Remould the Glory of Sword Art

The five-colored glow dispersed.

Ao Ying’s expression grew tense...

The lineup for this grand assembly at the Five-Colored Ridge was quite luxurious. Besides Master Ni Yu and the Peacock Venerable, there were ten other figures present, including the disciples at the Yin God Realm under the two Venerables. Among all these figures, Ao Ying saw the last person he wanted to encounter.

Beside the Peacock Venerable stood a thin, somewhat desolate figure.

Prince Jiu.

Though still exuding a sense of pride.

But now, Prince Jiu was no longer as spirited as he was during the Northern Hunt in the past.

His temples had turned gray, and he had lost his sharpness, looking as though he had aged decades, yet his aura remained formidable.

The injuries from the Great Yue Kingdom had almost healed.

In those days,

Prince Jiu was the most hopeful candidate to achieve the Yang God status at the Five-Colored Ridge.

Over the years... Wu Jiu, who was once inferior to Prince Jiu, successfully ascended to the Yang God Realm, becoming an esteemed Venerable revered by countless demons on the mountain peak.

Yet he remained just at the Yin God Realm.

"Don’t worry."

Xie Xuanyi sensed the unease in Ao Ying.

Sitting in a wheelchair, he calmly said, "Prince Jiu won’t recognize you."

Not to mention that Prince Jiu is still only at the Yin God stage...

Even if he successfully ascended, Xie Xuanyi wouldn’t pay him any heed.

"I know."

Ao Ying let out a bitter laugh and softly said, "But I still have this uneasy feeling."

As the saying goes, every grievance has its perpetrator, every debt a debtor.

The term Cause and Effect is not an empty concept.

The downfall and destitute state of Prince Jiu today are greatly linked to Ao Ying... If Ao Ying had not stolen the Supreme Treasure [Feng Mou] of Chiling City back then, Prince Jiu would not have ventured southward, eventually being pursued to the Great Yue Kingdom and ending up with a severed arm and a fallen realm.

This cause and effect...

Ao Ying fled into the [Ruins], avoiding it for a while, but not for a lifetime.

Hidden behind the crowd.

Ao Ying didn’t dare look in the direction of the Five-Colored Ridge, fearing that Prince Jiu might notice.

Clearly, she was overthinking it.

The group of great demons at Five-Colored Ridge couldn’t be bothered to look at the demon cultivators gathering at the Great Saint Mountain’s gate.

"The Yang God Great Cultivators have all appeared."

Xie Xuanyi waited quietly for a moment.

No more abnormalities appeared on the Heavenly Peak.

The Peacock Venerable making the final appearance signified that all the Yang God Great Cultivators were present.

The Venerables at the Yin God Realm, who had been waiting for a long time, breathed a sigh of relief.

They also approached the mountain gate, presenting their invitations one by one to enter.

"It’s time to enter."

Xie Xuanyi observed for a moment more.

After confirming there were no Yang Gods left, the three approached the mountain gate.

The Netherworld Third Young Master, accompanied by Qilin Miaofa True Monarch, had left and not returned, and the demon cultivators currently in charge of the reception were all young talents from the Great Ape Mountain, akin to the generation of "Duan Zhao" and "Xu Nianning" in the Da Sui Sword Palace by seniority.

"Venerable Lu, please enter."

A young great demon with golden fur respectfully took three invitations from Xie Xuanyi.

They only had to verify the invitations with a treasure.

As long as the invitation was valid and the identity matched, the entrant would be a distinguished guest of the Great Ape Mountain.

The young great demon looked at Xie Xuanyi with a rather peculiar expression.

In his opinion,

being able to attend the birthday banquet with two maids...

This Venerable Lu, must be quite formidable.

Just then, a low voice suddenly sounded.

"Junior Brother Lu."

Xie Xuanyi was taken aback and turned around, seeing an unexpected figure.

A figure in a red robe, Venerable Yuan Huo, stood not far behind him, expressionless.

"Senior Brother Yuan Huo."

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "What a coincidence..."

In theory,

A practitioner of Yuan Huo’s caliber should have been among the first group invited into the Great Saint Mountain.

If there were no accidents, he should have entered the Great Saint Mountain with Chi Fu Dragon Lord.

But unfortunately...

Chi Fu Dragon Lord did not show up.

No matter how renowned Yuan Huo was in the Yin God Realm, he had to lower his stance, as he wasn’t qualified to enter alongside the Yang God Great Cultivators.

"Quite the coincidence."

Venerable Yuan Huo stared intently at Xie Xuanyi.

He wanted to discern something from Xie Xuanyi...

But alas, he found nothing.

That day, after being robbed, Venerable Yuan Huo had gone into a frenzy trying to find his enemy. Yet after scouring the entire Giant Martial City, there wasn’t a single clue.

The other party had acted too swiftly.

Clearly, it was premeditated.

Yuan Huo naturally approached Ming San for help, and the latter did assist... Unfortunately, in the whole of Giant Martial City, there were only a handful of post-Yin God Cultivators.

One-on-one combat.

Almost no one could match Venerable Yuan Huo.

The only one who could have successfully ambushed was Venerable Qing Ming.

Very obviously,

Venerable Qing Ming wouldn’t do such a thing.

Thus, Yuan Huo could only swallow his pride. The matter was too disgraceful, and the outside rumors were rampant. The Red Flame Dao Palace was also going through a turbulent time, and he didn’t want this issue to trouble his master, so he quietly dispelled the rumor, and Ming San withdrew from investigating the case.

"I heard Senior Brother was robbed a few days ago."

Xie Xuanyi said sincerely, "Are you alright, Senior Brother? Were you hurt?"

"..."

Venerable Yuan Huo’s expression was not good.

He coldly replied, "Robbed? That’s just a rumor... It was merely a petty thief in the courtyard..."

Venerable Yuan Huo did have some clues.

On the day of the robbery,

he happened to leave the Xuanchen Pavilion. To know his residence... just follow him after the banquet.

He targeted the demons at the Xuanchen Pavilion banquet.

Looking out at the crowd,

except for Qing Ming, there was only one person he couldn’t see through.

It was this Venerable Lu!

This fellow seemed to have an ordinary realm, but he had no known background, quite mysterious.

"It’s good that Senior Brother wasn’t hurt."

Xie Xuanyi smiled, "The rumors spread wildly, and I wanted to ask Senior Brother... Just a pity there’s no way to contact you..."

"Heh,"

Yuan Huo sneered, "Well, thank you for your concern, Junior Brother. You hide quite deeply, being able to get three invitations to this banquet."

"In exchange for Phoenix Blood."

Xie Xuanyi didn’t hide it.

He sighed and said, "That day at Xuanchen Pavilion, the Third Young Master wanted to borrow some blood... Junior Brother has always been money-hungry, lacking backbone since childhood, and couldn’t resist temptation, so I exchanged some of my Essence Blood for a Spiritual Treasure and these three invitations. Perhaps in entering the Great Saint Mountain, I can connect with some influential people."

"Spineless thing."

Venerable Yuan Huo couldn’t help but scold internally.

Phoenix Blood is so precious!

And Ming San just offered a Spiritual Treasure... and it was exchanged for it!

Disgraceful!

Just as he was about to reprimand, a deep voice suddenly sounded from behind.

"Nephew Yuan Huo."

This voice was immensely powerful, like the echo of thunder.

After the departure of the Yang God Venerables, the atmosphere at the Great Saint Mountain’s gate had relaxed considerably.

Yet when this voice appeared, the atmosphere became heavy once more, and the surrounding great demons all turned respectful.

Behold.

On the Heavenly Peak, azure flames burned, forming a square portal.

A figure draped in an azure flaming feather cloak emerged from the portal.

As the figure stepped out.

A chorus of respectful greetings arose.

"Venerable Heavenly Phoenix!"

"Lord Heavenly Phoenix!"