by Mars Gravity
If one’s talent or profound art was was high enough, it was normal for one to crush those of the same level and challenge those levels above them.
However, throughout the entire history of the Profound Sky Continent, forget about an Emperor Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound, even a Tyrant Profound being equal to a Sovereign Profound was unheard of.
What Spiritual Master Ancient Blue took to heart the most though was that whether it be Xia Yuanba or Feng Xue’er, these two future ruling figures of the Profound Sky Continent all had deep relations with and feelings for Yun Che. Needless to say, Ancient Blue knew Xia Yuanba’s reasons very clearly. Even if Xia Yuanba were to use his life to save Yun Che, Ancient Blue wouldn’t furrow his brow.
As for Feng Xue’er, this young girl who caused his heart and mind to be shocked to the point of turmoil, had an extremely intimate relation with Yun Che. Within her eyes, one could see a feeling of attachment which had already become a kind of habit.
The history in which the Four Great Sacred Lands had ruled over the continent… was it about to finally come to an end?
“Haah…” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue let out a long sigh, then opened his mouth and said, “Little friend Yun, I wonder if your respected master is interested in watching this Devil Sword Conference?”
Towards the Four Great Sacred Grounds, the name of Yun Che’s master, “Old Man Duotian”, was undoubtedly the name which astonished them the most.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Yun Che directly replied, “Master has long since been a person who doesn’t care about the mortal world. He already almost never sets foot into the mortal world as he doesn’t want to be bound by any responsibilities. Thus, although this junior is his disciple, I don’t know where my master is currently nor where he will go next. Only when this junior cannot help but beg will his master reveal himself.”
Yun Che’s response was quite clever and was something that he had thought of long before he had arrived. This was because upon arriving at Supreme Ocean Palace, he knew that there would definitely be people asking this question.
“I see.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue nodded.
“Senior Ancient Blue, when the people of Supreme Ocean Palace want to travel to the mainland, wouldn’t they all have to go through this teleportation profound formation we just went through?” In order to prevent Ancient Blue from asking too much and possibly finding a flaw in his response, Yun Che took the opportunity to ask a useless question he didn’t care about first.
“That’s not the case.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue then replied, “Very few of Supreme Ocean Palace’s people leave the ocean. However, when they do leave, it is through flying. In fact, it’s very possible that this teleportation profound formation was just temporarily built for for this Devil Sword Conference. After all, since the consumption of a spatial profound formation is so great, I’m afraid even the Supreme Ocean Palace is not able to maintain one.”
Seemingly seeing through Yun Che’s intentions, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue faintly chuckled. Still, he no longer asked Yun Che any questions about his master.
“Earlier, the two ocean palace disciples stated that the person welcoming guests was their Great Elder. The importance of this Devil Sword Conference for Supreme Ocean Palace must be extremely great if they are actually having their Great Elder personally welcome guests. To be a Great Elder of a sacred ground, his power and status must be only second to the Sovereign of the Seas within Supreme Ocean Palace,” Yun Che said after pondering.
“Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder is called Mo Chenfeng.” Xia Yuanba continued, “However, within Supreme Ocean Palace, he isn’t necessarily second to only the Sovereign of the Seas as in Supreme Ocean palace, there are also the Seven Venerable Ones above him. They are the true seven strongest people of the Supreme Ocean Palace other than the Sovereign of the Seas.”
“Seven… Venerable Ones?” Yun Che turned around in astonishment.
“Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, Elders aren’t necessarily the highest level of power. In Supreme Ocean Palace, there are still the Seven Venerable Ones above the Elders. Meanwhile, there are the Five Divine Envoys in Sun Moon Divine Hall and the Three Sword Attendants in Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Our Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is the same. Above the Elders are the Twelve Spiritual Masters,” Xia Yuanba explained with great detail.
Chapter 768: Summoned by the Sovereign of the Seas
Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Five Divine Envoys, Mighty Heavenly Sword Region’s Three Sword Attendants, and Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s Twelve Spiritual Masters… these were existences within the Four Great Sacred Grounds who were even higher than elders!
“…That year in Divine Phoenix City, I heard many people call Senior Ancient Blue ‘Spiritual Master’ so I believed that it was a special title for anyone who came from Absolute Monarch Sanctuary. But if it’s like you said, then that means Senior Ancient Blue is one of those Twelve Spiritual Masters?” Yun Che asked. His heart began to beat harder and harder… that year in Divine Phoenix City, he had already guessed that Ancient Blue’s status in Absolute Monarch Sanctuary was not low because of the way Feng Hengkong and the others treated him. Even the proud and arrogant Ye Xinghan and eccentric Ji Qianrou acted respectfully in his presence and didn’t dare act rashly. Moreover, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary had shown that they held Xia Yuanba in high regard because of the Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins in his body. In fact, there were even signs that he could possibly become the next Saint Master as his cultivation had always been guided by Ancient Blue and his strength and status were enough.
But now, he knew that the two words “Spiritual Master” in Ancient Blue’s title were actually amazing!
“That’s right, that’s right!” Xia Yuanba quickly nodded, “My master is one of the Twelve Spiritual Masters. He is ranked fifth amongst the twelve.”
“So it was like this.” Yun Che slowly nodded. Not only was Ancient Blue a Spiritual Master of Absolute Monarch Sanctuary, he was ranked fifth…
This was to say, Spiritual Master Ancient Blue was ranked sixth within the entire Absolute Monarch Sanctuary! He was even more frightening than Yun Che had expected.
An odd glow silently appeared in Yun Che’s eyes as he looked back at Spiritual Master Ancient Blue in the distance. He whispered, “Yuanba, I have never asked you before, but just what is your master’s profound cultivation level?”
“Ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm,” Xia Yuanba replied without hesitation. Then, he patted his chest as he continued, “In the past, I felt master was extremely powerful, but if I’m given another ten years, I will definitely surpass him, hehehe.”
Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slightly shook his head behind them as he lightly smiled, his face showing a mixed expression of exasperation and pride.
For a master, having a disciple surpass them was a matter of great comfort and even pride. However, after living a thousand years and having reached a profound energy level which was enough to stand at the pinnacle of the world, it had become increasingly difficult for him to accomplish this matter… However, Xia Yuanba, the freak that he was, had only needed a short few years of time to rise from a weakling in the Elementary Profound Realm to where he was today in the Sovereign Profound Realm. Moreover, even now, he still had a rate of growth which shocked even the Saint Emperor.
For Yuanba to surpass Ancient Blue, it might not even take ten years. At that time, he might not have even reached thirty years old.
To be surpassed by a twenty some year old disciple as a thousand year old master, how could he not feel exasperated?
“Your master is actually so powerful. Are the rest of the twelve as strong as your master?” Yun Che asked.
To ask about the inner workings of a force, especially anything relating to how power was structured at the top of a force, was extremely avoided… this was also true for Absolute Monarch Sanctuary and the Four Great
Sacred Grounds. However, Xia Yuanba didn’t have any qualms at all about Yun Che so he directly answered without thinking, “The Twelve Spiritual Masters are strictly ordered in terms of strength. The most powerful, Spiritual Master Bitter Pain, Spiritual Master Nine Lamentations, and Spiritual Master Detached Heart, are all mighty and powerful level ten Monarchs!”
“Level ten Monarchs?” A thought congealed in Yun Che’s mind… a level ten Monarch, the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm and the pinnacle of strength which can be reached by a human atop the Profound Sky Continent!
In the current Illusory Demon Realm, the only person to have reached this level other than Little Demon Empress was Duke Ming!
Yet Absolute Monarch Sanctuary actually had three!
No, adding in the Saint Emperor, they had four!!
“Of the remaining nine Spiritual Masters, there are five ninth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners and four late stage eighth level Sovereign Profound Realm practitioners. As for the elders, the strongest is also at the eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.” Xia Yuanba continued.
“…” Frankly speaking, Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had far surpassed Yun Che’s expectations and caused great waves in his heart. The terror of a force was absolutely not something which normal people could guess at. If not for Xia Yuanba, even Yun Che wouldn’t have been able to figure out that Absolute Monarch Sanctuary’s strength had reached this point so easily. After thinking a while, Yun Che said, “So you’re saying that in order to be higher than an elder, one has to at least have the strength of late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Also, of this kind of peerlessly powerful practitioner, your Absolute Monarch Sanctuary has twelve, Supreme Ocean Palace has seven, Sun Moon Divine Hall has five, and Mighty Heavenly Sword Region has three… Although Absolute Monarch Sanctuary is far far ahead of the other three sacred grounds in terms of strength, all four grounds are indeed worthy of their title as the Four Great Sacred Grounds.”
“It’s not quite as you think,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice emanated over from behind them as he said in a gentle voice, “Spiritual Masters, Venerable Ones, Divine Envoys, and Sword Attendants are respectively the strongest twelve, seven, five, and three people of their sacred ground. However, these four entities are all independent of each other, thus the standard of strength of each entity is different.”
“Among Supreme Ocean Palace’s Seven Venerable Ones, two of them are at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the other five are all at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. Great Elder Mo Chenfeng who was brought up earlier is at the late stage eighth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and is the strongest practitioner among Supreme Ocean Palace’s forty eight elders.”
“Among Sun Moon Divine Hall’s Divine Envoys, the strongest two are also at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. The latter three are all level nine Monarchs. The strength of its most powerful great elder is similar to that of Mo Chenfeng. Just according to the number of top level powerhouses, Sun Moon Divine Hall is weaker than Supreme Ocean Palace.”
“As for the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region… although they have the fewest number of high level Sovereigns, as well as Sovereigns in general, among the Four Great Sacred Grounds, their “Three Sword Attendants” are all at the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm. In terms of strength, they are stronger than Supreme Ocean Palace and Sun Moon Divine Hall, and are equal to my Absolute Monarch Sanctuary.”
“…So it’s like this. I thank Senior Ancient Blue for openly enlightening me,” Yun Che said, turning around.
“Haha,” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue slowly shook his head and then quietly sighed, saying, “It’s rumored that your respected master has already obtained world-defying power. I’m afraid that we are nothing but insignificant clouds floating in the sky.”
“Where are Senior Ancient Blue’s words coming from?” Yun Che casually threw out a random thought as his heart sank a bit.
Within the Four Great Sacred Grounds, there was actually as many as fourteen people who had reached the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm, and the tenth level at that! Moreover, it was likely that the leaders of the four sacred grounds had also reached the late stage of the tenth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm! They were definitely all no weaker than Duke Ming… if they weren’t already much much stronger in the first place.
As for those at the ninth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, there were more than twenty of them!
Meanwhile, the Twelve Guardian Families in the Illusory Demon Realm, which were comparable to the top forces of the Profound Sky Continent, didn’t have single level ten Monarch! They only had three level nine Monarchs! Within the Yun and Mu families, which he was most familiar with… the Mu Family’s most powerful practitioner was his uncle, Mu Feiyan, who was a level eight Monarch. As for the Yun Family, which had withered for a century, their strongest practitioner was only at the seventh level of the Sovereign Profound Realm.
Yun Che had long since realized that the Profound Sky Continent’s level of profound strength was greater than the Illusory Demon Realm’s. This was why the Four Sacred Grounds had been able to pressure the Twelve Guardian Families even within the Illusory Demon Realm and the Twelve Guardian Families didn’t dare take a step into the Profound Sky Continent.
These four forces which had legacies of tens of thousands of years and were titled “Sacred Grounds” were truly terrifying existences.
As they came increasingly close to the floating Ocean Palace, Yun Che asked Ancient Blue, “Senior Ancient Blue, I wonder if you have any understandings about the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’?”
“Moon Slaughter Devil Nest? What kind of place is that?” Xia Yuanba leaned over, his face full of curiosity.
“…” A trace of shock flickered across Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s face. It was clear that he was surprised that Yun Che, who had never before come to Supreme Ocean Palace, actually knew this name. He prudently stared at Yun Che for a moment before slowly saying, “You actually know of the ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’. In that case, you should also know why Supreme Ocean Palace perennially resides atop this blue ocean. However, outside of that, even I do not know much about the Moon Slaughter Devil Nest. To us mortals, that place is an extremely taboo existence. You absolutely must not develop any curiosity towards it.”
“Why is that?” Yun Che furrowed his brows.
“Because it has existed for tens of thousands of years, but the enigma behind it still has yet to be unlocked.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue’s voice contained traces of seriousness as he continued, “Things which are unknown are often filled with unknown dangers. The longer an enigma remains unsolved, the more likely the dangers within are greater. This name ‘Moon Slaughter Devil Nest’, you should treat it as a false legend. Don’t try to get to the bottom of it… don’t even go close to it so as to avoid going beyond redemption.”
By the time Spiritual Master Ancient Blue finished speaking, Supreme Ocean Palace was already right in front of their eyes. He suddenly flailed his whisk, and immediately, a gentle wind surged from below, causing the four of them to quickly float forward, “We’ve arrived… let’s go in.”
As their bodies passed through a layer of light blue colored profound light, Yun Che brought along Feng Xue’er and gently descended atop the floating isle atop the blue ocean.
The very moment they entered Supreme Ocean Palace, the atmosphere surrounding them completely changed. Not the slightest trace of the ocean’s scent could be smelled, and the ocean breeze had completely disappeared… It was as if they had suddenly left an ocean world and entered into an independent, completely different world.
Below their feet were great numbers of profound jade, each of which released a faint, cold light. They were all priceless. Looking out into the distance, towers, halls, and courtyards of varying sizes mixed with a widespread amount of flourishing flora. Moreover, an unbelievably
dense profound energy, which was filled with several times more vitality than usual, enshrouded the entire ocean palace.
This place was completely unlike an island, and even less like a “palace”. Instead, it was a magnificently luxurious city in the air!
“Such dense profound energy.” Jasmine’s voice transmitted into Yun Che’s mind, “Almost all of the Profound Sky Continent’s Monarchs have gathered here. It is really interesting.”
Yun Che, “…”
As the group of four expressed their astonishment towards the floating city, another figure appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, the figure arrived in front of them.
The figure was a pale white, short and fat old practitioner with a respectful expression. His speed was shockingly fast that not even Yun Che knew when he appeared in front of them.
The white old practitioner cupped his hands towards Spiritual Master Ancient Blue, a faint smile appearing on his face as he said, “So it was Spiritual Master Ancient Blue. Shu Chenfeng is busy with various tasks, so he is unable to welcome you.”
“Old Mo, it’s been a long time.” Spiritual Master Ancient Blue lightly chuckled and nodded his head.
“This person should be Supreme Ocean Palace’s Great Elder Mo Chenfeng,” Xia Yuanba whispered by Yun Che’s ear.
Mo Chenfeng then turned to looked at Xia Yuanba. His face suddenly showed shock, “Now that I think of it, this fellow should be the famous one who has shocked the world with his Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins, Xia Yuanba, right? To have such a level of cultivation at such a young age, you are truly an unmatched divine figure who causes people to lament. The Tyrannical Emperor’s Divine Veins have been recorded to have appeared several times on the Profound Sky Continent, but none of them have ever been taken as disciples. For Absolute Monarch Sanctuary to have been able to accept you, it is truly enviable.”