Chapter 220 : Setting Out as a Team

Chapter 220: Setting Out as a Team

“You are Junior Brother Chen Zi’ang, Chen?”

Feng Yao carried herself with elegant grace. Dressed in a bright crimson gown, her clear and gentle eyes fell upon Chen Beiwu, curiosity flickering within them. “Truly, you are just as Junior Sister Yun said—extraordinary.”

Within the sect, heaven’s proud children were many, and so-called cultivation geniuses were hardly rare in her eyes.

After all, which among the true disciples listed on the Mirror Moon Rankings was not a cultivation prodigy of unparalleled talent?

Chen Zi’ang’s mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation was indeed somewhat lacking, but Feng Yao believed in Senior Sister Yun’s discernment.

To be accepted as a disciple under the True Person of Myriad Treasures, and to earn Senior Sister Yun’s praise as a mere mid-Foundation cultivator, meant that his combat strength could likely rival even late-Foundation cultivators. All the more so since Junior Brother Chen himself was skilled in the Dao of Formations.

Only, there was one point Feng Yao could not understand. She risked entering the Taiyan True Realm in order to exchange for the Golden Palace Pill ahead of time, to achieve the realm of Golden Core True Person.

Otherwise, she would need to wait another century until the sect refined the next batch of Golden Palace Pills.

But Junior Brother Chen had boundless prospects, visible to the naked eye. At the very least, it would take decades for his cultivation to reach the peak of Foundation Establishment. By then, he could simply wait for the next batch of Golden Palace Pills. Why, then, would he risk venturing into the Taiyan True Realm?

Could it be that he sought the inheritance of True Monarch Taiyan?

Thinking of this, Feng Yao sighed inwardly.

The ignorant knew no fear.

The inheritance of a True Monarch, or a Core-Forming Pill, was not so easily obtained.

She herself only intended to gather a few Core-Forming spiritual herbs at the outer edges of the secret realm.

“Senior Sister Feng overpraises me.” Chen Beiwu replied modestly, his gaze sweeping imperceptibly over the crimson baleful fate hanging above Feng Yao’s head.

Good heavens, this time Senior Sister Yun’s good intentions had turned into a blunder.

The crimson baleful fate above Feng Yao’s head was so thick it nearly drowned out the orange glow of her fate, giving off an aura that she would not live long.

Following Senior Sister Feng into the Taiyan Secret Realm this time would surely bring many trials.

To avoid being dragged down by Feng Yao’s misfortune, it seemed he had better act on his own.

“Come, I’ll introduce you to the fellow disciples joining us in the secret realm.”

Feng Yao summoned a flying vessel and brought Chen Beiwu toward the main peak of Mirror Moon.

…

Elders’ Hall.

Upon the central wall of the grand hall hung the portrait of the sect’s founding ancestor.

Before it, the incense burner emitted not ordinary sandalwood smoke but a rare fragrance, wisps of haze rising as though nourishing the portrait of the ancestor.

At the left side of the portrait, on a sandalwood shelf, lay a golden scroll woven from pure white silkworm silk, radiating an overwhelming might.

This was none other than the Ancestor’s Decree!

Any Foundation Establishment disciple seeking to enter the Taiyan True Realm had to leave their own mana imprint upon the decree, so that the sect’s upper echelon could monitor their life and death.

“Fellow junior brothers and sisters, this is Chen Zi’ang, fourth disciple of the True Person of Myriad Treasures, cultivation at the mid-Foundation stage.”

At this point, Feng Yao paused briefly: “Junior Brother Chen is skilled in formations, a Second-Tier Formation Master. With his aid, our journey through the Taiyan True Realm will surely be safer.”

Chen Beiwu smiled openly, and under Feng Yao’s introductions, came to know the five fellow disciples one by one.

“This is Junior Brother Gong Junkai, ranked fifteenth on the Mirror Moon Rankings, cultivation at the peak of Foundation, skilled in the Dao of Talismans…”

“This is Junior Sister Mu Xinyan, cultivation at the peak of Foundation, a superior-grade Second-Tier Formation Master…”

Upon hearing that Chen Zi’ang came from the main bloodline of Mirror Moon, and that he was the first Golden Core disciple of the sect, even Gong Junkai and Mu Xinyan, whose cultivation surpassed his, dared not slight him despite being true disciples. They offered him respectful bows.

‘Truth be told, Senior Sister Yun’s recommended team is indeed reliable.’

‘With three true disciples from the Mirror Moon Rankings and three peak-Foundation cultivators, though we may not overcome an early Golden Core cultivator, at the very least we can escape with our lives rather than die at their hands.’

‘But alas, fortune too is a form of strength. These fellow brothers and sisters shine with the same baleful fate as Senior Sister Feng—most likely, they will perish within the Taiyan True Realm.’

Chen Beiwu sighed inwardly but refrained from voicing a warning.

Just then, Senior Sister Feng handed him a round, jade-like pill, glowing faintly blue:

“This time, we may be transmitted to the same place within the Taiyan True Realm, or scattered randomly.”

“This is a Second-Tier middle-grade spirit pill, the [Lingxi Pill]. It is not to be consumed. Instead, infuse it with mana and keep it with you. Within a hundred-mile radius, you can sense the precise location of others who hold a pill from the same batch.”

“If we are scattered during transmission, we can rely on the Lingxi Pill to reunite as quickly as possible, to avoid being stranded alone.”

Chen Beiwu nodded, accepted the Lingxi Pill, and quietly listened as Senior Sister Feng outlined her plans for exploring the Taiyan True Realm.

Soon, a full day had passed.

Outside the Elders’ Hall, two Third-Tier Warships floated in midair, each suffused with thick murderous Sha.

Both vessels were flattened, spindle-shaped ships, twenty-five zhang in length, their hulls engraved with countless formation patterns and restrictions. Each could carry up to five hundred Foundation cultivators. They were battlefield weapons that only Golden Core True Persons would use when leading campaigns to annihilate rival sects—commonly called Earthly Sha Warships.

For the sect to dispatch such vessels this time, it was clearly to intimidate the other Four Great Sects, so as to prevent complications.

“Come, it is time for us to board.”

Led by Senior Sister Feng, Chen Beiwu and the others boarded the Earthly Sha Warship overseen by Hall Master Yu Shuiyao of the Formation Hall, the True Person of Nine Palaces.

‘So this is the Chen Zi’ang that Nephew Yun mentioned?’

Within the warship, Yu Shuiyao slowly opened her eyes, gazing toward Chen Beiwu’s cabin with a thoughtful expression.

What astonishing divine sense!

As a superior-grade Third-Tier Formation Master, Yu Shuiyao’s divine sense was already peerless among Golden Core True Persons.

Even with a superior-grade Second-Tier spirit artifact concealing his aura, Yu Shuiyao could still detect something unusual about this Foundation disciple.

‘Truly, the world is filled with wonders.’ Yu Shuiyao’s eyes flashed with astonishment before quickly dimming again.

For a mid-Foundation disciple to possess divine sense comparable to a mid-Golden Core True Person, it was no wonder he dared to enter the Taiyan True Realm.

If the inheritance of True Monarch Taiyan truly remained, seeking a worthy successor—

Without a doubt, Chen Zi’ang, with such formidable divine sense, had an eighty to ninety percent chance of winning his favor.

For there was no other reason. Yu Shuiyao herself was a Formation Master, and she knew that a prodigy with heaven-defying comprehension and divine sense surpassing all peers was more than qualified to inherit the Dao lineage of a Fourth-Tier Profound Formation Master—and perhaps even carry it further.

Yet, fortune was ever shadowed by misfortune.

If True Monarch Taiyan harbored evil intentions, then Chen Zi’ang, the one with the greatest talent in formations, would be the first target, destined for a fate with no burial ground.

‘This youngster hides deeply indeed.’ Yu Shuiyao slowly closed her eyes, extinguishing the faint stirrings of regret in her heart.

Had Chen Zi’ang revealed this talent sooner, she would have contended even with Old Monster Zhuo in a battle of arts just to take him as her disciple.

But now, what was done was done. To think further was useless.

“Clang! Clang!”

The sound of the golden bell resounded, marking that the appointed time had arrived.

Yu Shuiyao willed her undying mana, activating the Earthly Sha Warship.

The Taiyan True Realm lay within the Dragon-Que Mountains, at the border of Greenwood Sect and Blazing Flame Sect. Even aboard the Earthly Sha Warship, the journey would take five days and nights to reach.