88: Chapter 88 Immortal Artifact Grotto-Heaven, Dealing with the Demon Orb

Celestial Master Zhang couldn't help asking, "Fellow Daoist, with so many people coming and no way the matches can finish in a few days, where do you plan to arrange accommodation for all these Cultivators?"

The Sect Heads of various Schools nearby all perked up their ears to listen, especially Master Kongming, who thought of seizing the opportunity to learn a method so that Lingyin Temple could make similar arrangements when holding a Water and Land Dharma Assembly in the future.

"Hehe, you will know in a moment."

Master Yuanxin smiled mysteriously, his gaze sweeping across everyone present.

Everyone secretly complained in their hearts that this stubborn old Daoist just loved to keep people in suspense.

The lingering spiritual power ripples from the last Qi Refinement Stage match had not yet dissipated when Master Yuanxin raised his hand and pressed it downward, a ripple of magical power directly enveloping the thirty thousand Cultivators, forcibly smoothing out the chaotic spiritual power flying across the arena.

"Today's matches end here."

He slowly walked down the main arena, the cloud patterns on his purple Daoist robe glowing slightly in the evening sky.

"It is getting late. Everyone has come from afar and is tired from the journey. Follow my Shangqing Sect Disciples to the blessed land to temporarily settle down, and by the way, taste the spirit food made by our School."

Hearing this, the crowd below immediately cheered loudly, "Thank you, Daoist Yuanxin!"

"The Shangqing Sect is truly so magnanimous!"

"There is even spirit food, we must have a good taste of it!"

The so-called spirit food refers to meals made by matching Yao Beast meat with Spirit Medicine, which is helpful for the Cultivation of Cultivators below the Golden Core Realm.

Master Yuanxin's mouth corners curved up slightly, and without saying more, he turned to look above the clouds where a streak of white light descended, and it was precisely Ye Qingxuan.

Everyone present stared at him with curiosity, and the moment Ye Qingxuan landed, the Formation patterns beneath his feet instantly lit up, causing a light gate hundreds of zhang high to appear.

Ye Qingxuan lightly tapped with his fingertips, slowly bringing forth the world inside the door, which featured dozens of buildings such as pavilions, towers, and martial arts squares, looking just like a scaled-down version of an immortal cultivation city.

This was Ye Qingxuan's Storage Ring, whose inner space was large enough to hold an entire planet, and now only a small part of it was opened and connected to the outside world with a Formation, specially used for everyone to temporarily reside.

"Master, everything has been arranged. Here, it can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people for a temporary stay. Everyone can rest here and Cultivate with peace of mind."

Master Yuanxin nodded, turned to the crowd below, and said, "All Cultivators, just follow my School's Disciples inside. Remember, private fighting and competing are not allowed. Anyone who violates the rules will not be spared lightly!"

As soon as his voice fell, Ye Qingxuan waved his hand casually, and a gate dozens of meters wide slowly unfolded.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators and spectators lined up and walked in one by one. Master Yuanxin and Ye Qingxuan stood outside the gate, gazing at the scene full of starry skies inside, and didn't speak for a long time.

The Sect Heads of various Schools curiously crowded around, and it was Celestial Master Zhang who spoke up first to ask, "Fellow Daoist Yuanxin, what kind of treasure is this exactly?"

"Qingxuan, you come and explain to them."

Just as Master Yuanxin intended to speak, the corner of his eye caught sight of Qingming dragging Ximo toward the back mountain, with Qingling holding Xiao Jiu, plus Qingyun and Qingmo following behind with expressions of wanting to watch the excitement without fearing things getting too big.

Ximo wore a worried expression, continuously using his eyes to seek help from Master Yuanxin. His mouth was obviously sealed by a Silence Spell, unable to utter a single word.

Following behind were Disciple Xiyue with a red face and Senior Brother Qingcang with a dark, livid face.

Why did this happen? Because Ximo, this devil pill, not only constantly caused trouble but also had a particularly nagging mouth. After leaving the arena, he refused to leave and stood in place, commenting one by one on the Genius Cultivators of various major Sects.

At the grand ceremony watched by tens of thousands of people present, he publicly bantered with the female Cultivators of various families, and even said that these female Cultivators were all not as good-looking as Disciple Xiyue. As soon as these words came out, they directly angered all the female Cultivators.

Seeing this, Master Yuanxin quickly followed. Ximo was his only grand-Disciple at present, and his cultivation talent was extremely good. Although he couldn't compare to Ye Qingxuan, he couldn't be beaten or scolded and hurt by others either.

Ye Qingxuan also saw the commotion over here and could only stay behind to deal with the various Sect Heads.

"Seniors, this is my Storage Ring, a thing bestowed by the Upper Realm Ancestral Master, and now only a part of the space inside has been opened."

"Is it a Low Grade Immortal Artifact?" Master Kongming pursued the question unwillingly. Only Immortal Artifacts could store living things, and Lingyin Temple itself possessed a Low Grade Immortal Artifact.

The other Sect Heads were also full of anticipation, after all, major Sects basically all had Low Grade Immortal Artifacts in their hands.

"It is High Grade."

With just these three words, everyone instantly lost all thoughts. Master Kongming's face was extremely ugly, calculating in his heart how to arrange future Water and Land Dharma Assemblies, otherwise, compared with the Shangqing Sect, it would be too embarrassing.

"Seniors, please walk around as you please. I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave first." Seeing that everyone's complexions did not look very good, Ye Qingxuan cupped his hands in a salute and prepared to leave.

Anyway, Master had a deep friendship with these Sect Heads, and leaving the subsequent scene for Master to handle was enough.

When night fell, Ye Qingxuan came to the back hall where Master Yuanxin and his four Disciples were all present, with Xiao Jiu squatting on the ground and curiously watching the scene in the room.

Senior Brother Qingcang had already taken Disciple Xiyue back. At this moment, Ximo was hung from the roof beam by Qingming, who clenched a whip in his hand, but was unable to bring it down for a long time.

It was Ye Qingxuan who gripped his wrist, while Ximo kept using his eyes to ask Ye Qingxuan for help.

But as soon as Ye Qingxuan opened his mouth, Ximo's heart instantly turned half cold.

"Senior Brother, just beating and scolding is useless. Just leave it to Xiao Jiu to deal with him."

As soon as Ye Qingxuan said this, everyone in the room felt it was a good idea, and Qingyun directly let Ximo down from the roof beam.

"Meow, Daoist, leave it to me to handle!" Xiao Jiu stood up excitedly, its size instantly growing larger, and it instantly pounced and knocked down Ximo, who wanted to run away.

Xiao Jiu didn't beat anyone; it just held him down and tickled him.

Watching Ximo twist and turn on the ground, Qingming finally felt a lot more comfortable in his heart.

Recalling the gazes of the fellow Cultivators at the scene and the live-stream audience just now, his face burned all over, and the internet had already exploded long ago.

Many netizens were asking whether Qingming still took Disciples, saying that since he knew how to praise girls at such a young age, he definitely wouldn't be single in the future.

Everyone in the room looked at Ximo, who was constantly twisting on the ground and trembling all over from itchiness, and couldn't help laughing.

Xiao Jiu was a Holy Spirit. Tickling looked like fooling around, but in reality, it wouldn't hurt the body at all, yet it could make a person's whole body go numb, rendering them unable to mobilize even a bit of Spiritual Qi.

Qingyun and Qingling were still on the side directing Xiao Jiu on which places to tickle.

Ximo was tightly pressed onto the bluestone floor, his face flushed red, his eyes watery, and his heart was filled with both regret and embarrassment.

He had truly fallen completely this time. Originally, he just wanted to casually praise Disciple Xiyue, but as a result, his mouth had no gatekeeper, directly stirring up huge trouble.

The Cultivators present whose cultivation reached the Golden Core Realm and above heard it all clearly. The Disciples of various major Sects had ugly expressions on the spot, and the Sect Heads, constrained by the solemnity of the grand ceremony, did not flare up on the spot, but their resentful gazes all fell firmly on Ximo.

He was the youngest grand-Disciple of the Shangqing Sect with outstanding talent, and should have been praised by everyone. As a result, just because of a nagging mouth, he instantly became famous throughout the entire cultivation world.

No wonder Senior Brother Qingming was furious and wanted to take him back to the back mountain to execute family punishments on the spot.

On the internet, Ximo's name directly rushed to all trending search headlines, and bullet comments densely covered the screen:

[ Hahaha, dying of laughter, this is definitely the little Cultivator who dares to court death the most! ]

[ I heard every word just now clearly. This kid has too much guts; he even dares to evaluate the Buddhist nun! ]

[ Daoist Qingming is too miserable. His Disciple caused a huge disaster watched by the whole internet; anyone would die of embarrassment. ]

[ Previously everyone envied the Shangqing Sect for having many talents and producing a top Genius like Daoist Ye. Now it's good, they've added a nagging and mischievous Ximo. ]

[ Hurry up and make Ximo shut up. If he keeps talking, the female Cultivators of various families will group up to come and settle accounts with him! ]

[ Even if they go look for him, so what? He is Daoist Ye's nephew-Disciple, no one dares to really deal a heavy hand. ]

[ These words have no flaws! ]

The viewing popularity of the Grand Ritual of Luotian skyrocketed all the way, and in a short while, the number of viewers directly broke through one billion, with countless ordinary people, Loose Cultivators, and Sect Disciples squatting in the live-stream room to watch the excitement.

Inside the hall, Qingyun spoke up:

"I already told you long ago that you must be cautious in your words and deeds at the grand ceremony, but you just wouldn't listen. Relying on everyone doting on you, you spoke randomly. Now you know how awkward it is, right?"

Qingling crossed her arms and nodded in agreement, "Your Master's face has been completely lost by you. The look Master Kongming gave us just now was filled with helplessness."

Ximo, who was still tough and refused to yield when hanging from the roof beam earlier, was tickled limp all over by Xiao Jiu right now, and tears were even forced out.

His mouth was still sealed by the Silence Spell and couldn't speak, so he could only kick his legs continuously to beg for mercy.

Looking at his pitiful appearance, Qingming's anger dissipated by more than half, but thinking of the awkward atmosphere of the whole audience just now, he couldn't help getting a headache again.

This Grand Ritual of Luotian gathered all the Cultivators in the world, and major Sects assembled together. Originally, it was a good opportunity for the Shangqing Sect to make a name for itself, but as a result, it was made extremely awkward by his own Disciple's mouth.

Master Yuanxin looked at the person and cat playing around on the ground, shook his head helplessly, picked up the spirit tea on the table and took a sip, feeling both exasperated and amused.

This grand-Disciple of his had very good talent and Comprehension Ability, but his personality was playful and jumpy, his mouth had no gatekeeper, and he feared neither heaven nor earth. Yet every time after causing trouble, his attitude of admitting mistakes was particularly well-behaved, making it truly hard for people to harden their hearts to punish him.

"Xiao Jiu, stop."

Ye Qingxuan said softly.

Xiao Jiu immediately retracted its claws, its figure transforming back into a palm-sized little milk cat. Taking small mincing steps, it jumped onto a soft cushion on the side, curling its tail to continue watching the excitement.

The Restriction was lifted, and Ximo collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. His whole body was sore and weak, his face red and hot, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

The Silence Spell was also undone along with it. He hurriedly looked up at Master Yuanxin on the main seat, and then gazed longingly at Ye Qingxuan, saying softly with a crying tone, "Grandmaster, Master, Junior Martial Uncle, I know I was wrong, and I will never talk nonsense again in the future!"

"Tell me, where were you wrong?" Master Yuanxin's tone was flat, with neither joy nor anger discernible.

Ximo lowered his head and honestly admitted his mistake:

"I shouldn't have spoken without Restriction at the grand ceremony, bantering with the Seniors and Cultivators of various Sects, ruining everyone's mood and losing face for the Shangqing Sect."

The words of apology were extremely sincere, with not a shred of perfunctoriness.

Master Yuanxin nodded slightly:

"You have good talent, and your path of Cultivation has been smooth sailing. At a young age, it is inevitable to be impetuous in your heart. In the matter of Cultivation, cultivating the heart is more important than cultivating Spells. The tongue is most prone to summoning disasters; say one wrong word, and you will forge countless grudges. Today is just a small punishment to remind you."

"I will definitely firmly remember Grandmaster's teachings!" Ximo hurriedly stood up, bowing obediently in a salute, no longer daring to be cheeky.

Qingming on the side let out a sigh of relief, reached out and knocked on his head: "If you ever dare to talk nonsense casually next time, without anyone else making a move, I will directly punish you to copy the Qingjing Sutra three thousand times!"

"I won't dare anymore, absolutely never again!" Ximo waved his hands hurriedly, acting exceptionally docile.

Seeing him completely yield, everyone burst into laughter.

Just at this moment, footsteps came from outside the door, and several Shangqing Sect Disciples responsible for guarding walked quickly into the hall, bowing to report:

"Sect Head, Junior Martial Uncles, all the Cultivators have been settled into the blessed land space. The residences, spirit springs, Cultivation rooms, and kitchens have all been tidied up properly. No one is fighting privately, and everything is in good order."

Master Yuanxin nodded, his expression returning to composure and calm.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators lived inside Ye Qingxuan's High Grade Immortal Artifact Paradise. The Spiritual Qi concentration here far exceeded ordinary Secret Realms outside, and just sitting quietly for one night of cultivation had an effect comparable to ten days of hard cultivation outside.

With such foundation and boldness, no Sect in the entire cultivation world could compare.

The embarrassment previously stirred up by Ximo was completely offset by this single paradise alone.

Even if the major Sects still harbored dissatisfaction in their hearts, at this moment, only envy remained.

Ye Qingxuan raised his eyes to look at the pitch-black night outside the window, slowly speaking: "Tomorrow starts the Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator matches, followed immediately by the Golden Core Cultivator showdown. The schedule is arranged very tightly. Let everyone have a good rest tonight and store up their energy."

"Yes!" The Disciple acknowledged and withdrew.

Master Yuanxin stood up, his gaze looking into the distance: "Qingxuan, you witnessed all the matches today. In your opinion, who is most likely to win first place in each Realm in the end?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room instantly fell silent.

"The first place of the Qi Refinement Stage is most likely a choice between Lin Wei and Junior Brother Su, but it's still hard to judge who will win and who will lose in the end." Ye Qingxuan replied thoughtfully.

"Lin Wei is Lin Lei's father, right? His strength has already reached the level of the twelfth layer of Qi Refining, whereas Junior Brother Su is only at the ninth layer of Qi Refining..." Qingming couldn't refute Ye Qingxuan's statement either.

Qingmo pondered for a moment and didn't speak.

Qingyun, however, put forward a different view:

"Senior Brother, you overlooked one point. Although Lin Wei's strength is strong, his martial dao failed to break through the spiritual apertures, and his combat style is too singular. Junior Brother Su is a Sword Cultivator with huge variables, so victory or defeat is really uncertain."

Ye Qingxuan nodded in approval:

"The results of the Foundation Establishment Stage matches are hard to predict, but the champion of the Golden Core Realm will definitely be Lin Lei. Below the Soul Transformation Realm, he already has no opponents. Even if several Senior Brothers were at the same Realm, they couldn't beat him."

Everyone didn't refute. Everyone knew Lin Lei's strength clearly; within the Golden Core Realm, unless Ye Qingxuan made a move, no one could beat him.

"As for the first place of the Nascent Soul group, it's hard to say. Our School has no one participating; Zhang Yuzhuo, Duyuan, Zhou Wei, and Yun Huan—these four people all have the opportunity to win the championship."

Ximo completely quieted down at this point and muttered softly, "Tomorrow I will quietly watch the match, absolutely won't talk nonsense, and won't cause trouble for the Sect."

Seeing his serious look, everyone couldn't help laughing.

The night grew deeper and deeper.

Inside the Immortal Artifact Paradise, lights were brightly lit, clouds and mist curled around, pavilions were neatly arranged, and rich Spiritual Qi filled every corner.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators coming from all directions were situated in this space like an immortal fairyland, their hearts filled with shock, and all of them eagerly wanted to Cultivate.

Countless people sat cross-legged on the spot, relying on the pure Spiritual Qi to stabilize their cultivation, and the entire blessed land was quiet and solemn in atmosphere.