The Flowing-light Bell was a very famous magic treasure of the Center Sect, and it would have a powerful effect during any battle below the Yuanying state.
This magic treasure had been inherited generation after generation since ancient times and came in pairs, "North-time Bell" and the "South-screen Bell" respectively.
The current Center Sect Master and his wife had used this pair of bells at their young age to defeat innumerable gifted swordsmen of their generation and had slain countless demons of the Underworld and monsters of the Snowy Kingdom.
The North-Time Bell had been in Luo Huainan's hands in recent years, and the bell had displayed its prowess and fame along with Luo Huainan's reputation.
It wasn't until this moment that the crowd realized the South-screen Bell was in Bai Zao's hands.
Bai Zao was the only daughter of the Sect Master couple of the Center Sect, so she of course was qualified to possess the South-screen Bell.
Yet, did this fact mean that the Sect Master couple of the Center Sect had already decided to choose Luo Huainan as Bai Zao's Cultivation partner, rather than Tong Yan?
If this was true, then it would be the biggest news in the Cultivation world of Chaotian.
But this was something to be considered later.
At the moment, they had to find out why Bai Zao had suddenly sent out the Flowing-light Bell.
The young Cultivation practitioners generated all these thoughts in the blink of an eye.
The South-screen Bell bombarded that disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect.
Boom!!!
A strong gust of wind suddenly rose, and its air and sound waves spread in all directions within the valley in an indescribable manner.
The snowflakes danced madly and the part of the cliff wall broke apart, and as a result the heaven and earth had even changed to some extent.
This disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect was a personal disciple of the sect, so he could call out his personal flying sword at the critical moment to block the incoming bell.
But his flying sword had no chance of blocking the magic treasure of such a state and power.
After a whistling sound, the flying sword flew away diagonally and thrust into the solid cliff wall two feet deep, with only the hilt remaining outside.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect had been knocked about thirty feet away, landing in the snow, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood, and his face looked immensely pale.
After being helped up by his colleague, he didn't have time to check his own wounds and wipe out the blood as he yelled at Bai Zao with shocked expression, "Young Sister Bai, what did you do this for?"
His colleague reminded him of something.
Looking at the spot where he had stood, he realized what was going on, and his face had grown even paler.
A black flying sword was hovering above that spot.
If his flying sword and himself hadn't been knocked away, he would have already been struck by that black sword, undetected.
In other words, he might have been dead already by now if Bai Zao hadn't used her bell.
That black sword was wide, and didn't look so extraordinary, but it didn't have any energy movement, as if it were the real ghost.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect couldn't speak anymore as his frightening feeling lingered on.
The rest of those young Cultivation practitioners felt a chill in their hearts and souls while looking at that black sword.
Even though they had known that Jing Jiu had won first place in the Cultivation tournament, they hadn't thought he was the equals of Luo Huainan and Tong Lu.
He was merely in the initial state of the Undefeated, how powerful could he be?
But they realized how terribly powerful his sword could be by now.
…
…
Jing Jiu turned his head to have a look at Bai Zao.
Jing Jiu had heard from Gu Qing on the Green Mountain talking about the fact that the relationship between the Center Sect and the West Ocean Sword Sect had been getting closer and even showed signs of an alliance.
One proof of this was that the disciples of the Center Sect were found at the Four-Seas Banquet back then outside the Haizhou City.
This was probably the reason why Bai Zao acted.
She was very clever. She perhaps thought that doing things this way, she could save the life of that disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect while also easing Jing Jiu's frustration.
Yet, how could she know Jing Jiu would be satisfied with the result?
Jing Jiu didn't say anything, his eyes almost emotionless.
Bai Zao somehow could understand his meaning exactly.
The cold wind ruffled her white veil.
She whispered to Jing Jiu, "Please don't make me feel embarrassed."
Jing Jiu called back his black sword without saying another word.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect stared once at Jing Jiu with hatred, but he didn't dare challenge him further with word, taking his flying sword from the cliff wall.
Cultivation states and strength alone couldn't convince the crowd. And as this was the Cultivation tournament and not the duel arena, many voices rang out.
"Even though you won first place in the Cultivation tournament, no one will admire you, because you are a coward, unreasonable and controlling. That's why you will never become Luo Huainan!"
"That's right. How can you shut all of us up? Unless you kill us all!"
"Someone like you isn't qualified to inherit the tradition of the Immortal Jing Yang!"
It seemed that Jing Jiu didn't hear all these voices. "Anybody from the Hanging-Bell Sect?" he asked.
A young girl raised her hand timidly after having looked at other Cultivation practitioners around her.
Soon afterwards, two more disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect raised their hands.
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect had played an important role in the Cultivation tournament, so they always had many participants.
Jing Jiu continued asking, "What about the Great March?"
Some raised their hands.
There were two Cultivation practitioners of the Great Marsh Sect present.
Jing Jiu said, "We're not from the same sect, so under normal circumstances, I wouldn't make you come by force, but these three sects are so close that your masters would blame me for not saving you if I didn't bring you with me. It'll be quite troublesome."
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect were confused at first, but understood what he meant, and helpless.
Witnessing this scene, a disciple of other sect felt sympathy for them, yelling, "Why do you ask them to follow you? They are not the disciples of the Green Mountain Sect."
Jing Jiu didn't heed this person's protest. He spoke to the disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect, "Or, you can fight with me first."
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect eyed each other, and they could sense each other's helplessness.
Jing Jiu looked at the crowd, making sure no monk of the Fruit Formation Temple or the disciples of small sects attached to the Green Mountain Sect were in the crowd.
Finally, his eyes fell on a young woman.
He was familiar with the decorations on this young woman, which he had seen many times years ago.
"Although the relationship between the Water-Moon Nunnery and the Green Mountain is pretty good, I won't listen to you. If you want to fight, then let's fight; I don't believe you will kill me," said the young woman, displaying a degrading expression in her eyes.
Jing Jiu thought to himself that the young sisters of the Water-Moon Nunnery had been so gentle and lovely in the past, and they had gained the temperament of disliking the heaven and earth since Lian Sanyue.
He didn't respond to her, but told the crowd in the valley, "The rest of you can stay if you want, or leave if you wish."
The two disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect and the disciple of the Kunlun Sect had left first, followed by many young Cultivation practitioners later on.
Some of them thought angrily that they had been delayed by such a ridiculous event for so long and that they would have killed many monsters of the Snowy Kingdom by then. As a result, their performances in the Cultivation tournament would suffer a great deal, so they couldn't help but swear a little, and some of them even spat in Jing Jiu's direction.
The disciples of the Center Sect had also left with their groups after asking for permission from Bai Zao.
Left in the valley were the disciples of the Green Mountain, six people who had been with Jing Jiu and Bai Zao from the beginning, and five young disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect.
Jing Jiu started resting without uttering another word.
…
…
In fact, on the mountain paths in the valley, some young participants in the Cultivation tournament hadn't left yet.
For instance, the groups of the two disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect and the disciple of the Kunlun Sect were still remaining in the valley.
"Why don't we leave?" somebody asked, confused.
A disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect responded crossly, "It has already been delayed for so long, and the night is arriving. We'd better camp here for the night."
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect who had been wounded by the Flowing-light Bell coughed twice, and said snappily while looking at the lower part of the valley, "Good idea. We can also witness something exciting happen."
The other young Cultivation practitioners didn't quite understand what he meant, wondering what thing exciting would happen.
After coughing twice again, the disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect said with a mocking tone, "The chaotic winds will blow those riding the swords off and kill them, so the Green Mountain Sect will definitely not come to pick them up. I'd like to see how they are going to leave here. Will they walk their way back like homeless dogs?"
…
…
Time went by, and the dusk was about to arrive.
The young disciples in the lower part of the valley could sense the gazes from those in the surroundings.
Lei Yijing, the disciple of Liangwang Peak, couldn't stand it anymore, and walking to the side of Jing Jiu, begged, "We will be punished by the masters for ending the Cultivation tournament in the middle stages. Even if you are the senior master, you can't ignore the sect rules."
"I don't remember there being such a thing in the sect rules," Jing Jiu said.
Lei Yijing snapped, "If you want us to go back, let's go then!"
It was impossible for you people to walk out of the snowland at your speed before the occurrence of the calamity.
Jing Jiu thought this to himself, but he was too lazy to explain it to him. "Let's wait," he said so instead.
Lei Yijing waved his hands helplessly, having any desire to talk anymore.
They had been waiting all this time.
By now they realized that Jing Jiu had waited in the past few days to gather all of ten disciples of the Green Mountain Sect participating in the Cultivation tournament.
But what were they waiting for now?
Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared in the valley.
The young disciples who felt uneasy because of Jing Jiu's words suddenly became nervous, finding the sunlight had vanished behind the clouds when they looked at the sky.
It seemed that the night had arrived earlier than expected.
Had the strange cold fog reappeared?
The disciples of the Green Mountain reacted the fastest, the nine flying swords, without waiting for Jing Jiu's order, shot out with the whistling sounds and built up the sword formation, protecting all directions.
Some of them looked at Bai Zao.
She looked at the sky, her expression changing a bit.
The thin cloud broke apart abruptly.
A huge flying boat appeared in front of them, along with the countless pieces and waves of the clouds.
The huge boat was lowering itself slowly toward the ground, and the sense of its intimidating power was unimaginable.
…
…
The Flowing-light Bell was a very famous magic treasure of the Center Sect, and it would have a powerful effect during any battle below the Yuanying state.
This magic treasure had been inherited generation after generation since ancient times and came in pairs, "North-time Bell" and the "South-screen Bell" respectively.
The current Center Sect Master and his wife had used this pair of bells at their young age to defeat innumerable gifted swordsmen of their generation and had slain countless demons of the Underworld and monsters of the Snowy Kingdom.
The North-Time Bell had been in Luo Huainan's hands in recent years, and the bell had displayed its prowess and fame along with Luo Huainan's reputation.
It wasn't until this moment that the crowd realized the South-screen Bell was in Bai Zao's hands.
Bai Zao was the only daughter of the Sect Master couple of the Center Sect, so she of course was qualified to possess the South-screen Bell.
Yet, did this fact mean that the Sect Master couple of the Center Sect had already decided to choose Luo Huainan as Bai Zao's Cultivation partner, rather than Tong Yan?
If this was true, then it would be the biggest news in the Cultivation world of Chaotian.
But this was something to be considered later.
At the moment, they had to find out why Bai Zao had suddenly sent out the Flowing-light Bell.
The young Cultivation practitioners generated all these thoughts in the blink of an eye.
The South-screen Bell bombarded that disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect.
Boom!!!
A strong gust of wind suddenly rose, and its air and sound waves spread in all directions within the valley in an indescribable manner.
The snowflakes danced madly and the part of the cliff wall broke apart, and as a result the heaven and earth had even changed to some extent.
This disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect was a personal disciple of the sect, so he could call out his personal flying sword at the critical moment to block the incoming bell.
But his flying sword had no chance of blocking the magic treasure of such a state and power.
After a whistling sound, the flying sword flew away diagonally and thrust into the solid cliff wall two feet deep, with only the hilt remaining outside.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect had been knocked about thirty feet away, landing in the snow, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood, and his face looked immensely pale.
After being helped up by his colleague, he didn't have time to check his own wounds and wipe out the blood as he yelled at Bai Zao with shocked expression, "Young Sister Bai, what did you do this for?"
His colleague reminded him of something.
Looking at the spot where he had stood, he realized what was going on, and his face had grown even paler.
A black flying sword was hovering above that spot.
If his flying sword and himself hadn't been knocked away, he would have already been struck by that black sword, undetected.
In other words, he might have been dead already by now if Bai Zao hadn't used her bell.
That black sword was wide, and didn't look so extraordinary, but it didn't have any energy movement, as if it were the real ghost.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect couldn't speak anymore as his frightening feeling lingered on.
The rest of those young Cultivation practitioners felt a chill in their hearts and souls while looking at that black sword.
Even though they had known that Jing Jiu had won first place in the Cultivation tournament, they hadn't thought he was the equals of Luo Huainan and Tong Lu.
He was merely in the initial state of the Undefeated, how powerful could he be?
But they realized how terribly powerful his sword could be by now.
…
…
Jing Jiu turned his head to have a look at Bai Zao.
Jing Jiu had heard from Gu Qing on the Green Mountain talking about the fact that the relationship between the Center Sect and the West Ocean Sword Sect had been getting closer and even showed signs of an alliance.
One proof of this was that the disciples of the Center Sect were found at the Four-Seas Banquet back then outside the Haizhou City.
This was probably the reason why Bai Zao acted.
She was very clever. She perhaps thought that doing things this way, she could save the life of that disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect while also easing Jing Jiu's frustration.
Yet, how could she know Jing Jiu would be satisfied with the result?
Jing Jiu didn't say anything, his eyes almost emotionless.
Bai Zao somehow could understand his meaning exactly.
The cold wind ruffled her white veil.
She whispered to Jing Jiu, "Please don't make me feel embarrassed."
Jing Jiu called back his black sword without saying another word.
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect stared once at Jing Jiu with hatred, but he didn't dare challenge him further with word, taking his flying sword from the cliff wall.
Cultivation states and strength alone couldn't convince the crowd. And as this was the Cultivation tournament and not the duel arena, many voices rang out.
"Even though you won first place in the Cultivation tournament, no one will admire you, because you are a coward, unreasonable and controlling. That's why you will never become Luo Huainan!"
"That's right. How can you shut all of us up? Unless you kill us all!"
"Someone like you isn't qualified to inherit the tradition of the Immortal Jing Yang!"
It seemed that Jing Jiu didn't hear all these voices. "Anybody from the Hanging-Bell Sect?" he asked.
A young girl raised her hand timidly after having looked at other Cultivation practitioners around her.
Soon afterwards, two more disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect raised their hands.
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect had played an important role in the Cultivation tournament, so they always had many participants.
Jing Jiu continued asking, "What about the Great March?"
Some raised their hands.
There were two Cultivation practitioners of the Great Marsh Sect present.
Jing Jiu said, "We're not from the same sect, so under normal circumstances, I wouldn't make you come by force, but these three sects are so close that your masters would blame me for not saving you if I didn't bring you with me. It'll be quite troublesome."
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect were confused at first, but understood what he meant, and helpless.
Witnessing this scene, a disciple of other sect felt sympathy for them, yelling, "Why do you ask them to follow you? They are not the disciples of the Green Mountain Sect."
Jing Jiu didn't heed this person's protest. He spoke to the disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect, "Or, you can fight with me first."
The disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect eyed each other, and they could sense each other's helplessness.
Jing Jiu looked at the crowd, making sure no monk of the Fruit Formation Temple or the disciples of small sects attached to the Green Mountain Sect were in the crowd.
Finally, his eyes fell on a young woman.
He was familiar with the decorations on this young woman, which he had seen many times years ago.
"Although the relationship between the Water-Moon Nunnery and the Green Mountain is pretty good, I won't listen to you. If you want to fight, then let's fight; I don't believe you will kill me," said the young woman, displaying a degrading expression in her eyes.
Jing Jiu thought to himself that the young sisters of the Water-Moon Nunnery had been so gentle and lovely in the past, and they had gained the temperament of disliking the heaven and earth since Lian Sanyue.
He didn't respond to her, but told the crowd in the valley, "The rest of you can stay if you want, or leave if you wish."
The two disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect and the disciple of the Kunlun Sect had left first, followed by many young Cultivation practitioners later on.
Some of them thought angrily that they had been delayed by such a ridiculous event for so long and that they would have killed many monsters of the Snowy Kingdom by then. As a result, their performances in the Cultivation tournament would suffer a great deal, so they couldn't help but swear a little, and some of them even spat in Jing Jiu's direction.
The disciples of the Center Sect had also left with their groups after asking for permission from Bai Zao.
Left in the valley were the disciples of the Green Mountain, six people who had been with Jing Jiu and Bai Zao from the beginning, and five young disciples of the Hanging-Bell Sect and the Great Marsh Sect.
Jing Jiu started resting without uttering another word.
…
…
In fact, on the mountain paths in the valley, some young participants in the Cultivation tournament hadn't left yet.
For instance, the groups of the two disciples of the West Ocean Sword Sect and the disciple of the Kunlun Sect were still remaining in the valley.
"Why don't we leave?" somebody asked, confused.
A disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect responded crossly, "It has already been delayed for so long, and the night is arriving. We'd better camp here for the night."
The disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect who had been wounded by the Flowing-light Bell coughed twice, and said snappily while looking at the lower part of the valley, "Good idea. We can also witness something exciting happen."
The other young Cultivation practitioners didn't quite understand what he meant, wondering what thing exciting would happen.
After coughing twice again, the disciple of the West Ocean Sword Sect said with a mocking tone, "The chaotic winds will blow those riding the swords off and kill them, so the Green Mountain Sect will definitely not come to pick them up. I'd like to see how they are going to leave here. Will they walk their way back like homeless dogs?"
…
…
Time went by, and the dusk was about to arrive.
The young disciples in the lower part of the valley could sense the gazes from those in the surroundings.
Lei Yijing, the disciple of Liangwang Peak, couldn't stand it anymore, and walking to the side of Jing Jiu, begged, "We will be punished by the masters for ending the Cultivation tournament in the middle stages. Even if you are the senior master, you can't ignore the sect rules."
"I don't remember there being such a thing in the sect rules," Jing Jiu said.
Lei Yijing snapped, "If you want us to go back, let's go then!"
It was impossible for you people to walk out of the snowland at your speed before the occurrence of the calamity.
Jing Jiu thought this to himself, but he was too lazy to explain it to him. "Let's wait," he said so instead.
Lei Yijing waved his hands helplessly, having any desire to talk anymore.
They had been waiting all this time.
By now they realized that Jing Jiu had waited in the past few days to gather all of ten disciples of the Green Mountain Sect participating in the Cultivation tournament.
But what were they waiting for now?
Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared in the valley.
The young disciples who felt uneasy because of Jing Jiu's words suddenly became nervous, finding the sunlight had vanished behind the clouds when they looked at the sky.
It seemed that the night had arrived earlier than expected.
Had the strange cold fog reappeared?
The disciples of the Green Mountain reacted the fastest, the nine flying swords, without waiting for Jing Jiu's order, shot out with the whistling sounds and built up the sword formation, protecting all directions.
Some of them looked at Bai Zao.
She looked at the sky, her expression changing a bit.
The thin cloud broke apart abruptly.
A huge flying boat appeared in front of them, along with the countless pieces and waves of the clouds.
The huge boat was lowering itself slowly toward the ground, and the sense of its intimidating power was unimaginable.
…
…
