"Hahaha, let the whole garden bloom-I alone will stand above the rest!"
"Good, what a Chu Kuangren! You certainly live up to your name! Let's see how long your strength can sustain that arrogance of yours!"
Within Ziyang Valley, a Saintly Dao Tradition, a young man with rugged features and a purple robe snorted as he gazed at the rising sun in the distance.
Within another Saintly Dao Tradition, the White Lotus Sect, a stunning woman in a long white dress, with bells hanging from her ankles, sat beside a pond. Her fair, jade-like feet swayed gently, stirring up little splashes.
"A garden in full bloom, with one flower standing above the rest?"
"Does this eldest senior brother of the Mystic Heaven Sect truly have strength, or is he simply indulging his tongue? He likens the world to a garden-is he truly astonishingly gifted, or are his ambitions higher than heaven while his life is thinner than paper?"
"Heh, I hope he isn't just another Gu Changge."
The Daoists of the various Saintly Dao Traditions reacted fiercely.
Some even issued responses on the spot upon hearing the news.
"I am Yuan Hong of the Wanfa Sect!"
"Since the Mystic Heaven Sect's eldest senior brother believes he can stand above the rest, when we meet someday, we'll have to debate the Dao and see who is superior."
That was Yuan Hong of the Wanfa Sect's response.
And that was considered relatively mild.
By comparison, another Saintly Dao Tradition, the Wuxing Sect, reacted far more fiercely. Reportedly, when Fang Tian, the Wuxing Sect's Daoist, heard the news, he shattered a coral tree on the spot and directly declared his challenge.
"A fellow who hid within his sect for over a decade and has only just stepped out into the world dares to spout such wild boasts? Utterly ridiculous!"
"You'd better hope you never meet me, or I'll make certain you learn the might of the Five Elements Dao! I'll teach you the consequences of arrogance!"
Besides the Wuxing Sect and the Wanfa Sect,
several princes and princesses of the Qingyun Dynasty also spoke out.
"Hmph, how dare you, Chu Kuangren! Not only did you injure my elder brother, but you even dare to challenge the world. Very well, I'll certainly face you someday!"
The Qingyun Dynasty's third prince issued his declaration.
"Chu Kuangren, you injured my elder brother. I, Princess Linglong, will remember this debt. If we meet in the future, don't blame me for showing no mercy with my palms!"
The eldest princess, Princess Linglong, followed closely with her own declaration.
"Chu Kuangren, what nerve!"
"He certainly lives up to his name. He's only just entered the world, yet he dares to challenge everyone. Truly arrogant. Let's hope he lives a few more days."
"The tree that towers above the forest is sure to be battered by the wind."
"He's showing too sharp an edge. Sooner or later, he'll stumble. Does he really think defeating one Gu Changge makes him invincible? I'm waiting to watch him make a fool of himself."
"He's merely another Gu Changge."
For a time, Chu Kuangren seemed to have become the target of every genius in the world. Whether they had any strength or not, everyone had to denounce him a little.
It was as though doing so could make them seem grander and more impressive.
Meanwhile, Chu Kuangren, who had become the center of the storm, had just left the Mystic Heaven Sect with Lan Yu and was heading straight south.
He seemed to have a clear destination.
"Young Master, where are we going?"
Lan Yu asked curiously along the way.
"To hunt for treasure."
Chu Kuangren waved the map in his hand and smiled faintly.
During his ten lucky draws, Chu Kuangren had obtained a Star Radiance-level Treasure Map. This time, his journey to gain experience was a treasure hunt.
Coincidentally, the treasure was hidden within the Azure Dragon Domain.
"According to the Treasure Map, the treasure is hidden in a mountain range near White Cloud City in the Azure Dragon Domain," Chu Kuangren murmured.
Aside from the treasure, there was something else that intrigued Chu Kuangren.
That was the lord of White Cloud City.
Rumor had it that Ye Wuhen, the current lord of White Cloud City, was a top sword venerable. He and Chu Kuangren's master were the two pinnacles of the sword Dao in the present-day Azure Dragon Domain, known as the Azure Dragon Twin Swords.
He knew Venerable Xuanqi was a supreme venerable. Although he had never seen him fight, he had once examined him with the Eye of Insight and obtained some information. His combat strength absolutely far exceeded that of other venerables.
Since Ye Wuhen enjoyed the same renown as his master, he was presumably extraordinary as well.
On this trip to White Cloud City, perhaps he could pay him a visit.
Two days later.
Chu Kuangren and Lan Yu arrived at the location marked on the Treasure Map, but before him lay an empty stretch of mountain terrain.
Forget treasure-there wasn't so much as a hair.
"Young Master, could we have come to the wrong place?"
"No, it's right here." Chu Kuangren smiled confidently and said, "The map says this treasure site is protected by a formation and hidden in the void. It needs an impact from earth qi to reveal itself."
"An impact from earth qi?"
"Yes."
Chu Kuangren smiled. Then he looked at the void before him and gave a low shout, unleashing his Nascent Soul cultivation and gathering the surrounding earth qi.
It was the Sage King Law, the Human Mountain Seal Art!
Chu Kuangren formed hand seals, and mysterious Daoist rhymes circulated. The surrounding mountains and rivers trembled as vast earth qi formed an enormous divine mountain that hurtled forward.
The divine mountain struck the void as though hitting a barrier. With a thunderous boom, great quantities of earth qi surged in all directions, battering the surroundings.
A burst of dazzling radiance suddenly shot into the sky!
Then an enormous golden gate emerged from the void, its surface engraved with images of mountains, rivers, exotic beasts, the sun, and the moon.
Above the gate floated two large characters, their strokes like soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes, brimming with mysterious Daoist rhymes... Yuanling!
The golden gate stretched across the void, surrounded by waves of auspicious light and Daoist rhymes. Every living creature within tens of thousands of kilometers clearly sensed it.
Even farther away, some powerful cultivators also sensed the disturbance.
"What is that? A gate?"
"What powerful energy fluctuations, what rich Daoist rhymes! Could some great treasure have appeared? Hurry and look!"
"This is a heaven-sent opportunity! It belongs to me!"
"Yuanling... heavens, could it be Supreme Yuanling, whose name shook the world twenty thousand years ago, known as the strongest beneath the Sages?"
"Supreme Yuanling perished while attempting to reach the Sage realm twenty thousand years ago. They say that before he died, he hid the treasures he had collected throughout his life in a secret location. Could this be Supreme Yuanling's treasure site?"
"Rumor has it that Supreme Yuanling's treasury contains an opportunity to become a Sage! If we can obtain it... we can become Sages! Go, hurry!"
For a time, countless powerful cultivators sensed the disturbance.
Countless people went mad over it!
A supreme venerable's treasury alone was enough to astound people and send countless cultivators flocking toward it, let alone one that held an opportunity to become a Sage!
How many publicly known Sages were there on the entire Firmament Star?
They went mad.
Everyone rushed like mad toward the golden gate.
Chu Kuangren was also dumbfounded as he watched the scene before him.
What a damn rip-off!
He had only wanted to hunt for treasure in peace, take it, and leave. But now, the commotion was so great that it had drawn everyone over. How was he supposed to quietly make a fortune now?!
His hidden Dao Protector, the Seventh Ancestor, was also so startled that he nearly bit off his tongue.
Over the past few days, he had indeed often seen Chu Kuangren puzzling over a so-called Treasure Map, but he had paid it little mind.
Treasure maps were everywhere. Some eccentric powerful cultivators liked leaving all manner of puzzles for others to solve, especially treasure maps. He had seen more than his share of them in his youth.
But who could have imagined that this was actually Supreme Yuanling's Treasure Map?!
The Seventh Ancestor was dumbfounded.
He had long heard that Chu Kuangren caused some great commotion every few days back in the sect, but who could have imagined that the fellow would stir up something so enormous less than two days into his journey?
Supreme Yuanling's treasure site-how many powerful cultivators would this draw?!
"Should I have just stayed on the back mountain to enjoy my retirement?" The Seventh Ancestor gave a helpless, bitter chuckle.
Before you continue