While the disciples from the Mount Shu Sect celebrated joyfully, the members of the many other sects were shrouded in gloom.

Du Wuhen, Wei Tiandi, and Deng Yixiao returned to the Thunderbolt Stronghold camp, feeling quite guilty as they looked at the stern-faced Huang Hanshan.

Despite being the representative team of the Thunder Stronghold's most promising generation of disciples, they had gotten eliminated in the second round. They had failed their mission of taking the Thunderbolt Stronghold into the ranks of the Divine Nine. The four of them felt an indescribable sense of guilt.

Yet, despite his usual stern demeanor, Huang Hanshan surprisingly did not utter a word in reproach of their failure.

Instead, he just said softly, "You worked hard."

Du Wuhen wanted to say something. "Esteemed Teacher—"

Huang Hanshan shook his head and interrupted Du Wuhen. "Victory and defeat are common in life, and you will face them again. I hope you'll learn from this failure and know how to handle defeat in the future."

The three disciples' gazes gradually became firm with determination, and they nodded seriously. "Yes, Esteemed Teacher! We understand!"

After the three young men left, Huang Hanshan turned to his daughter, Huang Ling'er, with a fawning smile. "Ling'er…"

"I leave home all the time, and I'll definitely do it again," Huang Ling'er stated with a displeased expression. "Next time, I hope you won't make such a big deal out of such a small matter. Everyone knows about it. It's really embarrassing."

"All right, all right. I understand." Huang Hanshan chuckled. "Let's just stay at home and be happy. You won't run off anymore, right?"

"That'll depend on what you do," Huang Ling'er replied with a scoff. Then she turned and added, "After the Assembly of Immortal Sects, I'll enter closed-door cultivation for a while. I probably won't be going anywhere for some time."

She glanced at the Penglai Supreme Sect's camp.

The young lady had always prided herself on her outstanding talent, believing she could still be a pretty powerful cultivator without putting much effort into cultivation. However, once she stepped onto the stage of the Assembly of Immortal Sects, she realized her pride was entirely unfounded.

She didn't say it aloud, but deep down, Huang Ling'er had a great desire to excel, especially since she was Huang Hanshan's daughter. This defeat hit her even harder than it did the three core disciples.

The Taotie City camp, on the other hand, had a much more stifling atmosphere. It was perhaps because one sect leader had a daughter, and the other had a son.

Huyan Bin stood before his father, Huyan Dong, with his head bowed, remaining silent for a long time.

Huyan Dong wore a somber expression and did not say a word.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Do you know where you fell short compared to Chu Liang?"

Huyan Bin's mind raced. He thought about it, but he didn't know what to say.

There are too many things…

Huyan Dong continued, "You have access to the best resources, but in the end, the most important thing for a cultivator is their cultivation power. I can give you the resources he has, but the strength he possesses can't be acquired out of thin air."

"I'll definitely cultivate more intensely when I return home," Huyan Bin replied.

The Thunderbolt Stronghold and Taotie City bore no personal grudge against the Mount Shu Sect. They only opposed the Mount Shu Sect because they wanted to seize a spot in the Divine Nine.

The Fuyao Kingdom's team, however, harbored a longstanding grudge against the Mount Shu Sect, making their loss even harder to bear.

Hu Sanlang and the other members of the team knelt before Han Lingshuang and said gravely, "Esteemed Teacher! We have failed you!"

"Get up! Quickly!" Han Lingshuang hurriedly helped her disciples up. "You did your best. This is not your fault."

"Damn it. In the end, we still lost to those wicked people from the Mount Shu Sect," Hu Sanlang raged through gritted teeth.

His desire for revenge and his helplessness to achieve it were written all over his face.

"Perhaps this is our fate."

Han Lingshuang thought of all the effort she had put in over the years and felt just as defeated as her students.

She looked behind her, glancing in Di Nufeng's direction again.

The notorious she-devil was walking toward her disciples and passed by Han Lingshuang.

Right then, Di Nufeng looked her way, and their eyes met.

"Hey!" Di Nufeng locked eyes with Han Lingshuang, stepping toward her with an icy expression. "Woman, I noticed you snuck quite a few glances at me. Are you…"

Seeing that familiar face, Han Lingshuang's heart jumped to her throat as a long-forgotten fear washed over her.

If this old rival realizes I've harbored a grudge against her all these years, will she want to get rid of me?

Di Nufeng laughed and said, "Are you secretly in love with me or something? We could get to know each other. You look about my age. Maybe we've met before. What's your name? Where do you live?"

…

Yang Shenlong was lost in thought as he gazed in the direction of the Mount Shu Sect disciples.

After quite a long while, he turned back to find Xi Miaoxian and Yang Yuhu waiting for him. However, Qi Lin'er had disappeared.

Xi Miaoxian commented, "He's not as strong as you. He probably used some special method in that fight…"

Yang Shenlong shook his head, not wanting to talk about that. "I owe you both."

Yang Yuhu and Xi Miaoxian looked a bit abashed.

When Chu Liang fought Yang Shenlong, Yang Yuhu and Xi Miaoxian had been so intimidated by Chu Liang's astoundingly courageous and bold display that they hadn't dared to make a move. Later, they realized something was off and heard from other teams that Chu Liang had nearly lost all mobility after his battle with Yang Shenlong.

If they had taken action instead of leaving, they might have been able to take Chu Liang down right there and then. Yet, who would have dared take the risk at that moment?

So, Yang Yuhu and Xi Miaoxian let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Yang Shenlong acknowledge their efforts, instead of reproaching them.

Xi Miaoxian, in particular, felt very relieved. Hailing from Yingzhou, one of the three Penglai Islands, she wasn't on the same progression pathway as the other two, who were from Penglai, the main island. The Penglai Supreme Sect was full of talented disciples, and Yingzhou didn't always get the chance to send representatives to the Assembly of Immortal Sects. That meant that if Xi Miaoxian performed poorly in this assembly, it could very well prevent Yingzhou's disciples from getting selected to represent the sect in the future.

"Young Master!"

Yang Shenlong's Slaves of the Five Sacred Mountains[1] crowded around him.

The Slave of Mount Hua, who looked like an elderly man, stroked his beard thoughtfully. "It seemed like that Mount Shu Sect disciple used some powerful pill that exhausts the cultivator's cultivation power, qi, and blood in excess. A pill like that should be counted as a violation of the rules, yet Immortal Jiuyi said nothing. It's possible he has ties to the Mount Shu Sect…

"However, using such a pill would sever a cultivator's meridians. That Mount Shu Sect disciple dared to use it in the illusory realm, but he won't dare use it in the real world. So, there's no need to worry about him in the Battle at the Imperial City."

"A loss is a loss," Yang Shenlong said nonchalantly.

He turned and left with his team members and the Slaves of the Five Sacred Mountains trailing behind him. Yang Shenlong maintained a calm and collected expression, giving no indication of what he was thinking.

The Slave of Mount Hua was right. Chu Liang certainly wouldn't use the Great Pill of the Endlessly Devouring Whale outside the illusory realm. Regardless of whether it was worth consuming a pill that would destroy his meridians just for this Assembly of Immortal Sects, Chu Liang didn't have one now anyway.

The golden imprints he had obtained within the illusory realm and the rewards they brought only existed within that realm.

After Chu Liang returned to the real world, all the consumables he'd used in the illusory realm remained except for the Great Pill of the Endlessly Devouring Whale.

He had spent a lot to acquire these supplies, but as long as the Mount Shu Sect made it to the top ten in the assembly this time, he would win enough from the bet to cover all of his expenses and gain some profit too.

Furthermore, he could put the supplies up for sale on Red Cotton Peak after the assembly. This was the advantage of having a shop of his own. If he had bought the supplies from unscrupulous shops and tried to sell the items back to them after the assembly, they would certainly offer to buy the items back at significantly lower prices than what they had sold for.

Chu Liang had bet half of his available funds on the Mount Shu Sect's advancement to the third round of the assembly. The odds of that happening had been considered as a minor upset, and that upset had indeed occurred. That meant Chu Liang had just won a huge sum of money.

Now, besides major forces like Taotie City and the Divine Nine sects, few could rival his wealth. On the individual level, it would be hard to find anyone wealthier than him apart from the emperor of the Yu Dynasty and Huyan Dong.

Of course, in the world of immortality cultivators, wealth was not the most important thing; cultivation power was always of paramount importance. If Chu Liang didn't have the Mount Shu Sect supporting him, his wealth could easily belong to someone else the next day.

Chu Liang had achieved an overwhelming victory in the battle against the Penglai Supreme Sect in the illusory realm, but back in the real world, Yang Shenlong remained an unbeatable foe. How Chu Liang would handle him in the upcoming Battle at the Imperial City—well, that was indeed a great conundrum.

Nevertheless, Chu Liang didn't want to think about any of that for now.

In Jiang Yuebai's embrace, Chu Liang tossed all those worries to the back of his mind. After so many days of battle, he deserved to relax and indulge a little.

Just as he was about to open his arms and return the hug, someone coughed loudly beside him.

"

Ahem!

"

Wang Xuanling's aged face appeared in Chu Liang's line of sight. "I didn't want to interrupt, but they're calling all the teams advancing to the Battle at the Imperial City to head over there…

"We can't keep everyone waiting, right?"

1. We had this as Wuyue Mountain Slaves previously. Realised belatedly that it's referring to the five mountains Daoists hold sacred. ☜

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD