Free Web NovelChapter 782: Beneath the Nuo Mask
"Good, good, good."
"It seems Junior Nephew now believes his cultivation has achieved success, and has completely forgotten the Sect’s nurturing and support."
Song Yan shook his head lightly: "I will naturally not forget the Sect’s nurturing, it’s just..."
"The Sect Master’s protection, the harmony among fellow Disciples, and Master’s guidance."
He looked at Yang Wenxuan in confusion: "What does any of this have to do with you?"
"You..."
Yang Wenxuan’s face turned extremely dark, alternating between pale and green.
Before coming here, he had never imagined that a Disciple who had just reached the Foundation Establishment Realm would speak to him like this.
It was almost to the point of completely tearing off all pretenses.
Perhaps back then, he should have used the excuse of colluding with the Demonic Path and killed him early on!
Song Yan, however, did not feel anything about it.
As his Sword Intent cultivation grew, his thoughts became increasingly pure.
He was not afraid of Yang Wenxuan’s retaliation; he was now in the Foundation Establishment Realm and had joined Demon Subduing Peak.
Unfavorable to him? Go ask the Sect Master’s opinion.
Unfortunately, Yang Wenxuan would not make a move against him in Dragon Pool Mountain, otherwise he truly wanted to test his current strength and see if he could contend with a Cultivator in the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Song Yan remembered the old grievances clearly.
Yang Wenxuan’s face changed for a while, gaining no advantage, and finally he could only let out a furious snort, flicking his sleeves and leaving.
Whether in the mortal world or the Cultivation World, there were simply too many people like Yang Wenxuan.
With a "small official position" they would abuse their power for personal gain, making a big deal out of nothing, and thinking themselves important.
And for Song Yan’s Dao cultivation, not being coerced and exploited by such petty individuals was a very important part of the "freedom" he sought in his heart.
Of course, in the Cultivation World, such confidence came from powerful strength.
Speaking of which, only Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators of a certain age, like Yang Wenxuan, would hold some positions of real power within the Sect.
Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators were mostly just Deacon Elders, while Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators varied depending on the situation.
Those who were younger still held hope of achieving the Golden Core Dao, and naturally did not wish to be burdened by Sect affairs.
Those who were too old had no hope of longevity, and usually viewed so-called Sect authority very lightly.
As for Cultivators at the Perfection of the Foundation Establishment Realm, they were already on the same level as Peak Lords.
They did not need to scheme for such things, and were second only to one person in the Sect.
Yang Wenxuan was probably the least like a Cultivator among these Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Elders.
If he hadn’t managed to establish his Dao Foundation this time, he might have had to obediently give up his spot.
Or even, as before, have it directly taken away by him under the guise of supervision, who knows.
Such an incident, happening once, was already enough to make Song Yan feel a sense of urgency, as no one liked the feeling of their life and death being controlled by others.
If it happened repeatedly, it would likely affect both his Dao Heart and Sword Intent.
The path of cultivation, it is said, requires a clear mind, but one must also be strong oneself.
Lack of strength, encountering obstacles everywhere, constantly retreating, for most people, would still have a considerable impact on their Dao Heart.
That state of mind, "a gentleman’s revenge is never too late," is truly achieved by only a very few, right?
Moreover, Song Yan still had some thoughts about Yang Wenxuan.
His past actions, let’s not mention them for now.
If Lin Qing’s speculation was correct, and the Qin Family colluded with Mo Xu Cultivators, then does that mean he might also be connected to Demonic Cultivators?
Perhaps, he was even the insider who caused the Sect’s downfall.
Song Yan thought to himself.
The official list of Cave Abyss Sect Cultivators advancing was finally confirmed two days before the Grand Competition officially began.
Aside from the Cultivators who already had spots, the two available slots were given to Han Yuan and Senior Brother Kong You.
For this, Song Yan had consulted Han Yuan’s opinion.
On one hand, Han Yuan believed his injuries were not severe, and with the healing from several Cultivators in Dragon Pool Mountain, he was already mostly recovered.
On the other hand, he himself did not want to miss such an opportunity.
Even just fighting a single match was enough to make his blood boil.
Shao Sichao, however, remained unwilling, and Song Yan could not force him, so the other spot was ultimately given to Senior Brother Kong You... Yang Family territory.
Yang Yuerong, dressed in a female sacrificial robe, slowly walked along the mountain path.
Tomorrow was both the Yang Family’s great sacrificial ceremony and the final grand event of Dragon Pool Mountain.
It was late at night, and everyone in the Family was hurrying about.
Yang Yuerong walked against the flow of many people, arriving at a secluded area within the Family.
She knocked on the wooden door.
"Aunt Qing?"
"It’s me, Yuerong."
"Coming."
The door opened from inside, revealing an elderly middle-aged woman.
Her appearance was ordinary, but her demeanor was very gentle.
"Yuerong? The sacrificial ceremony is tomorrow, aren’t you resting tonight? Come in..."
Strictly speaking, she had no close blood relation to Yang Yuerong.
It was just that this little girl’s parents died young, and the Family had no time to care for her. Yang Qing herself was alone, so she decided to help.
Therefore, Yuerong was practically raised by Yang Qing.
"I can’t sleep, so I came to talk to you."
"You, you’re such a big girl now."
Yang Qing smiled, chiding her with her words, but feeling very warm in her heart.
"Let me see."
She gently took Yuerong’s hand, turned her around, and examined Yang Yuerong’s clothes up and down.
"It fits well."
"Mm."
Yang Yuerong smiled and nodded.
But Yang Qing noticed that she seemed a little downcast.
"Yuerong, what’s wrong?"
"..."
Yang Yuerong sat by the bed, silent.
"Tomorrow is the great sacrificial ceremony, and you are one of the thirteen representatives of the Yang Family."
Yang Qing comforted her gently: "I heard that this ritual will be held together with the grand event, and will be seen by all the Cultivators in the entire Chu Kingdom."
"Why aren’t you happy?"
Yang Yuerong forced a smile, feigning ease: "I’ll be wearing a mask then anyway, so my face won’t be shown."
The thirteen representatives tomorrow would all wear masks.
Twelve of them would wear ordinary sacrificial masks.
Only one would wear the Nuo mask, passed down through generations of the Yang Family.
The young man qualified to wear the Nuo God mask was the Genius who appeared in this generation of the Yang Family.
The Young Lord of the Yang Family, Yang Kaijun.
It could be said that it was precisely because the Yang Family was going all out to cultivate this person that someone of mediocre Aptitude like herself was recalled to the Family from outside.
At first, Yang Yuerong harbored resentment towards this person in her heart, but after returning to the Family and having some contact with him,
she only felt that this Elder brother was amiable and friendly.
Yang Yuerong’s regret and resentment then had no one to direct them towards.
What wrong had he done?
Nothing.
He was exceptionally talented; at around thirty years old, he had already established his Dao Foundation.
Placed within the great Sects of the Chu Kingdom, he could be considered above average.
He was the hope of the Yang Family.
And the Family, what wrong had the Family done?
It seemed, nothing either.
The Family needed to develop, and it always required sacrificing the lives of some Family members to allow a small portion of others to cultivate wholeheartedly.
Perhaps one day in the future, they could lead the Yang Family to glory.
Which of the major aristocratic families in the Chu Kingdom’s Cultivation World today didn’t have generations of people striving forward to achieve their current prosperity?
It’s just.
She was one of those ordinary people sacrificed before the day of the Yang Family’s glory arrived.
If she had never left the Yang Family, perhaps she wouldn’t have so many thoughts.
But she had once been to Cave Abyss Sect.
She had met friends like Gu Qingqing and Senior Brother Song Yan.
It seemed every person could live for themselves.
"Oh, you little girl."
"That’s still very good, you know." Yang Qing pinched Yuerong’s face.
"Aunt Qing."
"Hmm?"
Yang Qing squatted down and looked up to see Yang Yuerong’s eyes, filled with sadness and loneliness.
"A few days ago, I met my Sect friends and Senior Brother."
"Oh? Quickly tell Auntie, they..."
"I envy them so much."
Yang Yuerong spoke slowly.
"Yuerong knows her Aptitude is mediocre, and she doesn’t dare to speak of pursuing the Grand Dao. But she also wants to travel the world, unrestrained."
"Just thinking about being numb and working for others within the Family."
"And then perhaps one year, dying as uneventfully and unknown as her parents, she feels a knot in her heart."
Yuerong didn’t know when, but two streams of clear tears had already fallen.
She hated it so much.
The entire Yang Family, even if they had shown her a little kindness, she could have used it to comfort herself, abandon all thoughts, and dedicate herself to the Family here until death.
But her parents died due to Family strife, and the so-called compensation went missing.
She had no relatives to care for her since childhood, and it was always Yang Qing, a distant Family member, who raised her.
The Yang Family was on good terms with the Profound Origin Sect, but there were no slots for her to join the Sect within the Family.
Even the opportunity to go to Cave Abyss Sect was something she had fought for herself!
Yang Qing sighed softly, not knowing how to comfort her.
The young girl buried her face in her knees and cried loudly.
She didn’t know how long she cried, but Yang Yuerong only felt a pair of gentle hands gently wrap around her neck.
She slowly raised her head.
She saw Yang Qing unfasten the pendant she was wearing and put it around her own neck.
"Yuerong, do you know why I’m still alone at this age?"
"..."
Yang Yuerong’s tear-stained face shook slightly.
"Haha, of course it’s because when I was young, I was just like you."
"It’s just that back then, Aunt Qing still had a little attachment to the Family, so she went crazy for half her life, going against convention, and then came back."
"But you’re different, Yuerong."
"The Yang Family has little hold over you."
"If you’ve truly made up your mind, Aunt Qing will go talk to a few Family Elders and let you leave."
"Really?"
"Of course it’s real." Yang Qing smiled: "Don’t look at Aunt Qing’s current down-and-out appearance, many people in the Family owed me favors back then."
She gently stroked the pendant on Yang Yuerong’s chest, a look of reminiscence in her eyes: "This is my protective talisman. I’ve carried it for many years. I’m giving it to you."
"Whether you leave the Yang Family or not, wherever you go, I hope it can help you turn misfortune into good fortune."
Yang Yuerong stared blankly at the pendant.
"Thank you, Aunt Qing."
... The next morning.
A commotion arose outside Wuyou Peak.
"Om—"
Song Yan opened the Restriction and walked out of the Immortal Cave’s door.
Outside Wuyou Peak, all the young generation and participating Disciples of Cave Abyss Sect had already gathered at the entrance.
Even Gu Qingqing and Li Qingfeng, who were accompanying them as observers, were among them.
Li Yi laughed heartily: "Only you were left."
"Let’s go."
"Okay."
Amidst the crowd, Song Yan and Li Yi walked at the very front.
At this moment, almost all the Cultivators in the entire Wangling Immortal Valley were walking in the same direction.
After a month of preparation, exchanges between Cultivators of various Pulses, and the previous preliminary selection process.
The highly anticipated Dragon Pool Mountain Grand Meeting of the Chu Kingdom’s Cultivation World, the final Grand Competition stage, finally began on this day.
The location was in the core area of Dragon Pool Mountain, at the highest point of Wangling Immortal Valley.
Dragon Pool Grand Abyss.
This place was also a marvel of the Chu Kingdom, truly a masterpiece of nature.
Following the great mountains and the Arhat Cave, where the Disciples of the previous two sessions were selected, and venturing further upwards, one could reach this convergence point of the Dragon Pool Mountain’s Earth Vein and Spiritual Meridian.
In fact, the summit of this place was not originally like this.
Legend has it that in ancient times, two Golden Core True Monarchs fought a desperate battle here.
The power of Golden Core Cultivators could overturn rivers and seas, shaking heaven and earth.
Under their clash, the mountain range fractured and shattered, gradually forming the current topography of the Dragon Pool Mountain range.
The only remaining highest peak, Dragon Pool Mountain, also had its summit shattered, leaving a huge natural pit.
As years passed, at some unknown point, an endless stream of abundant spiritual springs began to gush from the bottom of this pit.
The spring water gurgled and flowed, gathering and filling, forming a vast, misty celestial lake on this high mountain.
This was the "Dragon Pool."
On the southern edge of the Dragon Pool, a huge waterfall cascaded down.
The mountain range beneath the impact of this celestial waterfall had, countless years ago, been forcibly leveled into a vast, flat area.
The Dragon Pool Mountain Yang Family built an incredibly grand structure here, which was the Great Sacrificial Enclosure Building.
The Great Enclosure Building was a huge circular structure, embracing part of the waters and flat ground below the Dragon Pool Grand Abyss.
Normally, it was where the Yang Family held their ancestral sacrifices.
During the Dragon Pool Mountain Grand Meeting, it served as the final venue for the Grand Competition, accommodating all Cultivators to observe the ceremony.
This session of the Grand Competition happened to coincide with the Yang Family’s Great Sacrificial Ceremony.
After discussions between the Nine Pulses’ stewards and the stewards of the Yang and Hu Families, they decided to merge the two grand events, making the opening ceremony of this Dragon Pool Mountain Grand Meeting unique.
All Cultivators from the Nine Pulses of Chu Kingdom who came to participate and observe were invited to jointly witness the Yang Family’s Great Sacrificial Ceremony.
The morning sun rose, casting thousands of rays of light.
At the Dragon Pool Grand Abyss, a thin mist enveloped the area.
Inside the ring of the Great Sacrificial Enclosure Building, it was already packed with people.
The participants among the Cultivators sat at the very front of their respective Pulse’s Cultivators.
In addition to the Cultivators who officially had observation qualifications, there were also many Cultivators from various parts of the Chu Kingdom who came to witness the event, filling the surrounding rocks, cliffs, and temporary additional viewing platforms around the Dragon Pool Grand Abyss.
They were densely packed, and the noise was deafening.
On the easternmost side of the Great Enclosure Building, there was a platform where the Nine Pulses’ stewards observed the ceremony.
Seated in the center was the Golden Core Realm Grand Cultivator, Ye Ding, from the Spirit Talisman Sect, who was here to oversee the event.
At this moment, in the central inner circle of the Great Enclosure Building, more than ten core members of the Yang Family, dressed in solemn and intricate sacrificial robes, led by the Family Elders and the Family Head, slowly arranged their formation.
The Great Sacrificial Ceremony was about to begin.
"Senior Brother Song, Yuerong said she would also participate in this ceremony."
Gu Qingqing said: "But all these people are wearing masks, which one is she?"
"Junior Sister Yuerong and I are not too familiar. If you can’t tell, how would I know?"
Song Yan’s gaze swept over the thirteen individuals standing scattered.
The masks of the other twelve had no special features.
Only the young man in the center wore a unique, ancient, and intricate Nuo mask.
