Frank was a talented disciple from the Flaming Sun Valley. On his arrival, the first thing he did was to occupy the nearest hill. Of course, there was no resistance to the occupation. The cultivators on the hill hardly matched up to him and obediently left on his instructions.
When the hill was quiet, a melodious bell rang in the air, announcing the arrival of two mysterious figures that flew down as light and fast as swallows.
When they stepped down, you could make out a young man and a young woman. There was definitely something otherworldly about them. If you stared into their eyes, you would say they were neither old nor young but eternal.
The man was tall and handsome, and a long sword hung from his waist. His face bore no expression but was neither hard nor mean. It was tranquil like stream water. You could sense he was thinking something but on the surface, everything was peaceful.
The young woman's snow-white skin and long black hair marked her from the crowd. Such gorgeous looks enhanced by bright sparkling eyes, somewhat like the phoenix's, made the rest think of her as a princess.
There was an inexplicable aura to them. No one had to ever ask, all knew in their hearts, that the pair was different.
"They are Leo and Cynthia from the Peripatetic Sect. Their coming too, to the Grand Desolation Mountain is most unexpected," said someone.
The Peripatetic Sect was the most superior sect in the whole of Violet Orchid Empire. Its power outdistanced that of all other sects'.
Even the royal family of the Violet Orchid Empire showed respect to this sect.
For this reason, the Peripatetic Sect's disciples were highly regarded by the common folk.
Leo was not only the disciple of the Peripatetic Sect, but the best of the lot. It was said that his cultivation base had reached the medium stage of Earth Realm and he ranked seventh among the young generation of the Violet Orchid Empire.
Leo and Cynthia went directly to one of the hills near the celestial energy ginseng. There were several cultivators there and they had just conquered a place from the others through a battle. And now, looking at Leo and Cynthia coming over, they felt both angry and frustrated.
Glaring at the pair, their leader hesitated for a moment. He very well knew how strong these two people were. Finally, he gritted his teeth and withdrew with his gang.
They had better go away and find another place.
Soon, they took over another hill with violence. Their conquest was a little farther away from the one they had recently left.
This was exactly 'the big fish eat small fish and the small fish eat shrimps' world.
Austin was impressed by the celestial energy ginseng attracting so many cultivators.
It was norm for disciples of the five major sects of the Violet Orchid Empire to come here.
However, it seemed that Sun Sect and Joy Gang had no elite disciples present at the moment.
Marvin, Billy and Austin were from Sun Sect and in fact, ordinary. The strongest among them was only at level eight of the Energy Gathering Realm. There wasn't even a single man who had reached the Earth Realm of vital energy present.
The disciples of Joy Gang too were only at the Energy Gathering Realm as well. None of the core disciples had showed up this time.
But, there were many elites from the other three sects, i.e. the Peripatetic Sect, the Flaming Sun Valley and the Bloody Hero Gang. . . .
"Look! The celestial energy ginseng is about to ripen," said one of the cultivators.
At once, everyone's eyes fixed on the celestial energy ginseng which was rooted at the center of the valley.
And like a shot, a strong colorful light sparkled from the celestial energy ginseng bathing the whole valley in its hypnotic luminous light. And with that, a thick fruity aroma wafted in the air.
In a trice, for those present, it was a sublime moment, out of turn and one meant to be written down in history for this hadn't happened in the longest time.
The thick spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered into a gust of wind and blew towards the celestial energy ginseng. And like a bottomless pit, the ginseng swallowed up all the spiritual energy at once.
With their eyes wide open, all the cultivators felt charged with the excitement they witnessed but no one dared blink lest they lost sight of the celestial energy ginseng.
"Wow! It is just as my grandpa said. The celestial energy ginseng is at the most critical moment of ripening."
Fanny exclaimed and covered her mouth with hand embarrassed.
Surrounding the celestial energy ginseng, in tens of square meter area, the reiki of heaven and earth was getting emptied in a short period of time.
And as that happened, the ninth halo which circled the celestial energy ginseng started to thicken, emitting a constant flow of kaleidoscopic lights.
All the cultivators held their breath and looked nervously at the celestial energy ginseng. They knew that the crucial moment had come.
"Violet, are you ready?" Austin whispered.
He used his thought to communicate with Violet, the little fox in the Illusion Bead. In fact, just now Austin had secretly discussed with her how to seize the celestial energy ginseng.
Austin knew that just his strength had no chance of meeting success and seizing the celestial energy ginseng. In the face of so many strong people, maybe Violet's help, could turn the odds.
Now the celestial energy ginseng was about to ripen, so he reminded Violet urgently.
"Don't worry, master! I'm ready!" Violet replied.
Hearing her answer, Austin breathed out his anxiety. . . .
Waiting with bated breath, all eyes were fixed on the celestial energy ginseng. It was as if the air in the valley was frozen and a hush of silence had fallen upon them.
At this moment, using his spiritual sense, Austin overheard a conversation of two people.
"Tomb Owner, there are too many cultivators here. Moreover, some of them seem very strong. Are we really going to act now? I'm afraid we can't make it."
"Huh? It is rare that so many disciples gathered here. How can we miss such a good opportunity? The higher their strength, the higher the quality of their souls. If we can collect these souls, it will be a great achievement to us. What's more, if we get this celestial energy ginseng and present it to the Altar Owner, he will be happy and probably teach me the Soul-refining Formula."
"But, Tomb Owner! I don't think we have enough people to fight so many cultivators."
"Please rest assured! The people from Tomb No. 28 are nearby too. Just now, I sent a message telling them to come. Maybe by now, they've already started deploying the Soul Collection Array at the periphery."
"The men of the Tomb No. 28 are also here? If we fight together, success will be ours."
This conversation came from a hill shrouded with dark dense fog under the cover of which a group of strange people hid.
'The Tomb Owner?'
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