417 Quaking Mountains (1/2)
With a series of booms, bursts of fireworks were shot into the air and scattered like thousands of colorful flowers blooming against the night sky. Each one sparkled with brilliant radiance, heralding the end of New Year's Eve and the beginning of a new year.
The silence was deafening in the Happycloud Heights. Back then, Su Wuming had undergone the Life-risking Hermetic Training for three years and smashed through the barriers separating heaven and man. His sword light could be seen from hundreds of miles away as he directly attained the Exterior level, shaking up the entire Jianghu. However, besides two other ranked young masters in his generation who subsequently achieved the same breakthrough, many years had passed without a similar occurrence.
He Jiu had been dominating the first place on the ranking for many years, resulting in speculation that he was about to repeat his predecessor's success. Of course, talents like Su Wuming were rare to come by. That was why Bai Wenyuan and the others didn't quite believe that He Jiu could make a direct breakthrough. They thought that he would briefly pause at the Half-step level like Aunt Bai and condition his body and mind before smoothly rising to the next level a year or two later. Who knew, not only did He Jiu make a direct breakthrough, so did Ledgerkeeper of Lives!
The current generation of members on the ranking was terrifying! Even in Su Wuming's generation, there had never been two people breaking through at the same time!
Eastsea Sword Village's Exterior-level Elder Gongyang Hao smiled as he stood up to congratulate them. ”Congratulations, Heightslord and Childe Wang, for directly breaking through to the Exterior level.”
He felt nothing but gratitude for Wang Siyuan's final stroke.
Hong Qian, Qian Kai, and the other Exterior-level masters rose from their seats and saluted. ”Congratulations to Heightslord and Childe Wang for breaking through the barrier.”
From today onwards, He Jiu and Wang Siyuan were no longer new stars on the ranking. Like them, they were now Exterior experts who were capable of suppressing others.
Meng Qi and the others got up to congratulate them as well. He Jiu loudly chuckled and gestured for his servants to bring out the wine and delicacies. The Party of Happycloud had officially begun, but in actuality, it had already ended.
Crown Prince Zhao Qian was the first to take his leave after everyone admired some music and dance performances. He left with Eunuch Wei Gao and Hua Yan, a divine monk of the Samantabhadra Temple.
'Buddhist Heart Palm' Xuan Zhen followed shortly after. It seemed that Shaolin Temple's stance regarding Zhao Qian was still rather vague.
With such an awe-inspiring opening, the guests had been shaken one by one. Guests began streaming out, either brimming with motivation or dragging their heavy hearts along as the Party of Happycloud neared its end.
Jiang Zhiwei, dressed in a light yellow robe, slowly made her way to Meng Qi with a smile. She sighed and said, ”I never thought I'd be able to rise two ranks just like that.”
Right now, the only person above her in the ranking was 'Demoness of Grand Luo' Gu Xiaosang. However, compared to improving her rank simply because those above her had made breakthroughs, she would rather conquer her obstacles step by step.
”Don't worry, you can still surpass them on the Terrestrial Rankings next time!” Meng Qi teased, the admiration in his voice apparent.
Jiang Zhiwei nodded. ”I've learned something from watching them make their breakthrough. Since I've been training outside for a long time now, I've attained countless experiences through sparring and battles. I feel like quietly cultivating for a while to digest everything I've learned and thought about the path I wish to seek.”
”I plan to return to the Sword Washing Pavilion now. How about you, little monk?”
”I'm about to do some quiet cultivating as well. No matter where I go, it won't be quiet cultivation anyway. So how about I build a house next to the Sword Washing Pavilion?” Meng Qi joked.
He would've really considered doing that if the Sword Washing Pavilion wasn't located in the far Northwest. However, it was simply too far away and would delay his progress. He might as well digest and internalize his experiences, as well as open his Nine Apertures before heading over.
Jiang Zhiwei smiled. ”Remember to pay rent.”
She could tell that what Meng Qi wanted the most right now was a place to quietly cultivate. So she didn't invite him to join her on her journey back to the Sword Washing Pavilion.
”I'll go into hiding and flee from Ying City tomorrow. Even if the Myths want to vent their frustration, they shouldn't be able to find me...” Meng Qi suddenly mentioned the Myths. ”It's a pity that I couldn't teach them a lesson.”
Since he was using Secret Voice-sending, he wasn't worried about the Exterior masters present hearing him. In any case, they more or less knew what they had to know. It was possible that there were even other experts who were intentionally helping him keep his secret.
”You'll get the chance to do that in the future,” replied a smiling Jiang Zhiwei, throwing Meng Qi's own words back at him.
The two of them chatted for a while until Hong Qian bade farewell to Gongyang Hao, and the latter left with Jiang Zhiwei.
Meng Qi planned on returning to his compound to get a good sleep. The next day, he hid among the crowd and slipped out of the city. He spotted Wang Siyuan, who had just exchanged pleasantries with He Jiu, walking toward him.
”Su Meng.” Wang Siyuan coughed a couple of times. ”Disaster will befall you soon.”
”Huh?” Meng Qi was shocked and stared at Wang Siyuan, waiting for him to elaborate.
Wang Siyuan turned around calmly and left him with a mere sentence, ”I can't divulge any further, for these are Heaven's secrets.”
”This... this man is asking for a beating!” Meng Qi thought, his face twitching. Even fraudulent fortune-tellers along the streets would give detailed elaborations after shocking and swindling their customers! They would at least recommend some way of avoiding the calamity to cheat them of their money, unlike that fellow who had left without another word, leaving him in shock and at a loss!
He tried to chase after Wang Siyuan to probe further but the Exterior master was much quicker and disappeared from the hall in the blink of an eye alongside Wang Rui.
”... exactly what kind of disaster is it!” Meng Qi spat, frustrated and baffled.
...
Since the Misty Rain Mountain was close to the Happycloud Heights, Crown Prince Zhao Qian, the divine monk Hua Yan, and Eunuch Wei Gao arrived at the foot of the mountain in no time under the protection of several guards and monks.
Out of the blue, the mountain and ground began rumbling. Large boulders started rolling down, throwing smoke and dust into the air. Everything turned into a blur around them.
Blood-curdling shrieks continued to echo as the falling boulders crushed the guards one by one.
Hua Yan shifted his body in front of Zhao Qian. His aperture points emitted a faint golden light and converged into the illusion of the Golden Body Buddha. Soft chanting of ”Amitabha” reverberated throughout the place.
He produced the Precious Vase Seal and so did the Buddha image. The two of them seemed to overlap as they directed a blow upward.
Buddha's light flashed and the force of the attack shot out like raging waters. It collided with a boulder the size of a small mountain that was hurtling toward them from above.
Boom!
The mountain peak shattered and the entire rock exploded, turning into a shower of tiny pebbles sprinkled with tiny specks of Buddha's light.
Hua Yan's two feet sunk into the soil while a shadowy figure was suddenly flung backward, landing not too far away from them. The mountain peak had been derived from a single punch of his and the aura of the mountains gathered around him. Moreover, it seemed like he had directly moved half a small peak!
The quaking of the mountains increased as the figure landed on the ground.
He was wearing the mask of Mountain God, a figure commonly seen in plays.
Eunuch Wei Gao's expression changed drastically. He felt only the man's growing murderous intent and his Sword Qi disturbing his mind.