Volume 1, Chapter 27: The Three Sects Arrive

"To seal the spiritual energy of the entire Xuantian Realm with a Death-Burial Feng Shui formation—what a grand gesture indeed." Li Hanzhou studied the map intently. "Solving this problem completely is a massive undertaking. Is it possible that after the great upheaval of heaven and earth, no one in the Daoist sects realized this was a Death-Burial formation? Did no one ever attempt to undo it?"

"That shouldn't be possible!"

Li Hanzhou felt that something was deeply amiss. In his recent studies, he had read about an era when the Daoist sects were invincible and produced countless masters. That he alone should see what they had all missed was something he absolutely could not believe.

What kind of disaster had actually occurred? The records in the Longevity Temple mentioned nothing of it.

"If I can completely overturn this Death-Burial Feng Shui formation, the Daoist sects could regain their former glory. In other words, there would be a great chance to ascend, leave this world, return to Earth, and finally enjoy my life as a wealthy man?" Li Hanzhou looked at the map, his eyes brightening.

However, this Feng Shui formation was extremely troublesome; breaking it would certainly not be a task completed in a day. Moreover, he was currently the only elder in the Longevity Temple. With young Shi Ming and Yun Qianzhu still so small, what would become of them if he left? Although they had only been together for a short half-month, Li Hanzhou had grown quite fond of the two little ones.

After stepping out to hand the spiritual treasures and talismans to Liu Dongyue, Li Hanzhou returned to continue studying the map. The more he looked, the more alarmed he became. To lay a Feng Shui formation across the entire Xuantian Realm—the scale of this person's ambition was truly staggering. Who on earth could have done this? He could hardly imagine such a grand design; what could the person's motivation possibly be?

While Li Hanzhou pondered the formation, Liu Dongyue, feeling utterly disheartened in his room, stared at the Soul-Absorbing Bell on his table with hollow eyes. He gave it a light shake.

*Ding-dong-dong...*

The strange sound made Liu Dongyue heave a sigh. As expected, nothing his Martial Uncle forged was ever normal. At times, he felt so helpless he wanted to report it to the authorities. Did this thing have some other bizarre side effect? He really wanted to test it, but the object was aggressive, and he could not bring himself to use his junior brother or sister as subjects.

Three days later, in the Imperial Capital of Shenque.

"Your Majesty." The Chief Eunuch approached Yu Yang respectfully and handed him a slip of paper. Yu Yang was reading when he took the note, unfolded it, and saw only a single sentence: *The parasol tree of the Longevity Temple has revived.*

"The parasol tree has revived." Seeing these words, Yu Yang’s expression grew slightly vacant.

The Chief Eunuch watched him cautiously. "Your Majesty, are you well?"

"Where is the Ninth Prince now?" Yu Yang crushed the note into powder with his inner energy and asked casually.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince is currently at the Sword Forest of the Taibai Sect," the Chief Eunuch replied.

"Understood." Yu Yang said no more.

Early in the morning, a noisy commotion broke out outside the Longevity Temple.

"The Dominating Blade Sect has come to pay their respects."
"The Yueshan Sect has come to visit."
"The Zhao family has come to pay a visit."

All three factions had arrived. Li Hanzhou never expected them to arrive so early. Upon hearing the noise, Liu Dongyue offered a bitter smile, took a deep breath, and walked out. If it is fate, it cannot be avoided; if it is a disaster, one cannot hide from it. Today, he would fight them to the end.

As the acting master of the Longevity Temple, Li Hanzhou came out to greet them. The three factions were led by powerful figures, but they were taken aback when they saw that Li Hanzhou was merely an ordinary person without a shred of inner energy. Could the master of the Longevity Temple truly have no cultivation at all? This, however, only made them secretly pleased. They had come to seek justice for their disciples; if the opponent were a formidable master, they might have felt hesitant. Now, it seemed, this revenge was guaranteed.

"Greetings to all of you. Your arrival truly brings brilliance to my humble temple. Please, come inside," Li Hanzhou said with a polite bow.

"Master Li is too kind. We are here today to exchange pointers with your disciples. Please forgive any intrusion," said Liang Sheng, the leader of the Dominating Blade Sect, his tone neither warm nor cold.

"Master Li is too polite," echoed Zhao Wuxing, head of the Zhao family. Nie Shengyu, the master of the Yueshan Sect, remained silent.

The attitude of all three parties was icy. Their disciples, standing behind them, wore expressions of arrogance, clearly holding the Longevity Temple in complete contempt.

Li Hanzhou glanced at the disciples they had brought. Each faction had only brought a few—three or five at most—but their attire made him curious. "Are you all very cold?"

He noticed they were wearing an excessive amount of clothing, at least a dozen layers each. They looked bloated, as if they were about to freeze to death. Moreover, they were all male; not a single female disciple was among them.

"Hmph!"

"We dress this way to stay warm," Xu Hong, the head disciple of the Dominating Blade Sect, said with a flushed face, stubbornly defending himself.

"That's right, it's cold today," Zhao Xian of the Zhao family quickly added.

"And each of you is carrying a large pack. What’s inside?" Li Hanzhou asked.

"Spare clothes," said Shen Zong'ao of the Yueshan Sect.

Li Hanzhou was speechless. Wearing so many layers and carrying more in their bags—if one didn't know they were here for a martial exchange, one would think they were here to peddle goods. Li Hanzhou soon realized the truth: they were wary of the Seven-Treasure Gourd. Since it had stripped them of their clothes last time, they had come prepared with spares. They were certainly thorough.

"Please, come in."

Li Hanzhou led the three sect leaders into the reception hall. Fortunately, he had renovated it a few days ago, so it was barely presentable; otherwise, he wouldn't have even been able to host guests.

"I will go brew some tea," Li Hanzhou said.

"No need for trouble, Master Li. We are here for an exchange; let's have the disciples compete immediately," Liang Sheng said. "To ensure fairness, we have invited representatives from the Taixuan Holy Land to judge. They should be arriving shortly."

"Oh, I see." Li Hanzhou was surprised. Why would such a trivial matter bother the Taixuan Holy Land? Were they so idle that they would indulge in such nonsense?

While Li Hanzhou went to brew the tea, the Holy Lord of Taixuan and the Great Elder arrived, accompanied by Lu Tianxing, who had insisted on coming once he heard about the events at the Longevity Temple. Sensing the auras of the three sect leaders, the Holy Lord of Taixuan did not wait and followed the presence directly.

"You have all arrived." The Holy Lord of Taixuan walked in.

"Greetings, Holy Lord!"

The three sect leaders were stunned. They had not expected the Holy Lord of Taixuan himself to appear. Why had this great figure come?