With regards to Li Botao's suspicion, Chu Yang smiled, "In my many years of cultivation out of the mountain, I did come across some special things."
Li Botao creased his brows, "I can roughly sense that your age and appearance is different. You should have cultivated in a space where time moves faster on in another world. But it's still shocking that you have attained the Advanced Stage of the Aurous Core Stage."
"If I remember correctly, during the Spiritual Conference of Kunlun Mountains, Li Yuanfang was also in the Beginner Stage of the Aurous Core Stage just like you. But now, you are one step ahead of him." Li Botao said, "Your talents are indeed exceptional. The few of us have been blind in the past, to not have noticed such a gem like you."
"Now that you have done something praise-worthy, maybe you'll be given a position in the Celestial Sect of Wonders? But you have to remember that the Celestial Sect of Wonders needs to overcome this crisis awaiting them first."
Chu Yang looked at Li Botao and shook his head slightly, "Li Yuanfang is not the same as what you think."
"As for me, I am an Ethereal Mountain Sect disciple and Master's disciple. This is a fact that will not change."
"I did what I did so that the Ethereal Mountain Sect can have a better future. The truth is, we all made choices that are different, but our intentions are the same."
Li Botao laughed coldly, "A choice to put the Ethereal Mountain Sect in huge danger."
Chu Yang looked at Li Botao and started laughing, but his laughter was sarcastic, "Second Elder Uncle, in the past, you were instructed by the Great Qin Prime Minister Wu Qingrou, to collude with the Mount Shu Sword Sect. You even went so far as to plot the assassination of Liang Gan. Ask yourself, did you think of the consequences?"
"The Ethereal Mountain Sect would have been the first to incur the wrath of the Great Zhou Empire!"
"After causing a conflict between the Mount Shu Sword Sect and the Great Zhou Empire, Wu Qingrou resigned from his position and disappeared. You then decided to turn your allegiance towards the Mount Shu Sword Sect. With regards to this choice that you made, how much of it was for the sect and how much of it was for yourself?"
When Chu Yang mentioned Wu Qingrou's name, Li Botao seemed to turn gloomy, "Does Senior and Junior Meng know about this?"
"They know about this earlier than me." After Chu Yang spoke finish, Li Botao sighed, "I knew that Prime Minister Wu wanted to assassinate Liang Gan, but I didn't know that it was for the purpose of inciting a conflict between the Great Zhou and Mount Shu."
"My role was just to pass the message to the assassins regarding the detailed location of Liang Gan."
Chu Yang replied, "But if the assassination was successful, Wu Qingrou would have exposed you and implicated the Ethereal Mountain Sect. He will then come up with more ploys to incite further conflicts between the Great Zhou Empire and Mount Shu, causing the tension between both powers to rise even further."
"This is Wu Qingrou's style. He wanted the Mount Shu Sword Sect and the Great Zhou Empire to be at odds with each other so that their attention will not be placed on the Great Qin Empire. Whereas the Great Qin Empire would take this time to clear up all their internal mess and removed any 'tumors' within their ranks."
"Wu Qingrou was the one who planned everything, while both the empires were the ones who played his game. But it's a pity that the Ethereal Mountain Sect was a sacrificial pawn in the entire game."
"However, Liang Gan did not die in the end and many things changed from then on. They went beyond Wu Qingrou's expectations. Only when the Celestial Sect of Wonders rose and conflicted with Mount Shu did the Ethereal Mountain Sect avert this disaster."
Chu Yang sighed, "Now, this is the second crisis we have to face."
Li Botao turned dismal and sighed without speaking.
Chu Yang went silent too and did not continue conversing with Li Botao. He had no plans either. As he was stuck in the small world, he awaited what was to come.
Sitting and waiting was never his style, but the war that was about to come was not something that someone of his cultivation level could interfere. More accurately speaking, most others would be unable to interfere in it. The conflicting parties were of extremely high levels.
But Chu Yang remained calm despite all this. "If we can overcome this crisis, the Ethereal Mountain Sect will enjoy a period of peace. And I can make a move too."
Chu Yang did not place his avatar inside this small world while continuing to roam outside with his actual body. His actual body remained with Wu Yunliang, Meng Chaoran and the rest.
"Qingwu…" Chu Yang's eyes shut. Right now, he was feeling both lost and amused, "You protected me this time."
Although Xiao Yan and the others retreated as they faced Jie Luoshi, the only thing that was worth celebrating was that Xiao Yan managed to reach the Immortal Soul Stage.
And on the Mount Shu side, the Grand Moon Swordmaster and the Guanchong Swordmaster were heavily hurt. They could only return to Mount Shu to recuperate, ruling themselves out from this attack of Mount Yujing. The Guanchong Swordmaster's injuries were particularly critical. The blow that he received from Xiao Yan was so devastating that he was fortunate to be able to come out of it alive. It's very possible that he could no longer cultivate the virtual entity in his life anymore.
During his clash with Jie Luoshi, Xiao Yan's Immortal Soul was also hurt. He was also making use of the time now to recuperate. But he knew that he had not much time left. Although the Void Space Teleportation Formation (referring to the formation that allowed them to travel between places) was destroyed, the opening of the Celestial Wonders World was near the south foot of Mount Kunlun, which was not far from Mount Yujing.
Jie Luoshi was in the Immortal Soul Third Level, hence he would be reaching soon.
However, Jie Luoshi did not arrive first. Before Jie Luoshi reached, there were others who already approaching the mountain. The enemies were here at Mount Yujing.
Above Yun Peak, Mount Yujing floated in mid-space. Right now, in the southern direction of Mount Yujing, void space cracked open and thick clouds surged from within the crack. Several powerful auras were revealed.
The invisible pressure caused waves to surge in the Mirror Lake at the foot of Yun Peak.
As the thick clouds dispersed, a bunch of people showed up. The leader of them all was a youth who looked only 14 or 15 years old. He looked handsome and his appearance was very charming. As he wore a white robe, it felt as if he came from the Heavens.
He stepped lightly into void space and did not reveal a frightening aura from his body. But everyone around him treated him as their leader, as they followed closely behind him.
This person was the ex-leader of the Path of the Heaven-Born of the Samsara Sect and the current sect leader of the Samsara Sect, Shi Tianfang. He was also in the Immortal Soul Third Level.
Behind Shi Tianfang, there were two other people. One of them was a refined middle-aged man, who wore a silk robe. Around his waist, there was an exquisite wine vat hanging. There was even a pouch above the vat, which rang as he walked. He was Zhang Enrui, the leader of the Path of Humanity who was also in the Immortal Soul Third Level.
The other person was tall and thin, and he wore a rigid look on his face. He was the Heavenly Ghost Priest of the Path of Hungry Ghoul, an Immortal Soul Second Level cultivator.
Shi Tianfang, Zhang Enrui and the Heavenly Ghost Priest looked in the direction of Mount Yujing.
Even the indifferent Heavenly Ghost Priest revealed a few hints of enthusiasm in his eyes.
Behind them, there were others too. They were all powerful cultivators from the Samsara Sect. This time, the entire Samsara Sect seemed to have been summoned.
Zhang Enrui looked at Mount Yujing and he sighed loudly, "It's indeed a Celestial Mountain."
The Heavenly Ghost Priest lowered his head to look at the Cloud Mirror City. With his indifferent and monotonous voice, he commented, "The Celestial Sect of Wonders have prepared themselves."
Zhang Enrui nodded his head, "They have forsaken their influence on the outside. Everyone has been summoned back to Mount Yujing to mount an impenetrable defense."
"I believe that both the Dual Polarity Heavenly Mountain and the Virtuous Zen Master must be back too." Zhang Enrui turned to look at Shi Tinfang, "Master, the most Immediate Disciples of Lin Feng, Wang Lin, Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing, should not be back on the mountain yet. Should we…."
Shi Tianfang shook his head slightly, "There's no need to intercept them. They are in the original plan. Even if they return, it's inconsequential."
Zhang Enrui laughed slightly, "Lin Feng indeed has many freaks under him. Especially Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, Wang Lin and Shi Tianhao. The four of them are extremely powerful."
"Lin Feng is a clever and unpredictable person. He is not the Great Void Holy Man's level, but I wonder if he has any hidden plans?"
"As I look at the four most powerful disciples of Lin Feng, I am reminded of the Four Immemorial Heroes of the Great Void. Although I did not witness their brilliance, these four disciples of Lin Feng have frightening potentials to become similar to the Four Immemorial Heroes, even if they are just in the Nascent Soul Stage now."
Zhang Enrui took out a wine cup from his pouch before pouring some wine from his wine vat into the cup. As he drank, he laughed, "Maybe they can be the Four Heroes of the Celestial Sect?"
"But it's a pity that we can't kill them. Otherwise, Lin Feng and the Great Void Sect will not be too pleased with that."
The Heavenly Ghost Priest said indifferently, "If we keep them alive, we are just breeding trouble for ourselves."
Zhang Enrui shook his head and laughed, "With benefits come losses. This is an inevitable price that we have to pay."
Shi Tianfang said calmly, "If they don't know what's good for them, we shall kill them if it's necessary. We can't let them stall us."
Zhang Enrui laughed while nodding his head, as he looked at Mount Yujing, "Since we are on the topic, is Zhu Yi the strongest of the Four Heroes of the Celestial Sect?"
The Heavenly Ghost Priest replied, "He is in the Advanced Stage of the Nascent Soul Stage and possesses many magic treasures with him. He even almost killed Shao Qingcheng, who's in the Immortal Soul First Level. Shao Qingcheng has the Yang Heaven Lamp and her powers are already one of the best among those in the Immortal Soul First Level. But she's still not comparable to him."
"In the Ying Sea, he even cultivated the flesh of the Great Sun Holy Man into his avatar." As he said till here, even the voice of the Heavenly Ghost Priest trembled a little, "A Nascent Soul Advanced Stage cultivator with an Immortal Soul Second Level avatar."
"The more critical thing is, with this avatar, many of the magic treasures that he has can unleash their full powers. That's why his powers are far beyond the other Immediate Disciples of Lin Feng."
At this point, void space also cracked in the northern direction of Mount Yujing. Two elders with pale-white hair and mustaches walked out. They wore long, green robes. One of them looked past void space towards Shi Tianfang and the others.
He smiled, "Who would have ever thought that this was the destiny of some ordinary, 15 years old bastard from Zhu Hongwu's residence?"