Chapter 326: Gradual Arrivals
"You're a little late, Brother Li! All of the good spots up there have already been taken," Qi Liang said with a smile.
"It's fine. All I need to do is listen and absorb Dao Lord Baili's teachings, why fret over whether I'm close or far away from the platform?" Han Li replied with a nonchalant shake of his head.
"Such a mindset is certainly true to your character, Brother Li. No wonder you've been able to make such rapid progress in your cultivation! If you ask me, once you reach the late-True Immortal Stage in the next 10,000 years, you'll be able to claim a spot among one of the 36 deputy dao lords. Make sure not to forget about me when that happens," Qi Liang chuckled.
"You're far too kind, Brother Qi. Unless I can attain the Great Dao during this very preaching ceremony, there's no way I could make another breakthrough in the next 10,000 years," Han Li replied with a wry smile.
Qi Liang burst into laughter upon hearing this, then changed the subject. "By the way, I haven't seen you at all these past few days. Could it be that you've already obtained the treasures that you're looking for."
"If it were so easy to find what I'm looking for, then I wouldn't have been struggling with the task for so long. There were some unforeseen matters that I had to take care of the past few days, and that's why I came here so late," Han Li replied in an ambiguous manner.
"Indeed. I had thought that I would be able to secure some prized treasures during such an auspicious event, but I still wasn't able to find any of the things that I've been searching for," Qi Liang sighed in response.
While Han Li and Qi Liang were chatting with one another, a deafening boom suddenly rang out in the sky, and the two of them hurriedly looked up to see a massive bolt of purple lightning crashing down from the heavens, aimed at a certain spot on the white jade platform.
After the bolt of lightning faded, around a dozen figures emerged, one of which was the purple-robed Ouyang Kuishan, the current managing dao lord of the Blaze Dragon Dao.
As for the dozen or so figures accompanying him, all of them had restrained their own auras, but many of the Blaze Dragon Dao's members had already identified them to have been deputy dao lords of the sect.
Ouyang Kuishan sat on one of the cushions in the first row situated to the left of the cauldron, and only after that did all of the deputy dao lords accompanying him sit down as well.
As soon as this collection of important figures appeared on the platform, all of the Blaze Dragon Dao elders and disciples seated on the surrounding stone staircase instantly sat up straighter, while the chatter around the platform also gradually died down. Even the exchange events taking place at the foot of the mountain had been put on pause, and everyone was looking up at the mountain summit.
In the blink of an eye, the entire area within a radius of hundreds of kilometers of the white jade platform had fallen completely silent.
A few minutes later, a gust of golden wind swept forth from the distant sky, then faded as it neared the platform to reveal seven or eight figures.
The two figures that were leading the way were quite peculiar in appearance.
One of them appeared to have been no different from a normal woman, except she had silver skin and a pair of thin and pointy ears. Standing next to her was a burly man with his face covered in golden fur and scales growing on his eyelids.
The five or six figures behind them clearly also weren't human.
The silver-skinned woman and the golden-furred man each gave a nod to Ouyang Kuishan, then sat down onto the cushions next to him before their entourage sat down as well.
Han Li had never seen these two people before, but it was clear that they were most likely also Golden Immortal Stage dao lords, while those accompanying them had to have been deputy dao lords as well.
Not long after their arrival, a woman in a black dress with a black veil concealing her face arrived atop a giant black crow steed.
In contrast with the previous dao lords to have arrived, she was doing so on her own without an entourage, and she gave Ouyang Kuishan a brief greeting before sitting down on a cushion not far away from him.
Immediately after her came a handsome man with a head of long golden hair, and he was accompanied by 15 or 16 deputy dao lords.
Over the course of the next hour, more and more dao lords and deputy dao lords arrived, and Daoist Hu Yan and Yun Ni only arrived when there were only two vacant cushions left in the front row to the left of the cauldron.
On this day, not only had Daoist Hu Yan changed into a pristine white robe, his hair was also immaculately groomed, and he was clean shaven as well, indicating that he was taking this event quite seriously.
Yun Ni was walking along beside him with a faint smile on her face, and she was still just as seductive as ever, with many of the dao lords and deputy dao lords unconsciously lowering their heads, not daring to look at her.
Ouyang Kuishan was rather taken aback to see Daoist Hu Yan and Yun Ni arriving together, and he rose to his feet for the first time after sitting down as he smiled and said, "Welcome, Fellow Daoist Hu Yan, Fellow Daoist Yun. Now that you're here, everyone has arrived."
"Surely we're not late, Dao Lord Baili isn't even here yet," Daoist Hu Yan said as he took a glance at Ouyang Kuishan.
"Indeed, but it's about time for the ceremony to begin, so please take your seats," Ouyang Kuishan said as he took a glance at Yun Ni.
Daoist Hu Yan gave an indifferent nod in response before making his way toward the two vacant cushions with Yun Ni.
Han Li remained seated with his legs crossed as his gaze roamed over all of these figures that he had never seen before. He discovered that aside from the silver-skinned woman and the golden-furred man, there was another demonic man among the 12 dao lords, while the rest were all human. As for the 36 deputy dao lords, the only ones who weren't human were the ones that had accompanied those two demonic dao lords here.
Out of all of these people, he only recognized a few, including Xiong Shan.
These people formed the core of the entire Blaze Dragon Dao, and at this moment, they were all gathered on the summit of the White Jade Peak. Even though they were all restraining their auras, everyone around the platform was still struck by a sense of asphyxiation.
The entire mountain summit had become even more quiet, while the atmosphere was also a little tense.
Around 15 minutes later, a burst of five-colored light suddenly appeared in the distant sky, enveloped within which was a huge five-colored camel, and it was rapidly approaching the scene.
The camel was around 1,000 feet in size with circles of five-colored runes inscribed all over its body, and the two humps on its back resembled a pair of small mountains. Seated atop one of the humps was an elderly man in a colorful robe.
"Yu Yangzi of the Five Light Temple has come to observe the ceremony," the elderly man declared as he approached the platform.
"Long time no see, Fellow Daoist Yu Yangzi. You're still looking as fine as ever! Would you happen to have any surplus Five Light Pills? I've been wanting to get some for a very long time, but they've proved very elusive to find," Ouyang Kuishan greeted with a smile.
"Of course I always have some to spare for you, Fellow Daoist Ouyang! As long as it's not too much, I can certainly spare two or three vials," Yu Yangzi replied with a smile as he descended onto the white jade platform.
"Fantastic! I also have some Dense Summer Earth here. Are you interested, Fellow Daoist?" Ouyang Kuishan asked.
An elated look appeared on Yu Yangzi's face upon hearing this, and he hurriedly replied, "Really? I'm happy to take all of it off your hands, just state your price!"
"There's no hurry, Fellow Daoist Yu Yangzi. Once the ceremony is over, you can come to my cave abode, and we'll discuss the matter over some tea," Ouyang Kuishan said.
"Alright, I'll be sure to come," Yu Yangzi replied with a nod.
The Five Light Temple wasn't quite on the same level as the Blaze Dragon Dao, but it was still a vastly renowned sect in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region, and that was why he had been arranged a seat in the first row to the right of the cauldron.
Shortly thereafter, a vast expanse of black light swept in from the distant sky, containing a massive black inkstone with intricate floral designs engraved upon it, giving it a gorgeous appearance.
"Layman Mo of the Fleeing Palace has come to attend the preaching ceremony," a low and raspy voice declared from the inkstone.
After that, the inkstone abruptly vanished to reveal a black-skinned elderly man who was no more than five feet tall and was stroking his own thick beard.
"Welcome, Layman Mo," Ouyang Kuishan said as he rose to his feet and cupped his fist in a salute.
Layman Mo merely returned his salute in a half-hearted fashion before walking past him, and Ouyang Kuishan's expression stiffened ever so slightly, but he quickly recovered his composure and sat back down.
Meanwhile, Layman Mo approached Daoist Hu Yan with a wide smile as he asked, "Why haven't you come to my Fleeting Palace these past 10,000 years, you old drunk? Could it be that you've already forgotten this drinking buddy of yours?"
"You're one to talk! You went into seclusion for tens of thousands of years without coming out even once! I visited you so many times, only to be kept out like some unwelcome guest! Having said that, you really did come at the right time, I've saved up quite a bit of fine wine that's not inferior to your Ink Cloud Spirit Wine," Daoist Hu Yan declared with a proud expression.
A furious look immediately appeared on Layman Mo's face upon hearing this. "There's no wine in this world that's more delectable than the Ink Cloud Spirit Wine I've personally brewed! You haven't even had a drink yet, and you're already spouting drunk nonsense! When have you ever been able to acquire a wine that's superior to mine?"
"You can find out if my claims are true or not after the ceremony," Daoist Hu Yan replied, taking a glance at Yun Ni out of the corner of his eye as he spoke.
"Alright, you better not disappoint me."
A wide smile appeared on Layman Mo's face as he made his way over to the right side of the cauldron before taking a seat next to Yu Yangzi.
Before long, around a dozen of the cushions to the right of the cauldron had been occupied, while roughly half of them remained vacant.
This wasn't because there weren't that many people from other sects who wanted to attend the ceremony. On the contrary, the number of sects that wanted to be in attendance far surpassed this, but most of them were rather small and weak, so they had been arranged seats in other parts of the plaza.
The spots on the platform itself were limited, and it would've been rather unsightly for too many people to be crammed onto it.
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