Chapter 1251: The Great Sun Sword Son Visits the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace

Nine Spirit Realm, Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace.

On this day, the mountain gates swung wide, immortal music rang out in unison, celestial cranes danced in the empty sky, devoted golden boys and jade maidens walked hand in hand to clear the way, and numerous divine generals of the Heavenly Palace held banners and road-clearing tablets to guard the flanks—a magnificent spectacle befitting the arrival of honored guests.

In truth, honored guests had indeed arrived.

The tenth strongest expert of the two domains, the foremost sword cultivator of the two domains, the sole sword-sage grandmaster, the sole inheritor of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion—the Great Sun Sword Son had descended upon this place today.

Setting aside allegiances, this Canghai Tianjun's arrival at any immortal sect would warrant such a grand welcoming ceremony; a great power personally coming out to greet him, or sending an avatar to receive him, would both befit the occasion.

However, for the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace to do the same carried a certain dark humor.

The Eastern Extreme Demon Sect and the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace were blood enemies through every lifetime, mortal foes; the sect disciples who had died at each other's hands were beyond counting, and the bones accumulated over ten thousand years could be piled into mountains, carpeting an entire world.

Jiang Ding walked quietly among Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's Palace Master Lord Dingding Canghai Tianjun and the various Hall Masters.

He patiently waited for the lengthy, grand ceremony around him to conclude, showing a measure of respect, and did not at this moment wipe out the entire sect or treat them as captives.

"Fellow Daoist Lord Dingding, there is one matter I am quite curious about—might you enlighten me?"

Jiang Ding asked softly.

"Under Senior Guicong's orders, the core seeds of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace—numerous Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Jin Dan, and Qi Refining disciples, along with talented individuals in the paths of pills, formations, talismans, and incense, as well as the Brother Xuanwu Dao Children—all entered the Heavenly Palace to take shelter. Should matters go awry, they could immediately flee this domain, preserving hope for the sect."

"By such standards, you, as a Canghai Tianjun of the same era as True Sovereign Zhenjun Shenji and others, and as Palace Master, possessing the potential to advance to Refining Void—in both talent and status you rank among the top three of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace. Why then could you not enter the Heavenly Palace to take shelter?"

The Heavenly Palace here naturally referred to the sect-suppressing heritage the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace had brought down from the upper realm—a supreme treasure of the sect.

The Immortal Sect had the End Dharma City as its trump card to preserve its final hope; the Badaxian Sect had the same, and even the Great Sun Sword Pavilion did as well—numerous inheritances containing Great Sun Flying Swords were buried throughout the Nine Spirit Domain, waiting for the external environment to become suitable for the inheritance seeds to grow, at which point they would break through the soil and rebuild the Great Sun Sword Pavilion.

These inheritance seeds possessed extremely high concealment abilities; even Jiang Ding could not know of them.

Only after he advanced to Refining Void, became the Great Sun Sword Master, and mastered all the secrets of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion could he dig out these hidden inheritance seeds.

"Sword Son, you speak too gravely!"

"I dare not compare myself to seniors like Senior Zhenjun Shenji, paragons of the domain."

Lord Dingding Canghai Tianjun was startled, cupped his hands toward the sky, and said respectfully: "I am nothing more than an ant of a cultivator; in the past I could only barely converse with Senior Zhenjun Shenji by leaning on the might of the Heavenly Palace—how could I be mentioned in the same breath as a true dragon such as he?"

"The talk of potential to advance to Refining Void is merely flattering nonsense spoken by sycophants in the Heavenly Palace; you need not take it to heart."

He appeared exceedingly humble, not treating himself as someone who could claim ties with old acquaintances or enemies like True Sovereign Zhenjun Shenji and True Sovereign Senior Wanji from years past, but instead observing the etiquette of a junior toward an elder.

Jiang Ding was not surprised by this.

Cultivators of immortal sects held a reverence for higher-ranked cultivators that came from the depths of their souls; once one advanced, former equals who had conversed as fellow Daoists would immediately become juniors. Only biological children and direct disciples were exceptions; even uncles, senior uncles, and the like, slightly more distant relations, dared not overstep, all addressing one as Senior.

"Fellow Daoist, you are too modest."

Jiang Ding neither agreed nor disagreed, unmoved by his humble posture, and said lightly: "I believe I was just now asking why you remained behind?"

"Yes, Sword Son."

"The Heavenly Palace left me behind truly because the foundation is hard to abandon."

Lord Dingding Canghai Tianjun's heart chilled; he dared not beat around the bush any longer and said respectfully: "This is where the ancestors are venerated, where the sect's hundreds of millions of disciples reside, where many of the heritage remnants remain. If the day of destruction comes, the Palace Master must of course die with the sect—this is the duty of one who, as Palace Master, has enjoyed the sect's many immortal Dao riches."

"Furthermore,"

He cautiously glanced at the youth in blue.

"The Supreme Elder has always been confident, believing he will not be defeated, believing the sect's foundation will not perish. As juniors, we naturally would not dare go against the elder's wishes."

"I see."

Jiang Ding nodded slightly, understanding.

"Senior Guicong has always been so cold, not placing much weight on sect disciples, sometimes seeming not to care much about even the Dao Children either—a man who can truly be called without weakness."

"Such a temperament, callous and heartless—one truly cannot fathom where the pillar of his immortal Dao conviction comes from."

"Could it be a pure longing for the Great Dao?"

Lord Dingding Canghai Tianjun saw nothing, heard nothing.

He even sealed off his divine sense and gaze, making himself a blind man, a deaf man, having heard nothing at all.

Jiang Ding saw this and said nothing.

His words were not meant to persuade or convince anyone of anything; they were merely spoken on a whim.

The entire remaining Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace, though it had hundreds of millions of disciples, with many Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun and Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun, capable of forming a quasi-seventh-tier grand formation to unleash tremendous power, was important to the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's great powers, yet not something of utmost importance.

Even if all these cultivators perished, in two thousand years he could breed another large batch, and in four to five thousand years they would fully recover, even surpassing the past.

To think of using this as leverage to threaten him into compromising was pure wishful thinking.

Several hours later, the ceremony concluded.

The numerous divine generals of the Heavenly Palace, the golden boys and jade maidens descended.

Moreover,

Numerous heavenly maidens and divine maidens gazed with tender affection, each one a peerless beauty of the domain, so beautiful as to be breathtaking, their bearing either sacred or bewitching or pure and lovely, looking at that youth in blue with expectant gazes, doing their utmost to display their beauty.

"Sword Son."

Lord Dingding Canghai Tianjun bowed respectfully: "The Heavenly Palace's vaults and secret stores have all been sealed, awaiting your collection. The journey here has been arduous—please accept these as a gift from me, and do not find them wanting."

He had arranged these many beautiful female cultivators, but did not hold out much hope, and offered up everything.

The surrounding Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun of the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace felt bitter in their hearts.

The Heavenly Palace's vaults and secret stores!

Though the top-tier heavenly materials and earthly treasures must certainly be gone, taken away by the Dao Children and the Supreme Elder, the remaining heavenly materials and earthly treasures were still a vast quantity—enough to make a Refining Void True Sovereign's eyes redden, enough that even a Dao Merging Divine Lord would not ignore such enormous wealth.

This was the wealth left behind by a domain hegemon!

"Vaults and secret stores…"

Jiang Ding's heart likewise stirred.

He was very poor now, extremely poor.

The speed of refining the Taiqing Flying Sword was accelerating—this was the refinement of a Refining Void spatial treasure, the cost truly mountain-like and sea-like, enough to drag down and bankrupt an entire immortal sect. In the future he would surely face the same destitute situation as Zou Zou Xiyuan, perhaps even far poorer than her.

If he could obtain the Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace's vaults and secret stores, he would surely make a fortune!