HSSB100: Things get more and more major!
A terrifying and powerful aura, resembling the boundless sky and the boundless sea, slowly appeared in the distance.
In the distant horizon, a dazzling golden light shone, resembling the sun rising from the east at dawn.
Touched by that glow, the domain of black night caused by the Twilight Dark Moon of the Twilight Lord which had originally already begun shattering appeared even more fragile than before.
The black night finally passed, the sun rising into the sky as all was bright once more.
Yan Zhaoge looked into the distance, murmuring, “The legacy of the Sacred Sun Clan; the cultivation of a Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmaster.”
The fourth and final stage of the Martial Grandmaster realm was known as the Transcending Mortality stage.
Transcending Mortality, Entering Sainthood.
Having stepped into this realm meant that a martial practitioner could officially begin preparing for their breakthrough into the Martial Saint realm.
Generally speaking, like martial practitioners at the peak of the Martial Scholar realm, the Heavenly Connection stage, most Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmasters would go into secluded cultivation to prepare for their breakthrough.
Transcending Mortality experts were seldom active within the world, most of them holing up somewhere to cultivate, hoping to step past that final boundary of the mortal realm, instantly achieving Sainthood!
Achieving Sainthood did not only entail a great leap in power; a martial practitioner’s longevity would also increase greatly as a result.
Therefore, Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmasters were seldom active.
But at this very moment, right before Yan Zhaoge’s eyes, it seemed like a Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmaster had actually descended!
“Pan Botai, Grand Elder of the Sacred Sun Clan,” Yan Zhaoge said slowly, “The West Tilting Lord of the first generation of the Seven Reigning Suns, having retired upon stepping into the Transcending Mortality stage, passing his position down to the next generation.”
“Xiao Shen’s grandfather; it should be him all right.”
Yan Zhaoge said leisurely, “Amongst Transcending Immortality Martial Grandmasters, he can be considered one of the more active ones, occasionally making an appearance in the world.”
Ah Hu said with a pained expression on his face, “Young Master, Elder Shi already may not be able to handle this old monster, not even considering the fact that there is still the Twilight Lord by the side.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded slightly. Now, a figure flickered as an emaciated old man appeared before him. It was precisely that Broad Creed Mountain Elder who had helped him to hold off the Martial Grandmaster of the Sacred Sun Clan as well as the Ghost Hatchet Elder through his Golden Curtain Palm earlier.
Looking at Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu and also the decapitated head of Yan Xu, the emaciated Elder was slightly surprised.
After all, at the end of the day, Yan Xu had still been a Martial Grandmaster expert, his cultivation not inferior to that of the emaciated Elder himself in the slightest.
Although he had been heavily injured by Shi Tie earlier, a weak, dying camel is still bigger than a horse. However, Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu had actually been able to kill him without paying any price at all.
The injuries on Ah Hu’s body were still those caused by Xiao Shen’s sneak attack with the Sun Rain previously in the Spirit Wind Canyon.
All this falling into the emaciated Elder’s eyes, there was no way he could not mind it.
If it was said that they had borrowed the power of spirit artifacts, Yan Xu himself also possessed some. Even though it had similarly been badly damaged by Shi Tie earlier, with the mid-grade spirit artifact, the Hidden Clear Sunlight Sword, in terms of weaponry, Yan Xu still actually wouldn’t have been at a disadvantage.
The emaciated Elder had quickly shook off his opponents and rushed over here, having originally believed that it would already be a victory as long as Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu could take advantage of Yan Xu’s injuries to decrease the speed of his escape.
Who knew that in the end, the final result was that Yan Xu had been cleanly and decisively killed by the two.
The emaciated Elder shot Yan Zhaoge a sigh, “Even if you want to leave now, it’s too late. Pan Botai is specifically here for you.”
Mentioning the name of Pan Botai, the emaciated Elder’s voice was also somewhat grave.
The name of a person, the shadow of a tree. Pan Botai was a longtime Elder of the Sacred Sun Clan, hailing from the same generation as the East Coming Martial Saint ‘The Sun Comes East’ Huang Guanglie as well as Broad Creed Mountain’s old Clan Chief ‘Heaven Equalling’ Yuan Zhengfeng.
As a well-known expert amongst all Martial Grandmasters, he had risen to prominence many years ago, his achievements in battle splendid, and even stepped into the Transcending Mortality stage.
The pressure that he brought to others was naturally not something that the likes of the Twilight Lord and the East Rising Lord could compare with.
The gaze with which the emaciated Elder looked at Yan Zhaoge held some slightly complicated emotions.
Although he had reinforced Yan Zhaoge in a timely manner earlier, helping him to hold off the Martial Grandmaster of the Sacred Sun Clan, not showing any signs of fear before the enemy in the least, about Yan Zhaoge having killed Xiao Shen, the emaciated Elder still held some reservations.
Seeing the Elder’s gaze, Yan Zhaoge got a general idea of what he was thinking.
In Broad Creed Mountain, there existed a trend of thought that it would be best for them to avoid conflict with the Sacred Sun Clan as much as possible, silently accumulating their power as they waited for the chance to rise up once again.
When necessary, it was actually even fine for them make some concessions, just making sure as much as possible that their core interests were not compromised.
Amongst the longtime Elders of the clan, of the older generation, most thought this way.
The emaciated Elder before him, was also one of them.
As for the senior generation with Yan Di and Shi Tie at their head, most of them instead advocated the aggressive, progressive way.
Because the Sacred Sun Clan’s incursions had been getting more and more unbridled and without reservation in recent years.
As they saw it, being conservative and making concessions was equivalent to being satisfied with letting the Sacred Sun Clan slowly cut their flesh and let out their blood with a knife.
Not only would they not be able silently accumulate their power the way the older generation wanted, on the contrary, they would be stagnant and unmoving, or even moving backwards.
Even if they didn’t move backwards, at a time when the Sacred Sun Clan as well as the other Sacred Grounds were all constantly increasing in strength, they themselves remaining stagnant would be like trying to row a boat against the flow of the currents.
The Sacred Sun Clan had never, and would never stay silently still by the side, out of goodwill allowing Broad Creed Mountain to continue developing and chasing after them, to the point of maybe even surpassing them.
If they progressed conservatively, entrusting their hopes to the future, it would almost be like building a tower within the air, as good as handing the initiative to the other party on a platter.
If one really wanted to talk about hope, the only hope would be some momentous event such as a huge-scale invasion by the Flame Devils occurring once more.
If such a momentous event occurred, the Sacred Sun Clan would receive the most harm.
Just like what had happened to Broad Creed Mountain long ago when they had been at their peak.
But such a thing, who could accurately predict?
Yan Zhaoge’s second apprentice-uncle Fang Zhun had originally been one of the few members of the senior generation from the moderate faction, also having received the support from many longtime Elders of the older generation as a result.
But in recent years, perhaps because the Sacred Sun Clan had been increasingly pressuring down insatiably upon them, or perhaps because the old Clan Chief Yuan Zhengfeng as well as Shi Tie wanted to move towards a tougher stance, Fang Zhun’s attitude had gradually become tough as well, causing those of the senior generation who had originally supported him to be greatly disappointed.
Now, other than each other, both Yan Di and Fang Zhun who were competing for the position of Clan Chief actually also had to face the pressure of the clan’s longtime Elders.
The entanglements within this+ were getting more and more complicated, hard to say in a few words.
What had happened earlier in the Eastern Tang Kingdom and how it had turned out now, as well as Yan Zhaoge’s taking back of Feng Yunsheng was something that the moderate faction also supported, on the precondition that Feng Yunsheng could really recover.
With regard to the Eastern Tang, their attitude was somewhat unclear. As for Yan Zhaoge having killed Xiao Shen earlier, it had really been an extreme headache for them.
Although they had to voice out the same, one stance towards the outside world, internally, towards Yan Zhaoge who could produce major contributions as well as cause major trouble at the same time, the older generation held extremely complicated feelings.
Seeing the way the emaciated Elder was struggling internally, Yan Zhaoge didn’t say anything further, only asking, “Can I ask how Elder Qin and Elder Kong are now?”
The emaciated Elder replied simply, “Elder Shi arrived earlier than expected; and in coming here, he was also accompanied by many experts of our clan who then went to reinforce Elder Qin and the others, in the end defeating and driving off the East Rising Lord’s group. They are already nearby, having rushed over to meet up with Elder Shi.”
“However, with Pan Botai’s arrival, the Sacred Sun Clan seems to have risen with the momentum of a counterattack once more.”
“You are the target of all; it will be hard this time.”
Yan Zhaoge said slowly, “Killing me, would only be a beginning.”
“The other party’s goal has actually already been achieved. If not for the fact that I killed Xiao Shen, whether or not they kill me would actually be of no further importance to them.”
“It was only because I killed Xiao Shen that Pan Botai specifically made a trip here.”
As they watched, the glow in the horizon grew brighter and brighter.
On the horizon, there actually seemed to be seven suns, forming into a ring, rising up simultaneously!