It was Yun Huang.
Yun Qing understood. He was teasing him about peeking into his memories of reincarnation back then, and then "making a spectacle of himself" in the Immortal-Sealing Tower.
The feeling of his embarrassing past surging back made Yun Qing's ears warm, but then he reconsidered... never mind. It was hardly his first time losing face in front of this venerable ancestor.
As the saying went, enough lice stopped itching; enough humiliation left a person... numb.
He steadied himself and replied through voice transmission, "Brother Huang, Ruyi, she..."
The other end fell silent for a moment.
Then an exceedingly soft sigh came. "She truly is... rare."
Those few brief words held a complicated acknowledgment of the Great Merit, Great Sacrifice, and great vow behind it all.
Yun Qing's heart stirred with solemn awe. The innate fortune physique truly was no rootless tree, no sourceless stream. It was Heaven and Earth's favor, bought with immense Great Merit and sacrifice.
His gaze swept over the eleven peers at their seats. Sure enough, not one of those the Lineage had chosen to sit here was easy to contend with.
Through his double pupils, the eleven figures, some seated and others standing, each displayed a distinct bearing, yet all held spiritual radiance within and possessed a Dao resonance of their own.
"Hey, Yun Flowery! See that? Now that's presence!" A female voice, three parts tipsy and seven parts dashing, burst out, instantly shattering the atmosphere of gentle greetings.
Diagonally opposite him, in the seventh seat, the red-clad girl Yun Zui tipped her head back and gulped down a great mouthful of strong liquor. Her crimson-jade wine flask shimmered with a hazy halo in the morning light. Her carefree, unrestrained manner was exactly like that of the forthright, decisive Seventh Elder who guarded the Northern Border.
She raised her flask in a distant toast to Yun Qing, but addressed the youth beside her. "Learn a thing or two! A grown man ought to have some backbone!"
The youth wore a shimmering Illusory-Hued Orchid pinned in his hair and an elaborate pale-purple robe embroidered with a hundred flowers. His features were delicately handsome. Teased before everyone, his fair cheeks instantly flushed, and he clutched his Mermaid-Silk Handkerchief as he protested in a soft voice, "Yun Zui! Y-you're not allowed to call me Yun Flowery! Besides, what would a drunkard like you know about presence?"
He stamped his foot in agitation, looking so winsome that several nearby young masters could not suppress their good-natured laughter.
This flower-adorned youth was the eighth-ranked young master, representing the Second Elder's branch in this martial exhibition.
His real name: Yun Shuanghua.
The Second Elder had remained alone throughout his life, with neither son nor daughter. Yun Shuanghua was his younger brother's child. During the war at the Northern Border, the Second Elder's younger brother and his wife had both died, leaving their infant son adrift. Only after many twists and turns had the Second Elder found him.
Yun Qing recalled the Second Elder's request-Shuanghua had endured a troubled childhood and had a sensitive disposition, so he had asked Yun Qing to look after him a little more. He could not help giving the boy a few extra glances.
The pure aura of plants and trees around this youth was exceptionally refined, and his cultivation was solid. His temperament, though, was indeed... particularly soft.
"If you've got the guts, meet me in the arena!" Yun Zui paid him no mind, taking another swig and continuing her provocation with a grin. "Let's see whether your flowers and grasses are stronger, or my Drunken Flame burns more fiercely!"
"Crude! Utterly unreasonable!" Yun Shuanghua turned his face away, deciding to ignore this madwoman for the time being.
Their squabbling instantly lightened the mood among the seats.
"Oh, our 'Three Masteries' are all here today!" Seeing Yun Shuanghua ignore her, Yun Zui's eyes lit up, and she began pestering someone else.
She pointed her wine flask toward the three people on the other side. "Yun Hua, Yun Ge, Yun Pengxing! It's rare to have you all together. How about something improvised? Liven things up before the tournament starts!"
"Paint us a mountain of immortals!"
"I want to hear 'Battle-Breaking Music'!"
"Perform a 'Sword Dance'!"
Others immediately joined in the clamoring. Even Yun Baojian, who had been holding his sword and posing as an aloof, cold-faced fellow nearby, gave an almost imperceptible twitch of his ears.
Where everyone's gazes converged-
Yun Hua, in the sixth seat, lifted her face from behind her drawing board, dressed in a long purple gown. A mysterious, eerie smile curled her lips. Spiritual light flowed beneath her brush. She seemed to be painting the mingling of spiritual power when the Twelve Young Masters had saluted in all directions earlier, but imbued it with a distortion and splendor distinctly her own.
Beside her in the fifth seat, Yun Pengxing, clad in silver-white robes, spread his hands elegantly, his broad sleeves falling like drifting clouds. Though he stood perfectly still, he gave the impression that he might dance upon the wind at any moment. His eyes moved between Yun Hua and Yun Ge, brimming with encouragement.
In the eleventh seat, the blue-robed youth Yun Ge, cradling an antique seven-string zither, shook his head helplessly. Yet a cascade of ringing notes, evoking clashing weapons and armored steeds, already flowed from his fingertips, as though in response.
These three-Yun Hua, whose painting could "create" myriad arts; Yun Ge, whose mastery of music could influence immortal power and the divine soul; and Yun Pengxing, whose dance steps accorded with Heaven's workings and nature-followed different paths that led to the same destination, carrying the Dao through art. They were also close friends. At some point, the other young masters had begun jokingly calling them the "singing and dancing... er, the 'calligraphy, painting, song, and dance' trio," or the "Three Masteries" for short.
They were a particularly distinctive sight among the Yun Clan's younger generation.
A faint gleam flashed through Yun Qing's double pupils. The way these three cultivated was truly intriguing.
Just as outsiders said, not one of this generation's Twelve Young Masters of the Yun Clan was mediocre. Each had a vivid personality, and every last one was a "freak."
The atmosphere among the Twelve Young Masters was relaxed and cheerful. Even a few smiling glances came from the elders' seats on the high platform.
"All right, all right, stop pestering them." Yun Tianluo smiled and stepped in to smooth things over, his voice gentle. "The martial exhibition is about to begin. Business comes first. There will be chances to watch the 'Three Masteries' perform together another day."
Only then did everyone stop their laughing and teasing, though they were clearly all looking forward to a performance by the "Three Masteries."
Just then, the presiding elder's voice, infused with spiritual power, drowned out all the noise.
"The Twelve Young Masters are in position. The thirty-six elite disciples who passed the Little Cloud Summit Trial-enter!"
Boom-!
The war drums thundered, and thirty-six figures strode steadily out from the passages on either side.
Their auras were either weighty as mountains or sharp as swords, their eyes blazing with the will to fight. Like a pack of wolves encircling its prey, they fixed their gazes on the twelve chairs above.
Yun Qing sat upright in the foremost dark jade seat, his calm gaze sweeping over the crowd before suddenly stopping on one person.
Yun Li.
He had actually made it through.
Three months, and Heaven and Earth had turned upside down.
The sullen, obsessive youth with a damaged dantian from the Clan School now stood straight as a spear, his skin burnished bronze by windblown sand and the blazing sun. His eyes were cold and sharp, like those of a lone desert wolf, their depths holding a ruthless resolve tempered through life-and-death battles.
His cultivation-peak True Immortal realm!
An ancient, savage aura of ferocity, accompanied by a thin blood-colored mist, also faintly coiled around him. That was... the aura of a Primordial Ferocious Beast. He was now practically a ferocious beast wrapped in human skin; merely standing there, he radiated an aggression that struck others full in the face.
It seemed these three months had brought him another unique opportunity.
After entering, Yun Li kept his gaze straight ahead, his bearing steady. But how keen were Yun Qing's double pupils? In the instant Yun Li seemingly swept a casual glance over the twelve seats-
Yun Qing caught it.
His gaze lingered on one particular seat for the briefest moment.
Swift as a startled swan, yet laden with hatred and murderous intent carved into his bones and heart! A chill that pierced to the marrow!
The realm chart is in the author's note!
Before you continue