Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds

"Feihong Ancestor!"

Entering the grand hall, Bai Fei greeted him first. Ye Yunsheng followed close behind, clasping his hands in a respectful salute.

"Bai Mountain Master! Ye Sect Leader!"

An old man in white robes with a kind and benevolent face sat in the seat of honor. He returned their salutations with a chuckle, his gaze shifting to Gu Zhao, who stood beside Bai Fei.

"I am Gu Zhao of the Daluo Palace, here to pay my respects to Senior Feihong," Gu Zhao said, taking a step forward.

"My brother founded the Daluo Palace himself. It is located in Jiangzhou’s Changping Prefecture. Hearing of the Ancestor’s milestone birthday, he came especially to pay his respects," Bai Fei added.

At the mention of Daluo Palace, the eyes of several people in attendance flickered. Their gazes fixed on Gu Zhao, their expressions growing thoughtful.

One person’s expression shifted slightly, and he asked directly, "Is that the Daluo Palace that annihilated the Netherfire Sect Leader and slew the Mo Lake Ink Flood Dragon?"

Gu Zhao looked at the speaker. He appeared to be a towering man in a gold-trimmed black robe, but his Soul Power was formidable; he was a Ghost God. "I am. And who might you be?"

The towering man clasped his hands. "Mo Zichen of Jinxing Platform."

Bai Fei sent him a telepathic message, "Mo Zichen is the Sect Leader of Jinxing Platform, from Xingzhu Prefecture in Jiangbei, Yongzhou. He once suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Netherfire Sect Leader and was only saved by Feihong Ancestor."

Gu Zhao nodded. ’This Mo Zichen also carries a fair bit of Evil Qi, and his Dao Practice is actually just average. He’s in the weakest tier of everyone in this hall. If we’d met in Jiangnan, a few old Daoists might have teamed up to take him down.’

The Netherfire Sect Leader and the Mo Lake Ink Flood Dragon were quite notorious. Having risen to prominence by defeating them, Gu Zhao now found everyone present regarding him with newfound respect.

Feihong Ancestor also gestured with his hand, his voice gentle. "Welcome, Gu Palace Master. Please, have a seat over here."

This grand hall was a space specifically for receiving guests. Behind Feihong Ancestor stood a wild goose sculpture that was a full ten zhang high. The hall was over ten zhang wide on each side, with tables and seats arranged in rows according to rank, some in front and some behind.

The leading Demons and Ghosts sat at the short tables in the front, while the disciples and subordinates they brought with them sat behind the long tables along the periphery.

Everyone was quite conscious of their standing. Those with higher Cultivation and a closer relationship to Feihong Ancestor sat at the front, while those with lower Cultivation and a more distant relationship sat toward the back. Within these general areas, however, the seating was not overly strict or rigidly hierarchical.

Bai Fei pulled Gu Zhao to a seat near the front on the right side. Ye Yunsheng and his wife followed, and the three groups sat near one another.

Yun Qian and Yan Yan took Taoist Yan Song, Taoist Ming Yu, and the couple Ye Yunsheng had brought with him to a corner on the right, where they found empty seats at one of the long tables.

In truth, the Dao Practice of Taoist Yan Song and Taoist Ming Yu was not any weaker than those sitting in the rearmost seats of the front section. However, as subordinates brought by Gu Zhao, they could only sit in the back.

This turned out to be for the best, however. The two not only chatted with the couple from the Holy Union Sect but also struck up conversations with several others from Yuanzhou, Wangzhou, and even Pingzhou and the Central Province.

Meanwhile, Gu Zhao glanced toward the source of the overwhelming Evil Qi he had sensed earlier. It came from a haughty young man with the piercing gaze of an eagle and the predatory air of a wolf. He appeared to have just greeted Feihong Ancestor and was now being seated.

As fate would have it, the man sat down directly across from Gu Zhao. Their eyes met, and he gave a faint nod in acknowledgment.

"That’s the master of the Cloud Celestial Divine Palace in Shanzhou, Yun Fei’ang," Bai Fei explained.

Gu Zhao’s eyebrow twitched. Bai Fei had already told him about the great powers of Shanzhou—aside from the Great Mountain Dharma King, there were two demons and three ghosts. This Palace Master of the Cloud Celestial Divine Palace, Yun Fei’ang, was one of those two demons. His true form was a Golden Eagle, his Dao Practice was profound, and he was said to walk the line between good and evil.

But now, Gu Zhao knew Bai Fei’s description was clearly wrong.

’A power like Silent God Mountain in Yongzhou might be considered to walk the line between good and evil. As long as they don’t deliberately harm mortals, there’s a limit to how much Evil Qi they can accumulate.’

’But the Evil Qi emanating from this Yun Fei’ang is so dense it far surpasses that of Ancestor Mie Yang from Silent God Mountain. It’s almost on par with the Netherfire Sect Leader’s.’

’Even the two Cloud Celestial Divine Palace Elders sitting behind him don’t have as much Evil Qi, but they still have far more than any of the other Demons and Ghosts here.’

’Cloud Celestial Divine Palace... Yun Fei’ang...’ Gu Zhao’s eyes narrowed. He had already put a big red X next to this man’s name in his mental ledger.

Aside from Yun Fei’ang, there were two other individuals in the hall with relatively dense Evil Qi. Gu Zhao didn’t have to ask Bai Fei about them; he figured out their identities just by listening to the names and titles dropped in the casual conversations around him.

One was a Great Demon from Pingzhou, and the other was a Ghost God from Shanzhou.

...

Although the feast had not yet officially begun, the tables were already laden with fruits, vegetables, and alcohol. The guests drank and chatted leisurely. With Bai Fei making introductions, Gu Zhao met several people, and together they continued to greet the masters who arrived one after another at the entrance of the hall.

Feihong Ancestor was truly worthy of his reputation. Having lived for over eight hundred years and known for bestowing favors across the land, he had drawn more than twenty masters to his birthday celebration in a single morning. Not a single one of them possessed less than a thousand years of Dao Practice Cultivation.

A thousand years of Dao Practice was enough to dominate an entire prefecture, your name known throughout the province.

Those who surpassed three thousand years of Dao Practice were considered overlords within their province, their fame spreading across the entire world.

’Honestly, just because Daluo Palace’s top-tier Daoists have all surpassed a thousand years of Dao Practice, and my own cultivation speed is ridiculously fast, doesn’t mean I can look down on masters with a thousand years of practice!’

By noon, all the guests had arrived. A full twenty-nine masters, each with at least a thousand years of Dao Practice, were gathered in one hall. The subordinates they brought with them had Dao Practice ranging from three or four hundred years to six or seven hundred.

Aside from the absence of the absolute top-tier masters, the combined might of the Demons and Ghosts on this one mountain could likely challenge the Xuanwei Divine Sect.

Servants and maids from Rainbow Mountain began to file into the hall like a flowing stream, presenting platters of rare delicacies. A troupe of Dancing Maidens and musicians, hired from the mortal world below, entered the hall and began their performance.

As the banquet progressed, wine cups clinked and the celebration grew increasingly lively.

When the atmosphere reached a peak, the pale-faced Scholar in the first seat to the left rose, offered a salutation, and captured everyone’s attention.

"Today is Feihong Ancestor’s grand birthday! Guests fill the halls, and all under heaven celebrate with us. If I may be so bold as to start things off, I present one three-thousand-year-old Primordial Yang White Ginseng and one piece of Azure Heaven Crystal. May the Ancestor’s life be long and his radiance equal to the sun and moon!"

The pale-faced Scholar clapped his hands. A White Ginseng as thick as a man’s forearm and a fist-sized, azure crystal suddenly appeared, hovering before him.

"Excellent!"

"Bravo!"

The crowd cheered in appraisal. Feihong Ancestor’s eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. "Brother Zhi Yuan, you are too thoughtful."

The Azure Heaven Crystal was one thing, but the Primordial Yang White Ginseng could genuinely increase one’s Cultivation and extend one’s lifespan. At three thousand years of age, it was beneficial even to someone like Feihong Ancestor.

Then two Children came forward, each holding a tray. After receiving the White Ginseng and the Azure Heaven Crystal, they bowed deeply before carrying the trays back to Feihong Ancestor’s side.

Bai Fei explained, "That’s Divine Monarch Zhi Yuan of Yuanzhou. He and Feihong Ancestor are incredibly close."

Seeing the hesitant looks on the faces of the people seated after the pale-faced Scholar, Gu Zhao understood that this three-thousand-year-old Ginseng King must be exceptionally precious.

’Yes,’ he thought, ’because even the Daluo Palace has yet to acquire a treasure with a three-thousand-year medicinal age!’