Chapter 594 Gathering
Everyone’s eyes lit up when they saw Ding Hao come out with a solemn face.
He was about to say something, but his face suddenly changed. He looked up into the distance, seemingly having noticed something.
In the next moment, a yellow flame wrapped in a powerful aura was seen approaching in a flash like a lightning storm, shooting toward the gate without any signs of slowing down.
At this time, the restoration of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect had just started and the mountain-protecting formation had yet to be repaired.
The golden light shot straight ahead unimpeded.
Ding Hao was shocked. This aura was very unusual and extremely powerful. He didn’t dare to relax. He rushed to the sky and released his Qi, shouting angrily, “This is the mountain gate of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect. We do not welcome uninvited guests. Go back!”
“Who are you?” A clear voice came from the golden light.
The golden light did not slow down. It still rushed toward the mountain gate, as fast as a meteor.
Ding Hao was furious.
Did this person really think that the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect was so weak that anyone could break into the sect gate?
The negative emotions and urge to kill he had acc.u.mulated over the past few days suddenly burst out uncontrollably. Ding Hao threw a punch, from which a huge flaming fist print was formed. It parted the air within a hundred meters, exploding in the void, and smas.h.i.+ng toward the light.
“Boom!”
When the flaming fist print was 10 meters away from the golden light, it collided with a Buddha print and dissipated.
“Huh? It’s a Buddhist style…” Ding Hao frowned slightly. “My punch contained the physical strength of the Martial Emperor realm, but the other side took it easily. When was there such a powerful Buddhist master in Snow Province?”
Right at this moment…
A familiar voice came from the golden light, “Amitabha. Almsgiver Ding, please wait. We’re friends, not enemies.”
It was the Zero Thought Immortal Nun, the head of the Zero Thought Sect.
“Oh, Immortal Nun, please forgive me for being rude,” Ding Hao saluted.
The Zero Thought Sect and the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect were allies. They had maintained a good relations.h.i.+p for hundreds of years. In the Sect Grading Meeting, Ding Hao had seen the Zero Thought Immortal Nun several times. The temperament of the Taoist and Buddhist Bhadanta had impressed him.
“We didn’t mean to intrude. Please forgive us, Almsgiver Ding,” the Zero Thought Immortal Nun stood with one hand raised to her chest and said, “It seems that you have defeated the enemy? Great. The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect has been blessed. The Venerable Golden Cicada sensed the aura of a battle on the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Mountain, so we rushed here as soon as possible. We thought that the battle was not over, so we entered the mountain gate directly. It’s us who were being rude.”
Venerable Golden Cicada?
Ding Hao’s eyes fell on the handsome young monk in the crowd. He immediately confirmed that was the person who had just fended off his fist with the Buddha print. Besides him, no one in the Zero Thought Sect could take his fist, but he didn’t know this young monk. He was so powerful that Ding Hao could not fathom his strength at the moment.
However, Ding Hao’s attention was soon diverted away from the Venerable Golden Cicada.
Because he saw Li Lan in the crowd.
“Is Li Lan still alive?
“That’s great.
“This is the best news in the past few days.”
Zero Thought Immortal Nun noticed Ding Hao’s gaze and gently waved her hand. A gentle force pushed Li Lan into Ding Hao’s arms. She explained, “A day ago, my disciple found Almsgiver Li Lan unconscious in the gra.s.sland under the ice peak…”
Ding Hao held Li Lan in his arms and said, “Thank you, Immortal Nun. The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect owes a favor to the Zero Thought Sect.”
The Zero Thought Immortal Nun shook her head and said, “Almsgiver Ding, it was nothing. I am really ashamed for failing to offer timely help when the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect was under attack.”
“Since you have already led the group here, please come for a chat,” Ding Hao invited.
Just then, Ding Hao suddenly sensed something and turned his head to look in the southwestern direction.
Almost at the same time, the Golden Cicada, who had been observing Ding Hao silently, also noticed something and looked in the same direction.
In the distance, another stream of light dashed to the gate of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect at lightning speed.
Arriving with it was a faint sound of pleasant melody.
When it got closer, the crowd saw a huge pipa flying in the air. On the surface of the instrument stood dozens of people, most of whom were young women dressed in royal gauze dresses. The only male was burly, with dark skin and a huge saber on his shoulder, looking fierce.
It was Qin Ying, Li Yiruo, Zhang Fan, and the others who had rushed over from the Heavenly Sound Valley to help.
“Brother Hao…” Li Yiruo saw Ding Hao from afar and beamed with joy. She couldn’t help waving her arms and shouting.
Ding Hao was overjoyed.
Li Yiruo turned into a flowing light and flew out from the pipa towards Ding Hao.
Her delicate face was glowing with excitement. If Ding Hao had not been holding Li Lan in his arms, she would have rushed directly into his arms. They had been separated for more than three months, which felt like forever. No matter what others thought, Li Yiruo liked Ding Hao. She had always been honest about her feelings and wasn’t shy to express them.
“Yiruo, Xiaofan, haha, you arrived so soon.” Ding Hao looked up and down. He could see that the strength of the two had increased greatly.
In the next instant, Qin Ying and the rest also moved forward.
“Ding Hao, you’re back…” Qin Ying was of unrivaled elegance and beauty, one that resembled the Fairy of the Ninth Heaven. She looked a little surprised by seeing Ding Hao. “Since you are here, has our sect already…”
Ding Hao smiled gently and said, “Don’t worry, Senior Sister Qin. The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect is safe now.”
Qin Ying was amazed. It was the super sects from the foreign provinces that had occupied the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect. Could it be that Ding Hao had already settled everything alone? Then, how much has his strength grown? Wasn’t it a little too shocking?
Qin Ying then greeted the Zero Thought Immortal Nun and the others.
They were familiar with each other, so they were all at ease.
Acceding to Ding Hao’s invitation, they landed and entered the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
The sect mountain had just been restored, so they had kept things simple. Guan Feidu arranged for them to be seated in the main hall and entertained them with all the proper etiquette. Ding Hao received the masters of the two sects as the temporary head of the sect. Guan Feidu and w.a.n.g Juefeng had been meticulous so others would not look down upon the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
Naturally, the topic of the sect’s recovery was soon addressed.
Guan Feidu and w.a.n.g Juefeng wanted to direct all the credit to Ding Hao, so they told them what had happened in the mountain that day with a little exaggeration.
The Zero Thought Immortal Nun, Qin Ying, and the others were all shocked.
It sounded almost like a legend to kill sword pract.i.tioners at the Martial Royal realm in the blink of an eye. There had never been such an exceptional expert in the history of Snow Province. But it didn’t seem like a fabrication. Otherwise, where did the sword pract.i.tioners of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmans.h.i.+p Sect go? Could it be that they had retreated from the sect voluntarily?
The Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect was on the rise once again!
The thought arose in the minds of all the guests present.
At the same time, they secretly rejoiced for being this lucky. Fortunately, they had kept a good relations.h.i.+p with the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect. Ding Hao’s rise would surely benefit the two sects. As for the Tranquility Academy, the Falling Star Sect, and the Leiyin Sect, a catastrophe seemed unavoidable.
“Zhang Fan dealt with Fang Xiaoan using just two strokes. Brother Ding, you killed dozens of sword pract.i.tioners in an instant. With the two of you in the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect, it will probably stand firm in the Snow Province for a thousand years. I’m afraid that the Snow Province will become the world of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect in the future!” Qin Ying told them about Zhang Fan’s feat in the Heavenly Sound Valley with a smile, and everyone present was shocked once more.
It was another big surprise for Guan Feidu, w.a.n.g Juefeng, and the other disciples of the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Sect.
No one had expected that the clumsy nominal disciple, who had been a slower learner that had eventually left the sect, would become so strong, especially w.a.n.g Juefeng. He had trained Zhang Fan and treated this simple and honest little hunter with great care and respect, but this was beyond his expectations.
“Haha, defeating Fang Xiaoan with two strikes is nothing,” Ding Hao laughed and said, “Two hands are not enough to count the peak Demon Kings Xiaofan killed in the Sage Battlefield. I’m afraid there aren’t many people who can take Xiaofan’s full blow in today’s Snow Province.”
He then described in detail how Zhang Fan performed in the battle that took place at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion in the Highest Heaven.
Ding Hao wanted to take this opportunity to help Zhang Fan make a name for himself.
The others were all dazzled. They didn’t know this, nor had they ever heard of the Highest Heaven in the Sage Battlefield. When Ding Hao talked about the battle, they could feel their blood boil; such a wonderful thing had actually happened.
The Venerable Golden Cicada, the Sage of the Big Leiyin Temple, chanted the name of Buddha and listened very carefully.
The Zero Thought Immortal Nun asked tentatively, “Almsgiver Ding, what are you going to do next?”
The smile on Ding Hao’s face disappeared. He put down the wine gla.s.s and calmly said, “Within ten days, I will destroy the Tranquility Academy, the Leiyin Sect, the Falling Star Sect, and all the sects in Snow Province that partic.i.p.ated in the siege. Of course, the demon clan that invaded the Swordsmans.h.i.+p-seeking Villa by the Mirror Lake too, and then… When the battle of the Frozen Peak is over, I will leave for the Sword Province for a while and make the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmans.h.i.+p Sect pay the price.”
His voice was calm, but one could sense the killing intent in his tone.
Everyone present was secretly shocked.
The nuns of the Zero Thought Sect chanted Buddha’s name again and again.
It sounded like a crazy plan to eliminate four of the nine major sects and dozens of others in Snow Province within ten days. It would be nonsense if it had been claimed by others, but Ding Hao had the qualification and the ability.
Given his ability to kill a one-apertured Martial Emperor in an instant, he was powerful enough to sweep the whole Snow Province.
Let alone he had the a.s.sistance of Zhang Fan, who was also a very formidable expert.