Chapter 426 - A Father's Heart

Huang Rong went on to share what she had learnt about the new inspector Ding Honglei before leaving with the emerald bottle of the Nether Yin Wine.

Honestly, she didn’t take Ding Hao’s words very seriously.

Probably because Huang Rong never saw Ding Hao as a high-ranking figure of the sect or a top talent of the Snow Province. For this slightly rebellious but extremely innocent maiden, he was never more than just a good mate.

She would not associate with Ding Hao for various interests and goals like others.

To keep it simple, she felt very light and relaxed.

For this same reason, Ding Hao was always extremely patient with Huang Rong.

Of course, this patience involved no romance at all.

…

Habitually walking and hopping not like a lady at all, Huang Rong stepped away from the Strolling in the Moon Palace and ran into her serious father Huang Xiong. She subconsciously attempted to hide in the grass but Huang Xiong spotted his naughty girl at once. He shouted not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “Wild little girl, stop right there.”

“Ah, father. What a coincidence. You are also taking a walk.” Huang Rong greeted in a boisterous manner.

Huang Xiong was outraged and flicked her head at once, his face dark. “The villa has been so busy lately. Where can I find time to take a walk? I’m looking for you, wild little girl. Where have you been?”

Huang Rong showed her teeth as she rubbed her forehead. She pouted and complained, “Father, you are so violent. I didn’t run about. I went to visit Ding Hao… I meant Uncle Master Ding…”

Huang Xiong was surprised for a moment and then said, “My junior brother Ding has no time to run wild with you wild little girl. Don’t try to fool me.” Huang Xiong didn’t participate in the fight that night. With so many powerful figures of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect staying in the villa, he, the master of the villa, was too busy to keep track of his own daughter’s whereabouts. There were many things he was unaware of.

Feeling wronged, Huang Rong revealed the jade bottle and said, “I’m not making up stories. Father, Uncle master Ding is my bro now. Look. He just presented me this to nourish my meridians and Qi so I can break through my bottleneck. I don’t think he was serious though. Just a bottle of wine, tasty but not that exaggerated. Hehe. Young and powerful, this uncle master Ding is all good but enjoying bragging too much.”

Huang Xiong’s eyes fell on the jade bottle, his pupils immediately shrank. He took the bottle from Huang Rong and looked carefully for a moment. He couldn’t help praising secretly and asking doubtfully, “Is it really a gift from Junior Brother Ding?”

“Of course. Or do you think I’ve stolen it from him? Father, you are questioning your own daughter’s character. I protest.” Huang Rong said indignantly.

Huang Xiong thought about it and assured that his daughter was rebellious and naughty, not into martial arts practice but never committed unethical deeds… However, this gift was very generous.

“Keep it well. This gift is not a small one. I’ll find a way to thank Junior Brother Ding for his generosity,” said Huang Xiong solemnly.

“Umm? Is this really that precious?” The ignorant girl was still full of doubts.

Huang Xiong flicked his daughter’s head again, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and continued to explain, “I keep telling you to practice harder but you just want to play and have fun. Now, how embarrassing! Let alone the precious expensive materials used to make this jade bottle. Look at the way the bottle was refined and the almost invisible inscription carved on the body. This is a master’s great work. In the future, you just need to inject some qi into the bottle to open a shield that is strong enough to resist a primordial grandmaster realm master’s full blow. Besides, this jade bottle doubles as a storage appliance. Its capacity… Emm?”

Huang Xiong intended to reveal the jade bottle’s power to his daughter but as soon as he opened the lid, a rich, pleasant alcohol fragrance came out, full of Spiritual Qi. After a quick sniff, he felt completely refreshed.

“This…” Huang Xiong was a bit puzzled.

He was not his ignorant daughter. Being assigned to manage the Mirror Lake in the Snow Province Human Tribe holy land by the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, he was definitely an outstanding sect expert, powerful and intelligent. He had seen the world and the scent was enough for him to realize how extraordinary the liquid inside the bottle was. That rich aroma with Spiritual Qi was already on par with any medium or even high-ranked pill.

He asked again and again to confirm the jade bottle and the divine liquid inside was gifted by Ding Hao. The man in charge of the villa was thrilled.

Huang Xiong remarked. “I can’t believe how lucky my wild little girl is! You’ve built up this good relationship with my junior brother Ding. You are blessed.” …

He used to worry about his daughter so wild and ignorant that she might annoy those big figures of the sect or displease the sect head Li Jianyi and other senior members who valued rules and disciplines dearly. To his surprise, fortune indeed favors fools. Huang Rong had crossed paths with the greatest talent and the most important member of the sect. What a pleasant surprise!

“Father? You… Is this wine really as magical as Uncle Master Ding described?” Huang Rong finally began to realize the weight of this gift in her hands. She blinked and pondered on it before continuing, “Hehe. Ding Hao is indeed a good mate of mine. By the way, father, aren’t you at a cultivation bottleneck these days? I don’t like martial arts practice anyways. Why don’t you take and drink it?”

Huang Xiong was touched by his daughter’s words. He shook his head with a smile. “I’m already old and I can’t protect you forever. Daughter, from now on, I’ll teach you the core techniques of the sect. With the help of this divine liquid, soon you can reach the Great Martial Mentor Realm. One day you might even break into the primordial stage. Remember. Cherish your friendship with junior brother Ding. The situation in Snow Province is already chaotic. If I’m gone one day, protect yourself.”

“Why do you say these things?” Huang Rong’s voice was getting lower and lower.

Before, she felt bored when her father forced her to practice martial arts. But that day, for some reason, she suddenly started to understand her father’s thoughts. Looking up at the grey hair above her father’s ears, Huang Rong felt sad.

Huang Rong clenched her fist. “I’ll practice hard!”

…

…

Soon the news about the new Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost inspector spread widely.

The turbulent public feeling around the Mirror Lake calmed down gradually. The Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost had a magical power over the entire Northern Region, in a position of trust. The new inspector’s coming slowly eliminated the confusion caused by Zhuo Feifan’s death.

This new inspector was indeed vigorous and resolute.

On his first day of arrival, he personally attended to garrison duty by the Mirror Lake and threw ten palms into the distance. The golden palms instantly straddled the distance and wiped out the nine most rampant demon tribes of Snow Province within a thousand miles of the Mirror Lake. This demonstrated his ruthless rule with an iron fist and unfathomable strength. He made it clear that he would not submit to that Great Demon Sage of the Deity Phoenix Palace who killed the previous Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost inspector with one feather.

Demon Tribes in Snow Province were shocked and became much better behaved.

After, the head of the nine major sects and the ruler of a dozen other human settlements were invited to a meeting.

More and more news came out. The Sect Grading Meeting would officially take place in three days.

Peace seemed to have been resumed and everything began to return to the right track.

People’s attention returned to the Sect Grading Meeting, an once in a decade grand event of the human tribe in Snow Province.

Various predictions about the final outcome of the Sect Grading Meeting began to spread.

According to the past tradition, the Sect Grading Meeting consisted of four competitions respectively of Martial Arts, Dan arts, inscription, and weapon refining. Each competition would be arranged in two age groups based on disciples’ time of joining the sect. Senior elders representing the highest combat capability of the sects would be grouped together while young disciples showcasing the potential and future of the sects would form the other group.

This kind of competition was direct and bold.

In total there would be 24 matches of the four categories of two groups and the points of each match would be counted towards the final Sect grading. The higher a sect’s total points, the higher its ranking was. The sect at the first place would become the new dominator of Snow Province. Ten years ago, the Tranquility Academy got the highest score thus became the dominator of human tribes in Snow Province for the last decade.

At the same time, the lower a sect’s points, the less support it would receive from the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost.

The Tranquility Academy made a great example.

The Divine Sense Mu Tianyang stood out among all the young talents of Snow Province thanks to his extraordinary gift as well as a very important opportunity. The Tranquility Academy ranked the first 10 years ago so it had an opportunity to send one disciple to the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost for six-month training. Mu Tianyang was the lucky one. He grabbed that opportunity and learned some of the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost’s inheritance. Thus he could shine so brightly.

Therefore from any perspective, the Sect Grading Meeting was appealing with no match for any human force and any human master in Snow Province.

This would be an opportunity not to be missed.

Everyone was eager to have a good fight once they heard the meeting would be held as usual.

…

Three days later.

By the side of the Mirror Lake, the square under the Northern Region Nether Frost War God statue was crowded with tens of thousands of members from the nine major sects and numerous individual cultivators, wandering martial artists, and warriors from minor sects and small towns.

The scene was extremely hot.

Many martial experts who were normally extremely hard to see were also present.

The nine major sects received the highest treatment, given an area in the center of the square closest to the Northern Region Nether Frost War God statue to set up inscriptions, arrays, and tents of different colors. The area further away was reserved for those minor sects and small forces with campsites of various sizes scattered around…