Scourge Messenger

Chapter 451 Chess Pieces
The feast will not end.

All that could be heard was a clattering sound as matches, coins, building blocks, and other odds and ends scattered all over the floor.

The entire banquet fell silent. The ethereal and melodious music went off-key for a moment, and the musicians immediately felt their scalps tingle and broke out in a cold sweat. If looks could kill, they would have seen through the musician who made the mistake out of the corner of their eyes. The dancers who danced barefoot in the lotus pond were still as enchanting and graceful as ever, but if you looked closely, you could see that their necks and foreheads were covered in sweat, and their legs were trembling slightly.

No one has ever seen the tower built by the Blissful Immortal Lord collapse. Even if the Blissful Immortal Lord stops playing, he will still take things down one by one. Compared to building it up, taking things down is undoubtedly more difficult. Some Foundation Establishment cultivators have shamelessly tried to play this game with the Immortal Lord, but no one can do it as skillfully as the Immortal Lord. This is because others rely on structure, balance, and calculation to build things up, while the Blissful Immortal Lord can prevent it from collapsing as long as he doesn't want it to, without needing any skill.

He is the embodiment of destiny, and all things in the world must dance according to his will!
True Man Tianqin remained motionless, his eyes fixed on his nose and his mind, like a stone statue sealed for a thousand years. It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but that he couldn't. His Dao Foundation's inner landscape was cracking inch by inch. The Three Calamities, which he could easily suppress in the past, were now like assassins wielding peerless swords, each strike precisely hitting the weakest point in his Dao Foundation's inner landscape. His perfect and flawless Dao Foundation's inner landscape was actually being eroded by the Three Calamities, leaving it teetering on the verge of collapse!
With a single thought from the Immortal Lord, even the most precious metal trembled!

The Blissful Immortal Lord might not even really want to punish him. He was only slightly dissatisfied with him, and the Blissful Land immediately suppressed him, subjecting him to the Three Calamities like knives that slowly tore apart his Dao Foundation and Inner Realm!

This is the immortal of the mortal world, a blessed land amidst the vast mortal realm, where I alone am an immortal!
"Heavenly Bird, the one you brought this time is truly a fine seedling." The Immortal Lord said calmly, "So fine that I don't even know how to evaluate it. If I don't take him as my true disciple, the world will probably think that Immortal Lord Xuanji Jile doesn't know his stuff."

The moment the Immortal Lord spoke, the three malevolent calamities finally subsided. At the same time, a beaded curtain descended from the starry dome, surrounding the Blissful Immortal Lord and the Celestial Bird True Man, isolating them from all sight and sound.

Celestial Bird Immortal let out a long breath. The dignified Sixth Rank Golden Ginseng Immortal was actually so frightened that his back was soaked with sweat.

"Immortal Lord, you are wise," said Celestial Bird True Man, bowing his head. "If I truly had any ulterior motives, why would I send such an conspicuous person? Do I not know that you, Immortal Lord, only value destiny when accepting disciples, and that everything else is inferior? The entire East Sea knows that you, Immortal Lord, select those with destiny from the path to immortality to become your disciples. If you were to rely on supernatural powers to pave the way, or martial arts to break through barriers, and use force to suppress destiny, how would that be any different from coercing you, Immortal Lord, to accept a disciple?"

“But he cleared the level,” the Immortal Lord said.

"The rules are all decided by the Immortal Lord at will. Whether he passes the test or not is of no concern. The Blissful Immortal Palace is not the Imperial Flow Court, and the Immortal Lord is not the Imperial Flow Dean who is restricted in every way. If the Immortal Lord is unwilling, who dares to say anything?"

"Heavenly Bird, my birthday is approaching, and the entire East Sea is now watching the Blissful Immortal Palace." The Immortal Lord said, "The Blissful Immortal Palace has stood in the East Sea for over eight hundred years, raking in wealth daily, its riches surpassing all others in the East Sea, and its fame spreading throughout the four wastelands. It has hosted more than ten Immortal Lords. Is it all based on gambling within the Blissful Immortal Palace's secret realm? If it weren't for my unwavering commitment to honor my bet, would any Foundation Establishment cultivator in the world dare to enter the Blessed Land of the Immortal Palace?"

"However, while the Paradise Palace gathers the wealth of the East Sea, it will inevitably be met with hostility from all sides of the East Sea. The Paradise Palace is the number one gambling holy land in the world, with special gambling games such as the [Path to Immortality], [Myriad Manifestations Revolving], and [Star-Picking Ring], as well as the rare artifact [Boiling Fortune Furnace]. This advantage is something that other forces cannot replicate. If other forces want to take this piece of fat, the only way is... to snatch the Paradise Palace from my hands."

Celestial Bird Immortal immediately realized: "Could this child be a pawn of another Immortal Lord? To tarnish the reputation of an Immortal Lord?"

"Sixth-level Transcendent Gold cultivators are few and far between, and those with bloodline supernatural abilities are even rarer. Only those who successfully sought gold, failed to ascend, and survived at the sixth level have the ability to melt the gold element to ignite supernatural abilities, thus passing on these abilities through their bloodline. Although I cannot discern the foundation of his supernatural ability, the fact that he could unleash it to instantly kill demons at only the first level of cultivation is remarkable," said the Blissful Immortal Lord. "He wasn't even weakened by it."

The Celestial Bird Immortal was startled.

He wasn't unfamiliar with bloodline supernatural powers, but the price for mortals to use them was either depletion of vital energy or weakened spirit, often accompanied by various severe side effects. Yet, after Tiger Vanguard activated his power, he was still able to continue his journey on the path to immortality, making no mistakes in the numerous battles that followed… If he had to describe it in one word, it would be 'effortless'!
How many times can he use his supernatural powers? Is it because his bloodline supernatural powers are truly exceptional, allowing even mortals to easily activate them, or... is he not a mortal at all?

"If you can indeed find someone with an undetermined and baseless bloodline of the Golden Bloodline so easily, then how do you explain his inhuman martial arts? Heavenly Bird, if you were equipped with the same token as him, could you defeat a Thunder Eagle unscathed without using any supernatural powers?" Heavenly Bird True Man recalled the battle between Tiger Vanguard and the Thunder Eagle, and a look of horror gradually appeared on his face. Although he mainly cultivated the Wind Path and hadn't trained in close combat for many years, he was still a martial arts expert with two master-level techniques. After being reminded by the Blissful Immortal Lord, he finally realized the true value of Tiger Vanguard. The Blissful Immortal Lord's evaluation couldn't be more fitting: inhuman.

Defeating the Thunder Eagle is not difficult, nor is wearing it down. But to not be hit by the Thunder Eagle even once in a close-quarters battle that lasted half an hour is something that even a martial arts master like the Great Master Canjin might not be able to do, let alone a Celestial Bird True Man.

Dodging and counterattacking is actually a very difficult thing. You have to observe the enemy's movements first, and then your body has to be able to react in time. Moreover, your dodge range cannot be too large or too far, otherwise your counterattack will not hit the opponent... Once or twice is no problem, ten or eight times is also passable, but to not make a single mistake for half an hour is beyond the description of being gifted. It's as if a celestial being is fighting in the body of this child!

"He must have received divine power to perform such an inhuman feat! There's no way such a child could have been brought to the Blissful Immortal Palace by chance! It can only be—" Celestial Bird True Man finally understood the Immortal Lord's meaning, his face filled with horror: "I've stepped into the realm of life-related divine powers?"

"【Rain-woven Net】? 【Honored Guest】? Or 【Fishing Old Man】? Please, Immortal Lord, save me!"

“I have already thoroughly investigated and found no trace of the Life Divine Power.” The Immortal Lord shook his head: “Either the other party created this result through meticulous calculation, or the other party’s Life Divine Power is of the Creation grade, far superior to mine. But either way, it is probably the work of the Immortal Lord.”

Immortal Lord with magical powers?
If we limit ourselves to the East Sea region, then the force with the most Immortal Lords with Divine Fate is clearly... Yu Liu Ting!

"Please forgive me, Immortal Lord." Tianqin Zhenren felt a chill run through his chest and said in a trembling voice, "Tianqin meant well, but I never expected to fall into someone else's trap."

The Blissful Immortal Lord picked up a spoon from the fallen toys, and the Heavenly Bird True Man's face immediately turned ashen. The Blissful Immortal Lord casually tapped the copper bowl with the spoon, and with each tap, the Heavenly Bird True Man's soul vibrated and dissipated as if hit by a battering ram.

True Immortal Tianqin dared not raise his defensive barrier and could only endure the Immortal Lord's blows. Before long, he was bleeding from all seven orifices and feeling dizzy!
"Even if they don't scheme against you, they'll scheme against others. The Blissful Immortal Palace is a large and influential place, and now is a time of great strife that happens only once every ten million years. The Treasure Pavilion has stirred up countless hearts and minds. The Dao Proving Assembly is about to begin, and I have been cultivating in seclusion in the Immortal Palace for many years without any achievements. Naturally, some people will try to test me." The Immortal Lord put down his spoon and said calmly, "At the birthday banquet, countless demons and monsters will jump out. The child you brought is just the vanguard."

"If they don't ruin my reputation and tarnish my name, how could they possibly covet the Celestial Palace?"

"Please enlighten me, Immortal Lord, and give Tianqin a chance to atone for his sins!" Tianqin Zhenren said, bowing his head without wiping the blood from his face, "Anyone who harms the Immortal Lord must first get past me!"

"Go and inform this lucky child that he has the honor of becoming the true successor of Bliss."

"What?" Celestial Bird Master exclaimed in shock: "But he is not the chosen one..."

"It's not that he's begging me to become his true disciple, it's that I need him to become my true disciple." The Blissful Immortal Lord smiled, but his eyes were extremely cold: "Heavenly Bird, don't you understand... The Immortal Lord has painstakingly cultivated such a genius and sent him in, not to make him my true disciple, but to plot against my Blissful Immortal Palace!"

(End of this chapter)