For ordinary people, ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
All the more so for cultivators, who lost track of the years in cultivation.
Yet almost every one of those ten days was lively enough to drive Ouyang mad.
Every morning, while he was still asleep, there came the booming of ceremonial cannons, laughter feigning grandeur, and voices holding forth at length.
For Ouyang, who liked sleeping in, this meant an endless supply of morning grumpiness.
Over those ten days, the representatives of the various sacred lands seemed to have arranged it beforehand: you arrived today, I arrived tomorrow.
As the super sects of the Nine Great Sacred Lands, they would never choose to arrive on the same day and steal one another's thunder.
Whenever a super sect arrived, the Azure Cloud Sect afforded them every courtesy.
Ceremonial cannons thundered, auspicious beasts greeted them, and at least one Peak Master welcomed them at the gates.
Both sides amplified their voices with true essence, talking loudly with feigned familiarity and occasionally bursting into laughter, until practically everyone could hear them.
Who knew whom they were putting on this show for before the Azure Cloud Sect's grand gates?
The Nine Great Sacred Lands were:
Myriad Sword Mountain-Sword Sect
South Sea-Penglai Mountain
The West-Great Spirit Mountain Temple
Snow Domain-Takama-ga-hara
Talisman Mountain-Myriad Laws Sect
Mount Tai-Sage Manor
Desert-Thousand Sand Valley
Luminous Blessed Land-Ethereal Pavilion
Azure Cloud Grotto-Heaven-Azure Cloud Sect
The Nine Great Sacred Lands were scattered across Heaven's South and Sea's North, leaving one another undisturbed while forming mutually supporting strongholds. Together, they constituted the most important part of this world's Cultivation World.
And having traveled thousands of miles to attend the Azure Cloud Sect's Inner Sect competition, they surely had more in mind than merely watching the ceremony.
It was not as though they had never attended in previous years, but this was the first time they had all come. Even Ouyang had never seen it before.
"How are Changsheng's preparations coming along?" Ouyang glanced at Chen Changsheng's room and asked Bai Feiyu, who was standing in the tree.
"He said he's fully prepared. At least, he couldn't find any oversights himself," Bai Feiyu replied.
"I see!" Ouyang nodded. If Chen Changsheng dared say that, the death of Zu Yuan, the Devil Race Sacred Son, was as certain as a nail driven into a board.
Although he did not know what blood-deep vendetta lay between Chen Changsheng and Zu Yuan in the future, given Chen Changsheng's temperament, anyone he plotted against like this had no chance of surviving.
The first Child of Heaven's Will to die?
Ouyang suddenly felt rather eager.
Chen Changsheng's door slowly opened, and he strolled out in a purple Daoist robe.
To Ouyang's surprise, Chen Changsheng was actually showing his real face this time!
Even he rarely saw that handsome face.
Above his purple Daoist robe embroidered with azure clouds in white thread, his exquisitely handsome face wore a faint, composed smile.
With a charm stat as high as nine, his looks were truly top-notch.
Yet Chen Changsheng's smile gave off a sinister chill that made people's hair stand on end.
"All right, stop smiling. It's creepy!" Ouyang waved a hand at Chen Changsheng and spoke with distaste.
"Senior Brother Chen is so handsome! This is the first time I've seen him looking this handsome!" Hu Tutu gazed at Chen Changsheng with stars in her eyes.
"Huh? Ninth level of Core Formation?" Bai Feiyu dropped down from the tree as well, studying Chen Changsheng with interest.
So this was my third senior brother's true strength?
He really hid it deep. Even I hadn't noticed.
Chen Changsheng took a deep breath. After preparing for so long, he had to kill that fiend Zu Yuan!
Whether the future timeline would change was no longer something Chen Changsheng considered.
Zu Yuan alone was the one with whom he had a blood-deep vendetta!
Chen Changsheng drew a silver-white mask from his sleeve, cold killing intent in his eyes.
The Summoning Bell on Azure Cloud Peak rang once again, and as its tolls sounded,
Ouyang clapped his hands and said, "Let's go. We'll watch this Sect Grand Competition and see how Changsheng slaughters that bastard."
At that moment, immortal clouds wreathed Azure Cloud Peak, and celestial music lingered in the air.
The bustling crowds made the normally tranquil Azure Cloud Peak extraordinarily lively.
The Azure Cloud Sect's Inner Disciples stood in two rows along the stone steps.
Everyone made their way toward the summit of Azure Cloud Peak on foot.
Each peak had its assigned place. When the group from Little Mountain Peak arrived at the venue, they immediately drew the attention of everyone else in the Azure Cloud Sect.
A saying had long circulated within the Azure Cloud Sect: Little Mountain Peak bred monsters!
And the disciples of Little Mountain Peak were exceedingly mysterious, seldom seen in their daily lives.
Their only public appearance had been two years earlier, when a disciple of Little Mountain Peak had charged up Questioning Sword Peak with a sword on his back.
Hundreds of Questioning Sword Peak disciples had been beaten so badly in swordsmanship by that disciple that they fled, pissing and shitting themselves.
One man with one sword had toppled the entire Questioning Sword Peak, establishing Little Mountain Peak's formidable reputation from then on.
It was said that Little Mountain Peak had three more like him!
Terrifying indeed!
Compared with the sect leader's disciple, Ling Feng, they were simply far stronger!
And Bai Feiyu's appearance drew the eyes of every woman present.
Dressed in white, with a temperament as gentle and warm as jade and an exquisitely handsome face, he could make people lose themselves in him with a single glance.
Clad in black, Leng Qingsong stood with his sword in his arms. Sharp sword intent flowed around him, making people afraid to look directly at him.
Chen Changsheng, wearing a purple Daoist robe and a mask, exuded mystery and was equally eye-catching.
In a colorful dress, Hu Tutu looked this way and that with a mischievous air. Bright and lovely, she endeared herself to everyone.
Every one of them drew attention. Any one of them, singled out, would become the center of the world's gaze.
By comparison, Ouyang in his blue-green Daoist robe seemed rather ordinary: merely an average-looking cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage.
Yet when Ouyang casually plopped himself down among these dazzling stars, crossed one leg over the other, and assumed an unrestrained, carefree air, the sight appeared remarkably harmonious to everyone.
The Azure Cloud Sect truly has a wealth of talent! The elders of the various sects in the stands also looked toward Little Mountain Peak's group, unable to keep from marveling inwardly.
Little Mountain Peak had brought the Azure Cloud Sect tremendous honor, and Dongxu Zi's face was practically blooming with smiles.
This was also why he had always wanted Little Mountain Peak's disciples to show themselves. These disciples Hu Yun had taken in were simply too good at making him look impressive!
The auspicious hour had arrived!
Dongxu Zi coughed, stepped to the front of the platform, and declared in a ringing voice, "The Azure Cloud Sect's Sect Grand Competition officially begins! Let heaven and earth bear witness, and the sun and moon shine upon us!"
A muffled clap of thunder sounded in the sky, and a full moon faintly appeared in the previously clear daylight.
A resonant dragon's roar rang through heaven and earth, and as it sounded, a piercing bird cry rose alongside it.
An Azure Dragon over ten meters long wound upward, charging straight into the clouds, with a Vermilion Bird wreathed in flames close behind.
Cries of astonishment immediately erupted.
Genuine divine beast pressure emanated from the Azure Dragon and the Vermilion Bird!
The Azure Cloud Sect actually had a True Dragon and a Vermilion Bird!
The Vermilion Bird flew toward the sun, raising its head in a cry. Though its divine beast pressure was still immature, it nonetheless made all beasts bow their heads.
The Azure Dragon charged straight toward the faintly visible full moon, casting the enormous silhouette of an Azure Dragon upon it.
The once-indistinct moon became clearly visible as well!
Dongxu Zi borrowed Xiao Feng just for this little display? Still, the effect really is pretty good! With one leg crossed over the other, Ouyang looked up at the heavenly phenomenon and thought with satisfaction.
The sun and moon shared the sky, while dragon and phoenix cried in unison!
A heavenly phenomenon coupled with the appearance of divine beasts-such a lavish opening left even the elders of the other sacred lands too stunned to speak.
The Sect Grand Competition had barely begun, and the atmosphere had already reached its peak!
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