“I… I’m not too sure either!” Yuan Tao scratched his head in embarrassment.
His seniors and juniors had all reached Ancient Sage, leaving him trailing at the back. This was extremely heart-wrenching for him!
For his cultivation to actually advance so slowly… he was really a shame to his teacher!
“If I knew, I wouldn’t have resorted to binge eating to console my wounded soul,” Yuan Tao muttered unhappily as he took out a fistful of assorted snacks and stuffed them into his mouth, creating annoying crunching sounds.
Ignoring this glutton, Zhao Ya turned to Lu Chong and worriedly asked, “I think that you might have improved a little too quickly over the past month. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
After Zhang Xuan departed, Lu Chong had reverted to his reticent state. His personality became extremely placid, almost like he was a corpse. Yet, as if he had injected himself with steroids, his cultivation rose by leaps and bounds!
Zheng Yang had managed to reach Ancient Sage 1-dan Bloodline Continuance realm consummation through exploiting the time acceleration in the Hall of Spring and Autumn, but Lu Chong… he had actually managed to reach Blood Reincarnation realm primary stage!
To reach such a level within the short span of a month… this was truly unbelievable!
Lu Chong shook his head and replied curtly. “I’m fine.”
“After reaching Ancient Sage, every single breakthrough requires a massive amount of energy. It’s not normal for you to advance your cultivation so quickly. If you fail to reinforce your cultivation properly, a huge problem could very well occur in the future,” Zheng Yang added with concern.
If he had to pick a fault with this junior of his, it would be that he was too reticent. He seemed to bottle up so much inside of him that it felt frustrating just to look at him.
If he could just share his problems, they might still be able to discuss it and offer some suggestions. However, this junior of his only stubbornly chose to keep everything to himself and put his all into cultivating. If the other party had never met their teacher, who knew what would have become of him now?
Seeing the looks everyone was shooting him, Lu Chong was silent for a moment before explaining, “Teacher gave me the Seal of Souls.”
“Un.” The crowd nodded in response.
Prior to his departure, Zhang Xuan had distributed all of the treasures that he had gathered in the Temple of Confucius to everyone.
The Seal of Souls was the insignia of the head of the Soul Oracle Guild, and Lu Chong did not hide the fact that he had obtained this from their teacher.
“Harnessed within the Seal of Souls is the concentrated soul energy derived from 110,000 souls of Saint 3-dan and above cultivators. I have spent the past month absorbing it, and that allowed my soul energy to grow swiftly,” Lu Chong explained.
“110,000 souls?”
“And all of them are Saint 3-dan and above?”
Everyone was stunned.
They could not even begin to imagine how stupendously massive that amount of energy was. That explained how Lu Chong was able to advance his cultivation so quickly. With so much soul energy to fuel his cultivation, it would be hard for him not to improve swiftly!
“Prior to entering the Temple of Confucius, our teacher killed 110,000 Otherworldly Demon soldiers and resolved a crisis of mankind. Could these souls have come from there?” Zheng Yang suddenly asked.
As the Combat Master Hall kept a close eye on the situation in the Subterranean Galleries, he was well aware of his teacher’s accomplishments there. 110,000 souls from Saint 3-dan and above cultivators could not possibly have come from nowhere, and the only incident that seemed to tally was that.
“That seems to be the case. Teacher didn’t absorb anything at all and chose to leave everything to me instead…” Lu Chong nodded as he subconsciously clenched his fists.
He could not understand why his teacher would choose to leave so much energy to him instead of absorbing it for himself. Nevertheless, he vowed to use this gift for meaningful purposes.
Knowing that Lu Chong had gained his strength through proper means instead of forced growth, Zhao Ya heaved a sigh of relief. She pondered for a moment before saying, “Junior Lu Chong, given your cultivation, it would be best if you coordinated with me and Zheng Yang in attacking the new Sovereign Chen Yong. You’ll be the main attacker, and the two of us will support you!”
Lu Chong nodded to indicate that he understood.
“As for Wang Ying…” Zhao Ya turned to Wang Ying and said, “Even though you only achieved a breakthrough to Ancient Sage not too long ago, in the twenty days since arriving at the capital, you should have familiarized yourself with the surroundings!”
“I have already enchanted all of the major buildings and city walls in the capital. They are all on standby, waiting for my command. As soon as the operation starts, all of the buildings and city walls will charge over and plunge the area into pandemonium!” Wang Ying replied with a chuckle.
During their few days in the capital, she had devoting most of her time enchanting everything in the surroundings.
“Furthermore, I have also buried the tree root in the ground. With a thought, I’ll be able to transform the entire capital into a desert. Unless one has reached Ancient Sage, they will never be able to escape from the desert!”
Zhang Xuan had given Wang Ying the Berserk Sand Wood previously, and it was a true weapon of mass destruction.
“That’s good. Since all the preparations are ready, we shall set forth right now. Once we get to that part of the inauguration ceremony, be prepared to make a move at any moment!” Zhao Ya instructed grimly.
“Yes!” the crowd replied resoundingly as they rose to their feet grimly.
They could die in this battle, but failure was not permitted.
They quickly disguised themselves by altering their physical structure and appearances before returning to the streets. At that moment, the Otherworldly Demons were already making their way toward the square in front of Sovereign Chen Yong’s palace.
They swiftly blended into the crowd and followed them toward the square.
By the time they reached the square, it was already filled with countless Otherworldly Demons. Excited chatter could be heard here and there, and everyone waited anxiously for the start of the inauguration.
All of a sudden, there was a resounding clap, and the entire square fell silent. A dimension rift opened up right above the massive square, and an Otherworldly Demon dressed in a majestic, golden robe and an ornate crown came out from within.
With a resounding voice, he declared, “Fellow tribesmen of the Spirit Tribe, I welcome you to my inauguration ceremony. Today marks the day that I succeed the will of the predecessors and am inaugurated as the next Sovereign Chen Yong!”
As he spoke, the new Sovereign Chen Yong slowly descended to the tall platform erected at the very center of the square.
…
At the same time, in a tower a long distance away from the square, Zhang Xuan watched as the towering figure slowly descended onto the tall platform. He could not help but heave a sigh of relief as all of his interactions with Liu Yang flashed through his mind.
Liu Yang had always been an extremely competitive person. He would unwittingly compare himself to his seniors and juniors, but more often than not, such comparisons would just leave him feeling deeply stressed out and anxious. Unable to withstand the pressure back then, he had chosen to depart without saying a word.
Who would have thought that he would chance upon his own fortuitous encounter and eventually rise to such heights?
Once he gained full control over the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, mankind would no longer have to worry about them.
“With him around, we’ll finally be free from the menace of the Otherworldly Demons,” Ancient Sage Mo Ling said with a relieved smile.
The Soul Oracle Guild had endured tens of thousands of years of humiliation and suffering, praying for the slim hope that mankind would one day be free from the threat of the Otherworldly Demons. However, Ancient Sage Mo Ling had never thought that such a day would actually come in his lifetime.
“Indeed. It’s finally all over…” Zhang Xuan nodded.
But halfway through his words, he suddenly frowned.
Hu la!
All of a sudden, a ferocious aura rose from beneath and surged right in the direction of the newly appointed Sovereign Chen Yong.
Following which, a spear and a sword darted forward from two different directions. At the same time, the surrounding space froze in place, hindering the movements of those in the area.
“An assassination!”
Ancient Sage Mo Ling and Ancient Sage Allfire narrowed their eyes, and killing intent flared from their bodies.
They had busied themselves for an entire month in order to build the momentum for Liu Yang’s inauguration. Who could have known that some brainless fool would still make a move on this important occasion?
“Master, I’ll go kill those dimwits right now!” Ancient Sage Allfire spat as he raised his talons ferociously.
“There’s no need to be too anxious. Let’s just watch first and decide what we should do next.” Zhang Xuan was also taken aback for a moment before a smile crept onto his lips.
“Watch first?”
The two Ancient Sages could not understand how Zhang Xuan could remain so composed.
“Don’t worry, this is a trial that Liu Yang should overcome on his own. If he’s able to overcome this, he will enjoy unshakable faith among the Otherworldly Demons in the future. On the other hand, if he fails… it won’t be too late for us to step in!” Zhang Xuan said as he stood up.
With his eye of discernment, there was no way he could not recognize that swordsmanship and spearmanship. Since that was the case, there was nothing for him to worry about.
…
In the square, as the newly appointed Sovereign Chen Yong saw the three figures darting in his direction, he could not help but freeze for an instant.
These moves and cultivation techniques… Liu Yang narrowed his eyes in astonishment.
The three surges of the energy coming his way were simply too familiar.
They’re from Junior Lu Chong, Junior Zheng Yang, and Senior Zhao Ya!
They… What are they doing here?
