It wasn't just Leng Yanqiu who had arrived.
Standing beside her were two men.
The young man on the left wore robes of purple-gold and jade silk, handsome and extraordinary. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his bearing imposing and majestic. A dragon-shaped jade pendant hung from the jade belt at his waist. His handsome face wore a faint smile as he gently waved a purple-gold jade fan before him. Upon closer inspection, one could vaguely see a dragon depicted on the fan.
A Jade Dragon Pendant?
A Purple-Gold Dragon Fan?
He was Long Fei!
A highly renowned noble young lord of the Nine-Hua Alliance, and an outstanding great genius of the Four Grand Regions, known as the Jade-Faced Dragon Young Lord.
In terms of family background and heritage, he might not compare to Tian Xiangyue, nor to Wen Yansheng, and naturally fell even shorter when measured against the illustrious family of Luo Wenzhenghao.
However.
When it came to innate talent, Color Spirit, cultivation base, strength, and fame, neither Tian Xiangyue, Wen Yansheng, nor even Luo Wenzhenghao could hold a candle to Long Fei.
He was a genius of the seventh-level Jade Color across all four realms of the Great Natural Order.
As was widely known, the Great Natural Order's Color Spirit had nine levels: the first was Common, the second Gold, the third Purple, the fourth Cyan, the fifth Illusory, the sixth Flame, and the seventh Jade.
All four of his realms had reached the seventh-level Jade Color.
Jade Color foundation, Jade Color True Body, Jade Color Purple Mansion, Jade Color Golden Core.
Jing Tao, with his three Illusory and one Flame, was already hailed as a remarkable genius. For Long Fei to have achieved the seventh-level Jade Color across all four realms—one could only imagine how formidable he was.
Was that all?
No!
Rumors said that this Long Fei had even fused the seventh-level Jade Color from all four realms together, forming the true Color Spirit Guardian of the Great Natural Order.
Among the hundred or so territories of the Four Grand Regions, there might be many Color Spirit geniuses.
But those capable of fusing their Color Spirit to form a true Color Spirit Guardian were absolutely few.
Tian Xiangyue couldn't do it. Wen Yansheng couldn't do it. Luo Wenzhenghao couldn't do it. Yu Dingxing couldn't do it. Even Jing Tao couldn't do it.
Because the difficulty of fusing all the Color Spirit within one's body was no less than that of a Golden Core evolving into a Nascent Soul. Especially the more levels of Color Spirit one possessed, the greater the difficulty of fusion.
For someone like Long Fei, with seventh-level Jade Color across four realms—meaning each cultivation realm contained seven levels of Jade Color—fusing them together amounted to a full twenty-eight levels. Only by fusing all the Color Spirit in one's body could one form the legendary Guardian of the Great Natural Order. And only by forming this Guardian could one unleash the true profound mysteries of Color Spirit.
No one knew how powerful Long Fei's strength was after fusing the seventh-level Jade Color from four realms.
Never mind after fusion; even the seventh-level Jade Color itself was rarely seen by many. In fact, most people had no idea what profound mysteries this seventh-level Jade Color even entailed.
If his Color Spirit alone were outstanding, Long Fei would never deserve the title of 'great genius'.
The reality was that he was also a Transcendent True Being. He had stepped into the Transcendent realm a year ago, achieving ten rotations of his Golden Core. How many rotations his Golden Core had reached today, one year later, remained unknown to all.
Beyond that, his comprehension was also exceptional.
His attainments in sword techniques ran deep.
Once, the might of a single sword strike from him contained three complete Great Perfection Yellow-grade sword formulas, each imbued with the profound mysteries of eighty-one great perfections.
With this alone,
Long Fei absolutely deserved the title of great genius.
Behind him stood seven or eight elders, recognized by many present. They were all senior experts from the Four Grand Regions before the Great Cataclysm, and without exception, all were Transcendent True Beings. Among them, Elder Huiyuan was a master who had survived two lifespan tribulations, cultivated for nearly two thousand years, and achieved eighteen rotations of his Golden Core.
Accompanying Leng Yanqiu was not only a great genius like Long Fei.
But also a Hall Master of the Nine-Hua Alliance.
Namely, Hall Master Si Qianhua of the Thousand Campaigns Hall.
The Nine-Hua Alliance had eighty-one halls. While the commanders and even deputy commanders within might not be much to speak of, every Hall Master was extraordinary. They were either senior experts with profound cultivation and strength, outstanding Color Spirit geniuses, or mysterious and enigmatic individuals.
Si Qianhua was one such figure.
Since assuming the position of Hall Master of the Thousand Campaigns Hall, no one had ever seen him make a move, nor did anyone know the extent of his cultivation and strength. He kept a low profile, rarely appearing in public. Yet, over such a long time, no one dared provoke him.
Because rumors said he was a person who had seized a body and been reborn.
As was widely known, seizing a body for rebirth was a divine ability.
Under the heavens, only experts who had cultivated a Nascent Soul were qualified to perform body seizure.
In other words, if Si Qianhua truly was a body-seizing reborn person, then his existence was utterly terrifying.
Of course.
Whether he was truly a body-seizing reborn person remained a matter of debate. No one knew the truth.
When Leng Yanqiu, the Jade-Faced Dragon Young Lord Long Fei, Si Qianhua, and the others appeared, the Bingxuan Sect elders, led by Elder Yuhua, were immensely excited. They hurried over and knelt before Leng Yanqiu, paying respects to their sect master.
Yes.
They were very excited.
Elder Yuhua, as the Grand Elder of the Bingxuan Sect, was neither aligned with the Nine Sons and Eighteen Chiefs faction nor with the Bingxuan Ancestral Patriarch. Instead, she had always obeyed Leng Yanqiu.
Precisely because of this, earlier when the conflict erupted between Yu Dingxing and the Bingxuan Ancestral Patriarch, she had taken neither Yu Dingxing's side nor the Ancestral Patriarch's.
She had placed all her bets on Leng Yanqiu, steadfastly believing that following Leng Yanqiu was the only righteous path.
"Sect Master Leng, you...
You've finally come!"
Elder Yuhua suppressed the excitement in her heart as she recounted the events that had just transpired.
Upon hearing that Yu Dingxing had been crippled by Gu Qingfeng with a single move,
Upon hearing that Young Lord Jing Tao had been defeated by Gu Qingfeng with one move,
Upon hearing that Luo Wenzhenghao had been so terrified by Gu Qingfeng that he wet his pants...
Both Leng Yanqiu and the Jade-Faced Dragon Young Lord beside her revealed a flicker of surprise.
But it was merely a flicker of surprise.
Beyond that, there was nothing else.
Especially Leng Yanqiu. On her somewhat pretty face, that flicker of surprise was instantly completely replaced by her original cold arrogance. She glanced at the unconscious Yu Dingxing, then at the disheveled Luo Wenzhenghao, and the despondent Young Lord Jing Tao.
Amidst her cold, arrogant expression, a trace of contempt involuntarily surfaced as she sneered, "In my eyes, they are no different from pigs and dogs—a bunch of self-righteous trash. To think they dared aspire to become my Dual-Cultivation Dao Companion? Toads lusting after swan meat! It disgusts me!"
Then, when Elder Yuhua mentioned that the Bingxuan Ancestral Patriarch had performed a Venerable's salute upon seeing Gu Qingfeng, Leng Yanqiu was surprised once more, which swiftly turned into anger—boundless anger. Gnashing her teeth, she furiously rebuked, "That old, undying thing has utterly shamed me! For the sake of some so-called ancestral precept, to actually perform a Venerable's salute to a piece of trash? How laughable!"
"Sect Master, the Ancestral Patriarch also said..." Elder Yuhua knelt on the ground, hesitating whether to speak. Instantly, Leng Yanqiu glared at her with furious eyes and shouted, "What else did that old, undying thing say?"
"The Ancestral Patriarch said you...
Said you are utterly unworthy of that little bastard surnamed Gu. That you...
That you don't even have the qualification to be that little bastard surnamed Gu's maidservant."
"What!"
Upon hearing this,
Leng Yanqiu flew into a towering rage. As radiant light flashed around her body, a chilling mist surged forth. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and frost descended. She shouted sharply toward the mountain, "Zhu Xia, you old, undying dog of a thing!
Get out here and face me!"