Chapter 1289: Arriving In Droves

After the woman appeared, the sun slowly shrank and weakened until it turned into a golden mirror. It floated behind the woman’s head and emitted haloes from time to time.

That’s right. The “sun” that illuminated the entire Unbounded Platform a moment ago was really a mirror.

Although the trio’s appearance was impressive, it didn’t draw too many cheers because Ye Qing had made nearly the exact same type of appearance at the beginning. He did it better too.

Even if it was better, they wouldn’t dare to cheer too loudly. She who dared to taunt the Southern Ghost Emperor after all. She could not possibly be easy-going or weak.

“You’re from Clear Sky Palace?” The Southern Ghost Emperor asked after looking her up and down once. His voice rumbled like thunder and caused darkness to invade the dazzling golden light that illuminated the area rapidly. In the end, only the area behind the woman remained as bright as before.

For a time, the sky was split into two domains. One of them was golden bright like daytime, and the other gloomy black like a scene from hell.

“That’s right.”

The woman said indifferently yet domineering, “I am Haotian Chengxing of the Clear Sky Palace.”

Some people exchanged glances with each other, some people looked thoughtful, and some people blanched upon hearing the woman’s introduction. Even Ye Qing was a little surprised. He did not think that the Earthly Sovereign Bell would draw out the Clear Sky Palace as well.

Some people might not be aware of the Clear Sky Palace, but not him. The three sovereigns of the old—the Heavenly Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign and Human Sovereign—all had bloodline successors. They were the Earthly Sovereign Hall, the Clear Sky Palace, and the Human Sovereign Mountain respectively.

All three sects were great sects that secluded themselves from the world. As they carried the weight of fate on their shoulders, they usually preferred to seclude themselves and minimize interactions with the mundane. They only broke their self-imposed rules if a great change was soon to happen upon the world.

One thing was certain. The Clear Sky Palace, Earthly Sovereign Hall, and Human Sovereign Mountain were all top-tier sects. They were extremely powerful and on par with the greatest sects in the world.

Not only that, the Clear Sky Palace possessed the ancient Heavenly Sovereign’s Dao Artifact, the Clear Sky Mirror. Together with the Human Sovereign’s Dao Artifact, the Human Sovereign Sword, they were powerful divine artifacts on par with the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

Unlike the Earthly Sovereign Bell though, neither the Clear Sky Mirror nor the Human Sovereign Sword had gone missing. They had always been in the possession of the Clear Sky Palace and the Human Sovereign Mountain. Logically speaking, they had no reason to stick their nose into this matter, and yet the Clear Sky Palace had defied his expectations.

To this, Ye Qing could only say that he still underestimated the Earthly Sovereign Bell’s value despite everything.

“The Clear Sky Palace. No wonder you lack etiquette.”

The Southern Ghost Emperor scoffed, “Don’t you know that interrupting others is rude?”

“You broke the rules. You are a ghost, but not only are you attempting to sow chaos in our world, you are coveting our riches as well. Why should I be polite to someone like you?” Haotian Chengxing declared righteously and imposingly.

“Sharp-tongued girl. You speak as if you’re not here for the Earthly Sovereign Bell as well.”

The Southern Ghost Emperor did away with the pretenses and said bluntly, “One way or another, I will have the Earthly Sovereign Bell. Anyone who stops me shall die!”

“The Earthly Sovereign Bell is the ultimate treasure of humanity. It will never fall into the hands of a ghost!” Haotian Chengxing did not give an inch.

“That’s right. The Earthly Sovereign Bell is the Earthly Sovereign’s Dao Artifact and the ultimate treasure of humanity. It must not fall into the hands of a Stranger.”

A man slowly walked out of the crowd, interrupting Haotian Chengxing before she could finish. Looking to be in his thirties, he was dressed in coarse rags and wearing a conical hat. His skin was dark, and his face was ordinary. He looked no different from your ordinary farmer.

When the man passed through the crowd and stepped onto the Unbounded Platform though, he became the center of everyone’s attention as if he was the moon and stars in the sky, impossible to ignore.

At the same time, everyone suddenly felt a wave of respect, admiration, and sense of support toward him.

“You... Are you from the Human Sovereign Mountain?” The Southern Ghost Emperor’s voice grew a tad serious after he looked the man up and down.

“Xuanyuan De[1] of the Human Sovereign Mountain greets Southern Ghost Emperor, Imperial Princum Chengxing, and Mad Lord.”

The man saluted Southern Ghost Emperor, Haotian Chengxing, and Ye Qing as he introduced himself. He did not treat Ye Qing like he did not exist like Haotian Chengxing.

“Why have you come, Xuanyuan De?” Haotian Chengxing asked with a frown. As the Xuanyuan Clan of the Human Sovereign Mountain was of sovereign lineage just like the Clear Sky Palace, they paid close attention to each other even though they did not communicate.

If Xuanyuan De was an ordinary member of the Human Sovereign Mountain, then chances were she wouldn’t recognize him. However, Xuanyuan De was the current heir and young master of the Human Sovereign Mountain. Of course she recognized him.

The Clear Sky Palace followed a very different system of inheritance compared to the Human Sovereign Mountain. All children of the Palace Lord of Hao Tian Palace were known as Imperial Princum, and every single one of them could potentially inherit the Clear Sky Palace. Take their current generation for example. The current Palace Lord had three sons and two daughters, so that was five Imperial Princum in total. Haotian Chengxing was the second child, so she was the second Imperial Princum.

The Human Sovereign Mountain only had one young master though. It was because the young master was unanimously chosen by all of Human Sovereign Mountain as well. Therefore, he was extraordinary in both virtue and strength[2].

In other words, this “farmer” was guaranteed to become the next master of the Human Sovereign Mountain barring any accidents.

“I have come for the Earthly Sovereign Bell just like you,” Xuanyuan De answered with a smile. Although his countenance was ordinary, his smile was surprisingly warm and astounding like a gust of spring wind that caused stretches upon stretches of plum blossoms to bloom.

“Haha! To think that the Human Sovereign Mountain has come as well!”

Southern Ghost Emperor[3] guffawed before Haotian Chengxing could finish. “If the Clear Sky Palace and Human Sovereign Mountain are here, then there is no way the Earthly Sovereign Hall isn’t. Show yourself now, or your ultimate treasure is going to be stolen by another!”

“The Earthly Sovereign Bell belongs to the Earthly Sovereign Hall. No one can take him from us.”

As expected, the sky wobbled suddenly after the Southern Ghost Emperor was done, and an ancient, powerful-looking stone palace surrounded in profound light abruptly popped into existence. Its presence could only be described as scary.

Rumble...

There was a rumble, and the entrance to the stone palace slowly swung open. Then, five warriors wearing dark robes emerged one after another.

The five warriors’ presences were vast like mountains and dense like the earth. When they appeared, the air vibrated incessantly, and the wind howled like crazy as if the sky could not bear their combined weight.

“Hahaha! The Earthly Sovereign Hall is sparing no effort, I see. To think that you would dispatch five Half-Sages at once!” said the Southern Ghost Emperor with a loud laugh, though his expression was as grave as it could be.

Meanwhile, the crowd had turned completely numb after the Earthly Sovereign Hall made their appearance. They were even more stunned than when Yan Wuxie made his appearance just now. It was because everyone on the Unbounded Platform right now was a Half-Sage, and their auras really weren’t all that weak compared to Yan Wuxie.

Oh, wait, Ye Qing wasn’t a Half-Sage. He was just a pitiful Great Grandmaster.

“We are bringing our sacred artifact back to our halls. Naturally, we cannot help but go all out.”

Four of the five Earthly Sovereign Hall warriors looked to be their fifties or sixties. The last guy was a young adult in his thirties. However, the four warriors were flanking him like they were his servants, and he was the one who spoke up.

The man swept his gaze across the Southern Ghost Emperor, Xuanyuan De and Haotian Chengxing before declaring in a tone that wouldn’t accept no as an answer, “Leave if you know what’s good for you.”

It was both a warning and a threat.

1. Gah! The Xuanyuan name is so poisoned in this novel that I automatically think of this guy as a villain! ☜

2. Ah, so one is a monarchy, and another a democracy. ☜

3. Not including Ye Qing, the ghost and Stranger is surprisingly the one who’s most honest out of everyone present lol. Obviously he harbors malicious intentions, but at least he made Ye Qing some actual offers and even killed one of his own to show his sincerity—whether or not he actually plans to honor them is a different thing of course. ☜