“I’ve brought a group, so the sect can feel at ease. The one leading the sect is that girl Ni Chang. I’ve merely come along to see whether or not there were any new ferocious young people in any of the other sects,” the esteemed Senior unhappily remarked after widely opening his eyes.
“Now that I’ve taken a look, they’re pretty much the same! I reckon that the truly talented disciples in Martial Nephew’s sect would hardly be put forward. They would certainly be treated like treasures. Think about it! Without experiencing dangerous encounters, what’s the use if they are talented? The moment they meet nefarious entities, they will be slaughtered like sheep!”
This Senior seemed to greatly disapprove of the sect’s way of handling things and wore a “You are all gravely mistaken” expression.
When Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest heard this, their faces didn’t change in the slightest, but they were cursing silently in their hearts.
‘This old eccentric actually says this easily. How would our sects casually bring our more talented disciples to participate in this Trial by Fire where they’re almost certain to die? Do you think of us as idiots! They could go elsewhere to get experience, why insist in coming to this bloody restricted area?’
Naturally, these words could only be smothered in their bellies. They absolutely wouldn’t dare to speak this in front of this man. Otherwise, wouldn’t that just be bringing misfortune upon themselves? The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor were rather tactful.
Naturally, this further proved that in the cultivation world, those with large fists have simple reasoning.
The disciples of the two sects clearly heard about the matter of the trio’s wager on the trip to the forbidden area and could not help but burst into an uproar. Their expressions had nothing in common and appeared extremely odd.
Naturally, no one would be so stupid to directly denounce the three, so they could only keep their resentment to themselves. Otherwise, with the mere movement of their pinkie, the lives of these novice cultivator were forfeit.
When Martial Ancestor Li saw those two depart, he turned around to sweep his face across the Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples. Then he coldly said a few words that caused Han Li and the others to be stunned, “I am aware that you feel our wager on your lives seems to hold you in far too little regard. Were it someone else, perhaps they would provide an excuse, but I have always disdained this! I will clearly tell you that this is the true appearance and cruel nature of the cultivation world. This can be considered a few words of advice.”
“Hear this well. In the world of cultivation, regardless of whether you’re a righteous person from a prestigious clan or an evil fiend who abandoned the Dao, advancement is an act against nature where only the strong survive. However, those who are righteous progress slowly, and their success will flow naturally where conditions are correct; their cultivation arts are relatively gentle. But they often act villainously under the false pretense of exterminating evil and defending the Dao, mostly hypocrites that feign righteousness. Those demonic sects that follow the Dao of Devils make every effort to greatly advance their magic power, blindly pursuing formidable, mighty cultivation arts and fiercely cultivating malicious amount of Yin energy. They are also disliked for being opportunistic. Although they claim to be following their heart’s desires and displaying their true nature, in reality, their actions gradually become more extreme as they progress in cultivation. They lose their human nature until they become bloodthirsty and cruel.”
“However, regardless of whether the sect lies on the righteous or evil side, it is only a matter of how they are portrayed. In reality, both follow the rule that the weak are prey to the strong. Us cultivators are the same as the mortals of the secular world! Experts on the higher realm of cultivation look upon low-level cultivators as powerless insects. They are unworthy of being spoken to and will die in a single strike. This is a normal matter.”
With this said, Martial Ancestor Li paused. His voice seemed to hold some disapproval toward these so-called righteous and evil sects. This attitude caused the disciples to feel somewhat confused. A somewhat bold disciple could not help but ask, “Martial Ancestor, is our Yellow Maple Valley righteous or villainous?”
“Hehe! We are neither righteous nor villainous. The other six sects are also the same.” He replied with a cold smile.
“You are all young, and the time since you’ve entered the sect is short. That is why you haven’t yet been informed of the history of the State of Yue’s cultivation world!”
“A thousand years ago, our State of Yue was like the other regions, in opposition between Righteousness and Evil. During that time, the Seven Great Sects were small sects that had yet to enter the fray. In order to survive, they were forced to become righteous or evil according to the way the wind blew. If a side’s strength was slightly greater, those small sects would join that side.These Great Righteous and Evil Sects fundamentally looked down upon them with contempt. However, later the Righteous and Evil sides broke out into an extremely desperate battle that exhausted all of their experts. After that battle, their strength was greatly depleted, so they no longer had the strength to suppress Yellow Maple Valley along with the other small sects. After a period of time, our Seven Great Sects managed to join hands and surpass the two sides, thoroughly extinguishing their ideology and avoiding future problems.”
“The current cultivation arts you’ve learned are actually the spoils of war from back then. This was the period when our Seven Great Sects established ourselves as the lone great powers in the State of Yue. If there are still Righteous or Evil sects that wish to invade this place, our seven sects will immediately join hands and repel them. We will absolutely prevent them from establishing themselves. As a result, the cultivation arts our Seven Great Sects teach include those from both Righteous and Evil sects along with a few unique ones as well. In the dispute, we could be regarded as neutral.”
When Martial Ancestor Li said this, he couldn’t help but wear a content expression.
“Previously, you all continuously and bitterly cultivated in the valley. Whenever you left the sect mountains, you’ve all traveled around the large area of the State of Yue but have never met with the true world of cultivation, nor have yet experienced the dark and bloody side of the cultivation world. However during earlier periods, on the sides of Righteousness and Evil existed the Five Great Cultivation Schools side by side: Buddhist, Daoist, Confucian, Devilish, and Demonic. The degree of chaos during that time exceeds your very imagination, making it seem as if pillaging and genocide were simply common occurrences”
With this said, his expression grew completely solemn, but soon after his face relaxed. Then he coldly added, “Alright, I’m going to wake you all up a bit to prevent you all from becoming arrogant. Remember that in the world of cultivation, if your strength does not equal another’s, don’t blindly speak respectful words. This so-called respect can only be given to those experts far above the rest, otherwise you’ll be bringing about your own destruction! Hehe, I wonder how many of you will live to truly comprehend these words after a few days?”
When Han Li and the other disciples had heard this, they were already at a loss for words and were exceptionally shocked. The words spoken to these disciples were far too surprising.
“You should’ve heard the wager we made previously. This particular wager, however, is quite significant to me! So long as I win the wager, I definitely won’t treat you all unfairly. Those disciples who help me win will be heavily rewarded. As for the one who contributes the most, I will personally take him as a disciple after he reaches Foundation Establishment.”
The Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples who still hadn’t comprehended the “sincere advice” were suddenly excited by the grand promise following it.
To be able to become an apprentice to a Core Formation expert, those who received this privilege were but a few tens. This was a golden opportunity that only occurred every thousand years!
/> Seeing the crowd before him excited with eagerness in each of their eyes, Martial Ancestor Li faintly smiled and was greatly satisfied. So long as he won this wager, to remember three or four disciple’s names was a trivial matter. At most he would simply settle down in some area and pass down some superficial cultivation arts. Wasn’t that matter easily resolved?
Chapter 178: Masked Moon Sect
Han Li was moved after hearing the reward. He knew clearly that on the path of cultivation, he could definitely go through less trouble if a master could guide and point him in the right direction. This would benefit his cultivation.
But at the same time, this Martial Ancestor Li was definitely not someone he could lie to easily. Han Li had plenty of secrets himself, and if he was in contact with him for too long, Han Li was afraid that he would sense that something was wrong. If Martial Ancestor Li questioned him, it would be Han Li seeking his own death.
Moreover, hearing those pieces of “advice” he gave earlier, this person must not be someone who cherished the relationship between a master and a disciple. He would most likely use the discipleship to have others prey on the weak and kill for the treasure.
After thinking about it carefully, Han Li’s somewhat enticed mind calmed down right away.
The other Yellow Maple Valley disciples didn’t have these kinds of misgivings. They were each rubbing their palms as their morale rose greatly. Now they not only had to battle for their survival, but they also had to fight for their own future.
Han Li unconsciously took a look at Junior Martial Sister Chen and saw her blushed cheeks, her fists that were held tightly, and her shining eyes. It looked like she had made her decision.
Han Li sighed to himself and didn’t bother to keep paying attention to other people from the Yellow Maple Valley. Instead he looked towards the Clear Void Sect.
That Daoist Priest was shooting off his mouth to the people of the sect. He acted very excited from time to time and made those young Daoist Priests cheer each time. Each one of them was excited. It seemed like the brainwashing was successful. Of course, there were also some elder Daoist Priests whose expressions remained calm all along, not affected whatsoever.
Just as Han Li thought it was interesting and was enjoying it, someone suddenly yelled,
“Look! The people from the Masked Moon Sect are here! It’s the Heavenly Divine Moon Boat!”
Hearing this, Han Li was stunned and looked up into the sky.
A small bright, white dot was shining in the sky, slowly approaching.
Its speed was extremely fast. No long after, it was in the sky above the mountain. It was actually an enormous ship sculpted from green jade. Outside the wall of the ship was a delicate drawing of a dragon and a phoenix, making the ship seem extremely luxurious. There was even an incredibly large white shield surrounding the ship.
The ship was filled with a large crowd, half of them men and the other half women, all of whom were clad in white. The one leader was an attractive young woman who was well-dressed. Each of her movements was amorous and stirred people’s souls.
After this woman got off from the jade ship and removed the white shield, she opened her almond-shaped lips lightly and said, “Two Martial Brothers, Martial Uncle Qiong, here is Ni Chang’s greetings!”
Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest couldn’t dare to keep her waiting and immediately returned the courtesy. On the other hand, that Senior Qiong grinned on contrary, when suddenly his figure became blurry. He disappeared into the air, leaving a sentence and some prideful yet strange laughter.
“Seven days from now, I will come back here. Prepare the wager beforehand! This time I will surely win!”
The Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li looked at each other. They didn’t know why this old man had such confidence! They checked earlier, and even though the Masked Moon Sect’s disciples were indeed stronger than their two sects, there was no reason to boast.
The young woman’s beautiful eyes looked around, and she asked out of curiosity. After finding out the details of the bet, she couldn’t help but laugh; her laughter could shake a flower’s branches and suck in people’s hearts and souls.
That young woman’s flirtatious manner made many of the young male disciples from the three sects stare blatantly and almost drool.
But the Daoist Priest and Martial Ancestor Li couldn’t care about the wonderful scene in front of them since both of their hearts just dropped. They felt like they had walked into a trap, and their faces couldn’t help but become bitter.
Was it possible that the Masked Moon Sect had some kind of trump card prepared for this trip that could suppress both of the sects?
The two of them controlled themselves. Even though they felt gloomy about this, they felt embarrassed to directly ask the young woman for the whole story. As for the beautiful young woman, Celestial Ni Chang, she naturally pretended not to know about it and took pleasure in doing so. She led the conversation away and started chatting about some other interesting things.
The sight of Han Li and the other male disciples from Yellow Maple Valley had already focused onto the large crowd of female disciples that just arrived.
They had previously heard that the Masked Moon Sect promoted pair cultivation techniques, so at least half of the recruited disciples were females, and they absolutely did not accept below-average appearances.
Now seeing it for themselves, the female disciples’ reputation was really well-deserved. This group of women were each ravishingly beautiful, as fair as a flower, and gorgeous like the moon. Watching them made them keep drooling, their minds running wild.
Han Li was slightly better off. Although for a moment he feasted his eyes, with his outstanding willpower he was quickly able to restrain his mind and calm his heart.
That was when he realized that the female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect seemed to be used to being watched by so many people at the same time. Their expression didn’t change as they chatted among themselves freely. Some of them even winked a few times towards the people who were watching them, making those spectators lose strength in their legs and have butterflies in their stomachs without knowing what to make of it.
But the male disciple’s reactions were exactly the opposite. Each of their eyes showed anger. They especially cared of the young girls beside them, so they furiously returned the gaze of everyone who was staring.
Han Li smiled softly. He understood just by looking at the men and women standing together in pairs that even if these pairs were not really couples, they must be pairs that had been arranged for cultivation. That was why the male disciples were so furious! They probably already saw the person beside them as their private property, even if the female disciples didn’t think the same way.
Strangely, Han Li noticed that the male disciples were staring not only at the Yellow Maple Valley’s disciples, but also toward the people from the Clear Void Sect.
Under his curiosity, he turned his head and saw that the small and vigorous Daoist Priests were indeed peeking at the young girls from time to time and then immediately turned their sight away, as if they were afraid of being caught in their act. They seemed extremely sneaky.
Han Li tried to press down the hilarious feeling in his heart, afraid that he would actually laugh out loud!
Although he wasn’t sure whether he got the right impression, Han Li kept having the feeling that the female disciples from the Masked Moon Sect were giving more flirtatious winks to the small Daoist Priests than to the Yellow Maple Valley’s side.
This left him speechless for a while.
But when he thought better of it, Han Li felt dreadful in his heart. These disciples did not come here to flirt but rather for a battle of survival. If each of the sect’s young disciples went up against the Masked Moon Sect’s female disciples, Han Li was afraid that they would lose a third of the battle even before the fight started. After all, not everyone would be able to directly take down these beautiful women.
&n
bsp; But what puzzled Han Li even more was that the disciples from the Masked Moon Sect, regardless of whether they were either a man or a woman, they were all very young. Not one of them was old, which didn’t make sense. If someone were to say that some of these people were actually old monsters that possessed eternal youth, Han Li would absolutely not believe it. Watching their flirtatious actions, they were at most about twenty years old, and there were no signs of aging on their figures.
But since this Trial by Blood and Fire was known as a suicidal trip, it was impossible for so many young people to come here to die on their own volition. Even if that were the case, it was impossible for them to come in so many pairs. Han Li would die before he believed that their relationships were all so deep that they could live and die together.
Both the Yellow Maple Valley and the Clear Void Sect had some elderly figures in their line-up.
Because their time was almost up, even if they didn’t participate in this trip to the forbidden area, they wouldn’t live long. Therefore they vainly attempted to make a last-ditch effort. If they could successfully obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill and then luckily enter Foundation Establishment, their fate would be completely different. Even though there would definitely be no hope of cultivating to Core Formation, it would still be a gain to be able to live for another hundred years.
Even though there weren’t that many old folks with these thoughts who came to participate in the Trial by Blood and Fire, there was still a total of seven or eight from the two sects, and yet the Masked Moon Sect didn’t have any. This was a bit strange in Han Li’s eyes.
Martial Ancestor Li and the Daoist Priest seemed to have realized that something was wrong, and their faces darkened even more. Even though they were still chatting with Celestial Ni Chang from the Masked Moon Sect, anyone could tell that they have drifted off in their minds.
Shortly after, the rest of the four sects all arrived one by one. The ones who left the biggest impression on Han Li were the ones from the Giant Sword Sect and the Spirit Beast Mountain.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 87