Chapter 2084: Meeting the Cold Sword in Autumn

Hall Master Kong has always been mysterious. Thousands of years ago, he was a dominant figure, rivaling even our sect founders. Now, our ancestors have long turned to dust, yet he remains alive. His cultivation level is far beyond imagination!

Gu Zhuiyun said, "With his status, he wouldn't be corrupt. What harm could there be in lending it out for a month?"

Han Jianqiu frowned. "Are you here to act as lobbyists? To persuade us to lend out our sect's treasured artifact as well?"

Gu Zhuiyun replied, "Precisely. We are doing this for your own good. Our Ethereal Immortal Sect and Mysterious Mirror Gate are now united and stand together. Once the Heaven-Connecting Bridge is successfully crossed, the number of Pseudo-Gods will increase significantly, and there will be Pseudo-God realm weapons. It will not be easy for your three sects to catch up then..."

Han Jianqiu and the others fell silent.

What the other party said was true. The six major sects maintained balance because none of them possessed Pseudo-God realm divine weapons, and each only had one Pseudo-God expert.

If someone were to break this balance, it would be hard to predict what the future would hold.

It was highly probable that sects, which had existed for thousands of years, would be absorbed into other factions and ruthlessly crushed by the wheel of history.

"Given such significant benefits, why isn't Hall Master Kong coming himself? Why send you two?"

Elder Kui Xiao asked.

To lease a treasure for just one month and offer such generous compensation, including a path for the sects to potentially advance... under normal circumstances, if Hall Master Kong just asked, no one would be able to refuse!

But... why isn't he coming in person to say this?

Why send these two instead?

Gu Zhuiyun explained, "Hall Master Kong has more important matters to attend to and cannot spare the time... However, he will definitely make his way to the Heaven-Connecting Stone before the Heaven-Connecting Bridge opens! But by then, even if you are given information about the Temple Warriors, what good would it do? Without early preparation and losing the opportunity for targeted training... wouldn't it be too late to know?"

Cultivation is not something that happens overnight.

Even if one knew their weaknesses and cultivation problems in advance, without targeted practice, it would be impossible to surpass those formidable individuals from the Temple.

"Please consider it as soon as possible. After Sect Master Zhang Xuan's succession ceremony concludes, he will likely head to the Heaven-Connecting Stone. If you haven't made a decision by then, it will be equivalent to voluntarily forfeiting this opportunity..."

Gu Zhuiyun said no more, standing up. "My words are complete. We shall take our leave now!"

With that, he turned and flew away, with Bai Xuansheng following closely behind.

As the two disappeared, the room fell into a heavy silence once more.

"Elder Han Jianqiu, I'll take my leave first..."

Elder Kui Xiao was the first to stand up.

"I'll also take my leave..."

Elder Qin Yuan followed suit, and both disappeared from the room.

"No, this won't do. I must inform the Sect Master immediately and discuss this matter with him..."

Seeing everyone leave, Han Jianqiu paused briefly before quickly getting up.

This matter concerned the future of their sect and was not something he could decide alone. He had to consult with the Sect Master.

As Han Jianqiu sought to consult his Sect Master, Sect Master Kui Xiao, who had left the room, stopped not far away, and Elder Qin Yuan appeared before him.

"The Starlight Palace and the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion must have received some news, which is why they now share a Sect Master and have fully united. The Mysterious Mirror Gate and the Ethereal Immortal Sect have agreed to the Divine Comprehension Hall's demands, essentially forming an alliance of three sects. Only you and I are left..."

Elder Kui Xiao wore a wry smile.

The situation was more severe than anticipated.

"Why don't we also join forces?"

Elder Qin Yuan nodded.

He had a bad temper and acted impulsively, but that didn't mean he was foolish.

He naturally understood the current situation, just as the other party did.

If their two sects did not ally, they would very likely be defeated one by one by the opposing factions and eventually disappear entirely.

"Alright, in that case, I will immediately send a message to our Sect Master Liu Yang, asking him to return at once to meet with your Sect Master Zheng Yang and discuss the details of our alliance!"

Elder Kui Xiao said.

"Yes, I'll also notify Sect Master Zheng Yang right away!"

Elder Qin Yuan nodded.

The two simultaneously took out their communication jade tokens and sent their respective messages.

Secretly regulating his breathing on the way, Zhang Xuan's cultivation had fully recovered. As he returned to Starlight Island, he flipped his wrist, and a communication jade token appeared in his palm.

"Sect Master, please come quickly to the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion's Starlight Dao outpost!"

Following it was a map indicating the outpost's location.

"I might as well go and ask when I became a Sect Master from an Elder..."

Seeing that the message was from Han Jianqiu, Zhang Xuan shook his head, turned his body, and flew off in the direction indicated on the map.

Previously, he had only been an ordinary Elder in the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion. How had he become a Sect Master in the blink of an eye? The key was that everyone else knew, yet he himself had no idea.

He had not flown far, not even a few kilometers, when he flipped his wrist again, and another jade token appeared before him.

"Sect Master, please come to the Ever-Reaching Tower. There's an important matter to discuss!"

The message was from Elder Qin Yuan.

"Ever-Reaching Tower?"

Zhang Xuan frowned, surprised that two major sects were seeking him simultaneously. He glanced at the location and breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that the Ever-Reaching Tower was not far from the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion's outpost.

After a moment's thought, his body swayed, and a clone appeared before him, disguised as Zheng Yang.

"Go to the Ever-Reaching Tower and see what's happening..."

Before he finished speaking, another jade token appeared in his palm, with a line of text emerging: "Sect Master, please come to the Azure Fate Pavilion. There's an important matter to discuss..."

The message was from Elder Kui Xiao.

"Huh?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned.

He had just been thinking of sending his clone, disguised as Zheng Yang, to the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion himself, but now three major sects wanted to see him simultaneously. What was he to do?

"First, I'll go to the Sword Pavilion, and you go to the Ever-Reaching Tower... No, that won't do. You'd better stay with me. We'll go together when the time comes!"

Just as he was about to dispatch his clone, Zhang Xuan shook his head again.

At this moment, he and his clone were like two personalities. Although they originated from the same source, the clone had inherited some underlying tendencies: it loved to show off and act pretentious, entirely unlike his own humble, elegant, and cultured demeanor!

If the clone went and caused trouble, it would only complicate matters. It was better to keep it by his side.

He put his clone into his storage ring. Moving swiftly, he arrived at the Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion's outpost half a minute later.

"Sect Master..."

Han Jianqiu quickly bowed and recounted the events that had transpired in detail: "...What should we do now? Should we ally with the Divine Comprehension Hall?"

"The Divine Comprehension Hall wants to borrow the treasured artifacts of the six major sects for one month, in exchange for a Pseudo-God realm artifact and facilitating passage through the Heaven-Connecting Bridge..."

Zhang Xuan frowned, somewhat perplexed.

In the past, he would have readily agreed.

After all, the Sect Master of the Divine Comprehension Hall was the World's Teacher of the Master Teacher Continent.

Both his character and virtue were objects of Zhang Xuan's admiration. Although he didn't know the reason for this proposal, there must be a valid justification, making it worthy of compliance...

But now, he no longer thought that way!

While it was possible that Hall Master Kong was unaware of Fuchenzi's collusion with the Temple, the token given to him had immediately drawn an encirclement by Temple experts upon use. This seemed quite wrong!

"I'll decide after I meet Hall Master Kong..."

Zhang Xuan said.

He couldn't agree for now. Whether this Hall Master Kong was truly Master Kong was merely his speculation; he would only know after meeting the real person.

"Alright!"

Han Jianqiu responded, then looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Sect Master, did you receive some information that led you to agree to become the Palace Master of Starlight Palace?"

"It's a long story..."

Zhang Xuan recounted how the Temple had pressured Starlight Palace, the alliance with the Divine Comprehension Hall, and the news of Du Qingyuan's disappearance.

However, he did not reveal the identity of Liu Yang, Sect Master of the Seven Star Pavilion.

After hearing the account, Han Jianqiu's expression became solemn. He was silent for a moment before saying, "Du Qingyuan and I are familiar. Although she is a woman, her cultivation is unfathomable. Even I would not be very confident in defeating her! For such a powerful expert, holding an altar, to disappear without a trace... there aren't many individuals capable of that on the entire continent!"

Zhang Xuan asked, "Do you know how many individuals on the continent possess such strength?"

If the opponent's strength wasn't overwhelmingly superior, a message could still have been sent.

Just like the Pseudo-God realm elder who came to kill him earlier, although his methods were unprecedentedly powerful and Zhang Xuan couldn't defeat him, it wasn't difficult to transmit news of his predicament!

Yet Du Qingyuan couldn't even manage that. One could fully infer just how strong her opponent was.

"The Temple stands aloof and beyond worldly affairs. Every Temple Warrior is incomparably powerful, not to mention the deities who control the forces! If true deities exist, they would undoubtedly be the strongest on the entire continent. Forget Du Qingyuan; even if all six of our major sect masters combined their strength, they wouldn't be able to withstand a single finger from such a being!"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Although he had never seen a deity, he had some understanding of the power these experts wielded.

If such powerful individuals truly existed within the Temple, then Du Qingyuan would indeed be utterly powerless to resist.

"Then there's the Hall Master of the Divine Comprehension Hall, Hall Master Kong. Thousands of years ago, he was able to snatch a single character from the Temple. His strength is beyond imagination; even if he isn't a deity, he must be very close..."

Han Jianqiu continued.

"Indeed!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

To establish the Divine Comprehension Hall single-handedly and even snatch a character from the Temple, Hall Master Kong's strength was beyond doubt.

"As for others, I'm not sure. However, since the Abandoned Continent is said to be a place discarded by deities, it must have been inextricably linked to deities in the past. Whether there are other powerful beings still existing there, I do not know..."

Han Jianqiu explained.

Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had always heard that the Firmament was a place abandoned by deities, but he hadn't considered this specific point.

Only something that previously belonged to one could be abandoned; otherwise, where would such a saying come from?

This implied that the Firmament was very likely once part of... the God Realm!

It was also very possible that even more powerful beings existed there.

After chatting for a while longer, realizing that the Firmament was more complex than he had imagined and not as simple as it appeared, Zhang Xuan shook his head, no longer dwelling on the matter. "What exactly is going on with me being a Sect Master?"

Han Jianqiu then recounted in detail the events leading to his establishment as Sect Master.

"So that's how it is..."

Zhang Xuan gave a wry smile.

It turned out the other party had done it for his benefit, but... the Temple seemed indifferent to the six major sects and the opinions of ordinary people. They not only knew he was the Sect Master of Soaring Cloud Sword Pavilion but also that he was the Sect Master of Seven Star Pavilion, Ten Thousand Beasts Gate, and Starlight Palace... and they still took action to capture people!

They showed no apprehension whatsoever!