Chapter 403: Vanished Without A Trace
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: Hitesh
Wu Qi stared at Reverend Huilin coldly, who was swollen with arrogance, wondering how this fellow cultivated to this stage.
Reverend Huilin paid no heed to Wu Qi's meaningful glance. Instead, he tilted his head up high and shouted, "Yuan Hua, show yourself and fight with me!"
The loud and sonorous voice echoed through several tens of thousands of miles. If Patriarch Yuan Hua were hiding somewhere in the space where the ancient mansion was located, he would have heard the call. However, after dozens of shouts, he still did not show up. It made Reverend Huilin very excited, as he turned to look at Immortal Chuan and said, "Immortal Monarch, Yuan Hua is not here. Maybe, he is too scared to show himself, eh? Can this make me the winner of the match?"
Immortal Chuan exchanged a glance with the other Immortal Monarchs. They were hesitating, and dared not to make a hasty decision.
The match would decide the ultimate ownership of both sects' bases. With so many Immortals watching them, if the ownership of the Green Cliff Planet and Huang Qiao Planet were decided without having both Ancestral Masters fighting in a serious match, it might bring a bad reputation to the few Immortal Monarchs. Someone might claim that they must have been bribed by Huiling Sect, thus making a decision skewed towards Huiling Sect.
The Heaven had very strict rules. While all Immortal Monarchs had the desire to advance further in their career, reputation was one of the very important criteria for the assessment. It was exactly the reason why Immortal Chuan was trying to mediate the conflict between Huiling Sect and Yuan Hua Sect. After all, if several dozens of Heaven Immortals died suddenly under his management, he would definitely get a very bad looking record on his personal profile. At least, he would receive a charge of mismanagement. That would be a huge obstacle for his future advancement.
Every advancement of an Immortal Monarch always represented some solid benefits. It would bring them to a heavenly realm with denser natural energy, larger territory, richer natural products, and more Immortals. On top of that, every advancement came with a reward of immortal stones and immortal pills. Most importantly, it would allow them to receive teaching and guidance from those almighty experts of the Heaven, allowing them to pay a visit at those almighty experts' immortal abodes and listen to the teaching of the Great Dao. That was the most tempting reward.
Therefore, Immortal Chuan and the others dared not to make a hasty decision, as it would affect the future of the two great immortal sects!
Wu Qi was amused when he looked at how Immortal Chuan and the other Immortal Monarchs were darting their eyes from side to side. In fact, their status was similar to the cadres of some remote villages back on earth, and the battle between the two great immortal sects was just like the group fight among the villagers. How they judged the matter would definitely affect the evaluation of their performance.
They had to be fair in their judgment. If they failed to do so, nobody could predict what would happen to them in the future.
As he stared at Immortal Chuan and the others with a cold glance, Wu Qi thought of the plan he and his Seniors came out with at Green Cliff Mountain. Narrowing his eyes, he turned to look at the cloudy path where he came from. Right at this moment, there should be some action going on at the Windbracing Plain on Cang Tu Planet. He wondered if Daoist Min had completed his mission.
Upon thinking of that, Wu Qi turned again and looking towards the Heaven Immortals from Eminent Cloud Sect. As the number one immortal sect in Puluo Heavenly Realm, Eminent Cloud Sect had a total of forty-two Heaven Immortals, but only eleven of them were here today. Of course, as the founding Ancestral Master of Eminent Cloud Sect, Reverend Yun was here with them, sitting cross-legged on the back of a large, black crane while looking at Reverend Huilin with a big smile on his face. However, Wu Qi felt something was not right about the aura emanated by Reverend Yun.
Was he the real Reverend Yun or not?
Noticing that Immortal Chuan and the other Immortal Monarchs did not utter a single word, Reverend Huilin shouted angrily, "Immortal Monarchs, since Patriarch Yuan Hua chickened out at the last minute, you should just make me the winner! And according to the agreement, Green Cliff Planet should be given to Huiling Sect now!"
Immortal Chuan frowned. Even as he cleared his throat and was about to say something, a beam of light suddenly pierced through the chaotic airflows off in a distance, plunging straight into the spherical space. It traveled at an incredible speed, and in just a blink of an eye, Patriarch Yuan Hua was seen flying over with body full of bloodstains. Those pale-golden bloodstains were still wet, and were radiating very strong waves of immortal energy. Obviously, it was the blood that just came out of the body of some Immortals.
With a flick of his sleeve, Patriarch Yuan Hua wiped those bloodstains away from him. He coughed violently before letting out a long laugh with a hoarse voice, "It seems that you are too impatient to fight me, eh? Well, let's fight then! Immortal Monarchs, please be the witnesses for the match. If I manage to slay Reverend Huilin with my sword today, Huang Qiao Planet shall be given to Yuan Hua Sect!"
He coughed heavily again. Golden blood could be seen dripping down from the corner of his mouth. "Come, Huiling, let's fight this battle of life and death!" Patriarch Yuan Hua shouted with a wild laugh.
With a wave of his right hand, a stream of fuzzy, green cloud shot out of his fingertip, quickly forming an immortal sword that looked obscure, almost as if it did not have a corporeal shape. Upon making its appearance, the sword began to fly and wheel rapidly around Patriarch Yuan Hua. It was named the Shadowcloud Sword, Patriarch Yuan Hua's prime immortal item, which he began crafting since the moment he became an Immortal, and had spent several hundreds of Periods to laboriously temper it. On unleashing it, Patriarch Yuan Hua's body became like mist, and could no longer be locked down by any divine will.
Immortal Chuan gave a thoughtful glance at those bloodstains on Patriarch Yuan Hua's body as he knitted his brows in a tight frown. In an utmost seriousness, he shouted, "Now, fight according to the agreement between you! No matter who defeats who at the end, if there are any more conflicts in the future, that will be settled between Yuan Hua Sect and Huiling Sect only. You are not allowed to make the conflict spread further!"
It was very obvious as for what Immortal Chuan was trying to tell them: 'It is your own freedom to fight and kill each other, and you can even seek revenge on each other in the future. But, you are not allowed to make things worse by calling help from friends.' His voice came with a very serious warning tone, sounding like if they caused too many troubles, he would not hesitate to suppress them with the Heaven's force.
Patriarch Yuan Hua cupped his fist and bowed to Immortal Chuan. It was an affirmative gesture.
On the other side, Reverend Huilin sprung backward and drew a distance of nearly one hundred miles between them. He rubbed his palms. Immediately, a glorious, strong, and golden light burst out from between the palms, transforming into a strange immortal sword, which looked as if it was entirely crafted from gold, and kept spraying out large sheets of golden flame. It had a body as wide as an adult's palm, and a length of seven feet. A total of thirteen fist-sized crystals were mounted from its tip all the way to the hilt. Every single one of them was flickering with a blinding red light. The constant expanding and shrinking of the red light made them look like the hearts of some living being.
Wu Qi gasped as he saw the immortal sword. It was an upper-grade immortal sword, a powerful immortal item that could only be crafted by at least an Eighteenth Tier Heaven Immortal. On top of that, it had an item spirit that possessed the power as strong as an Eighteenth Tier Heaven Immortal. But strangely, with Reverend Huilin's overall strength, which was matching or perhaps, slightly weaker than Patriarch Yuan Hua, how was he able to control an immortal sword of at least the Eighteenth Tier?
Could it be that Reverend Huilin had an innate energy that could lure an advanced immortal item over to him, just like how Wu Qi did? But, that did not make sense!
The wind and clouds changed their colors when the golden immortal sword appeared, and a scorching hot aura forced all Immortals to move backward. They were staring at Reverend Huilin with surprise. At that moment, they suddenly understood what gave him the courage to rush all the way over to Green Cliff Planet, challenging Patriarch Yuan Hua for an increase in wager, even staking the base of his own sect.
With that immortal sword in his hand, Reverend Huilin had all the qualifications to do that. It was as if a baby with a bazooka in his hand was challenging another kid. The baby could hardly be defeated in this case. The problem was, when all the Heaven Immortals quickly scanned Reverend Huilin with their divine wills, they found that his cultivation base was still at Twenty-Eighth Tier Heaven Immortal realm. So, how was it even possible for him to control an upper-grade immortal sword?
All immortal items were sentient beings, and they were very proud of themselves. How could they allowed someone with an unmatched overall strength to control them?
Holding the golden immortal sword in hand, Reverend Huilin roared with a complacent laughter, "Yuan Hua, I'm gonna to slay you with my sword today, and then Yuan Hua Sect... Hehe!"
Instead of finishing his sentence, Reverend Huilin ended it with a hideous grin. Nevertheless, his message was clear: After he killed Patriarch Yuan Hua, there was no reason for Yuan Hua Sect to continue its existence. His overall strength had increased by at least ten times with the Eighteenth Tier immortal sword, and he would definitely exterminate every Yuan Hua Sect disciple, while the planet of energy stones which started all this would be in his possession!
Throughout the entire universe, although all the heavenly realms were ruled by Immortal Monarchs from the Heaven, but one's overall strength was still the only decisive element between Immortals! The strong would survive, and the weak would perish. For Immortals, this was an absolute truth that had never changed, and would never change.
Wu Qi stared at Reverend Huilin coldly, who looked proud as a peacock. No wonder he had such a strong confidence to challenge Yuan Hua Sect.
But at the same time, Wu Qi reckoned that he did not have the golden immortal sword for long. Because if he did, the ownership of the planet of energy stones would have long been decided, and the battle between Huiling Sect and Yuan Hua Sect would not have to go on for a thousand years. Wu Qi estimated that he must have just found the immortal sword a few days before Wu Qi and the others arrived at Puluo Heavenly Realm.
The few Immortal Monarchs fixed their gazes at the immortal sword with a gloomy expression, while Immortal Chuan's complexion was shifting between pale and blue. With that powerful immortal sword, Reverend Huilin's overall strength had surpassed his. It would be really tough for him to manage Huiling Sect in the future. Upon thinking about that, he felt a headache coming!
Among all the heavenly realms throughout the entire universe, there existed some extremely powerful immortal sects. They possessed the overall strength that allowed them to ignore the rules set by the Heaven. The Immortal Monarchs in those heavenly realms lived like the filial grandsons of those powerful immortal sects, unable to exercise their authority and domination. Immortal Chuan really did not wish to become one of those unlucky fellows.
But, that golden immortal sword was overly powerful! Not even a single Immortal could stand firm before it. So, how was he going to run everything according to his will in the future?
While everyone had their minds filled with all sorts of thoughts, Patriarch Yuan Hua laughed suddenly. "Huiling, it seems the item spirit of this immortal sword is seriously damaged, and has sunk into a deep slumber. Am I correct? Or else, how is it possible that you can control it?"
Reverend Huilin nodded and said, "You're correct. The sword was all scratched up when I found it, and its item spirit is on the verge of completely shattering. I believe it is an immortal item belonging to an almighty Immortal who was killed in a battle with another Immortal, thus causing the sword to fall into Puluo Heavenly Realm. I was lucky enough to find it."
He swung the sword casually, laughing loudly as he said, "Yuan Hua, if you can make Yuan Hua Sect merge into Huiling Sect, I can consider..."
Patriarch Yuan Hua shook his head. He did not pay any attention to Reverend Huilin, but instead, pulled out a strip of cloth very carefully from under his sleeve, about six inches long and as wide as two fingers. It looked like a strip of cloth ripped off from someone's shirt. On top of the cloth were a few runes, messily drawn with pale-golden blood. A very subtle, fairly discernible wave of immortal energy was emitting from these runes.
After giving Reverend Huilin a cold gaze, Patriarch Yuan Hua pointed at the strip of cloth. It was kindled suddenly.
A tiny beam of golden light shot out from the cloth, piercing through the one hundred miles of distance and gently landing on Reverend Huilin's body.
Under the terrified gazes of all the Immortals, Reverend Huilin vanished without a trace.