Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 247 The storm is rising
……

Longtan Mountain, overlooking Lingxian Valley.

The three cultivators met outside their temporary cave dwelling in the valley and then walked slowly along the mountain path.

The three men wore similar robes of the same style and color, but they were not disciples of the six major sects.

"Senior Brother Li, of the thirty slots available for the Lesser Sect to attend this event, our Myriad Wonders Sect has fourteen."

One of them followed closely behind the leader of the three, saying, "This time, we might be able to bring down the Dongyuan Sect and bring our Zhongmiao Sect back into the ranks of the six major sects."

The leader was named Li Xuan, who was the leader of the Zhongmiao Sect participating in the Dragon Pool Gathering.

He nodded slightly in agreement upon hearing what his junior brother had said.

Of the thirty slots available for this lineage of minor sects throughout the Chu Kingdom, the Zhongmiao Sect alone occupied fourteen, nearly half.

In the end, Dongyuan Sect was just a small sect that had been established for less than three hundred years.

With several batches of Foundation Establishment cultivators exceeding the age limit, Dongyuan Sect has declined year by year since the previous competitions.

Meanwhile, the Zhongmiao Sect was biding its time, accumulating strength for a future breakthrough, and also had overt and covert "cooperation and mutual assistance" with the Xuanyuan Sect.

This year presents a golden opportunity for cultivators across the land to reclaim the positions of the six major sects.

It wasn't just this junior brother who thought this way; all the elders in the sect thought the same.

However, out of modesty, he still adopted a reprimanding posture, frowning slightly: "Do your own job well, and never be overly ambitious."

"Hehe, yes, senior brother."

The group walked slowly across a covered bridge over a stream and looked up.

The scenery of Lingxian Valley in Longtan Mountain comes into view.

The valley is deep and secluded, flanked by towering cliffs that rise over a thousand feet high.

On the cliff face stand towering pavilions with flying eaves, bracket sets, carved beams and painted rafters.

The entire Fairy Valley is traversed by a winding stream, with its source, the Diequan Waterfall, cascading down from the distant mountains.

The riverbank is covered with sacred trees, mostly lush and resilient fir and pine.

Cranes and egrets occasionally glide across the valley, leaving faint trails of light and emitting clear, melodious cries, which only enhance the ethereal atmosphere.

In certain places in the valley where spiritual energy is abundant, the spiritual mist is drawn by the power of nature to form a slowly rotating vortex. At the center of the vortex, a tangible spiritual stream flows gently, either quietly seeping into the rocks and vegetation or quietly dissipating into the world.

As the sun rises in the early morning, its rays illuminate the layered celestial palaces and the continuous valley markets.

This year's Longtan Gathering began several days ago.

Sects, aristocratic families, and independent cultivators—the eyes of all the geniuses and heroes of the Chu Kingdom, along with countless other cultivators, have converged here.

The entire fairy valley was filled with shimmering spiritual light, and the sounds of chatter and conversation were incessant.

The three of them passed through Diequanfang, climbed the steps, and came to a wide, naturally formed stone slab below the waterfall.

Layer upon layer, vast and boundless.

This place is Wangxiantai.

At this moment, two cultivators at the Qi Refining Realm were exchanging friendly blows.

Li Xuan, accompanied by his two disciples, arrived at an ancient tree in the courtyard.

A large crowd had gathered there.

Among the crowd, one person stood out with an extraordinary presence.

His gaze was calm; he wasn't looking at the two people sparring on the stage, but rather at a mountain insect slowly crawling on the ground.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Upon seeing this person, Li Xuan quickly stepped forward, addressing him as a fellow Daoist with great respect.

The condescending expression he had when reprimanding his junior brother was completely gone.

Hearing the greeting, the other person didn't move at all, but just slightly turned their eyes and glanced at him.

He then gave a soft "hmm".

Li Xuan looked slightly embarrassed, but his attitude remained unchanged, and he enthusiastically wanted to introduce his two junior brothers to this person.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, these two are from our Zhongmiao..."

But soon, his expression froze.

The sound stopped.

Because he noticed that the other person frowned slightly.

"You talk too much."

He didn't show any imposing manner, but the invisible pressure made Li Xuan breathless, let alone introduce his junior brother.

The man gestured slightly towards the open space in the distance: "Why don't you watch for a while?"

"If you're not going to watch, then get lost."

Li Xuan was shaken to his core. Faced with this person's undisguised disgust, apart from a tiny bit of insignificant annoyance, he felt only fear.

This is the strongest of the new generation of Xuan Yuan Sect.

Zhou Liu.

The two disciples beside Li Xuan had completely lost their earlier smugness; now they were meek and submissive, not daring to utter a sound.

It was a graceful young female cultivator standing beside Zhou Liu who stepped in to smooth things over.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I am Xi Shuyan from the Xuan Yuan Sect. The Nine Meridians Grand Competition is imminent, and we are here to preside over the competition on the orders of our sect."

"On the one hand, it provides a platform for cultivators from different lineages to exchange skills and techniques; on the other hand, it allows everyone to warm up in advance."

This female cultivator was exceptionally beautiful and had a gentle demeanor. In particular, her long, slender, and fair legs attracted the attention of many male cultivators present.

She smiled and said, "If any of you are interested, you can invite a few friends to come up on stage and exchange ideas, so that we can observe and learn from you."

"Uh... okay, okay."

Li Xuan was still somewhat shaken and repeatedly agreed.

He bowed to his two disciples and then hurriedly left.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, the cultivators standing to Zhou Liu's left secretly sneered.

In the eyes of these Xuan Yuan Sect cultivators, the Myriad Wonders Sect was nothing more than a stray dog ​​with its spine broken.

The Dongyuan Sect, which interrupted it, was just another disobedient dog.

There is no essential difference between the two.

On the Wangxiantai Terrace, the spiritual light faded, and the dust settled.

Zhao Xuan, the rugged-looking Qi Refining disciple of Dongyuan Sect, had a gash in his chest where sword energy had cut open his clothes. His breathing was slightly disordered, and he was panting softly.

Opposite him, the disciple from Suspended Sword Mountain pointed his longsword diagonally at the ground. Although his aura was also unstable, he was clearly slightly superior.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, you flatter me." The disciple from Xuanjian Mountain clasped his hands in a fist salute, his tone carrying the arrogance of a disciple from a major sect.

Zhao Xuan remained calm and returned the greeting with clasped hands: "Fellow Daoist Xu's swordsmanship is superb; I admire it."

Despite his efforts to maintain a calm demeanor, a fleeting hint of resentment and unease lingered in the depths of his eyes.

"The cultivators of Dongyuan Sect have lost again..."

"It seems like they haven't had a chance to show their strength in any formal setting in recent years?" At this moment, the discussions about Dongyuan Sect below the stage spread rapidly like ripples from a pebble thrown into still water.

"That's normal. The sect has been established for less than three hundred years, so its foundation is still too shallow."

"Not only is the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators in our sect the lowest among the six sects, but among the younger generation... besides that Li Yi, who else can we boast about?"

"Isn't there someone named Song Yan?"

"After Changping, there seems to have been no further activity."

"Back then, he only got a bit of exposure through luck and cleverness. People like that are destined not to go far. Now, he's probably stuck in a bottleneck and will just fade into obscurity."

"That Li Yi is quite something, but Song Yan was only at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining before... Foundation Establishment isn't that easy."

"Looking at it this way, apart from the five cultivators leading the teams, is it highly likely that only one of the new generation of cultivators from Dongyuan Sect has reached the Foundation Establishment stage?"

"Indeed, there are some..."

There is a food shortage.

"Isn't that right? I think that in this competition, the Zhongmiao Sect alone has fourteen spots, and they are eyeing the competition covetously."

When the topic turned to the Myriad Mysteries Sect, these cultivators deliberately lowered their voices, but their undisguised gloating only made it more grating.

Everyone was well aware of the entanglement between Dongyuan Sect and Zhongmiao Sect.

As rising stars among the six major sects, the Dongyuan Sect and the Xuanyuan Sect can only be described as having some intense friction, but not to the point of breaking off relations.

However, the hatred that the Myriad Mysteries Sect harbors towards the Cave Abyss Sect is common knowledge.

Hearing the surrounding cultivators' disdain for the Dongyuan Sect, Li Xuan and the two cultivators beside him were naturally quite pleased.

The fear and trepidation he felt in front of the Xuan Yuan Sect cultivators vanished completely.

He was filled with excitement.

One of them chuckled and said, "What this fellow Daoist says makes sense. A nouveau riche like the Dongyuan Sect, which squeezed into the Six Sects by luck, should have stepped down long ago!"

"I heard that only one of their elders came this time, and they couldn't even gather enough disciples. Hahahaha!"

It must be said that the Dongyuan Sect's foundation is indeed unstable.

In the entire Chu Kingdom, only Sheyang Zong was on good terms with him.

Ordinary sect disciples and independent cultivators, under the influence of the powerful Xuan Yuan Sect, naturally sided with those who were at odds with the Dong Yuan Sect.

Some people are wondering why the Xuan Yuan Sect has been slow to take action against the Dong Yuan Sect.

However, those are all power struggles between the high-ranking members of major sects, and no one can say for sure.

The cultivators who had spoken earlier became somewhat smug after being flattered by the disciples of the Myriad Wonders Sect.

"I think they'll fall from their pedestal among the six sects in this competition..."

"Thinking about it this way, who knows, maybe a few random senior and junior brothers from the Myriad Wonders Sect could outshine the current generation of talents from the Cave Abyss Sect!"

Hearing such discussions, Li Xuan disliked such grand pronouncements, but he still found the praise of his own sect and the denigration of the Dongyuan Sect quite pleasing.

These increasingly exaggerated malicious comments were not intended to target any particular person or disciple, yet they were clearly heard by several disciples wearing the Dongyuan Sect's standard Daoist robes not far away.

The cultivators all looked rather grim. Han Yuan frowned slightly, while Yuwen Yao took a sip of wine expressionlessly.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingqing's face turned bright red with anger.

I was supposed to be having a happy day!
First, Senior Sister Yuwen took her to participate in several exchange meetings, and then she followed Senior Brother Han Yuan to visit the Daoist temple of the art of cultivating the mind.

Although she was just a disciple who came to observe the ceremony with her sect, she felt that the other cultivators were all very friendly and that this grand event was truly lively and interesting.

However, as soon as I arrived here, I kept hearing people gossiping, mostly about how bad their Dongyuan Sect was.

Already harboring resentment over Zhao Xuan's defeat, he could hardly contain himself upon hearing the other party so brazenly belittle his sect and insult his senior brother.

"Senior Brother Song is exceptionally talented, but what good is the Myriad Wonders Sect anyway? All they do is spout nonsense here..."

Gu Qingqing pouted and muttered a few words.

Sun Zhengfu was also present. He was slightly startled and wanted to pull Gu Qingqing away.

However, her outburst of anger reached the ears of three cultivators from the Myriad Wonders Sect.

"Oh, is Dongyuan Sect out of people? Sending out a little girl at the seventh level of Qi Refining to make a scene?"

One of them crossed his arms, looking Gu Qingqing up and down with a contemptuous look in his eyes. "What's wrong? Did someone hit a nerve and you're getting angry?"

"Heh, you're saying our Myriad Wonders Sect is nothing?"

Another person spoke to Gu Qingqing in a sinister tone: "Compared to some 'geniuses' who might have to rely on special means or crooked methods, or even curry favor with some elder, to squeeze into the competition list, our Zhongmiao Sect selects disciples in a fair and square manner, and respects strength."

"What do you think, Junior Sister? Some of your sect's 'reputation' isn't just baseless..."

These words were veiled and extremely malicious.

This sparring arena is just one of the exchange meetings hosted by the Xuan Yuan Sect cultivators. It's not a very formal event, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the various sects are not present.

Most of those here now are young, new-generation monks.

On the Dongyuan Sect's side, there wasn't a single Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

This emboldened those who couldn't stand seeing Dongyuan Sect doing well to speak rudely.

Gu Qingqing trembled with anger, her face turning deathly pale: "You! You're talking nonsense! Shameless!"

"This junior sister from Dongyuan Sect is quick-witted, but she doesn't quite understand the rules."

The group of disciples from the Mystic Sect sneered, stepped forward, and released their auras of perfected Qi Refining, carrying a strong sense of oppression, attempting to embarrass Gu Qingqing in public: "Who is superior and who is inferior, let's see who has the real skill?"

"If you don't dare, then let your senior brothers and sisters teach you. When you're out in the world, you must know your place and watch your mouth!"

Gu Qingqing felt a heavy pressure coming at her, her breath caught in her throat, and she instinctively wanted to take a step back.

But the thought of this person's malicious speculation about Senior Brother Song gave rise to a stubborn feeling in his heart.

"Hey, that's enough."

A clear shout rang out.

Slightly intoxicated, Yuwen Yao stood in front of Gu Qingqing, barely managing to withstand the spiritual pressure directed at her.

The surrounding crowd sensed that the two sides were on the verge of a fierce battle, and they watched the spectacle with glee.

Li Xuan, who had always stood on the sidelines as if he were detached from the matter, was secretly delighted.

The Dongyuan Sect is too weak, yet they want to force their way in? Ha...

This is the perfect opportunity for our Myriad Wonders Sect to demonstrate its strength and depth!
He snorted coldly and took a step forward.

An aura far more profound and refined than Yuwen Yao's, a pressure from the Foundation Establishment realm, instantly pressed down on the people of Dongyuan Sect like an invisible tide.

The cultivators of Dongyuan Sect were immediately on high alert.

Li Xuan approached slowly, his voice gentle: "Fellow Daoists of Dongyuan Sect, please forgive me. My junior brother was a bit too outspoken just now."

"but……"

He abruptly changed the subject, and the spiritual pressure exerted on Yuwen Yao and Gu Qingqing suddenly intensified several times over, like a mountain collapsing: "What my two junior brothers said is not wrong either."

The heavy pressure made Yuwen Yao's face turn pale, and his tall and slender figure swayed slightly. His spiritual power seemed to be bound by an invisible quagmire, and its circulation became sluggish.

"Let's see who's better, let's settle this with our skills, don't you agree?"

(End of this chapter)