Most of those who were supposed to come had arrived, and the banquet officially began.
Yunxia Sect was hosting this feast today with the intention of establishing an heir apparent.
According to Yunxia Sect's rules, the position of Heir Apparent should have been inherited by the sect head's disciples. Unfortunately, most of Sect Head Tu De's disciples had perished in the great calamity. Although one or two survived, they later died mysteriously and tragically. As for who was behind the scenes, those who should know knew, and those who shouldn't know remained ignorant.
Regardless, since Sect Head Tu De had no disciples below him, the Heir Apparent position should be selected from among the nine hall direct disciples.
Of the nine direct disciples, some were injured, some crippled, and those who weren't injured had voluntarily withdrawn.
Thus, only two people were competing for the Heir Apparent position today: Wen Jingshan and Mo Long.
The Three Elders of Yunxia did not mention the name Gu Qingfeng. It seemed they had never intended for Gu Qingfeng to participate in the competition from the start. Everyone, including the Three Elders, Shui De, and Jin De, had expected Huode to stand up and oppose this. To their surprise, Huode did not step forward, instead continuing to drink and chat with Gu Qingfeng.
This suited everyone's wishes and saved unnecessary trouble.
The selection for the Heir Apparent position would be decided by strength—the victor would become the heir.
As the Three Elders announced the start, Mo Long leaped into the arena, holding the Frost Sword, pointing it at Wen Jingshan, and shouted sharply, "Wen Jingshan, get out here and fight me!"
"Hehe..." Wen Jingshan walked leisurely into the arena, holding a folding fan, as if he didn't take Mo Long seriously at all. He laughed, "I told you, you're no match for me. Why humiliate yourself today? In my opinion, you might as well admit defeat outright."
"Wen! Jing! Shan!"
Mo Long's body shimmered with the three-colored radiance of the Great Natural Order. Gnashing his teeth in anger, he roared, "Don't get cocky!"
With a snap, Wen Jingshan opened his folding fan, gently fanning himself in front of his chest, and said arrogantly, "Since you seek humiliation, I'll give you another chance. I'll let you have ten moves—I won't fight back at all. If today you can shake me, Wen Jingshan, even slightly, I'll yield the Heir Apparent position to you!"
A wave of astonishment swept through the crowd.
No one had expected Wen Jingshan to say such a thing. Although you, Wen Jingshan, had established a Golden Colored True Body, this was, after all, a major event to decide the Heir Apparent. What if something went wrong? Wouldn't that be handing the position to someone else?
True Person Hong Xuan, True Person Nan Ji, and even the other True Persons present were somewhat worried. In contrast, the Three Elders of Yunxia and Jin De maintained smiles on their faces, as if they had great confidence in Wen Jingshan.
"Wen Jingshan! You're looking for death!"
Feeling insulted, Mo Long bellowed, gripping the Frost Sword and executing a Sword Art to attack directly. His Spiritual Power was the three-colored power of the Great Natural Order.
The sword was the top-grade Frost Sword bestowed by Wei Qing.
The Sword Art was the Yellow-Rank Ice Sealing Sword Art.
Mo Long had also cultivated this Yellow-Rank Ice Sealing Sword Art to the peak of the Six-Nine realm. Each sword swing contained fifty-four Ice Sealing Profound Mysteries, each move and stance seeming to freeze the heavens and earth, sealing the sky in ice.
Mo Long was arrogant—so was his person, his sword, and his Sword Art.
Meanwhile, Wen Jingshan stood in the arena, tall and straight, enveloped by a layer of mysterious golden-colored light. One hand was behind his back, the other held the White Jade Fan. His somewhat handsome face wore a confident and arrogant smile.
Mo Long swung his sword in attack, the surrounding air already condensing into ice. He himself resembled an ice sculpture as he thrust forward with his sword.
With a crisp cracking sound, the fifty-four Ice Sealing Profound Mysteries contained within the sword were instantly shattered and dispersed by the golden-colored light surrounding Wen Jingshan.
Witnessing this scene, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. They all knew Wen Jingshan had established a Golden Colored True Body, but how powerful this Golden Colored True Body truly was, others had not seen with their own eyes. At this moment, seeing Mo Long's full-power attack fail to shake Wen Jingshan in the slightest was truly shocking. One must remember that Mo Long had once slain two Golden Core True Persons with a single sword strike.
Mo Long refused to accept this. He frantically circulated his Spiritual Power and swung his sword to attack again!
Yet, it still wasn't enough.
Not only could he not shake Wen Jingshan in the slightest, he couldn't even budge the layer of golden Great Natural Order Profound Mystery enveloping Wen Jingshan.
"There are still seven moves left. You may continue."
Wen Jingshan smiled faintly, gently fanning himself with the White Jade Fan, not placing Mo Long in his eyes at all—not even a tiny bit.
Mo Long went mad, wildly executing his Sword Art. But no matter how powerful his Spiritual Power was, no matter how profound his Sword Art, no matter how furious he became, he simply could not shake Wen Jingshan's Golden Colored protection.
On the platform, True Person Hong Xuan stroked his beard and nodded in praise. "I had long heard that your Yunxia Sect produced a dragon among men, who not only opened three colors in succession, but one of those colors was a dual Golden Colored True Body. Seeing him today, the reputation is indeed well-deserved! Impressive! Truly impressive! The younger generation is to be feared!"
True Person Nan Ji congratulated, "With a prodigy like Wen Jingshan at the helm, your Yunxia Sect is bound to flourish in the future... It's not impossible for you to reclaim the title of the number one sect in Qingyang."
The faces of the Three Elders of Yunxia all revealed gratified and satisfied smiles.
In the distance, Gu Qingfeng sat with his legs crossed, sipping his wine, watching Wen Jingshan in the arena. He remarked, "Wen Jingshan's Golden Colored True Body really is extraordinary."
"Right?" Huode curled his lip, speaking with great displeasure. "Back then, I almost got done in by this kid. Damn it, I originally thought Golden Color was just a bit more powerful than ordinary colors. Only after fighting him did I realize it's not just 'a bit' more powerful. It's simply... simply too damn ridiculously powerful!"
"Old man, I told you long ago, the Great Natural Order contains nine levels of color. The first level is Common Color, the second is Golden Color. The gap between Common Color and Golden Color is like the difference between the light of a grain of rice and the sun and moon."
Ouyang Feiyue chuckled. "Although Wen Jingshan's other two colors are both Common Colors, his True Body is Golden Color. With this alone, ordinary people truly can't shake him. The protection of Golden Color is too profound, and the power of Golden Color is terrifyingly formidable."
Gu Qingfeng watched silently. Although he had only recently come into contact with this colored spirit energy and wasn't very familiar with it, that didn't mean he didn't understand. On the contrary, his understanding of the Great Natural Order surpassed anyone else's.
In his view, those who built colored foundations during Foundation Establishment, established colored True Bodies, and opened colored Violet Palaces could at best be considered as having merged with the Great Natural Order. To say their Spiritual Power contained the Profound Mysteries of the Great Natural Order—there was some, but it was minuscule. As for protection, that was even less applicable. They were merely a bit stronger than ordinary people.
However, this second-level Golden Colored spirit of the Great Natural Order—only by possessing this could one's Spiritual Power truly be said to contain the Profound Mysteries of the Great Natural Order. What were the Profound Mysteries of the Great Natural Order? They were the Five Elements. And the Golden Colored spirit was a kind of profound mystery derived from the Five Elements of the Great Natural Order.
As for the gap between Common Color and Golden Color, although comparing it to the light of a grain of rice versus the sun and moon was a bit exaggerated, the reality was indeed like that. The difference between Common Color and Golden Color was like that between a newborn infant and a youth who already knows how to walk—there was simply no comparison.
In the arena.
Mo Long continued to execute his Sword Art, but he still couldn't shake Wen Jingshan in the slightest.
Wen Jingshan simply stood there, unmoving, gently waving his White Jade Fan, a smile on his face. "You've already used nine of your ten moves. There's one left. Mo Long, do you still want to humiliate yourself? Give up. I told you, although you opened three colors in succession, they are all Common Colors. You simply can't shake my Golden Colored True Body. You have no idea how powerful the Profound Mystery of Golden Color truly is."
"Then open your eyes wide and watch!"
Mo Long wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his face twisted in ferocity. As he leaped into the air, with a bang, a cloud of blood mist erupted from his body. The three-colored radiance of the Great Natural Order around him blazed like flames, twice as fierce as before!
At the same time, everyone in the arena was shocked to discover that Mo Long's Spiritual Power also surged along with the radiance...
"How savage! What technique is this?"
Huode sprang to his feet, exclaiming in shock, "How did Mo Long's Spiritual Power suddenly double? Is it a spirit sacrifice? A blood sacrifice?"
Whether spirit sacrifice or blood sacrifice, both were extremely savage methods. Spirit sacrifice involved burning Spiritual Power to instantly boost strength, while blood sacrifice involved burning blood to instantly boost strength. Using the former would cause the dantian to wither afterward; using the latter also carried life-threatening risks.
"Just an old, minor trick. Someone tampered with his Violet Palace Dantian."
Gu Qingfeng said this, then glanced at the man called Wei Qing.
In the arena, no one knew what was happening. Even the thousand-year-old Three Elders of Yunxia couldn't discern why Mo Long's Spiritual Power had suddenly surged. It wasn't a blood sacrifice or a spirit sacrifice. What it was, they didn't know either. However, everyone could see that Mo Long's Spiritual Power was boiling and swelling violently.
"Die!"
Mo Long, enveloped in blood mist, with radiance burning wildly like fire around him, his raging Spiritual Power surged and roiled, executed his Sword Art and attacked once more.
"Hmph! I thought you had some secret, but it's nothing more than this!"
Wen Jingshan didn't take the Spiritual Power-boosted Mo Long seriously at all. He sneered disdainfully, "Today, I'll let you witness the power of the three colors of the Great Natural Order merging into one!"
As he spoke, when he stretched out his arms, the radiance around him suddenly vanished. Then, a Common Color radiance appeared, followed immediately by another. In the next instant, Wen Jingshan's body shimmered with dazzling golden-colored light. The golden-colored light spun like a tornado, rapidly merging the two Common Color lights into itself.
Whoosh!
A radiant golden-colored light shot into the sky, roaring forth like a flood dragon. Mo Long, charging in, didn't even know what happened. In an instant, he was shattered into dust by the golden-colored light, not even leaving a trace behind.