199 Hope You Are Well

\"A hundred spirit stones, but that mid Primal Core adept produced it so readily,\" said Zhu Liancheng.

\"A hundred spirit stones?\" Li Pingzhi's nostrils flared. Even though he was the second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, he only earned 96 spirit stones a year from the Xuanyin Sect, not even a hundred. That mid Primal Core adept was able to give someone a hundred spirit stones without a second thought, just to buy a suspected Dharma spirit weapon?

\"That broken dagger, the early Primal Core adept used his Samadhi fire of the third level to burn it in front of everyone, but it was not only unable to melt the dagger, but the dagger did not even get hot,\" continued Zhu Liancheng. \"Furthermore, on the dagger there are many carvings and inscriptions... this made it rather similar to the spirit weapon we have here in the sect.\"

\"That mid Primal Core adept cannot be a fool,\" said Li Pingzhi after some silence. \"That broken dagger must have been a Dharma spirit weapon, no doubt about it. You go and make a trip to buy the broken dagger from him... he bought it with a hundred spirit stones, so offer him a hundred and ten spirit stones. I believe he will show the Xuanyin Sect some respect.\" With a wave of his hand, Li Pingzhi produced a hundred and ten spirit stones and sent them to Zhu Liancheng. His tone was confident.

Xuanyin Sect was one of the five premier sects in the Ziyun planet. This was exactly the source of his confidence that the young man would pay them some respect.

\"Yes, Senior.\" Zhu Liancheng backed off and left the Xuanyin Sect to Xuanyan City, straight to the doorstep of Zhou Donghuang.

It came without question that Zhu Liancheng was rejected immediately.

\"Sir, my senior is the second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Li Pingzhi... he is the one who wants to buy your weapon.\" Zhu Liancheng looked at the young man in white as he spoke quietly.

\"Not for sale,\" answered Zhou Donghuang flatly.

\"My elder senior is one of the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect,\" said Zhu Liancheng as his voice got even deeper.

\"Oh?\" Zhou Donghuang's eyes flashed. \"Zhong Ya?\"

\"At least you know something, you know my elder senior's name. That's right, he is Qi Ming, Zhong Ya's brother,\" declared Zhu Liancheng proudly.

Zhu Liancheng had thought that once he mentioned his elder senior, the young man would show some respect to the Golden Essence elder of the Xuanyin Sect.

He did not expect to be rejected once again. This man was not giving him any respect at all.

\"Sir, are you disrespecting our two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect? Are you not showing the Xuanyin Sect some respect?\" Zhu Liancheng's expression darkened.

\"Chen Dandan, Zhong Ya... we will meet soon.\" After Zhu Liancheng had left, a playful smile rose on Zhou Donghuang's lips.

Three years ago, when Zhong Ya had taken Chen Dandan away, Zhou Donghuang had reminded him that once he did so, would be going against him. Zhong Ya ultimately still took Chen Dandan away. That was how he had begun this feud. This time, Zhou Donghuang had come to Ziyun grand banquet in order to end this unfinished business in front of everyone in this planet.

\"Damn! Damn it! That rascal did not show us any respect at all!\" Zhu Liancheng left the guest inn and returned to the Xuanyin Sect, his expression extremely nasty.

\"No respect at all? Did you mention me?\" The second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Li Pingzhi's expression was equally nasty.

\"I not only mentioned you, but even our two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect... but he still did not show us any respect at all,\" answered Zhu Liancheng furiously. \"Finally, I brought up the Xuanyin Sect, and he not only did not budge, he even told me to scram! Senior, why don't you personally go and take the dagger from him? If he is not willing, then you can just kill him!\" Zhu Liancheng had a murderous glint in his eyes.

\"The grand banquet is in ten days. Before we are clear of this young man's background and details, we must not be rash... after all, the Xuanyin Sect is the host of this grand banquet.\"

Li Pingzhi was furious, but he had not lost his rationality. \"I will look for your elder senior and ask him to send someone to watch that young man. After the grand banquet is over, if he still does not know his place, we can then take it from him by force!\" With that, Li Pingzhi looked for his senior, Qi Ming, who was one of the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect.

Qi Ming was also the Distinguished Elder of the Xuanyin Sect. The Xuanyin Sect had two Distinguished Elders, who were the two Golden Essence elders, Qi Ming and Zhong Ya.

\"Dharma spirit weapon?\" Qi Ming was an old man dressed in a long blue robe. He looked even paler than Li Pingzhi because he was many years older than he was.

\"Senior, Elder Zhong Ya is not left with much time left, he probably has no chance of entering the Dharma stage... this broken dagger, if it really is a Dharma spirit weapon, perhaps you can use it to understand its meaning and make use of the remaining tens of years to enter the Dharma stage and lengthen your lifespan by three hundred years!\" Li Pingzhi said excitedly.

\"You have planned well,\" said Qi Ming as he heard the full story from Li Pingzhi. He nodded, satisfied but said, \"But... you are wrong about something. Your senior uncle is almost at the Dharma stage after accepting Chen Dandan under his wing three years ago, which helped him to clear his mind and crystallize his inner peace. It is likely that if everything goes well, he will be able to enter the Dharma stage and become a Dharma adept before the end of his lifespan!\" Qi Ming's eyes were blazing. \"As for the sect leader, I will update him... however, I must inform your senior uncle about this. If that really is a Dharma spirit weapon, it will definitely be helpful for him in becoming a Dharma adept.\"

Qi Ming headed to find his brother senior, Zhong Ya.

Zhong Ya was the Golden Essence adept who had suddenly descended upon the Valley of Medicine Masters and rescued Chen Dandan right before Zhou Donghuang had been about to kill her, and then took her under his wing as his disciple. In the last three years, Zhong Ya had looked even paler than before, but his eyes were still as bright and sharp as ever. His energy was blossoming, unlike what it was three years ago.

\"If I have the Dharma spirit weapon, I will definitely be more likely to enter the Dharma stage.\" Knowing about the spirit weapon, although Zhong Ya's heart was as calm as still water, he could not help but get worked up. \"This matter, let us just follow that Li Pingzhi's plan. Brother, you go and update our sect leader to send two late Primal Core adepts to watch that young man. If he tries to leave before the end of the grand banquet, then follow him and kill him. Take the broken dagger, the supposed Dharma spirit weapon, from his hands!\" Zhong Ya's eyes were gleaming, like two bright stars shining in the dark night sky.

\"Understood,\" responded Qi Ming before he left.

\"Congratulations, Teacher!\" In the backyard of Zhong Ya's house, a young girl who had been trimming the bushes put down what she was doing as she congratulated Zhong Ya profusely once Qi Ming had left.

This young girl was none other than the disciple that Zhong Ya had accepted three years ago, Chen Dandan. Three years later, Chen Dandan had lost all her childish innocence. In her sky blue long skirt, her long legs were extremely eye-catching, as were her beautiful features and figure.

\"We are still not sure if it is a Dharma spirit weapon, it may be too early for congratulations,\" said Zhong Ya as he shook his head.

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Dandan and continued, \"At the grand banquet in ten days, our Xuanyin Sect and the other four main sects of the Ziyun planet will send disciples to duel everyone from the early Connate to the ultimate Primal Core stage... each duel will have a prize for the winner. I intend to let you represent the Xuanyin Sect as one of the early Connate adepts.\"

Half a year ago, Chen Dandan had already entered the Connate stage.

\"Thank you, Teacher,\" answered Chen Dandan, her eyes flashing.

\"There, you will have four chances to fight. As long as you win three of the matches, after the end of the grand banquet, I will send your senior together with you back to your hometown to kill your nemesis,\" said Zhong Ya.

Hearing this, Chen Dandan's eyes lit up even more. Her senior, and the lead disciple of Zhong Ya, was the head elder of the Xuanyin Sect and the second most powerful late Primal Core adept in the Xuanyin Sect, his level of skill was inferior only to the sect leader himself.

\"Prepare yourself... the banquet is in ten days.\" With that, Zhong Ya returned to his room to continue his practice.

Chen Dandan was elated. She finally caught her breath as her eyes shone with glee, \"Zhou Donghuang, I hope you are well. After the grand banquet, I will return to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley with my senior. There, I will kill your mother, Lin Lan, before your very own eyes! Then, I will cut you up into a thousand pieces!\" Chen Dandan muttered to herself, as if she was filled with confidence about her performance at the upcoming competition.

...

In the next ten days, the four main sects, including the Divine Light Sect, all arrived at the Xuanyin Sect base camp.

Ten days passed in a flash, and the day of the grand banquet arrived.

In Xuanyan City, before the sun had risen, a large group of people had already gathered in the skies above the huge empty plot of land in the center of the city. These people were all here to reserve seats. By then, most of the seats with the best view had already been filled.

Now, on the vast plot of land, a large stage had been erected. On the five corners around the stage, rows of seats had also been set up as spectator stands. These spectator stands were meant for those from the five main sects, the stars of the banquet.

\"The Ziyun grand banquet, all five sects will each send nineteen representatives to duel with those of the same level from the other four sects... the winner of each duel will win a prize given out by the five sects. Among the nineteen representatives... there are three early Connate, three mid Connate, three late Connate and three ultimate Connate adepts. Two early, two mid, two late and one ultimate Primal Core adept.\"