403: Chapter 403 "Baiyan Royal Cauldron Technique"

Ling Hao stood with his hands behind his back, watching the back of Ji Xuanming as he stumbled away, a faint smile playing on the corners of his lips.

He turned around and first looked at Shi Qingxuan, nodding slightly: "Sect Leader Shi, I was a bit heavy-handed just now. I hope you will forgive any offense."

Shi Qingxuan was stunned and quickly returned the salute: "Supreme, you are too kind. Ji Xuanming attacked first; you were merely… acting in self-defense."

As she spoke, she felt a bit awkward—a Supreme acting in "self-defense" against another Supreme; the phrase just sounded wrong no matter how she put it.

Ling Hao looked at Shi Yunyu again, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment: "The scuffle just now caused some damage. If you need compensation…"

Shi Yunyu raised her eyes to look at him, a faint smile appearing on her gentle, moon-like face: "Supreme, you are joking. The White Rock Holy Land is not so poor that it cannot afford a few floor tiles."

Ling Hao was slightly taken aback, then chuckled.

"Then we shall take our leave."

After saying this, he looked at Chi Wanhe and the others: "Let's go."

Chi Wanhe hugged him with a giggle: "Revered Master, you were so handsome! That Ji Xuanming knelt down so decisively!"

Qin Zhaoxue pulled her back and whispered: "Senior Sister, mind the occasion."

Chi Wanhe stuck out her tongue, but her eyes remained curved in a smile. The women of the Moonshadow Sect followed behind Ling Hao, leaving leisurely under the gaze of countless complex stares.

Shi Yunyu stood in place, watching that figure in green robes gradually fade into the distance. In the sunlight, his figure stood as straight as a pine.

A sudden, inexplicable palpitation welled up in her heart.

Shi Qingxuan walked to her side and said softly: "Mother, you should go back first. I will handle the rest."

Shi Yunyu withdrew her gaze and nodded.

…

On the plaza outside the hall, the crowd gradually dispersed. The Disciples of the Holy Land gathered in twos and threes, whispering.

"Did you see that… Supreme Mingxuan he…"

"Shh! Do you have a death wish?!"

"But… but that was real… He knelt…"

"Just how strong is that Supreme Moonshadow…"

"No wonder they dared to come to White Rock Continent…"

"Do you think that Supreme Moonshadow really intends to make a move against our White Rock Holy Land?"

"Surely not? Haven't you heard? That Supreme Moonshadow and Lady Shi Ji have a… *cough*, have a profound friendship…"

"But that's just a rumor!"

"Rumors become truth when they spread enough! Besides, it might not be a rumor."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It has everything to do with it. Listen to me carefully…"

On the other side, a Disciple lowered his voice and said:

"Actually, I heard from a friend of the younger brother of the older brother of the sister of the younger sister of the aunt of the aunt of my seventh aunt from Cangwu Continent—the Moon Shadow Holy Land is entirely composed of women."

"Nonsense, who doesn't know that?"

"Let me finish! The Moon Shadow Holy Land is entirely women, except for Supreme Moonshadow!"

"So what?"

"So what?" The Disciple winked and gestured, "Think about it, he is the only man, surrounded by a group of female Cultivators every day. Can that really be a normal relationship?"

The people around them immediately revealed meaningful expressions.

"Are you saying…"

"I didn't say anything."

"But then again, if one could really improve by a whole Realm just like the female Cultivators of the Moonshadow Sect…"

"Keep dreaming! That is their Sect's secret technique. Would they pass it on to you?"

"Can't a guy dream?"

The discussions gradually faded away, but the matter of the Moonshadow Sect's secret technique soon spread throughout the entire White Rock Holy Land.

…

In front of the mountain gate.

Zhang Chengyue and the others had their cultivation crippled and were tossed out of the Holy Land's mountain gate like dead dogs.

He lay on the ground, trembling all over, his eyes filled with the relief of having survived a disaster.

His life was saved…

As long as he was alive, Lord Ji Mitai had said he would give them new identities and let them re-enter the Holy Land…

He still had a chance!

Not long after they had moved away from the mountain gate, a black shadow descended from the sky.

Zhang Chengyue looked up, not yet able to see the person clearly—

"You…!"

He widened his eyes, his pupils reflecting a cold face.

He died with his eyes wide open, unable to rest in peace.

The black shadow glanced at the others, confirmed that they were all dead, and then flickered, disappearing from sight.

Silence returned to the mountain gate, leaving only a few corpses lying in a pool of blood.

…

Starfall Cold Jade Peak.

Shi Yunyu was just about to land when she suddenly frowned and took out a sound transmission talisman.

A sweep of her Divine Sense—it was from Ji Xuanming.

He was asking for a private meeting, saying he had important matters to discuss.

She frowned slightly, a flash of spiritual light appeared at her fingertips, and she put the sound transmission talisman away.

She ignored it and continued flying toward the peak.

…

Ji Xuanming's Immortal Cave.

"Slap!"

A loud slap.

Ji Mitai was sent flying horizontally, crashing heavily into the stone wall of the Immortal Cave, and then sliding to the ground.

"Trash!"

Ji Xuanming's face was livid, his eyes bloodshot. Where was there any dignity left of a Mahayana Supreme?

He pointed at Ji Mitai, who was lying on the ground, his voice trembling: "You told me that Supreme Moonshadow was just a newly broken-through Mahayana Cultivator, and that all that talk about him slaying the Demon Ancestor with one sword was fake—what about now?! What about now?!"

"And furthermore, you said they were just a bunch of women, what kind of strength could they have? You guaranteed me—once public opinion was stirred up, the neutral factions would inevitably lean toward the Ji Family! And what was the result?!"

The more he spoke, the angrier he became, and he slammed his palm onto the jade table.

The hard cold jade instantly turned into powder and fell with a rustle.

"Three battles, three defeats! I knelt in public! Is this what you have given me?!"

Ji Mitai lay on the ground, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, but he dared not move, only trembling: "Old, Old Ancestor, please calm your anger… It was this subordinate's oversight… It was this subordinate who underestimated them…"

"Oversight? Underestimated?" Ji Xuanming sneered, "I trusted you so much, and this is the result you give me?"

He took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to strike again. If he didn't think this person still had some use, he would have slapped him to death just now.

"Get out!" He flicked his sleeve, "Without my order, you are not allowed to set foot on Mingxuan Peak!"

Ji Mitai felt as if he had been granted an amnesty, scrambling out of the Immortal Cave. The stone door of the Immortal Cave slammed shut behind him.

Ji Mitai stood up unsteadily, raising his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the tightly closed stone door, a flash of resentment crossing his eyes: "Fight… fight…"

He muttered in a low voice, a strange arc curling at the corner of his mouth: "You won't last much longer either."

…

Inside the Immortal Cave.

Ji Xuanming stood alone amidst the mess.

After a long while, he slowly raised his head, looking at the map hanging in the depths of the Immortal Cave—the map of the Ten Thousand Miasma Demon Forest.

"rock cauldron…"

A complex light flashed in Ji Xuanming's eyes.

The rock cauldron, one of the Nine Cauldrons.

Legend has it that controlling the Nine Cauldrons makes one invincible in the Shi Continent; controlling one cauldron allows one to stand invincible in the corresponding region!

"The rock cauldron is in the Ten Thousand Miasma Demon Forest…"

Ji Xuanming murmured, his eyes flashing with a light interwoven with wariness, greed, and fear.

A hundred years ago, he had actually entered the Ten Thousand Miasma Demon Forest once.

"…Those three beasts, they are too strong… Even if I have broken through to the Mahayana Stage…"

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white.

"No… no rush…"

He turned around, looking toward the direction of Canglan Peak, the resentment in his eyes almost solidifying.

"They will definitely go in when the time comes. As a Mahayana Stage Cultivator, they will certainly require me to accompany them. Since he is so strong, the attention of those three beasts will be drawn to him…"

"As long as I can find an opportunity…"

"Once I obtain the rock cauldron—today's humiliation will be repaid a hundredfold!"

Ji Xuanming took out a Jade Slip.

"White Rock Cauldron Control Art."

But it was only half. The other half was with Lady Shi Ji…

He frowned and took out the sound transmission talisman. There was no movement on it at all. Why hadn't she replied yet?