Translator: Fate Translation Checker: Silavin Mist of Chaos shrouded the square where the sole of Gu Wudi’s foot stepped firmly on Xiao Yang’s face covered in aggrievance, anger, and blood. The latter looked extremely pathetic at this very moment. However, he couldn’t even lift his head because of the grave injury he had sustained. The rays of cyan light that flowed on the surface of his body looked as if they were about to spread under his skin. [I’m recovering spontaneously even when my bloodline power is being oppressed. The surges of power feel as if they are about to gush out of me. Is Second Mountain Elder still not going to acknowledge that I’m better?] Gu Wudi looked like he was in a trance. However, he quickly collected himself, and after letting Xiao Yang go, he stepped over in wide strides as he sneered, “I remember everything that happened earlier clearly.” In fact, he could clearly feel everything movement his body made, including all the divine abilities he used, despite his body not being under his control. [That was a level that I have never been able to reach in the past. Both the control over my own physique and the unearthing of my potential have now reached an unprecedented level. I never imagined that my physique could possess such terrifying abilities and divine abilities before this. I never even dared imagine anything like this.] Just the thought of that brought Gu Wudi’s respect and fear for Gu Changge to a whole new level. “Amazing skills,” the Second Mountain Elder scoffed. He was peering at Gu Wudi with a look of contempt in his eyes. Despite being reluctant, he didn’t dare go back on his words under everyone’s watchful eyes. He knew that the other Mountain Elders wouldn’t just stand by and ignore this matter. After all, this was a major event related to the handover of the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains, the most precious treasure of the Nine Great Mountains. The Sky Deer Goddess had a smile when she took a glance at Gu Changge and spoke as if hinting at something. “The Second Mountain Elder’s disciple doesn’t seem all that impressive. He has skills, but he is far from being invincible.” Hearing that, Gu Changge commented with a smile, “Well, we have to consider who his opponent is.” [My dear disciple actually had such a trick up his sleeve! What a pleasant surprise!] The Third Mountain Elder glanced at the Second Mountain Elder smugly before he turned to look at Gu Wudi with great satisfaction. [I honestly did not expect Gu Wudi to surprise me so much. My heart dropped when Xiao Yang showed his powerful strength just now. I thought something would go wrong. But Gu Wudi’s retaliation shocked me as much as it delighted me. I never expected that my disciple had hidden strength more powerful than I thought. Today, he easily defeated Xiao Yang and won the right to guard the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains in front of all the disciples and Mountain Elders. For the next tens of millions of years, the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains will be held by the Third Mountain.] “Congratulations on winning the right to guard the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains, Third Mountain Elder.” Wearing a smile, the Sky Deer Goddess walked over to congratulate the Third Mountain Elder. Several other Mountain Elders also approached them after hearing those words to congratulate him. After all, whoever in the Nine Great Mountains held the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains was equivalent to having the greatest right to speak in the Nine Great Mountains. “Second Mountain Elder has openly oppressed Third Mountain and made such a request for a contest because the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains was in my hands. Now that he has lost, the seal will naturally fall into the hands of Third Mountain Elder. In other words, Third Mountain Elder will be in charge of the entire Nine Great Mountains for tens of millions of years to come. Second Mountain Elder, I wouldn’t dare go against the rules set by the Nine Great Mountains.” Gu Wudi, who was currently in the limelight, couldn’t help the proud look on his face. [I won’t let my Master down!] However, he shivered in awe the moment his eyes fell on Gu Changge. “Since Xiao Yang has lost, I am willing to admit defeat,” huffed the Second Mountain Elder. His face was sour. Just as everyone said, he didn’t dare to go back on his words in front of all his disciples and the Mountain Elders, let alone break the rules of the Nine Great Mountains. Just when the Second Mountain Elder finished speaking, Xiao Yang who stumbled over suddenly interrupted, “Hold on, Master!” It was hard to conceal the coldness, anger, and deeply hidden humiliation on his face. He should have defeated Gu Wudi today to wash away his shame and protect Chen Suyun’s reputation for the last time. But contrary to his expectations, he was taken down by Gu Wudi in front of all the disciples and Mountain Elders, and was even stepped under his foot. Not one who had ever suffered such humiliation, Xiao Yang only further blew his top. Furthermore, Xiao Yang was sure that the person who pulled that trick just now was not Gu Wudi—it was Gu Changge who was an outsider! He knew that Gu Wudi wasn’t strong enough to do something like that. Hearing that, the Second Mountain Elder turned in Xiao Yang’s direction. “What’s the matter, Xiao Yang?” he asked, confused. He might be disappointed, but he knew that he couldn’t put the blame of what transpired on Xiao Yang. Even he was surprised by Gu Wudi’s power earlier. Eyes burning with cold fury, Xiao Yang glared at Gu Changge and growled, “Master, that round didn’t count. Gu Wudi wasn’t the one who I fought with. Someone was helping him from the sideline!” [I wouldn’t have lost so pathetically if Gu Changge hadn’t gotten involved!] The place fell silent the moment he uttered those words. Every disciple and Mountain Elders’ faces froze in shock, and some of them looked at Xiao Yang in disbelief. Some others were unhappily frowning as they thought they had misjudged his character. He should have accepted the result of the contest no matter if he won or lost, and yet here he was, spouting nonsense about it being an invalid round. “How disappointing…” “I always thought Junior Brother Xiao Yang was a broad-minded person. I didn’t know he’d be such a sore loser…” “Ah, how could you say something like that?!” Many female disciples who usually had a good relationship with Xiao Yang were now frowning with an expression of displeasure on their faces. They were looking at him like he was a stranger. Many of the disciples were nodding in agreement as they listened to the ongoing chattering. They couldn’t comprehend why he would say something like that. “Was his performance in the contest not embarrassing enough?” After all, everyone saw it with their own eyes how Gu Wudi easily defeated Xiao Yang using his divine abilities. They even recognised Gu Wudi’s abilities as a technique some of the disciples had practised themselves. And yet Xiao Yang was claiming that the person he was truly fighting was someone else? How was anyone supposed to believe that?! “Heh, so this is the kind of disciple under you, Second Mountain Elder.” The Third Mountain Elder was also stunned for a moment before a sullen expression appeared on his face. He couldn’t help sneering when he heard Xiao Yang’s words. In fact, he, too, didn’t expect Xiao Yang to say such a thing. This was no longer only about winning or losing; this was a matter of Xiao Yang’s character. Xiao Yang was the one who confidently agreed to have the contest, but he was now refusing to take his defeat with grace. All he was doing was bringing shame to himself. “Enough, Xiao Yang.” The Second Mountain Elder understood what Xiao Yang meant, but he could only sigh and wave his hands dismissively. What was the point of him knowing when they didn’t have evidence of Xiao Yang’s claim? And if they were to go another round, they would be the ones who were further embarrassed if they lost again. They didn’t even know if Gu Wudi was able to launch an attack like that again. “But Master!” Xiao Yang cried, upset. He wouldn’t be able to get rid of the shame if they let it all end this way! Gu Wudi sneered, his words full of disdain and mockery. “You lost, Xiao Yang. That’s all you amount to.” [You wouldn’t have won so easily if it wasn’t because someone was pulling tricks and helping you!] Xiao Yang’s eyes were frigid and enraged when he glared at Gu Wudi. If stares could kill, Gu Wudi would have died a horrible death by now. Right then, Gu Changge let out a chuckle and hummed playfully, “So this is Second Mountain Elder’s disciple. What an eye-opener.” Judging from today’s events, Xiao Yang had gradually lost the hearts of the disciples of the Nine Great Mountains. Even though Gu Changge would start to attack the Nine Great Mountains after he obtained the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains, getting the most he could out of Xiao Yang was only something he did in the passing. Not expecting Gu Changge to voice out at this moment, Xiao Yang only got madder, his eyes colder. “I know that I wasn’t fighting Gu Wudi earlier. I was going against you! How dare he help him that way. Gu Wudi might have won, but that was unfair!” Not only was Gu Changge his enemy who killed Chen Suyun, he was now quietly helping Gu Wudi and the Third Mountain Elder win the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains. Seeing Gu Changge’s cocky face after he managed to deceive everyone, Xiao Yang swore he would take his revenge someday. Hearing Xiao Yang’s enraged words, many disciples quickly echoed with angry and dissatisfied looks on their faces. “Even though Xiao Yang has a Nirvana Grade battle suit, he stood no chance against the Chosen One. Despite that, he kept claiming that Gu Wudi only won because he had an unfair advantage in the contest.” “Gu Wudi hadn’t even taken out a single artifact, but Xiao Yang had used a lot of them.” “At least the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains did not fall into his hands, otherwise it would have become an unappreciated treasure.” After all, everyone saw how the Second Mountain Elder bestowed Xiao Yang a Nirvana Gade battle suit for this competition. Xiao Yang was supposed to be the one who had the upper hand after the strength of the two was suppressed in the same realm. That was why he brought about public wrath the moment he claimed Gu Wudi had won due to an unfair advantage. Gu Wudi noticed the crowd’s reaction, and a smirk appeared on his face as quickly as it went away. He then shook his head, sighing, “Why do you have to go this far, Youngest Junior Brother? Why did you agree to the contest if you can’t accept your defeat? I worked hard every day and night tirelessly for years just to win back the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains today.” Many disciples who were touched by his words felt emotions well up inside them. They were motivated when they witnessed how much Gu Wudi’s strength had improved from Gu Wudi and Xiao Yang’s fight today. How could they, the ordinary disciples, slack off when even the Chosen One worked so hard to achieve his goals? “Xiao Yang’s the complete opposite of him, isn’t he? He definitely lost, but he refuses to admit his defeat.” “I didn’t know this was the type of person Junior Xiao Yang was. I’ve misjudged him.” “The Chosen one trained hard for so long, and he finally has the chance to put the fruit of his labour to full use today. And yet, Xiao Yang is trying to smear mud on his name!” “Not only is he a sore loser, he is filled with jealousy! People like him will never succeed in life…” In that instant, many disciples began to mock Xiao Yang, who could only stand there in a daze. Eyes wide and face pale, he couldn’t believe everyone’s attitude to his words. He could only clench his fists to suppress the feeling of being wrong. Even the disciples who were close to him were now peering at him with disdainful eyes. It felt as though the entire Nine Great Mountains was casting him aside… Seeing this, the Second Mountain Elder sighed, “Xiao Yang, let’s not talk about it anymore. A loss is a loss. The right to guard the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains goes to the Chosen One.” He then waved his sleeves, and the misty blue light flowed and pushed a soft force into Xiao Yang’s body, making him wake up from his current state. He helped heal Xiao Yang’s wounds at the same time. He feared that the entire Nine Great Mountains would change their views of Xiao Yang because of what happened today. [Now that the entire ordeal has come to an end, and the Celestial Seal is now in the hands of Third Mountain, I need to get Xiao Yang away from the Nine Great Mountains. I should also enter retreat somewhere and stop caring about the matters of the Nine Great Mountains.] The Second Mountain Elder decided and with a flick of his sleeve, left with Xiao Yang and his other disciples. Soon, on a platform, they vanished into the horizon. All the Mountain Elders looked at this scene with different emotions. Some sighed, while the others gloated and sneered. Gu Wudi’s sudden display of power surprised them a little, but they did not see it as how the Second Mountain Elder did. Because the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains would end up either on the Second or Third Mountains, there was no need for them to get involved, lest they waste time or get on the wrong side. Thus, they mostly stayed neutral on this issue. Buzz! Soon, the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains floating in the sky made a trembling sound, and its brilliance was absorbed into the seal before it descended from above. Finally, it turned into a palm-sized cyan seal that flowed with radiance. It dripped with wisps of Chaos Qi as it fell into Gu Wudi’s hands. [So this is the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains…] Gu Wudi was trembling from excitement when he felt the vast and majestic power contained in it. It made him feel like he could annihilate all lives the moment it took it out. It even felt like he could rule the entire Nine Great Mountains at this very moment. “My brilliant disciple!” The Third Mountain Elder couldn’t hide his excitement as he stared at the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains. After all, this was the treasure of the Nine Great Mountains that was finally theirs after he coveted it for nearly ten million years. He couldn’t possibly stay calm under such circumstances. However, the smile on his face swiftly turned stiff. After Gu Wudi obtained the seal, he didn’t hand it to the Third Mountain Elder right away. Instead, he respectfully presented it to Gu Changge next to him. This stunned not only the Third Mountain Elder and the others from The Third Mountain, but it also left the many disciples who hadn’t left yet in shock and confusion. The Third Mountain Elder quickly came to the realisation that Gu Wudi was trying to butter up Gu Changge. Even though he was still fuming about it, he kept a smile on his face as he started to explain to Gu Changge. “This is a treasure of the Nine Great Mountains. I’m sure someone of Young Master Gu’s status has seen something like this more than a handful of times…” The other six Mountain Elders suddenly thought the air around them felt strange. Gu Wudi hadn’t given the seal to his Master and instead gave it to Gu Changge. [What’s going on?] Their eyes had a curious glint in them then. [It seems that Gu Wudi doesn’t think his Master is any more important than this mysterious young man.] Hearing that, Gu Changge nodded, his eyes clear. “I have seen plenty of things like this. The Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains turns out to be a Wondrous Stone that condenses itself into a seal…” He continued to take in the details of the seal in his hand. Even though it looked heavy and majestic, it felt surprisingly light as it oozed Chaos Qi in his palm. However, the overwhelmingly terrifying energy that felt like it could crush mountains seemed to dissipate in that instant. He knew that this was caused by the Innate Patterns in it. The frightening power it contained could easily suppress even a True Daoist. “You sure are well-informed, Young Master Changge. It is said that the Celestial Seal of the Nine Mountains is a piece of Innate Immortal Stone from the end of heaven and earth. It was born in the Chaos Sea countless epochs ago. It has a long and ancient history,” the Third Mountain Elder couldn’t help showering praises when he heard Gu Changge’s reply. His eyes, however, were stuck to the seal. “Is that so?” Gu Changge chuckled. As his sleeves lightly shook, brilliant and gorgeous Grand Runes suddenly turned into chains that imprinted on the seal in his hand. The originally surging and vast energy gradually faded into nothingness, and the seal turned into an ordinary stone seal. Within the next second, the seal suddenly disappeared from his hands as it seemed to fall into another world without a sound. “Wha— What are you doing, Young Master Changge?” The smile on the Third Mountain Elder’s face was gone now as he froze. He didn’t know what Gu Changge was doing. The other Mountain Elders were also frowningly looking at this confusing change of events. Gu Changge still unhurriedly spoke even though he noticed the shocked faces. “Do you still not know why I came, Third Mountain Elder?” he asked, intrigued. Hit by a feeling of impending doom, the Third Mountain Elder turned to Gu Wudi and demanded, “What is the meaning of this, Wudi?!” However, Gu Wudi, who was usually respectful to the Third Mountain Elder, did not seem to have heard his words at this moment. Instead, he respectfully stood behind Gu Changge in his fine golden battle suit. A powerful aura that broke through the restriction just now emerged then. [Something’s wrong!] The Mountain Elders’ faces fell when they noticed something was up. They had lived for countless years, and they are True Daoists. Despite that, they felt the terrifying murderous aura sweeping across the entire continent suddenly from a distant place, engulfing them. Boom! At this moment, a monstrous murderous aura suddenly burst out from the sky far away. The petrifying momentum that swept across all directions was almost like the sound of a drum; it was so loud it almost tore people’s eardrums and shook their souls. Billowing dark clouds covered the sky and sun, and terrifying cavalrymen on beasts held Heavenly Swords, dagger-axes, and spears as they charged in from the distance. As thousands of troops charged, their overwhelming presence and murderous aura covered the sky and earth, seemingly threatening to crack the whole world open. “It’s an ambush!” Someone from the Nine Great Mountains was the first to realise what was happening, and their eyes opened wide as they shouted to inform everyone. All the disciples here fell into despair right then. Their bodies almost shattered from the sheer pressure even when they were only looking at the troops rushed in from afar. Their bodies couldn’t bear it at all. “Just who the hell are you!?” At this very moment, even a dense person could tell that this was Gu Changge’s doing, one way or the other. A scary pressure began to arise from several foul-faced Mountain Elders as they coldly stared at Gu Changge. The second the soaring murderous aura erupted, they almost tore the sky and land when mountains and rivers overturned, and the universe collapsed. The Mountain Elders were all True Daoists who had been cultivating in the Nine Great Mountains for countless years. They had no intention to hide the boiling rage in their hearts. As the monstrous fluctuations spread, the world went dark with the dimming of the sun and moon. Their aura alone was capable of destroying land within thousands of kilometres. Even all the stars in the sky in the distant land shook, seemingly about to fall together. Those on this land could do nothing but tremble in fear. Throughout the ages, real wars that included True Daoist had always affected lands hundreds of millions of kilometres away. One could only imagine how terrible it would be with the seven powerful and skilled True Daoists in front of them. They didn’t usually let their powers show, but once they did, their combined powers could shake the world. Their power surged like a galaxy, whereas their auras was like the universe. In fact, these Elders could swallow the sun and moon, and even destroy the stars with one hand… The Third Mountain Elder came back to his senses now. Pale and livid from rage, he couldn’t stop his voice from shaking. “So this is why you came here,” he hissed. He didn’t know that Gu Changge had such a crazy goal in mind. All those days the Nine Great Mountains spent treating Gu Changge like their most important guest and giving him the best hospitality were reciprocated with Gu Changge’s army’s invasion! This filled the Third Mountain Elder with so much anger and gloom the old man could cough up blood. All the disciples were also looking at all this in a daze. They never thought that the Nine Great Mountains, which had been peaceful for years, would be attacked by thousands of troops today. The momentum was so great that it was frightening. And all of this started with the young man who came here a few days ago. His real intentions had been revealed at last. Despite that, he was still his nonchalant self even until now. He didn’t seem to be bothered by anything that was happening. Gu Changge didn’t seem to care about the angry and cold expressions of the crowd. His eyes merely swept across the six Mountain Elders in front of him, and the smile on his face gradually disappeared before he stated indifferently, “I will give you a chance. Those who surrender will live, and those who resist will die. There will be no Nine Great Mountains after today.”