Chapter 505: Winds and Clouds from All Directions Converge on Ying Ying Jichuan

As far as the eye could see, this place was surrounded by four waters, with jagged, grotesque rocks rising everywhere—

High upon the water-cliff of the island, Yin Yin Wuji wore a starry crown and a jade belt at his waist, his vast cyan sleeves snapping and fluttering wildly in the sea breeze.

Though he stood motionless in place, he naturally exuded a majestic and unparalleled aura that, like a colossal net, enveloped the entire desolate island, pressing down until the grass and trees beneath the clouds bowed low and the birds and beasts fell silent in terror!

Before long, the sky seemed to faintly split open by a thread, from which a ball of brilliant light descended, caught equally in Yin Yin Wuji's outstretched palm.

After a short while, as the flames scattered and flew away from between his fingers like sand and gravel, all that remained gripped in Yin Yin Wuji's hand was a small jade tablet, identical to the one in Chen Heng's possession.

"Northern Hao Province, Ying Ying Jichuan; how could the venue for this Danyuan Grand Assembly fall in the northern lands?"

The moment he touched the small jade tablet, a thread of divine intent transmitted itself into Yin Yin Wuji's mind.

"South Sea, Northern Lands... there is indeed a vast expanse of sea and land separating them."

Yin Yin Wuji withdrew the small jade tablet into his sleeve, chuckled once, and murmured to himself:

"Had I known this earlier, I should not have engaged in a dharma battle with Yu Yu Huangshang in the South Sea, but rather headed to the North Sea; that would have saved me quite a bit of rushing about."

Just then, suddenly, a trail of escaping light rushed toward the desolate island from not far away.

The escaping light halted slightly as it neared the cliff's edge, and from within emerged a lady of exquisite, almost indescribable beauty, dressed in a green upper garment and a blue skirt, wearing a floral crown, her face brimming with a smile.

"Brother, look at what this is?"

Yin Yin Ruohua waved the small jade tablet in her hand at Yin Yin Wuji, a hint of petty pride in her expression.

"Oh? You too have managed to qualify for the Danyuan Grand Assembly?"

Yin Yin Wuji had long known this outcome, yet now he feigned surprise, waving his hands repeatedly and sighing:

"Alas, what is to be done about this?"

"What do you mean, 'what is to be done'?" Yin Yin Ruohua snorted, her expression suddenly turning somewhat unpleasant.

Yin Yin Wuji still put on a face of bitter distress:

"Everyone says that currently our Yuan Gate's fortune is flourishing, about to surpass the Xue Xuan Sect by a head, yet if even you can enter the arena of the Danyuan Grand Assembly, it plainly shows the Xuehe Sect is devoid of talent; since the Six Sects share the same breath and voice, they can be regarded as one entity.

If the Xuehe Sect has no one, does that not mean the Six Sects have no one? Could it be that this saying of the Yuan Gate's flourishing fortune is merely a joke?"

"Truly, no ivory comes from a dog's mouth!"

Upon hearing this, Yin Yin Ruohua was not surprised, merely letting out a cold laugh:

"Since childhood you have loved to fabricate tales about people's dispositions, and to this day you have not changed; outsiders see you as bright and clear as the wind and moon, majestic and illustrious, yet who would know you are such a scoundrel and rogue?"

"What do you know? The tongue and lips are also swords; see how I have not yet made a move, yet relying solely on words, have I not repeatedly angered you until you stamped your feet in fury?" Yin Yin Wuji raised an eyebrow.

After the two had bickered as usual for a while, Yin Yin Ruohua's jade-like countenance suddenly grew slightly solemn,

and she asked with puzzlement:

"With the Danyuan Grand Assembly imminent, why do you not conceal some of your techniques to save them for suppressing enemies during the dharma assembly?

The moment you returned to Xu Capital, you loudly and openly challenged Yu Yu Huangshang of the Xiantianmo Sect to a duel; although you won, there was no actual benefit, and instead, you allowed others to glimpse some of your underlying capabilities.

Do not tell me your action was to gain fame; surely you do not lack for reputation?"

Hearing this, Yin Yin Wuji smiled inexplicably but did not answer.

After a long pause, just as Yin Yin Ruohua was growing somewhat impatient from waiting, he finally spoke unhurriedly:

"Yu Yu Huangshang is indeed formidable; his reputation is well-deserved. Since I formed my Jin Dan, he ranks as the strongest opponent I have ever encountered!"

"This person was once ranked first among Jin Dan cultivators on the New Year's Evaluation, but later, due to a scarcity of reported battle achievements, he gradually disappeared from the list; yet, how could a figure personally recruited by Chen Chen Yushu be an easy foe?" Yin Yin Ruohua shook her head slightly at Yin Yin Wuji's words.

"But who said that during my dharma battle with him, I unleashed my full capabilities?"

Yin Yin Wuji smiled faintly.

"What?"

Yin Yin Ruohua was clearly startled; she fixed her gaze upon Yin Yin Wuji, several parts of disbelief in her eyes.

"That appearance of mine fighting to the brink of severe injury to secure a narrow victory was merely acted out to fool outsiders.

As for why I challenged Yu Huangang, first, the one from Yuki Heaven who bestowed divine abilities upon me requires me to promptly produce a compelling battle record, allowing no delay; Yu Yu Huangshang, having achieved the First Grade in forming his Elixir and been famous for long, is naturally the most suitable candidate.

And secondly, after achieving complete success, I also wished to see for myself exactly what weight I carry among the True Persons of these Nine Provinces..."

Yin Yin Wuji clasped his hands behind his back, stating calmly.

Yin Yin Ruohua fell silent for a long while before letting out a soft sigh:

"So that figure from Yuki Heaven gave such instructions? Yet if a person like Yu Yu Huangshang could not force you, Brother, to exhaust your full strength, then for this Danyuan Grand Assembly, are you not securely seated as the supreme champion?"

Contrary to Yin Yin Ruohua's expectations, Yin Yin Wuji merely adopted a rare serious expression and slowly shook his head.

"I have not yet faced him; as for victory or defeat, it is difficult to draw a conclusion."

Yin Yin Ruohua felt somewhat puzzled; names of several veteran Jin Dan cultivators flashed through her mind—Lu Rong, Zhou Fu, Ning Ning Fengqi, Kuang Bao—until suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck, and she exclaimed involuntarily:

"Could it be Chen Heng?"

"Yes."

Yin Yin Wuji did not deny it, speaking frankly:

"Ever since that meeting at the Ganliu Medicine Garden, I have vaguely sensed that this person would inevitably be my formidable rival at the Danyuan Grand Assembly!

And subsequently, his slaying of the Yuan Master's divine descent body, achieving the First Grade in forming his Elixir, and decisively defeating Lu Shen and Cui Ju... all these actions do nothing but corroborate that my premonition was accurate.

Now I am very curious: to prepare for the Danyuan Grand Assembly, which of Yu Yu Yuchen's supreme great divine abilities has this person prepared?

The Secret Heaven Opening Profound Smoke, or the Void Great Luo Method?"

Speaking to this point, Yin Yin Wuji also pondered briefly.

But very soon, he cast this matter aside from his mind, dismissing it with a laugh, saying:

"At the Danyuan Grand Assembly, all will be revealed!"

Eastern Hun Province, Zhongyi Sword Sect.

The earth valley split open with a rumbling boom, stirring up a tremendous noise to reveal a thousand-zhang suspended jade ladder beneath.

Upon the jade ladder, a majestic man with a straight, high-bridged nose and eyebrows sweeping into his temples was walking slowly; clad in a python robe and jade belt, dressed like a worldly king or noble, his expression was indifferent and cold, as if nothing in this world could move him.

"Your Highness?"

As soon as the jade ladder appeared, a bright-eyed woman in a plain gauze skirt, her hair coiled in a Cloud-Curling Bun and her pupils clear as autumn water, had noticed the strange phenomenon.

She hastily urged her sword light forward, and upon meeting Zhou Fu's gaze on the jade ladder, she couldn't help but cry out in delight, her eyes blinking rapidly.

"..."

Zhou Fu merely glanced at the woman in the plain skirt and paid her no heed.

He simply stepped slowly out of the earth valley, took a deep breath as if he had not seen the light of the present world for a long time, then reached out his hand to firmly grasp the Danyuan Talisman Edict falling from the sky.

Only after a long while, seeing Zhou Fu put away the small jade tablet-shaped Danyuan Talisman Edict, did the woman in the plain skirt beside him whisper softly:

"Your Highness?"

"The Zhou Kingdom fell long ago; you and I have joined the Zhongyi Sword Sect and are disciples of the Xian Sect, so there is no need to bring up those old conventions anymore."

Zhou Fu said indifferently:

"How many times must I say it? You should not address me as 'Your Highness,' but rather as 'Xiao Xiao Shixiong.'"

"Your High... Xiao Xiao Shixiong." Just as the woman in the plain skirt was about to argue, seeing Zhou Fu frown slightly, she hastily corrected herself: "Has Xiao Xiao Shixiong been well lately?"

Zhou Fu nodded slightly without speaking much.

Seeing this, the woman in the plain skirt was not discouraged and continued to toss out words; only after a long while did she, as if reluctant to stop, take out a stack of jade booklets and hand them to Zhou Fu.

"What is this?"

Zhou Fu asked.

"Ancestral Master Master Minqiu entrusted me three years ago to pass these on to Xiao Xiao Shixiong; within the jade booklets is a new sword scripture Ancestral Master wrote after returning to the sect from the Dharma Saint Heaven; Ancestral Master said this item might suit Xiao Xiao Shixiong's root nature."

Seeing this, the woman in the plain skirt hurriedly said:

"In these past three years, I have sent Xiao Xiao Shixiong no fewer than a hundred letters, yet Xiao Xiao Shixiong never emerged from closed-door cultivation until now—"

"Ancestral Master Master Minqiu has already returned from the Dharma Saint Heaven?"

Zhou Fu interrupted.

"Indeed, now Ancestral Master Master Yantong has gone to the Dharma Saint Heaven to take the vacant seat left by Ancestral Master Master Minqiu," the woman in the plain skirt said.

Zhou Fu seemed

lost in thought, then gently pushed the stack of jade booklets toward the woman without accepting them.

"Xiao Xiao Shixiong?"

"The Danyuan Assembly is imminent; reading this scripture would only disturb my mind," Zhou Fu said. "Keep this item with you for now; I will come to retrieve it after the assembly."

"Could it be that Xiao Xiao Shixiong...?"

The woman in the plain skirt's eyes lit up, a vague guess forming in her heart.

"Correct; after years of bitter cultivation, I have finally figured out the way from that half-piece of sword scripture and comprehended one move from it."

Zhou Fu spoke softly.

But before the woman in the plain skirt could leap for joy, Zhou Fu's voice suddenly came again:

"At this Danyuan Dharma Assembly, besides myself, who are the other two from our sect who will enter the arena?"

"Shen Shen Xingcui and Lu Lu Tingyun."

"Is there no one who can defeat these two?"

"Both of them have already reached the sixth realm of the Sword Dao and possess remarkable talent; although there is a Junior Brother Sun Yun who is skilled in combat magic, he ultimately falls one step short in the realm of the Sword Dao."

"Sixth realm?" Zhou Fu first nodded in approval, then asked: "Can they employ the Dharma?"

The woman in the plain skirt looked somewhat bewildered and shook her head.

"Where is the momentum of ten thousand years ago? In the Sword Dao, the current Zhongyi seems inferior even to Yu Yu Yuchen!" Zhou Fu shook his head and spoke bluntly.

The woman in the plain skirt's face darkened, her expression somewhat helpless.

Southern Peng Qian Province, Xuehe Sect.

Seeing Lü Rong stroking the small jade tablet in his hand, his pupils shimmering with a faint red light, fresh and dripping.

The Blood Deity Child beside him showed no trace of joy at this moment; instead, a rare look of fear and complexity appeared on his face, as if his heart still trembled with lingering dread.

"That method is so sinister and strange; are you not afraid of completely suffering qi deviation in the future and becoming a mindless ferocious creature?"

The Blood Deity Child weighed his words for a moment but could not help speaking:

"Do the ancestral masters of the sect know about this? And from where did you obtain this method?"

"The ancestral masters of the sect naturally know; rest assured, since I dare to Xiu Xing Ci Fa, I naturally possess the means to control the method and will not implicate you to lose your life in vain later."

Drawn back to attention by the Blood Deity Child's words, Lü Rong spoke dismissively:

"As for this Xie Fa, it originates from Bai Shui."

"Bai Shui?"

"Having cultivated this art, I have added another layer of certainty for the Danyuan Assembly; Chen Heng..."

Paying no heed to the Blood Deity Child standing stunned in place, Lü Rong looked only toward the direction of the Eastern Province, his gaze profound:

"That unfinished battle from that day on Mo Wu Continent, upon the Ying Ying Jichuan, you and I shall continue it!"

Xiantian Mo Zong; surrounded by a crowd of cultivators, Yu Yu Huangshang put away the small jade tablet with an expressionless face.

A moment later, he turned to the person beside him and

Chen Ying nodded slightly, reining in some of the coldness on his face, and spoke with rare sincerity:

"I shall keep this favor firmly in my heart, Master Yu; I will not enter the Rongcheng Rongcheng Duming Fan Fan Dongtian beneath the waters to cause further disturbance. I only hope you, worthy brother, will convey to Grandmaster Yuan that at the Pill-Origin Grand Assembly, I, Yu, will surely offer my repayment!"

Chen Ying smiled: "To speak plainly, for my father, this was merely a casual move, optional and dispensable.

And at the Pill-Origin Grand Assembly, Xiao Xiao Shixiong Yu should still prioritize official matters, not allowing others to disrupt your own cultivation achievements."

Yu Yu Huangshang and Chen Ying had always enjoyed a decent friendship, so Yu Yu Huangshang indeed heard the genuine sincerity in Chen Ying's words.

He frowned slightly, shook his head, and said:

"What a pity; since I now owe Grandmaster Yuan this favor, I find it difficult to act against Chen Bai again. It seems your grievance with him can only be settled after the Pill-Origin Grand Assembly."

"This matters not."

Upon hearing this, a strange expression flickered across Chen Ying's face; he lifted his gaze to the sky and murmured leisurely:

"I suspect this one perhaps will not be able to frolic for much longer either!"

……

Within Mount Mount Lutai, seeing the jade tablet in Wei Wei Lingjiang's hand, Seeing Seeing Qingzhi immediately could not stop scratching his ears and cheeks; he leaned in several times to get a closer look, his face full of curiosity.

……

In the Xuanfeng Cave, a vast expanse of yellow sand filled the sky, raising a series of howling and wailing sounds.

The yellow sand merely curled gently, scooping up the jade tablet descending from heaven, then rose once more into the void, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

……

Gu Yi, Tangting Sima Xiu, Kuang Bao, Ling Ling Shouming, Zhangsun Kuang...

At nearly the same moment, all participants from the Bapailiu Sect received their respective Pill-Origin Talisman Edicts, learning the location where the Grand Assembly would be held.

For a moment, winds and clouds churned, and undercurrents surged.

Like a stone suddenly cast into a pool of clear water, rippling waves spread out, with spray rising and perishing!

Meanwhile, within the Xiaoming Great Marsh, on Changli Island.

After briefly exchanging a few words with Tu Shan Ge, Tu Shan Ningning, and others who had rushed over upon hearing the news, Chen Heng spoke no more, merely folding his hands behind his back to gaze out at the vast, wild marshlands.

Suddenly, sword light flashed in the depths of his eyes, and an overwhelming aura erupted from his body, seeming as if it intended to pierce through heaven and earth and slash apart everything tangible and intangible before him!

Once this intent emerged, the distant vast waves parted violently with a boom; water spray shot skyward, while two rows of giant waves crashed down with a roar like a mountain collapsing, unable to close back together for a long time!

Yin Yin Wuji, Yu Yu Huangshang, Lü Rong, Kuang Bao... those qualified to participate in the Pill-Origin Grand Assembly were naturally not easy opponents.

Furthermore, after the Pill-Origin Grand Assembly, within the sect still stood Ji Fa Kai, that great True Person who had once contended with Jun Yao, blocking the path ahead.

The road ahead is long and certainly not a smooth path; only by striving with all one's might can one fight out a heavenly thoroughfare!

"Only when the seas flow horizontally does the true color of heroes reveal itself—

Ying Ying Jichuan, let this battle

serve as the foundation for my Great Dao of Longevity!"

Chen Heng merely leaped up, and in an instant, a rainbow of sword light shot straight into the sky.

Clear and resonant sword whistles echoed through the azure firmament, lingering endlessly, causing numerous Yu Yu Yuchen disciples to turn their heads one after another, their expressions varied.

Not long after Chen Heng's sword light departed, beams of escaping light one after another rose into the cloudy sky, shining brilliantly as they followed that sword light directly toward Ying Ying Jichuan.

The Pill-Origin Grand Assembly, the Xu Capital Great Pill—

Such a rare event within the universe would naturally draw the attention of cultivators from across the world, eager to witness it with their own eyes.

One can imagine that by then, Ying Ying Jichuan would gather forces from all sides, becoming extraordinarily lively!

Three days later, outside the Shan Xiao Jian Dao Field.

Seeing a Wusheng Wusheng Tongzi in feathered robes holding a small flag come out to welcome him, Zhang Shou, who had already waited for several days, suppressed his restless emotions.

He brushed away that agitation, nodded with a polite remark, and then followed the child as he walked slowly into the Dao Field.