Chapter 381

Chapter 381: Being Enemies with the Whole Cultivation World Would Not Be Strange
Yu Zhao opened her eyes and let out a long breath. She had finally absorbed all the effects of the medicine that had been activated.

Even so, she could still feel a small amount of power hiding deep in her body, waiting for the next chance to awaken.

She sent out her divine sense. Seeing the abundant spirit power flowing through her meridians, she could not help but nod in satisfaction.

Her cultivation level had broken through another small step. She was now at the mid Nascent Soul stage. It could be counted as a blessing in disguise.

Yu Zhao stood up. She still remembered that, because things had happened too suddenly, she had only had time to sit and cultivate inside a barrier formation in the Chaozong Gorge valley. She had no idea what the outside situation was like now.

She raised her head by habit, and then froze.

A row of heads was lined up above, all staring down at her with bright eyes, and several of those faces were familiar.

A laughing voice called down: “Little Yu Zhao, you are done? Not bad, not bad, you have improved again.”

Another voice sounded, full of joy: “Yu Zhao, you have given us another huge surprise this time!”

A third person urged her: “Come up quickly and let everyone have a good look at you!”

A strange feeling of shame rushed up in her chest.

Yu Zhao forced herself to swallow her embarrassment, flew up onto the platform, and greeted each Sovereign Senior one by one.

Elder Ji Dao of Wending Pavilion laughed heartily and said: “The Cultivation World Grand Tournament ended not long ago, and you are already at the mid Nascent Soul stage. This is truly worth celebrating!”

Elder Liu Xi of Hundred Flowers Valley looked at her with eyes full of affection and said: “When I first saw Yu Zhao, I felt that her future achievements would be limitless. Seeing her today, I realize I still underestimated her.”

Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua of Heavenly Sword Sect was even more direct. Without the slightest formality, he shoved a storage pouch into Yu Zhao’s hands and said: “Good child, take this. It is a gift for you.”

Yu Zhao almost jumped in shock, clutching the storage pouch as she hurriedly said: “Senior, I cannot accept this…”

But Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua pushed the pouch back into her hands again with a tone that allowed no refusal: “Han Zhou was able to reach where he is today thanks to you. If you refuse, it means you look down on me.”

[So sly.]

Several elders around them cursed him together in their hearts.

They did not know that Yu Zhao had once saved Ji Han Zhou’s life and had helped greatly in the matter of Ji Han Zhou gaining the Xuan Yuan Invincible legacy. They still thought Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua just refused to give up and was trying to steal someone else’s disciple.

They hated Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua’s shamelessness in secret while also thinking about whether there was anything in their own storage pouches that could compare as a gift.

Alas, they had come in such a rush that they had not prepared much. That was truly a mistake.

With Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua having said so much, Yu Zhao really could not refuse. She could only accept the pouch and thank him.

Then, with her head still feeling hot, she endured a round of praise from all the elders. Only then did Yu Zhao finally learn why they were all gathered at Chaozong Gorge.

It turned out that three months had already passed since she went into closed-door cultivation. The news of a dragon roar appearing in Chaozong Gorge had spread throughout the cultivation world. The top-tier sects naturally had to react and had each sent a Divine Transformation elder to investigate.

Yu Zhao looked around the platform and asked in confusion: “Why do I not see any elders from the Five Elements Dao Sect?”

At her words, all the elders fell silent at once. A strange look appeared on their faces.

Just as Yu Zhao was wondering, a violent fluctuation of spirit power in the distance caught her attention.

Far away, a pillar of water shot straight into the sky, and great booming sounds kept echoing.

But the elders around her were calm. They seemed to be used to it already.

Yu Zhao pointed in that direction and asked: “Seniors, over there is…?”

Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua coughed twice and said: “Well, actually, the Five Elements Dao Sect also sent someone over early on. The one who is fighting over there is…”

Yu Zhao’s heart moved.

She knew the temper of every elder of the Five Elements Dao Sect.

Aggressive, unpopular, and most of them focused on water-based magic arts…

She tried a guess and said: “Master Qing Yan?”

Elder Ji Dao gave a dry laugh and said: “Haha, this girl is getting smarter and smarter. We really cannot hide anything from you.”

Yu Zhao tugged at the corner of her mouth.

Their reactions were so obvious that it would have been hard for her to guess wrong.

That Sect Master Ji Yuan had actually sent Master Qing Yan to handle this matter was a bit unexpected to her.

In her memories, Master Qing Yan rarely took part in sect affairs. He only showed his face at big ceremonies once in a while. Most of the time, he was cultivating in his cave residence.

She had no idea how Sect Master Ji Yuan had persuaded him.

She looked toward the water pillar again and asked: “Then who are the other people?”

Anyone who could fight Master Qing Yan evenly could not be simple.

Her question seemed to spark the elders’ desire to talk, and they all began speaking at once.

One elder said: “There are many. A few days ago it was the rogue cultivator Daoist Huang Quan. Before that, it was the heretic cultivator Gui Wu Ji…”

Another elder added: “I remember the first one was an ancestor from a cultivation clan in the Southern Region.”

A third elder said: “Not only that, the chieftains of the Heaven-Devouring Rats and the Moonshadow Rabbits also came…”

“…”

[Yu Zhao: …]

[You really cannot underestimate Master Qing Yan. Wherever he goes, he can stir up a bloody storm.]

Yu Zhao did not want to pry into why Master Qing Yan had gotten tangled up with those people. With his moody and unpredictable nature, it would not be strange at all if he ended up as an enemy of the whole cultivation world one day.

Her gaze swept around again. She did not see Hua Tu or Si Tu Xuan, but she did spot Buyan standing quietly in a corner. When he noticed her looking over, he smiled and bowed to her.

Yu Zhao excused herself from the elders and walked to Buyan. The first thing she asked was: “How is Long Fei Fei?”

Buyan put his palms together and said: “She has already woken up and is now recuperating at Clarity Sound Temple.”

When he sent a message to Clarity Sound Temple, he had moved Long Fei Fei there as well.

There were too many people and too many eyes here. It was really not a good place for her to recover.

Hearing that Long Fei Fei was fine, Yu Zhao finally relaxed a little. She then asked about Hua Tu and Si Tu Xuan’s whereabouts.

Buyan smiled slightly and said: “After the Sect Master of the Heavenly Fire Divine Sect sent down his primordial spirit projection, Hua Tu left together with the demonic beasts who live in Chaozong Gorge. As for the Si Tu Clan, something seems to have happened. They recalled Si Tu Xuan and sent another clan elder at the Divine Transformation stage here instead.”

He did not mention that Hua Tu and the others had actually been scared away by his master, Master Jie Chen.

Xue Tong Zi and a few others had stayed behind as laborers. Master Jie Chen did not mind having the demonic beasts help out too, but before he even said anything, Hua Tu had guessed his thoughts and rushed off with all the demonic beasts.

Yu Zhao understood.

She glanced once more at the still, quiet Chaozong Gorge, then said to Buyan: “I wonder if I may pay a visit to Abbot Jie Tan?”

Buyan put his palms together and said: “This poor monk has been waiting for you. Please, come with me.”

A trace of light flashed in Yu Zhao’s eyes.

[So he has been waiting here just for me? Is this his own idea, or Abbot Jie Tan’s? Did Abbot Jie Tan know long ago that I would come to visit?]

Many thoughts flashed through Yu Zhao’s mind in an instant, but she quickly put them aside and followed Buyan toward Clarity Sound Temple.

Not long after she left, a domineering aura fell from the sky and landed heavily on the platform. Wild, restless power swept out in all directions.

The elders’ faces did not look very good, but they still forced polite smiles and greeted the newcomer.

Master Qing Yan was just about to return their salute when his expression suddenly sank. He demanded: “Where is Zhao’er? Why is she not here? Where did she go?”

The corner of Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua’s eye twitched hard.

[Zhao’er? That sounds very intimate.]

He could not help thinking: back then, some blind fool had expelled Yu Zhao from the sect and suppressed her in every possible public setting.

Now that same person had come running here, putting on the airs of a good master.

[Is it not far, far too late?]