Chapter 694: A Desire to Quit
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng knew some things about the legend of the Three Mountains of Ying Sea. So long as it was not an exclusive secret, he could get information from the system.
The Three Mountains of Ying Sea were known as Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang. They were the three Celestial Mountains that floated on the Ying Sea, making them technically three Celestial Islands.
The three Celestial Mountains were hidden deep inside the Ying Sea. Sometimes they would appear but no one knew when exactly.
In the Antiquity Age, there was a powerful cultivator who once ventured into the Celestial Mountains by accident. While he managed to escape the Ying Sea in the end, he still succumbed to his injuries. However, he left some critical information behind. Legend had it that whoever could control the three Celestial Mountains could control the Ying Sea.
The human emperor at that time, Emperor Tai, heard the news and ventured into the Ying Sea immediately. After a long while, he only managed to return empty-handed. However, he was able to verify the authenticity of the rumor.
Emperor Tai not only managed to confirm the rumor, but he was also to break many of the spell restrictions on the three Celestial Mountains. This allowed the previously untraceable Celestial Mountains to appear after a fixed time. However, their location was still unpredictable.
According to what Lin Feng knew, the next time the three mountains would appear would be within the next one to two years.
From a certain perspective, subsequent generations were only able to better understand the Three Mountains of Ying Sea thanks to Emperor Tai's efforts all those years ago.
While no one could reap the benefits of the Three Mountains as of yet, human knowledge of the Ying Sea increased dramatically from the Antiquity Age to now. Furthermore, as their understanding of the Three Mountains of Ying Sea increased, they had a better chance of actually controlling it.
Of course, there were still huge risks involved. Earlier on, Emperor Tai, despite his premier mastery, was severely weakened after his return to the point whereby he fell in battle during the War of Two Worlds.
After Emperor Tai, many powerful cultivators who went returned severely injured. Even more died there.
However, with the efforts of generations after generations of cultivators, the shroud over the three Celestial Mountains was removed layer-by-layer. As such, the Celestial Mountains became less and less mysterious.
The closest power to the Ying Sea was undoubtedly the Great Zhou Empire.
Similar to the Void Sea, the Starry Sea, and the Black Sea, the Ying Sea was filled with danger. However, it too was a limitless treasure vault. Many rare items that could hardly be found elsewhere in the Divine Lands could be found in great abundance there. That attracted numerous cultivators who ventured into the Ying Sea at the risk of death.
If one could fully master it, then one would not fear the dangers within. One could hence grow exponentially with the many valuable items in this treasure vault.
In the Grand Heavens Pavilion, the group of Immortal Soul stage elders said nothing. However, they all communicated telepathically as they used their mana to project their messages.
The Three Mountains of Ying Sea were no secret. Many there knew of it. They too knew that the Three Mountains would appear once again. However, everyone was much more restrained.
After all, the Ying Sea was a dangerous place, even for Immortal Soul stage cultivators.
However, at that moment, many in the Grand Heavens Pavilion were thinking whether Lin Feng and the Celestial Sect of Wonders would take the chance to enter. If they did so, what sort of impact would they cause?
The last time the Three Mountains of Ying Sea appeared, the Celestial Sect of Wonders did not even exist. No one heard of Lin Feng.
Now, they had to factor Lin Feng and the Celestial Sect of Wonders into consideration.
The Azure Pulse Swordmaster and the head of the Lei Family, Lie Lie, looked at the scene before them expressionlessly.
However, the second-most powerful person of the Great Zhou Empire, the Marquis of Xuanji, Zhu Hongwu, appeared relaxed. His face did not change as he sat calmly on the chair and looked at the Heavenly Master Sword Master. Then, his gaze fell on Lin Feng and Lin Daohan.
The Heavenly Master Swordmaster's objective of revealing the incident of the Three Mountains of Ying Sea was surely to stir conflict amongst the united front formed by the Celestial Sect of Wonders, the Great Zhou Empire and the Great Qin Empire.
Lin Feng was still smiling calmly and naturally. Lin Daohan sighed quietly, but in the end chose to keep his silence.
Zhu Hongwu looked at them and nodded his head. He retracted his gaze and he regained his usual composure. It was as if nothing had happened.
Lin Feng sat on the main seat as he thought, "Interesting, I wonder how do Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang compare to Mount Yujing."
In the Grand Heavens Pavilion, the group of Immortal Soul stage elders carefully considered the Three Mountains of Ying Sea. The competition in the Dharma Hall was still blazing on fiercely.
After Chen Xingyu and Lei Jie, the next combatants were Dao Yuting, who came in second in the second round, and Chu Yang, who came in seventh.
Regardless of Dao Yuting or her master, Wang Lin, both of them were realists. They believed that the ultimate aim of battle was to kill their opponents.
Hence, she must make use of all advantages available to her. Immediately, she chose an icy landscape as her battleground.
Through Wang Lin's guidance and in the process of cultivation, Dao Yuting not only learned the teachings of the Celestial Sect of Wonders but she also merged it together with what she had learned in the Heaven Lake Sect, bringing her spells to the next level.
"Actually, you really have no need to pick a battleground that's advantageous for me, because the final outcome of the battle won't change. However, you don't really know how would the battleground affect me," Chu Yang thought to himself. He began to battle Dao Yuting with the attacks he had learned from the Ethereal Mountain Sect.
While he planned on keeping a low profile, he could not appear too lousy. Hence, he used his own unique understanding of the moves of the Ethereal Mountain Sect to attack Dao Yuting, earning him the approval from his fellow disciples and spectators.
"However," Chu Yang thought to himself, "Whatever happens, the results of the battle won't change."
Even if Chu Yang's opponent was a normal cultivator and not a pig, he would not be able to lose to him/her, let alone Dao Yuting, a second-generation disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Since he possessed a desire to quit after the first round, he could lose to anyone!
There were always more ways than difficulties.
Losing to a pro required one set of tactics while losing to a newbie would require another set of tactics.
Hence, while Chu Yang lost in the end, no one dared to underestimate him. Even though he entered the top eight, many still perceived him as the 'weakest' amongst them all. All of them thought that he would have been eliminated almost immediately.
However, after he had exhibited a certain amount of skills and then lost, those with a lower expectation of him paradoxically became more approving of his abilities. While he was still a dark horse, he was still able to hold his ground.
However, some younger cultivators were not swayed by Chu Yang's performance. They thought that he was only able to reach his current stage based entirely on his luck and cunning.
In the first round where they had to ascend the Starry Treasure Pagoda, Chu Yang's teammates were all extraordinarily powerful. As long as he did not hold them back, he could comfortably pass it.
In the second round, Chu Yang performed exceptionally by accumulating nine golden rings in one go. However, this made many people think that he was just a walking lucky charm.
His more subtle internal deliberations were harder to pick out.
In particular, many younger disciples of the Scarlet Clouds Sect disliked Chu Yang.
The Scarlet Clouds Sect and the Ethereal Mountain Sect were both middle powers located in the southern foothill of the Kunlun Mountains. Ever since the Aeolus Sect was destroyed, the Scarlet Clouds Sect was the first sect to better ties with the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders was kind to the Scarlet Clouds Sect. The first group of powers to enter the Celestial Wonders World included the Great Qin Empire, the Lightning Sword Sect, the Sword of Radiance Sect and the Purple Clouds Sect, all of whom were major powers. The Scarlet Clouds Sect was one of the middle powers that were allowed in too, being prioritized over the Ethereal Mountain Sect.
In the past few years, the Ethereal Mountain Sect gradually grew distant from Mount Shu and closer with the Celestial Sect of Wonders. The sect with the strongest animosity towards them was undoubtedly the Scarlet Mountain Sect. The two of them had never gotten along well and hence, the Ethereal Mountain Sect did not take too kindly to the Scarlet Mountain Sect's jostling with it over the position of top lackey.
The Scarlet Mountain Sect did possess an advantage in the sense that it grew close to the Celestial Sect of Wonders first. Hence, it had a dismissive attitude towards the Ethereal Mountain Sect.
After assessing its own powers, the Scarlet Clouds Sect believed that it was better for them to keep a low-profile rather than embarrassing themselves in the spiritual conference. Hence, they sent no one this time, while mocking the Ethereal Mountain Sect's decision to send Chu Yang.
In the end, when Chu Yang entered the top eight, it made the disciples of the Scarlet Mountain Sect slightly resentful of their own masters.
While a disciple from the Ethereal Mountain Sect could achieve such grand results, they could only seat at the side and watch. Their hearts felt as if a cat had scratched it.
Even now, during the battle between Dao Yuting, while Chu Yang lost, he was still able to prove his worth. This upset some people.
Hence, the cultivators of the Scarlet Clouds Sect began to discuss in earnest. While the Celestial Sect of Wonders wouldn't completely disfavor the Scarlet Clouds Sect just because the Ethereal Mountain Sect performed well this round, the Ethereal Mountain Sect would definitely be more prominent right now. This made the Scarlet Clouds Sect, which had grown used to looking down on their old neighbor, uncomfortable.
"Next, I shall quietly await the next battle," Chu Yang left the battleground and returned to the luxurious lounge where the Ethereal Mountain Sect resided. He sighed and said, "Qingwu, you... you probably don't recognize me anymore..."
Dao Yuting progressed to the top four, which was expected by everyone. For most people, the result of this battle was the easiest to predict. If Dao Yuting had lost, then it would have been the greatest upset of the spiritual conference.
The next round was the most-anticipated battle.
This was despite the fact that the rank disparity between the two contestants was the greatest.
The first from the second round, Xu Yunsheng, would go up against the eighth from the second round, Ying Luozha.
The two of them had left Mount Yujing to explore the world before and hence, many people knew them. They were the most well-known disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders during this conference.
Even within the Celestial Sect of Wonders, they were rather famous as well.
Other than Dao Yuting, who joined as a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator due to special circumstances, Xu Yunsheng and Ying Luozha were both the earliest Foundational Disciples to enter the sect, as well as the earliest batch of successive disciples.
Since the day they joined, both of them swept the top two placings for every single test. The two of them competed furiously for the top spot and Xu Yunsheng was only slightly better than Ying Luozha by a tiny bit.
With the two of them, the rest could only fight to be number three. Recently, other than Huang Zhenting and Lin Tong who were slightly more powerful, no one could shake them from their position. Even the two of them would need some time before they could directly threaten Xu Yunsheng and Ying Luozha.
This time, Zhou Yuncong's performance was exceptionally good and hence, caused a slight upset. However, in the eyes of the many Celestial Sect of Wonders disciples, Xu Yunsheng and Ying Luozha were still the most powerful Foundation Establishment stage disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
A battle between the two of was indeed something to watch.
Regardless of the results, this battle imposed a great amount of stress on the both of them as they were fighting before almost everyone in the human cultivation world. Whoever lost would have to bear the humiliation for a long while.