Chapter 299 - Su Yue

The mist grew thicker, and soon, it had nearly engulfed the entire valley of flowers. Zhiluan could no longer see beyond a radius of nine meters and began to feel excited. “Meow! What’s going on here?” However, he knew that Xiao Chen was at a critical stage of his training and he could definitely not disturb him.

Suddenly, huge rays of neon light shot into the sky from the waterfall’s direction. Zhiluan could see everything clearly, even though his vision was obscured by a layer of white mist.

“Meow! Meow! Are you ascending, kid?”

The moment his voice rang out, the vapor around him began to flow quickly and surged toward the neon light from the waterfall. It was not due to the fact that the vapor was being sucked over. Rather, Spiritual Qi around them was being absorbed rapidly.

Gradually, the plants and trees around them began to shrivel, causing Zhiluan to exclaim in a strange voice, “This is bad, this is bad! Stop now, kid! My spirit energy has also been absorbed by you…”

A figure shot out from the waterfall before his voice had even died down. A faint white radiance surrounded his body, and he landed elegantly like a deity. It was Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen pressed his palm onto Zhiluan, infusing some spirit energy into the cat. He flicked his sleeves, causing bits of white radiance to scatter over the shriveled-up flora, giving them new life.

“Chen’er, even though those who seek to attain immortality require Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth, they should never harm Mother Nature. You have to remember this,” said Ling Yin to him once. Xiao Chen had always kept this teaching to heart.

“Kid, did you manage to achieve a breakthrough?” Zhiluan asked anxiously.

“Guess,” replied Xiao Chen with a faint smile.

“I’m not guessing. Tell me now!”

Xiao Chen tilted his head upward and laughed. “I’m still not telling! Haha!” he said, before striding toward the Valley of Chaos. “Let’s go, Leopard Cat Spirit!”

Zhiluan hurriedly caught up with him and kept up with the questioning. “Tell me, kid. Have you broken into the Nascent Soul Realm? You’ve many enemies waiting for you outside this domain. If you haven’t achieved a breakthrough, it’s going to be very dangerous for me to follow you!”

Xiao Chen, however, remained grinning yet silent. He turned back to look in the direction of the otherworldly valley and the man encased in ice as they reached the entrance of the Chaotic Valley.

He made up his mind not to tell anyone about this realm, especially about the man in ice. By now, he had roughly guessed that the man was probably trying to make use of the abundant Spiritual Qi in the domain to revive himself.

“Alright, Leopard Cat Spirit, we’re leaving.”

Zhiluan was still frantically plucking divine berries nearby and wished he could have uprooted the entire tree. “Soon, soon. I’m going to finish plucking soon. Don’t rush me!” he muttered.

Xiao Chen shook his head and grinned before sitting down. He believed that everything beyond this domain was still fine. After a while, Zhiluan came over, dragging a huge sack along with him. Xiao Chen peeked into the sack, saying, “Even with Xian’er, you wouldn’t be able to finish all that. It’ll be such a waste if they rotted.”

“I don’t need your concern! I plucked all of them myself, and I’m not giving any of them to you when we leave!”

“Forget it, forget it. Let’s go,” Xiao Chen said, knocking the crack in the rocks away with one palm, revealing the Area of Chaos within. The man and the cat then walked in.

They had spent so much time in the dark. Suddenly, Xiao Chen could sense the light on his horizon grow stronger. For a while, he could not open his eyes, and when he could react, he found himself in a valley.

“Meow! Where are we? Are we back at Thousand Summits Mountain?”

Xiao Chen surveyed their surroundings and saw that they were in a barren area. A thick layer of snow covered the tree branches. “We should be outside Tianyuan City,” he said.

The amount of Spiritual Qi here was much lesser and insignificant compared to the mystic domain they were in before. No matter how hard he searched with his Divine Sense, he could no longer sense the domain again. This was also an amazing property of all mystic domains: no one could find them without knowing where the entrance and exit points were.

“I got a shock. I thought we’re back at Thousand Summits Mountain,” Zhiluan said, rubbing his chest.

“Let’s go, Tianyuan City should be very lively by now.”

Xiao Chen did not dally any longer and soared into the skies with the aid of Phoenix’s Wings. He looked for the direction to Tianyuan City and walked into the castle with the cat an hour later. It was already extremely lively inside, and the streets were full of people who were either locals of Tianyuan City, or cultivators from the various sects, or independent cultivators.

There was a hologram from the Immortals’ League channeling a formation in each square. Intense battles were happening on a huge screen; it was the Immortal’s Sword Assembly of Jade Terrace Mountain.

Exclamations and cheers rang out from the crowd. Zhiluan followed carefully behind Xiao Chen. “Kid, they aren’t waiting for you. The contest has already begun,” he said softly.

Xiao Chen grinned. “I’m no one famous, so why should they wait for me? Furthermore, I trespassed a restricted area. I’m afraid that I’m going to get interrogated after I return back.”

He focused his attention on his surroundings as he spoke. Each Immortal’s Sword Assembly would attract tens of thousands of cultivators to witness the spectacle. For a very brief moment, he seemed to have felt the somewhat illusory feeling that the spirit energies from them were being drawn toward a certain place.

Of course, the illusion had only lasted for an instant.

Xiao Chen did not remain for long in the city and came to the feet of Jade Terrace Mountain directly. There were eight Immortals’ League disciples and 16 envoys from the League standing guard there and immediately went up to him to find out who he was upon seeing him draw near.

Xiao Chen did not say much and immediately fished out the East Continent emblem he refined with flames in the Forest of Illusory Moon. “I’m here as a participant of the Immortal’s Sword Assembly,” he said.

The eight disciples did not hold him back any longer after examining the emblem, immediately releasing him. Even though Xiao Chen’s name had rung out in the Middle Continent recently, most people had only heard of his name and never seen him before. As such, it was not strange for them to be unable to recognize him.

Before they even arrived at the square, they could already hear rumbling sounds from above. At the same time, waves of vital force surged downward. The Immortal’s Sword Assembly should already have progressed to a critical stage. Xiao Chen increased his speed and arrived at the square to see huge crowds of people that were cheering continuously.

Eight Floating Platforms were suspended above the square according to the octagonal positions of the Bagua. There was no one on seven of the platforms, however. The competition on those platforms should already have been concluded. A titanic battle was still raging on the Floating Platform at the very center of the formation.

“We’re doomed. This time, we’re done. There isn’t anything left for you,” Zhiluan said softly while lying on Xiao Chen’s shoulder.

Xiao Chen did not speak. He was not overly concerned; anyway, it was not compulsory for him to attend the meet. At this time, however, a calm female voice came from behind him, “Only you’re left, Brother Xiao. You’ve finally returned.”

Xiao Chen could immediately tell who it was. He turned around and grinned as he spoke, “So, it’s Fairy Xiaoyue. How have you been?”

He did not expect that Xiaoyue of Thousand Feathers Sect would be the first person he would meet after returning. She wore a green dress and held the Duster Sword in her hand. Her face was expressionless as usual as if she was a fairy whose status was far above mere mortals. “Congratulations, Brother Xiao. I see your level of cultivation has increased greatly over this fortnight,” she said with a faint smile.

Xiao Chen grinned. “Same to you. Haven’t you grown stronger as well? If there’s nothing else, I’ll bid my farewell,” he said before waving and turning to leave.

The last time they met, he could still tell her level of cultivation. This time around, it was different. He realized that he was gradually unable to read this woman.

Xiaoyue stared at his gradually receding back, surprised that she could no longer tell how strong his level of cultivation was. He was just at Level 8 Core Forming Realm strength, but she was gradually unable to read this mysterious man any longer.

“Meow. This woman is really scary. I think her level of cultivation is not weaker than yours,” Zhiluan said softly.

“So what?”

Xiao Chen looked toward the platform to their east as he spoke. Nine people were seated there, and they were the senior cultivators who represented the five great continents. Perfected Immortals Qing Chen and Tai Yi were among them as were three experienced Elders from the Immortals’ League. Eight of them were old men with completely white hair, while the last of them was a young and beautiful woman who sat beside the three elders.

The woman wore a purple dress and had brows in the shape of crescent moons. Her eyes were as bright as the stars, but there was a tinge of coldness within her face of peerless beauty that caused people to keep themselves at a distance away from her. Even the three Immortals’ League Elders treated her with the utmost respect.

Xiao Chen was struck by the woman and wanted to know the woman’s identity. She looked somewhat similar to his own mother. “Senior Brother, can you tell me who the woman in purple on that platform is?” he asked a random spectator.

The man turned back to look at him. “Don’t you know who Su Yue is?” he asked in surprise.

“Su Yue? Is she from the Su family?”

The man shook his head and did not bother himself with Xiao Chen anymore. He continued to watch the ongoing competition. Another spectator chimed in at this moment, “Brother, Su Yue’s the fourth daughter of Su Ying, the master of Su family. She entered the Nascent Soul Realm and became an immortal when she was 20. Are you telling me that you don’t know who she is?”

“I see. Thanks for the information.”

Xiao Chen nodded. So, she was his aunt. It was no wonder that she and his mother looked so alike. Both of them were so beautiful.

He could not help but look at the platform again. It had been a year since he arrived in Violet Manor, but he had never gone to the Su residence to look for his mother. He did not know how she fared these days…

Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s entire body trembled. Su Yue was also looking at him, and the moment their eyes met, he felt as though her gaze had penetrated him.