Chapter 41

For the next day or so, Xu Chen and the other two went out early and returned late, spending the entire day wandering through various trading venues where cultivators gathered inside and outside Jingshi.

Lin Qiu Ya also took the opportunity of being invited as a guide to accompany the three of them, appearing as if they had become close friends, and their relationship looked very intimate.

Of course, over these two days, news of the Taiyuan Sect being so wealthy and ostentatious, trading and purchasing various Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure everywhere, had slowly spread among the cultivators. Moreover, with a young, beautiful, and alluring fairy like Lin Qiu Ya accompanying them on both sides, it made many young cultivators who came to offer birthday greetings envious and jealous, looking for various excuses to approach the four of them, with the sole purpose of wanting to converse and discuss the Dao more with Lin Qiu Ya, hoping to get a taste of her beauty.

However, Lin Qiu Ya was neither cold nor warm to these cultivators, which increasingly made many people dissatisfied with Xu Chen and Jiu Shixiong, wanting to find opportunities to spar with them openly or secretly.

Jiu Shixiong was naturally not afraid of such provocations. After several battles, he won more than he lost. Although both sides ended up bruised and swollen, it allowed many folk rogue cultivators to witness the extravagance of the Taiyuan Sect. From beginning to end, Jiu Shixiong would just keep a Great Origin Pill in his mouth before starting to fight, and sometimes if a battle fell into a stalemate, he would eat two or three more Great Origin Pills in succession. Even a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Kaiyuan Realm could be dragged down by him until their vital energy was exhausted.

Such a crazed pill-popping fighting style soon made everyone look on with dread.

And the nickname "Pill-Popping Cultivator" soon spread throughout the Jingshi area, causing many fellow members of the Immortal Sect to start looking at the Taiyuan Sect with new eyes.

Moreover, another piece of news that shocked everyone was circulating in secret: the Great Elder of the Taiyuan Sect, Danchenzi, was on the verge of Spirit Transformation, and the Taiyuan Sect was about to be promoted from a dilapidated small-to-medium Immortal Sect to a large Immortal Sect. This also caused many female cultivators who came to offer birthday greetings to cast frequent amorous glances at Jiu Shixiong and Xu Chen.

Jiu Shixiong had previously intended to flirt with the female fairy Su Ping'er of the Zhengyang Sect, but because of the Blood God Grass, he had temporarily dismissed the idea. However, just as he stopped thinking about it, several cultivators from the Zhengyang Sect actually came to their door, led by none other than Su Ping'er, expressing the hope that they could have tea and discuss the Dao with their peers from the Taiyuan Sect when they had time.

Thus, Jiu Shixiong was very conflicted.

If he were to flirt, he truly had no energy right now, as he needed to carefully deal with the experts from the Ziyang Sect hiding in the shadows.

If he were to refuse, he would miss this golden opportunity.

Although Su Ping'er's appearance and figure were inferior to Lin Qiu Ya's, her cultivation was much higher. Her body was surging with vital energy, and she was already at the stage where a breakthrough was imminent. She only needed one Heqi Pill to almost step into the Zhenyuan Realm in one go and become a Foundation Establishment True Person.

In fact, Jiu Shixiong did not expect to meet Su Ping'er in Jingshi, because the Zhengyang Sect only arrived in Jingshi half a day before the Emperor's birthday, and this was only the second time the two had met.

Three years had passed since the last time.

And the first time they met, Su Ping'er had a very bad impression of Jiu Shixiong.

Because at that time, the Taiyuan Sect was truly so poor they were eating dirt, and Jiu Shixiong had just started his training after descending the mountain, usually having to use even a single Small Yuan Pill sparingly.

But as the saying goes, one should look at a scholar with new eyes after three days of separation.

He did not expect that upon arriving in Jingshi this time, he would hear all the Daoist Friends talking about the style of this "Pill-Popping Cultivator" from the Taiyuan Sect, each of them speaking with heartache.

Even though the royal family had released a batch of Great Origin Pills over the past two days with the support of the Yuqing Hall to recruit cultivators to fight against the Ziyang Sect, it was heard that there were only a few dozen bottles in the end, and whoever received these pills did not dare to waste them easily, as they still had to face a life-and-death battle with the Ziyang Sect.

Therefore, these pills that leaked out were all clutched tightly by all the cultivators, for fear that others would know.

And the way the Taiyuan Sect was so high-profile, relying on popping Spirit Pills to fight fiercely with other cultivators, made everyone's heart bleed, yet they were helpless.

The strength of the Zhengyang Sect was about the same as the Taiyuan Sect. Although they had a few more disciples, their Sect Leader, who had the highest cultivation, had only just reached the middle-to-late stage of the Danyuan Realm, quite a bit behind Danchenzi.

Because they were equally poor, they didn't think much of each other.

But as the saying goes, people climb to higher places, and water flows to lower places.

A young female cultivator like Su Ping'er, who had good looks, figure, aptitude, and cultivation, would naturally cast her gaze toward larger Immortal Sects, preferably looking for a suitable Daolu in the Yuqing Hall or the Longmen Sect.

However, this kind of wishful thinking was not easy to realize.

The dog-blood script of a common girl hoping to marry into a wealthy family was just as dog-blood in the Immortal World.

A female disciple with Su Ping'er's aptitude and cultivation was indeed quite good in an ordinary Immortal Sect, but compared to a large Immortal Sect like the Yuqing Hall, she had no advantage at all. Even if they managed to climb up to the Yuqing Hall or Longmen Mountain, they would end up forming a Daolu relationship with those disciples of average aptitude, eventually wasting their lives away without gaining many benefits.

Now that the Taiyuan Sect had suddenly emerged and shone brightly at the Great Song Emperor's hundredth birthday, this also gave young female cultivators of Su Ping'er's status another target.

Jiu Shixiong was only an ordinary disciple of the Taiyuan Sect, yet he could be so extravagant. If they became Daolu, then there would definitely be a sufficient supply of pills in the future, and with a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator sitting in the sect, the future glory of the Taiyuan Sect could be expected.

Perhaps in just over ten years, the Taiyuan Sect would be able to rival Longmen Mountain, and she herself could use the Taiyuan Sect's resources to break through to the Golden Core, and perhaps one day even succeed in Spirit Transformation.

All cultivators of the Song Kingdom's Immortal Sects dared not have higher aspirations; Spirit Transformation was their greatest ideal.

And a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator almost possessed a thousand years of lifespan; being carefree in the human world was enough to be called an immortal.

As the birthday drew closer, more and more Immortal Sect cultivators arrived in Jingshi, and Jingshi became increasingly lively.

The Immortal Sect disciples and family rogue cultivators who had arrived in Jingshi a few days ago and were still conservative had gradually let go of their inhibitions, actually flying on swords in the sky within Jingshi, and even occasionally displaying a few immortal arts, releasing colorful light and shadows, which immediately drew waves of cheers and shouts from the people of the whole city, and the atmosphere of the Emperor's birthday was slowly ignited to a climax.

A day passed in the blink of an eye, and the Great Song Emperor's hundredth birthday arrived as scheduled.

The huge square of the Imperial Palace was decorated with lanterns and colored banners, and a red carpet was laid out on the hundred-zhang-long bluestone avenue from the Jiesiantai built in the center to the front of the welcoming hall.

The birthday banquet was already prepared, and all the diplomatic missions and Prince and Noble had taken their places and were waiting, including all the Immortal Sect disciples and family rogue cultivators who had come to offer birthday greetings, all of whom were seated on the side of the Jiesiantai.

However, everyone was still waiting, because the leader of the Great Song Immortal World, the largest sect, the Yuqing Hall, had not yet arrived.

"Damn it, the Yuqing Hall has such airs, making us wait here for so long?"

Guo Ming, the representative of Longmen Mountain, was very angry, and his voice was very loud, so clearly heard by almost all the cultivators that even the Emperor Zhao Rui, who was waiting respectfully on the Jiesiantai, felt his scalp tingle, and could only pray in his heart that the people from the Yuqing Hall would not stand them up, otherwise today's birthday banquet would likely turn into a funeral.

Originally, for some large birthday banquets in the past, various Immortal Sects and folk rogue cultivator families would also come to show their support and offer birthday greetings, but they would usually arrive early so that the imperial court could make proper arrangements without missing the time.

But this time, for some reason, the people from the Yuqing Hall were late.

Furthermore, as a disciple of the Yuqing Hall, he would certainly have to display the Yuqing Hall's birthday gift first, so that it would appear respectful.

Of course, other Immortal Sects also tacitly accepted this arrangement.

Mortal emperors might be looked down upon, but since they had come, they should give enough face; everyone understood this bit of human sophistication. Even if there was some lack of care during the birthday greeting process, no one would care too much, as cultivators were a very casual breed and would not care too much about these trivial worldly etiquette.

But now, the auspicious time for the birthday banquet had passed by nearly half an hour, and the people from the Yuqing Hall had still not arrived.

Therefore, it was slowly no longer just the people from the second-in-command Longmen Mountain who were unhappy; even other Immortal Sects and some rogue cultivators began to be unhappy, and many people began to curse and greet the eighteen generations of female ancestors of the Yuqing Hall.

Xu Chen was attending such a high-level gathering for the first time, so he didn't feel any dissatisfaction; instead, he felt very novel, eating melon fruits and snacks while teasing Xiao Huli, and occasionally laughing and talking with Jiu Shixiong, Zhao Xuan, and Lin Qiu Ya.

Just as the noise grew louder, the Blue Jade Bead in the center of Xu Chen's Sea of Consciousness suddenly flashed, and he subconsciously looked up toward the northwest, seeing a seven-colored stream of light breaking through the air. In the blink of an eye, it entered the capital, and then the rosy light retracted; it was actually a seven-colored giant bird several zhang long, with its wings spread over ten zhang, hovering steadily above the Jiesiantai.

Immediately, a terrifying aura descended, covering the entire Imperial Palace.

All the cultivators who were complaining suddenly became as silent as cicadas in winter, each of them as if they had been doused with a bucket of ice water.

The entire area in front of the welcoming hall became instantly silent.

Emperor Zhao Rui, wearing bright yellow Daoist robes with the insignia of an outer disciple of the Yuqing Hall, led a group of royal Offering to rise into the air to welcome them.

The arrivals were the delegation from the Yuqing Hall to offer birthday greetings.

There were four people in total, all standing on the back of the giant bird.

The leader was a middle-aged cultivator with a handsome appearance and a thick aura, wearing a black slim-fitting robe, carrying a Sword Box on his back, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, his face as smooth as jade, possessing a natural aura of looking down on all living beings.

"Outer disciple Zhao Rui, pays respects to the Seventh Elder!"

Zhao Rui hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in salute, his attitude so respectful that no one could tell he was the Emperor of the Great Song.

The middle-aged cultivator nodded slightly and said, "No need for formalities. For your hundredth birthday, I have come specifically to offer congratulations on behalf of the mountain gate. Let us dispense with worldly etiquette and go down."

As the man spoke, he stepped down from the back of the giant bird, then walked step by step as if descending a mountain, treading on thin air a few times before crossing Jiesiantai in the blink of an eye and landing directly on the steps in front of the welcoming grand hall.

Behind him, three young cultivators—two men and one woman—also followed down through the air, their graceful bearing drawing a burst of enthusiastic cheers from the surrounding delegations and the Princes and Nobles.

Although they were all Immortals, it was clear that the entrance of Yuqing Hall was the true style of an Immortal Sect.

As for those other Immortal Sect Disciples and rogue cultivators who had arrived earlier, they were completely devoid of luster by comparison.

Yet, among the group of cultivators present, no one dared to show even a hint of disrespect, and not a single person could even utter a word of complaint.