Chapter 270 Before the Battle
When Lyu Liang followed Feng Mazi to the main hall of the Tianshu Pavilion, a few people were already standing there.
There were three elderly men who looked like sages. The one on the left side was Ancestor Wen Shu who had greeted Lyu Liang. The tall one in the middle had big eyes like that of a tiger, and looked very formidable. He was surely Ancestor Tian Shu. The hunchbacked man on the right side should be Ancestor Wu Shu, who was said to be the first one to obtain the Lu Tian Divine Stone, in the past.
Three other people were standing in a place at a lower level. Although they looked ordinary, Lyu Liang could feel a strong, weird pressure coming out of them!
“Are they checking me out, or are they deliberately trying to threaten me from the beginning?” Lyu Liang had perceived three beams of unfriendly probing aura with no killing intentions, but he just smiled.
Instead, if an ordinary cultivator at the Supreme Master level came inside, he would probably tremble at the scene, if he had not fallen down first.
But Lyu Liang was much stronger. Although his cultivation was close to the Middle-stage Heavenly Master, the strength from his Divine Soul could even withstand the impact from a Tao Ancestor!
“I’m a disciple, named Man Zi! I’m honored to meet the three Masters, and also every senior brother here!” Lyu Liang strode forward and bowed with cupped fists calmly, and he seemed to have a layer of golden light flashing around his body.
As expected, the three senior brothers looked more relaxed when they saw Lyu Liang’s behavior, as if they had already approved his power.
“Don’t stand on ceremony. We don’t have much time. You guys introduce yourselves first!” Ancestor Tian Shu said slowly, while glancing at the three men before him. “From now on, you are in the same boat. Since you’ve already tested him, then get along with each other!”
“I’m Meng Yun, a Supreme Master with a special-grade fighting capacity! Sorry about the offense just now, Junior Brother Man!” A tall, st.u.r.dy man with a crimson face introduced himself, with cupped fists.
“Haha, I’m Yan Zidao, a Heavenly Master with a special-grade fighting capacity! Junior Brother Man, you came at the right time. Now I’m not the only Heavenly Master here!” That was a tall, lean man with a ferret face, introducing himself.
“I’m… Cough! Cough!… Gongsun… Gongsun Youcheng, Cough… a Supreme Master… with a special-grade… fighting capacity, Cough! Cough! Cough!” The last one looked like an invalid. He had a sallow face and an extremely dispirited expression, and seemed as if he would cough up blood, even as he spoke.
But he was the only one that made Lyu Liang feel threatened! What’s more, he was a member of the combat squad, and would not be an easy man to deal with!
“All right! Since you’ve introduced yourselves, I’ll also get to the point! About the compet.i.tion, its rules remain the same, but it is more difficult than before! Therefore, I deliberately asked the Tao Ancestor ghost to start the Th.o.r.eau Secret Realm in advance. Go there quickly, and grab the last chance to improve yourselves!” Ancestor Tian Shu glanced at everybody and then waved his hand, and three Lu Tian Divine Stones suddenly appeared. “Qingfeng and Youcheng, each of them already has one, so the three of you take one for yourselves and use it for cultivation. It’s on loan only. I want it back when you finish your cultivation!”
“Senior brother, why don’t we take the stone to compete? I think we have a better chance of winning with it.” Lyu Liang secretly transmitted a voice to Feng Mazi.
“The compet.i.tion has specified that it’s strictly forbidden to bring the Lu Tian Divine Stone to compete, otherwise, the compet.i.tor will be directly disqualified! Some may have the stone, while others don’t. That’s just for the sake of fairness!” Feng Mazi’s explanation made sense.
Lyu Liang nodded and stopped asking. The Ancestor Tian Shu gave an order, and brought the squad to a black whirlpool that suddenly appeared deep inside the palace.
“You have five days to adjust yourselves. Then I will take you to the Dark Reign myself!” Ancestor Tian Shu was about to leave, but he saw that Lyu Liang seemed curious, so he stopped and continued to say, “Man Zi is here for the first time, so I’ll give you more details! Inside this door is the Th.o.r.eau Secret Realm. That’s a place where the time runs one hundred times faster than the time outside it, which means that one day of cultivation inside it, equals to the cultivation of one hundred days outside! Five days later, you will be automatically transmitted back to the entrance here. Are we clear?”
“Yes!” Lyu Liang cupped his fists honestly, while he began to be more interested in the background of the Nether Big World!
G.o.d! He had thought that his Virtual Land was already uncommon enough, but compared with the Th.o.r.eau Secret Realm, its significance had decreased greatly!
“Master, will I still have a chance to come here and cultivate myself in the future?” Lyu Liang asked tentatively.
“Come again? That’s impossible! Technically, this secret realm is a place that is above the Natural Law! It can only stay open for five days after being opened by a super powerful figure who excels in the s.p.a.ce method. And then it will stay closed for at least eight years, before it is possible to open it again!” Ancestor Tian Shu shook his head. Then he pointed inside the door and said, “Go in there now!”
“It’s just a temporary place for cultivation. In that case, the Virtual Land is much better!” Lyu Liang didn’t hesitate, and was the first to rush into the whirlpool.
…
“Such a ultimate-grade secret realm for cultivation!” Lyu Liang exclaimed at the first sight of the scene there.
It was a blank s.p.a.ce that was similar to the House of Time, in the site where Tai Su Ancestor Lord lived before, but it was full of thick Spiritual Qi, which had a much higher level!
Without being reminded by White, Lyu Liang took out the Linden and placed it under his b.u.t.t, while holding the Lu Tian Divine Stone in his hand at the same time. He would not waste such a good opportunity for cultivation.
…
Meanwhile, three people were standing inside a secret independent s.p.a.ce in the Tianshu Pavilion. Lyu Liang knew two of them. One was Ancestor Tian Shu and the other one was Li Caiyun, the one Lyu Liang was really concerned about.
However, they were not superiors at this time. Instead, both of them were showing great respect to a teenager wearing a purple robe, in front of them.
The teenager looked weak, but he was actually Ji Luo Tao Lord, who was well-known in the Nether Big World, and one of the top leaders in the Dark Reign!
“Do you still have any questions about what I said?” Ji Luo Tao Lord glanced at them, and asked.
Ancestor Tian Shu replied at once, “I understand! I will firmly obey the arrangements of the Dark Reign!”
Li Caiyun frowned and said, “Milord, the barbarian in the Tianshu Pavilion, I still think there is something fishy about him! My host’s life-bonded magic treasure seemed to resonate with him before. If he is allowed to cultivate inside the Th.o.r.eau Secret Realm, is it…”
“It doesn’t matter. The people in the squad of the Tianshu Pavilion are just fine. My only concern is that an accident that is beyond our imagination, might happen during the compet.i.tion…” Ji Luo Tao Lord sighed.
“Who would dare to make trouble in the Dark Reign?” Li Caiyun hummed. “Everyone is just as lowly as an ant here!”
Ji Luo Tao Lord shook his head and said, “There is an old saying in the mortal world, ‘Defend all the time, and never detect an inside thief’.”
“You mean inside the Dark Reign…” The Ancestor Tian Shu narrowed his eyes and asked tentatively.
“You just do what I asked you to do! Remember, only obey the commands from me. Never obey any other Tao Ancestors!” Ji Luo Tao Lord glanced at them. Then out of his body, a stream of formidable aura burst forth, and he said, “If you don’t do as I say, your future in the Nether Big World, will end right now!”
…
The second big power in the Nether Big World, Yue Feng Nest Meeting, had a large magnificent tower in its Core Region. On the top floor, a bearded man and Nie Qingyun were standing side by side, in front of a black whirlpool.
“This is the Lu Tian Divine Stone. I’ve told you about all of its functions. You can further improve your Cultivation Method in the Th.o.r.eau Secret Realm with it.” The bearded man put a stone the size of half a fist, into Nie Qingyun’s hand. Then he said with a complex expression, “Actually, I have other methods to let the two of you meet. Why are you taking such a risk? You’ve experienced the danger before, what if…”
“I want to help my Master. That’s all! He is the one that has kept all my clansmen from being killed in the battle! And afterwards, he was the one that saved me from death, so I don’t want to be a loser that just needs other people’ protection!” Nie Qingyun said this firmly. Then with cupped fists, he said, “Your kindness will never be forgotten. If I can survive this, I will definitely repay you!”
“… I understand. Just do what you have to do!” With an expression of unspeakable excitement, the st.u.r.dy man nodded heavily, and said while pointing at the whirlpool, “Go in there. It’s only five days in total.”
“Well, actually, there is another thing that I’m still uncertain about. I won’t worry about it if you could explain it to me!” Nie Qingyun was not in a hurry to enter the whirlpool. Instead, he stared at the st.u.r.dy man and said, “The Yue Feng Nest Meeting is the second big power in Nether Big World. You seem to be the top leader. My Master and I, our ident.i.ties have been exposed. In this situation, aren’t you afraid that you may lose everything, once the Dark Reign learns about that?”
The st.u.r.dy man had his one eyebrow c.o.c.ked at his words, and then suddenly burst into laughter and said, “Like I said, do you believe me?”
Nie Qingyun was stunned, but still answered him firmly, “Yes! Without you, I may have died twice in this Nether Big World!”
“Good! Then you also need to believe that I bear no ill will toward your Master and you, as well as your companions that you’ve lost touch with! As for the reason, you will know it some day in the future.” After finishing, the bearded man did not intend to say anything more.
Nie Qingyun seemed to have predicted the situation. He cupped his fists again, and then rushed into the whirlpool directly.
Seeing Nie Qingyun entering the whirlpool, the bearded man sighed and turned around, saying while bowing deeply, “Lady Madonna, have you finished checking?”
At the moment, a girl dressed in a crepe like attire, walked out from the Void. She smiled as she looked at the black whirlpool and said, “Is that him? Are you sure? With the exception of their qualities being a little alike, they don’t have anything else in common. You may have made a mistake.”
The bearded man replied hurriedly, “No, that’s impossible! Milord, he…”
“It’s fine! I’m not serious!” The girl returned to be calm and continued, “There is no possibility that he would be some other person, when he could accord with the life-bonded divine weapon of that guy to that extent! Even I am impressed by the person who’d made this decision that year. He is very smart and very patient! Is it Six Tao? He is the only one that I could think who would take such a step?”
“For my position, I can’t get to this confidential core plan for the moment. Please forgive me, milord!” The bearded man was relieved, and bowed to the girl respectfully.
“Humph, it’s definitely immortal Six Tao! He is worthy of being called the first brainpower of the Divine Clan! His body of Six Tao is so terrifying. And together with his incomparable reincarnation skills, he is almost a match for our People Outside the Law! If we haven’t partic.i.p.ated in the battle, the two of them would have been enough to ward off the five G.o.d Kings!” The girl looked far into the distance, as if recalling a thing that had happened a long time ago. Moments later, she said softly, “Report to your boss. This case is mine!”
…
At the same time, in a secret place of You Yuan Country in the Nether Big World, where the main inhabitants were the Spirit Clan, some people were also discussing about the compet.i.tion for the mining area division, which was about to start soon…
“The information is very certain, milord! Please give orders and let us try again, before they enter the mining area! That can be seen as a way to say goodbye to our brothers who have died in the south!”
“I get it. Just go then. Although the odds are slim, it’s not entirely impossible. But, if you fail again this time, gather the remaining forces in the Northern Mining Area. That’s a place where we may have our last shot!”
“The compet.i.tors on our side, are all our own people. They are also fighters with great capabilities! Brother Chiling, you’ve already done enough. And now, it’s up to us!”
“Thanks for your help, brothers Gold and Wood! Then we’ll go to the mining area and get everything ready in advance!”
“Since you guys have reached an agreement, I also need to go to the west and join my other doppelgangers. Chiling, the dispatch in the mining area is on you for the moment. If there is no order personally transmitted by our doppelgangers before they enter the mining area, start the actions as we have originally planned!”
“Well, the thing about Lyu Liang…”
“… The killing plan applies to everybody. Besides, I believe that that guy will make it to the end!”