Chapter 240: Discussion Among Golden Immortals
One day, several years later, in a majestic palace somewhere in the Blaze Dragon Dao.
The ceiling of the palace was extremely tall, while the interior was vast and spacious. There were eight thick pillars supporting the ceiling, and each pillar had a giant dragon engaged in a different activity engraved upon it, with some roaring to the heavens, some soaring through the sky, and some locked in fierce battle.
Every single one of those dragons were extremely life-like, as if they could spring to life and fly out of the pillars at any moment.
There was a giant plaque hanging in the hall that read "Dragon God Palace", and beneath the plaque was a massive statue depicting another dragon that was roaring to the heavens.
In contrast with the extremely intricate craftsmanship of the dragons engraved onto the eight pillars, this dragon statue had been carved out in a far less sophisticated fashion. In fact, many of the scales on its body hadn't even been carved out, and it resembles the creation of a complete amateur.
Despite the fact that the statue was a little rough around the edges, there was an indescribable sense of mystique about it. It was as if there were another pair of eyes within the statue's crudely carved out eyes, looking down upon all of the insignificant ants of the world like an almighty dragon god.
The giant statue cast a huge shadow within the hall, striking the beholder with a sense fo awe and veneration.
Furthermore, there was a huge altar in front of the statue, which was laden with incense and offerings.
At this moment, there were three people standing in the hall, at the center of which was a purple-robed middle-aged man with an authoritative expression. It was none other than Ouyang Kuishan.
The second person was Bai Suyuan's seductive and stunningly beautiful mistress, Dao Lord Yun, and the third person was the golden-robed Deputy Dao Lord Xiong, who was standing around 10 feet away in a respectful manner.
The three of them were all silent, and they seemed to have been waiting for something.
Moments later, the sound of footsteps rang out, and three more figures made their way into the hall.
They were led by a gray-robed old man with a red nose, and if Han Li were here, he would be surprised to find that it was none other than Elder Hu Yan.
Beside him was a woman in a black dress with black veil over her face, concealing all of her features with the exception of a pair of cold eyes. However, she appeared to have been quite young, and her fingernails were a peculiar dark purple color, while also giving off a faint sheen.
The final figure in the trio was a black-robed young man who appeared to have only been in his twenties. He was quite handsome, with a head of long golden hair, and his face was also slightly golden in color, while a golden wheel was sitting on his back.
"You're finally here, fellow daoists. The five of us are finally all gathered in one place," Ouyang Kuishan said as he approached the three figures with a smile on his face.
A faint smile had also appeared on Dao Lord Yun's face, and even though three people had entered the hall, her gaze had remained fixed exclusively on Elder Hu Yan with a barely detectable hint of displeasure in her eyes.
The respectful look on Xiong Shan's face became even more pronounced as he extended a salute toward the three new arrivals.
The trio paid no heed to Xiong Shan, extending a collective salute toward the giant dragon statue instead before turning to Ouyang Kuishan and the others.
In the face of Dao Lord Yun's scrutiny, Elder Hu Yan was clearly feeling a little awkward, and he looked directly at Ouyang Kuishan as he said, "Fellow Daoist Ouyang, seeing as you're currently in charge of the sect, you can take care of the sect's internal affairs as you see fit. For what reason have you decided to call this meeting?"
The woman in the black dress and the golden-haired young man also turned to Ouyang Kuishan, waiting for an answer.
"Believe me, I wouldn't have interrupted your cultivation had there been an alternative. A while back, an incident took place in the Profound Ice Mountain Range while the core disciples were undergoing their trial. This matter has the potential to be quite significant, and that's why I must discuss it with you all," Ouyang Kuishan said as a serious look appeared on his face.
Elder Hu Yan was already aware of the incident, so he wasn't surprised to hear this.
As for the two people behind him, the golden-haired young man seemed to have also already heard about this, while the woman in the black dress appeared slightly perplexed, seemingly only having just been made aware of the incident.
After a brief pause, Ouyang Kuishan gave everyone a detailed recount of the incident that took place in the Profound Ice Mountain Range.
"... Thankfully, the two elders overseeing the trial were able to intervene in time to destroy the infiltrator's physical body, and only his nascent soul managed to escape. As for the disciples undertaking the trial, all of them also survived, so overall, there were no significant consequences," Ouyang Kuishan concluded.
"No significant consequences? Prior to coming here, I heard that four of the disciples had their physical bodies destroyed. Those four were all bright talents of the inner sect with exceptional aptitude.
“Now that their physical bodies have been destroyed, even if they can find new bodies to possess, their aptitude will be significantly compromised. Those two elders must be severely punished for their failure to protect the disciples!" the golden-haired young man said in a cold voice.
The 13 dao lords of the Blaze Dragon Dao were also split up into the native and itinerant factions.
The golden-haired young man was a native dao lord, and the four inner sect disciples who had lost their physical bodies during the trial were all native disciples, while all of the itinerant cultivators remained completely unharmed.
The seniors of the four disciples were furious upon hearing this, and they were all of the opinion that the two elders had favored the itinerant cultivators over the native ones.
Even if Ouyang Kuishan hadn't called for this meeting, the golden-haired young man was planning to pursue this matter further anyway.
"I'll have to disagree, Fellow Daoist Yuan. We've already familiarized ourselves with the sequence of events, and the two elders are not at fault. That True Immortal Stage intruder was extremely cunning and also quite powerful.
“Additionally, he had set up multiple arrays ahead of time, and it's already quite commendable that the two elders were able to destroy his physical body while keeping the disciples safe, so I think we should reward them instead," Dao Lord Yun retorted as she turned to take a glance at the golden-haired young man.
Dao Lord Yun was an itinerant cultivator before joining the sect, and the same applied to Ouyang Kuishan as well.
"How could you say that, Fellow Daoist Yun? They took on the mission to protect the disciples, and that made them responsible for all unforeseen mishaps. How can you say that they're not at fault when the physical bodies of those four disciples were destroyed?" the golden-haired young man countered in a justified manner.
"I think we all know whether you're actually discussing this matter objectively, or trying to take advantage of this opportunity to further your own agenda," Dao Lord Yun said with a cold smile.
"What did you say?!"
An enraged look appeared on the golden-haired young man's face but before he could say anything else, Elder Hu Yan gave him a stern glare, as he interjected, "That's enough, Yuan Bushao! Fellow Daoist Ouyang is the one in charge of the sect right now, so he's the one that gets to decide the verdict on this matter. I'm sure he'll make a decision that's satisfactory for all of us."
"Of course. You can rest assured on that, Fellow Daoist Hu Yan," Ouyang Kuishan assured with a smile.
Yuan Bushao clearly wanted to argue the point further, but he refrained from saying anything in the end.
A cold smile appeared on Dao Lord Yun's face, and she also remained silent.
"After the trial, I had in-depth conversations with both of the elders and the disciples that undertook the trial, and this is the information I've managed to gather on that True Immortal Stage intruder. All three of you are more knowledgeable and experienced than I am, so I invited you here to see if you can identify him," Ouyang Kuishan said as he pulled out three jade slips and handed them out.
The trio accepted the jade slips, then injected their spiritual sense into them.
"Deputy Dao Lord Xiong, your input is quite valuable as well, so you should take a look as well," Ouyang Kuishan said as he offered a jade slip to Xiong Shan as well.
Xiong Shan extended a respectful bow as he accepted the jade slip, then injected his spiritual sense into it as well.
The initial part of the content in the jade slip was a piece of footage, and it recorded the entire process from when the elderly man began conversing with Bai Suyuan and the other disciples, all the way to the point when he was defeated by Han Li and fled the scene.
Xiong Shan's expression changed slightly as he heard the elderly man mention Bai Fengyi.
After that came some text and images, denoting the items that the elderly man had been carrying.
"Who recorded the footage? It's very detailed, and it's very remarkable that one of the disciples was able to have the presence of mind to record this footage while in the heat of battle," Elder Hu Yan asked.
"It was Dao Lord Yun's disciple, Bai Suyuan," Ouyang Kuishan replied.
Elder Hu Yan took a glance at Dao Lord Yun before immediately withdrawing his gaze. "I see. Not only does she possess exceptional aptitude, it seems her mental qualities are just as stellar."
"I have an eye for people, so my disciples are naturally all outstanding. I'm not blind like a certain someone," Dao Lord Yun scoffed with a meaningful look in her eyes.
Elder Hu Yan sheepishly rubbed his own nose and offered no response.
The atmosphere had suddenly become a little awkward, and Ouyang Kuishan cleared his throat as he asked, "Does anyone have any ideas on who this person could be?"
"All of the items in his possession are quite ordinary, and there's nothing that we can use to identify him. However, judging from the cultivation arts that he used, it seems like he may be from the Upper Ah Continent," the woman in the black dress remarked in a slightly raspy voice.
"That golden-armored puppet looks a lot like the Wise King Puppets of the Infernal Frost Continent's Holy Puppet Sect," Yuan Bushao chimed in.
"That does indeed appear to be a Wise King Puppet. However, the Wise King Puppets of the Holy Puppet Sect are indeed quite precious, but they can still be purchased for a price, so it's impossible to identify him from the puppet," Elder Hu Yan said.
Ouyang Kuishan turned to Xiong Shan as he asked, "Is there anything you can enlighten us with, Deputy Dao Lord Xiong?"
"I wouldn't dare to say enlighten. I am far less knowledgeable and experienced than all of you, but I did notice that the sword array that he unleashed is a little similar to the Seven Deaths Sword Array of the Boundless Sword Sect," Xiong Shan replied in a humble manner.
"I've heard of the Seven Deaths Sword Array, it's an extremely renowned sword array from the Boundless Sword Sect, but how is it so pitifully weak? Not only was that elder with the Li surname able to destroy it with ease, he even managed to destroy those five flying swords as well," Yuan Bushao scoffed, clearly unconvinced by Xiong Shan's statement.
"I'm not sure of it myself, I just feel like it looks a little similar," Xiong Shan said as he lowered his head.
"Deputy Dao Lord Xiong is very proficient in the way of the sword, and I heard that he once obtained a lost inheritance of the Boundless Sword Sect, so I'm sure he's correct here. The reason why Elder Li was able to destroy the sword array so easily isn't because the array is too weak. Instead, it's because his attacks were sufficiently powerful to do so.
“It looks like the Mantra Treasured Axis that he refined contains heavy water that is imbued with the power of water laws, and that's quite a unique path, producing a very powerful treasure. If it wasn't for him, I'd say it wouldn't have just been a matter of four disciples having their physical bodies destroyed. If you ask me, you should reward him handsomely, Fellow Daoist Ouyang," Elder Hu Yan said.
Everyone else was rather taken aback to hear this.
It was very difficult to clearly assess the situation from the footage, so they could only speculate about what had taken place during the battle, but it appeared that Elder Hu Yan was very confident in his assessment of the battle, and no one was going to rebuke him.
"Indeed, Fellow Daoist Hu Yan. I'll make sure to have that arranged, but back to the subject at hand, it appears that the intruder won't be so easy to identify," Ouyang Kuishan mused.
Yuan Bushao wanted to say something further, but he held his tongue in the end after taking a glance at Elder Hu Yan.
Dao Lord Yun took a glance at everyone else, and there was a slightly concerned look on her face.
That man had attempted to abduct Bai Suyuan, so in her eyes, it was of the utmost importance for him to be tracked down and dealt with.
After a brief hesitation, Ouyang Kuishan said, "There's also something else that needs to be noted. That man mentioned Bai Fengyi, and it seems like there's some type of connection between the two."
Contemplative looks appeared on everyone's faces upon hearing this.
"Speaking of Bai Fengyi, it's quite a pity what happened to him. If it wasn't for what happened back then, given his aptitude, perhaps our Blaze Dragon Dao would've had 14 Golden Immortal Stage dao lords by now," Elder Hu Yan sighed.
A slightly dejected look appeared in Dao Lord Yun's eyes upon hearing this.
"I'm afraid we're also unable to identify the intruder, so just take care of this matter as you see fit, Fellow Daoist Ouyang," Elder Huyan said, then turned to depart.
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave, Fellow Daoist Hu Yan?"
In the blink of an eye, Dao Lord Yun appeared in front of Elder Hu Yan, blocking his path.
"Haven't you always been an avid wine enthusiast? I happened to get my hands on a few jars of fine immortal wine a while back, would you like to come over and have a taste? I also have questions about cultivation that I'd like to ask you as well," Dao Lord Yun said.
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