Chapter 266: Love at First Sight
There was a total of 52 sects in the alliance of sects in the Hengliu galaxy, and they were all the top sects in the galaxy.
Whether it was the Lightning Knife Sect or the Thunder Knife Sect—or even another sect altogether—they were, at the end of the day, but one of 52 sects in the alliance.
While it was true that the genius disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect, Han Yuzheng, was unnaturally strong, there was simply no lack of compet.i.tion from the other sects.
In fact, there were probably people stronger than him, though not many of them existed.
There was Mo Yitian, for example. He was the first among the younger generation of the Tiansong Sect and was less than 30 years old, but he was already a late Dharma adept who had trained his Dharma power so well that he could execute the Dharmic possession technique. If a comparison had to be drawn, you could even say he was no weaker than the Thunder Knife Sect’s Han Yuzheng.
Of course, to Zhou Donghuang, there was not much difference between Han Yuzheng and Mo Yitian. Neither of them was deserving of the t.i.tle “genius.”
“Genius” was, in his eyes, something befitting only the most outstanding talents from a peerless sect of all the galaxies in the vast, expansive universe.
The Hengliu galaxy was but a tiny galaxy in within the vast universe, and the universe had plenty of galaxies within it. In terms of resources and wealth, the Hengliu galaxy was, at best, at the lower middle grade.
Much like the Luohe galaxy where Luo Qinghan’s family hailed from, that was but a galaxy slightly above the lowest grade.
And as for the Kaiyuan galaxy which housed the Ziyun planet, that galaxy was considered a low-grade galaxy.
“Dharmic possession?”
The people on the Hengliu galaxy who could execute the Dharmic possession technique at the Dharma stage were regarded as talented geniuses whose potential was limitless.
But for people who came from a rich and resourceful galaxy—galaxies that were major powers—it was the opposite. If they could not successfully execute the technique while they were still a Dharma adept, there was basically no way they would still be supported and cultivated after the moved to the Primordial Soul stage.
The powers saw no need to cultivate the talents of these people—it would only be a waste of resources. It was far better to divert these resources to be used on the few talented people.
And it was precisely because of this that Zhou Donghuang was not particularly moved by the fact that a late Dharma adept could execute the Dharmic possession technique.
So much so that He Mengxi and Da Zhuang, who had switched to training using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique as well as the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, could already master the technique even though their level of training was only at the mid Dharma stage.
Especially Da Zhuang.
He had long mastered the technique when he was only at the early Dharma stage.
…
The more time pa.s.sed, the more people trickled in.
Some of the sect leaders of the 52 sects from the alliance were familiar with each other. They had personal friends.h.i.+ps with each other, so they would meet up once they were here.
“The people of the Jihan Sect are here.”
All of a sudden, the Lightning Sword Sect’s Summer Valley Head’s voice rang out. Zhou Donghuang, who had been resting with his eyes shut, opened his eyes.
“Look carefully, little junior brother. Has your little lover arrived?” He Mengxi asked with a teasing smirk on her face when she saw that Zhou Donghuang was looking out into the distance at a group of women who had arrived.
On his end, he had already been keeping a lookout before He Mengxi had even asked the question. Tapping into the power of the Lord of the Four Supremes to enhance his vision, he could spot Luo Qinghan among the group of people from the Jihan Sect, even from that distance.
Although Luo Qinghan was all the way at the back of the crowd, she easily stood out in the sea of people with her beautiful face.
Quite a few of the Dharma disciples from all of the big sects were strong, young men, which was why they were all abuzz with chatter when they caught sight of the beautiful female disciples from the alliance.
“Quite a number of the Jihan Sect disciples are really pretty.”
“Quite a number, indeed. Must be nice being a guy from that sect and being able to interact with them on a regular basis.”
“You guys, hurry over and come take a look! That disciple all the way at the back, she’s so pretty!”
…
A crowd of the energetic, young male disciples from the Lightning Sword Sect was already appraising the female disciples from the Jihan Sect rather seriously, despite the fact that they were still quite a distance away. The bunch of them were like a pack of hungry wolves; their eyes were gleaming, and they might as well have been drooling.
There was no doubt that Luo Qinghan was the best of the Jihan Sect disciples in terms of her looks.
Even if she were standing all the way at the back and not particularly outstanding, her face naturally commanded attention. Aside from the beautiful woman leading the Jihan Sect, she was the other focal point of the sect.
“Is that her, little junior brother?”
He Mengxi stood beside Zhou Donghuang. She followed his gaze and caught a good look of Luo Qinghan, then she continued whispering to him, “She really is quite the fair looker… She suits you well.”
At this time, He Mengxi had coincidentally caught Luo Qinghan’s eye when the latter let her gaze sweep over her side. But just as quickly it came, she looked away with her head bowed.
In a split second, the bunch of hot-blooded disciples—who were very much like wolves and tigers—all turned away in disappointment.
With a bow of her head, Luo Qinghan had kept half of her beautiful face s.h.i.+elded. They could no longer see her face anymore, no matter how much they wanted to.
“Little junior brother, your little lover’s rather shy when she sees you.” He Mengxi chuckled lightly.
Zhou Donghuang had already grown accustomed to He Mengxi’s teasing, so all he did was look away with a helpless shake of his head.
He let out a sigh of relief after he saw Luo Qinghan here.
At the very least, he now knew that Luo Wuchen had successfully administered the Developing Essence, an ancient core drug given to him by Zhou Donghuang, on Luo Qinghan.
Otherwise, there was no way Luo Qinghan would already be at the Dharma stage within such a short period of time; she was already strong enough to partic.i.p.ate in the Alliance Hunt.
“Seems like she really didn’t switch to training with the Technique of Everlasting Youth.”
Judging by how Luo Qinghan was trailing behind the Jihan Sect all by herself, it was not difficult to infer that she was the weakest in the group of early Dharma disciples from the sect.
There was no way her abilities would be this weak if she had switched to training with the Technique of Everlasting Youth.
“She’s as stubborn as ever,” Zhou Donghuang said with a quiet sigh.
“Sect Leader Meng, the disciples from your Jihan Sect are always the center of attention no matter where they go.”
As the group of people from the Jihan Sect moved closer, Tiansong Sect Leader Huang Chunqiu greeted the beautiful lady who was leading the group with a smile. “If I hadn’t already known that you’re here to take part in the Alliance Hunt, I’d really have thought that you a.s.sembled the prettiest disciples from your sect to gather here.”
“Sect Leader Huang, you’re good with your words, as always.”
The beautiful lady was the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping. She shook her head with a smile when she heard Huang Chunqiu’s words. The woman was already pretty to start with but when she smiled, it was like flowers were blooming in that instant.
Meng Yuping and Huang Chunqiu were, obviously, old friends, and it was clear that the pair had a pretty good relations.h.i.+p with each other.
Meng Yuping led the group of people from the Jihan Sect, moving to stand between the people from the Lightning Sword Sect and those from the Tiansong Sect.
Just then, someone from the group of Dharma disciples from the Tiansong Sect—a young man decked in grayish brown robes—moved out from the crowd to stand beside another young man who had been standing all the way at the front of the group.
This young man was dressed in sky-blue garb, and there was a trace of something wicked in his handsome face. This was the very man who was the focus point of the few female disciples of the Tiansong Sect who were present.
He was the number one of the Tiansong Sect’s younger generation, Mo Yitian.
“Senior Brother Mo,” the young man, the one who had walked out from the last row of the
Tiansong Sect disciples, greeted Mo Yitian respectfully.
“Yuan Zheng?”
Mo Yitian looked over at the young man mildly. “What are you doing here all of a sudden?”
“Senior Brother Mo, do you remember the Luo Qinghan I mentioned to you before? She’s the one dressed in green, standing all the way at the back of the Jihan Sect people,” Yuan Zheng said to Mo Yitian as he looked at the woman who was standing at the end of the Jihan Sect.
There was a glint of resistance in Yuan Zheng’s eyes as he looked at Luo Qinghan, but it was soon gone.
That year, when he was on the Tianxuan planet in the Luohe galaxy, he had coveted her.
To that end, he had even gone as far as to rope in her closest friends to drug her, only for her to escape. He never got his way.
After that, Luo Qinghan’s level of training increased exponentially, and she was then more or less on par with him.
Sometime after that, both of them were brought to the Hengliu galaxy by the people of the alliance of sects in the Hengliu galaxy. Luo Qinghan had been accepted into the Jihan Sect, and he into the Tiansong Sect.
“That’s Luo Qinghan?”
The lady dressed in green, who was standing at the back of the Jihan Sect, had become the center of attention for the entire place when she made her entrance.
Even Mo Yitian had noticed her, and he felt himself stir with want.
A fair lady was a gentleman’s good mate, after all.
Mo Yitian had never known a shortage of female company, but this was the first he had seen such an extraordinary woman.
This woman made him want to take her as a concubine.
To this day, he had been celibate with no wives or concubines to speak of.
However, if he were to marry, he would have to marry someone who would be a good match for him. If the woman in front of him came from a profound background, he would be glad to marry her… For the time being, however, she was only good enough to be his concubine.
“Senior Brother Mo, you have to hold on to her if you’ve got your sights set on her… There aren’t many men in that sect, but there’s still quite a number of them. Don’t let them s.n.a.t.c.h her from you,” Yuan Zheng said.
Actually, Yuan Zheng’s martial ability was no match for the current Luo Qinghan.
The only reason he was able to be here on this day was because he had ceaselessly and diligently been licking boots since the day he entered the sect, which eventually landed him the spot of an inner sect elder like his master.
There was also the fact that he had connections everywhere within the sect. Because of all the ties he had, he had stood to gain quite a fair bit.
After he heard that Mo Yitian had taken a liking to the woman, he switched tactics. He intentionally approached the latter and mentioned Luo Qinghan, the young lady of the Luo family from his hometown, the Tianxuan planet in the Hengliu galaxy. He took it a step further and aggressively praised Luo Qinghan in front of Mo Yitian and made her out to be a rare beauty in this world.
“You’ve got good taste, Yuan Zheng.”
Mo Yitian looked firmly at Yuan Zheng. “I’d initially thought that you were just running your mouth to get close to me… Now that I’m seeing it with my own eyes, it seems you were telling the truth.
“Luo Qinghan, she’s truly top-tier.”
As he spoke, Mo Yitian’s gaze that was fixed on Luo Qinghan seemed to burn more fervently.
“You’re funny, Senior Brother Mo. There’s no way I’d dare cheat you,” Yuan Zheng said with a laugh.
Mo Yitian’s eyes gleamed, and then he ignored Yuan Zheng. He took to the skies directly, looming over the higher-ups of the Tiansong Sect. He then made his way over to stand beside Huang Chunqiu, who had been in a conversation with the Jihan Sect leader, Meng Yuping.
Huang Chunqiu was not just the Tiansong Sect leader; he was also Mo Yitian’s master.
“Master.”
Huang Chunqiu stared at him with suspicion as the latter made his way over. Just then, Mo Yitian said to him seriously, body still low in a bow, “I’ve fallen in love at first sight of the Jihan Sect disciple, Luo Qinghan… I ask of master to have Junior Uncle Meng betroth her to me.”