The Prodigies War

Chapter 1867: Challenge from Phantasm Empyrean Island

Located in the extreme east of Cloud State, Sacred Wind Dao Mountain was a mountain range that towered among auspicious clouds and divine haze. It was no doubt a top-class blessed land.

In the Primordial Chaos World where the atmosphere was rich with chaos qi, any place that could be considered a blessed land was something that all cultivators yearned for.

Xuanji Dao Sect, one of the seven major lineages of Cloud State, dwelled in this mountain range.

After half a month on the road, Lin Xun and Jintian Xuanyue appeared before Sacred Wind Dao Mountain.

Looking at the expansive and majestic mountains from afar, even Lin Xun was astonished.

What a heavenly place!

Even the naked eye could see the chaos qi here, which had taken on the form of snake dragons as they hung from the sky above the peaks. On top of that, everything was submerged in auspicious sunlight that was condensed like a sea of steaming clouds.

Taking in the broad view of it, one could not help but suspect that it was paradise inhabited by immortals and not something this world could possess.

“Let’s go salute the mountain gate.” Lin Xun forged straight ahead.

When the two were several hundred thousand feet away from the ancient, lofty gate, they saw a group of feather-clad cultivators charging out from there.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” asked the tall and sturdy man leading the group with a calm demeanor.

“This humble cultivator, Jin Duyi, would like to see your sect master about something,” replied Lin Xun casually.

If he directly said that he wanted to see Bo Yazi, the other party would definitely think he was crazy and blast him out.

After all, Bo Yazi was the founding ancestor of Xuanji Dao Sect who had existed for countless ages. It was hard to say whether such an ancient figure was alive or not.

“Our sect master?” The tall man was startled. “Do you have an invitation?”

Lin Xun shook his head. “Please inform your sect master that I’m here to discuss something very important.”

After saying that, he cupped his fist.

Seeing Lin Xun’s polite attitude, the tall man’s expression relaxed quite a bit as he said, “I wouldn’t mind helping you any other day, Fellow Daoist, but today is different.”

Lin Xun raised his brow. “Why is that?”

The tall man looked stern as he replied, “It is not something I can disclose, and I hope you could understand. Perhaps you can come again after a while.”

With that, the Xuanji Dao Sect disciples looked as if they were about to go back into the mountain gate.

“Wait.” Jintian Xuanyue suddenly said, “My Young Master went on a long journey across the seven states just to come here, only for you to turn him away like that. Don’t you think that’s inconsiderate?”

The tall man frowned, his expression heavy. “You have neither an invitation nor a token. Our sect master is not someone anyone can just see because they want to. Please leave!”

A direct expulsion order was given.

Jintian Xuanyue suddenly tossed out a blinding white token and said, “This is the Imperial Jintian Clan’s Emperor Bai Token. Are we qualified to meet your sect master now?”

Startled, the tall man caught the token and saw the front side was engraved with the ancient characters ‘Jintian Clan,’ while the back was branded with the emblem of White Emperor City.

Holding it in his hand, he could feel a domineering aura beating against his face.

The Imperial Jintian Clan!

While this clan wasn’t located in his world, who did not know about this huge, nebula-shaking monster?

It ran neck and neck with the Primeval Imperial Clans in the Primordial Chaos World!

“Uh…” The tall man hesitated, while the other Xuanji Dao Sect disciples around him were also at a loss.

People like them had certainly heard about the Jintian Clan, but how could they have ever seen a unique status-representation treasure such as Emperor Bai Token?

“If you can’t determine its authenticity, then go and ask your master. If even the leader of Xuanji Dao Sect can’t do that, then we have nothing to say.” Jintian Xuanyue was nonchalant.

“Alright, please wait a moment,” said the tall man as he hurried away.

Jintian Xuanyue then whispered, “Will you blame me for acting like that, Young Master?”

Lin Xun shook his head with a smile.

At the same time, a pretty young girl clad in a feathered coat blurted out, “Don’t tell me…you guys are also here to challenge Senior Brother Ji Qian?”

Lin Xun was stunned. Of course he knew Ji Qian, who he had heard from Jiang Heng to be the strongest true disciple of Xuanji Dao Sect.

However, he wasn’t here to look for Ji Qian this time.

“No.” Lin Xun shook his head.

The feather-clothed girl was still suspicious and remarked with a frown, “I hope so.”

The other Xuanji Dao Sect disciples were also wearing worried, preoccupied looks on their faces.

Noticing this, Lin Xun wondered in his heart. Did someone else also barge into their sect today to challenge Ji Qian?

Before long, a majestic figure swept out from the mountain gate. He wore a violet robe, had black hair, and white brows. As his eyes shut and opened, one could see the sharp light surging in them.

His every movement exuded the might of a quasi-Emperor!

“Greetings, Senior Uncle Hong Yu!” saluted the disciples at the gate in unison.

The violet-robed man called Senior Uncle Hong Yu waved his hand before turning his gaze to Lin Xun and Jintian Xuanyue.

“The two of you must be fellow daoists from the Imperial Jintian Clan?” he asked. His voice was thick and neither haughty nor humble.

“Correct.” Jintian Xuanyue nodded.

“You can call this old man Hong Yu. Sect Master has especially ordered me to welcome the two of you.” Hong Yu cupped his fist.

“Many thanks.” Lin Xun cupped his fist back.

Hong Yu made a gesture indicating for them to follow him and started leading the way.

Lin Xun and Jintian Xuanyue followed closely behind.

“So they really are from the Imperial Jintian Clan... I’ve heard that their founding ancestor, Emperor Bai, was a heaven-shaking legend!”

“That’s not something we should be concerned about at the moment. Alas, those guys from Phantasm Empyrean Island said they just wanted to have a learning spar with us, but they obviously have ill intentions.”

“I wonder if Senior Brother Ji Qian and the others will agree to their challenge.”

After Lin Xun’s group disappeared into the mountain gate, the Xuanji Dao Sect disciples all started groaning and letting out sighs of worry.

……

The view suddenly changed upon entrance.

The mountains were like a row of halberds that pointed at the sky, where birds soared and beasts roamed around. Each peak was shrouded in divine light and refreshing air.

In here, one’s every breath was filled with jelly-like aeth qi, and they would feel comfortable and happy as if they were bathing in spring water.

If it was any other day, Hong Yu would have had the patience to introduce the beautiful scenery of his sect to these esteemed guests.

Today, however, he was not in the mood at all.

Along the way, he couldn’t help but say, “If you two don’t mind me asking, what is it that you want to see our leader for?”

Lin Xun replied. “It’s just a very normal visit; there’s absolutely no ill will from us.”

He could also tell that something was off about the atmosphere of Xuanji Dao Sect.

“I see,” said Hong Yu, who decided to explain after some deliberation. “To be honest, our sect has encountered a tricky situation today, so please forgive me should you find anything in our treatment that is not to your satisfaction.”

Although he was a quasi-Emperor, he didn’t dare to neglect the esteemed guests from the Imperial Jintian Clan.

This was the power of the Emperor Bai Token.

Lin Xun nodded and asked, “If you don’t mind, can you tell us about the so-called tricky situation?”

Hong Yu thought about it and sighed, “Since you’ll see it sooner or later, I guess there’s no harm in telling you about it now.”

It turned out that this morning, a group of core disciples from Phantasm Empyrean Island, which was also one of the seven major lineages in Cloud State, had arrived at Xuanji Dao Sect to pay their respects.

In reality, however, their intention was to discuss and compete.

It was normal for disciples of different lineages to conduct sparring matches and discussions, but not in this situation where Phantasm Empyrean Island had obviously come with ill intentions!

Xuanji Dao Sect was ranked third among all the powers in Cloud State, while Phantasm Empyrean Island was ranked fourth.

In other words, the latter had always been suppressed by the former in terms of ranking.

This time, the Phantasm Empyrean Island disciples wanted to use sparring as an excuse to deal a severe blow to the youngsters of Xuanji Dao Sect, thus proving that their younger generation had firmly exceeded their rival’s.

This looked like a competition between the young cultivators on the surface, but what it really involved was the honor of the two lineages. How could Xuanji Dao Sect dare to be negligent?

Moreover, according to Hong Yu, Phantasm Empyrean Island had come prepared this time as each of the disciples they sent was more powerful than the last!

This was something that Xuanji Dao Sect had never expected.

“We are well informed on the more eminent disciples of Phantasm Empyrean Island, but among those who have come to challenge us today, there are many unfamiliar faces. We never caught any wind of them taking in those disciples at all despite each and every one of them being surprisingly strong in combat.”

Hong Yu frowned as his expression clouded over.

At this point, Lin Xun finally understood why he had been turned away at first. It turned out that Xuanji Dao Sect had run into this kind of trouble.

Along the way, he went on to learn that Xuanji Dao Sect’s disciples were divided into four categories: outer, inner, true, and core disciples.

Among them, the outer disciples were highest in numbers, all of whom were at Longevity King Stage and below.

Inner disciples were all True Saint experts.

Only those who had stepped into the Supreme Big Saint Stage were qualified to be accepted as true disciples.

As for the core disciples, each of them was a supreme Saint-King!

However, the number of core disciples was also the smallest. A major power like Xuanji Dao Sect only had around thirty of them.

Even so, it still amazed Lin Xun.

There was no need to talk about how powerful supreme Saint-Kings were, and yet, they were only considered core disciples in Xuanji Dao Sect.

If that was the case, then just how powerful would a force like one among the Great Six Courts be in terms of depths and strength?

This maybe was a sight one could only see in the Primordial Chaos World. It was certainly worthy of its title as the number one great world on the Ancient Nebula Road!

Chatting as they walked, the group arrived at the peak of a divine mountain.

The whole surface had been built with a platform that sat among a sea of clouds. Currently, many people were distributed on the platform.

One party were cultivators of Xuanji Dao Sect. Leading them was a thin, middle-aged man dressed in Taoist clothes and a feathered crown. He looked dignified as he stood with hands on his back.

Like the moon being surrounded by stars, he was surrounded by a group of high-ranking personnel who were followed by many disciples.

“That’s our sect master!”

Hong Yu gazed at the thin, middle-aged man from afar with heartfelt respect in his eyes.