It had been half a year since Yu Academy was annihilated.
The six dynasties and the two immortal sects got along well enough without any trouble.
The six dynasties began their expansion during the period, secretly nibbling up the planets inherited by the cultivators in Liyuan Galaxy, according to a secret agreement among themselves. Those planets governed by immortal sects or Heaven Immortals could still maintain peace on the surface. But those planets with weaker overall strength, such as the Dark Radiance Planet and Xue Yuan Planet, were being thrown into a tremendous upheaval.
Cultivators were being killed on a daily basis. Every day, there would be some cultivator clans being slaughtered completely, incidents where brothers from the same clan fought and attacked one another, and conflicts that broke out between cultivator clans without rhyme or reason. All of a sudden, the entire Liyuan Galaxy was in a complete mess, trapped in an utterly disordered situation that no one seemed to have the ability to control.
Two months ago, White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect had struck quietly as well. Without stirring up any commotion, they annexed all the planets once ruled by the Iron-Ghost Soul-Seizing Sect and Spirit Flame Sect, then made an announcement to the entire Liyuan Galaxy – the two immortal sects had gained additional two Elders of Heaven Immortal realm. After being done with all that, the two immortal sects stopped all activities and laid low once again, with all their Heaven Immortal Elders hiding in the Myriad Immortals Planet, continuing to cultivate in seclusion.
Perhaps it was because of the cultivation technique they were practicing, whether it was the Immortals of White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect or their cultivators, they would never go out when cultivating in seclusion. They were the type of people who would never sit if they could lie down, would never stand if they could sit, and would never walk if they could stand. They were the orthodox cultivators of moral integrity who devoted their heart only to gain enlightenment of the Heavenly Dao.
Because of such tradition of the two immortal sects, they could get along peacefully with the six dynasties.
On one particular day, Wu Qi was squatting in the drill ground located inside Gu Tai Dynasty"s capital, gesticulating as he taught Li Yifeng and Zi Qianyan the techniques of fighting with flying swords. Zi Qianyan was using an upper-grade flying sword. She transformed it into an about ten feet long white beam, greatly suppressing Li Yifeng"s grayish-white, merely lower-grade flying sword, and making it look dull and dim. Li Yifeng was drenched with sweat, and there were a few times he nearly raised his hand to admit defeat.
A loud ringing of weapon clas.h.i.+ng resounded as Zi Qianyan"s flying sword smashed heavily onto Li Yifeng"s, knocking it back and throwing it onto the ground with its not-so-bright glint fully fading away. It made Li Yifeng vomit out a mouthful of clear fluid, his legs turn weak and fall knees down.
A group of eunuchs and palace maids rushed into the drill ground, crying and shouting nervously as they cl.u.s.tered around Li Yifeng to show him their excessive attention.
Li Yifeng cried out a loud, giving each of the eunuchs a slap in the face and driving them away from him. After that, he kept bowing at Wu Qi feebly and said, "Master, oh Master, can you please have pity on me? Can you please give me an upper-grade flying sword? Just one! I just want one upper-grade flying sword!"
Clapping his hands, Wu Qi rose to his feet lazily and gave a ridiculing comment, "I can even give you a flying sword of the lower-grade magical treasure level! But, you have to exchange it with your throne. I"ll give you a flying sword of excellent quality, and you"ll let your wife be the Emperor of Gu Tai Dynasty, with you as her Empress!"
Zi Qianyan chuckled as she gave Li Yifeng a glad eye from aside and teased, "My beloved concubine…"
Li Yifeng shuddered instantly, waving his hand quickly as he said, "Never mind then! I can still use this flying sword of mine!"
Wearing a wry smile on his face, Li Yifeng came next to Wu Qi pitifully and mumbled with a low voice, "Master, now that Gu Tai Dynasty is in peace, the generals and captains of all the armies have been replaced by my father"s loyal subordinates, and all the officials have been replaced by those who are loyal to me. The ceremony of me ascending the throne will be held next month. Master, do you..."
Wu Qi pondered for a brief moment, then shook his head. After that, he produced a large pile of immortal talismans, spirit pills, energy stones, flying swords, defensive outfits, and some other things, handing all of them over to Li Yifeng. "I"ve no interest in partic.i.p.ating in your ceremony of ascending the throne. Take these as my gifts for you! I"ve purposely requested a senior to craft two flying swords of lower-grade magical treasure level for you two. Take good care of them!"
Upon hearing that, Li Yifeng was seized with wild joy. With a quick movement, he grabbed everything over.
Wu Qi gave him a fierce glare and lectured, "They are flying swords of lower-grade magical treasure level. Do take good care of them! Back in those years, my Sword of Greedy Wolf was also a lower-grade magical treasure. Remember, don"t ever reveal your precious treasures to any random strangers. Although White Cloud Planet is our sect"s territory, we can"t guarantee that someone might be driven by their greed and try to seize your treasures. Pay more attention to that!"
Li Yifeng and Zi Qianyan nodded repeatedly, and expressed their grat.i.tude with the utmost reverence.
While Wu Qi was about to give them a few more words of advice, a sword beam suddenly descended from the sky. An executing-disciple, who was responsible for watching White Cloud Planet"s Grand Universal Teleportation Formation, ran towards them in a flurry as he cried out, "Patriarch! Patriarch! Quick, an Immortal is visiting us! He said he is our Ancestral-Master"s old friend. Patriarch, you are currently the only person who can take charge in our sect! We need you to welcome the Immortal as soon as possible!"
Wu Qi was taken aback. Very quickly, he told Li Yifeng and Zi Qianyan a few words, then transformed into a dark beam and sped away.
These days, the people of White Cloud Immortal Sect were so busy that their feet barely touched the ground. Apart from Patriarch Jiang Yun, and a few Elders who had just become Heaven Immortals, who were all dwelling in a secluded cultivation on Myriad Immortals Planet, all the disciples had set out of the sect, rus.h.i.+ng to bring Great Flame Planet under their control, a planet that once belonged to the Spirit Flame Sect. The size of the planet was five times larger than White Cloud Planet, and it was inhabited by many native mortals. After the Spirit Flame Sect was annihilated, in order to control those mortals, so as to prevent any wars from breaking out, the cultivators who once stayed in White Cloud Planet, including Jiangcheng Zi, had rushed over there.
Those who still stayed in White Cloud Planet were a few Nascent Divinity cultivators, who were having their secluded cultivation on White Cloud Peak, and Wu Qi, the executing-disciple of Discipline Hall. Surprisingly enough, he was the one with the strongest cultivation base, and the most senior among all the rest of the disciples that stayed here. As a result, the executing-disciple who watched the teleportation formation had come straight looking for Wu Qi at Gu Tai Dynasty.
Leaving behind a long, dark trail in the sky, Wu Qi flew at his top speed and arrived at the vicinity of the formation. Glancing around, he saw an old man standing right next to the formation, clad in a yellow linen outfit, a pair of straw sandals, and holding a green staff in his hand. He was completely bald on top of his head, with some hair behind his ears waving in the breeze. Standing on top of a boulder, he was glancing at the surrounding scenery with great interest.
The old man had a tall and burly stature. His back was bent slightly, and he had a benevolent and kind countenance. The aura emanated was upright and did not feel evil. A clear air that one could see with naked eyes was exuding from his body, which took the shape of white cranes while they kept wheeling around him. All of these gave him an outstanding appearance like that of an Immortal, and the elegant bearing was simply fascinating.
Wu Qi quietly landed right next to the old man, cupping his fist and bowing deeply as he offered the old man a greeting, "Welcome, senior Immortal. Wu Qi, executing-disciple of White Cloud Immortal Sect"s Discipline Hall, offers greetings!"
The old man spun and cast an examining glance at Wu Qi, then he cried out with a surprise, "Eh? Eh? Little guy, how old are you now? One-thousand years old?"
Wu Qi shook his head hastily. What a joke! One-thousand years old? He was only in his early twenties!
The old man cried out again as he was struck with even greater surprise. He rushed over and stood less than three inches away from Wu Qi, then gave him an even more thorough examination. Hesitatingly, he said, "Don"t tell me you are only six-hundred years old now? That"s really young! Tsk, tsk, you look young and fresh indeed!"
Wu Qi shook his head again. Six-hundred years old? Since when he was so old?
The old man shouted, and took two steps back astonis.h.i.+ngly. Fixing his gaze on Wu Qi he said, "What? You are less than six-hundred years old? A peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivator younger than six-hundred years old? What amazing spirit pills have you consumed? You... you must be at least three-hundred years old!"
Wu Qi forced a smile to his lips and shook, once again. Three-hundred years old? That was a long way to go!
Taking a deep breath, the old man laughed dryly and said, "One-hundred! You must be one-hundred years old! Ah? When I formed my Nascent Soul at the age of one-hundred, I was already considered as one of the top geniuses in the sect! I bet you must be at least one-hundred years old, right?"
Wu Qi gave him a deep bow, smiled embarra.s.singly, and said, "Just to let you know, senior Immortal, Wu Qi... ah, haha, I"m twenty-two years old right now!"
The old man was stunned. With his eyes blinking constantly, he quickly took a few rounds around Wu Qi. "Twenty-two years old? A twenty-years-old peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivator?" He cried in utter disbelief, "And you are still cultivating the Energy Unity Script? If you were cultivating the cornerstone technique of our sect, the Asamskrta Energy Unity Scripture, could that mean you would soon be a Nascent Divinity cultivator? A twenty-two years old Nascent Divinity cultivator? Then… Doesn"t that mean you will have a very high possibility to become a Gold Immortal in the future? Tsk, a Gold Immortal?"
Suddenly, the old man jumped on his feet as he cried out at the top of his voice, "Jiang Yun, you unfilial, little b*stard! I"m back! Your Master, Immortal Green Staff, is back! Get you"re a*s out of here and welcome me! d.a.m.nit, I"ve not seen you for only one hundred thousand years, yet you"ve become c.o.c.ky, huh? And you"ve learned how to occupy a hill to act as a lord, just like those itinerant cultivators?!"
A cloud shot out from White Cloud Peak, as Patriarch Jiang Yun, who was informed by some disciple and left his secluded cultivation in Cang Ao Immortal Abode in a hurry, rushed out of the Grand Universal Teleportation Formation, riding on a cloud and rus.h.i.+ng over quickly. While still at a far distance, he had already cried out loudly, "It really is you, Master?! It"s been one hundred thousand years since I last saw you! Are you well? Where is Master"s wife? How is she not with you?"
Wu Qi"s eyes blinked quickly. Apparently, this Immortal Green Staff was Patriarch Jiang Yun"s Master, eh?
Also, did he just mention a cornerstone technique of their sect, the Asamskrta Energy Unity Scripture? Did that mean the White Cloud Immortal Sect"s Energy Unity Script was just a lousy technique in Immortal Green Staff"s sect? However, this Energy Unity Script was a pretty decent cultivation technique! Because of it, Mo Di and Xun Kuang were able to transcend their Heaven Immortal thunder tribulation with just three years of laborious cultivation! Judging from this, it seemed that the immortal sect where Immortal Green Sect came from was very, very strong!
Immediately, Wu Qi placed his hands under the sleeves, bowing his head with a kind expression as he stood aside.
Patriarch Jiang Yun leaped over, then dropped to his knees excitedly and gave Immortal Green Staff a series of kowtows, nearly twenty of them.
With him dropping to his knees and beginning to kowtow, all the White Cloud Immortal Sect"s disciples in this mountain peak, including Wu Qi, had no choice but to drop to their knees as well, following Patriarch Jiang Yun to offer kowtows at Immortal Green Staff! Ringings of heads knocking on the ground echoed out ceaselessly, and it made Immortal Green Staff give a hearty laugh. Raising the green wooden staff in his hand, he knocked Patriarch Jiang Yun"s head, which made the latter keep crying painfully.
After a short lively moment, Immortal Green Staff finally helped Patriarch Jiang Yun up. His face turned slightly unsightly as he said sulkily, "Your Master-Mother... she didn"t follow me this time. She had a fight with someone, and her left arm is chopped off. We barely joined it back with some spirit medicine... Well, you know how your Master-Mother cares about her appearance. Her face was. .h.i.t by a Starlight Ball from the enemy, which made her face pitted with smallpox. She is in the middle of getting rid of them, so how would she want to come out with me?"
Patriarch Jiang Yun was taken aback. He roared furiously, "Who is so daring to hurt Master-Mother? Master, you..."
Immortal Green Staff waved his hand, then smiled bitterly and said, "The purpose of my visit is to request reinforcements from you... Ugh, how many disciples do you have now? How many of them are Nascent Soul cultivators, and how many are Nascent Divinity?"
Wu Qi"s ears stood up instantly. Requesting reinforcements? This sounded like an opportunity for him to commence the mission that Yan Dan gave him!