Halfway up the White Cloud Peak, at a place barely several yards above the ocean of clouds was a platform stretching out of a cliff wall. On this platform stood a few old trees, bushes of wisteria plant, and a stone table as well as a few stone chairs. Even intriguingly, there were two streams of spring water flowing out of the cliff wall, coursing around the edge of the platform and pouring down from an opening near the center.
The ocean of clouds rolled and rocked, while the strong wind blew ceaselessly. The rushing water pouring down from the platform was quickly dispersed into a thin layer of water mist. When the bright sunlight came shining on the water mist, a few fuzzy rainbows stretched out right above the ocean of clouds. A few white cranes were seen wheeling around the rainbows, occasionally issuing loud whoops that resounded to the skies.
Immortal Green Staff was seen standing near the edge of the platform happily and excitedly, glancing around at the surrounding scenery. With his finger pointing here and there, he said with a smile on his face, "Jiang Yun, it looks like you are living a pretty decent life, huh? I bet it must have taken you a painstaking effort to build this property, hasn't it? It has been only less than one hundred thousand years after you finished your apprenticeship in Yuan Hua Sect, yet you've built yourself such a magnificent foundation. Excellent, you've done really, really well!"
Bringing a few little Daoists with him, Patriarch Jiang Yun was bustling about jollily, serving up the best spirit teas of White Cloud Immortal Sect, the best wines, and the best fruits and rare dishes, placing them on the stone table and filling every available corner. Upon hearing Immortal Green Staff's words, he smiled and said, "If not for Master's great kindness in those years, if you didn't take me in as your apprentice and taught me those mighty techniques, how could Jiang Yun live such a life today?"
Immortal Green Staff shook his head, walked back towards the table, and sat down on a stone chair. Grabbing up a purple fruit, he gave it a bite. While munching the delicious fruit, he said vaguely, "Enough with those flattering words. Well, I remember that many years ago, you had sent someone to bring me a letter, telling me that you've set foot on White Cloud Planet of Liyuan Galaxy. Initially, I thought you're just opening up a shabby cave abode to continue your cultivation. Little did I expect that you've actually occupied such a large piece of territory."
While sighing, Immortal Green Staff stamped his foot frustratingly and said, "To think that you were forced out from Yuan Hua Sect... Hmph, those..."
It seemed as if he was about to say something, but when he caught a glimpse of Wu Qi, who stood respectfully aside and kept sizing him up and down, Immortal Green Staff shut his mouth. He cleared his throat and said, "Let's talk some serious business. Pick several dozens of your elite and capable Nascent Divinity and Nascent Soul disciples, and make them go back with me. Yuan Hua Sect is having a dispute with someone, and because of a fight with them, your Master-Mother was nearly disfigured."
Patriarch Jiang Yun's eyes went wide as he cried out sternly, "Master, I've wanted to ask this just now. Who exactly is so daring to have offended Yuan Hua Sect?"
So, Immortal Green Staff began to explain what was happening, while Wu Qi pricked up his ears to listen attentively, which then made him understand the cause and effect of the incident. Deep inside his mind, Wu Qi nodded and was seized with joy. He knew the opportunity he had been waiting for was finally here.
Yuan Hua Sect was ranked one of the top ten sects in Puluo Heavenly Realm, a place that was completely different from the Minor Heavenly Circle Realm. As a matter of fact, all the heavenly realms in the universe could actually be classified into nine grades, from top-upper grade, mid-upper grade, low-upper grade, to low-lower grade. Minor Heavenly Circle Realm was a low-lower grade heavenly realm, which meant that no matter it was their actual size, their natural energies, or resources, they were all of the lowest quality. On the other hand, Puluo Heavenly Realm was classified as mid-lower grade, having all of their conditions at least one hundred times better than the Minor Heavenly Circle Realm.
Yuan Hua Sect had a total of thirty-three Heaven Immortals, while their Ancestral-Master, Patriarch Yuan Hua, possessed a cultivation base of peak Twenty-Eighth Tier Heaven Immortal realm, an overall personal strength that was considered supreme even in the entire Puluo Heavenly Realm. And that was the reason Yuan Hua Sect was ranked one of the top ten strongest sects in Puluo Heavenly Realm. In addition to the thirty-three Heaven Immortals, under Patriarch Yuan Hua were nearly four hundred Nascent Divinity cultivators, over three thousand Nascent Soul cultivators, and numerous Gold Core and Xiantian cultivators, that no one seemed to know the exact number of.
That made Yuan Hua Sect's overall strength one hundred times stronger than White Cloud Immortal Sect. With the power of Patriarch Yuan Hua alone, a Twenty-Eighth Tier Heaven Immortal, it was more than enough to wipe out the entire White Cloud Immortal Sect in just a blink of an eye. But this time, a dispute broke out between Yuan Hua Sect and Huiling Sect, another immortal sect that ranked as one of the top ten sects in Puluo Heavenly Realm. Both of them had been fighting each other for nearly one thousand years.
The cause of the dispute was rather simple. At a region near Puluo Heavenly Realm's boundary, the border between the territories ruled by Yuan Hua Sect and Huiling Sect, someone discovered a planet with a rich deposit of upper-grade energy stones. The planet had a very harsh environment, where not even a blade of grass grew, but its energy stones were of excellent quality, which included all five different elements. According to Patriarch Yuan Hua's estimation, once all the energy stones in the planet were completely harvested, they could let Yuan Hua Sect produce over two hundred Nascent Divinity, and several thousand Nascent Soul cultivators within just one thousand years.
To judge if an immortal sect was growing and flourishing, not only the number of Immortals that sect had had to be taken into consideration, the total number of its disciples and their grades were also two important measurements. For such a judgment, the total number of Nascent Divinity cultivators was especially important, as it was a number that directly affected the development potential of that particular sect.
On an average, under normal circumstances and without the help from any immortal pills and spirit items, among every fifty Nascent Divinity cultivators, one or two of them would be able to transcend thunder tribulations and became Heaven Immortals. With the addition of two hundred Nascent Divinity cultivators, it meant that Yuan Hua Sect could potentially gain four more Heaven Immortals in the future. On top of that, with the extra several thousand Nascent Soul cultivators, before their life ran out, it was highly possible that an addition of over one hundred Nascent Divinity could be produced from them.
As a result, two immortal sects dragged each other into a great fight over this planet rich in energy stone deposit. Over the last one thousand years, through the constant battling and slaughtering, most of their Heaven Immortal Elders were wounded, with their overall strength greatly weakened. In the meanwhile, they had also lost many of their cultivators of Nascent Divinity and Nascent Soul realm.
Just Yuan Hua Sect alone had lost over three hundred Nascent Soul cultivators during this one thousand years, and over twenty of their Nascent Divinity cultivators were forced to reincarnate and start their cultivation from scratch. On top of that, all their remaining Nascent Divinity and Nascent Soul cultivators were wounded, having their overall strength greatly weakened.
While it seemed that two immortal sects were on the verge of getting their roots seriously damaged over the ownership of the planet, the Immortal Monarch who ruled Puluo Heavenly Realm stepped out to mediate, and finally decided a solution that would not damage the root of the two immortal sects, while could also decide the ultimate ownership of the planet. The two immortal sects had made a pledge that none of their Heaven Immortals would fight each other again, while both sides would pick a group of elite Nascent Divinity and Nascent Soul cultivators each to fight a death match.
These Nascent Divinity and Nascent Soul cultivators must be coming from their own sects - whether they were the immortal sect's own core disciples, or the disciples that came from the sects established by their outer sect disciples. All in all, those who were somewhat connected to them were allowed to participate in the death match.
Shaking his head and breathing out a long sigh, Immortal Green Staff said, "Currently, all the elite disciples in the sect who have the excellent talent and extraordinary overall strength are either dead or severely wounded. And, after considering carefully and at length, I've no other choice but to request reinforcements from you and the others who have finished their apprenticeships."
Twitching his lips, Immortal Green Staff snorted coldly and said, "Jiang Yun, do you still remember those few fellow disciples who finished their apprenticeships at the same time as you?"
Patriarch Jiang Yun rose to his feet, then nodded with a smile on his face and said, "Yes, I do remember them."
Immortal Green Staff shook his head, sighed and said, "All of them are just good-for-nothing. A few of them got into fights and were killed not long after leaving the sect. Only three of them are still alive now, with one lucky enough to transcend his thunder tribulation and become a Heaven Immortal. But pity that he is just an itinerant cultivator, and doesn't even have one single disciple. I've gone visiting all of them, and they just cannot help me in any way. And finally, I've come to you."
Immortal Green Staff fixed his gaze at Patriarch Jiang Yun with anticipation, then asked lightly, "Do you have any disciples that can be of use now?"
Wu Qi stuck out his chest suddenly and said with a deep, powerful voice, "Ancestral-Master, this disciple is willing to serve the sect. Aren't we just going to fight those wild chickens and stray dogs of Huiling Sect? This disciple is willing to use the sword in his hand to kill every single one of them."
Immortal Green Staff kept nodding and praising Wu Qi, while he turned to Patriarch Jiang Yun and said, "This disciple of yours is excellent!"
Patriarch Jiang Yun smiled as he gave Wu Qi a glare, then he turned to Immortal Green Staff and said, "Master, my sect currently has over one hundred Nascent Divinity cultivators and over one thousand Nascent Soul cultivators. Among them, seventy percent are the descendants of my bloodline. Master can use them with a complete peace of mind."
After a brief moment of pondering, Immortal Green Staff nodded and said, "Perfect! Both sects have agreed to send ten Nascent Divinity cultivators and one hundred Nascent Soul cultivators each to participate in the death match."
"It just takes one single word from you, Master, and I'll send ten peak-stage Nascent Divinity and one hundred peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivators going back with you." Patriarch Jiang Yun said hurriedly, "On top of that, all the magical treasures and flying swords they use will be of excellent quality. I dare say that without any interruption from Heaven Immortals, my disciples are capable of dealing with enemies a few times stronger than them."
Patriarch Jiang Yun was very confident. However, because of the vow he swore, Patriarch Jiang Yun could not reveal the existence of Myriad Immortals Planet to Immortal Green Staff. Over the last few years, relying on the abundant resources of Myriad Immortals Planet, the cultivation base of White Cloud Immortal Sect's disciples had taken a huge leap. More importantly, Myriad Immortals Planet contained countless natural treasures. As Patriarch Jiang Yun was an expert in pill concoction, all the core disciples in the sect were given countless spirit pills. Their ability to fight a drawn-out battle and keeping their lives was many times stronger than ordinary cultivators.
On top of that, the flying swords and magical treasures used by White Cloud Immortal Sect's disciples had also been fully upgraded over the last few years, with every single one of them was owning a few decent defensive magical treasures. They were all crafted using rare and precious materials produced from the Myriad Immortals Planet, which was the reason why Patriarch Jiang Yun said that his disciples could deal with opponents a few times stronger than them.
Immortal Green Staff was very satisfied with the commitment Patriarch Jiang Yun pledged to offer. He kept nodding and praising Patriarch Jiang Yun, then offered him a promise, "If we can bring home the bacon this time, all the disciples sent out by you will have a chance to join Yuan Hua Sect, learning the real Asamskrta Energy Unity Scripture. Even you, Jiang Yun, although you were forced out the sect in those years, I'll still risk my reputation for taking you in as an inner sect disciple."
Patriarch Jiang Yun was seized with wild joy. Hastily, he dropped to his knees and kept kowtowing at Immortal Green Staff.
Upon seeing that Patriarch Jiang Yun dropped to his knees, Wu Qi had no other choice but to follow suit. He was smiling bitterly in his mind, thinking that an overly low rank in seniority was indeed a huge trouble, and it seemed to him that he had the potential to become a man who had to keep kowtowing at someone else in the future.
Immortal Green Staff helped Patriarch Jiang Yun up, then began to talk incessantly about what happened in those years. Standing aside and having heard all of their conversations, Wu Qi got to know that this Yuan Hua Sect was completely different from the White Cloud Immortal Sect. Because of Patriarch Jiang Yun, White Cloud Immortal Sect was able to maintain a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere. Contrary to that, there were many factions in Yuan Hua Sect, and it was very frequent for different fractions to fight among each other.
Wu Qi nodded inwardly, and told himself that he must be extra cautious when he arrived at Yuan Hua Sect.
While he was deep in thought, Patriarch Jiang Yun turned to give Wu Qi and order, "Go now and quickly summon back all your senior disciples. Tell them to abandon Spirit Flame Sect's territory and put the matter aside for now. I want them to return to the sect immediately, and prepare themselves to follow me on a mission."
Wu Qi cupped his fist and bowed, then quickly transformed into a beam of light and sped away.