Chapter 630: Attic Discussion

The thirteenth day of the Cloudfall Sect’s internal trials, and the final selection round, was drawing to a close.

But at this moment, inside a pavilion on the mountainside of the main peak, seven or eight Core Formation cultivators had gathered, discussing something.

Two of them were the two Peak Masters of Sky Spring Peak: the middle-aged man surnamed Xin and the grim-faced old man in gray. The rest also appeared quite formidable.

"Is no one among you junior brothers willing to volunteer to lead the team this time?" asked a blue-robed old man with a flowing white beard and a face full of wrinkles, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Hmph! Senior Brother Feng," a seemingly lazy middle-aged man with a thin mustache above his lip replied casually, "the Sword Trial Assembly is said to be a joint competition between three sects, but each time, our two sects return defeated, allowing the Ancient Sword Sect to gain great prestige. And the Ancient Sword Sect's team leader this time will surely be that sharp-tongued Jiang Yun again. I don't want to suffer unnecessarily."

"Exactly!" another sallow-faced old man said, shaking his head. "I also heard that a few years ago, the Ancient Sword Sect took in a disciple with a Nine Spirit Sword Physique. This time, they will definitely let him participate in the assembly. If that's the case, what's there left to compete in at this Sword Trial Assembly? Although we have some disciples with special physiques, compared to them, the gap is not just a little bit. Furthermore, I heard that the Hundred Craft Academy also took in a direct descendant of the Shangguan family this time. It's said that while still in the Qi Condensation stage, he already defeated his family elders with the magic tools he refined himself. I'm afraid he'll also be very difficult to deal with!"

The white-bearded old man's face showed displeasure upon hearing this.

"Junior brothers, what you say is true," the white-bearded old man said with a solemn expression. "The Sword Trial Assembly has indeed become a display of power by the Ancient Sword Sect towards our two sects, but who can blame them when they are so powerful and stronger than us? If our sect doesn't send disciples to participate, I'm afraid we won't even get that quarter of the spirit liquid. Moreover, this could easily make the Ancient Sword Sect hostile towards our Cloudfall Sect, which is detrimental to our sect's long-term development in Cloud Dream Mountain. After all, there aren't just one or two other sects eyeing our three sects in Cloud Dream Mountain. Our three sects cannot allow others to exploit our weaknesses."

"Since Senior Brother Feng has said so, count me in as one of the team leaders," a red-robed old man with a square, upright face, sitting opposite the white-bearded old man, suddenly spoke up and took on the task. "Anyway, Elder Chang Zheng of the Hundred Craft Academy and I haven't seen each other for a long time. It wouldn't hurt to have a chat while I'm there."

"Junior Brother Duan, as the Peak Master of Fire Cloud Peak, you have many disciples under your charge, so leaving like this might be a bit inappropriate, wouldn't it?" The white-bearded old man surnamed Feng hesitated slightly upon hearing him speak.

"It's fine. Junior Brother Li will remain at Fire Cloud Peak. Nothing will happen," the red-robed old man said noncommittally. "Besides, I'm not leaving Cloud Dream Mountain; it's just a one-day journey from the Eastern Vein to the Western Vein."

Hearing the other party say this, the white-bearded old man no longer insisted, nodding in agreement. His gaze then swept across the faces of the others, finally settling on the grim-faced old man in gray, and he slowly asked:

"Junior Brother Yu, I know you don't manage much at Sky Spring Peak, so this time, how about you assist Junior Brother Duan? Junior Brother Xin, you have no objections, do you?" The white-bearded old man's last sentence was directed at the middle-aged man surnamed Xin.

"Of course, no problem. As long as Junior Brother Yu is willing," the middle-aged man surnamed Xin replied with a faint smile.

The gray-robed old man's cold face stirred upon hearing this. After a long while, he said very briefly:

"Alright, I'll go!"

Hearing this, the white-bearded old man's face showed joy. He nodded and spoke again:

"For this team, Junior Brother Duan will be the main leader, with Junior Brother Yu and Junior Sister Song of White Phoenix Peak assisting. Once today's final round is finished, gather these thirty disciples and give them some guidance. Perhaps we still have a chance at this assembly. After all, among this group of our disciples, there are a few strong candidates. They should be able to contend with the Ancient Sword Sect and the Hundred Craft Academy."

"Junior Sister Song is also participating in the assembly? Why didn't I know? If that's the case, I'll go instead of Junior Brother Yu for this Sword Trial Assembly!" a cultivator who had been hiding in a corner of the room, with a smooth, cunning expression on his face, exclaimed in surprise. The other cultivators in the pavilion heard this and also stirred. Two or three of them immediately showed regret on their faces.

"Hmph! Junior Brother Meng, what do you mean by that?" the white-bearded old man said with a solemn expression. "I, your senior brother, spoke for a long time just now, but I didn't see you step forward and say a word. Now, as soon as you hear Junior Sister Song is going, you immediately jump out. To tell you the truth, Junior Sister Song's condition for agreeing to lead the team this time was that I shouldn't reveal her participation to everyone first. Otherwise, given her temper, how could she easily leave White Phoenix Peak?"

This elder's cultivation had reached the late Core Formation stage, while the cunning cultivator was only at the early Core Formation stage.

Thus, after the elder's expression changed, the latter immediately lowered his head and remained silent, daring not to argue further.

The few others who had been tempted exchanged awkward glances and also found it difficult to say anything further.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from outside the room, followed by a man's voice.

"Reporting, Master, esteemed Senior Uncles, the final round of trials has concluded, with three Foundation Establishment disciples and twenty-one Qi Condensation cultivators selected. Your disciple has brought the list."

"Oh! Since it's ready, bring it in," the white-bearded old man said, his expression softening upon hearing this. "Let the esteemed Senior Uncles have a look too."

"As you command!" the man outside the room respectfully replied. Then he pushed open the door and entered.

He was a man in his thirties, at the late Foundation Establishment stage, with a dignified appearance and a tall stature.

"This is the list and information of the twenty-four final victors." The man took out a white jade slip from his robes and presented it to the elder with both hands.

"Let me see first!" The elder nodded slightly, took the jade slip, and briefly scanned it with his divine sense.

"Hmm?" The old man only glanced at it twice, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"What's wrong? Is there something amiss with this list?" The red-robed cultivator's expression shifted, and he asked curiously.

The others also looked at the elder in surprise.

"Nothing. All of you junior brothers should take a look too!" After saying this, the white-bearded old man's expression returned to normal, and he then tossed the jade slip to the sallow-faced old man beside him.

After this person read the jade slip, he also showed surprise, but without saying anything, he passed the jade slip to the others.

Not long after, the jade slip had been read by everyone, and everyone's expression was somewhat uncertain.

After the middle-aged man surnamed Xin from Sky Spring Peak read the jade slip, his eyes frequently showed surprise.

"I really didn't expect this," the middle-aged man with a mustache sighed and said slowly. "Six people from Sky Spring Peak alone were selected this time. It truly makes the rest of our peaks feel ashamed! It seems Senior Brother Xin is indeed skilled at training disciples!"

"It seems Senior Brother Xin is determined to win this Sword Trial Assembly, which is why he spent so much effort cultivating these disciples!" the cunning-looking cultivator also said somewhat sourly. His Hidden Sword Peak only had three people selected this time, which was quite a loss of face.

"No, absolutely nothing of the sort," the middle-aged man surnamed Xin asked, his expression unchanged after a moment of thought. "I myself was quite surprised that so many people from our Sky Spring Peak were selected this time. But never mind the others, how are there two Qi Condensation (Tenth Layer) disciples among them? If I recall correctly, these two disciples named Han Li and Du Dong only entered the sect about a year ago. They could also make it to the end? This is a bit strange. Nephew Gao, how did those two win?"

The male cultivator who had just entered the room, upon hearing this Senior Uncle's question, immediately replied:

"There's nothing special about how these two won. Nephew Du Dong possesses an extremely powerful top-tier ice-attribute magic tool. This unknown magic tool combines offense and defense, and seems to complement his cultivation method. All opponents who faced him were frozen solid on the ground by his magic tool after just one encounter. After several rounds, no one could withstand a single blow from him."

"Oh! What kind of magic tool? Describe it for us," the middle-aged man with a mustache interrupted, asking with sudden interest.

"It's a wheel-like magic tool, about a foot in diameter, with a crescent moon pattern carved on it. Once activated, it emits a shimmering white light. From it, an ice-attribute protective shield can be instantly activated, and it can also spray out cold qi that forms into attacks resembling large birds."

"This seems to be the 'Cold Moon Wheel,' the treasured family heirloom of the Du family, whose entire clan was wiped out two hundred years ago. Could this Du Dong be a descendant of the Du family?" the mustached middle-aged man said with a hint of surprise, his eyes darting.

"Indeed! It's highly possible," the white-bearded old man stroked his beard and said slowly. "After all, the Du family was a considerable clan back then. It's not impossible for some direct descendants to have escaped that calamity and lived in hiding ever since. Perhaps they thought that after so many years, their former enemies wouldn't notice them anymore. That's probably why they decided to re-emerge."