Chapter 1540 Take It Easy
Just as Xu Que had foreseen in his vision with the help of the "calamity-foreseeing art", the middle-aged man's gaze landed on Xu Que the moment he touched the ground.
With his back against a tree, Xu Que sat in a leisurely fashion, his eyes glazing over. With a trace of melancholy, he took a nonchalant drag of the cigarette, while his other hand gently swirled the can of Sprite before raising it to his mouth to take in the scent of the drink. He then took a sip from it, holding it in his mouth to let his tongue experience the full impact of the carbon dioxide until a subtle sweetness filled his mouth even after he had swallowed the liquid.
Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man frowned and began to hesitate.
This man in black robes before him was utterly beautiful, but the crucial thing was that he was so young. Judging from his bone age, he certainly couldn't have been more than 100 years old.
A young Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven had had the audacity to come to the Heaven Palace Sect unaccompanied. Even in a place like this, he'd still managed to maintain such a gracious disposition in tasting a liquid of some kind.
A person with such qualities must have been cultivated by someone of great influence. Anyone could tell at a glance that this was no ordinary person but a wealthy or respectable person of some kind.
Thus, there was a possibility that laying a finger on such a person in broad daylight could be a source of trouble in the future…
"Fellow cultivator, are you here to attend the Heaven Palace Sect's recruiting conference?" Xu Que had asked enthusiastically with a bright and innocent smile before the middle-aged man could even finish processing his thoughts.
Looking at his innocent face, the middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. Memories from a long time ago began to resurface in his mind uncontrollably.
Once upon a time, when he was still a child starting on his cultivation journey, wasn't he this kind and innocent too?
But alas, those innate qualities of authenticity, kindness, and goodness had long disappeared after the numerous perils and temptations he had experienced throughout so many years.
Those simple yet fine things had constituted his lost youth.
Thinking of this, the middle-aged man sighed inwardly but, at the same time, he had also become resolute about a certain idea.
Sorry, young man, while it isn't a crime to be innocent, you deserve what I'm going to give you for having the audacity to mess around out here despite your innocence. Don't blame me for being brutal.
"Indeed. Are you here to take part in the recruiting conference as well?" replied the middle-aged man in an indifferent tone. Yet, his eyes flashed intimidatingly. His impulse to kill was waking up.
As long as Xu Que nodded, he would be able to confirm that Xu Que had a recruiting pass on him and effectively steal that pass by killing him instantly.
SWOOSH!
Yet, the middle-aged man did not receive an affirmation or a denial from Xu Que.
Instead, he only saw Xu Que transform into a shadow, before hurtling toward him.
Xu Que's remarkable speed broke the sound barrier and gave rise to deafening explosive noises.
"Wh…what?" The middle-aged man could hardly react in time. What on earth was happening?
BOOM!
The next moment, a loud roar sounded.
Just then, the middle-aged man's facial expression changed. He had finally regained his senses.
Xu Que had already appeared before him, with a sinister expression on his face and his Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod in his hands. The rod was resplendent, and it burned with black-and-white flames. At the same time, a few crashes of lightning strikes flashed and crackled, as though a horrifying Heavenly Tribulation was about to descend.
This was a terrifying deadly move. This was a rod filled with divine condemnation. In the face of such a deadly rod, even a Celestial King cultivator would tremble with fear in the deepest part of his soul.
"F*ck!" The middle-aged man swore at once.
What innocence, what kindness, what simple-minded youth, what graceful disposition! To h*ll with your so-called innocence!
At the end of the day, he had been the naive one.
He frantically summoned the Celestial Core Power from every part of his body, put it beneath his feet, and even activated the secret technique of a blood sacrifice to retreat at the fastest speed possible so as to avoid the rod.
After all, he was still a cultivator of the mighty Celestial King stage. Even with his slowest reaction, he'd still managed to dodge Xu Que's attack successfully after displaying his full prowess.
In spite of this, he didn't manage to change his direction in time. He had retreated in a straight line, so while Xu Que's attack didn't crash into his body solidly, the sheer strength of the rod had torn the air and struck his head directly.
With a terrifying sound, the rod drove a hole into the head of the middle-aged man, sending blood everywhere.
"Despicable!" The middle-aged man roared angrily. On the inside, though, he was panic-stricken.
The might of this rod had far exceeded his imagination. Even though the injury didn't count for much and was just a superficial wound, the mere strength of the rod had injured his physical body.
If the sheer strength of the rod could cause damage to his head, wouldn't his head have exploded on the spot had he been impaled by the rod?
"Scoundrel. You dare to commit assault in broad daylight, right outside the Heaven Palace Sect?" The middle-aged man exclaimed vehemently while taking further steps backward. He didn't wish to continue going up against Xu Que.
Xu Que's capabilities had surpassed his expectations and, what's more, he had also lost the chance to strike first. He'd been prepared to create a ruckus to attract the attention of the Heaven Palace Sect. Then, he was going to make up a story that Xu Que had stolen his recruiting pass.
"Ha, ha, ha, why are you shouting so loudly? Are you trying to get people from the Heaven Palace Sect to come to your aid? It's useless. No matter how loud you shout, and even if you shout till your throat dies, no one will pay any heed to you." Xu Que laughed coldly. A golden light flashed beneath his feet, and,with a shake of his body, he closed in on the middle-aged man.
At the same time, he kept the Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod handy. With a pressing motion from his hands, the empty space before him instantly caved in to form a big depression.
BOOM!
An incredibly huge shadow covered the entire vault of the heaven. It was a huge black palm print that radiated a monstrous Lifeless Qi and Yin chills that began to roll toward the middle-aged man.
"What…what Demonic skill is this?" The middle-aged man shrieked instantly. He was scared out of his wits.
In the face of this palm print, he detected an acute sense of danger. He could not help but shudder inwardly. This palm print was much stronger than that rod had been just now.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just learned this, the Great Palm Print of the Netherworld, while waiting for you. It's just a minor celestial art, relax!" Xu Que replied cheerily. That smile of his was as despicable as one could possibly imagine. He spoke as if he was just talking about a trivial matter.
The middle-aged man was so mad that he nearly vomited blood.
A minor celestial art? Relax?
"D*mn it, would you be able to remain calm if you were in my shoes?"
At the same time, he was utterly horrified inside.
"This punk had just said that he'd been waiting for him here? Could it be that he had long known about his arrival and thus had lain here in an ambush to kill him?"
No, that couldn't be it. He hadn't revealed the news to anyone ever since he had acquired the recruiting pass and his trip to the Heaven Palace Sect had been a rushed journey on the down low. So how could this punk have known about his each and every move?
"Could it be…Xiaoli?"
That must be it, it couldn't be anyone else besides Xiaoli.
Xiaoli, oh Xiaoli, your godfather has always treated you with nothing but a genuine heart. I can't believe you are this shallow, falling in love with a young man who has nothing to show for himself but his good looks, and having no qualms about betraying your godfather to him.
AAHHH!
The more the middle-aged man thought about it, the angrier he grew. He clenched his fists tightly, turned towards the sky, and let out a roar.
BOOM!
At such a time of crisis, his body radiated a boundless Qi that rose toward the sky.
The extreme rage he felt had unleashed his never-before-seen potential and from his diaphragm came strong Celestial Core powers one after another. Before him, these powers instantly gathered to form a huge, light-blue sword.
"I summon the Destroy All Life Sword!" the middle-aged man snarled as he pointed two fingers.
The huge, light-blue sword flew toward the big black palm print in the sky, bringing with it a strong destructive energy.
…..
Chapter 1541 I Want to Know the Truth!
BOOM!
Suddenly a deafening noise resounded all around the area where Xu Que had been standing, and the earth shook with massive tremors as if there had been an earthquake.
The explosion had set the sky ablaze, and a blinding glow was spreading everywhere.
A light blue sword had ripped a huge chunk out of the Great Palm Print of the Netherworld that Xu Que had summoned.
The next moment, the mutilated palm print came crashing down, causing the ground to shake even more violently and sending myriad particles of debris flying into the air. The entire area was razed by the force of the attack.
"F*ck. This seems way too strong, even for a Celestial King who's thousands of years old." Xu Que was utterly stupefied.
He had just witnessed what had happened very clearly. The great palm print had been torn apart, and, after it had fallen, a middle-aged man had happened to be right where the tear had been.
This was absolutely beyond Xu Que's comprehension. He had thought that the Great Palm Print of the Netherworld, coupled with the power of a few Obliterating Spells, would be sufficient to finish this Celestial King off.
He had definitely not expected that this Celestial King would be strong enough to cause a massive tear in the Great Palm Print of the Netherworld.
"Impressive, impressive. With this sort of competence, you would totally be able to match up to the masters of the Celestial Prime cultivation stage even thousands of years from now." Xu Que was overwhelmed. This Celestial King from thousands of years ago was indeed as strong as his reputation had suggested. He had underestimated Celestial Kings, and, in particular, their ability to produce such a sudden burst of power. It was too shocking.
SWOOSH!
Overcoming his emotions, Xu Que pushed his palm forward.
All of the debris instantly disappeared, bringing the sky back to its original pristine state.
Where towering trees and green grass had once grown in abundance, all that remained was barren land. A visible depression in the shape of a large palm print could be seen in the ground.
Getting down on one knee, the middle-aged man Celestial King panted heavily, his face as white as a sheet.
That single sword move of his had taken a lot out of him. Not only had he spent a lot of his energy on it, but he had also taken a big hit to his diaphragm area, causing great damage to his meridians. He had been severely injured.
This had made his fear of Xu Que even more acute. He had only managed to unleash this enormous mighty strength after squandering all of his Celestial Core Power and damaging his source of vitality. Even then, he had only managed to parry Xu Que's move. Now both of them seemed to have been drained of a significant amount of their energy.
But this young man seemed completely unaffected by losing so much energy displaying his move. Clearly, he had yet to give it his all.
"Ha, ha, ha…" The middle-aged man couldn't help himself. He let out a bitter laugh. He didn't have the strength to resist any further blows. He'd given up. There was no way he could triumph over this young man.
Besides, he could tell that this entire area had been placed under a restrictive spell. Everything that happened here, no matter how destructive or loud, would never be known by the outside world.
The scariest thing was that there were still a couple of strong Obliterating Spells in the area, which served to multiply the young man's celestial might.
How could anyone put up a fight against this?
"Never mind, never mind! Losers are always in the wrong. Young man, before I die, I just want to ask you one question," the middle-aged man said wearily, his voice filled with desolation. By then, he had resorted to sitting on the ground.
"Oh? What question is that?" Xu Que narrowed his eyes, keeping them focused on the middle-aged man lest he was trying to plot some kind of a trick.
The middle-aged man only raised his head and looked at Xu Que as he asked, "How long have you and Xiaoli been together, and when did you start planning this?"
"???"
At this moment, several questions surfaced in Xu Que's mind. With a puzzled look on his face, he responded, "Who…who is Xiaoli?"
"Who is Xiaoli?"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man flew into a rage. "Even at a time like this, when I am surrendering, you aren't willing to give me the answer to such a simple question?"
"Wang Meili, of course," he answered angrily.
"Huh? Bro, you seem to be laboring under some kind of misunderstanding. I don't know anyone named Wang Meili. I only knew that you were going to attack me, so I simply lay in wait to attack you instead." Xu Que replied, feeling quite dazed and shaking his head at the complexity of the entire situation.
"You knew I was going to attack you?" The middle-aged man froze. Then he immediately turned bright red from anger. His eyes seemed to even be turning black from the rage burning bright in his heart.
"D*mn it, who are you trying to fool? I attacked you on the spur of the moment, and now you're saying that you knew about it in advance and were lying in ambush? What nonsense! You knew nothing in advance."
PFTT!
At last, overcome by his rage, the middle-aged man couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
He simply couldn't tolerate this young man cuckolding him and, on top of that, humiliating him by refusing to admit any bit of the truth.
But he wouldn't take it lying down. He just couldn't understand why he had been betrayed by his beloved Xiaoli. This had all happened way too quickly. Before his death, he just wanted to know the reason behind this entire episode.
"Fellow cultivator, I'm begging you to tell me the truth. I just want to know why Xiaoli had decided to treat me in this way. I have acknowledged my part in all of this, and I only wish to learn the truth so that I may rest in peace." After his violent outburst of anger, the middle-aged man had now become extremely despondent and distressed.
At this point, Xu Que was also becoming a little dumbfounded. This middle-aged man couldn't have been mentally damaged after being hit by him, could he?
Admittedly, he appeared quite pitiful. Perhaps he had been hurt in a relationship before and still hadn't gotten over it. Maybe the heartache from that relationship had caused his inner Demons to appear and made him deranged.
SIGH!
"Forget it. Let me help him with these Demons and do some good at the same time."
Xu Que had held onto the Asura Mad Demon Finger he had originally planned to use. Looking at the middle-aged man calmly, Xu Que said sincerely, "All right. Seeing as things have come to this, I'll tell you everything. What do you wish to know?"
Indeed…
The middle-aged man's heart sank. Filled with sorrow and bitterness, he said hoarsely, "I want to know why Xiaoli is doing this to me…"
While keeping his gaze on the middle-aged man, Xu Que stayed silent for a few moments before he replied in an earnest way, "To be honest, it's probably because you're ugly, but that's okay. It doesn't matter if a man is old and ugly. Even though you won't be able to be liked by everyone at first sight like I am, as long as you persevere, conduct yourself virtuously, and possess talent, you'll soon realize that there still won't be a woman who's interested in you."
As soon as Xu Que had finished speaking, the middle-aged man was completely stunned.
And so was Xu Que.
"Oops, it seems as if I've said something wrong. My chicken soup for the soul has accidentally become poisonous soup for the soul.
"But then again, seeing as this middle-aged man is already totally deranged, he probably won't care about such a tiny detail, right?"
"I…"
All of a sudden, the middle-aged man opened his mouth and said only a single word before a huge fountain of blood spurted out of his mouth.
Following that, his body fell forward stiffly as he collapsed on the ground.
"Screw your mother…" He spat out his last three words half-heartedly, before closing his eyes. The vitality within him died out and, just like that, he breathed his last.
"F*ck!" Xu Que swore at once.
This middle-aged man had died too abruptly, and he had cursed Xu Que before his last breath. How infuriating!
However, Xu Que didn't have any intention of bearing a grudge against a deceased person. He wasn't going to go to the extent of whipping a corpse or anything to that effect.
In the World of Cultivators, it was commonplace for someone to fail at killing another person or stealing another's possessions, just as it was common for someone to be killed by the person they were seeking to destroy. If Xu Que hadn't known about this incident in advance and had had to fight with this middle-aged man Celestial King without any preparation beforehand, he could very well have died.
As for the final sword summoned by this man, Xu Que knew that there was no way he could've survived it. It was only with the help of the few Obliterating Spells that his Great Palm Print of the Netherworld was able to match up to the might of that sword.
Thus, it was most of all thanks to the calamity-foreseeing art of the ten great divine magic arts that Xu Que had received from the System that he was able to experience such a positive outcome.
Finally, Xu Que stepped forward and took the storage ring from the hands of the middle-aged man. Inside, he found a token with the mark of the Heaven Palace Sect engraved on it.
There was no mistaking it. This was the recruitment pass that he needed.
Xu Que took the recruitment pass and turned toward the stone steps nearby. The corners of his mouth turned upward into a smile. At last, he could make it into the Heaven Palace Sect.
But the next instant, his face fell and his eyes got wide.
At the bottom of the steps, where the restrictive spell was still in effect, stood a woman dressed in white. Judging from her stance, she had clearly been there for quite some time, yet he hadn't detected her presence before in the least little bit.
"About your palm print earlier, where did you learn it?" As their eyes met, the woman dressed in white stayed composed and spoke to him in a calm, quiet voice.
At this moment, Xu Que smiled to himself. He hadn't expected to meet Xuanyuan Wanrong, a cultivator from thousands of years ago, in such a way and so soon.
…..
Chapter 1542 This Tool Was Here!
Xu Que had long imagined what this version of Xuanyuan Wanrong from thousands of years ago would look like. After all, since this version would be from thousands of years ago, he felt fairly certain that she would be a little girl, still innocent, or a bashful young lady.
As for her appearance, Xu Que thought that there wouldn't be much of a change. After all, the Xuanyuan Wanrong he knew still looked as if she was in her 20s.
Nevertheless, seeing the Xuanyuan Wanrong from thousands of years ago at this instant, Xu Que felt a bit dumbfounded. He had been completely wrong.
This version of Xuanyuan Wanrong as a young person had the same cold demeanor that she had in the present. At first glance, it was clear that she had no regard for the lowly feelings of mortals. She seemed pretty much akin to an icy mountain.
And, on the contrary, it was her looks that were different. She had more of an infantile softness about her. To Xu Que's surprise, her exquisite face still seemed to have a little baby fat. It wasn't that she appeared fat, but that she had just an adorable touch of being chubby.
TSK.
Xu Que couldn't help it. He felt an acute sense of regret.
And that was because the Xuanyuan Wanrong from this period was already a Celestial King cultivator. If she would've been a little weaker, he could've pinched her cheeks now, or even placed both of his hands on her face and caressed it repeatedly…
Ah, speaking of caressing (pronounced "rou" in Chinese), Xu Que was reminded of Xiao Nuo again.
Xu Que's thoughts were scattered, so that he didn't have to pay too much attention to Xuanyuan Wanrong.
Yet, this didn't affect Xuanyuan Wanrong's emotions one bit. She remained where she was, as calm as ever, sizing Xu Que up.
She had been here from the very beginning, even before the middle-aged man had arrived.
Initially, when she saw that Xu Que had cast a restriction spell at the bottom of the hill, she had already decided to herself to condemn him.
Seeing that he'd had the audacity to cast a restriction spell and lie in ambush at the foot of the Heaven Palace Sect, he clearly had no respect for the Heaven Palace Sect. Furthermore, she, Xuanyuan Wanrong, had always had zero tolerance for despicable acts like these.
But after the middle-aged man had appeared, Xuanyuan Wanrong didn't step forward to stop Xu Que. She could tell that the middle-aged man had come with an intention to kill, and that his target was Xu Que.
This had led her to an understanding that the two of them, Xu Que and the middle-aged man, weren't any good. This was a dog-eat-dog show.
Thus Xuanyuan Wanrong had prepared to leave. She definitely had no plans to concern herself with such a pointless matter. Yet, because of Xu Que's restriction spells, she had been given no choice but to stay.
She was stunned by Xu Que's capabilities. It was incredible that a cultivator who was only at the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage could be this powerful and strike with so much conviction. The palm print that Xu Que had summoned with ease was particularly impressive. Even she had felt pressured by it.
Generally speaking, when it came to celestial magic of this strength, the Heaven Palace Sect, as the greatest powerhouse in the Heaven Continent, should possess it too. Yet, she had never seen a palm print of this might in the multiple years she had spent at the Heaven Palace Sect.
Thus, after the battle had ended, Xuanyuan Wanrong couldn't help but ask Xu Que where he had learned that palm print technique.
But alas, seeing that the young man didn't respond, Xuanyuan Wanrong thought that he was unwilling to reveal the answer to her so she didn't ask him any further questions.
She turned around and spoke to him indifferently, "Before I go, please lift your restriction spell. Oh, and don't come to the Heaven Palace Sect anymore. We don't welcome people like you."
Xuanyuan Wanrong didn't have any intention of getting back at Xu Que with her words. Instead, she said them solely because she couldn't stand Xu Que's act of lying in ambush to kill someone and then stealing their recruitment pass.
She also knew full well that in the world of cultivators, no one could be completely clean or upright in accomplishing the many difficult tasks that they encountered every day.
Even if there were many people like Xu Que in the Heaven Palace Sect, or even people who were more morally corrupt, she didn't care because she hadn't run into them.
But this time, she had caught Xu Que in the middle of his evil doings, so she had given him a warning to make sure he would give up on attending the recruiting conference of the Heaven Palace Sect.
At first, Xu Que continued to be slightly dazed, but upon hearing Xuanyuan Wanrong's words, he instantly raised his brows and rolled his eyes. He was speechless.
It turned out that the Xuanyuan Wanrong from thousands of years ago was just as annoying as she was in the present.
HMPH! "Lass, I don't like what you just said. Do you think I care what you or the Heaven Palace Sect thinks?"
Pointing at the foot of the hill, Xu Que said with rancor, "Even if I, Xu Que, were to starve to death, to die outside from the cold, or to be forced to jump from here, I would never go to your Heaven Palace Sect."
Xuanyuan Wanrong stopped in her tracks, turned around to look at Xu Que, and said expressionlessly, "If you don't care about entering the Heaven Palace Sect, why would you lie in ambush here and kill someone to get their recruitment pass?"
"Couldn't I sell it?" Xu Que replied, glaring at her.
Xuanyuan Wanrong thought about it for a while and nodded. "Sure, you can!"
She felt that it didn't concern her anymore if Xu Que had only intended to sell the recruiting pass and hadn't planned to enter the Heaven Palace Sect.
"I hope you'll practice what you preach. I don't wish to see you at the Heaven Palace Sect!" As soon as she'd finished speaking, she turned around to leave. Her silhouette faded rapidly as she disappeared.
"Don't worry about it! You won't see me for sure. I, Xu Que, have always lived up to my word." Xu Que yelled toward her vanishing silhouette.
Following that, a wide grin made its way onto Xu Que's face again.
"If I, Xu Que, don't go, then surely I can cause the heavens to explode and help Xue Zhiqian to go?
"And if I can't do that, then surely I can blow up the heavens to help Zhang Wuji to go?
"Hee, hee, hee, how naive! There are so many people I can help by blowing up the heavens!"
Soon, Xu Que got rid of the restriction spell that he had cast on the surroundings and made his way toward the mountain forest nearby.
…..
Before long, an elegant man wearing white robes emerged from the mountain forest.
Dressed in the finest clothes with a jade crown on his head and the good looks to match, he exuded sophistication and elegance from head to toe. If it had not been for the brutish smile on his face, anyone would have believed that this man was a learned and refined scholar.
Nevertheless, it was still Xu Que.
To Xu Que, this matter of changing his identity, appearance, and aura was an easy task that could be accomplished by the use of a Disguise Puppet. There was no need to even use divine arts like the 72 Polymorphic Transformations.
At first, there hadn't been a need for him to change his identity, but now he no longer had a choice since he had been seen by Xuanyuan Wanrong. Now he had to keep a low profile for a while in order to have a chance at entering the Heaven Palace Sect. After that, he would try to find the right time to gain a ton of Acting Tough Points from the System so that he could break the restrictions set by the Heavenly Stone of Taiyi and successfully leave this memory world.
"Wondrous hope is right in front of me!"
With that, Xu Que's spirits lifted, and he took huge strides in the direction of the stone steps at the entrance to the Heaven Palace Sect.
However, he had only taken a few strides when from afar came a loud boom, and there was a wave in the magic field that resonated throughout the mountain forest.
HMMM? "Are there people fighting?" Xu Que was taken aback, but, shortly after, he began to rejoice. It appeared that there were many people who were lying in ambush in the vicinity of the Heaven Palace to murder and steal recruitment passes!
A thought came to him, and a majestic aura covered him from head to toe. With a slight wriggling of his ears, he activated the divine hearing art.
With the divine hearing art activated, one could enjoy unfettered, divine hearing anywhere and everywhere. It was up to the one who owned the art whether or not they wanted to listen to all the sounds in the world.
Xu Que focused intently on listening to the tussle from afar. Immediately, he could hear clearly the sounds of a conversation taking place.
"D*mn it! You beasts are despicable, and yet you still dare to call yourselves disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect? Your Holiness despises you!"
HMPH! "Mighty King, you have committed countless evil doings. In the last ten years, you have embezzled numerous objects from the Heaven Palace Sect's Treasure Cove more than 100 times, stolen more than ten celestial artifacts, and more than 100 celestial arts. Quick, surrender!"
"Nonsense! Your Holiness has never done such lowly things. This is slander! He who has a mind to beat a dog will easily find a stick!"
"How dare you argue? Die!"
…..
At this point, there was another BOOM created by a magic art that sounded again.
Xu Que's eyes widened. He was appalled.
"Your Holiness? Mighty King?
"D*mn it, wasn't that Buttface?
"F*ck, just as he'd expected, this tool was also here thousands of years ago!
Chapter 1543: Long Time, No See, Buttface
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At first Xu Que was very shocked, but then he felt an inexplicable sense of joy and happiness.
He'd never thought that he would meet Buttface in this memory world of Xuanyuan Wanrong.
Even though the old idiot had told him that he'd lived for many lifetimes, he was now in the Heaven Palace Sect at a time thousands of years ago. Furthermore, the world of the Heaven Continent where they were was so huge that Xu Que couldn't even imagine that it would have been possible that he would be able to meet Buttface here.
But coincidentally, he'd now heard Buttface being besieged by the people from the Heaven Palace Sect right at the foot of the mountain. This is going to be fun!
"Heh, heh, heh, this is very interesting…"
Suddenly, Xu Que laughed and turned invisible. Using the Walk of Yu, he instantly transformed into a shadow and made his way toward the scene swiftly.
Soon he came upon a large tree, where he stopped in his tracks.
The battleground in front of him was extremely chaotic. Xu Que squinted to take a closer look so that he could figure out what was going on. Finally, he was able to see clearly the faces of all those engaged in the fight.
Judging by their appearances, most of the fighters seemed to be young disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect. Despite their young age, they had all reached the Celestial King cultivation stage. The disciples were all clad in black-and-green robes embroidered with the Heaven Palace Sect's logo. They were engaged in attacking a fire Kylin.
Xu Que was stupefied.
"Where was Buttface?"
In the next instant, he understood what was going on.
Xu Que had figured out Buttface's story. Thousands of years ago, Buttface had yet to become a dog. He was a Kylin then, and he even set up the Mighty Sect in the Four Great Continents, transforming himself into the Kylin Patriarch.
Although his looks had changed, his manner of speech and the way he fought had not changed one bit.
As a Kylin, Buttface had great physical strength, innate divine power, and the ability to control fire. In spite of all these amazing powers, he still fought in just as cowardly a manner as he later had as a dog, scurrying about with his head in his hands and spitting at the Heaven Palace Sect's disciples from time to time. Also, whenever he found the chance, he would kick one of them in the groin.
On witnessing this scene, Xu Que couldn't stop shaking his head.
Those disciples of the Celestial King cultivation stage were most likely the elite disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect, judging by their attire. Despite their extraordinary capabilities, it was apparent that they couldn't take Buttface down, even though they outnumbered him by a lot and they had the use of so many magic spells.
"Hee, hee, hee, who cares? Since I'm already here, let me help you out." Xu Que snickered to himself and summoned the System interface once more.
While the fighting continued, Xu Que got out his spell disk and cast a few obliterating spells throughout the surroundings.
BOOM!
As soon as the first spell was cast, it triggered a tremendous wave of celestial core power. Although the wave only lasted for a split second, the disciples and Buttface all felt it at the same time.
"A spell?"
��What insolence! Who's there?"
The disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect instantly stood apart from Buttface, as they stopped the fight temporarily and started shouting at their surroundings.
Buttface opened his eyes wide, scanning his surroundings furtively. However, he didn't care who'd secretly cast spells here. Instead, he was looking for an opportunity to flee.
Seeing that the spell had been cast successfully, Xu Que decided that there was no longer any reason for him to hide himself. He reverted to his true form and emerged, dressed in a black robe and carrying his Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod.
"I am Xu Que, from the Exploding Heavens Faction. Fellow cultivators from the Heaven Palace Sect, there are so many of you ganging up against one person here. That doesn't seem right." Xu Que expostulated with a slight smile and the diction of a pro.
"Scoundrel, you are within the boundaries of the Heaven Palace Sect. What business is it of yours that we��re trying to seize this villain?" One of the disciples shouted at Xu Que, all the time pointing a finger at him.
"It is very much a business of mine," Xu Que said with a bright smile. "This Buttface and I…oh no, this Mighty King, who has an extraordinary temperament, and I have an affinity. I am full of regret that I didn't know him earlier. It wasn't possible for me to just stand by, watching as all of you ganged up against him. Why don't you show me some respect and let him go?"
"F*ck!" With surprise written all over his face, Buttface exclaimed, "Fellow cultivator, you have great taste."
"He's definitely asking for it!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the disciples from the Heaven Palace Sect exchanged cold glances and two of them immediately decided to attack Xu Que.
They thought that it was extremely laughable that any cultivator of the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage had the audacity to talk about respect in their presence.
As usual, Xu Que had a smile on his face. With two powerful Celestial King cultivators attacking him simultaneously, he naturally had no way to take them down head on. Hence, he moved back, retreating hundreds of yards instantly.
At the same time, Xu Que raised one of his arms and made a strong motion with his palm.
KABOOM!
The Great Palm Print of the Netherworld was about to make its appearance once again.
The vault of heaven was once again covered by an enormous shadow. The completely black palm print materialized in the sky and began to collapse on the disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect.
Xu Que had added the strength of a few obliterating spells, and thus the might of the Great Palm Print was multiplied. There was a majestic air about it, and it was extraordinarily turbulent.
"What?"
"How is this possible?"
The faces of the disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect looked dumbfounded.
The power of this celestial art was far beyond their imaginations. How could a cultivator of the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage display celestial art of this might?
"Impressive, impressive, brother. F*ck them all!" Buttface was hysterical. He was hollering and cheering Xu Que on.
At the same time, he remained very agile. While the disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect had been stunned by Xu Que for a moment, he instantly found the chance to take to his heels. In a flash, he had already made his way into the depths of the forest.
"F*ck…" Xu Que swore to himself.
Even though he'd long known about Buttface's shameless nature, he didn't realize that this idiot would be just as shameless in his previous life and would have had the cheek to leave with no thank yous and not a moment's notice… No, wait. To be exact, this idiot hadn't given any previous notice. He'd left without a single word. Clearly, he had no sense of morality.
KABOOM!
Just then, a deafening noise resounded from the sky.
The golden flash of a sword cut across the sky. Xu Que's Great Palm Print of the Netherworld, which had materialized and covered the sky, had been destroyed by that flash in mid-air.
"This is the Heaven and Earth Suppression Sword."
"Senior Xuanyuan!"
All of the Heaven Palace Sect disciples cried out in terror.
Xu Que was shocked too. Upon searching with his soul sense, he discovered that Xuanyuan Wanrong's presence was indeed approaching at an incredible speed.
F*ck, this woman is everywhere!
SWOOSH!
Without a moment's hesitation, he instantly pulled out a Celestial-Grade Escape Emblem. With a shake of his body, he immediately became a blur on the spot.
"That's not good: stop him!" One of the Heaven Palace Sect disciples yelled after him. At the same time, he got out some magic in an attempt to stop Xu Que, but, alas, he was a step too late.
At the last second, Xu Que succeeded in not being brought down by the disciples of the Heaven Palace Sect and made his escape.
In a fight against a few Celestial King cultivators from the Heaven Palace Sect, Xu Que had no chance of winning. Furthermore, with Xuanyuan Wanrong here now, he would've died if he hadn't made his move.
…..
While all of this was happening, in the depths of the forest, Buttface, who was in his Kylin form, was dashing wildly away as fast as he could. He was running in the direction of the back area of the Heaven Palace Sect.
"D*mn it, thankfully I was witty enough to escape this time. Hee, hee, hee, never in their wildest dreams would they ever guess that I was going to rob their treasure trove again right now."
Buttface cackled as he ran, before expressing, with a face full of regret shortly after, "Oh dear, what a shame! That young man just now, the rod he had with him is clearly no ordinary item. I should have gotten my hands on it before I ran away."
"Buttface, is this the rod you were referring to?" All of a sudden, cold laughter rang out.
Following the bizarre laughter, ripples surfaced in the empty space in front of Buttface and the Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod poked out of it.
"F*ck!" Buttface had been running at full speed now, not stopping even for a moment, and his face came right up in front of the rod all at once.
Shortly after, only a THUMP could be heard as Buttface, not sent flying, instead, stood rooted to the ground by the force of the rod.
"F*ck me!"
Practically at the same time, Xu Que's cursing voice could be heard coming from the void behind the rod.
With quick strides, he stepped out of the void. His body materialized, and in his hands he held the Tough-Acting King's Purple Gold Rod and an intimidating look on his face.
Motherf*cker! Buttface's body in his past life had actually been so sturdy that he'd made my hands. the hands of an Act-Tough Saint, numb.
"Hmm? Fellow cultivator, you've escaped too? That's a matter worth celebrating. Your Holiness's admiration toward you is akin to a surging river that knows no bounds…"
Buttface saw Xu Que's face clearly, and he immediately rejoiced. He even made a gesture to congratulate Xu Que.
Xu Que rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as he thought of what to say next.
Suddenly, Buttface grabbed onto the Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod and held it to his chest. At the same time, he unleashed a shocking strength as he was about to turn and make a run for it.
"D*mn it!" Xu Que hollered right away. "I f*cking knew you would try to steal this. You're done for!"
As soon as he'd finished speaking the Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod that Buttface had cradled in his arms disintegrated into molten gold and revolved all around him before finally settling around his neck. It became a Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Collar, which started to tighten around Buttface's neck.
OOWW! Buttface was startled by this sudden change where he was being strangled. He only managed to let out a short cry before he collapsed to the ground.
"Long time, no see, Buttface… Oh wait, you're still called the Mighty King!"
Just then, Xu Que sashayed over with the brightest, most innocent smile on his face and looked down at Buttface.
Buttface had had lots of social experiences. However, upon seeing this smile of Xu Que's, he instantly shuddered.
D*mn it, Your Holiness has truly encountered a callous person this time.
…..
Chapter 1544: Utterly Shameless
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"My fellow cultivator, it's all been a misunderstanding. Everything has been a misunderstanding."
Buttface walked around in circles with a beautiful, sincere smile on his face as he tried to explained everything to Xu Que.
"A misunderstanding, eh? Okay, then let me hear you explain how this has been a misunderstanding?" Xu Que looked at Buttface with a grin.
Xu Que understood very well Buttface's morality and conduct. No one could move faster than Buttface when it came to selling people out. Xu Que had originally believed that this guy had been his Kylin Patriarch in his previous life and could be different. He hadn't expected him to continue with the same kind of trash.
Buttface stared blankly at Xu Que for a moment. He hadn't expected that Xu Que would give him a chance to explain.
However, then he put on a serious expression and spoke righteously, "My fellow cultivator, this has all really been a misunderstanding. When you saved me just now, it was not that Your Holiness didn't want to help you. I didn't abandon you and run away. Your Holiness only thought to…"
"You wanted to go get reinforcements, right?" Xu Que finished Buttface's sentence for him.
When he'd first met Buttface, Buttface had used this lousy excuse countless times.
"Cr*p, how did you know?" Buttface stared wide-eyed as if he were shocked after hearing what Xu Que had said.
"Oh, sure." Xu Que smiled and said, "Then why did you snatch my rod?"
"Rod? What rod?" Buttface looked appalled.
Xu Que stretched out his fingers and pointed toward Buttface's neck. The purple-gold dog collar around Buttface's neck instantly returned to its original shape: Xu Que's Tough-Acting King's Purple-Gold Rod.
OOOWWW!!
Buttface immediately screamed and leaped up from the ground. He looked around and shouted angrily toward the uninhabited forest on the mountain, "Who did this? Who put that rod here with Your Holiness? This is simply outrageous."
After yelling this, he immediately handed the rod back to Xu Que and spoke forcefully, "My fellow cultivator, keep the rod carefully. Your Holiness will be in charge of this matter on your behalf. I will find the thief of this rod and also the culprit who planted this and tried to frame Your Holiness."
"Wow…" Xu Que went along with him. He said with the hint of a smile, "So it turns out that this was planted on you, and you've been framed by someone?"
"Of course, that's exactly the case. My fellow cultivator stood by me and saved me. Your Holiness is extremely grateful. How could I be so cruel and unscrupulous as to steal my fellow cultivator's rod? That's simply unconscionable." Buttface spoke with righteous conviction. His face didn't even look uncomfortable at all.
"Oh, come off it, you haven't changed one bit in your morality and conduct. Even after tens of thousands of years have passed, and you've reincarnated, you are still exactly the same shameless thing." Xu Que shook his head and felt dumbfounded as he ridiculed Buttface.
When Buttface heard what Xu Que had said about him, his face changed instantly and he moved back a bit. He looked at Xu Que warily as he said, "How…how do you know the secret of Your Holiness's reincarnation? Don't tell me you knew Your Holiness in my previous life also?"
With that, he immediately shook his head and said, "No, that's not right. Your bone age is not even 100 years old. How could you possibly have known Your Holiness in my previous life?"
Xu Que rolled his eyes and answered with a smile, "Heh, heh, heh, that's because I've also been reincarnated. Ah, we were actually sworn brothers who made our offerings to the gods in our previous lives. Don't you remember it at all? You once told me that you'd belonged to a group of Ancient Magic Dragons and needed to go through the nine cycles of reincarnation to finally…"
"Sshhh!"
He hadn't finished speaking when Buttface hurriedly reached out his paw to stop Xu Que from finishing his sentence. He looked full of mystery and nervously lowered his voice to say, "Brother, don't speak so loudly. Your Holiness's identity is a startling secret and cannot be revealed."
"Is that so?" Xu Que smiled at him.
"A secret? This fool Buttface has a secret?
"To h*ll with it! In his other life, this guy had told the story about his identity to anyone who would listen. He couldn't wait to let the entire world know that it was a dragon. Unfortunately, no one in the world that he'd told believed him."
"Of course, since you remember the events of my previous life so well, how can you not know that it was a secret? Were you really sworn brothers with Your Holiness in your previous life?" Buttface looked mysteriously at Xu Que and acted as if he was taking all these things very seriously. He looked as if he really believed all of Xu Que's nonsense.
Xu Que was momentarily startled. It seemed that Buttface's low IQ hadn't been something that was particular to any one of his lives.
"Buttface, I've already told you this much. You still don't believe me? We were sworn brothers in our previous lives. We stole from many treasure troves and excavated a bunch of ancestral tombs. You were responsible for the digging and I was responsible for the taking. We were regarded as best partners by everyone."
"Buttface? F*ck, how did Your Holiness have this name. It's not impressive." Buttface immediately got angry.
"It's true! In those years, you called me Lord Brother and I called you Buttface. We were so close. Have you forgotten everything?" Xu Que looked completely sincere.
"Lord Brother?"
Buttface was a little confused and seemed to be trying his best to recall what Xu Que was talking about, but it seemed as if it was still all a blank.
Buttface looked at Xu Que and asked him, "Brother, what's your full name then?"
"Alas, I can't believe it's possible that you could forget this. My last name is Xu and my first name is Lord Lord," Xu Que said.
"Lord Lord Xu?" Buttface repeated the name as he fell into deep thought.
A while later, he shook his head, seemingly embarrassed, and said, "Brother Xu, Your Holiness really doesn't recall anything. But you can rest assured that since you know Your Holiness's greatest secret in life, then you must be a man who Your Holiness trusts. So we can still be good brothers in this life."
"Buttface!" Xu Que appeared to be very moved and patted Buttface on the shoulder.
"Lord Brother!" Buttface looked as if he was breaking into sobs, but there were no tears. He also patted Xu Que's shoulder.
A man and a dog…well, a man and a Kylin… They both said in unison, "Good brothers!"
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Suddenly, there were sounds of blasting not too far away.
These sounds were immediately followed by a loud growl. "Mighty King, where have you escaped to? Tie your hands, and wait to be captured."
SWISH!
Xu Que and Buttface didn't even look at one another. They turned around immediately and started to run. They sold each other out without a moment's hesitation.
At almost exactly the same time, the several disciples from the Heaven Palace Sect also scuttled out of the forest. They couldn't help hesitating as they watched Xu Que and Buttface escaping in different directions.
"There's no need to care about that young man. The Elders have given the order to arrest the Mighty King."
A cold female voice rang out. It was closely followed by Xuanyuan Wanrong appearing in the air. She'd transformed into a beam of light and gave chase in the direction where Buttface had escaped
"Yes!" Several of the Heaven Palace Sect disciples immediately responded as they ran in the same direction as Xuanyuan Wanrong.
"F*ck! Why are they only chasing after Your Holiness?" Buttface shouted from afar, unable to resign itself to this unfair destiny. He spoke angrily, "That boy is Your Holiness's sworn brother. No, he is Your Holiness's sworn older brother. He instigated everything."
However, Xuanyuan Wanrong and the others did not pay attention to his shouts at all and continued to pursue him at lightning speed.
"Come on!" Buttface was so angry that he suddenly scolded himself. His two hind legs were dashing along the ground and his forelimbs were groping about finding his way. Suddenly, he pulled out a Spell Disk and pinched out a few Taoist seals.
BOOM!
In an instant, the brilliant light on the Spell Disk refracted multiple three-dimensional halos of runes.
"A directional teleportation? Stop it!" Xuanyuan Wanrong coldly shouted as she realized what he was doing. At the same time, she swung a sword down toward Buttface, trying to finish him off once and for all.
However, her swordplay couldn't be compared to the speed of Buttface's directional teleportation spell. At the same moment that the sword fell, Buttface's body flashed and directly disappeared within the halos of runes.
At the same time, Xu Que, who had been running in the opposite direction, suddenly noticed a glow light up at his waist.
"What the h*ll?"
Xu Que stared blankly and looked down. He didn't know when this Spell Disk, which was as small as a thumb, had been attached to his waist.
"Cr*p, this b*stard Buttface!"
SWISH!
The next moment, there was a flash of light, and Buttface rushed out from within the spell and met up again with Xu Que.
"Brother Xu, don't panic, Your Holiness is with you. I'll renew our brotherhood from our previous world. We will enjoy blessings and endure misfortunes together!" Buttface shouted loudly. His voice was resounding, powerful, and invariably firm.
"You brazen b*stard! You are utterly shameless." Xu Que was annoyed and scolded him.
"Heh, heh, heh, don't be concerned about this kind of thing between brothers." Buttface laughed mischievously. He had already figured out Xu Que's strength, and he was well aware that he would only be able to escape by dragging Xu Que into his mess.
But suddenly Buttface's smile began to stiffen.
The figure of Xu Que, who had initially been running along with him, appeared to be gradually fading.
"Cr*p, you f*cking used a replica! You despicable b*stard. You're utterly shameless!" A heart-wrenching howl from Buttface rang through this forest on the mountain.
…..
Chapter 1545 Good Brothers
In the same forest, on the same mountain, in the other direction, the corners of Xu Que's mouth ticked up as he listened to Buttface's voice reverberating in the distance.
"Buttface, you wanna play with me? You're still not up to scratch…"
"Boy, you'd better come out soon. We were so close in our previous lives. Can you bear to watch Your Holiness being bullied and humiliated by other people?" Buttface's voice rang out, echoing off the mountain.
Xu Que shook his head and smiled without saying a word. The moment he'd heard it, he'd known that this fool had been trying to lure him to reply so he could lock in on his location and drag him into this mess, and then run away at his first opportunity.
"Ah, Brother Xu, please come out here quickly!
"Lord Brother, don't tell me you've forgotten Buttface?
"Don't you remember all the days when we fought alongside one another?"
Buttface continued to shout, trying to use Xu Que's words from before to influence Xu Que.
Xu Que wasn't moved at all as he listened to Buttface. It even made him want to laugh a little…
PAH!
"Sorry, I couldn't hold back. I'm already laughing!"
However, he really didn't intend to watch Buttface being hunted down by Xuanyuan Wanrong.
Originally he had been prepared to use the Celestial Grade Escape Emblem to take Buttface and escape. But in order to guard against Buttface's tricks, Xu Que had decided to accomplish this in another way.
So, from the beginning, when he'd begun to prepare the setup of the formation, he'd laid out an Illusory Spell in a small area of the forest. Although it couldn't completely trap Xuanyuan Wanrong and the others, it would still bring no small amount of trouble to her and the Heaven Palace Sect disciples.
It was precisely because of this formation that Buttface had had the time to shout at Xu Que. Otherwise, he would've been caught long ago by Xuanyuan Wanrong and the others and probably beaten to death.
Meanwhile, as Buttface ran, he also detected something was fishy. The great danger that Xuanyuan Wanrong and the Heaven Palace Sect disciples presented was getting farther and farther away. He was even beginning to not sense it anymore.
In this case, there were only two possibilities.
Either Xuanyuan Wanrong and the disciples were too powerful and were able to hide their murderous auras to a perfect level. Or else, the distance between the two sides was being pulled farther and farther apart. Perhaps the murderous aura would gradually disappear.
"Huh, an Illusory Spell?"
Buttface couldn't help but turn his head to take a look. He instantly discovered the fluctuations in the Celestial Core Power that were caused by the spell. He recognized that it was an Illusory Spell.
"Buttface, come here quickly!" Almost simultaneously, Xu Que's voice sounded out.
Buttface's eyes brightened as he said, "F*ck, will do, big brother!"
With a SWISH, he sped in Xu Que's direction.
Not long after, the two of them met again, holding each other's hands tightly.
"Lord Brother!"
"Buttface!"
Xu Que and Buttface appeared righteous-looking and showed total devotion while they shouted in unison, "Good brothers!"
"You really scared Your Holiness to death just now. I thought Brother Xu had betrayed me, so I said some impulsive words. I hope that you, my brother, aren't angry." Buttface explained unashamedly.
"You fool, how could I mind? The situation just now was too dangerous, so I didn't have time to explain the plan to you. I hope you don't mind, Brother Buttface." Xu Que flashed an amazing smile.
"You've proved yourself to be Your Holiness's good brother. Let's go, we'd better get out of this place right away."
Buttface finished speaking and took the initiative to lead the way. Apparently he was very familiar with this forest on the mountain.
But a few steps later, he said again, "By the way, Brother Xu, let's discuss something."
"What's the matter?" Xu Que asked.
"In the previous life, you called me Buttface and I called you Lord Brother. You see, you are so much younger than Your Holiness in this life. Why don't we change what we call each other?"
"How do you want to change it?"
"Your Holiness is older than you by a few thousand years in this world. With our friendship, can we address each other as peers of the same generation and call each other by our own names. How about it?"
"Sure!"
"Good, Brother Xu, you're frank and straightforward. That settles it then. From now on, you will call Your Holiness the Mighty King and Your Holiness will call you Master Lord!"
"No problem, Mighty King!"
"That's great, Master Lord!"
Buttface suddenly beamed happily and looked as if he were over the moon. Finally, he no longer had to shout to another person as older brother.
…..
After a while, Xu Que and Buttface finally stepped out of the forest on the mountain. They quickly covered up their presence to avoid being tracked and pursued again by Xuanyuan Wanrong and the others.
After determining that it was safe in the surroundings, Buttface also immediately pulled out a palm-sized Spell Disk from his bosom. He placed it on the ground and started fiddling with it.
"What are you doing?" Xu Que asked with a smile.
"Humph! Your Holiness has always been about an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Those people from the Heaven Palace Sect have dared to vilify Your Holiness and say that he dallies with women. Now Your Holiness is ready to sneak into their treasure trove to carry out a vicious retaliation." Buttface spoke with the courage of his convictions.
PFFT!
"It just so happens that I'm also getting ready to go to the Heaven Palace Sect. Shall we work together on this round?" Xu Que said with a laugh.
"Work together? How should we work together?" Buttface became interested.
"As far as I know, they're having a general assembly to recruit new people today, and I happen to have received a recruitment invitation. I will go and make a mess of the recruitment assembly first to distract their attention. At that time, you will enter the treasure house, and then you can…"
"Do whatever I want!" With a smirk on his face, Buttface finished the sentence
with words that Xu Que hadn't yet spoken.
"That's right. But for us to share the spoils from this treasure house, are we going to follow the old rules, or should we set a new rule?" Xu Que asked with a smile.
"Old rules?" Buttface stared blankly.
"The old rules from our previous lives. Ten-90 split: ten for you and 90 for me," Xu Que replied.
"F*ck!" Buttface jumped up in agitation and said, "Not cool at all. We must make new rules."
"Then how about 20-80 split? 20 for you and 80 for me?"
"Come on, boy, are you so wicked? Let's be fair. How about a 50-50 split?"
"50-50?" Xu Que hesitated for a moment and finally nodded."All right then. After all, this is the first time we are working together in this world. 50-50 split it is then!"
"You're a good brother!" Buttface was full of smiles again.
"50-50 split? In your dreams! When the times comes, Your Holiness will scrape clean the treasure house and directly slip away."
…..
Soon, they separated. Buttface fiddled with the teleportation device and got ready to be teleported to the Heaven Palace Sect's treasure house.
Xu Que continued on his way alone and walked out from the other side of the forest on the mountain. Using the Disguise Puppet again, he transformed into his previous appearance of a beautiful man clad in elegant white clothes. He carried the recruitment ticket and set foot on the stone steps leading to the Heaven Palace Sect's gate.
With his disguise, Xu Que's presence and appearance had completely changed.
The Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven who was guarding the main gate didn't recognize Xu Que, but sensed the presence of the recruitment ticket Xu Que had on him. He didn't release any powerful pressure to block Xu Que.
Just as Xu Que arrived in front of the main gate, a tall, sturdy man walked out, blocking his way, as he asked, "Fellow cultivator, please stop and identify yourself first."
Apparently, this tall, sturdy man was the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven who had been guarding the main gate.
Xu Que smiled slightly and politely bowed with his hands cupped in greeting, "I'm Slayer Lord from the Exploding Heavens Faction."
"Slayer Lord?" The tall, sturdy man frowned. He didn't think the name was strange, but he felt that the name and the image of this graceful young man in front of him somehow didn't match.
But he didn't care much. He reached out with a flourish and took the recruitment ticket from Xu Que. He plucked a jade tile from midair. After he'd engraved the two words, Slayer Lord, on top, he tossed it to Xu Que.
"Go in, go straight and then turn right. Someone will take you to the martial arts hall to report."
"Thank you, Senior Brother." Xu Que took the jade tile and cupped his hands in thanks. He continued, "By the way, Senior Brother, when I came up the mountain just now, I inadvertently saw a Kylin named Mighty King fiddling with a teleportation device, saying that he was getting ready to sneak into the Heaven Palace Sect's treasure house to carry out a theft."
…..
Chapter 1546 Differences in Tao Aura
"What? You say you've met the Mighty King?"
The tall, sturdy man heard his words, and his face became instantly alarmed.
"That's right. At the time when I heard him say that he intended to ransack the Heaven Palace Sect's treasure house, I rushed up to him, wanting to stop him immediately. But, unfortunately, I was a step too late. He had teleported and left. If I'm not wrong, he is now already in the treasure house." Xu Que looked full of regret.
"D*mn, why didn't you say so earlier?" The tall, sturdy man stared at Xu Que, extremely annoyed.
"But you didn't ask." Xu Que retorted self-righteously.
"You…" The tall, sturdy man suddenly stopped arguing with Xu Que and said, "Forget about it. It's still not too late. I'll report the matter to the Elders. You'd better hurry to the martial arts training field. If I can catch the Mighty King this time, I'll cite you for meritorious service."
Having said that, the tall, sturdy man left in a hurry and completely forgot about his job guarding the main gate.
It went without saying that capturing Buttface seemed more important than guarding the main gate.
With the present status of the Heaven Palace Sect, it was irrelevant whether the main gate was guarded or not. In the Heaven Continent of this era, perhaps no one would dare to directly crash the Heaven Palace Sect's main gate. The reason why the tall, sturdy man was here was probably only to receive and greet the cultivators who were attending the recruitment congregation.
However, the corners of Xu Que's mouth curled up into a smirk as he watched the tall, sturdy man go.
The wheels in his mind turned, and he summoned the System interface, from which he retrieved a few small objects.
WHOOSH!
The few small objects he'd retrieved suddenly turned into a flowing light and swept around the main gate to merge into the spell formation on the ground. The Mountain's protective spell at the main gate wobbled a little. The movement was minimal, and absolutely no one noticed.
"Done, I can now have some fun with peace of mind!" Xu Que smiled. He turned around and walked briskly in the direction of the martial arts training field.
He didn't need anyone else to lead the way for him in this place. He'd been here once tens of thousands of years from now. At that time, this place had been holding a Chosen by Heaven Ceremony, and he'd come here and stolen the Heavenly Stone of Taiyi .
But Xu Que was shocked now as he returned to this slightly familiar place.
When he'd first entered this place previously, even though everything was still sparkling and intact, it had appeared empty and desolate with a pervasive sense of lifeless isolation.
The large Heaven Palace Sect had by now only consisted of a dozen old Celestial Kings and Celestial Primes who he'd released by lifting a seal.
But the Heaven Palace Sect that he was visiting today, which actually was tens of thousands of years ago, was at its peak period. Even Xuanyuan Wanrong had not yet fully grown up, but this Heaven Palace Sect had already controlled and ruled the Heaven Continent by force. They were a single large entity, looking down disdainfully on the whole world.
When Xu Que had first heard of this, he hadn't believed it. Now that he had personally witnessed it, he was totally stunned.
Just passing through the main gate and stepping in the direction of the martial arts training field, Xu Que had already seen hundreds of Heaven Palace Sect disciples at the Taiyi Genuine Celestial Stage.
"What are those guys doing?
"Come on, it looks like they're sweeping the floors and wiping the building clean."
Next to him was a man who was a Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven, who was obviously a supervisor. He would expressionlessly berate them from time to time.
"What's wrong with you. Do you know how to sweep? Do you know how to wipe?
"How can my Heaven Palace Sect produce a group of useless individuals like you? You can't even kill and behead 100 Demonic Beasts of the same cultivation in ten days. The other several hundreds of disciples who were admitted at the same period as you have at least cut off 150 heads. There are also ten outstanding disciples who have subdued and killed more than 800 Demonic Beasts.
"You should ask yourselves honestly: Do you feel ashamed? Are you worthy of the cultivation the Heaven Palace Sect has given you?
"The Elders have sealed your cultivation and punished you for your own good, so that you can cultivate your state of mind and have the opportunity to comprehend a higher Tao Aura…"
…..
Listening to the words of this man at the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage, the 100 Taiyi Genuine Celestial disciples bowed their heads in shame.
When Xu Que passed by them, he also bowed his head and almost cried just listening to it.
"D*mn, was the Heaven Palace Sect so evil tens of thousands of years ago?"
However, as he walked farther, Xu Que saw another 100 disciples at the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage who went from controlling magic weapons to transforming into streams of light to fly across the sky in a great hurry.
Behind the group of disciples at the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven stage, there was someone at the Celestial King stage, wearing a black-and-green robe who appeared to be an elite disciple cultivator. He was chasing after them.
"Senior Brother, have mercy, we admit defeat for this assessment," the 100 Golden Celestials of the Great All-Embracing Heaven shouted as they fled.
"Yes, Senior Brother, we are from the third-class compound. How strong can we be? Can't you spare some feeling for us?"
The elite Celestial King snorted, "The Elders have orders that the criterion for you people from the third-class compound is ten moves. If you can't even withstand ten moves from me, you have to continue with the assessment. Those who are hit hard will be demoted into the fourth-class compound."
"Come on!"
Xu Que looked at the scene and just wanted to vomit blood.
"The criterion was ten moves from a Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven? And that was just the criterion of the third-class compound?
"Further up the ranks would be the second-class compound and the first-class compound. Would those Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven disciples not be more powerful?
"Holy sh*t!"
As Xu Que walked along, he increased his knowledge. After all, he really couldn't see where he would have fit in in this era.
There were so many Taiyi Celestials and Celestials of the Great All-Embracing Heaven, as well as so many elite disciples of the Celestial King stage. The key was that the strength of these people was far more powerful than those cultivators of the same cultivation stage in later generations.
"Even the Golden Celestial of the Great All-Embracing Heaven who had guarded the main gate earlier was so strong, Xu Que had realized that it would have been almost a 30-70 split between them if he hadn't been able to launch the System's retaliatory mechanism.
"Of course, he would be 70 and the other guy 30. The odds of winning would still be high. But compared to those Golden Celestials of the Great All-Embracing Heaven who he'd killed easily with one move, the main gate guard had seemed very strong."
"Fellow cultivator, you're in the wrong place!" At this time, a voice came from not far away.
Xu Que stared blankly for a moment and looked over to the voice. A slender young man, clad in a blue shirt, was talking to him. "Over there is the assessment area for the Taiyi Celestial Stage. Our Celestial Stage of the Great All-Embracing Heaven assessment area is over here."
When Xu Que heard this, he realized that he'd indeed gone the wrong way since he'd been in kind of a daze.
He had unwittingly come to the martial arts training field. The ground was also marked with the assessment areas for various cultivation stages. There were three areas. There were respectively: the Taiyi Celestial Stage area, the Celestial Stage of the Great All-Embracing Heaven area, as well as the Celestial King stage area.
In other words, the lowest cultivation stage requirement for this recruitment of new disciples was the Taiyi Celestial Stage.
And the slender young man's position was in the assessment area of the Celestial Stage of the Great All-Embracing Heaven. At this time, thousands of cultivators had gathered there.
"Thank you, fellow cultivator." Since the other party had kindly called his attention to it, Xu Que cupped his hands in thanks with a smile.
"No problem, who knows, maybe after today, we may be in the same sect." The slender young man casually waved his hand, while also sizing up Xu Que. The corners of his mouth ticked up as he asked, "How should I address you, fellow cultivator?"
"Slayer Lord of the Exploding Heavens Faction." Xu Que maintained his polite and refined image. He cupped his hands in reply, "What do I call your distinguished self?"
"Hey, don't be so formal. Just call me Ah Qi!" The slender young man said with a smile.
Xu Que originally hadn't felt that the slender young man was anything special. But when the other party smiled, Xu Que couldn't help staring blankly for a moment. This smiling expression was inexplicably a little familiar, as if they'd known each other but he couldn't remember where he'd seen him.
"Cr*p, can this be someone I'll know tens of thousands of years from now?
"But among the people I know, it doesn't seem there's someone with the name Ah Qi."
"Brother Slayer, the force that you belong to seems a little unusual. The name Exploding Heavens Faction is cheeky to dare to despise the heavenly law. I, Ah Qi, have walked the World of Cultivators for so many years, but I've never heard of this name for a force," Ah Qi said, chuckling.
"It's only a small faction. It's normal that Brother Qi wouldn't know of it." Xu Que politely responded with a smile. His mind was still trying to recall this guy's identity.
However, as he turned it over his mind, he couldn't think of where he'd known this guy at all.
Ah Qi didn't realize that Xu Que was distracted. He continued warmly, "All right, Slayer brother, don't just stand here. I'll take you to that side to report. I've just arrived not long ago myself. Wait till I'm done with my assessment. It'll be your turn after.��
Having said that, he turned around and walked toward the crowd, leading the way for Xu Que.
Xu Que looked ahead and saw a wooden table placed there. An old man at the Celestial Prime stage was sitting there, staring at the central position within the crowd.
After a while, the old man started to speak without any expression and with a tone of indifference, "Three stage for Tao Aura, basic level."
PFFT!
Xu Que almost laughed out loud. Such a familiar line.
He quickly swept his eyes to the center of the crowd. All he could see was a young man with his head bowed and his fists clenched as he faced other people's mocking gazes. The young man's face fully revealed that he was not resigned.
"30 years…" The young man opened his mouth.
Xu Que was taken aback. Could it be…
"Give me another 30 years and I will be able to enter the Heaven Palace Sect." With that, the young man directly turned around to squeeze his way through the crowd and left in anger.
Only then did Xu Que breathe a sigh of relief. "D*mn, I thought he was going to shout out that popular phrase, do not bully the poor, from the online fiction circle of those days."
"Alas, the threshold for Tao Aura to enter the Heaven Palace Sect is too high." At this time, Ah Qi sighed with regret.
When Xu Que heard it, he couldn't help but snap back to attention.
Yes, the Heaven Palace Sect of this time recruited cultivators who had to be at least of the Taiyi Celestial Stage and above. To be able to cultivate to this stage, the spiritual root aptitude had to be superior. And now, what criteria are they using for the assessment?
Tao Aura?
Are there differences in Tao Aura?
Chapter 1547 An Old Acquaintance
"Oh, by the way, Brother Slayer, have you ever tested your Tao Aura before?" Ah Qi suddenly asked.
Xu Que shook his head as he said, "No, I haven't tested for this before. To be quite honest, I've been cultivating in other parts of the world for many years and have just recently returned here. I came here because of its sterling reputation, and I wanted to participate in the Heaven Palace Sect's recruitment congregation this year."
"Okay, I see. Then I'm relieved." Ah Qi breathed a sigh of relief as if he'd felt a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Hey, what do you mean by that, Brother Qi?" Xu Que raised his eyebrows with a querying look.
"Oh, ha, ha, ha, Brother Slayer, don't get me wrong," Ah Qi said, smiling. "I've also never had the opportunity to test my own level of Tao Aura. I'm still rather apprehensive participating in the recruitment congregation this time. When I heard you say that you haven't tested yours, I felt better. It means that I'm not alone. I feel more at ease."
"No harm done at all," Xu Que replied. "Brother Qi, is it very difficult to test the Tao Aura? How…is the rating done exactly?"
"Oh, you don't even know about this?" Ah Qi stared blankly for a moment. He was a little taken aback.
"Brother Qi, have you forgotten? I just mentioned that I've been cultivating in many different parts of the world for many years, and I'm kind of the bashful type. When I first came back here, I saw a lot of things that were very hard for me to understand. But I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself, so I didn't ask too many questions." Xu Que gave a slightly despondent sigh and shrugged his shoulders.
Ah Qi chuckled as he said, "Brother Slayer, you're joking. You don't seem like a bashful person at all. It's true you don't talk too much, but you have an impressive presence. No worries, I will explain it to you."
Having said that, he immediately launched into an explanation about the Tao Aura's test conditions and what the distinctions were between the high and low levels. Simply, the object that was used to analyze the Tao Aura was uncommon and rarely seen, so it was extremely valuable.
The object was a meteorite. But because it contained a God's Strength that couldn't be used, it was also called a God's Stone. It'd been discovered that the God's Strength in the stone simply couldn't be extracted for any use. However, by chance, it had also been discovered that it could illuminate a cultivator's Tao Aura. So the Heaven Palace Sect and other forces divided it up to use for that purpose, and thus they had also named it the Tao Test Stone at the same time.
Since the Heaven Palace Sect basically controlled the entire Heaven Continent at this time, their portion of the Tao Test Stone was the largest and so their ranking of the Tao Aura had become the most authoritative. The other forces' Tao Test Stones were slightly smaller and their test for Tao Aura occasionally produced mistakes. However, there weren't an enormous amount of mistakes.
Some small leftover materials from the Tao Test Stone had been scattered throughout the World of Cultivators. Some of the people who'd obtained these small bits and pieces had developed them into Tao Aura-testing businesses and charged fees to people who wanted to test their auras. Although the results couldn't be guaranteed as 100 percent accurate, they could act as references for these people who wanted to prepare for joining the major forces.
If the ranking of one's Tao Aura was too low, some people would choose to sell their recruitment invitation in exchange for a large amount of Spirit Stones or some other kind of natural treasure, lest they make the trip to the Heaven Palace Sect in vain.
However, the cost of testing one's Tao Aura was not low. A disbanded cultivator like Ah Qi, who had been lucky enough to get a chance to test his Tao Aura by receiving a recruitment invitation, had no extra Spirit Stones to pay for a test.
Of course, there was another important factor surrounding these tests. Running a test on one's Tao Aura would inevitably attract people's attention. It could even lead to disaster.
As a result, many of the disbanded cultivators who had come to participate in the recruitment congregation hadn't tested the rankings of their Tao Auras before.
As to the high or low ranking of the Tao Aura, in fact, it was decided by how strong the light of the Tao Test Stone was illuminated by each candidate.
When a person put his hand on the Tao Test Stone and released his Tao Aura, the Tao Test Stone would focus and illuminate the force of the Tao Aura, forming rays of light. The colors could be pale or dark and of high or low intensity. The two factors would be added together to produce the ranking of the Tao Aura.
"Brother Qi, how are the intensity of the colors as well as the strength of the radiance added up? What are the particular details involved?" Xu Que asked.
"The intensity of the colors represents the merits and drawbacks of the Tao Aura. Generally, there are three kinds of colors: pale, normal, and dark. Take a look at this person." When Ah Qi had come to this point, he pointed to a cultivator who was standing before the Tao Test Stone in the middle of the field.
Xu Que turned his head and looked over. There was was a middle-aged man, who had one hand pressed against the Tao Test Stone at this moment. A pale red flow emerged from the surface of the stone, occupying half of the stone.
"Do you see that? The red color means that this person's Tao Aura favors the Fire System. The color is fairly pale, indicating that this person's Tao Aura is not considered profound." Ah Qi shook his head. "Although the radiance has occupied half of the Tao Test Stone, which is the fifth stage of the Tao Aura, his Tao Aura color is too pale, so it will need to be dropped by one stage. As a result, once it is summed up, it will produce a result of the Tao Aura at the fourth stage, which cannot reach the Heaven Palace Sect's recruitment standards."
"So that's how it works." Only then did Xu Que understand the testing method. He said, nodding his head, "According to this reasoning, the strength of the radiance will be examined for its color, and another stage will automatically be added for a dark color, right?"
"That's right, Brother Slayer is indeed a clever man!" Ah Qi looked at Xu Que in surprise.
"Brother Qi, you're too kind." Xu Que smiled and rolled his eyes to himself. "How is this f*cking clever? Even Buttface could have figured this out."
But Xu Que thought that this Tao Aura test was quite interesting. He couldn't help but feel curious about what ranking his own Tao Aura would be. And what color it would be as well…
After all, he had double-cultivated his Five Elements. But for his Tao Aura to exceed five elements, no…it was way more than five elements and had completely broken away from the traditional way of Tao.
"Next, Li Xuanqi!" At this point, a shout rang out from the testing area.
"Well, well, well?
"Li Xuanqi?"
The moment Xu Que heard that name, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and look over.
He saw a handsome, bright young man, full of mettle, walking out of the crowd to step toward the Tao Test Stone.
Xu Que was suddenly very happy. "I'm actually going to be able to see an acquaintance again."
Tens of thousands of years from now, after the Heaven Palace Sect had faded away, Li Xuanqi had been the founder who had single-handedly established the Heaven Palace Academy. But this man had been a disciple who had been abandoned by the Heaven Palace Sect. He didn't know what he'd done to have been expelled.
Of course, none of this was important. The important thing was that this guy had been killed by Xu Que's hands tens of thousands of years from now.
When Xu Que saw this young version of Li Xuanqi, he fell deeply into thought. He completely couldn't understand that Li Xuanqi had actually come from the same era as Xuanyuan Wanrong.
However, in terms of strength, Xuanyuan Wanrong obviously left Li Xuanqi in the dust.
WHOOSH!
As Li Xuanqi pressed his hand on the Tao Test Stone, a brilliant burst of blue light lit up and occupied 70 percent of the Tao Test Stone.
"Wow, Tao Aura of the Water System, normal color at the seventh stage!" Ah Qi immediately exclaimed.
There was also a big commotion in the testing area. Many people were shocked.
"Tao Aura at the seventh stage is two stages higher than the Heaven Palace Sect's admissions standard."
"It looks like this person will most likely be nominated into the second-class compound."
"So envious."
Everyone was discussing this incident spiritedly.
But the old man responsible for the assessment of the recruitment remained leaning on the chair with a blank expression. He waved to retrieve Li Xuanqi's tile and calmly said, "Tao Aura at the seventh stage, go report to the second-class compound."
As soon as he'd finished speaking, the old man shot out a beam of light and a jade pendant with silver inlay, which was engraved with the word second, landed in the young version of Li Xuanqi's arms.
"Thank you, Elder!" Li Xuanqi's face looked triumphant, and he respectfully gave a bow before he lifted his head and puffed out his chest as he marched away.
TSK! TSK! TSK!
Xu Que's eyes narrowed, and there was a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth."Was Li Xuanqi already so proud at such a young age? If I get a chance, I would like to take the time to mess with him in this world of memory."
"Next!" At this time, a shout rang out from the testing field once again, "Duan Qide!"
"Whaaaat?" Xu Que almost jumped out of his skin when he heard that.
"Duan Qide? Does he f*cking have anything to do with Duan Jiude?"
He immediately stared and swept his gaze all around, muttering to himself about whether it was possible that it could be Duan Jiude appearing under a false name.
But it was wasn't possible. Duan Jiude was only a few thousand years old and hadn't been born at this time.
"Here!" Suddenly, Ah Qi raised his hand and shouted. He immediately looked full of excitement and nervously gushed to Xu Que, "Brother Slayer, it's my turn now. You wait for me. I'll be back soon!"
With that, he broke into a run and sprinted toward the testing area.
Xu Que was dumbfounded.
"Ah Qi? Duan Qide?
"D*mn, no wonder he always felt that this guy looked a little familiar. As it turned out, he did look like Duan Jiude.
Could he be Duan Jiude's…grandfather?
…..
Chapter 1548 Ancient Divine Tex
The first time Xu Que had met Ah Qi, he'd already felt as if he looked a little familiar. But he'd never been able to think of who he reminded him of.The first time Xu Que had met Ah Qi, he'd already felt as if he looked a little familiar. But he'd never been able to think of who he reminded him of.
After all, the Duan Jiude that he knew was already a rotten old man, whereas Ah Qi was an honest young man. Even though the facial features of the two men were similar, there was such a gap in age between them that it'd been rather difficult to associate Ah Qi with Duan Jiude at first.
But now, having learned Ah Qi's full name, Xu Que had immediately arrived at the conclusion that Duan Qide absolutely was some kind of relation to Duan Jiude. Based on the inference in the name, Duan Qide could possibly be Duan Jiude's grandfather, because there should have been a Duan Bade in between the two.
WHOOSH!
While Xu Que was getting over his astonishment, Duan Qide, in the testing area, had already pressed his hand on the Tao Test Stone.
The whole Tao Test Stone blossomed with a splendid glow. It was a bright red, not deep nor pale. It was normal! But the entire Tao Test Stone was almost completely covered with this red light, at least 80 percent of it.
"Tao Aura with Fire System at the eighth stage!" There was an instant cry from the crowd. Many people were shocked and couldn't believe it.
This young man with an ordinary appearance actually had a Tao Aura at the eighth stage.
The old man in charge of the Heaven Palace Sect's assessment also raised his eyes and swept a glance toward Duan Qide as he said indifferently, "Tao Aura at the eighth stage, go report to the second-class compound."
With that, just as he had done before, he waved his hand and shot out a beam of light, which fell into Duan Qide's arms.
Duan Qide looked extremely excited. Even he hadn't anticipated that his Tao Aura ranking would be so high: actually at the eighth stage!
"Ha, ha, ha, eighth stage. My Tao Aura is actually at the eighth stage!" Duan Qide cried out excitedly.
He cheerfully looked over at Xu Que and shouted, "Brother Slayer, my Tao Aura is at the eighth stage. What a big man I am!"
Xu Que politely gave a smile and said, "Very good."
Duan Jiude's grandfather had had the same ridiculous urges that Duan Jiude would later have. BAH!
"Next!" There was another cry from the testing area, "Slayer…Slayer Lord?"
The person who read out the name obviously hesitated. "What kind of name was this?"
The surrounding cultivators were also startled. This kind of name was really uncommon. "Could it be a rare ancient family name?"
"Here!"
Xu Que immediately shouted and walked out from the crowd, bursting with life and eager to give the Tao Test Stone a try.
Finally, it's my, the Act-Tough Saint's, turn to try.
At long last I, the Act-Tough Saint, can take a look at the level of my Tao Aura, as well as its color.
"Is it multicolored and brilliant, or gorgeous and brightly colored? Or is it magnificent and amazingly luminous, so dazzling that it will blind everyone's eyes…?"
Full of expectation and excitement, Xu Que stepped into the center of the testing area under everyone's gazes and stood before the Tao Test Stone.
"Brother Slayer, come on, you absolutely can do it." Duan Qide gave a cry of encouragement.
"Okay." The corners of Xu Que's mouth raised into a smile. It went without saying that he was full of confidence and could absolutely do it. Of course, the Act-Tough Saint's Tao Aura would be able to do it.
With the infinite ways to achieve the Tao, I only had to cultivate according to my heart's wishes.
To do as I please, Heaven can't be without if I want it. If I don't want it, then Heaven can't have it.
If the Way of Heaven is lacking, the Way of Tao is changeable, but I only ask for Heaven and Earth to follow my wishes.
Look, so domineering, so cocky, so stylish…
Xu Que's eyes sparkled and his clothes fluttered in the wind. He raised his hand and pressed his palm on the Tao Test Stone.
BANG!
The whole Tao Test Stone instantly shook.
He'd used great strength.
But…beyond that, the Tao Test Stone had had no response at all.
Everyone present opened their eyes wide and impatiently looked at him.
Duan Qide remained full of anticipation as he watched Xu Que.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three seconds…
"Well?"
Xu Que himself was somewhat taken aback. What's going on? Why is there no reaction?
"Hurry up, don't waste everyone's time!" At this point, the old man glanced over and gave Xu Que a slightly impatient reminder.
"Eh, how do I hurry up?" Xu Que asked, blushing with embarrassment.
"Brother Slayer, quickly release your Tao Aura." Duan Qide was also finding it difficult to watch and urged him on.
"I am releasing it." Xu Que looked helpless.
I've indeed released my Tao Aura. At first, I was afraid of my Tao Aura being too strong, and I didn't want to scare people so I didn't use all my effort.
But since the Tao Test Stone hadn't responded to his aura, Xu Que had long since completely released it. However, the Tao Test Stone remained silent.
"Hey, have you released your Tao Aura?"
"This can't be. Even if his Tao Aura is too weak, there's no reason it can't be tested."
"Can it be that this guy is playing tricks?"
"Look at his refined, honest appearance. He doesn't look like a person who would play tricks."
"Ah, could it be possible that he used too much strength just now and damaged the Tao Test Stone?"
"F*ck, let's hope not or he'll hammered to death by the Heaven Palace Sect."
The crowd in the testing area was getting restless and talking among themselves.
The old man in charge of the assessments frowned at the moment as he realized that things weren't so simple.
He believed that Xu Que wasn't playing any tricks, because he had already felt the boundless power of his Tao Aura.
"But why couldn't the Tao Test Stone detect it?
"Unless…it had been damaged…"
As he thought about this, the old man couldn't stay calm and collected. He immediately reached out to Xu Que and said, "You stay where you are and don't move. Who's next? Come up for your test."
"Next, Ming Tiangeng." The announcer shouted a name.
"Here!" A man immediately raised his hand. He was a handsome young guy. He walked up with big strides and quickly came before the Tao Test Stone. He reached out his hand and pressed.
WHOOSH!
The Tao Test Stone lit up in an instant with a dark blue light that occupied 70 percent of the stone.
A dark-colored Tao Aura!
Everyone was surprised. According to the rules, this would add another stage by default, which was equivalent to his Tao Aura being at the eighth stage.
"Wait, the Tao Test Stone is normal." Someone suddenly reacted.
The old man stared blankly for a moment. His figure shook and he instantly turned into a shadow that appeared in front of the Tao Test Stone. He didn't pay any attention to Xu Que. He first took the measure of the Tao Test Stone and didn't find anything peculiar about it before his gaze fell upon Xu Que.
"Young man, you try again." He opened his mouth and said at last.
Xu Que nodded and once again reached out his hand to press against the Tao Test Stone, while releasing his Tao Aura.
He was also curious as to why his Tao Aura had gotten no reaction.
This time, however, the Tao Test Stone didn't react, but stayed calm and showed no activity.
"Oh, this…" The old man was puzzled. This time, he'd clearly felt Xu Que's Tao Aura rushing into the Tao Test Stone, but the Tao Test Stone had had no reaction at all.
This never should have happened!
Such an obvious strength of a Tao Aura would be at least at the sixth or seventh stage, or even above. Why wasn't it showing?
The old man frowned and realized that the matter was not so simple.
"Young man, what kind of Tao Aura are you cultivating?" The old man immediately looked at Xu Que and asked.
"Whatever I please." Xu Que replied.
"What?" The old man stared blankly as if he hadn't heard clearly.
"Whatever I please." Xu Que replied again.
"What's whatever?" The old man was a little taken aback now. "What's whatever? Whatever he pleases? I must have heard wrong. How can that be considered Tao Aura?"
"Just whatever." Xu Que said again.
"I'm asking you what's the whatever you mentioned just now?"
"I've said it, just whatever."
Xu Que stared. At this time, his mind was basically not on the old man but fully concentrated on the Tao Test Stone.
He'd even summoned the System to let the System check what was up with the Tao Test Stone, but he hadn't received any feedback yet.
"No way, I don't believe it that my, the Act-Tough Saint's, Tao Aura can't be tested. I want to try again." Xu Que was not going to wait for the System's check. He reached his hand out and spat on his palm. He rubbed his hands and pressed again on the Tao Test Stone.
WHOOSH!
In an instant, the Tao Test Stone immediately lit up with a light. It finally had a reaction!
Xu Que's face started to smile, but the smile hadn't finished before it was frozen again.
The light on the Tao Test Stone was especially small, because it was only a line of luminous text. It was even a very strange text, which Xu Que couldn't understand.
"Eh, this…this is…" The old man was shocked. He looked at the line of luminous text, and his face took on a look full of horror. He spoke in a trembling voice, "Divine Text, Ancient Divine Text has actually appeared on it."
He became extremely excited as he said, "This is the text used by ancient Deities. Quickly ask the Dean to come over!"
…..