"That brat Yang Zhen was extraordinarily gifted. He was one of the strongest among the many geniuses I've seen. I'm afraid only Tower Master Hua of the Long Moon Pavilion could compare with him."
When Princess Changyang and the others reached the mountaintop, the first thing they heard was Luo Yan's remark. Their bodies jolted, and shock showed on their faces.
Su Qingyu looked thoughtful as she gazed in the direction Yang Zhen had gone.
"This... isn't Elder Luo's assessment of Yang Zhen a little too high?" Fang Shenhe stared openmouthed. The arrogance and conceit in his eyes were gone, leaving only shock and disbelief.
As talented disciples of major sects, they had always looked down their noses at outsiders. Though they did not look down on everyone under heaven, few people could catch their eye.
Even Yang Zhen had initially been nothing more in their eyes than a somewhat lucky disciple of a minor sect-and an eccentric bastard who did as he pleased at that.
The facts had proved that Yang Zhen was not only a genius who appeared once in a hundred years, just like them, but also had the capital to be arrogant. He had even driven Zhang Zongjin, another talented disciple, mad with anger, and no one knew where he had run off to.
But no matter how gifted Yang Zhen was, surely he could not be like Tower Master Hua of the Long Moon Pavilion.
The master of the Long Moon Pavilion could stand shoulder to shoulder with the five great sects of the Youyang Kingdom with just a single "pavilion," which showed how great its influence in the kingdom was. As for Tower Master Hua herself, her story began five years ago.
Five years ago, a young girl had suddenly appeared at the Long Moon Pavilion. She had looked only in her teens, and her cultivation had been merely at the first level of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
If the girl had not been so beautiful that she had shocked all of Raging Fire City, people would probably never have heard of her.
But what came next was even more shocking. The previous master of the Long Moon Pavilion suddenly announced that he would resign from his position and withdraw behind the scenes to help the new pavilion master manage the Long Moon Pavilion. And that new master was the girl named Hua Youyue!
The news had caused an enormous sensation in Raging Fire City and even throughout the Youyang Kingdom.
The Long Moon Pavilion was a free organization. Unlike other sects, it did not recruit disciples; people joined as guest elders instead. Thus, most of the powerful cultivators in the Youyang Kingdom who did not wish to join a sect were willing to hold a guest elder position at the Long Moon Pavilion.
Over time, guest elder positions at the Long Moon Pavilion had become increasingly difficult to obtain, and its strongest guest elders were said to have reached the Golden Core Realm.
Powerful figures in the Golden Core Realm, just one step away from entering the Heaven Realm, were actually willing to hold guest elder positions at the Long Moon Pavilion. Everyone had long wanted to know just how appealing the pavilion was. People only knew that its guest elders had few obligations, yet enjoyed countless privileges and benefits.
Such an enormous organization had actually made a girl in her teens its master. At the time, this had nearly provoked a revolt among the Long Moon Pavilion's guest elders.
But Hua Youyue had said just one thing, and from then on, everyone in the Youyang Kingdom had remembered her name.
Facing the many people who refused to accept her, Hua Youyue had shown no fear. Smiling, she had said to them, "Give me half a year. After that, if anyone still refuses to accept me as pavilion master, I'll give the position to him!"
For a long time, people in Raging Fire City had passed those words around as a joke. But the next six months had plunged many self-important geniuses into a nightmare.
Within a month of becoming master of the Long Moon Pavilion, Hua Youyue had overhauled its entire organizational structure, including that of its branch in Raging Fire City and even every branch throughout the Youyang Kingdom.
Under Hua Youyue's management, everything at the Long Moon Pavilion, great and small, underwent earth-shaking changes. The whole pavilion began turning slowly like a massive mechanism, and everything fell naturally into place.
In the following month, Hua Youyue successfully broke through the Foundation Establishment Realm and entered the Lesser Vehicle Realm. Raging Fire City erupted in an uproar; such terrifying cultivation speed was simply unheard of.
Another month later, when Hua Youyue appeared before everyone, she was already a powerhouse at the ninth level of the Lesser Vehicle Realm, and she slew a Golden Core Realm powerhouse with a single sword strike.
Another month later, Hua Youyue ventured deep into the Youguang Forest alone and captured a ninth-level Golden Core Realm Heaven-Reaching Python, bringing it back to the Long Moon Pavilion and causing a huge sensation.
Now, Hua Youyue was a Nascent Soul Realm powerhouse who commanded awe throughout the region. Someone had once compared her to the empress of the Water Spirit Kingdom, and her talent had been only slightly inferior.
Such terrifying cultivation speed had shattered the dreams of genius of heaven knew how many favored sons and daughters of heaven, making them realize that beyond every person stood someone greater.
The Long Moon Pavilion was also beginning to show signs of surpassing the five great sects of the Youyang Kingdom, and tales of Hua Youyue had even spread to the other four great cultivation nations of the Youzhou Continent.
Whenever people spoke of such a brilliantly gifted woman, they could not help but sigh with emotion.
But now Luo Yan had actually compared Yang Zhen's talent to Hua Youyue's, saying that perhaps only she could compare with him. Along with their shock, everyone felt a faint sense of discomfort.
Just what kind of monster was Yang Zhen, to earn such a high assessment from Elder Luo?
Princess Changyang and Su Qingyu in particular, both favored daughters of heaven, exchanged a glance and saw an intense desire for battle and fighting spirit in each other's eyes.
As everyone stood in shock, a loud laugh rang out. Ma Dexing, an elder of the Tonglin Sect, snorted coldly and glanced at Luo Yan. "What has Yang Zhen done to deserve such high praise from you, old Luo? If Yang Zhen finds out, I'm afraid he'll surely be moved to grateful tears and fall to his knees before you, honoring you as the discerning judge who recognized his talent. Then wouldn't his joining Elixir Valley Lake simply fall into place?"
"Well, well, old Luo. I was wondering why you were so shameless today, actually comparing a brat to Tower Master Hua. Aren't you afraid she'll be displeased if she hears that? So you old fellow have thrown away even the last shred of your dignity to take Yang Zhen as your disciple."
"You old ghost Duan, are you deliberately picking a fight?"
"You think I'm afraid of you, old ghost Luo?"
Everyone: "..."
Though the two powerful elders were nearly coming to blows, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. So Yang Zhen's talent could not really compare with Tower Master Hua's after all. Elder Luo, though, had really been... utterly shameless in his attempt to take Yang Zhen under his wing.
Yang Zhen did not know that he had already become highly sought after. Still wondering how to obtain a place in the Three Kingdoms Trial, he was hard at work collecting materials.
After leaving the Dao Comprehension Stele, Yang Zhen did not go looking for Liu Ruoning and the others. Instead, he searched the mountains for some materials.
"I've collected all the other materials. All I'm missing is a blood catalyst with a yin-cold attribute. A rare insect or exotic beast would be best, but where am I supposed to find one on short notice?" Yang Zhen was at a loss. It really was not easy to make a splash, but if he did not, how could he attract the Long Moon Pavilion's attention?
Meanwhile, deep in the mountain forest, two furtive figures were searching for a trace of Yang Zhen.
"I heard that bastard Yang Zhen didn't go straight to the mountaintop. He went into the forest alone instead."
"Are you sure that insect in your hand will work?"
"Don't worry. This is our sect's most precious Blood Silkworm. If it bites them, any cultivator below the Golden Core Realm will rot all over, turn into a pool of blood, and die. Young Master Zhang, I ask for nothing else. I only ask that you let me slash Yang Zhen a few more times before he dies."
"Of course!"