Jade Pool Banquet
The Jade Pool Sacred Land was one of the foremost orthodoxies of the human race. Before every great era began, the Jade Pool Sacred Land would invite the most elite prodigies of the human race to attend. Within the Jade Pool Sacred Land grew a divine tree, said to be an immortal tree left behind by a transcendent existence from the mythical era. Only during a great era would it bloom, bear fruit, and ripen. The mature fruit possessed inconceivable wonders, comparable to a divine medicine.
In each great era, the Jade Pool Sacred Land would offer one such fruit to the genius they favored most—the one with the highest chance of attaining the Dao—forming a good karmic connection for the future. Although there were occasional exceptions, the majority of Great Emperors in human history had some ties to the Jade Pool Sacred Land.
Su Chen was very interested in that immortal tree suspected to have been left by a transcendent being.
The Jade Pool Sacred Land was located in an ancient celestial domain called the Origin Prime Celestial Domain. The distance from the Ye Clan's territory was not far; one year was enough to reach it.
Inside the Origin Prime Celestial Domain, countless luxurious carriages, star-sweeping warships, and even legendary divine beast mounts arrived. Successors of powerful forces capable of shaking entire star regions had come with the same purpose: to attend the Jade Pool Banquet and obtain the opportunities of the Jade Pool Sacred Land.
Some sealed monsters had even emerged after fifty thousand years. With the current Great Emperor shining like a blazing sun overhead, many self-proclaimed invincible geniuses could only sigh in despair and choose self-sealing. Among them was even the former number one on the Myriad Races Heavenly Prodigy Ranking—a true prodigy who had been unrivaled in his era.
Su Chen stood atop the highest pavilion on the Ye Clan's warship, looking down at the vast world below, and sighed, "Truly worthy of being the most ancient celestial domain of the human race."
The source energy and laws in the Origin Prime Celestial Domain were slightly stronger than those in the Azure Nether Dao Domain and the Heavenly Profound Domain.
Although no Great Emperor had appeared in the Origin Prime Celestial Domain for nearly a million years, going further back, it had produced no small number of them.
"It's the Ye Clan! I heard that this era they produced an invincible prodigy who wants to sweep through the entire era and become Emperor!"
"Heh, sweep through the entire era? Did he ask me first?"
"He's just a little kid who hasn't seen the world. When I was unrivaled across the starry skies and sweeping through foreign domain prodigies, the Ye Clan's brat hadn't even been born yet!"
"I am also an unrivaled genius. Why should I fear the Ye Clan's Emperor Son?"
"..."
Indeed, without suffering a proper beating, no one would believe anyone else could be stronger than themselves.
A faint smile hung on Su Chen's lips. He did not take the voices coming from all directions to heart. Ye Da, seeing his master's calm demeanor, could not help but silently mourn for those arrogant "unrivaled" geniuses. People who couldn't even beat him still wanted to compete with his master. Weren't they simply courting death?
From the direction of the Jade Pool Sacred Land, multicolored light bloomed within a small world. Then, groups of women as beautiful as celestial fairies flew out from the Jade Pool Sacred Land to receive the representatives of the various orthodoxies and guide them into the banquet. Every woman from the Jade Pool Sacred Land was an absolute beauty, causing many prodigies' eyes to shine with golden light. Each of their movements was like a peerless dance, making it impossible to look away.
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"The Jade Pool Sacred Land has flourished across era after era for good reason."
Su Chen admired the succession of beauties from the Jade Pool Sacred Land. Appreciating beauty was human nature. Even though his state of mind was as firm as a mountain, he still appreciated beautiful things and would never be stingy with praise.
The small world inside the Jade Pool Sacred Land was extremely vast. Outstanding prodigies, each accompanied by their followers, took their seats one after another. On the tables before them were placed the finest wines in the world—flower wines from the Flower God Pavilion. Su Chen took a small sip and sighed in admiration, "Truly worthy of the Flower God Pavilion's wine. Only one or two catties are produced every thousand years. The aftertaste is truly endless."
Time flowed endlessly, old friends passed away, and Su Chen finally tasted the wine of the Flower God Pavilion. Only then did he truly understand why Li Shenhua had remembered it with such longing until his death.
The sound of a zither drifted into his ears. Immortal mist curled through the banquet hall as everyone closed their eyes and listened, feeling as though they were about to shed their mortal forms and ascend to immortality.
Fine wine and exquisite music were enough to make anyone linger and forget to leave. Unfortunately, this was not the purpose of Su Chen's visit.
All the prodigies present had sunk deep into the zither music, unable to free themselves. At that moment, the music abruptly stopped.
Everyone opened their eyes, anger flashing within them. At the highest climax, when they were most immersed, the wondrous melody had suddenly ceased. No matter how proud the prodigy, none could tolerate it.
However, a single figure instantly drew all their attention, and every trace of anger vanished in that instant.
What a figure it was.
Her white clothes were purer than snow, her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, and a vermilion mark adorned the space between her brows. Dignity and holiness intertwined with seductive charm. She descended barefoot through the air, lotus flowers blooming beneath her feet with every step. Her flowing skirts seemed to carry rivers of stars. Every inch of her skin flowed with the charm of the Great Dao, as if she were the most perfect creation sculpted by heaven itself. No one could harbor any profane thoughts toward her, and any woman would feel ashamed before her beauty.
In her hands, she held an ancient zither, making it clear to everyone that the peerless music earlier had come from her.
The Sacred Maiden of the Jade Pool Sacred Land!
Su Chen felt both admiration and amazement. Across the long river of years, the number of women who could compare to her could be counted on one hand.
"Charm perfected, skill stealing the work of heaven. This woman is extraordinary!"
While Su Chen observed the Jade Pool Sacred Maiden, she was also looking at him. Curiosity and surprise flickered in her eyes as she asked, "Young Master of the Ye Clan, could it be that the music I played did not suit your taste?"
The gazes of countless prodigies instantly turned toward Su Chen.
"It was you who disrupted the Jade Pool Sacred Maiden's performance? Apologize to her at once!"
From the crowd, a figure emitting a terrifying aura stepped forward to face Su Chen directly. He wore luxurious robes with a sword hanging at his waist. This was a formidable prodigy of the new generation, just like Su Chen. He thought highly of himself. The world claimed that the Ye Clan's Emperor Son would reign supreme in this era, but he refused to accept it.
If he could defeat Su Chen in front of everyone, he might also win the Jade Pool Sacred Maiden's favor—killing two birds with one stone. But the script did not unfold as he imagined.
"Ye Da, go and defeat him. Let me see the results of your year of cultivation."
Ye Da nodded, his heart surging with excitement. There was no shame in being defeated by his own master. In the past year, he had glimpsed only the tip of the iceberg of his master's strength. A single year of guidance had caused his combat power to soar, and his comprehension of the Starfall Divine Body had far surpassed what it once was.
"Rest assured, Master. I will definitely defeat him!"
Ye Da attacked directly. He knew Su Chen was giving him an opportunity!
A Divine Body! A genius at the Divine Body level had willingly chosen to follow another!
The Emperor Path had not even opened yet, and someone had already subdued a Divine Body genius and made him submit wholeheartedly!
"Hmph! Ye Chen, you underestimate me too much!"
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