As Huang Xiaolong watched the Jiang and Gudu Families’ people fly farther away, the coldness in the depth of his eyes increased.
“I heard that Jiang Hanzhi entered death seclusion in preparation for the coming Highgod Advancement Tournament, I didn’t expect him to participate in Saint Mother Yao Chi’s banquet.” Liu Yun looked at the back of the tall young man who taunted Huang Xiaolong earlier, his brows furrowed.
“Jiang Hanzhi deliberately said those words. It looks like during the stage battle a few days later he’ll try to stir trouble with Junior Apprentice-brother.” Qi Wen said with worried expression on her delicate face as she turned slightly, looking at Huang Xiaolong, “Fourth Junior Apprentice-brother, “You must be careful against this Jiang Hanzhi.”
Huang Xiaolong nodded.
Liu Yun noticed Huang Xiaolong’s nonchalant attitude and said, “This Jiang Hanzhi ranks fifth on the Highgod Advancement List, he advanced to perfection stage late-Tenth Order Realm over three thousand years ago. He is an existence that can breakthrough to Highgod Realm at any time. Although Junior Apprentice-brother’s strength has greatly improved in recent years, already bring a late-Tenth Order God Realm, it would be a hard battle against Jiang Hanzhi.”
In Liu Yun’s opinion, though Huang Xiaolong’s strength was amazing, it was still far from being Jiang Hanzhi’s opponent. Saying that it would be a hard battle for Huang Xiaolong was just a euphemistic approach.
How could he not distinguish the underlying meaning in Liu Yun’s words? Huang Xiaolong smiled wryly in secret, the fifth-ranked on the Highgod Advancement List? This reminded him of the first person on the same list—Wan Long.
Feng Yang agreed, “Your Eldest Senior Apprentice-brother is right, that Jiang Hanzhi is one of the Jiang Family’s top geniuses of the last twenty thousand years. Moreover, your cultivation time is very short, slightly over a hundred years, it’s alright if you’re not his opponent. Still, at your current strength, it won’t be so easy for him to win in less than a hundred moves.”
Subsequently, Feng Yang said some words of encouragement to comfort Huang Xiaolong.
Huang Xiaolong could only nod his head on the surface while inwardly smiling wryly.
Feng Yang’s group continued to head toward the mountain where Saint Mother Yao Chi’s cultivation dwelling was.
On the way there, there were a few times when an unnoticeable sharp light glinted in Feng Yang’s eyes.
If this was in the past, Jiang Wuhuang and Gudu Ye wouldn’t have dared to show any arrogance in front of him, but now... Could the Jiang and Gudu Families have another backing?
Two hours later, Feng Yang and his four disciples stopped above the sea surface.
The view in front of them was heavily obscured, with fog covering a few miles of the sea surface. From the depth of the fog, rays of colorful light could be faintly seen shining through.
Before his disciples’ confused expressions, Feng Yang pointed at the fog, “This is an ancient illusion array named Seven Prism Illusion. As long as you pass through this Seven Prism Illusion Array you can enter the Yaochi Mountain, but if your cultivation is lacking, you’ll be trapped inside an illusion for life. If no one comes to rescue the ones trapped, their souls would be destroyed.”
Huang Xiaolong and the others were alarmed.
“Follow me closely after we enter, do not wander around.” Feng Yang added as he pointed a finger each of his disciples. A protective barrier wrapped around Liu Yun, Chen Yang, Qi Wen, and Huang Xiaolong.
Feng Yang cut through the thick fog, flying in.
Huang Xiaolong and the others followed closely behind Feng Yang.
The moment they entered the fog, bright seven-colored lights flashed in Huang Xiaolong’s eyes. The thick fog disappeared and Huang Xiaolong found himself in a bright seven-colored world. Heaven and earth were all covered in a prism of seven colors.
Right at that moment, his soul sea shook. The illusion of a rainbow-colored world disappeared and he was back above the sea.
Even though Huang Xiaolong managed to break out from the illusion, he still felt astonished. This ancient Seven Prism Illusion Array was horrifyingly powerful. If he really was an average late-Tenth Order God Realm cultivator, in that split second earlier he would have immersed himself into that illusion.
Huang Xiaolong looked around and saw his three seniors having the same astonished expression.
Obviously, not just anyone could attend this Saint Mother Yao Chi’s birthday banquet, the minimum requirement to enter was at least a peak late-Tenth Order God Realm or exceptional soul force that exceeded a peak late-Tenth Order God Realm.
Was this the first test to Saint Mother Yao Chi’s inheritor selection? Only by passing this first test would be candidates be eligible to compete for the inheritor position?
A few minutes later, Huang Xiaolong and the rest passed through the layers of thick fog, safely following behind Feng Yang.
After they got out from the thick fog, a big mountain that hovered above the sea surface entered their sight. That hovering mountain was at least two to three thousand zhang tall, and had an even larger width. What they saw on that mountain were the undulating roofs of grand structures that reflected a soft glow.
Huang Xiaolong was inwardly surprised watching this soft glow. This glow actually came from spiritual trees and herbs, and only those medicinal plants above a million years old emitted this kind of glow.
Medicinal herbs above a million years old were extremely rare, yet on this Yaochi Mountain they actually grew everywhere?!
Just these million-year-old herbs on the Yaochi Mountain were enough to make all the super families in the four galaxies burn with greed. Even Feng Yang, as the Black Warrior Institute Principal, was salivating as he looked at them.
As they flew toward the mountain, six young women clad in flowy white dresses flew toward them. Clearly, these were Saint Mother Yao Chi’s maids, and each one of them had pretty features. Even though they were incomparable to Shi Xiaofei, they were charming enough to bedazzle the eyes.
Watching these six young beautiful women, Liu Yun gulped in secret, but in the next second, he smiled wryly in a pitiful way. Right at his waist was Qi Wen’s dainty hand, pinching him.
Huang Xiaolong laughed seeing this.
After confirming Feng Yang and the others’ identity, the six young women respectfully led Feng Yang’s group to Yaochi Mountain, all the way up to the peak, where they were arranged to stay in a palace-like courtyard.
It seems like the guests’ accommodations were arranged according to different standards. The higher one’s identity and position, the closer their accommodation was to the mountain peak.
Feng Yang’s Black Warrior Institute Principal identity and status naturally entitled him to a place close to the peak.
After their group’s accommodations were settled, the six young women excused themselves. Before leaving, they briefly explained the rules and restricted areas of Yaochi Mountain.
After the six young women left, Liu Yun pulled Huang Xiaolong to his courtyard to drink with him. Huang Xiaolong was powerless to refuse and could only give up on cultivating.
While drinking, Huang Xiaolong couldn’t resist asking Liu Yun about him and Qi Wen.
But Liu Yun shook his head, looking despondent, not saying a word.
Liu Yun’s expression made Huang Xiaolong feel that things weren’t right. This time, he decided to ask Liu Yun directly. Liu Yun sighed heavily, answering, “My chances of getting together with your Third Apprentice-sister are close to null. You’re aware that your Third Apprentice-sister is from the Qi Family, however, the Qi Family has already decided to ally itself with the Zhu Family with this marriage. On top of that, this matter was set by the Qi Family Ancestor and Patriarch.”
This came as a surprise to Huang Xiaolong, asking, “Who is the ’groom’?”
“It’s the Highgod Advancement List’s thirteenth place, Zhu Chenyi.” Mentioning Zhu Chenyi, Liu Yun’s hands clenched into fists, his face filled with resentment.
Huang Xiaolong’s expression turned serious, “Does Master know about this?”
Another heavy sighed escaped Liu Yun’s mouth, “I understand what you’re trying to say. In fact, Master has tried to talk to the Qi Family’s Ancestor concerning this, but the Qi Family Ancestor asserted that the marriage was already set, rescinding it would not only affect the relationship between the Qi and Zhu Families, it would also cause the Qi Family to suffer financial losses. Unless... unless I take out twenty thousand divine grade spirit stones as bride token, and they must be high divine grade spirit stones or above.”
Twenty thousand high divine grade spirit stones!
That was equal to 1.2 trillion!
It was obvious that it was a deliberate ruse to make things difficult for Liu Yun.
Not even Feng Yang, as the Institute Principal of the Black Warrior Institute, could take out 1.2 trillion! Even less so Liu Yun!