The Five Youth Sovereigns!
Originating from the mouth of a celestial emperor, the title was destined to reach all parts of the immortal world in the near future. But of course, the five of them had to undergo trials to prove their worthiness. Not only would cultivators challenge them, but also immortals.
Under any other circumstances, immortals wouldn’t have stooped so low as to fight cultivators, but today was an exception. The chance to monopolize the heritage of the ancient lord was too strong a temptation. That particular lord had broken through the dao immortal realm and reached a legendary level beyond it. Gaining his heritage was an enormous opportunity to ascend to that mythical realm.
The celestial emperors didn’t covet the legacy, because their vision extended far further. They considered not only themselves, but the entire world of immortals and all its lifeforms. The world was weak and often invaded by outside forces. In fact, a handful of celestial emperors had already died to protect their home.
……
“Then I shall challenge the five youths!” Zhao Tiefeng from the Exalted Immortal Sect suddenly leapt onto the Spiritrial Arena. “Lu Yun, Governor of Dusk Province in Nephrite Major, dare you meet my challenge?”
“This guy has absolutely no shame!” The elder’s actions angered almost everyone.
He was a peerless immortal, one whose strength surpassed even Beigong Yu by a hair. It was already the strong bullying the weak for an immortal to challenge a cultivator, but the man went so far as to challenge Lu Yun on the Spiritrial Arena!
The young governor had only just ascended to the nascent spirit realm. His foundations had yet to stabilize, and he was unfamiliar with the realm. Even facing an ordinary nascent spirit cultivator would be difficult for him.
But Zhao Tiefeng chose this moment for his challenge. This was absolutely the height of shamelessness!
However, the old man looked quite pleased with himself, like he didn’t care what other people thought of him at all. The nine celestial emperors had adjusted the rules, giving him an opportunity to kill Lu Yun, an opportunity he wasn’t about to let pass by. Although the boy had rendered Beigong Yu into ashes with a strange combat art, the attack had only landed because the late immortal was careless. Zhao Tiefeng was on his guard; he wouldn’t make the same mistake.
“Shameless?” The sect elder burst out laughing. “My cultivation is restrained in the arena, while the governor isn’t affected at all. Strictly speaking, he’s the one at an advantage.”
“How brazen!”
“He’s really the definition of shamelessness!”
Abashed representatives from the Exalted Immortal Sect stayed quiet, while a litany of curses and denouncements arose from the other immortals. There were also those who saw through to the elder’s deeper intention.
“Zhao Tiefeng is trying to make Lu Yun lose his calm.”
“Alright, I accept Elder Zhao Tiefeng’s challenge.” Lu Yun nodded gently and landed on the Spiritrial Arena to face the man.
Zhao Tiefeng smiled graciously, like he was tutoring the young. “Show me the combat art you used to kill Beigong Yu. Off you go.”
Lu Yun slowly shook his head. The shrewd man had some retribution about him, but not enough to trigger the Judgement of Life or Death.
“Oh, you won’t?” Zhao Tiefeng clasped his hands behind his back, his smile deepening. “Trying to catch me off guard?”
Instead of responding, Lu Yun flung thirty-six sparkling soybeans into the air that morphed into thirty-six warriors in golden armor.
“Puppets?” Zhao Tiefeng narrowed his eyes.
Puppet dao was one of the auxiliary daos, but it was an extremely uncommon specialization. Lu Qingxun from the Lu Clan was one such example. His single minded focus on refining various puppets was also the ultimate obstacle he had to surpass in order to ascend to the golden immortal realm.
Seeing the soybeans transform led Zhao Tiefeng to the wrong conclusion that Lu Yun had gone in the same direction.
……
“It’s not a puppet art!” Chen Xiao’s eyebrow arched as he stared at the armored warriors. “It’s some kind of summoning art. He’s summoned something to inhabit the soybeans, turning them into warriors.”
“Tsk, we’ve underestimated Lu Yun. He has more than a few tricks up his sleeve!” The Qing Clan members stared hungrily at the arena, craving the exquisite summoning art, but no one dared say anything with Chen Xiao and Qing Buyi here.
After summoning the warriors, Lu Yun grabbed a handful of talismans and scattered them. Golden calligraphy emerged and danced in the air as the characters for blade, spear, sword, halberd, hatchet, axe, hook, and fork! In the next moment, the characters turned into their corresponding weapons and landed in the warriors’ hands.
“A Weaponry Talisman!” Chen Xiao wailed and bounced onto his feet. “What- what squandering! This is even rarer than the Yu and Tai Talismans! It’s a brand new auxiliary dao that combines talismans and equipment refining! He, he, he just wasted so many of them! I can’t, I just can’t!!”
The man madly hopped up and down in his frustration. Likewise, many immortals were also pulling mournful faces. An arrogant good-for-nothing like Chen Xiao cared only about the talismans, but they saw what the talismans represented. Was there another powerful faction supporting the governor?
If the Qing Clan had access to these items, Chen Xiao would’ve gotten his hands on them as well.
Were they excavated from ancient tombs? That didn’t quite make sense, either. Tombs that contained such great treasures were inordinately dangerous. A cultivator who’d just ascended to the nascent spirit realm couldn’t possibly venture into such tombs and come out with these treasures. It was more likely that a powerful faction had raided the tomb and given the treasures to Lu Yun!
……
“My internal energy is still a bit unstable due to my recent ascension. So… forgive me for any offense I may offer,” Lu Yun said with some embarrassment, ignoring the looks people threw him.
“Go!”
The thirty-six warriors charged at Zhao Tiefeng with their manifested weapons, arranging themselves in a strange formation as they moved. The formation enabled every warrior to exert the power of all thirty-six!
Lu Yun activated another two Yu Talismans, and two giant characters sprang into being over his head, protecting his body. He sat down cross-legged and began refining his new mystic force.
He was no stranger to the nascent spirit realm, as his envoys’ experience had provided him with a great familiarity and foundation to master it. The only thing left for him to do was to stabilize his newly acquired energy.
“Do you think two turtle shells can stop me?” Snorting, Zhao Tiefeng snaked his way through the thirty-six warriors and quickly reached Lu Yun.
Bam!
Crack!
He broke through one of the barriers with a single punch and cracked the other! Before he could throw another punch, the thirty-six warriors swarmed him and brought down a sword bearing untold power like a descending mountain. Expression tense, he hastily twisted and dodged the terrible attack.
Seizing the opening, Lu Yun activated three more Yu Talismans to shield himself.
“Little bastard!” Zhao furiously angrily manifested a sword in his open palm. “Break!!”
Hum.
Brilliant sword energy pierced through the void, threatening to cut the arena in half!