Chapter 926: Talents of the Nine Provinces (II)

Penglai, the East Sea.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Once a blessed paradise, Penglai was now the vast, wild land of demons.

All sorts of demons in humanoid form had gathered at the mountain summit on Penglai Island. They stared wide-eyed at the massive golden screen above them as it broadcast scenes from Mount Shu. Their eyes were full of curiosity and confusion.

At first, the demons had no interest in the gala. Only the demon clans from the Verdant Foxhills, the ones that Caiyi had enlightened, showed any willingness to watch the event.

The Mount Shu Sect did not request or force them to watch it. They simply set up the projection on Mirage Mountain, and anyone who wanted to watch the gala could go there to do so.

Soon after the broadcast began, the lights and shadows dancing over the mountain and the echoing waves of laughter drew most of the demon clans over. In the end, the many demons found themselves staring fixedly at the screen.

The Bull Demon King was among them, and even in humanoid form, he was still around two zhang tall. He was sitting on a protruding rock with his hands full, clutching a huge roast chicken in each hand.

As the Bull Demon King gnawed at the roast chicken, his muffled voice rang out. "You know, the stuff the humans come up with is actually pretty amusing. And this food tastes pretty good too. No wonder the Divine Demon God likes to eat it."

"Don't forget, we share a blood feud with the humans," the Flood Dragon King said coldly. "And they just killed Caiyi. Anyone who tries to get close to those cunning humans will meet a bad end."

"Caiyi died because of her own foolishness," scoffed the Black Golden Crow from the front row. "I told her that rascal Chu Liang couldn't be killed, but she didn't believe me."

"Just look at those young demons down there." The Snow Maiden floated in the air as she raised her hand to point. "They don't even know what grudge we have with the humans. All they see is how interesting the human world is. There's no stopping that."

Among the demons in the East Sea, they were the only old folks left who had lived through the great war three thousand years ago. The rest were lesser demons that had been born after that conflict.

Having grown up in the remote Far West, their hatred of the human race existed only as an abstract concept. That was why they accepted the sudden onset of peace between the two races so quickly.

Furthermore, after migrating from the Far West to the East Sea, the demons received substantial material support from the humans to construct homes. That allowed the demons to experience comfort and happiness they had never known before.

As for their hatred, there was hardly anything left to speak of.

"But Changfeng, Moth, Caiyi..." the Flood Dragon King growled indignantly, "So they died for nothing?"

"Exactly. They're all dead now. I don't want to die so soon." A massive blood-red eye lit up in the void behind them. It was the Nightmare Demon King who had spoken. "I slept underground for thousands of years. It was no different from being dead. So, when I finally woke up, I swore I would never go through that kind of thing again."

Tuntun briefly appeared on the screen, and the crowd of lesser demons screamed ecstatically.

The Snow Maiden laughed softly and said, "I think things are pretty good right now."

...

The performances continued one after another, and Chu Liang saw many familiar faces take the stage.

Xue Lingxue, Lin Bei, and Yun Chaoxian had appeared earlier. Luo Xiaoyong and his partner Tie Chui went next, performing a duet between a singer and a drummer.

Song Qingyi from the Noblemen's Hall and Zhang Chen from the Ascending Dragon Academy were among the group of young Confucian cultivators that took the stage to recite poetry and prose. They were accompanied by dancers from the South Melody Conservatory.

The young ladies of the South Melody Conservatory played a major role in this gala. Shen Qingyan and Yu Xiang'er had solo performances, but they were also in charge of managing the other female singers and dancers performing in the gala.

The Wenren brothers from the Sea King Sect did make an appearance in the end, though only as background dancers in the Whale Gang's act. Xu Hongqiu struck down twelve strong men with a single lash of her whip, then she pulled out a large ship on the stage. She set sail, braving the wind and the billows. The music swelled to a climax, and the men broke into a fervent war dance.

Those twelve strong men were all from the Sea King Sect. Appearing in the act, even as background dancers, satisfied their desire to participate in the gala.

The monks of the Buddhist sects performed a mantra together. Monk Pushan also wanted to perform but didn't know how to sing, so Chu Liang arranged a rap segment for him. The result was surprisingly good. He had a talent for spitting out dozens of words in a single breath. It was like he had been born for the role.

However, it was Luo Yao who surprised Chu Liang the most. The young lady had an unexpectedly beautiful singing voice, and she could sing in four voice ranges. Standing on the stage, she performed a full four-part choral piece all by herself, leaving everyone stunned.

Xi Miaoxian from the Penglai Supreme Sect performed a crane dance in the regional style of the East Sea. The Yang brothers, Yang Shenlong and Yang Yuhu, accompanied her as backup dancers. Their performance was equally impressive.

Huang Ling'er and Wei Tiandi from the Thunderbolt Stronghold led a performance called “Dance of a Hundred Beasts.” Hundreds of spirit birds and exotic beasts leaped and moved in sync, creating a grand and spectacular sight.

There was one more person Chu Liang found surprising—Li Shiyi. She had always seemed delicate and shy, yet she took the stage with a sharp and spirited sword dance. It appeared she had changed a lot over the past few years.

As the Sword Saint, Li Ba, watched the youths perform, he felt deeply moved and let out a sigh. "The saying, 'Each era brings forth new talent,' couldn't be more true. Just look at this generation of young heroes from the nine provinces. They are far better than us when we were their age. Sooner or later, the world will belong to them."

"Indeed. We've grown old," Enlightened Wulou said in agreement.

Among the leaders of the immortal sects, Enlightened Wulou was considered one of the younger ones. Nevertheless, the Great Dao of Years spared no one, and he had ultimately become one of the older men. For some reason, he even felt apprehensive whenever he saw Di Nufeng lately.

The rising prodigies of the immortal sects would eventually take over as the leaders of the immortal sects, becoming radiant stars in the sky. This way, one generation after another would pass on their cultivation legacies endlessly.

"If we're talking about the most outstanding of the nine provinces' prodigies, it has to be Chu Liang," Enlightened Jiuyi remarked with a smile. "Is he not performing anything today?"

Venerable Wen Yuan glanced at Chu Liang. The young man looked quite distracted, lost in his thoughts.

Seeing that, Venerable Wen Yuan replied, "Probably not."

Yet, in the next moment, Chu Liang seemed to come alive. He had noticed a beam of heavenly light descending and landing in a fairly secluded spot. With bright eyes, he sprang to his feet and took a step forward, vanishing instantly.

Chu Liang appeared on the other side of the mountain to meet Jiang Yuebai, the Whale-Riding Immortal, and the Sword Emperor. All three wore exhausted expressions.

"You're finally back. Did everything go smoothly?" Chu Liang asked.

Jiang Yuebai didn't say a word; she simply shook her head.

The Whale-Riding Immortal let out a sigh. "We knew the chances were slim before we even went. In the end, we just couldn't find it."

Chu Liang replied, "What exactly were you trying to find? Tell me. Maybe I can help."

That was something he could say with confidence now. Putting aside his cultivation level, there were many things he could help with, and even if he couldn't do it personally, his stash of spirit stones certainly could.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you now. I was searching for the legendary Water Spirit Ginseng. It's said to grow in the celestial lakes of the higher realm. The Water Spirit Gingseng is immortal, and after living for a hundred thousand years, it will become a deity. But before that, it has no combat ability, so it can only protect itself by relying on its senses. Once it senses someone is searching for it, it will go into hiding.

"That's why I didn't tell anyone else. I only asked the Sword Emperor and Yuebai to look for it on my behalf, but in the end, it still didn't work. Even if the thought of the ginseng never once crossed their minds, searching for it is like fishing for a needle in the sea. How could it possibly be easy to find?

"If I could find that treasure, then I'd be able to reach peak mastery in my Great Dao of the Water Mirror. Then I would have the confidence to charge into the Divine Ruins Monastery."

The Whale-Riding Immortal's voice was filled with regret.

It had not been long since he advanced to the eighth realm. Despite being extremely talented, he still had not reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Origin Realm. If he could get to peak mastery in the Great Dao of the Water Mirror, then his greatest strength would be that even if he could not win, he would never lose.

After receiving a warning from Yang Buwei, the Whale-Riding Immortal realized that he probably still wasn't strong enough to enter the Divine Ruins Monastery. That was why he wanted to raise his cultivation to the next level. Unfortunately, it was still a pipe dream.

"Let's not think about that for now..." Chu Liang smiled and waved his hand, bringing that conversation to an end. Then he took Jiang Yuebai's hand. "Come with me."

"Huh?" Jiang Yuebai blinked. She didn't know she had an act scheduled for the gala.

As luck would have it, the act on the stage had just ended. Chu Liang had already spoken to the host in advance, so he was slipped into the schedule immediately.

The moment Chu Liang stepped on stage holding Jiang Yuebai's hand, thousands of audience members gritted their teeth. Jiang Yuebai's many fans suddenly relived their trauma from the time Chu Liang crushed their hopes of being with Jiang Yuebai.

Chu Liang opened his speech with his signature phrase. "My dear family and friends! Now that we're here today, I have an announcement to make. Starting today, Jiangjiang will have a new identity."

"Huh?" Jiang Yuebai uttered, freezing in place. She whispered, "Isn't this... a bit sudden? I haven't even..."

In the audience, the Whale-Riding Immortal had been wallowing in despair over not being able to save his wife. However, upon hearing Chu Liang's words, he instantly snapped out of it and fixed a sharp gaze on Chu Liang. He seemed to be thinking of hacking

a certain

something

off Chu Liang.

"Starting today, Jiang Yuebai will be Red Moon Pavilion's new spokesperson!" Chu Liang announced loudly. "Red Moon Pavilion is one of our main sponsors for this gala. If you visit Mount Shu and leave without eating hotpot, that means it was a wasted trip! If you eat hotpot anywhere else but Red Moon Pavilion, that means it was a wasted meal! My dear family and friends, if you're going to have hotpot, go to Red Moon Pavilion!"

The response was... silence.

Jiang Yuebai was stunned into silence. The audience at the venue fell silent. The dozens of cities watching the broadcast stilled as a deathly silence swept over them.

Chu Liang tugged at the hem of Jiang Yuebai's robe and whispered, "Hey, hey, hey... Don't get mad. You didn't reply for ages, so I didn't get the chance to tell you."

Jiang Yuebai shot him a fierce glare. "You..."

Red Moon Pavilion was expanding rapidly and poised to gain even more exposure through this gala, so Chu Liang and Xu Hongqiu had decided to turn the hotpot restaurant into a full-blown chain of restaurants, with plans to open branches in every major city. However, once they brought in new investors, Jiang Yuebai's original share would inevitably be diluted.

Xu Hongqiu had wanted to gift her additional shares to Jiang Yuebai, but they all knew she wouldn't accept them. Besides, she was always busy traveling and had no time to manage the business.

So, Chu Liang came up with the idea of having Jiang Yuebai serve as the brand's spokesperson. They would have her promote the business in exchange for the additional shares. He just hadn't had the chance to tell her about it yet.

Nevertheless... was that really the problem?

Jiang Yuebai glared at Chu Liang again, but she couldn't bring herself to say why she was angry.

At that moment, another beam of light shot over from the distant skies and descended onto Red Cotton Peak.

Soon after, Lackey B's miserable wail rang out. "Big Boss! I only just heard we're having a gala! Dang it!"

Chu Liang turned to look and found Lackey B covered in dirt, looking like he had just crawled out of the ground.

"What happened to you?" Chu Liang asked, frowning.

"I went to the Divine Ruins to dig up wild vegetables," Lackey B replied with a grin. "I dug up two carts worth of zhilanti vegetables. They're super tasty! Oh, and..."

He pulled out a translucent white spirit plant that resembled a ginseng root.

Lackey B explained, "When I was digging up the veggies, a demonic beast knocked me into a lake, and I accidentally grabbed hold of this spirit plant. I tried nibbling on one of its root hairs, but it didn't taste good, so I figured I'd bring it back and see if I could sell it."

Before Chu Liang could respond, the Whale-Riding Immortal yelled, "Water Spirit Ginseng!"