Chapter 478

Xu Yanzhi heard the words, his gaze fell on her pale little face, "Tomorrow early morning, as master I will go with you to visit the Dan Alliance leader."

"Thank you, Master." Sikong Banxue lowered their head, the corner of their mouth unconsciously lifting.

Lu Xiangxiang saw this, their face slightly stiffened.

She couldn't help but look toward Xu Yanzhi.

Xu Yanzhi noticed Lu Xiangxiang's gaze, and immediately said to Sikong Banxue, "Xue'er, go back first."

Sikong Banxue: "Yes, Master."

After Sikong Banxue left, Lu Xiangxiang looked at Xu Yanzhi with considerable dissatisfaction.

Xu Yanzhi said lightly, "I and Xue'er have only a master-disciple relationship, no other relationship."

"This sentence, you have already said it to me many times." Lu Xiangxiang just finished saying it when she saw Xu Yanzhi frown, her heart slightly tightened, then she eased her tone, "Yanzhi, you know, I am jealous because I care about you. In my previous life, weren't you bothered that I also had pursuers around me?"

She reached out to grasp his broad palm.

She softened her voice: "In this life, I will completely sever ties with them; from now on, only you will be by my side. You will no longer be angry because of them……"

Xu Yanzhi lowered his eyes to look at her, and for some reason a trace of irritation arose in his heart.

But he still gripped her hand tightly.

Xu Yanzhi said, "Xiang'er, Xue'er is merely my disciple; I have no romantic feelings toward her, so you need not reject her so strongly—moreover… she won't live much longer."

Lu Xiangxiang laughed, "I will treat her as my own sister."

"Really?"

"Really."

Xu Yanzhi embraced Lu Xiangxiang into his arms.

And when they could not see each other, their expressions were completely different.

In their previous life, they had accompanied each other for over a hundred years, knowing each other too well.

Even though they clearly knew the other's words were against their true feelings, they would not expose them.

Because their interests had become bound together.

…

In the following days, the entire floating capital seemed to be infused with a boiling vitality.

Inns and restaurants were fully booked, streets and alleys buzzed with discussion of the imminent grand event.

In teahouses and taverns, evaluations and predictions of the talents from various provinces were occasionally heard; gambling houses even set odds, drawing countless cultivators to stop and watch.

Time flew like a white colt passing a gap; amidst the anticipation of all, the day of the Immortal Sect Grand Competition's opening finally arrived.

On this day, the enormous martial arena at the center of the floating capital was already a sea of people, banners fluttering.

Tens of thousands of cultivators, relying on invitation slips or identity tokens, took their seats in an orderly manner on the layered stands surrounding the martial arena; their eyes unfailingly focused on the arena, holding their breath in anticipation.

Around the martial arena were set countless spirit-gathering formations and sound-amplifying formations, ensuring every audience member could clearly see every detail within the arena and hear each clash of weapons.

At the center of the martial arena, on a spacious white jade plaza, the two hundred elite genius disciples selected respectively from the Three Islands and Nine Provinces had now gathered like stars holding up the moon.

On their youthful faces blossomed the vigorous spirit of adolescence.

For ease of distinction and to showcase the characteristics and glory of each province or island, disciples from different provinces or islands all wore uniforms of the same style but different colors.

From afar, the center of the martial arena resembled a splendidly colored scroll.

Among them, the two hundred young disciples of the First Province wore pure snow‑white garments that glittered in the sunlight, like a band of banished immortals descending to the mortal world.

Meanwhile, the disciples of the Ninth Province uniformly wore green garments symbolizing vigorous vitality.

Yuan Yao and her senior brothers and sisters all stood in the front row of the Ninth Province contingent.

Upon seeing so many people, Yuan Yao's mood became ever more excited.

Although the Ninth Province was situated in the center of the martial arena, they were assigned to the very rear, the most inconspicuous spot.

Meanwhile, the contingents of the First Province, Second Province, and Qianyun Island were positioned at the very front.

Yuan Yao simply could not see Xie Yan.

As for Xie Yan, he now stood at the very front of the First Province contingent, facing the high platform where the immortals resided—these immortals came respectively from the Three Islands and Nine Provinces.

Among them, the Formless Immortal Xu Yanzhi, the Brahma Immortal Fan Quan, and the Responding‑Heaven Immortal were on the high platform.

And the immortals' seating arrangements were also particular.

The Responding‑Heaven Immortal, the Formless Immortal, and another Fangtai Immortal sat in the central position.

In the First Province contingent, the leaders were Xiezixu, Bianchen, Fengxuanji, Yingwuhuan, Lu Xiangxiang, and Sikong Banxue, among others.

At this moment, the white‑haired old lady on the high platform rose to her feet; she was seen to have a tall, straight posture, white hair and a youthful face, faintly revealing her former beautiful countenance; she wore a dark‑colored robe, her whole person emanating dignity without anger.

She was the renowned Kui Qian Immortal of the cultivation world.

Starting from over three hundred years ago, Kui Qian Immortal has been presiding over each Immortal Sect Grand Competition; this year is no exception.

Kui Qian Immortal raised a hand and waved; in an instant the spiritual energy of the entire martial arena surged violently, whereupon countless crystal‑clear pearls appeared in the sky above, at the same time——

In the skies above various places of the cultivation world, one after another crystal stone screens appeared, broadcasting the scene now unfolding in the martial arena in full.

At this moment, the Carefree Sect of the Ninth Province.

The young disciples all lifted their heads to look upward, excited beyond measure.

"Quick, look—the Immortal Sect Grand Competition is about to begin!"

"I see my junior sister!"

"Truly impressive!"

"If only I could also participate in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition!"

"What do you say—will our Ninth Province end up at the bottom again this time?"

"With our junior sister among them, we surely won't end up at the bottom, right?!"

At the same moment, throughout the vast expanse of the cultivation world, from the fairy mountains and jade pavilions rarely reached by mortals, to the spirit‑filled grotto‑heavens, and further to the market settlements where loose cultivators gather, countless pairs of eyes, through water‑mirror spirit crystals, gazed afar at the grandeur of the Floating Capital Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

On the highest viewing platform of the Floating City arena, an old woman dressed in a black Dao robe, with crane‑like hair and a childlike face, eyes as deep as the starry sky—Kui Qian Xian Zun—stood alone.

She stood with her hands behind her; though she did not deliberately exude authority, she possessed an innate, profound, mountain‑like bearing that made others dare not stare, as if she were merged with heaven and earth.

She scanned the thousands of young disciples at the arena's center, and also the countless cultivators in the distance who were observing the ceremony through secret methods.

Her clear, resonant voice, imbued with the rhythm of the Dao, traveled through the amplification formation that spanned heaven and earth, reaching each person's ears clearly:

"All fellow cultivators, disciples, today is the time of our cultivation world's once‑every‑ten‑years Immortal Sect Grand Competition!"

Her voice was not loud, yet it struck the ground with weight, instantly suppressing all clamor and quieting heaven and earth.

"The purpose of the Immortal Sect Grand Competition is to assess the cultivation results and overall strength of the young cultivators from our Three Islands and Nine Continents, and also to inspire the next generation, pass down the Dao lineage, and inject a continuous stream of fresh blood into our cultivation world!"

"Therefore, anyone who steps onto this arena, please be sure to bring forth all of your strength, display the results of your arduous cultivation, and do not betray your own Dao heart!"