If previously they would have dismissed Qi Yuan's statements as a joke, now, this sheer confidence and domineering aura genuinely shook them.
Among all the prodigies gathered here, who had not been won over by Hei Jian? Even Bing Jian, though reluctant to admit he treated Hei Jian as his benchmark, had in truth been striving tirelessly to catch up. And he knew all too well that the harder he chased, the wider the gap grew.
Yet what had this Blood Robe just proclaimed?
*Hei Jian hasn't even reached the Great Ultimate Principle, so he isn't qualified to be my benchmark!*
Every prodigy felt their mind reel. Their gazes fell upon Qi Yuan, filled with a whirl of conflicting emotions.
Blood Robe was blatantly provoking Hei Jian!
Or rather, declaring war on him.
Old grudges within Ziyuan Heaven resurfaced in their memories. More than a few thought they could smell the acrid smoke of an impending feud. Coupled with the fact that Ziyuan Heaven's old ancestor had personally bestowed Black Demon Ancestral Blood upon Blood Robe, they couldn't help but read deeply into the situation.
Hei Jian represented the First Elder of the Black Demon Abyss. Of the remaining Nine Elders, half were disciples of the First Elder—including the Sixth Elder of Ziyuan Heaven. However, it was no great secret within the Black Demon Abyss that the Sixth Elder harbored old grievances against the First Elder and had never accepted his supremacy.
Now that Blood Robe was provoking Hei Jian, everyone detected the heavy scent of gunpowder in the air.
Was this the continuation of the struggle between the Sixth Elder and... the First Elder?
And yet... did Blood Robe truly possess the foundation and confidence to stand alongside Hei Jian?
One had to remember that a Great Ultimate Principle master who commanded a Supreme Ultimate Principle had once visited the Black Demon Abyss as an honored guest. Upon laying eyes on Hei Jian, that master had remarked: *In my youth, I fell far, far short of Hei Jian.*
Naturally, none of them realized that Qi Yuan had no such convoluted thoughts at all.
Others assumed he wanted to surpass Hei Jian and took him as a target. In reality, he simply wanted to clear his own name—and as for someone he wished to surpass, Hei Jian was nowhere near qualified.
Hei Jian's expression remained tranquil, as placid as a blooming chrysanthemum. "I merely happen to walk a few steps ahead of you all. There is no need to make me the target you strive to surpass."
To all appearances, he paid no mind to Qi Yuan's words.
An Xunlu gazed at Hei Jian with eyes full of shimmering stars before turning to Qi Yuan, her face dripping with disdain. "Take a look at Big Brother Hei Jian, then look at yourself. Do you see the difference?"
"Huh?" Qi Yuan didn't quite catch her drift. "I see it. He's not as good-looking as me. That's the difference."
"You!" An Xunlu was furious. "What absolute nonsense! Big Brother Hei Jian's talent outstrips yours a hundredfold, and his looks surpass yours by a hundred times more!"
Qi Yuan couldn't even be bothered to answer her.
He could tell she was a die-hard fangirl. He despised brainless stans the most; arguing with them was completely pointless because their minds would just invent whatever narrative they wanted.
Beside him, however, Ziyuan Xiaolu couldn't hold back. "Senior Brother Blood Robe is clearly better-looking than Senior Brother... Hei Jian!"
"Ziyuan Xiaolu, are you blind?!" An Xunlu was caught off guard, never expecting the habitually timid girl to talk back to her.
"My eyes work perfectly fine! Senior Brother Blood Robe is clearly the more handsome one!" Ziyuan Xiaolu's face flushed crimson. Bickering was clearly not her forte.
"Hmph!" An Xunlu promptly shifted the topic, since in truth... Blood Robe really was far more handsome than Big Brother Hei Jian. "Big Brother Hei Jian is a Yang God Heavenly Venerable and the foremost prodigy of our Black Demon Abyss! His talent eclipses Blood Robe's by leaps and bounds!"
"Senior Brother Blood Robe only started cultivating the Ancestral Blood Art later! Given enough time, surpassing Hei Jian won't be an issue at all!" Ziyuan Xiaolu argued back staunchly.
Witnessing this, Qi Yuan was dumbfounded.
This Ziyuan Xiaolu... looked an awful lot like *his* die-hard fangirl.
Qi Yuan suddenly felt that perhaps he had been too biased, viewing an entire group through tinted lenses. It turned out there were decent folks among "fangirls" too.
The two girls continued squabbling back and forth.
Just then, Hei Jian spoke up, his voice composed. "There is one more matter to announce. The Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference will convene shortly. Our younger generation has thirty slots to attend as observers. These observation slots will be allocated according to contributions to the Black Demon Abyss."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the gathered prodigies changed dramatically, their breaths quickening.
The Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference was one of the grandest events in the Sixth Heaven. When the time came, every Yang God and faction that held an invitation would travel to the Ultimate Principle Society to engage in the discourse of the Dao.
That was a discussion among Yang Gods, a direct contemplation of ultimate principles!
For prodigies of their caliber, the benefits were astronomical, capable of laying down the very foundations of their future paths. If one experienced a moment of true enlightenment, it could easily shave off hundreds of thousands of years of arduous cultivation.
Ordinary cultivators had no hope of attending. Even average Yang Gods were barred unless they were willing to serve as unpaid laborers for the Ultimate Principle Society. Only premier sacred lands like the Black Demon Abyss received a generous allocation of slots, allowing even their younger generation to participate.
"Contribution points... It seems we have to halt our seclusion and take on missions!"
"Damn it, I haven't taken on a mission in years!"
"There's less than a year left before the conference begins. Just how many contribution points can we even scrape together?"
The prodigies looked solemn, wrestling with varying degrees of hope and despair.
There were two ways to earn contribution points: completing missions, or achieving breakthroughs in the Ancestral Blood Art. The higher the layer one attained in the Ancestral Blood Art, the more contribution points one received. Bing Jian, for instance, had already reached the eighth layer. The contribution points from that achievement alone were more than enough to secure his observation slot.
With the Heavenly Venerable's lecture concluded, the crowd slowly dispersed.
Ziyuan Xiaolu's face was still bright red. Unaccustomed to verbal sparring, she looked visibly flustered. She furrowed her brow, then sank into deep thought, seemingly reviewing her performance in the argument to figure out where she could have improved.
At that moment, An Xunlu sneered at her from nearby, her tone laced with sarcasm: "Senior Brother Blood Robe only just arrived in Ziyuan Heaven, has barely begun cultivating the Ancestral Blood Art, and hasn't done any missions. It looks like he'll be missing out on this Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference. What a pity!"
Her words didn't faze Qi Yuan in the slightest. Even if he couldn't earn a Black Demon Abyss slot, he still possessed Heavenly Venerable Mochi's invitation. When the time came, he could simply go under Mochi's name.
It did, however, infuriate Ziyuan Xiaolu, who whipped her head aside and refused to look at An Xunlu. If it wasn't pleasant, she simply chose not to hear it.
Gloating as though she had claimed victory, An Xunlu ignored Qi Yuan and made her way toward the mountain summit to see Hei Jian.
Ziyuan Xiaolu wore a troubled expression. With a wave of her hand, a long list of missions unfurled before them. She examined the listings with growing anxiety.
"Senior Brother Blood Robe, the missions here offer far too few contribution points and take up far too much time. You..."
She was deeply worried on his behalf. Senior Brother Blood Robe possessed astonishing talent, but missing the Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference would be a colossal loss. The gap between him and Hei Jian would only widen further.
"It's fine." Qi Yuan appeared utterly relaxed. Scanning the mission list below, he suddenly asked, "Can these contribution points... be exchanged for Black Demon Ancestral Blood?"
He had noticed that many of the assignments pertained to the Moluo Clan. Recently, the Moluo Clan had ceased paying tribute, which had caused quite a stir within the Black Demon Abyss. A large number of the newly posted tasks revolved around dealing with them. If he wanted to complete those, he could do so with a flick of his wrist.
One mission, for example, required traveling to the Fifth Heaven to negotiate with the Moluo Clan and secure a minimum tribute of one hundred portions of Miluo Light. Tasks like that were right up Qi Yuan's alley.
"No." Ziyuan Xiaolu shook her head, looking troubled. Black Demon Ancestral Blood was extraordinarily precious; outside of the Great Ultimate Principle masters, there was virtually no other way to obtain it.
Noticing his gaze fixed upon the column of Moluo Clan missions, an idea struck her. "Could it be that you can resolve the Moluo Clan's affairs, Senior Brother Blood Robe?"
He had arrived from the Demonic Abyss, so he might well share an intimate connection with them. The way he asked made it sound as though he held absolute confidence in handling those tasks.
"I'm certain I can resolve them," Qi Yuan answered honestly.
Ziyuan Xiaolu's eyes sparkled. "You're amazing, Senior Brother Blood Robe! Why don't you accept those missions? Once you finish them, it should be enough to earn your place at the Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference!"
"I'm not doing them," Qi Yuan said, shaking his head.
Did she take him for a fool? Why on earth would he complete those tasks? Sure, he would earn contribution points, but he would be at a net loss! Most of those missions demanded tributes from the Moluo Clan. The Moluo Clan belonged to him; handing over his own belongings to the Black Demon Abyss just to scrape up a pitiful handful of contribution points would mean he had lost his mind!
"Huh?" Ziyuan Xiaolu blinked, completely bewildered.
"Don't worry, Pink Horns. When it comes to contribution points, I have my own plans," Qi Yuan said confidently.
Couldn't one earn contribution points without running errands? All he had to do was raise his mastery of the Ancestral Blood Art.
"Which layer of the Ancestral Blood Art provides enough contribution points to qualify for the conference?" Qi Yuan asked.
"The sixth layer might give you a chance... but to be safe, the seventh!" Ziyuan Xiaolu seemed to guess his intentions, though she thought it was pure fantasy. Even so, she didn't pry and simply answered.
"Oh, then it's in the bag tonight." A smile touched Qi Yuan's eyes.
For this Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference, he wouldn't just go under the identity of Heavenly Venerable Mochi; he would also attend through Blood Robe's official slot. After all, he was a man with powerful backing now. With a Great Ultimate Principle master supporting him from behind, things were far more convenient.
"Huh?" Ziyuan Xiaolu blinked, at a loss as to what he meant. But being naturally shy, she felt embarrassed to press further when he didn't elaborate.
"Where does Ziyuan Heaven test one's progress in the Ancestral Blood Art? I'm going to get evaluated and claim my contribution points!"
Hearing this, Ziyuan Xiaolu's eyes went wide, her breath hitching slightly.
Senior Brother Blood Robe wanted to trade his cultivation layer in the Ancestral Blood Art for contribution points? Did that mean he had already reached at least the first, second, or perhaps even the third layer?
The fastest record for the Ancestral Blood Art was held by Hei Jian, who had reached the third layer in half a month and the fourth layer in three months, leaving everyone else far behind. She herself, for instance, had spent an entire year just to break through the first layer.
"All right!"
***
Upon the mountain summit.
Hei Jian stood robed in white, elegant and peerless as jade.
Beside him, a Great Heavenly Position Yang God smiled faintly. "That Blood Robe... is rather arrogant."
A trace of displeasure colored his voice.
Hei Jian's expression remained serene. "He has his own goals. There is nothing wrong with him not viewing me as an obstacle to overcome."
"Ah, you... you are always far too generous and magnanimous," the Great Heavenly Position Yang God sighed.
The better one understood Hei Jian, the more terrifying his talent seemed.
"He does not view me as his target, just as I... never spare a glance for the ascetic climbers struggling behind me. It is of no consequence," Hei Jian said placidly.
His words reflected nothing less than reality. He held no fear toward challenges from his peers, nor did he mind their disregard. Anyone who fell behind him would only drift further away. His gaze remained firmly fixed upon the Astral Realm, set upon the select few Great Ultimate Principle masters who commanded Supreme Ultimate Principles. Why would he ever turn his head to look at those chasing in his wake?
"The rise of the Black Demon Abyss rests upon your shoulders," the Yang God could not help but remark. "All others are mere passing clouds."
While other prodigies of their generation still toiled tirelessly just to break through to the Yang God realm, Hei Jian had long become an honored guest of Great Heavenly Position Yang Gods, capable of discussing the Dao with those at the level of ultimate principles.
"That Blood Robe is valued by the Sixth Elder, so his talent is bound to be extraordinary. In all likelihood, he will also become a Great Ultimate Principle master one day. Brother Hei Jian, you could rein him in and temper him into a handy sword for yourself," the Yang God Heavenly Venerable advised.
Toward Hei Jian, he felt reverence, along with an unavoidable trace of envy and jealousy. For now, his priority was building good ties.
"Thank you for the advice, Fellow Daoist," Hei Jian answered calmly.
He gave no real thought to the man's words. He was invincible in his own right; why would he need a sharpened sword?
"An Xunlu is approaching. I shall take my leave..." The Yang God Heavenly Venerable smiled, his figure vanishing into thin air.
The moment he disappeared, An Xunlu's eager voice carried over.
"Big Brother Hei Jian!"
An Xunlu jogged up to him, the adoration on her face entirely undisguised.
"Mm. How has your cultivation been recently?" Hei Jian was a gentle soul, treating An Xunlu with great warmth.
Delight blossomed in An Xunlu's heart. The arrogance and cold hostility she had displayed before Qi Yuan vanished completely, replaced by demure gentleness. "My Ancestral Blood Art is still stuck at the fifth layer," she confessed, looking troubled.
"Cultivating the Ancestral Blood Art relies purely on one's bloodline. There is little I can do to assist you with that."
"It's fine, I'll work hard," An Xunlu replied. Then, remembering something, she complained, "The old ancestor is truly too unfair! He actually gave Black Demon Ancestral Blood to Blood Robe instead of you, Big Brother Hei Jian!"
Her anger flared at the thought. An ancestor had once promised that when Hei Jian stepped into the realm of ultimate reason, he would be bestowed a portion of Black Demon Ancestral Blood. Yet Blood Robe had received one immediately upon entering the Black Demon Abyss. Naturally, she felt an intense sense of injustice on Hei Jian's behalf.
"It doesn't matter. Black Demon Ancestral Blood offers little benefit to me right now; having it or not makes no difference," Hei Jian said mildly. "I rely on myself."
His bloodline originally shared the same origin as the Black Demon Ancestral Blood. One could even say that the blood flowing through his veins was a lesser version of the ancestral blood itself. For him, cultivating the Ancestral Blood Art was equivalent to other prodigies constantly consuming Black Demon Ancestral Blood at every passing moment. This was no shortcut, but an inherent gift of his lineage. Thus, Black Demon Ancestral Blood was virtually useless to his current self—though that would change once he stepped into the realm of ultimate reason.
"Still, it's just so unfair!" An Xunlu muttered, indignant on his behalf.
Hei Jian smiled and gently stroked her hair. "Don't dwell on it. Focus on building your contribution points during this time. Don't tell me you don't want to attend the Ultimate Principle Dao Discussion Conference?"
An Xunlu nodded hastily. "I'll do my best!"
"Furthermore, do not worry on my account, nor think that this Blood Robe poses any threat to my position," Hei Jian said, his voice level. "Every resource I have obtained in the Black Demon Abyss was seized with my own two hands. No one can take them from me."
Hei Jian held absolute confidence in himself. Blood Robe had not taken him as a benchmark, but had Hei Jian ever noticed Blood Robe walking behind him in the first place? His sight had always been trained upon the Linya Molt.
Within the Linya Molt, ordinary Yang Gods were mere chess pieces, stripped of control over their own fates. Even Great Ultimate Principle Yang Gods were nothing more than oversized pieces. Only Great Ultimate Principle masters wielding Supreme Ultimate Principles could truly be considered players at the board.
The Black Demon Abyss nurtured him so that he might take a seat at that board, become a player, and look after the sect's interests during the Linya Molt. Yet his ambition soared far beyond that of the sect. He didn't just want to be a player; he intended to be the strongest player of all!
To command the entire chessboard of the Sixth Heaven!
As for Blood Robe... he likely wasn't even qualified to be an oversized piece.
Why would Hei Jian ever spare him a thought?
Gazing at the gentle, self-assured Hei Jian, An Xunlu's eyes overflowed with reverence and adoration.
"Big Brother Hei Jian..."
Chapter 432