Lord Xue Ying
chapter-455

"Disciple Brother Dong Bo, I've been spending quite some time at Remote Dust Temple. If you ever want to find me, you should look there first. As for ordinary communication, let's just handle that via communication treasure," said Hui Ming.

"Alright." Xue Ying and Hui Ming exchanged imprints so that they could, in the future, create a more solid relationship through their communication wristbands.

It wasn't long before Hui Ming bade his farewell and left the place.

"Eldest Disciple Brother Hui Ming is heavily respected by the disciples of Crimson Rock Mountain, and now that I've finally met him, I really do think he's extraordinary. He took the initiative to come meet me, and he's acted so polite toward me, as his disciple brother." Xue Ying sighed. It was true that he displayed some huge potential, but the news of him having a grade one True Meaning had yet to be made public. On top of that, Hui Ming had also been a grade one True Meaning Transcendent in the past, the only such Transcendent Sacred Master Crimson Dust received when he was still alive. Currently, he was a stage four World Deity.

"Apparently, Disciple Brother Hui Ming was met with a huge setback in his relationship when he was still young and thus became a monk." Jing Qiu sighed. "As a grade one True Meaning Transcendent, his talent is nothing short of extraordinary, but that mixture of gratitude and resentment he held pushed him to spread his religion rampantly…just so he could become a stage four World Deity that bit faster."

Xue Ying nodded.

The power of faith…

Was very beneficial toward one's cultivation! The accumulation of faith power would bring one's cultivation speed to a whole new level. Hui Ming's talent had always been outstanding, seeing how he was a grade one True Meaning Transcendent, and his cultivation speed only soared higher with it. But while the power of faith brought him success, it also led him to ruin! Faith was, after all, bound by karma. The more one absorbed, the harder it became for them to escape that karma. This was the sole biggest obstacle he, a stage four World Deity, faced in becoming a powerful existence.

Even so, countless World Deities were still spreading their faith wherever they could. They found this path to be their only chance at becoming stage three World Deities! The luckiest of them might even become stage four World Deities. It was only natural for such people to willingly absorb faith power. As for the fact that they would then find it more difficult to become powerful existences? Just how many powerful existences had there appeared in the Deity world and Dark Abyss, from ancient times and all the way to now?

It was simply too difficult.

Grade one True Meaning Transcendents, on the other hand, would usually not absorb faith unless they had a very good reason to do so. Xue Ying had also been warned by Crimson Rock that he should never absorb faith power. Any grade one True Meaning Transcendent had boundless potential and were practically set from the start to become stage four World Deities. To absorb faith just for the sake of saving time, while destroying all hope of becoming a powerful existence, was absolutely not worth it.

　　******

As the days went by, the moment for the Myriad Flower Feast to officially begin soon arrived.

In the central palace of the Bloodshed God Palace.

The start of the Myriad Flower Feast was held at none other than the highest spot of this palace which towered above all others. Clouds could be seen surrounding the place, and many powerful existences made their way through the sky before landing there. All of the powerful existences exuded vastly different auras. Some of them were so scorching hot that they could instantly burn all life within an area of a billion kilometers, while others would be as reserved as the endless abyss. There were even powerful existences with auras so sharp that they could tear through the void. Xue Ying and the others all felt jittery at this sight.

The nineteen hundred final participants were currently sitting at the outermost perimeter, with tables brimming with food placed in front of each and every one of them.

There were soldiers situated all around them, tasked with guarding the area and all of them at least at the grade one World Deity realm. There was even the occasional stage two World Deity here and there. Closer to His Majesty, powerful existences were flanked by stage three World Deities acting as imperial guards, respectfully watching over them.

From what I remember, General Ying's father is a stage three World Deity and one of His Majesty's imperial guards. Xue Ying took a glance in the direction of His Majesty, sweeping his vision over the stage three World Deities there. He is most likely one of those people.

They, mere Deities, were naturally unable to see what was happening over at the feast. Instead, they felt an invisible force pressing down on them, and their naked eyes could only see a blurry scene.

The Bloodshed God Emperor could be seen in the highest position, crimson robes adorning his figure. His eyes were deep, and his aura could be vaguely described as boundless, dark, and destructive. Just by sitting there, he was able to leave the other powerful existences feeling uneasy. To his sides were three other people seated at an equally high position, their auras comparable in power to the Bloodshed God Emperor's.

One of them was a Dark Abyss ruler with a towering body and eyes covered in their entirety by countless blood signs. Much like how the Temporal Island Lord, the Bloodshed God Emperor, and the Myriad God Palace Head were the absolute existences of the Deity world, there were also three rulers who stood at the very peak of the Dark Abyss.

The next person was also a ruler of the Dark Abyss. This one was a cold and handsome man adorned by golden armor. He had the sharpest eyes of the three, and none of the powerful existences below dared look into them.

The third and final expert was a graceful, luxurious-looking woman. Her aura was the most reserved and warm amongst them, though she did not seem to be at any disadvantage in face of the Bloodshed God Emperor and the others.

Other than these four…

The other powerful existences were not split or seated in any hierarchy, though all of them were mighty in their own ways. There were about close to a hundred of them! Some had come from the Dark Abyss, while others were the subordinates of the Bloodshed God Emperor. The largest group was formed of idle powerful existences coming from various organizations. After all, powerful existences were all prideful by nature, and most refused to sit under other people. Even the powerful existences under the Bloodshed God Emperor, the Temporal Island Lord, or the Myriad God Palace Head were not necessarily simple servants.

For instance, the Bloodshed God Emperor had quite a few subordinates, but a portion of them had joined as a means to evade danger, while others joined due to a teacher-student relationship…

Other than powerful existences, there were a number of stage four World Deities who had come over to participate in the feast! However, the largest portion of this group was actually made up of experts from the Bloodshed God Palace. Most stage four World Deities from other organizations were not qualified to attend such an event.

"Old monkey, is it true that you've found a Sun Star Essence Rock in the Sun Star?"

"Who's spouting this rubbish about a Sun Star Essence Rock? No such rock has been found in the Sun Star since more than a hundred billion years ago, so how could I get one? You all must have been thinking about it so much that you've turned mad."

"Quick, come join us for a drink, Old Brother Wu. It's been too long since we two last met, right? I didn't think for a second that you'd come over to participate in this Myriad Flower Feast."

"I've finished a closed-door cultivation session, and I've gained quite a lot from it, so I thought I'd to come out for a stroll."

The powerful existences were all talking amongst themselves. The ones who were relatively close would sit close to each other, while those who shared enmity would maintain some distance.

"Fellow ladies and gentlemen," from his high position, the Bloodshed God Emperor began to speak in a low voice. "So many good friends have come today. I am truly happy to see the Myriad Flower Feast so crowded. You can all keep on drinking and chatting amongst yourselves… but while you do that, how about we watch those youngsters from my Bloodshed God Palace fight each other?"

The many powerful existences turned over to look in the distance, their vision landing on the nineteen hundred Deity experts. Since only the members of the Bloodshed God Palace could accept disciples, most of the powerful existences had simply come to enjoy the crowd.

Forefather Scarlet Flame was also part of the latter group. He had refused to join the Bloodshed God Palace and was instead one of the idle powerful existences.

"Let it begin, then," the Bloodshed God Emperor calmly ordered. In the eyes of this existence who had always been standing at the apex, the Myriad Flower Feast was nothing more than a gathering of old friends. The matter of choosing disciples was no more than an afterthought. Even ordinary existences of high status would rarely select disciples, while the Bloodshed God Emperor would usually not care enough even to select grade one True Meaning Transcendents.

　　******

Powerful existences saw this as no more than a small event and more of a small pleasure. But to Xue Ying and the other Deities, this was a hard-earned opportunity! They sought to make as good a use of this moment as possible, for it was truly rare to see so many powerful existences gathered in the same place!

"Prepare yourselves." A blood-armored commander walked out from the inner section. As a stage four World Deity, his aura was vast and mighty. He swept his gaze across the nineteen hundred Deity experts. "I'll be sending you all inside now. The battle will begin soon."

Xue Ying, Seventh Mei Yu, Jiu She, Drunk Guest, and many other extremely formidable Deity experts were all quietly waiting.

Finally–

The commander from before activated the arrays, and the region where the nineteen hundred Deity experts stood began to glow a golden light. An invisible force then promptly moved the consciousness of Xue Ying and all the others to a distant location, while their true bodies were cut off from their senses.

"Mn?"

Soon, Xue Ying could see a towering mountain stretching up before him. It was surrounded by many other mountains, with which it connected into a chain. The mountain was littered with caverns, and a fog of various colors—from violet, to black, to golden—spiraled within.

With a sweep of his gaze, Xue Ying detected the other Deity experts who were hovering in the distance. Clearly, all nineteen hundred of those Deity experts were scattered across this mountain range.

So formidable. That array was actually able to move our consciousness here? Xue Ying inspected the body his consciousness currently inhabited. This body is very similar to my true body, being at the third level of Time Immemorial Body and also powered by the Great Chaotic True Force.

The Bloodshed God Palace Battle was known as the safest stage precisely because only the consciousness of a participant would ever be sent into battle! Even if this body perished, their consciousness would simply return to the original body.

Is that Dong Bo from the Calm Sea Prefecture? He took first in the ranking battle and second in the survival battle. One of the experts noticed Xue Ying and immediately flew away to some other place with a frown.

Indeed, Xue Ying ranked very high amongst the nineteen hundred Deities. Only someone with a grade one Deity Heart could hope to suppress him.