Qingzhi stepped out the door and rode a cloud, bringing Wu Jun with him to the Jiang Prefecture.
On the cloud, Wu Jun lay there motionless. However, he asked immediately, "Is fellow Daoist Qin Young Master Qin?"
"You master-betraying sc.u.m. How dare you speak fellow Daoist Qin"s name?" w.a.n.g Qingzhi shook his head.
"He got a Golden Core expert to capture me over an array formation?" Wu Jun widened his eyes. Was Qin Yun that vengeful towards his trivial crime?
"Daoist Qin wouldn"t think that much of you. I was the one who wanted you captured as a gift for Daoist Qin." w.a.n.g Qingzhi shook his head. "You were truly short-sighted. Daoist Qin attained the Paramount realm at such a young age and there"s chance of him stepping into the Dao in the future. Once he does so… he might be invincible for centuries. You had entered the Qin family early but you betrayed it. You really didn"t know how to grasp an opportunity."
A sword immortal that stepped into the Dao had a strength that could match immortals or fiendcelestials.
Of course, the sword immortals of the past that stepped into the Dao differed in strength too. But even so, immortals and fiendcelestials did not dare meddle in mortal matters. Although sword immortals were unable to condense an Essence Soul, once they stepped into the Dao, they would be very adept at killing. And once their Intrinsic Flying Swords reached first-grade, they would have strength equivalent to that of a Numinous treasure. It was not difficult for them to be invincible.
Just like how Elder Sword was invincible for centuries!
Grand Dominance"s Qin Manor was bustling more than usual.
Cultivators from all over the world visited to congratulate Qin Yun"s attainment of the Paramount realm.
Even the imperial government and the Daoist and Buddhist sacred lands sent Connate Golden Core cultivators to gift Qin Yun congratulatory gifts. After all, there were only ten humans at the Paramount realm in the world! Furthermore, he was the one with most astounding potential. Although everyone knew that sword immortals had a five-hundred-year lifespan and that there were no Dharmic formulations that allowed them to condense an Essence Soul to become immortal, it was still terrifying for them to remain invincible for several centuries.
"Fellow Daoist w.a.n.g." Qin Yun personally welcomed him.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, I heard that this master-betraying sc.u.m came to my Lu Prefecture. I got someone to capture him and bring him here. He"s all yours," w.a.n.g Qingzhi said with a smile.
Qin Yun shot a glance at the kneeling Wu Jun, who was trembling. He had a pleaful look all over his face. Qin Yun looked at a guard beside him. "Take him away."
The guard immediately grabbed Wu Jun and led him away.
"Daoist w.a.n.g, thank you," said Qin Yun with a smile. "Let"s go. There are many fellow Daoists in the eastern garden."
"Great." w.a.n.g Qingzhi was delighted. In fact, it was rare for so many Daoists to gather together when they reached a certain level of cultivation.
The Qin Manor"s eastern garden held more than ten Connate Golden Core cultivators. They came from all over the world to congratulate Qin Yun.
Since they treated him with respect, Qin Yun naturally returned the favor.
Some of these Connate Golden Core experts came from the Daoist and Buddhist sacred lands. They helmed high positions! Some were even the pillars of support for a top cultivation sect and had great influence.
In the eastern garden.
The cultivators were gathered in small groups. They drank and discussed the Dao. It was very casual and free.
The two guests with the highest standing were at the Paramount realm.
One of them was the strongest sword immortal, Cui Lianfeng from Sword Tower. As the only other Paramount realm sword immortal out of the ten Paramount realms, Cui Lianfeng had personally come to visit Qin Yun. He also hoped that they would learn from each other.
The other was Philo-Marquis who had brought his son along! Philo-Marquis similarly enjoyed a high status in the imperial government.
"What was the outcome of your sparring?" asked Philo-Marquis jokingly as he sat with Cui Lianfeng and Qin Yun.
"Brother Cui"s sword arts are indeed powerful. His nine killer moves were tough for me to defend against," said Qin Yun immediately. Among his killer moves, other than Samsara, which was not to be used wantonly, there was only Bright Moon Over River and Dual Flight. Of course, Qin Yun was now creating a new move that was in its nascent stages.
As for Cui Lianfeng, other than Infinite Converging Sword, he had eight other killer moves.
"Don"t poke fun at me," said Cui Lianfeng with a smile. "Moves are not valued by their quant.i.ty but by their quality. All those sword moves of mine lost their teeth the moment they touched our young friend"s Cyclic Sword Flash."
Qin Yun smiled as well. He was right. Although it was said that he only had three killer moves, strictly speaking, Cyclic Sword Flash was his strongest move. Defense was at the core of his Paramount realm! This move was perfect and powerful when used to defend. It also drained very little Dharmic power.
"If my Cyclic Sword Flash is broken, my life would be in danger," said Qin Yun.
"If one layer is broken, can"t you just produce another layer?" Cui Lianfeng said. "Like me, my defensive move is the Seven Layered Ridges and Peaks. If it lacks strength, I make up for it with quant.i.ty. Speaking of which, Philo-Marquis, I still envy your G.o.dfiend lineage. Your bodies are extremely powerful. You would be fine even if you took a few hits from my flying sword."
"Why don"t you try having a few holes stabbed into your body? Do you think it doesn"t hurt?" Philo-Marquis curled his mouth as he held his wine cup.
The trio chatted and suddenly looked towards the east.
Clouds blotted out the sky in the east and began to spread. A strange wind began to blow.
"This aura." Philo-Marquis watched from afar. "I believe the East Sea"s Dragon race is here."
"As expected of the leader of the Four Seas" Dragon race," praised Cui Lianfeng as well.
The Four Seas" Dragon race was extremely powerful. Humans controlled the lands while the dragons controlled the Four Seas!
And among the Four Seas, the East Sea Dragon race reigned supreme.
Legends said that the Dragon race"s origin stemmed from the East Sea!
"Our friend Qin Yun lives in Jiang Prefecture"s Grand Dominance which is close to the East Sea. Perhaps, he might go to the East Sea to slay fiends. Of course the East Sea Dragon race would want to pay a visit and give congratulatory gifts," said Cui Lianfeng with a smile.
"The East Sea dragons are here. Please excuse me." Qin Yun got up.
And flying above the clouds that covered half the horizon, four dragons were flying. Behind them were many Water race servants.
The four dragons flying at the head of the party had a magnificent bearing. Three of them were at the Connate Golden Core realm, and the only woman was at the Connate True Core realm.
"Brother, this Qin Yun sure is awesome. He reached the Paramount realm at age twenty-seven. If it were us dragons, we would still be babies at twenty-seven, right?" The woman was a little lively.
Leading the convoy was the East Sea"s Dragon race"s Crown Prince, Ao Yong. He said with a smile, "Humans are naturally different from us dragons. Their lifespans are much shorter than ours. But even among humans, this Sword Immortal Qin is very young. It"s really impressive. If not, Father would not have sent me here."