Chapter 639: Every Attendee Recognizes an Expert
As they proceeded up the path to the top of the mountain, Yuan Heng couldn’t bear the sight of Lan Suo’s hurt and grief.
He tried to encourage her. “Miss Lan Suo, there’s no need to stay in a sect like that!”
Su Yi nodded. “Once this matter is settled, if you’re willing, you and your master can continue your cultivation in the ruins of the Immortals’ Sword House.”
Bu Fan wanted to say something too, but he remembered that Lan Suo and Wang Luyong mentioned the Five-Lightning Spirit Sect.
In that case, it wouldn’t do for him to take a stance before understanding the situation.
Were this just one of the Donghua Sword Sect’s internal affairs, there’d be no need to trouble anyone else.?Bu Fan?alone could have talked sense into the leader of the Donghua Sword Sect!
Before long, the group arrived at the mountaintop.
It was spacious and surrounded in a churning sea of clouds. Misty light hung in the air, and towering, verdant pine trees grew near the cliffside.
When the wind blew, the pines swayed, the rustling needles a form of natural music. The sound shook the hearts of all who heard it.
This?was Pinewave?Plateau.
The ten-thousand-foot-wide plateau had been leveled into jade ritual grounds as smooth as the surface of a mirror.
Numerous individual-sized tables and cushions had been set up throughout the ritual grounds.
The Cloud Terrace Assembly was due to begin at noon. A few influential figures had already arrived on Pinewave Plateau, and they were clustered in groups and chatting amongst themselves.
When Lan Suo arrived, she immediately noticed the leader of the Donghua Sword Sect, Qiu Tianchi!
He wore a changshan and a high-brimmed hat. He was clean-shaven, with an elegant, scholarly bearing.
However, the leader of the Donghua Sword Sect was currently waiting upon an elder in red, pouring his drinks with an obsequious smile on his face. He was saying something, but she wasn’t sure what.
When she saw his toadyish, fawning behavior, Lan Suo almost dared not believe her eyes.?This… Is this still the sect leader whose name once shook the Great Qin? The man whose prestige intimidated an entire region?
Even though Lan Suo knew that the world had changed enormously over the past few months, and even though she knew that the Donghua Sword Sect now answered to the Wrath of Heaven Sect, and that it was no longer one of the three top factions of the Great Qin…
Witnessing this still came as an enormous shock!
Practically simultaneously, Qiu Tianchi noticed Lan Suo.
He was initially stunned. Then, his expression shifted. He lowered his head, apologized to the elder in red, then scurried over.
“Lan Suo,” Qiu Tianchi whispered a rebuke, “No matter why you’ve come, hurry up and leave. This is no place for you!”
“I….” Lan Suo was just about to say something when Su Yi glanced at the leader of the Donghua Sword Sect.
“I brought her here.”
Earlier, Qiu Tianchi had been so fixated on rebuking Lan Suo that he didn’t even notice Su Yi.
When he saw who he was dealing with, Qiu Tianchi couldn’t help but gasp.?Su Yi!?
It was then that?Bu Fan?stepped in to introduce them. “Fellow Daoist Qiu, this is His Excellency Su Yi, a VIP guest of the Wrath of Heaven Sect. Don’t forget your manners.”
Qiu Tianchi’s expression shifted erratically.
How could he possibly be ignorant of just how terrifying this young man in blue was?
He dared not hesitate. He immediately plastered an apologetic look on his face and bowed. “So, you were here, Your Excellency. I was careless earlier. Please, don’t take offense.”
“....”
Lan Suo felt as if she were dreaming. She was inwardly shaken and bewildered.
What…?what?changed the sect leader so much?
And Su Yi! Just how great is his prestige for the sound of his name to terrify the sect leader into being this subservient?
Su Yi paid Qiu Tianchi no heed.
Now that he knew that Qiu Tianchi had stripped the Cloudstone Venerate of his position of high elder and expelled him from the Donghua Sword Sect, how could Su Yi possibly give the man the time of day?
Thus, he blatantly ignored him.
He turned to look at Bu Fan. “Where is my seat?”
Bu Fan?said hurriedly, “Please, right this way.”
As he spoke, he led the way ahead.
“Come on. Let’s go rest for a bit.” Su Yi called Lan Suo over and continued ahead.
Lan Suo followed. She finally understood: since Su Yi was qualified to sit on Pinewave Plateau, his status was completely different than in the past!
After all, even the leader of the Donghua Sword Sect was only qualified to serve as an attendant here!
Furthermore, when he saw Su Yi, he treated him with the utmost respect!
Before long, Bu Fan arranged a spot for Su Yi at a table not far from the cliffside. From here, he could gaze into the sea of clouds. It was a spectacular view.
“You should sit too.” Su Yi called Lan Suo and Yuan Heng over and gestured to the empty seats.
But both of them instinctively shook their heads. There was no doubt about it: the way they saw it, given their statuses, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to sit at an event like this.
Su Yi furrowed his brow. Instead of arguing, he just said a single word: “Sit.”
Yuan Heng and Lan Suo could tell that he was displeased, so they hurriedly did as they were told.
“There are already servants here,” said Su Yi. “And we’re here as guests. Today, you’re going to sit here and drink with me, and that’s that.”
Yuan Heng grinned, picked up a jug of wine, and filled their cups. “Miss Lan Suo, no need to be so reserved. Master dislikes nothing more than convoluted displays of etiquette.”
Lan Suo nodded, but how could she possibly be as calm as Su Yi?
The thought that she too could sit atop Pinewave Plateau alongside these peak-level experts filled her heart with emotion.
Off in the distance, when Qiu Tianchi saw Lan Suo take a seat, his expression shifted erratically.
Here, he could only act as a servant to more distinguished guests, while Lan Suo was enjoying the VIP treatment.
When he compared their situations, Qiu Tianchi wasn’t at all pleased.
Suddenly, someone burst into hearty laughter. “Hm? Fellow Daoist Bu Fan, what’d you bring a bunch of kids here for?”
He was a middle-aged man in hemp clothes. He was dark-skinned, with a slipshod demeanor, and he was leaning against his table and drinking.
Instantly, all the influential experts’ gazes converged where Su Yi was seated.
Bu Fan?clasped his fist. “Senior Fu, this is His Excellency Su Yi. The other two are his friends.”
Su Yi!
The name seemed to contain magic power. All conversation instantly ceased, and the guests’ expressions shifted.
Who throughout the three nations didn’t know Su Yi’s name? Who didn’t know that he’d all but single-handedly eliminated the Celestial Prison Demon Court’s presence in the Great Zhou?
By now, who hadn’t heard that this young man was so terrifyingly strong that he could kill Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivators with ease?
“So, that’s Su Yi,” said a few of the influential guests, seemingly enlightened.
He really is as young as rumors say,?thought?several others.
It was then that the middle-aged man in hemp restrained his formerly unbridled bearing, sat upright, and clasped his fist in Su Yi’s direction. “I was impetuous earlier, and I apologize for any perceived disrespect.”
Bu Fan?hurriedly introduced him. “Your Excellency, this is the leader of the Great Wei’s Spirit Firmament Sword Pavilion, Fu Yunkong.”
Su Yi nodded. “The ignorant are without sin.”
The jade slip Ning Sihua gave him included information about the Spirit Firmament Sword Pavilion.
This was a faction of otherworld sword cultivators, and their ranks included numerous experts. Collectively, they were quite strong. In fact, they were now one of the strongest factions in the Great Wei.
Their leader, Fu Yunkong, was in the late-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm.
Rumor had it that his attainments in the Dao of the Sword were terrifying enough that he could contend with even early-stage Spiritual Incarnation Realm cultivators.
Of course, those were only rumors.
However, his reputation surely wasn’t built on nothing. It was clear that Fu Yunkong was extraordinary.
When he heard Su Yi’s words, Fu Yunkong smiled faintly but said nothing.
Inwardly, he sighed.?He really is as the rumors say. Su Yi might look young, but he’s extremely proud and domineering.
An ordinary person wouldn’t dare speak to me like that!
Su Yi was inwardly rueful as well.?The world really has changed completely.
It’s only been two months, but all these otherworld factions have cropped up already.
The peak factions of the Great Zhou, Wei, and Qin are practically all from other planes of existence!
If that’s true here in these three mundane nations, it’s easy to imagine that similar situations have arisen in the Azure Continent’s other hundred or so countries.
This is the direction the world is headed in.
As the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gradually recovers, the barrier protecting the Azure Continent from other worlds will gradually lose effectiveness. Otherworld factions will inevitably seize the opportunity to cross over and establish dominion over new territory.
This is the trend of the future; no one can stop it.
However, Su Yi didn’t think the Azure Continent was doomed to fall under the domain of otherworlders.
Because as heaven and earth transformed, numerous long-dormant ancient factions were re-entering the world!
Even the ordinary masses of the Azure Continent could, as the spiritual energy recovered, seize opportunities and rapidly rise to prominence!
Who would overcome the world’s ups and downs and reign supreme in the end? It all depended on who could remain smiling to the very end in the impending Radiant Epoch.
Not far away, a white-haired elder with skin as smooth as an infant’s transmitted, “Brother Cao, you saw him too. That was Su Yi, a legendary figure who rose to prominence in the Great Zhou. I trust you don’t need me to list his accomplishments for you?”
Gu Shandu.
The leader of the Treasureflame Spirit Sect, a true Spiritual Incarnation Realm existence!
“Fellow Daoist Gu, if you have something to say, please speak directly.”
The man beside him, Cao Ying, said in a raspy voice.
He too had a dark complexion, and he dressed in black beast skin robes. He was thin, with sunken eyes, and strange earrings carved out of bone.
This was the leader of the Thousand Illusions Sect, a Spiritual Manifestation Realm expert proficient in ancient shamanic legacies.
The Treasureflame Spirit Sect and the Thousand Illusions Sect were now the top factions in the Great Zhou.
The Treasureflame Spirit Sect occupied Green Ivy Yao Mountain, and they were a faction of soul cultivators.
The Thousand Illusions Sect occupied Ten Thousand Poisons Yao Mountain, and they were a shamanic orthodoxy.
Both otherworld factions had already become sacred grounds for cultivation in the hearts of the Great Zhou’s martial artists!
“Su Yi’s influence in the Great Zhou is far too great. Having a lawless powerhouse like him around is unsettling,” the white-haired?Gu Shandu?sighed. “The Celestial Prison Demon Court’s demise is a vivid example of this. I’m afraid that similar disasters will play out once more… in our sects!”
Cao Ying’s?pupils constricted.
Gu Shandu had just given voice to his deepest concerns!
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)