Chapter 357 – To See Blood
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Among the countless dangerous and magnificent peaks, there was one peak covered with thick green bamboo that was dozens of feet high.
Within this green bamboo forest, there was a lake with clear rippling water. On this lake was a green hall that seemed to be carved from jade. This was the land of the Blue Luan Faction – Blue Luan Palace. Tianguang Revered Master was a Vice Island Master of Divine Phoenix Island, and was also a Great Elder of the Blue Luan Faction. His 400th year birthday banquet would be held here.
As Lin Ming arrived at Blue Luan Palace with Zhang Zhen, less than a third of the seats were filled. Most of them were juniors, and not even the direct disciples of the sects had arrived yet.
“Little Junior-apprentice Sister, that is Lin Ming.”
At a corner of Blue Luan Palace’s square, Zhan Yunjian was pointing at Lin Ming as he spoke to a purple-clothed girl. He wasn’t afraid that Lin Ming would find him looking at him, because it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
“16 year old late Pulse Condensation period? Not bad.” The purple-clothed girl stroked her smooth and pointed chin as she gazed at her opponent for this banquet, her words sounding a bit old.
Zhan Yunjian wanted to laugh. He thought to himself, wasn’t this little girl only 17 years old?
“Mm, that’s right. He is a junior of Divine Phoenix Island who is well regarded by Fairy Maiden Qianyu. However, Divine Phoenix Island is a bit lacking in talent these days. Ever since the Saint rank talents Fairy Maiden Qianyu and Fairy Maiden Bingyun appeared, there hasn’t been any outstanding heroic elite in the current young generation. Even the Vermillion Bird Faction chief disciple Mu Dingshan and the Blue Luan Faction chief disciple Mu Xiaoqing aren’t any better than the direct disciples of the seven sects from the Five Element Region.” As Zhan Yunjian spoke, he sighed, “Divine Phoenix Island has really had a great stroke of luck. Even if the next few generations of Divine Phoenix Island are all failures, as long as Mu Qianyu and Mu Bingyun exist, then Divine Phoenix Island will prosper for the next several hundred years.”
In the minds of the many young heroes and elites, a Saint level talent was like an unattainable peak that they could never approach. Even the arrogant Zhan Yunjian had to acknowledge the difference between him and a Saint level talent. This sort of talent would only appear in a fourth-grade sect every hundred years; it was stroke of fate that couldn’t be forced.
After listening to Zhan Yunjian, the purple-clothed girl smiled, extremely bright and happily.
“Mm? Why are you smiling?” Zhan Yunjian asked.
“Hehe, I’m just smiling, it’s nothing.” The purple-clothed girl was clearly hiding something. A 17 year old girl had limited trust, and her mood was written all over her face.
Zhan Yunjian was puzzled; what caused this little girl to be so happy?
Was she implying that the Thundercrest Sect also had a Saint level talent?
As he thought of this, Zhan Yunjian’s expression changed. Then, he thought of it some more and shook his head. ‘It’s unlikely. The seven sects of the Five Element Region all closely monitor each other; even I’m familiar with the direct disciple of the Thundercrest Sect. If they have a Saint level talent then it’s impossible that I wouldn’t have heard a rumor of it.’
As Zhan Yunjian thought to himself, he wasn’t too sure in his heart. If this was true, then the balance between the seven great sects of the Five Element Region would be broken. Once a Saint level talent grew up, it would be hard to find a worthy opponent for them!
After half an hour passed, more and more people began filtering into Blue Luan Palace. Many important figures began arriving one after another. Even in a fourth-grade sect, Revolving Core masters weren’t too common.
Tianguang Revered Master finally arrived. He wore a long green robe, and he had a three foot long white beard. His emitted a very calm and extraordinary temperament.
Behind him followed several disciples, and even Mu Qianyu was among them. As Lin Ming saw Mu Qianyu, he was stunned for a bit.
‘Mm… something feels off?’
As he noticed her blue clothing, Lin Ming suddenly realised that this woman was Mu Qianyu’s younger sister, Mu Bingyun. He had heard that Mu Qianyu and Mu Bingyun were twin sisters, but normally there would be some differences even between twins. However Mu Qianyu and Mu Bingyun seemed almost entirely alike; there wasn’t even a mark on their face to distinguish between them.
There was only a slight difference between their temperaments. It seemed that Mu Bingyun was a bit less noble, a bit icier, and a bit more indifferent.
Throughout the entire time, Mu Bingyun silently followed behind Tianguang Revered Master.
As if it were arranged, right after Tianguang Revered Master arrived, the old Revolving Core masters of the eight sects soon followed. The front door opened wide, and an old man in a red robe walked in with a group of disciples. This old man’s entire face was red all over, and his steps were light. He and his group had a ball of sacred flames embroidered on their chests – these were all disciples from the Sunfire Sect.
“Haha, Mu Tianguang, how have you been? You haven’t changed in such a long time!” The old man smiled. If this old man was able to call Tianguang Revered Master by his full name, then he was naturally a character on the same level as Tianguang Revered Master.
“Haha, I didn’t think the Sunfire Sect Sovereign would personally come. This old man truly has face!” Mu Tianguang cupped his fists together. Obviously, he and the Sunfire Sect Sovereign were old friends.
As the two old men greeted each other and exchanged some small talk, Lin Ming noticed that there was a red-robed girl following behind the Sunfire Sovereign. She looked around 18-19 years old, and her cultivation was at the early Houtian realm. She was the girl known as the Sunfire Princess, Huo Ruyan.
At this point, all eyes had gathered on Huo Ruyan, even more so than the Sunfire Sovereign. After all, the majority of those present were young heroes and elites. A high level figure like the Sunfire Sovereign had no relation to them, so they wouldn’t pay attention to someone like him. But as for another young heroic elite like Huo Ruyan, she was someone that everyone noticed. After all, a bit later from now, they might have to challenge her in a contest.
As the disciples of the Sunfire Sect took their seats, they were soon followed by those from the Thundercrest Sect. What surprised Lin Ming was that even the Thundercrest Sect Sovereign himself had personally come.
It stood to reason that a normal Revolving Core master would come to this birthday banquet, but a Sovereign wouldn’t personally attend. It had to be known that there were around 20 some high-level figures like Tianguang Revered Master in the great sects of the Five Element Region and the South Horizon Region. If the sect Sovereigns were to attend all the century birthday celebrations of these figures, they would have to make a trip every five years. Making such a long and distant journey was an arduous event, and it wasn’t like the various sect Sovereigns didn’t have anything else to do.
After the Thundercrest Sect arrived, those from the Deep Earth Sect, Arctic Ice Palace, and Golden Bell Mountain also arrived. Most of those that came were Sovereigns of their sect, and the worst among them were Vice Sovereigns, this really surprised Lin Ming.
Did Tianguang Revered Master really have such great face? A century birthday celebration actually had so many Sovereigns in attendance?
Finally, the last one to appear was the old lady Yuhuang of Divine Phoenix Island. As an Island Master of Divine Phoenix Island and also the leader of the Vermillion Bird Faction, old lady Yuhuang had a status that was even higher than Tianguang Revered Master. All the Sovereigns cupped their hands together. Of the entire audience present, old lady Yuhuang was the strongest; no one dared to disrespect her.
However, old lady Yuhuang had a very unpleasant expression. She gave a few casual smiles, and then sat in the seat of honor, not speaking as an awkward silence and sullen atmosphere floated around her.
Tianguang Revered Master was a bit embarrassed. He stood up, raised his glass and said, “Everyone who has arrived today has shown me the highest honor. First, I will raise a cup to you all!”
As Tianguang Revered Master spoke, he drank a toast to all the guests and the guests all raised their glasses too, offering a number of birthday congratulations and speeches. Then, the atmosphere of the banquet was revived.
Lin Ming couldn’t help but whisper, “How come High Master Yuhuang is looking at the eight sect Sovereigns with such a dour expression?”
Zhang Zhen, who was sitting near Lin Ming, heard his question. He reluctantly said, “I don’t know why, but I guess it’s because the talks of the alliance didn’t go too well…”
“Alliance?” Lin Ming was stunned, and then immediately understood. “An alliance to go against the South Sea Demon Region?”
“Mm, yes.”
Lin Ming had a flash of insight. No wonder so many Sovereigns and Vice Sovereigns had arrived. They actually came to discuss such an important matter. It seemed that Tianguang Revered Master’s birthday banquet was just a ruse, and the truth was that they came to discuss an alliance to resist the South Sea Demon Region.
A war between superpowers at the rank of Divine Phoenix Island and the South Sea Demon Region wasn’t like the wars between two small countries. Just because they declared war on each other didn’t mean they would immediately begin. Even though these two great powers had decided to engage each other, there were still many considerations and preparations that had to be made. Before, Divine Phoenix Island had drawn in the 19 third-grade sets, and now it seemed they were even trying to draw in the fourth-grade sects from the Five Element Region. The situation had already escalated to this degree. It was probable that the South Sea Demon Region was also looking for their own allies!
Lin Ming said, “If Divine Phoenix Island is defeated, then would the Five Element Region be able to live their future days in peace? Don’t they know about the concept of co-interdependence?”
Zhang Zhen stared at Lin Ming like he was an idiot, obviously looking down on Lin Ming’s shallow experience. “What do you mean co-interdependence? Divine Phoenix Island is millions of miles away from the Five Element Region. Even if it was when Silent Demon Emperor City still existed, the Five Element Region didn’t suffer a disaster. The reason they came here is to see if we could offer conditions to these old fellows’ satisfaction. Now that the talks have broken down, Uncle Master Yuhuang isn’t feeling too happy about the situation.”
“So it’s like this…” Lin Ming was already used to Zhang Zhen looking down on him. But it didn’t matter, he really didn’t know anything about the Five Element Region.
Zhang Zhen said, “Uncle Master Yuhuang has a very ardent and strong personality. If you are good to her then she is friendly to everyone. But, if she doesn’t feel comfortable, then she doesn’t care about giving anyone face. You can see from her expression that she’s not hiding anything at all. It looks like this banquet is going to be a lively one.”
“Mm? Lively?”
“Hehe, do you think that Uncle Master Yuhuang won’t vent her fire here? If matters of the alliance had come to a pleasant agreement, then the atmosphere of the banquet would be enjoyable. But now that things have gone south, it seems that when we compare skills I’ll have to be serious; even blood might spill now.” As Zhang Zhen spoke, he seemed to be filled with excitement.
“Uh… will it come that?” Lin Ming’s expression changed as he craned his neck.
“Heh, just wait and see. Uncle Master Yuhuang is not in a pleasant mood. If anyone causes her to lose anymore face today, they might anger her at their own peril. Just look at Senior-apprentice Brother Mu Dingshan’s appearance.” Zhang Zhen winked with his eyes.
Lin Ming glanced at Mu Dingshan and saw that he really did have an extremely bitter and pained expression.
“Does Senior-apprentice Brother Mu not have confidence in himself?”
“How can he have confidence like this? Senior-apprentice Brother is fierce, and he’s no worse than any of the other direct disciple of the Five Element Region, but now it’s one against eight. Oh, well with the Blue Luan Faction’s Mu Xiaoqing, that makes it two against eight. How can they resist so many of them? Now that Uncle Master Yuhuang is so angry, losing like this will mean a miserable future for them.”
“The direct disciples of the Five Element Region aren’t some random weaklings. Even if Senior-apprentice Brother Mu put forth his full strength, it isn’t necessarily true that he’ll defeat them. Since he’s going to be going all-out, it won’t be strange to see blood spill.”