Ren De was a man who knew his place. He understood that the Yunxia Sect of today could not even be mentioned in the same breath as the Bingxuan Sect. The gap between them was as vast as that between a mouse and an elephant.
The Yunxia Sect was the mouse, the Bingxuan Sect the elephant.
This wasn't Ren De belittling himself; it was simply the truth.
With his cultivation level, he might be an advisory elder in the Yunxia Sect, but in the Bingxuan Sect, someone like him could only manage to become an outer sect elder.
It was no exaggeration.
Though Ren De had cultivated for seven or eight hundred years and was a Golden Core True Being, the core he had condensed was a false one. While he bore the title of Golden Core True Being, he lacked the true strength of one. Those like him were a dime a dozen in the Bingxuan Sect.
Ren De knew even better that the inner sect elders of the Bingxuan Sect were the real Golden Core masters. Their cores were incomparably pure. The Ziyun True Being leading this delegation before him was a true Golden Core master, whose strength was so far beyond his own that Ren De couldn't hope to catch up. Such a figure could casually crush a false Golden Core True Being like him.
Most importantly, this Ziyun True Being had cultivated for barely a hundred years; he was one of the first batch of geniuses to emerge in the surrounding regions after the Calamity.
And geniuses like Ziyun were not few in the Bingxuan Sect. If not a hundred, there were at least several dozen.
Even more terrifying was that the geniuses who had emerged from the Bingxuan Sect in recent years were increasingly monstrous. Compared to the many prodigies within the Bingxuan Sect, someone like Wen Jingshan—the former number one direct disciple of the Yunxia Sect—could at best be considered average.
There was no helping it. Reality was just this cruel.
Geniuses were all willing to join the great sects, and the great sects had the means to make geniuses even more exceptional.
The reason the Yunxia Sect had managed to attract a few colored geniuses was solely due to its Yan Yang Spirit Vein and the vacancy for the heir apparent disciple.
"May I inquire as to the purpose of your esteemed delegation's visit today?"
Ren De was quite puzzled. Ever since he and the others had followed Sect Head Tu De to the Bingxuan Sect and gotten beaten up, the two sects had practically severed all contact. Now, with a major incident having occurred in the Yunxia Sect just days ago, the Bingxuan Sect's arrival at this moment made him deeply suspicious.
"What?"
The sharp-featured, monkey-faced Cangsong True Being wore a smile as he adjusted his collar, stood up, and looked at Ren De with considerable arrogance. "Are we not welcome?"
"I wouldn't dare."
"Hmph!" Cangsong True Being snorted with his nose in the air, disdainfully adding, "I'd advise you not to."
Ren De said nothing, though inwardly he held the Cangsong True Being in utter contempt.
The Bingxuan Sect used to consist entirely of female disciples, never accepting male ones.
Of course, that didn't mean the Bingxuan Sect had no men. On the contrary, there were many. It was just that most men entered the sect by marrying into it after dual cultivation with a female disciple of the Bingxuan Sect. This Cangsong True Being was one such case. Though he had managed to form a false Golden Core over the years, relying on his wife's status, he had still managed to secure a position as an outer sect steward.
Cangsong True Being placed his hands behind his back, narrowing his eyes as he looked around. "After all these years, the main hall of the Yunxia Sect still looks exactly the same."
He then glanced at Ren De and let out a derisive chuckle. "Back when I left the Yunxia Sect, your cultivation was exactly like this. After so many years, you're still this weak. It truly disappoints me, your former Senior Brother."
Hearing Cangsong refer to himself as Senior Brother, Ren De looked at him, gave a cold smile, and did not respond.
That's right. Cangsong was formerly a member of the Yunxia Sect, and indeed had been his Senior Brother.
It was just that later, after hooking up with a female disciple of the Bingxuan Sect, he had defected.
Regarding this, Ren De felt both furious and contemptuous.
If Cangsong had defected to another sect back then, Ren De wouldn't have felt this way. After all, people strive for higher ground, water flows to lower ground. Abandoning the old sect that had taught you for hundreds of years to join another was already shameless enough, but Cangsong had to defect to the Bingxuan Sect.
Among the older generation of True Beings in the surrounding regions, who didn't know how the Bingxuan Sect had humiliated the Yunxia Sect back in the day? That they, the fellow disciples, had gone to the Bingxuan Sect and gotten beaten up was one thing, but later the Bingxuan Sect had come to their doorstep to deliver a direct insult. The phrase 'a toad lusting after swan meat' had hung over the Yunxia Sect ever since.
Under such circumstances, for Cangsong to still defect to the Bingxuan Sect—how could Ren De not be enraged? How could he not despise him?
"I heard something major happened during your Yunxia Sect's heir appointment ceremony a couple of days ago," Cangsong True Being said unhurriedly, occasionally adjusting his collar or patting his sleeves. "They say Huode, in his bid for the sect heir position, took on a remarkable disciple. What was his name again?
Gu Qingfeng, right?
I heard he's quite formidable. At the heir appointment banquet, he wiped out a bunch of True Beings. Not only did he annihilate over twenty people from the Li family, but he also killed the Yunxia Three Elders and several old-timers from the Qingyang Region."
Ren De remained silent, unsure of the Bingxuan Sect's purpose for coming today.
"I originally thought your Yunxia Sect would obediently submit to the alliance. I never expected Huode would manage to find such an extraordinary prodigy."
Cangsong stroked the few wisps of goatee on his chin, his words laced with sarcasm. "It truly came as a great surprise to us!"
"Prodigy?"
At that moment, a young man sitting beside Ziyun True Being suddenly let out a scornful laugh. He sat there, head bowed, using a piece of faintly golden-hued gauze to polish a short sword. The sword was very short, about a foot long, cold as carved ice, its blade shimmering with starlight. Even from several meters away, Ren De could feel the chilling aura emanating from that blade.
The young man did not look up, continuing to polish the sword—something he had been doing ever since entering the hall. After his contemptuous laugh, he spoke. "A mere failure at Foundation Establishment, nothing more than relying on a strong physical body to wipe out twenty-some ants, and yet he dares to call himself a prodigy? It's utterly laughable."
"Ah, Wanli, you can't put it like that," Cangsong True Being said with a smile. "I heard he later succeeded in establishing his Foundation..."
"So what?" The young man still did not raise his head, continuing to polish the short sword, his tone filled with pride. "In my Qin Wanli's eyes, even someone like Wen Jingshan, who opened three colors and established a Golden Color true body, is nothing but an ant, no different from trash. If I wished, I could crush him between my fingers."
"Ha!" Cangsong True Being laughed heartily, then, seeing the look of shock and doubt on Ren De's face, the smile on his lips deepened. "It seems I've been neglectful. Ren De, this is Qin Wanli, an inner sect disciple of our Bingxuan Sect. He is also the esteemed disciple of Ziyun True Being. He opened three colors, and..." He paused, carefully observing Ren De's expression before continuing after a moment, "...and all three are Golden Colors."
"Oh?"
Ren De was quite startled. He had always heard the Bingxuan Sect was overflowing with geniuses, but seeing this Qin Wanli today truly revealed how terrifying the sect was. Opening three colors? And all Golden Colors? And he was merely an inner sect disciple in the Bingxuan Sect? How fearsome must the sect's chief disciples be then? And the direct disciples above them... It was simply unimaginable.
"Ah, I nearly forgot to tell you. The Riverbed Old Ghost that's been wreaking havoc in your Qingyang Region these past years—Wanli has already dealt with him for you. Just today, mere hours ago, Wanli eliminated the Riverbed Old Ghost with a single move."
What!
The Riverbed Old Ghost was a thousand-year-old specter that had plagued the Qingyang Region for many years. It was also one of the demons and ghosts that had looted the Yunxia Sect during the Calamity. Back then, the nine grandmasters of the Qingyang Region had laid down a heaven-and-earth net, joining forces to besiege it, yet the Riverbed Old Ancestor had still managed to escape. Hearing now that this Riverbed Old Ghost had been slain by this Qin Wanli in a single move left Ren De utterly stunned.
He couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying three Great Nature Golden Colors truly were.
Perhaps worried that Ren De wouldn't believe him, Cangsong True Being took out a small bottle. "I heard he was one of the demons and ghosts that looted your Yunxia Sect during the Calamity. The barely-alive ghost soul of the Riverbed Old Ghost is inside. Consider it a gift to your Yunxia Sect today. After all, I was once a member of your sect."
Ren De took the bottle and was about to examine it when suddenly, a loud, hearty laugh came from outside.
"Well, well! No wonder my eyelids have been twitching for the last couple of days. So it's because Soft Senior Brother has come back to visit his maiden home... What's the matter? Has living off your wife as a soft-rice-eating son-in-law in the Bingxuan Sect not been to your taste?"