darknovel Chapter 1121 The Great Banner
Chapter 1121 The Great Banner
Not long after Zhang Yanwei and Yun Jinyue arrived at Lingyun Peak, Daoist Cangsong also arrived, descended his escape light, stepped forward, and respectfully bowed to Chen Yuan.
More streaks of light arrived one after another, all of them inner disciples recruited by Lingyun Peak in the past eighteen years. Due to the short time, none of them had yet formed a Golden Core, and all remained at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Although they had joined Lingyun Peak, they had no formal master. They addressed Chen Yuan as "Elder" before bowing to the three true disciples, Cangsong Daoren, Zhang Yanwei, and Yun Jinyue.
There is only one test for recruiting inner disciples at Lingyun Peak: soaking in a mixed poison elixir.
However, this very examination has kept the vast majority of disciples who wanted to join Lingyun Peak out of the door. In the past eighteen years, only thirty-five people have been recruited, and they are all wearing light blue standard dharma robes at this moment.
The first batch of inner disciples who joined Lingyun Peak stood at the front, and the one in the lead was Ding Yu.
He was fortunate enough to accompany Chen Yuan to the Donghua Auction, which broadened his horizons and allowed him to drink a cup of spiritual tea. His cultivation level directly increased to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, surpassing other inner disciples and making him the leader of the low-level disciples of Lingyun Peak.
Over the past eleven years, he has not relaxed his cultivation. His physical body has been improved to the level of a fourth-level royal beast. Because he cultivates both body and magic, his strength surpasses that of many late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The other Lingyun Peak disciples were somewhat inferior. Most of the cultivation methods they chose were aimed at refining the Void or even merging the Body, which was more difficult to cultivate than Ding Yu's. Even after refining all the Body Tempering Pills bestowed by Zhang Yanwei, their physical bodies could not compare with Ding Yu's.
There are gains and losses; to reach a higher level of cultivation, they must also overcome more treacherous peaks.
Lingyun Peak has few disciples, and the place where they opened their cave dwellings is not far away. In less than half an hour, they all gathered here.
Chen Yuan's gaze slowly swept over them, his expression calm. Everyone lowered their heads, feeling an inexplicable sense of reverence.
Elder Chen became increasingly handsome and ethereal, inspiring awe in them.
Chen Yuan's expression turned solemn as he slowly spoke: "A great battle is imminent. You all already know the reasons for this battle, so I will not elaborate further."
"The construction of the city on Tyrant Island is related to the sect's grand plan for ten thousand years."
"Although there are few disciples on Lingyun Peak, we have received the grace of the sect. At this critical moment, we must step forward and do our best, even if it is only a fraction of our strength."
"You must all do your utmost and not be afraid to fight. Those who disobey will be severely punished!"
Chen Yuan's voice was like thunder, shaking everyone's souls. Everyone trembled and bowed down in unison: "We will obey the elder's order and dare not fail to do our best!"
Chen Yuan's expression softened slightly, and he said calmly, "Those who make meritorious contributions will receive rewards not only from the sect but also from me."
"However, you must also remember that you must not be afraid to fight, but you must not throw your lives away either. When things are hopeless, you must prioritize your survival. The balance between these two is up to you. As long as you have a clear conscience, that is enough."
"Fellow Daoist Cangsong, where are the talismans I asked you to prepare?"
Daoist Cangsong stepped forward from the crowd and respectfully replied, "Reporting to the elder, the talismans are ready."
He turned around, flicked his sleeve, and thirty-five pale bone talismans appeared out of thin air in front of him, painted with green spiritual patterns and gleaming with spiritual light.
"This talisman is called 'Wooden Puppet.' It was crafted by the elder for you to protect your lives. It does not require the consumption of true essence. As long as it is infused with your blood essence, it can be activated to summon a wooden puppet in the early stage of Core Formation to assist in battle. It lasts for a quarter of an hour and can be used a total of three times."
As soon as Daoist Cangsong finished speaking, the thirty-five pale bone talismans scattered and flew into the hands of the thirty-five inner disciples.
The crowd bowed and expressed their gratitude: "Thank you, Elder, for bestowing the talisman!"
The old man, Cangsong Daoren, solemnly said, "I have tried my best to reduce the consumption of this talisman, but the wooden puppet is still at the early stage of Core Formation, far superior to you."
"Even if you cultivate both physical and magical techniques and your physical bodies are stronger than other cultivators of the same level, you will still have to consume at least 30% of your essence and blood to awaken the wooden puppet and lose the ability to fight again. You must use it with caution and never rely on it to fight against powerful enemies."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines and respectfully agreed.
Daoist Cangsong turned and bowed to Chen Yuan. Chen Yuan nodded slightly, then looked at everyone and said calmly, "I hope you will all be able to return alive after this battle."
After saying that, he took to the air and flew towards the Tianyuan Hall in the center of Tongtian Island.
The group rode their escape lights and followed closely behind Chen Yuan, standing out awkwardly among the many chaotic escape lights in the sky.
This time, Chen Yuan did not keep a low profile. He took the Tai Xuan Token in his hand and infused it with his true essence.
As that mysterious aura emanated, all the Tai Xuan Sect disciples who encountered it knew that it was a Nascent Soul Elder in person, and they all stepped aside to make way for him.
Ling Yunfeng and his group passed through without hindrance and arrived at a mountain peak not far from Tianyuan Hall, which was also the place where Chen Yuan held his grand ceremony when he was promoted to elder.
The elders' ceremony was both solemn and simple. It was simple because there were almost no formalities, but solemn because Master Fu himself was present, which surpassed any solemn ceremony.
At this moment, the open peak was empty, and the square, ancient white jade platform, ten feet high, was majestic and radiant, shining brightly and illuminating the sky, clearly visible from a hundred miles away.
The cultivators from other peaks had not yet arrived, but Lingyun Peak, with the fewest disciples, had arrived first.
The summit was extremely vast, but it could not accommodate tens of thousands of cultivators. Chen Yuan descended alone, while Zhang Yanwei, Cangsong Daoist, Yun Jinyue, and other inner disciples remained in the sky.
Zhang Yanwei flipped his hand and took out a small flag, tossed it forward, and it grew rapidly in the wind, transforming into a large flag several meters long.
On the snow-white banner woven from the silk of ancient ice silkworms, the two large, jet-black characters “Lingyun” are written like swords, sharp and eye-catching, exuding a terrifying murderous aura.
The Lingyun Banner was planted in the void, fluttering and dancing in the strong wind.
Zhang Yanwei and other Lingyun Peak disciples stood suspended in mid-air behind the banner, level with the peak and slightly lower than the white jade platform, their expressions solemn.
Chen Yuan slowly walked to the foot of the high platform and stood there. He looked up at the empty platform, behind which stood the towering and precipitous Tongtian Peak that pierced the sky.
About half an hour later, another streak of light flew in, sweeping across the sky and stopping near the peak.
The leader was Elder Yuan, followed by several Void Refinement Guardians, including Han Xuan.
Behind them were hundreds of Nascent Soul stage disciples, followed by Inner Sect disciples at the Nascent Soul, Core Formation, and Foundation Establishment stages, totaling several thousand people, all dressed in different colored standard robes.
Zhang Yanwei and other Lingyun Peak disciples kept their eyes straight ahead. Normally, when they encountered Elder Yuan and the Void Refining Protector, they had to bow.
But at this moment, standing behind this towering banner, only the sect leader is qualified to receive their respect.
Elder Yuan descended alone, and Han Xuan took out a large banner also woven from ten-thousand-year-old ice silkworm silk, embroidered with the two blue characters "Hua Yu" (化羽), which was extremely elegant.
Thousands of cultivators from Huayu Peak stood behind the Huayu banner, a dark mass that blotted out the sky, silent and solemn, with only the sound of the wind fluttering the banners. Elder Yuan arrived before the white jade platform, and Chen Yuan clasped his hands in greeting. Elder Yuan returned the greeting, and neither of them uttered a word. A tense atmosphere permeated the peak.
More streaks of light arrived one after another, from Chengying Peak, Luosong Peak, Yanheng Peak, Yujian Peak, Lanyue Peak...
The cultivators from the twelve peaks arrived together, and twelve large banners stood proudly in the sky. The characters on the banners were either sharp and eye-catching, or elegant and unparalleled, or ancient and square, or grand and majestic. They all contained the pressure of the Integration Stage cultivators and a deep killing intent.
These banners were personally written by the elders, embodying their Daoist aspirations.
Chen Yuan was cautious in his actions, but his inner Daoist heart was courageous and diligent, and he never missed any opportunity.
He risked his life in the Crimson Wild Mountains to seek cultivation techniques from Yu Qing; he entered the perilous spatial passage beneath the bottomless abyss just to escape the prison of the human realm; he risked being discovered as a human by six fused demon saints to enter the Xuanli Realm... all of these were the same.
The elders also arrived one after another at the foot of the white jade platform. With the expedition imminent, the air was thick with killing intent. This was not a place for reminiscing. No one spoke; they simply clasped their hands in greeting, but their expressions were quite different.
When Bai Zangzhou greeted Chen Yuan, his expression was indifferent, but his eyes revealed a hint of gentleness.
Ling Jiuque's ever-present smile vanished, and Elder Mei's gentle face revealed a hint of apology, as if she was still apologizing to Chen Yuan for the Xuanli Realm incident.
Elder Su's expression was icy, and the murderous intent in his eyes was unclear whether it stemmed from the demon race or from Chen Yuan.
The other elders were not close to Chen Yuan and their expressions were indifferent and distant.
Not long after Chen Yuan joined the Tai Xuan Sect, he left the sect to travel far away. He did not return for eighty years. After that, he stayed in his cave to refine pills and rarely appeared in the sect.
The other elders were either in seclusion or searching for treasures in other minor worlds, all preparing for this great battle. They had no time to interact with Chen Yuan, and half of the elders were meeting him for the first time today.
Among them, three people are most noteworthy: Elder Tian of Xingheng Peak, Elder Hong of Lingxiu Peak, and Elder Li of Wangxian Peak.
Elder Tian appears to be a young man, handsome and dashing. He is in charge of the Nine Palaces and is the only Grandmaster of Array Formation in the Tai Xuan Sect. His mastery of array formation has reached a state of perfection, and his cultivation level at the mid-stage of the Integration Realm ranks him in the middle range among the eleven elders.
The Tai Xuan Sect's large-scale invasion of Ba Gui Island is aimed at building a giant city. The construction of the city requires the establishment of a grand formation, and Elder Tian, as the only grandmaster of formations, holds a pivotal position.
Elder Hong had an aged appearance, with strands of silver hair mixed in with his black hair. His skin was like that of a baby, but his eyes were slightly cloudy, and he exuded a sense of decay.
He was the oldest among all the elders of the Tai Xuan Sect. Before joining the sect, he was a renowned rogue cultivator throughout the Xuanling Domain, and his cultivation at the Perfect Integration stage was second only to Master Fu.
Elder Hong's Lingxiu Peak is also the strongest branch in the sect. Under the majestic Lingxiu banner, more than 5,000 cultivators stand proudly, their killing intent reaching the clouds.
Elder Li appeared to be in his forties or fifties, with a handsome face, but his gaze toward Ling Jiuque held a hint of hostility.
His feud with Ling Jiuque was common knowledge. Before Ling Jiuque advanced to the Integration stage, Duobao Pavilion was jointly managed by various peaks, with Elder Li having the greatest influence.
But after that incident, Elder Li suddenly lost power, left the Spirit Realm, and stayed in the Lesser Thousand Worlds for a long time. Today is the first time he has returned to Tongtian Island.
However, even after Elder Li left, Wangxian Peak remained one of the most powerful branches in the Tai Xuan Sect, because it was the only late-stage Integration Realm cultivator in the Tai Xuan Sect besides Elder Hong.
Even though he was at a disadvantage in his contest with Ling Jiuque, his profound cultivation still allowed him to firmly rank among the top three elders of the Tai Xuan Sect, and even Master Fu could not truly punish him severely.
While Chen Yuan was observing the other elders, the other elders were also secretly sizing him up.
Of the twelve elders of the Tai Xuan Sect, eleven have the cultivation level of Body Integration, while Chen Yuan is the only one who has reached the Perfection of Void Refinement and is also the only Body Cultivator.
No one questioned Chen Yuan's position as elder, as it was Fu Zhenren's decision, and Fu Zhenren held supreme authority within the Tai Xuan Sect.
However, this did not quell their curiosity about Chen Yuan, and their gazes lingered subtly on Elder Chen, who was rumored to have a close relationship with Master Fu.
Chen Yuan stood calmly beside Elder Yuan, silently awaiting the arrival of Master Fu.
The twelve elders stood atop the vast peak, surrounded by complete silence. Tens of thousands of cultivators blotted out the sky, hovering in mid-air, the essence of the Tai Xuan Sect gathered here.
However, the most striking peak among them is not Lingxiu Peak or Wangxian Peak, which are the strongest, but Lingyun Peak.
The thirty-eight disciples of Lingyun Peak stood out conspicuously among the various peaks, which often had thousands of disciples, attracting the attention of all cultivators.
Zhang Yanwei kept his eyes straight ahead, but his divine sense could still see the mockery, sarcasm, curiosity, and disdain in the eyes of the cultivators from various peaks... Their gazes overwhelmed him like a tide, almost suffocating him.
Zhang Yanwei remained calm and composed. He had experienced countless dangers in the Burning Demon Realm and had walked the line between life and death dozens of times. These gazes could not affect his Dao heart at all.
Yun Jinyue and Cangsong Daoren ignored these gazes, but unexpectedly, the thirty-five inner disciples behind them remained calm and composed, showing no discomfort despite the mocking looks from the crowd.
An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would likely find it difficult to withstand the gaze of thousands of cultivators of the same or even higher levels.
However, they were the ones who persevered for half an hour in the mixed poisonous liquid, withstanding the test of a wisp of Zhu Yan True Fire, their Dao hearts were extremely firm.
Moreover, just before leaving Lingyun Peak, Elder Chen gave each person a wooden puppet talisman for the early stage of Core Formation as a life-saving item.
Other peaks wouldn't bestow such treasures upon their Foundation Establishment disciples. Lingyun Peak has a small number of disciples, so this is not a bad thing for them, but rather a good thing.
Seeing the Lingyun Peak disciples in such a state, the cultivators from other peaks not only did not feel ashamed of their small numbers, but seemed to be proud of it, and their eyes were filled with even more mockery.
Once they arrived on the battlefield, these arrogant Lingyun Peak disciples learned what it meant to be outnumbered and outmatched.
Suddenly, Master Fu appeared on the high platform, his green robe flowing gracefully, his gaze gentle and warm, like an immortal descending to earth. The pressure emanating from his body was as vast as the starry sky, causing all the cultivators around the peak to descend by about ten feet before stopping.
"We pay our respects to the Sect Leader!"
Beneath the white jade platform, the twelve elders bowed down in unison.
"We pay our respects to the Sect Leader!"
Disciples from all peaks followed suit and bowed. The voices of tens of thousands of people resounded simultaneously, echoing through the sky and shaking most of Tongtian Island.
The mythical birds and auspicious creatures in the mountains were startled and tried to fly away, but they were unable to move under the pressure of the Mahayana cultivator and could only prostrate themselves on the ground in fear.
Master Fu glanced around and slowly spoke: "Tai Xuan Sect cultivators, listen to my command! With the permission of the Fa Tian Pavilion, our sect will gather the strength of the entire sect today to march on Ba Gui Island and establish Tai Xuan City."
"Elder Huangfu, Elder Mei, Elder Ling, and their subordinate cultivators are to remain on Tongtian Island, while the other nine peak elders will lead their cultivators to conquer Bagui Island!" (End of Chapter)