Immortal Soaring Blade

Zhao Jiuge had his back toward the crowd and was standing at the edge of the observation deck. He was copying Jian Wuxian’s favorite action—looking into the distant scenery with his hands behind his back.

He suddenly felt the atmosphere change—it suddenly became quiet. He also heard a few footsteps closing in on him. Zhao Jiuge didn’t immediately turn around but merely furrowed his brows. He didn’t know what the situation was, but he knew that trouble had come knocking.

After waiting for a while, the figures behind him didn’t break the silence. The surrounding disciples didn’t make a sound, they just closely watched where the storm was about to begin.

Song Yuansheng secretly observed Ye Aotian’s group of three and seemed to understand what was going to happen. However, he didn’t back down, he just calmly watched. Song Rujing folded her arms and seemed like she was prepared to watch a good show. She was not nervous at all.

Zhao Jiuge was in no rush, and Xu Zhu was naturally in no rush at all. He just stood behind Zhao Jiuge with a playful smile. As for Jiang Fuding, he was also in no rush. He had noticed that this Seven Holy Land Exchange was different from normal. It would be better if he didn’t cause too much trouble, so he naturally wouldn’t take the lead.

The two of them were not rushed, but Ye Aotian was in a rush. He was used to being arrogant, and he had been holding back his foul mood for a while. When he couldn’t vent his anger, he naturally couldn't calm down. Their elders were currently holding the exchange, and no one knew when they would finish.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge purposely pretend to ignore them when he clearly knew they were there, Ye Aotian couldn’t hold back anymore and angrily said, “Zhao Jiuge, you got guts!”

Zhao Jiuge naturally knew that the three of them were there, but he didn’t know their purpose. To come to greet him? That was impossible—the grudge between them had accumulated for generations. Since they weren’t here to make friends, then they were obviously looking for trouble. Zhao Jiuge decided not to do anything, to see how they would react.

Hearing Ye Aotian’s angry roar, Zhao Jiuge leisurely turned around. He noticed that all the disciples were looking over, including Ling Bo Re.

Seeing Ye Aotian’s fierce appearance, Zhao Jiuge just smiled and raised his brow. “Who are you? Do you need something?”

After hearing this, the playful expression on Xu Zhu’s face became even stronger. His daoist robe gave him a detached aura, and he secretly thought, “It looks like I don’t even have to do anything. This Zhao Jiuge seems too arrogant. The more he is like this, the better.”

Jiang Fuding coldly watched from the side and carefully looked at this mysterious Chief Head Disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. The big tree catches all the wind—that was why the other holy lands were wary of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect.

Sure enough, just as Xu Zhu expected, Zhao Jiuge’s words made Ye Aotian’s expression even more ugly. He didn’t believe that Zhao Jiuge didn’t know who he was, but he had still asked. Hearing this, the little hesitation he had disappeared, and he decided to directly confront Zhao Jiuge. He wanted to directly teach Zhao Jiuge a lesson and not waste any more time.

Song Rujing didn’t fear chaos, and she excitedly watched the two of them argue. Everyone here was watching because this was no longer a private grievance between the two of them, this was a matter of pride among the holy lands. After all, today was a special day, and all their elders were nearby!

Ling Bo Re stared at Zhao Jiuge with a strange gaze. She wanted to see how Zhao Jiuge, who was so common a few years ago, had reached this point.

Fang Qiwen and Jiulian walked over with Chen Hailong and Wang Yong. It didn’t matter what grievances they had with Zhao Jiuge. When they saw Zhao Jiuge come into conflict with Ye Aotian, they naturally came over to help.

Their movement caused the other Yue Hua Academy disciples to become unhappy. Under the lead of someone in blue, they also came over.

As the two sides moved, the tension was high and the atmosphere seemed to solidify.

This caused the previous relaxed atmosphere to immediately become tense. The disciples from the Great Barbarian Mountain waited for Jiang Fuding’s signal. Xu Zhu had already talked with the disciples of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, so they didn’t move.

Fortunately, although both sides were on guard, they didn’t make any moves, but merely watched.

“Of course I need something, why else would I come to you!?” Ye Aotian’s tone was unfriendly. When he saw that Zhao Jiuge had no intention of responding, Ye Aotian continued, “Ling Bo Re is mine. I advise you to give up any ideas you have about her. Also, why don’t you take a look at yourself? Are you worthy?”

After Ye Aotian spoke, everyone’s expressions changed. This was a slap to the face. No matter who it was, anyone would lose themselves in anger if they heard this. Fang Qiwen’s expression tightened, and he thought that something was going to happen. He signaled for Wang Yong, Yiulian, and Chen Hailong to be ready. Once things broke down, they were going to fight!

Although they only had five people, they had their own self-confidence. Aside from Zhao Jiuge, who could not be measured by ordinary means, they were all at the late stage of the Spirit Core Realm. Anyone at their age with this cultivation could be proud of themselves.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t act out like the disciples expected him to and instead laughed softly. He seriously looked at Ye Aotian and slowly said, “Who do you think you are? What is my business to you? So what if I’m like this? I still charm countless girls.”

He had gotten used to this kind of thing after entering the sect. There was no point in talking logic with this kind of person. The only thing he could do was let his strength do the talking. Also, as the Chief Head Disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, he represented the whole sect. This was his first appearance before the other holy lands, and if he backed down now, it would just give them the chance to spread bad rumors about him.

Zhao Jiuge had already planned for the worst. The bigger this mess got, the better. Either way, Elder Dawn Wind was here, so he didn’t need to worry. If it came down to it, he would just have to go all-out and fight for the sake of the sect’s honor. And, more importantly, there was still that cold and noble figure watching them.

However, Zhao Jiuge was wrong about this. Ling Bo Re was not watching because she was concerned about the result, but because she wanted to know Zhao Jiuge’s cultivation level. She wondered what kind of situation would cause him to rise up so quickly. If not for that, she wouldn’t care, no matter how fierce the fight got, not to mention it was a fight over her.

The disciples watching all had the same thoughts. Compared to the rest of the holy lands, the Chief Head Disciples of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect and the Void Suspension Sect were much more mysterious. They wanted to see what was so special about the Chief Head Disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect.

“My mother only gave birth to me. Who do you think I am!?” [1] Ye Aotin answered in anger, and a ferocious light erupted from his eyes. Spirit force directly spread out from his body.

The disciples watching from the side became excited. The fight was finally going to begin. Xu Zhu revealed an sinister smile. His purpose has been achieved. However, the real goal was to make the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect lose face. If juniors fought and one side lost, they could only blame themselves for lack of skill. Even though Elder Dawn Wind was a Mahayana Realm cultivator, he could not intervene in such things.

“Nascent Soul Realm!”

When Ye Aotian released his spirit force, the surrounding disciples were shocked.

The disciples that could come to the Seven Holy Lands Exchange were all elite disciples of their holy land and were all at least at the Spirit Core Realm. There were very few at the Nascent Soul Realm, so how could they not be shocked? There were only four people who were not shocked: Ling Bo Re, Xu Zhu, and the Song siblings.

Not only was Fang Qiwen and company’s expressions ugly, even Zhao Jiuge’s expression was not good. Although he was only at the mid stage of the Spirit Core Realm, his spirit force was no weaker than those at the late stage of the Spirit Core Realm.

He still had the three sword imprints and the Sanskrit Divine Body, so he was confident against anyone at the late stage of the Spirit Core Realm. However, seeing Ye Aotian’s clothes flutter without any wind and feeling his powerful spirit force, Zhao Jiuge lost some confidence.

He didn’t expect the top disciples of the other holy lands to actually be at the Nascent Soul Realm. This wasn’t a bit of difference in cultivation, but a whole realm!

However, although his heart sank, Zhao Jiuge still had a calm expression. It was too late to back out now. Even though it was someone with a higher cultivation, he would still not back down, even if he couldn't win.

He could lose the battle, but not the momentum.

Even if he couldn’t fight, he would still have to fight. At most, he would just lose. If he backed down, not only would he not be able to raise his head, even the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect would lose face.

What’s more, as a sword cultivator, if he didn’t even have the courage to draw his sword, what was he cultivating the sword for? No matter how powerful the enemy was, he had to at least draw his sword!

Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge’s eyes lit up and he released his spirit force because Ye Aotian’s spirit force pressure was already crashing down upon him.

When he activated his Sanskrit Divine Body, Zhao Jiuge’s black clothes fluttered violently. A golden light appeared around him and lit up his face.

When his spirit force was released, the pressure he felt before had lessened. However, the aura Zhao Jiuge released was clearly not at the same level as Ye Aotian’s.

“Only at the mid stage of the Spirit Core Realm!”

“The Chief Head Disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect is only this strong? He isn’t even at the late stage of the Spirit Core Realm.”

“Could the former overlords, the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, have fallen this far? Even the Chief Head Disciple is only this strong?”

When Zhao Jiuge released his aura, everyone was shocked! They didn’t expect his cultivation to be so weak.

Not only the Song siblings, but even Ling Bo Re, Xu Zhu, and Jiang Fuding were puzzled.

1. I couldn’t really find a way to get this point across that didn’t sound super weird. The reason for this is because of how in chinese when it comes to kids or a group, it's how people refer to each other in order or seniority or age. The word “Lao,” many of you probably see this in other novels, means old and usually followed by a number, indicating third place. So Lao Two would mean whoever is ranked second. Whether they are the second oldest or second strongest. Now the difference is for rank one it's usually not “Lao One,” but “Lao Da” (big) or directly translated to “Boss.” So Zhao Jiuge earlier basically asked “which Lao are you,” or “which rank are you.” And Ye Aotin’s response was “my mom only had me as a child,” which means he is “Lao Da” or the boss.