Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 176: Green Lotus Flowers Filling the Sky Like Raindrops

Chapter 176: Green Lotus Flower Filling the Sky Like Raindrops

It was morning in the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

In the sea of clouds at the very core of the Cloud Abyss, there were several dozen beautiful, majestic flying palaces, which were where the large-scale sects were staying.

The people from these large sects came out of their respective palaces and looked off into the distance at the vast sea of clouds. They talked amongst themselves as if they were waiting for something.

Liu Hongfang, Liu Mo, and the other members of the Liu Clan were led by a Sea of Qi stage disciple up the staircase that ascended into the sky. They arrived along with other sects and influences of varying sizes at the sea of clouds in the center of the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

When Liu Mo set foot on the sea of clouds, he was shocked speechless by the sight, unable to tear his gaze away.

“Father, this sea of clouds…” Liu Mo started, somewhat unable to find the words to describe the boundless majesty of the sight before him.

Liu Hongfang didn’t pay him any mind, continuing to follow after the disciple from the Shangqing Sacred Sect who was leading the way. Other disciples like this one were guiding the way for the various large and small sects. Once they arrived at an area away from the other sects, they stopped.

Almost all of the sects and influences in the Shan Mountain Territory had already arrived. The deafening gong of a large bell echoed out, resonating through the entirety of the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

The sound of this bell was heard across all eight Mountain Ranges of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. Countless gazes turned toward the First Mountain, the Shangqing Mountain Range.

“I came here fifty years ago with my master and had the fortune to see Greater Lord Taichu. I could never forget his face. I wonder which Greater Lord will appear this time,” a Divine Core stage rogue cultivator said quietly to a youth who was standing beside him, his face full of admiration.

“A Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord…” the youth muttered. Seeing all the groups of profound cultivators, a feeling of awe rose in his heart. He couldn’t take his eyes off the skies, afraid to miss the sight.

“Respectful greetings to Greater Lord Zhuri.” Primordial Lord Yanghua’s voice rang throughout the sea of clouds, his tone full of reverence and respect.

The people from every sect and influence present, no matter whether it was the Ancient Nuwa Sect, the large-scale sects, or the small sects and clans, all heard Primordial Lord Yanghua’s greeting and spoke up in turn. When they spoke, it was nearly in unison, causing the profound qi and mist in the air to shake and rumble.

“““Respectful greetings, Greater Lord Zhuri!!”””

High up above the sea of clouds, a semi-transparent figure slowly appeared, ephemeral like the mist, clouds, and wind.

As the figure slowly became more and more corporeal, it emitted a boundless aura, fierce like a raging fire.

Although the effects of the aura reached every single person in the Luminous Cloud Abyss, the feeling it gave wasn’t one of oppression, but one of comfort. The aura felt like a spring breeze, refreshing and soothing to the extreme.

“Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord!”

“Greater Lord Zhuri’s title is actually Saint Lord Zhuri. He is the one who established the Eighth Mountain Range of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. Now that I have had the privilege to see his divine complexion, I have no more regrets in my life.”

“If I didn’t look with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to sense that he was a Greater Lord-level existence. The power of a Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord is truly immeasurable,” a Divine Core stage Spirit Master from a small sect said with a sigh of admiration, looking up to the sky with veneration.

A few moments later, the figure of Greater Lord Zhuri fully materialized into reality. He looked like a young man, wearing a Daoist robe made from coarse cloth. If it wasn’t for his eyes that were as deep and boundless as the ocean, it might have been difficult for anyone to tell that he was an almighty Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord.

“Fellow profound cultivators, I commend you all for coming from far and wide, crossing mountains and rivers to arrive at our humble sect to watch the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament. I present to you a meager gift.”

Unexpectedly, Greater Lord Zhuri’s tone was extremely mild, making him seem modest and approachable. All of the beings in the Luminous Cloud Abyss couldn’t help feeling an indescribable feeling of closeness with him.

“Every word and action of a Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord is no different from natural law with the way it moves the energy of heaven and earth. What an awe-inspiring presence,” Perfect Harmony Spirit Master, who came on behalf of the House of Bliss, said to the disciples from his sect.

Shortly after Greater Lord Zhuri finished speaking, countless miraculous changes began to occur throughout the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

Several hundred impressive flying chariots formed out of the mist and vapor and rose from the sea of clouds. Tens of thousands of seats formed from clouds took shape shortly after, but they were placed at a lower altitude than the cloud chariots that came before them.

Then, myriads of green spiritual lotus flowers appeared out of nowhere and drifted gently down.

Many light screens of different sizes also appeared in the air, shimmering with profound light as they hovered high up in the sea of clouds.

“What in the world are these green spirit lotuses?! I suddenly advanced several dozen years in profound cultivation! Now, I’m only one step away from the half-step Divine Core stage!” an old man at the peak Dao Foundation stage exclaimed, catching one of the falling green lotus flower petals. The lotus flower immediately melded into his body, raising his profound cultivation by several decades worth of meditation.

As people discovered the miraculous effects of these green lotus flowers, a mad scramble for them ensued. In just a few breaths of time, the green lotus flowers that were fluttering down from the sky were gone. The various sects and influences in the sea of clouds had caught every single petal and absorbed them.

Yan Wuji caught a green lotus petal. He examined it carefully, using his demonic qi to make sure it wouldn’t melt into his palm. “Green lotuses filling the sky, raining down like flowers… If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have thought that this was just one of Greater Lord Zhuri’s Higher Knowledge spells.”

Primordial Lord Yu Yun, who was standing next to him, gave him a look out of the corner of his eye and said, “The Clone Avatar stage Greater Lords of our Ancient Nuwa Sect have similar Higher Knowledge spells. There’s no need to be envious.”

“Yes, Clan Uncle,” Yan Wuji replied with a smile, absorbing the green lotus petal in his hand.

The green lotus petals only had pure spiritual essence in them, and were created from Greater Lord Zhuri’s Higher Knowledge spell. The qi wasn’t impeded in the slightest, feeling extremely natural regardless of whether the recipient was from the human race and had profound qi, or from the demon race and had demonic qi.

In the Ancient Nuwa Sect, social status depended on the concentration of their bloodline, so the talented geniuses in the sect tended to be related to one another.

Primordial Lord Yu Yun was one of Yan Wuji’s clan uncles and knew how he usually acted, so he only furrowed his eyebrows, but didn’t pay him any mind.

Greater Lord Zhuri’s figure gradually became lighter until he eventually faded away into the skies.

All of the people who had come to spectate the event took the seats that were made for them. The cloud chariots made for the Primordial Spirit stage cultivators were the highest, allowing them an unimpeded view of the entire sea of clouds below.

Right below them were the several hundred or so cloud chariots belonging to the Divine Core stage Spirit Masters. Below them were the seats meant for the Dao Foundation stage and Sea of Qi stage disciples, which numbered in the tens of thousands.

The Mountain Masters of the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s Eight Mountains appeared one after the other in the sea of clouds, standing above the others in the very highest cloud chariots.

The Eight Mountains Grand Tournament wasn’t as simple as merely selecting two people to grant the title of Sacred Son or Daughter to.

It was an opportunity to sift through the fresh blood that had entered the Sacred Sect in the last 50 years, and also a chance to get an idea of the sect’s overall direction and prosperity in the future. The meaning behind the tournament was extremely far-reaching and long-lasting.

Back in the Mingxin Mountain Range at Morning Dew Peak, Chu Luo was in his own courtyard. He activated his key jade slip and a light screen with an extremely clear picture appeared in front of him, showing the scene of the sea of clouds in the center of the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

He looked at a screen of light coming out of another jade slip, where the ranking for the Mingxin Mountain Range’s Internal Disciple Tournament was recorded. Much to his surprise, the person listed in fourth place was none other than Xu Disheng!

“So you were able to reach the Sea of Qi division of the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament, Senior Martial Brother Xu…” Chu Luo muttered to himself as he watched the scene taking place in the sea of clouds through the light screen.

The Eight Mountains Grand Tournament was being held in the Luminous Cloud Abyss, in an inner realm in the sea of clouds at its very center. Ordinary disciples didn’t even have the qualifications to enter this place to watch.

Every disciple in the sect could watch from their own courtyard by using their key jade slips. The quality for the broadcast of the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament was extremely clear, but they wouldn’t be able to experience it in person.

Aside from the Divine Core stage Spirit Masters who had no restrictions, the only disciples in the Shangqing Sacred Sect who had the qualifications to watch in person were the Sea of Qi and Dao Foundation stage geniuses.

As a result, even though there were tens of thousands of seats in the sea of clouds, most of the people seated were from the various sects and influences of the Shan Mountain Territory. The ordinary disciples of the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s Eight Mountains could only watch the tournament through the screens of light from their jade slips.

But that couldn’t stop the disciples who wanted to make a fortune overnight. The Peaks with marketplaces across all of the Mountain Ranges without exception were packed with people. The crowds were so large that the large marketplaces could hardly contain them!

There were an endless number of betting stalls set up, and many oceans’ worth of cultivation resources were being wagered. Countless people were staring fixedly at the light screens showing the scene taking place in the Luminous Cloud Abyss, rubbing the spirit stones in their storage pouches as they contemplated who to place a bet on, and how much.

Naturally, the various Mountain Peaks of the sect wouldn’t forbid this in any way. On the contrary, many of them set up massive platforms with enormous light screens to attract disciples to watch the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament together, which made it easier to set up bidding stalls and other forms of business.

High in the sky above the sea of clouds, there were already a few dozen Primordial Lords seated in their respective cloud chariots. Usually, most people would be hard-pressed to meet even a single Primordial Lord, but the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament made it easy for people who hadn’t seen much of the world to get their first look at a Primordial Spirit stage cultivator. They even got to see the face of a Clone Avatar stage Greater Lord, so this trip definitely wasn’t wasted for them.

“Primordial Lord Yangze, are there any geniuses from your Mingxin Mountain Range that you have your eye on?” an old man asked, smiling as he turned to look at Primordial Lord Yangze. “It’s been a while since we saw each other, especially after you left the Yuluo Realm and took up your post ruling the Mingxin Mountain Range.”

This old man was actually a demon race Primordial Lord. He was the grand elder of Daji Shrine, Earth Fox Primordial Lord, and had been a long-time acquaintance of Primordial Lord Yangze.

Shaking his head lightly, Primordial Lord Yangze replied, “My Mingxin Mountain Range doesn’t even have a single Rank 3 Spiritual Root. In recent years, I’ve been paying very little attention to the matters of the Mountain Range. The younger generation, Severing Meridian Spirit Master and Killing Heart Spirit Master, are conscientious and capable, so Primordial Lord Huahao and I just leave things to them.”

Earth Fox Primordial Lord smiled and said, “You probably just want to pass the remaining time in your post and step down from being Mountain Master so you can take your Cloud Ascension Domain and return to the Yuluo Realm, don’t you?”

The other Primordial Lords present were also chatting amiably, taking advantage of the grand occasion to discuss amongst themselves and exchange favors. It was a rare occasion for people like them to meet and exchange with their equals.

The gazes of the entire Shangqing Sacred Sect, and even the entire Shan Mountain Territory, were all gathered and focused on the sea of clouds in the Luminous Cloud Abyss.

If someone could take advantage of this opportunity to sweep the opposition, surpass their peers, and earn the title of Sacred Son or Daughter, their name would instantly soar to fame and become synonymous with glory, their meteoric rise unstoppable.

At the Eight Mountains Grand Tournament fifty years ago, when Sacred Son Feng Shao rose to greatness, he used the Star Beheading Sword to defeat all of the Dao Foundation stage geniuses. With that single thrust, his sword had pierced the heavens, carving his name in the stars. Even now, people would occasionally bring up his name and talk enthusiastically about his achievements.