All Parties Gather

These guests looked at the spacious plaza and the unique architectural style of the sect, their faces filled with curiosity.

“Everyone, let’s find a place to sit down first and see what’s so extraordinary about this Poison Sect.”

Everyone nodded and, after taking their seats, immediately began to inquire about the Poison Sect’s origins from the female disciples standing beside the tables.

These female disciples were all from the Xuanhui Sect.

Their sect had been utterly destroyed, and before it could be rebuilt, they would naturally have to stay at the Poison Sect for the time being.

As for the guests’ questions, they answered basically everything they knew, such as the recent events in Yunzhou, how the Poison Sect integrated the four major sects and annihilated Ghost Soul Valley, and the origins of the Poison Sect and its founder.

These matters were not particularly clear to these cultivators from other regions; they only knew a rough outline.

It was known that the Sect Master of the Poison Sect was only a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator.

But when they learned that the Sect Master of the Poison Sect was actually a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, they were all beyond shocked.

Throughout the cultivation history of most of the continent, it had never been heard of that a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator could establish a sect.

Meanwhile, on Yan Yun’s side, she was being pushed in front of a dressing table by Wen Meng, Zhou Zimo, and two other female disciples.

“Little Sister Yan Yun, you can’t be willful today.”

“You have to consider the bigger picture.”

“You can’t just shirk your duties because you don’t like it or find it troublesome.”

“The ceremony is about to begin.”

“As the master of the Poison Sect, you must be dressed in your finest attire.”

The four of them spoke with great seriousness.

But Yan Yun just glanced at the numerous complicated ornaments and makeup on the table and felt a massive headache coming on.

This was the first time she, as a woman, would be dressed up so extravagantly.

She always felt that this kind of attire made her look like a clothes rack.

“What a hassle.”

“I really don’t want to make it this complicated.”

“I’m just a tiny Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, do I really need to go through all this trouble?”

“No one will take me seriously anyway.”

“Besides, you all know I used to be a man.”

“A man!”

“I’m not used to this kind of strange, orthodox dressing up,” Yan Yun said listlessly.

Wen Meng undid Yan Yun’s hair, letting her silver-white locks cascade down.

“We know, we know, you’ve said it many times.”

“But you’re a woman now.”

“Since you’re a woman, you naturally have to follow our womanly rules.”

“And besides, you were the one who decided to build this Poison Sect, so everything must be orthodox.”

“Furthermore, Little Sister Yan Yun, you will definitely encounter situations like this frequently in the future.”

“How can you not get used to it?” Wen Meng said very seriously.

“That’s right, Sister Wen Meng is correct.”

“We need to help the Sect Master Sister quickly accept and get used to her current identity.”

“She’s clearly a beautiful girl, but it always feels like there’s a certain distance between her and us.”

“On the contrary, you’re closer to that group of ugly men like Mu Wenjie.”

“Aren’t you afraid they’ll take advantage of you?” Zhou Zimo also said.

The few of them went on and on, making Yan Yun’s head spin, and she could only obediently submit.

More and more guests entered the Poison Sect.

The vast majority of cultivation forces sent their sect elders to attend the ceremony.

However, about an hour later, a sizable flying artifact hovered above the Wuyin Mountains.

A group of people, led by a Divine Venerable expert, along with several Divine Soul Realm cultivators and a dozen young cultivators, arrived.

Their arrival immediately attracted the attention of the other guests around.

“Finally, a respectable force has arrived from the Evergreen Gate.”

“This Evergreen Gate is the strongest force in the neighboring Chenzhou.”

“To think they would send a Divine Venerable expert to attend the ceremony, they’re really giving them face.”

“But for so many of them to come at once, it doesn’t feel like they’re just here to attend a ceremony.”

Many cultivators speculated.

“That’s natural.”

“This Poison Sect is holding its ceremony with such high profile, it’s clearly a challenge to the powers of the various states in Xiang Country.”

“They must be here to confirm whether this Poison Sect has the qualifications to challenge them.”

Another cultivator said with great interest.

“These people are here today just to watch the show.”

“The more lively it gets, the better.”

“It would be best if a fight breaks out.”

The Evergreen Gate was not the only regional hegemon-level force to attend the ceremony.

Xiang Country was divided into seven state-level regions.

Yunzhou was considered the weakest, not even having a single major accomplishment Divine Venerable.

Soon, another hegemon-level force arrived.

They did not enter directly upon arrival, but instead remained hovering above the Poison Sect, observing the situation below, or perhaps waiting for the Poison Sect’s experts to personally invite them down.

As the hegemons of their respective states, they certainly had to put on airs.

Otherwise, wouldn’t they lose face?

“Why haven’t the people from the Heavenly Sage Sect arrived yet?”

“They’re not planning to skip the Poison Sect’s ceremony, are they?”

“They will definitely come.”

“After all, the establishment of this Poison Sect is a challenge to their status as the hegemon of Xiang Country.”

Several Divine Venerables conversed from a great distance.

Just as these words were spoken, a tyrannical aura surged from the east.

This aura was clearly the fluctuation of a major accomplishment Divine Venerable, much stronger than the seven Divine Venerables who had arrived earlier.

“This aura, isn’t this Fellow Daoist Wei from the Heavenly Sage Sect?”

“I never thought he would personally come to attend the Poison Sect’s ceremony.”

“There’s going to be a good show to watch.”

“If Fellow Daoist Wei’s power is here, this ceremony could very well turn into…”

He let out a strange laugh.

The arrival of the Heavenly Sage Sect’s expert immediately alerted Xuanhui Holy Mother and the others within the Poison Sect.

The other party was deliberately releasing their powerful aura; it was impossible for them not to notice.

‘What a formidable aura.’

‘This aura is, I don’t even know how many times stronger than that old ghost Ghost Soul.’

‘The people from the Heavenly Sage Sect have arrived.’

The people immediately gathered together.

‘This is a clear provocation.’

‘I wonder if the Sect Master is prepared.’

‘Relying on just the four of us, plus the expert with the Sect Master, will not be enough to intimidate them.’

‘If we can’t intimidate them, then according to their usual practice, we won’t be able to hold this ceremony.’

The Old Ancestor of True Dragon Gate said.

Despite their words, the four of them flew out of the Poison Sect together and arrived before the seven hovering flying artifacts, waiting for the Heavenly Sage Sect’s expert to arrive.

In the distance, a dragon’s roar carrying an extremely strong pressure broke through the clouds and descended.

It was a glittering golden flood dragon, a Demon Venerable.

“That’s the Heavenly Sage Sect’s guardian divine beast, the Golden-Scaled Flood Dragon.”

“Hah, what a grand gesture.”

This flood dragon made the seven major hegemon-level forces feel a sense of bitter helplessness.

None of their seven great sects possessed a guardian divine beast of this level.

This was also a symbol of their profound heritage.

The flood dragon flew extremely fast, reaching the crowd in just a few moments.

It even deliberately let out a threatening roar at everyone present.

Xuanhui Holy Mother and the others hurriedly looked toward the top of the dragon’s head.

There, they saw an old man with white robes and white hair standing proudly.

Behind him stood ten young cultivators, the strongest of whom was at the major accomplishment Spirit Transformation Realm.

“Haha, everyone from Xiang Country is here.”

“Greetings,” the old man greeted everyone amicably.

This person was the strongest Old Ancestor of the Heavenly Sage Sect, Wei Hai.

Everyone hurriedly returned the courtesy.

“Fellow Daoist Wei, I truly didn’t expect you to personally attend this Poison Sect’s ceremony.”

“You’re really giving this Poison Sect a lot of face,” a Divine Venerable said with a smile.

What Wei Hai said next was interesting.

“I had no choice.”

“The Poison Sect’s invitation was sent to our Heavenly Sage Sect.”

“How could we not come?”

This sentence seemed plain, but it was actually meant to be sarcastic.

The general meaning was, ‘I didn’t want to come either, but they insisted on inviting me, so I had no choice but to come and join the fun.’

Xuanhui Holy Mother and the others could hear the hidden meaning in his words, but they didn’t care.

After all, they had anticipated that such a situation would occur.

“Fellow Daoists, the four of us have been ordered by our Sect Master to come and welcome you into the sect for the ceremony,” the Cui family’s Old Ancestor stepped forward and said with a cupped fist.

Among these forces, there were surely people who recognized Xuanhui Holy Mother and the others.

“Hehe, old fiend Cui, I heard that your Cui family and the Xuanhui Sect were destroyed by Ghost Soul Valley and Black Wind Mountain.”

“This old man is very curious, how did you manage to turn defeat into victory and then subdue True Dragon Gate and Black Wind Mountain?” a Divine Venerable expert asked curiously.

The Cui family’s Old Ancestor immediately responded.

“You must be a fellow daoist from the Sword Valley of Lingzhou.”

“The reason our two families were able to turn defeat into victory is entirely due to our Sect Master.”

“Without her turning the tide, our two families’ defeat would have been certain.”

This answer made everyone ponder deeply.

They were well aware that the Ghost Soul Old Ancestor was very powerful in combat, not even fearing an ordinary major accomplishment Divine Venerable.

Yet he had died at the hands of an unknown cultivator.

They all wanted to know who this person was.

“Fellow Daoists, the friends from the Poison Sect have already come out to welcome us.”

“Let’s not just stand here.”

“Let’s go in and see the foundation of this Poison Sect,” Wei Hai gestured.

Thus, the cultivators from the eight major forces flew down, put away their flying artifacts, and followed the Cui family’s Old Ancestor and the other three into the Poison Sect.

The moment they entered the Poison Sect, they sensed the fluctuations of the formation in the valley where the sect was located.

Setting aside everything else, just the grade of this formation was enough for them to shed their underestimation of the Poison Sect.

“What a profound formation.”

“This old man considers himself to have some attainment in the art of formations, yet I cannot even identify what kind of sect-protecting grand array this is,” Wei Hai said with a look of astonishment.

A formation of this level was absolutely impossible to find a second one of in the entire Xiang Country.

“Haha, our Sect Master invited a formation master from the Righteous Dao Alliance to set up all the sect’s formations and restrictions.”

“This formation is called the ‘Four Saints Divine Annihilation Array’.”

“I wonder if fellow daoist has heard of it,” the Cui family’s Old Ancestor said directly.

This answer startled Wei Hai.

After a moment of thought, his expression gradually became grave.

“This… isn’t this a sixth-tier top-grade formation?”

“And a lost one at that, how is this possible?”

The mention of a sixth-tier top-grade formation shocked the Divine Venerables of the other seven forces as well.

Once this formation was activated, they would be like sheep walking into a tiger’s den.

A formation of this level, let alone in Xiang Country, there were few who could set it up in the entire Dao Alliance.

How could it not be shocking?