Silent Bell

More and more figures gathered on the mountain. Beyond a few familiar faces and accustomed daoist robes, there were many clad in unfamiliar attire—likely cultivators from the State of Wu or the north, each standing atop the clouds. After a few breaths, a figure finally stepped forward from the cloud layer. He looked young, clad in white with faint golden patterns embroidered along his sleeves. Empty-handed, he cupped his hands to the assembly, looking around as he said softly, "Standing about aimlessly will not do. Whatever everyone intends to contest, we must at least open this grand array first. I am Nian Yi of the Xiuyue Sect. If no one objects, several of our superior sects will organize it and open the array." This cultivator's wind-riding arts were extraordinary. Even with the Chongyuan Gale scouring the sky, he stood steadily upon the wind, and though he could not move at will, it demonstrated wind-mastery far beyond the ordinary. The Xiuyue Sect possessed a towering reputation, standing aloof above the various immortal sects. Once these words were spoken, not a soul dared utter a discourteous remark. Glances were exchanged, or eyes lowered toward noses and noses toward hearts in silence. A breath later, a middle-aged man descended from the clouds, simply dressed, a long blade slung across his back. Standing with clasped hands, he said indifferently, "Jinyu Sect, Zhang Yun." His aura was tranquil and placid, like an ancient well without ripples, yet it drew every eye. Nian Yi wore a look of surprise and cupped his fists. "I did not expect Senior to come in person; please forgive my discourtesy." Zhang Yun waved his hand. From below, two figures rose—the man in black-and-gold robes and Yu Muxian. Standing upon the clouds, the black-and-gold-robed man spoke: "Junior Brother, pulling chestnuts from the fire is no easy task. If you need aid, Eldest Senior Brother and I will do everything we can to assist you. Put your mind at ease and speak up whenever needed." With the three sects of the State of Yue having stepped forward, not a single overseas cultivator showed their face. Instead, a man rose on the wind, clad in cyan-gray, crowned with a neat jade headpiece, his features handsome: Qing Zhuo of Mount Changhuai. Qing Zhuo paused atop the clouds. Neither Nian Yi of the Xiuyue Sect nor Zhang Yun of the Jinyu Sect showed any surprise, taking his presence as a matter of course. Qing Zhuo swept his gaze across the gathering below and said softly, "The Qingsong lineage spans Wu and Yue, so it is only right that we take what lies within this hall. As for you cultivators from Jiangbei and the overseas realms, disperse! Try your luck among the clouds outside; perhaps you might still scrounge up something." At these words, the crowd below was seized with mixed joy and gloom. Li Xuanfeng's gaze swiftly flicked over Lin Chensheng and Bi Yuzhuang, finding neither of them surprised. He thought to himself, *The True Persons of Jiangnan divided everything long ago... The Donghuo Grotto-Heaven was just like this back then; in fact, because True Persons entered in person back then, it was even more orderly...* The three sects were all Golden Core lineages, joined now by Mount Changhuai of Wu. Under their watchful gaze, numerous Eastern Sea cultivators rose on the wind and scattered in all directions. Most departed, leaving only two standing in place. Qing Zhuo glanced at them. One stepped forward hesitantly and answered, "I am of Chunyi Dao..." Without waiting for him to finish, Qing Zhuo curled his lip in mild displeasure, though he said nothing more. Turning to Zhang Yun beside him, his tone grew rather respectful: "I thought Senior had already entered seclusion to break through to the Purple Mansion; I did not expect Senior to visit this grotto-heaven in person..." Zhang Yun shook his head without elaboration. Qing Zhuo then drew a token from his breast—a token of Mount Changhuai, which could remarkably open this grand array. The token was entirely cyan-gray, carved with three ancient characters, seemingly devoid of divine brilliance. Li Xuanfeng watched intently, channeling his ocular technique, and instantly captured the three characters upon it: *Qing Changhuai*. Zhang Yun sighed, turned back to look at the three below, and said in a low voice, "This time, a True Person of our sect seeks to pursue the Dao and comes solely to view the Silent Bell. Of the remaining items, the Zhang clan will take not a single scrap." Qing Zhuo, dressed in cyan-gray with his jade crown set straight, stood alone in the west; Nian Yi formed hand seals in the north; Zhang Yun stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking the most relaxed among them. The moment the grand array opened, before anyone could make a move, several beams of radiance erupted forth. First, the corpse seated cross-legged on the ground violently convulsed, and the translucent pale blue sword in its chest leaped out like a ferocious falcon, shooting toward the sky outside! That person's remains dissolved into ash in an instant as countless golden rays burst forth, transforming midair into golden sparrows that blinked and chirped with uncanny vitality, fluttering their wings and scattering in all directions. The corpse reaching for the jade box collapsed to its knees with a thud, dissolving from head to toe into a red heatwave that expanded outward. Two sheets of red radiance burst from its chest and abdomen, rolling across the hall alongside red jade beads of varying sizes. The jade boxes upon the six jade platforms rattled and hopped; the scattered magical artifacts and books upon the prayer mats twisted their limbs, awkwardly bracing against the ground, and rode the wind to flee! Rainbow light poured from the great hall, seemingly unaffected by the Chongyuan Gale, each fleeing headlong. Several ancient tomes spread their leaves, rising swiftly on the wind. In an instant, spiritual light flowed everywhere in a magnificent spectacle. Lin Chensheng's black robe shifted; having long selected his mark, he bounded toward the second prayer mat. From this alone, Li Xuanfeng understood that the truly precious treasures in the great hall were only the remaining six; these magical artifacts and ancient books had merely been left there casually by others, yet after centuries of nourishment from the grand array, they had gained spirituality and would naturally flee. Li Xuanfeng did not pay much attention to the chaotic field, setting his sight on the nearest page of a dharma scripture. With his two companions each pursuing their chosen items, he was left with time and no competitors. Stomping hard against the ground with a thunderous boom, he vaulted twenty feet high. Without needing to ride the wind, he soared upward and snatched the scripture page in one hand. Caught completely off guard, the page was seized firmly in his grip. Under his squeeze, the fledgling spirituality that had barely coalesced from pristine, unified spiritual energy instantly disintegrated, turning it back into an inanimate object. Li Xuanfeng looked toward the sky again, where only two or three items remained aloft as the crowd fought fiercely over them. Without needing a word, the sky descended into a chaotic melee. A flurry of magical artifacts ascended, the fastest being a small mirror only the size of a palm, gleaming with a dazzling purple-gold radiance. The moment the mirror appeared, it drew everyone's gaze. Several people forced themselves aloft on the wind to seize it, only for a golden hammer to sweep across the sky. A black-robed cultivator wielding a long hammer charged forth alone, riding the wind all the way to that height. Striking down from above, his formidable artifact forcibly beat back two rivals. In his other hand, he held gray flames, sweeping them across to scorch several people into retreat. With a pinch and a grab, he took the purple artifact into his hand and cackled, "That belongs to your master here!" This seizure immediately provoked collective fury, and seven or eight spells crashed down simultaneously. The black-robed man gave a sly laugh; instead of retreating, he darted straight into the hall. The crowd shared an unspoken understanding not to enter and contest with the seniors inside; now that this black-robed man had barged right in, it left the onlookers outside frozen in place. Meanwhile, two streaks of light gave chase after Li Xuanfeng. One was a gray-clad man in a brownish-gray daoist robe, small-eyed and straight-nosed, holding a horsetail whisk—evidently a cultivator of Changxiao Gate. The other was a middle-aged man in white gripping a longsword, riding a jade shuttle. Both had magical light swirling in their eyes, clearly having cultivated ocular techniques, and had locked onto the scripture page all along. Li Xuanfeng's figure had been spotted early on, identified in just a few breaths. Li Xuanfeng assessed them carefully. Bearing in mind his true objective here, he had no wish to expose his strength, so he slipped the scripture into his sleeve, shifted position, and activated his Dark Gold Spiritual Armor to conceal himself within the pine forest. Stepping upon his spell, he drew out a long streak of light in one breath, exceptionally bright and swift in the night, nearly crashing headfirst into a bluish-cyan spiritual pine. The white-robed middle-aged man looked closely, recognizing the man clad in dark gold armor holding a longbow. His expression changed drastically, and after several speechless breaths, he called out in shock, "Xuanfeng!" Li Xuanfeng froze for a moment, studying his features for a breath before realizing. "Greetings, Senior! Congratulations to Senior on breaking through to late Foundation Establishment." This white-robed middle-aged man was none other than Li Tongya's old friend, the Elder of Mount Yu, Xiao Yongling! The two seniors had forged their bond in humble beginnings back when they were mere Embryonic Breathing cultivators, making him Li Xuanfeng's elder. Seeing that the two were old acquaintances, the gray-clad man from Changxiao Gate sensed trouble and fled without a word, hurrying out of the forest. Xiao Yongling waved his hand, delight still lingering on his face, though this was no place to talk. Li Xuanfeng promptly brought out the page of scripture and shook his head. "Our luck was poor; this is merely a brief letter." "I saw it fly out from an ancient tome on the sixth prayer mat and thought it was some commentary on a secret method, hoping its low value would mean fewer rivals... Little did I expect it was anything but low, yet far simpler than imagined." To avoid any misunderstanding, Li Xuanfeng handed the letter to Xiao Yongling immediately. The white-robed man did not decline, taking it to read closely. Coming from a scholarly family, he naturally recognized the ancient characters. Yishan City possessed a long history and abounded in ancient texts and archaic script; he easily deciphered this near-ancient writing. The front bore only a few words, seemingly torn from some ancient volume, while the back contained several hundred characters. Looking closely, Xiao Yongling saw that it discussed the matter of the Combined Waters' dissolution. "A pity," Xiao Yongling sighed with regret. He casually handed it back to Li Xuanfeng, and the two approached the great hall again. Few figures remained outside; those who had seized items had fled, and those who had failed had given chase, leaving the grounds deserted. While the contest outside had been fierce, a tense standoff held within the hall. Yu Muxian and Tang Shedu stood together, their white and black robes complementing each other as they waited quietly in the southeast corner. Two others stood each in a corner. One held a golden hammer, eyes darting back and forth across the hall, quietly standing with the token at his waist swaying, faint gray flames flickering around it. The other was a female cultivator with a gentle demeanor and stunning beauty, her jawline delicate, yet her gaze was razor-sharp, staring fixedly at the great bell. Zhang Yun sighed, looked back at the few below, and said in a low voice, "Everyone, close your eyes!" He slowly brought his hand near the great bell in the hall, saying softly, "Back then, the three prodigies of Chongming Hall in Qingsong Abbey were true geniuses who stirred the world. My Jinyu Sect has always revered these three seniors, and having little doctrinal connection with Qingsong Abbey, we harbor no great greed in entering this grotto-heaven this time." He channeled his magic power into the great bell and slowly formed a seal. Yet the bell remained completely motionless, neither booming with resonance nor shrinking to its original form. Everyone closed their eyes in silence. Zhang Yun had already knelt prostrate upon the ground. The great bell above finally began to tremble violently, as though struck by an invisible force, releasing a resounding chime. *Dong!* *Dong...* Li Xuanfeng moved his lips, only to find them sealed shut. A searing pain pierced his eyes, and magic power surged continuously into them merely to preserve his sight. A numbness spread through their throats and tongues, stripping them of all sensation. One after another, they knelt to the ground—not in full prostration like Zhang Yun, but bowing in deep reverence nonetheless. A breath later, the starry sky above the great hall flared brightly as a silver-white oval entity rose, radiating an intense light that completely eclipsed the countless stars in the heavens. For over a dozen hours since entering, the sky had remained a dark, gloomy nightscape, the clouds a pale gray; beyond the stars, the only illumination had been the cultivators' magical lights. Guided by the silver-white light, the bronze bell spun continuously in midair, gradually shrinking until it turned into a fist-sized yellow streak of light. It shot out of the great hall like a shooting star reversing its fall, soaring straight into the clouds. The great bell slowly sank into the silver-white oval, gradually fading from view. Only then did two barriers slowly close from above and below the silver-white spheroid, detaching it bit by bit from this realm. Having gained no material harvest from the hall, the two stepped forward a few paces, when suddenly the clanging of clashing metal and weapons rang out. Looking up at the starry night, both of their faces changed. Yet in the distant west, a brilliant light was slowly rising like the morning sun. An intense golden radiance shone across, manifesting numerous phantasms of metal and stone. A wave of dizziness washed over them both, and stricken with alarm, they immediately shut their eyes.