Calling Card
Chen Fan chewed on the sour spiritual fruit and nodded obediently.
"I'll listen to my father."
Chen Changqing then smiled, tucked the blanket around him, and turned to walk to the outer room to meditate and protect him.
After the door closed, Chen Fan opened his eyes.
He sat up cross-legged, his Divine Thought like an invisible thread, penetrating through layers of underground formations and piercing straight into the core spiritual vein ten thousand feet below the Divine City.
There, within the once pure and vast Ancestral Veins, wisps of a decaying and lifeless filth now linger.
"Extraterrestrial Death Fiend Qi... So this so-called Heavenly Five Declines of Supreme Cangming has indeed been corrupted by the divine poison of the extraterrestrial Alien Races?"
Chen Fan twitched his fingertips slightly, silently drawing out a wisp of the evil energy wandering along the earth's veins and absorbing it into his fingertips.
The malevolent energy entered the body and was instantly devoured by the Miniature Divine Kingdom within, turning into nourishment for the Millstone.
He sat there for the entire night.
The following morning.
The morning light had just pierced through the clouds and fallen upon this ancient and majestic city.
"Boom!"
Above the Bing District, the originally murky and thin spiritual energy was suddenly dispersed by a grand and powerful force.
A pure white, snow-like, and majestic aura of righteousness swept across the sky, like a dazzling rainbow, and steadily descended above the Bing No. 7 Side Courtyard.
The sound of reading aloud could be faintly heard in mid-air, which attracted the monks along the street to push open their doors and come out to look up in astonishment.
"The Righteous Qi Heavenly Attraction? This is the divine power of the Myriad Phenomena Academy!"
"Why would a great scholar from the academy condescend to come to this slum-like Bing District?"
A sudden commotion arose.
Inside the courtyard, Chen Changqing and Mo Wendao, who had been meditating all night, were suddenly awakened. They drew their swords and rushed into the courtyard with expressions of surprise and doubt.
Outside the dilapidated wooden gate, a scholar's robe, spotless and immaculate, swayed gently in the wind.
The newcomer was a middle-aged scholar with a thin face. A Wufeng Wooden Sword and several ancient bamboo scrolls hung at his waist. He had no sharp edge like a cultivator, but rather a dignified and awe-inspiring aura that made people feel ashamed of their own inferiority.
Peak of the mid-stage of the Deity Transformation.
The middle-aged scholar did not force his way in, but stood three steps outside the door, straightened his clothes, and gently knocked on the wooden door.
"Liu Qingfeng, steward of the Myriad Phenomena Academy."
The scholar's voice was gentle yet clearly penetrated the formation, resounding throughout the entire side courtyard.
"I heard that an unparalleled divine aura appeared Heaven-Piercing Gate yesterday, and this morning a fellow Daoist broke through the Flying Thunder Saber Qi here. I have come to pay my respects to the fellow Daoists of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect on the orders of the Abbot."
As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a purple bamboo greeting card that emitted a faint fragrance from his sleeve, held it out with both hands, and bowed deeply.
Chen Changqing's hand holding the sword froze in mid-air, his throat dry.
Myriad Phenomena Academy, one of the four immortal Dao Lineages in the Central Region, boasts more than one Deity Transformation, and its disciples, the Confucian Sword Prodigies, are the favorites to win this tournament.
This enormous figure, holding the academy master's visiting card, stood outside the dilapidated gate, respectfully bowing to a minor sect from a remote region?
Chen Changqing subconsciously turned around and looked at his youngest son, who was biting into half a sesame seed cake and looking completely innocent.
His heart pounded.
His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his voice low and strained, conveying a deep, penetrating tone.
"Fan'er, the person outside is hostile. If anything goes wrong, your father will risk his life to tear open the escape talisman and send you away."
Chen Fan took a bite of a sesame seed cake, his cheeks bulging twice.
He swallowed the coarse wheat chaff, patted the residue off his short linen clothes, raised his clear eyes to look at Chen Changqing, and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone:
"Dad, open the door. They sent an invitation; keeping the door closed makes us look guilty. If they want to come, let them."
The childish voice contained not a trace of the panic a child should have; it was as calm as a solitary peak standing in the Void.
Chen Changqing was startled.
He gave his son a deep look, said nothing more, and abruptly turned around. All the wavering in his expression vanished, replaced by the unyielding and resolute demeanor of a sect leader.
"Squeak!!"
Chen Changqing flicked his sleeve, clearing away the broken, low-level maze, and pulled open the wooden door.
Outside the door, Liu Qingfeng still held the letter in both hands, his posture flawless.
But in the Void beside Liu Qingfeng, ripples like waves appeared out of nowhere.
A tall and slender young figure stepped out.
He was a young man in his early twenties, wearing a turban and a moon-white silk robe. A flawless jade pendant hung at his waist, and he carried an ancient scripture scroll with flowing golden runes on his back.
The young man had an arrogant expression, with sword-like eyebrows that reached his temples, and his eyes seemed to shimmer with the light of the Sun and Moon as they opened and closed.
Gu Changge, a young leader of the Myriad Phenomena Academy and a Nascent Soul Great Perfection stage.
Gu Changge stepped into the courtyard, not even glancing at Mo Wendao who was bowing; her gaze lingered on Chen Changqing for a moment.
"His aura is restless, his Nascent Soul is just beginning to form, Dao Foundation is chaotic."
Gu Changge gave a cold assessment in her heart, a hint of undisguised disappointment flashing in her eyes.
This is the Southern Region sect that repelled the madman from the Thunderblade Sect?
It has an empty reputation.
His gaze passed over the two of them and landed directly on Chen Fan was slowly and deliberately patting the hem of his clothes.
The moment Gu Changge's gaze fell upon Chen Fan, the jade scroll behind her suddenly emitted a clear sword sound.
Gu Changge narrowed his eyes slightly.
A Mortal Body devoid of any spiritual energy fluctuations, with blocked meridians and a stagnant, lifeless Qi Sea.
But deep within that fragile Mortal Body, Gu Changge, with his refined Righteous Qi Sword Eyes, captured a trace of extremely obscure Dao Rhythm that even made his Nascent Soul tremble.
Like a colossal shadow lurking beneath a bottomless Abyss.
"I see."
A playful smile appeared on Gu Changge's lips as she took a step forward.
This step, though it didn't stir up a speck of dust, instantly froze the air in the entire courtyard.
"A hundred-foot palm print Heaven-Piercing Gate shattered the Earth-level Spirit Armor; last night in the alley of District C, a finger strike pierced the clouds, a stone shattered flying lightning, and a Nascent Soul cultivator was annihilated."
Gu Changge's voice was clear and melodious, like the clash of metal and stone, echoing throughout the courtyard.
"It is said among the people of the Divine City that a reclusive elder is roaming the mortal realm. However, after examining the city gate array records and the flow of energy within a ten-mile radius, I found only one point in the Void where life and death intertwined before and after these two events."
He raised his slender right hand, gently waved his folding fan, and pointed the fan ribs directly at Chen Fan, who was sitting on the steps.
"It's neither this Sect Leader Chen, nor Fellow Daoist Mo."
"It's you, isn't it? Young fellow Daoist."
Chen Changqing's face instantly darkened. He took a step to the side, his long sword half-drawn, and tightly protected Chen Fan behind him, coldly shouting.
"As a Prodigies of the Myriad Phenomena Academy, it is unbecoming of a Confucian scholar for you to come to my cramped courtyard and spout nonsense to an eleven-year-old child!"
Liu Qingfeng stood by with a smile, saying nothing, and did not stop them.
Gu Changge chuckled lightly, closed her folding fan, and ignored Chen Changqing's sword. She simply stared disdainfully at the half of Chen Fan's body that was exposed.
"Sect Leader Chen, please don't be hasty. I have no ill intentions."
"The Ascension Convention of the Divine City is imminent, and deities from all walks of life are gathering. I, Gu, have always respected true companions on the Great Dao. Since you possess unparalleled wisdom, why conceal your whereabouts using Mortal Body?"