In the arena in the Immortal Skills Hall of the eastern Devilbirds, the bone cauldron thrummed loudly. It was surrounded by intense, raging, nine-colored fire. The magical symbols covering the cauldron were pulsing with dazzling light that caused the flames to rage even further. The refinement process... had officially begun!
Among the emissaries of the Imperial Sovereign mountains, there were three who had very grim expressions on their faces. The others seemed bewildered.
This turn of events was completely out of the blue. None of them could have predicted that the grand elder who had started this very ceremony would, in his moment of dominance, suddenly meet with failure. After all, the grand elder would never have invited the emissaries from the Imperial Sovereign mountains unless he was completely confident in succeeding.
Of course, in order to start this ceremony to begin with, he had to invite the emissaries. But regardless, he wouldn’t have done so unless he was certain nothing unexpected would happen. And yet... something unexpected had just happened.
No one knew how Yue Dong had fooled the grand elder and suddenly seized the upper hand. But there was no doubt that there was now a lot of suspense over who would ultimately become the grand immortal adept.
Obviously, the identity of the grand immortal adept would have different ramifications on the interests of different Imperial Sovereign mountains. Some of them would prefer that the grand elder succeed. Others were partial toward Yue Dong. Yet others were neutral.
Among those who supported the grand elder were the third and seventh Imperial Sovereign mountains. And thus, when the dramatic developments occurred, the emissaries from those mountains wanted to interfere. Before they could, the emissaries from the fourth and sixth mountains blocked their paths. Those emissaries glared at each other without saying a word. Their actions revealed all their intentions, and instantly, the atmosphere became very tense.
As those four faced off, a whistling sound entered the Immortal Skills Hall. Along with it came a group of black-robed cultivators along with some immortal adepts. Leading them was a young man in a fancy robe.
Pulsing with killing intent, the young man and the cultivators following him immediately started fighting with the immortal adepts who supported the grand elder.
As for the young man, he shot with incredible speed past the fighting and leaped up into the air over the cauldron. As the air rippled and distorted, three immortal adepts who were personal friends of the grand elder rushed forth to meet him.These three immortal adepts were extraordinary cultivators, and didn’t hesitate to unleash a gruish immortal skill that caused three pitch-black fangs to shoot toward the young man in the fancy robe. The young man didn’t seem surprised at all, as if he had anticipated that these three would attack him. Quickly taking out a bell, he threw it viciously toward the pill cauldron.
A clang rang out as the bell expanded to a size of several hundred meters, making it so large it could settle down over the cauldron, completely covering it. Waves of energy rolled off it in every direction. All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off a piece of flint.
After the bell landed, the three immortal adepts’ attacks landed on the young man in the fancy robe, and he tumbled backward with blood spraying out of his mouth. However, his voice was cold when he said, “That bell shows the attitude of the Yun Clan! Our clan backs Yue Dong as the grand immortal adept!”
The immortal adepts loyal to the grand elder glared grimly at the young man in the fancy robe. The emissaries from the Imperial Sovereign mountains also looked over at him.
“The Cloud Heaven Bell!”
The bell was quite famous among the eastern Devilbirds. It was a precious treasure of the Yun Clan, and that clan was just as powerful as the Lan Clan.[1]
As for this young man in the fancy robe, he was also quite famous. He was the young lord of the Yun Clan!
When the emissaries from the Imperial Sovereign mountains realized who he was, strange looks appeared on their faces. It was no secret among the eastern Devilbirds that Young Lord Yun had long been pursuing Yue Dong, and most intelligence reports indicated that he had helped her out recently at the Immortal Skills Hall. But everyone had assumed that he was acting on his own. After all, when Yue Dong was arrested, he had been driven out of the Immortal Skills Hall. But now... he arrived at precisely the right moment, and with the Yun Clan’s precious treasure in tow!
That was a totally different thing. He was now here representing the Yun Clan! And that gave an entirely different meaning to this conflict for the position of grand immortal adept.
In reality, it wasn’t the Yun Clan or the immortal adepts who were in control of this battle. It was... the ten Imperial Sovereign mountains. They were the ones with the true authority.
From the group of immortal adepts that supported the grand elder emerged a middle-aged man who clasped hands to the emissaries from the mountains. “Yue Dong betrayed the Immortal Skills Hall. Clearly, she hoodwinked Young Lord Yun into getting her the support of the Yun Clan. Unless Patriarch Yun himself shows up, the Immortal Skills Hall won’t acknowledge the wishes of the Yun Clan. Therefore, I would like to request that all of you emissaries help quell this chaos. Afterward, the Immortal Skills Hall will definitely repay you for your kindness!”
Upon hearing this, Young Lord Yun’s face turned grim. Clasping hands to the emissaries of the Imperial Sovereign mountains, he said, “This is an internal matter of the Immortal Skills Hall. Miss Yue Dong didn’t betray the Immortal Skills Hall in any way. She is the only apprentice of the former grand immortal adept, and she commands the Six Thieves Deceive Life immortal skill. She is the true successor.
“The grand elder has evil intentions. Instead of respecting the traditions of the Immortal Skills Hall, he plotted to become the new grand immortal adept. He couldn’t be more ruthless and malevolent! I sincerely hope that all of you can maintain your neutrality of years past, and not interfere in the internal affairs of the Immortal Skills Hall!”
Young Lord Yun clasped hands respectfully. Inside, he was very worried about how things would work out. When he went to get the precious treasure of his clan, things had gone very smoothly. That alone went to show what the patriarch of his clan was thinking.
If Young Lord Yun succeeded, then the support of the Yun Clan would turn into a reality. But if he failed, then the Yun Clan would say that he took the precious treasure without permission, and that they had never intended to interfere.
Thus, his gaze swept over the emissaries from the Imperial Sovereign mountains, especially those from the fourth and sixth mountains. He knew that both of them had secretly been in communication with Yue Dong, and actually supported her claim to the title.
The emissaries from the fourth and sixth mountains thought about it. They had already done everything they could by blocking the emissaries from the third and seventh mountains. If they actually spoke up now, it would be pushing things too far. As of now, an equilibrium had been reached. As everyone remained silent in thought, the emissary from the first Imperial Sovereign mountain spoke.
“Fellow Daoist Yun, at what point did the Yun Clan gain the right to speak for the Immortal Skills Hall?” The emissary from the first mountain was an old man. He currently sat on his throne with his eyes closed. When he spoke, his voice seemed to thrum as if overlapping with itself. “The ancient agreement states that the Imperial Sovereign mountains can jointly make decisions about the Immortal Skills Hall. We refrain from interfering in order to show respect. But that doesn’t mean we can’t interfere. We just wait until the right time to do so. And now is just such a time. Everyone, I suggest we open the cauldron and assist the grand elder. We should quell this chaos and end this entire affair.”
Young Lord Yun’s expression flickered. At the same time, the supporters of the grand elder looked excited. All of them knew that the opinion of the first Imperial Sovereign mountain carried a lot of weight.
The other emissaries looked thoughtful, and even those from the fourth and sixth mountain seemed like they were weighing their options. It looked like a decision was about to be made.
However, that was when Xu Qing spoke in a voice like a chill winter wind.
“I disagree!”
All eyes looked in his direction. The old man from the first mountain opened his eyes and did the same.
Sir Blood Dust’s opinion carried a lot of weight. And the tenth Imperial Sovereign’s opinion carried even more weight than that. Therefore, the fact that the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain disagreed caused the first emissary’s heart to start pounding.
As everyone looked at Xu Qing, his facial expression remained placid. He could see what was going on here, and now knew with certainty that everything had been planned out by his Eldest Brother. Given that, he couldn’t allow anyone to mess up his Eldest Brother’s plan.
“Before I came here, my Imperial Sovereign issued orders stating that the tenth Imperial Sovereign mountain would not participate in any infighting in the Immortal Skills Hall. Our mountain... will support the winner, and no one else!”
With that, he looked over at the emissary from the first mountain, his gaze strong and unwavering.
The other emissaries said nothing. They were just waiting to see what would happen between Xu Qing and the old man.
The old man from the first mountain looked at Xu Qing for a moment, then spoke in a hoarse voice. “I find this very strange, Sir Blood Dust. You have a beef with Yue Dong. So why are you doing this?”
“If I have to pick between my Imperial Sovereign’s orders and my personal vendetta,” Xu Qing said calmly. “I’ll naturally choose the former.” Then his voice turned icy and sinister as he continued, “Besides, I would love for Yue Dong to become the grand immortal adept. That will just make it all the more satisfying when I kill her myself.”
The old man from the first mountain looked at him through narrowed eyes. “And what will you do if I ignore your wishes?”
Xu Qing’s facial expression didn’t change. “You can find out if you want.”
The atmosphere in the arena suddenly became much more tense. It was as if two violent tempests were building around Xu Qing and the first mountain emissary, and they were about to collide with one another.
However, Sir Blood Dust’s actions among the western Devilbirds were being talked about everywhere. And everyone was shocked by the fact that he had killed Sir Westdevil. Even the old man from the first mountain was feeling a bit leery of him.
***
Inside the cauldron, the grand elder’s heart was pounding. He had inspected Yue Dong thoroughly on several occasions. He had also gone so far as to shatter her meridians, drain most of her blood, and place warding spells all over her. How could he have ever guessed that, at the most critical of moments, she would use some gruish magic to teleport him to the interior of the cauldron and become part of the refining process?
He still had contingency plans. For one thing, he had long since reached out to the first Imperial Sovereign mountain and gained their support. As such, he was certain that all he had to do was wait for a bit, and help would come from outside of the cauldron. Of course, that would also mean that his relationship with his saviors would change forever.
There was another reason he was completely confident that he would be able to get out of his situation. That confidence came because of how much he understood the bone cauldron, and how well he could control it!
Although he couldn’t control the cauldron as well as the previous grand immortal adept, he was still confident that there was no way Yue Dong could possibly match up to him in understanding or control.
According to the rules of the Immortal Skills Hall, only the grand immortal adept and the grand elder had the right to use the cauldron. Since the grand immortal adept had perished, he as the grand elder was naturally a hundred percent confident in being able to use the cauldron as an asset.
“Yue Dong,” he said coolly, “you don’t understand this pill cauldron. From the moment you entered it, your fate was sealed. Therefore, this little plot of yours is completely pointless.”
He quickly performed an incantation gesture, causing the cauldron to tremble. Then he flew up, calling on his control over the cauldron to open it and escape. The cauldron trembled, and the lid blurred. It seemed like the grand elder was going to be free a moment later.
However, that was when Yue Dong, who had only her head left, suddenly laughed sarcastically.
“I don’t understand this cauldron?” Erniu said. “Fuse permanently!”
All of a sudden, the vortex above the pill cauldron vanished, and countless amounts of flesh and blood emerged from it. They spread out, covering the lid and body of the cauldron... and fused them together permanently! It was as if they all had the same origin, and were now inseparable.
No matter how the grand elder used his immortal skill, nothing happened. It was as if... his qualifications had become nothing but a show.
The grand elder was understandably bewildered. When he had been teleported into the pill cauldron, he had been taken aback. It was no exaggeration to say that he had been sucked into an extremely dangerous situation.
“This can’t be happening! You’re not Yue Dong! Yue Dong couldn’t do this. Who... who are you??”
Erniu laughed cruelly as his head floated there. “Anything can happen. This pill cauldron is made from my damn stuff! As for who the hell I am, let me freaking tell you. This cauldron was refined from me . So who do you think I am?”
Inside, Erniu was thinking fondly back to that time he, Master Seventh, and Xu Qing had visited that operations palace beneath Sea-Sealing County. There had been an Immortal Skills Hall there, and he had actually seen a statue of Grand Emperor Immortal Skill. [2]
Back then, the old man wanted me to bow to Grand Emperor Immortal Skill, but I said no. That bitch is the last person I would ever bow to. He was the same damned Grand Emperor who killed me in my third life and refined me into a cauldron.
That was only my third life! Back then, I was so pure, and didn’t understand the treachery of the heart. So what if I took a few treasures from some random species? And all I wanted to do was play around with Dark Serenity’s imperial crown! What’s the big deal about that? Dark Serenity didn’t even complain about it. It was that bitch Grand Emperor who took it upon himself to kill me.
And you know, I would have been fine with being killed, if that was all that happened. But no, he had to turn my corpse into a pill cauldron. How outrageous! And he even made my skull into the lid? Completely ridiculous! Thankfully I spotted the cauldron in Yue Dong’s memories. Otherwise, an entire lifetime of planning wouldn’t have been enough to track down the corpse of my pure and innocent third life.
1. Yun is a surname, but it also means cloud. So the ‘cloud’ from the Cloud Heaven Bell is the same as their clan surname. ☜
2. The time Erniu, Master Seventh, and Xu Qing visited the Immortal Skills Hall in Sea-Sealing County was in chapter 519. ☜