Chapter 20: The Big Buddha Head (1)

Everything was arranged by evening the same day that Huang Xue had issued his commands. One has to say that Yue Jing was truly a meticulous and expeditious person.

Using the Godly Supreme Hall’s vast network, Yue Jing had easily found a suitable clan within the Bai Province, one of 8 large provinces of the Long Dynasty. The Six Ocean Sects was situated in this very dynasty, in the Yu Province that neighbored east of the Bai Province.

The clan was called the ‘Shen Clan’, one of the many retainers of the Godly Supreme Hall. When a clan or power is too weak in the Upper Regions, they are typically either destroyed or decline into the Lower Regions. However, there are those who are sent to the Lower Regions as a mean of networking.

As it was crucial for major powers to keep up with the ongoing events in the world around them, be it in the Upper or Lower Regions, they often place weaker members of their group all across the continent and in various organizations. The Shen Clan was such group.

It was created by an elder of the Godly Supreme Hall, who was not very powerful within the sect. Therefore, this elder was ordered to be placed within the Long Dynasty as a spy while keeping in touch with the Godly Supreme Hall of any major happenings. And while the elder was considered weak within the Upper Regions, once he entered the Lower Regions, his strength was actually considered near the top!

In fact, after the elder had established his Shen Clan, his clan slowly became a major power in the Long Dynasty that was said to be comparable to even the royal clan of the dynasty the Long Clan themselves!

And considering the Shen Clan’s current strength, its loyalty, its convenient geographic location and its dedicated tributes to the Godly Supreme Hall over the hundred years, Yue Jing naturally found this clan to be likable and suitable for her master to reside in.

One has to say that this Shen Clan had truly drawn the lucky straw this time!

After selecting the residence, Yue Jing had immediately used a talisman to send a transmission to the Shen Clan’s present clan master about the arrangement. And without saying, it goes that the Shen Clan had naturally accepted...

On the sixth floor of the Head Martial Tower, a black robed youth sat leisurely upon a throne as he looked out at the evening sky through an open window. A purple dressed middle aged lady stood in front of him patiently.

“Master, everything have been arranged. As for the Six Ocean Sect, I received news that in three days there would be an exam for selecting new disciples. Considering it is known as one of the four major Sects within the entire Profound Night Land, this kind of exam should attract many talents living near the borders of the Long Dynasty yearly...but master, why would you want to partake in such trivial test? With a single word from the Shen Clan, you could easily join the Six Ocean Sect without going through this…” Yue Jing said as she looked curiously at her master.

Huang Xue smiled absentmindedly as he replied: “That would be no good. During the entrance exam, there are bound to a large batch of talents participating. If I go with the exam, I would naturally be exposed to a greater number of students at once. My potential disciples may be an entering freshmen, after all. And it may even be easier at that time, than for me to enter the Six Ocean Sect and then to search around in separate locations. At the very least, I would be able to confirm if my disciple exists within the freshmen groups…”  

Yue Jing nodded and said: “Master is wise, Yue’er has only been looking at the narrow picture…”

“Haha, your master is no wiser than you, my silly disciple. In this world, what understanding do we have that could truly be called ‘wisdom’...the universe is simply too vast for a person to claim they are wiser than another...” Huang Xue said calmly, as his eyes glimmered with a strange light. “Anyways, enough of that. Yue’er, before I leave...how is the quality of our disciples?”

As the ancestor of the Godly Supreme Hall, he had bothered to check on the disciples being raised within his own Sect due to the fact that his grand sect did not appear in the Star Decree Stone’s predictions. It meant that there were no disciples within the Godly Supreme Hall, or even in any of the other two grand sects, who could reach the peak of the Immortal Sovereign realm.

However, it was the peak that they may be unable to reach, but not the realm itself. There was still a strong possibility that some disciples in his Godly Supreme Hall may be able to reach the Immortal Sovereign Realm!

Unfortunately, the Star Decree Stone could only seek out potentials that are relevant to the initiator’s current realm. Meaning, even if Huang Xue had suppressed his cultivation, the stone would still be able to see through into his true cultivation and search for potentials that are equivalent to the peak of the Immortal Sovereign realm.

As such, now that Huang Xue was about to leave for quite some time, he wanted to at least personally see some of the most talented disciples of his Hall, and deduce their potential himself! After all, the possibility of the future is endless. No one knows their true potential until they’ve actually reached the end of their road…

Yue Jing was a bit taken aback in her heart when her master once again asked something that seemed irrelevant, especially since he was leaving soon. But as a disciple, she knew it would futile to try to read her master’s mind. Thus, she replied calmly:

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“This year, we did not take in any new disciples as the quality of talent is simply too low. And from my observation, it seems that each year the number of talents are diminishing. I received news that the other two grand sects are experiencing the same issue as well. However, while we lost a few core disciples over the years, the remaining ones are especially talented. Be it their combat skills, cultivation, age, or latent potential, they are a cut above the rest of the Godly Supreme Hall disciples. They may even be considered the strongest group of core disciples within the last two thousand years!”

“Oh? That sounds quite promising…” Huang Xue murmured for a bit, before he lifted his head and commanded. “Since that is case, bring them to me.”

Yue Jing was startled before she started: “But master, if they were to see you…”

“Don’t worry, I will be wearing a mask and concealing my aura. They won’t recognize me. And even if I did not wear anything, just my youthful appearance alone would have confused them. Not to mention, no one has seen me in the last several thousands years, haha!” Huang Xue said as he waved his hand for Yue Jing to go. “If need be, just introduce me as a guest elder. I will go down to the fifth floor to meet them.”

The fifth floor of the Head Martial Tower was where grand guests stayed in. Yue Jing did not say anything more as she bowed and turned to go gather the core disciples.  

While core disciples were usually far away from the Godly Supreme Hall, due to training and personal matters, they are each given a special teleportation talisman that would allow them to instantly return back to the Hall. This was so that the Godly Supreme Hall would be able to aptly defend itself, should an enemy attack occur.

Therefore, with a personal summon from the Sect Master of the Godly Supreme Hall, the core disciples quickly crushed their talisman and returned to the Sect ground. None of them dared to be late. After all, this was the Sect Master they were talking about!  

In just over a quarter of an hour, all three hundred core disciples were gathered inside the spacious fifth floor of the Head Martial Tower. These creams of the crop all stood respectfully as they faced the Yue Jing, who was now standing on a tall podium at the end of the room. In a unified voice, they cried out in reverence:

“”“ We greet the Supreme Empress! “””

Yue Jing nodded as she looked at her students with pride and hope. Directly to the left behind Yue Jing, sat Huang Xue who was wearing a Big Head Buddha mask.

(Note: Big head budhha mask: https://img0.etsystatic.com/021/0/8271329/il_570xN.568427784_mzui.jpg )

Several of the core disciples, when they saw Huang Xue’s mask, had a weird expression on their face. For some, they attempted to suppress their inner organs from betraying them and allowing them to give to their pent-up laughter. Every one felt that the person wearing the Big Buddha Head mask seemed...quite out of place. In a large hall filled with prestigious disciples and descendants from powerful families, the masked person looked eye-catchingly...foolish.

If they did not remind themselves that this was the fifth floor of the Head Martial Tower and that the Sect Master was standing before them, many would have long burst out laughing or sneering in contempt at the Big Buddha Headed figure. They were, after all, the blessed sons of Heaven. Arrogance was a natural association for many of them.

Yue Jing tried to avoid looking at her master, as even she felt a bit awkward with her master wearing such conspicuous mask. Gathering her voice, she maintained a serene expression as she spoke out to the disciples:

“All core disciples of my Godly Supreme Hall, listen to my words!”

The moment Yue Jing spoke, the soft murmurs within the hall instantly died out. Everyone looked comparatively alert and serious as they listened to their sect master.

“I have asked for you all to return back to the Sect this time because of a request from a very esteemed guest elder!” Saying this, Yue Jing respectfully moved her body and gestured to Huang Xue, who was behind her.

Huang Xue only gave a slight nod, which prompted a few contemptuous smiles to appear on some of the more arrogant core disciples’ face. A nod from a person wearing a Big Buddha Head...gave off an exceedingly naive and innocent impression, causing many of the core disciples to think that the person behind the mask was weak. Perhaps this ‘esteemed guest’ was a relative of the sect master, or perhaps someone with a high status but weak skill, was what some of the disciples were now thinking…

Yue Jing coughed and continued: “This esteemed elder here wish to examine the quality of our Hall’s core disciples. So everyone should follow what this elder asks for!”

At this moment, Huang Xue stood up as he walked to the front of the red carpeted podium. All three hundred pairs of sharp eyes were directed to his figure.

Surveying the group of disciples, Huang Xue spoke in an altered voice that sounded neither like man or woman, young or old:

“This old one here likes those with true martial arts talent! Right now, I want you all to release your aura to the peak...and try to suppress me!”

Some of the core disciples frowned, while the others had on an angry expression. To have all of them release their Qi aura to suppress a single person...wasn’t that a humiliation to all of them? Even if the other party was much stronger than themselves, to oppress one person with a large crowd was simply a coward’s actions…

“Do not worry. This is apart of my test for you all. Whatever happens to me, you will not be liable. This will naturally be witnessed by your Sect Master. Now, come! Show me what you have!” Huang Xue’s voice rang out over the conflicted crowd. At the same time, the core disciples saw Huang Xue beckoning to them with his index finger, in a provocative manner…

In the next moment, an explosion of various Qi aura burst from the crowd as each disciple released their Qi aura. A tidal wave of heterogeneous Qi aura instantly surged towards Huang Xue’s body as it crashed viciously into him. All three hundred core disciples at this very moment, was attempting to suppress him.

However, even under this enormous wave of Qi auras, the Big Buddha Headed figure did not seem to budge or even tremble in the least! The head slightly bobbed up and down in a relaxed manner, as Huang Xue recounted to himself in his thoughts:

“Hmm, they are not bad. Even though none of them looked older than twenty eight or twenty nine, their auras are that of the Dao Ascent realm! Even the weakest one seems to have reached the initial stages of that realm, and there’s even a few auras approaching the level of a Heavenly Wang...as expected of a Grand Sect.”

After assessing the quality of the students, Huang Xue felt that such a sect was truly deserving to be called a grand sect, a holy land for martial artists. The level of talent in this place was simply too worlds apart in comparison to other regions!

While the core disciples continually increased their aura towards Huang Xue, the latter finally returned back from his thoughts.

The students all glared at the masked figure as they channeled their profound Qi throughout their body, using every ounce of their strength to force their aura down upon Huang Xue. Some of the students even thought that the ‘esteemed elder’ had been frozen on the spot due to the enormous wave of Qi auras suppressing down on him, hence the latter’s immobility.

With three hundred Dao Ascents and half-step Heavenly Wang cultivators using their auras all at once to directly oppress a single person...even if the other party was a late staged  Heavenly Wang practitioner, they would still find it difficult to endure!

Just as several of the core disciples were thinking along this line, a vibrant voice echoed out from the person wearing the Big Buddha Head mask:

“Pretty good. Alright, now it is my turn. Please try to endure as best as you can. The ones who last the longest shall get received great benefits!”

Right after the voice faded, a terrifying aura descended upon the crowd. At that moment, all three hundred Qi auras, which were originally like a gigantic tidal, disappeared in an instant.

Not a drop of their Qi aura could be felt, as all the core disciples felt their heart tremble under the pressure of this sudden, monstrous aura!...