When the sign appeared in the sky above the Reliance Sect, all of the disciples in the Outer Sect stared up in awe and shock, their minds buzzing. Their eyes filled with vacant looks, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
Looking at the golden characters filling the sky, their hearts trembled. Fatty, who was filing his teeth with the fish-scale sword, made choking sounds, narrowly avoiding stabbing himself in the tongue as he gaped at the scene.
Shangguan Xiu, who sat in secluded meditation, suddenly lifted up his head. When he saw what was happening, his body began to tremble, and his eyes shined with disbelief. His face changed, as if he had suddenly just thought of something incredibly frightening. He stood in a flash, and suddenly, a teleportation spell appeared that he had prepared years before.
As fast as possible, he stepped into the spell, then disappeared.
In the main temple hall on the East Mountain, as Meng Hao and the others appeared, He Luohua’s face fell. Looking up into the sky, his face grew pale, and he staggered backwards a few paces.
Grand Elder Ouyang raced out of the main temple, looking up into the sky, his face grim.
“Did you touch anything in the Patriarch’s meditation zone?” he asked, turning to look back at them. His expression was very solemn, as was his tone of voice.
“When we were just about to leave, a stone stele appeared,” said Chen Fan, sounding pained. “We were worried that if we brought it out with us, it could bring disaster to the Sect. So instead, we made copies of it.” He took out his jade slip, as did Meng Hao and Xu Qing. They handed them to Grand Elder Ouyang.
“This is…” Grand Elder Ouyang’s brow furrowed, and then his eyes shone with disbelief.
“There’s no need to study it, it’s fake,” said He Luohua with a long sigh. “The stone stele as well as the sign in the sky. They’re both fake.” He looked down at the ground, then shook his head.
“Other Sects from the State of Zhao will be arriving soon. The Reliance Sect will not be able to evade this disaster. They’re here for the Patriarch.” He flicked his sleeve, and a rumbling could be heard throughout the entire Reliance Sect. A soft light arose, covering everything.
“You three are Inner Sect disciples, go wait in the main temple hall.” Just as his voice sounded out, blurs of light whizzed through the sky from all directions, nearly twenty of them, accompanied by high-pitched whistling shrieks.
The blurs approached the shield which surrounded the Reliance Sect, and as they did, heaven and earth shook. The four mountain peaks trembled as if they might collapse. Silence suddenly filled the surrounding wild mountains. The wild beasts all trembled in fear, not daring to make even a single sound.
Of the twenty or so people in the sky, there were six who formed the nucleus of the group. Four were men and two were women, and they were all elderly. They wore luxurious gowns, and the power which emanated from their Cultivation bases was petrifying.
Each of these six people had two or three Cultivators behind them, followers, each of whom had Cultivation bases on par with Grand Elder Ouyang. These nearly twenty people were the most powerful people in all the State of Zhao, and here they were at the Reliance Sect, bearing down on it like dark clouds.
“Reliance Sect!” a voice boomed out, billowing like thunder. The buildings which comprised the Outer Sect seemed as if they would collapse at any moment. Large amounts of Outer Sect disciples coughed up blood, fear covering their faces.
“The Cold Wind Sect is powerful,” said He Luohua with a harrumph. His voice rang out like a thunderclap as he stood there on the mountain’s peak, suppressing the voice which had just spoken. He raised his right hand, and a hum sounded out as an invisible wind sprang up. It shot toward the person who had just spoken, surrounding him, suddenly turning black and transforming into a massive shapeless mouth that seemed about to swallow up the Core Formation stage Cold Wind Sect eccentric. The man’s face changed, and he retreated quickly without hesitation.
“Enough, enough,” said one of the powerful Core Formation experts, looking down at He Luohua. His voice was light but filled with suppressive power. He wore a long, purple robe embroidered with images of flutes. Frowning, he raised his hand, and the shapeless black wind dissipated. “Fellow Daoist He, the sign in the heavens came from your Reliance Sect. Please hand it over to us.”
A deathly silence filled the Outer Sect, as the disciples felt the shadow of death looming over them. Within the main temple hall, Meng Hao, Chen Fan and Xu Qing sat silently. They knew that any one of the people outside had Cultivation bases so frightening they could annihilate all of them with the wave of a hand.
Meng Hao’s heart thundered as he looked at them. It was his first time seeing people so powerful. His thoughts suddenly filled with an intense desire to become more powerful.
He Luohua stood