On the plaza.
The disciples who had been expelled gradually regained some of their strength.
Mo Fan, pale-faced, suppressed the poison in his body for the time being and cast a glance at Liu Hua.
Liu Hua immediately shifted his gaze away. Earlier, he had thought Mo Fan was worth cultivating. But now, Mo Fan's defeat was far too humiliating, and Liu Hua no longer had the patience to even look at him.
A wave of despair rose in Mo Fan's heart. He had done everything Liu Hua instructed to the best of his ability. But those three were simply too strong. That crushing pressure, even the disciples of the Holy Lands had never given him such a feeling.
Those three, if placed in Qingxiao Pavilion, would probably be among the very top.
No.
Not just among the top. They might even completely overwhelm the elites of the Holy Lands. He had tried his utmost, yet the opponent was simply too overwhelming. What else could he have done? Mo Fan lowered his head, sorrow tightening his chest. Most likely, his master would abandon him after this.
The water screen continued shifting scenes, showing disciples striving to harvest points.
Yet after that hundred-man group was eliminated, no other large-scale encirclement appeared. If there was to be another attempt against the disciples of Wushuang Sect, it would not happen until the final gathering.
In this battlefield, there was a central region.
There, the beasts were most ferocious and the opportunities most concentrated. In the end, all participants would be forced to gather in that central region. At that time, the standings would change drastically. Only the one who laughed last would be the true victor.
Wushuang Sect disciples were laughing now, but that did not guarantee they would laugh at the very end. Everyone consoled themselves with this thought, yet when their eyes fell upon the points leaderboard, despair took hold once more.
On the leaderboard, the entire top ten was occupied by Wushuang Sect disciples. Of the top hundred, more than half were theirs, while the rest of their disciples were still charging upward.
Other sects had already lost disciples. Wushuang Sect alone still had not lost a single one.
When the final battle in the central region arrived…
Yes, disciples from other sects would gather. But so would disciples of Wushuang Sect. Would the others really hold any advantage then?
Since the arrival of Sky City, they had never felt such crushing hopelessness. The points tournament had only just begun, yet it felt as if the ending was already sealed.
Yun Jin remained in Sky City for three days.
The battlefield of the points tournament was vast, and the contest would last for half a year.She left Hong Ye and Qin Ping behind to guard Sky City, then prepared to depart for a time. Before the points tournament ended, she had to find the Palace Pearl and form a contract with the Divine Palace.
Only then…
When the tournament ended, they could weave an inescapable net and strike together to slay Lin Xiao.
Yun Jin departed from Sky City, and Di Xiao followed close behind.
Before leaving, Di Xiao made a point to meet with Lin Xiao.
"Pavilion Master Lin, I shall accompany her, to see if an opportunity arises to act," Di Xiao said in a hushed voice. "If I find such a chance, all the better. If not, when she returns to Sky City, I will come to you again. We must quickly set our strategy. The sooner we cut her down, the better. If she grows further, she will become a hidden danger to us both."
Lin Xiao responded with unspoken understanding.
Yun Jin and Di Xiao left one after another.
At first, Lin Xiao secretly sent people to follow them.
But both Yun Jin and Di Xiao were supreme experts of the present age. Ordinary followers had no hope of keeping pace.
Soon enough, those Lin Xiao dispatched completely lost their trail.
Lin Xiao was not particularly concerned.
With Di Xiao at Yun Jin's side, she was essentially accompanied by a living time-bomb. Compared to Di Xiao's deadly presence, the men he had sent were but trivial pawns.
Lin Xiao even began to feel some anticipation. If Di Xiao made a move, there was a chance Yun Jin would be slain outright. Should that truly happen, it would save him countless troubles.
By now, Yun Jin and Di Xiao had already regrouped.
Di Xiao could not help asking, "Can you tell me now, where exactly is this Palace Pearl?"
Yun Jin nodded, no longer keeping him in suspense. "At Luoyun Mountain. That day, it was there that I contracted with Yun Mu. As for the Palace Pearl, Yun Mu knows more than I. If you have any doubts, you can question him directly."
Yun Jin summoned Yun Mu forth.
Di Xiao carefully interrogated him, for the matter of the Palace Pearl was too great for him to relax even a little.
Yun Mu spoke in meticulous detail, recounting what he knew again and again.
The more Di Xiao heard, the more his spirit surged. The deeper the details, the more certain he became. The likelihood this was truly the Palace Pearl was exceedingly high.
For the sake of the Divine Palace, he had wasted thousands of years. But if he could obtain the Palace Pearl and fully contract the Divine Palace, those thousands of years would be worth every moment.
"If I were not confident, I would not have mentioned it rashly." Yun Jin arched her brow. "Senior need only follow me."
Di Xiao nodded, unable to mask the gleam of joy in his eyes.
They pressed onward.
Two days later, they descended upon the peak of Luoyun Mountain.
Di Xiao rubbed his chin. "Luoyun Mountain. Do you not feel the name is rather inauspicious?"
Yun Jin shot him a look of disdain. "Senior, are you still clinging to old superstitions?"
That was exactly why the demon clan had chosen this place to weave their net back then.
And their end had proven one thing.
Superstition had no place.
Di Xiao coughed lightly, swiftly shifting the topic. "Now then, how do we locate the Palace Pearl? I just examined the area carefully and found nothing."
"Yun Mu, you rooted here for ten thousand years. You said the Palace Pearl lies within the mountain's core, correct?" Yun Jin asked.
Yun Mu quickly replied, "Yes. Every tree and blade of grass here is bound by the Palace Pearl. Before my contract with Master, I could faintly sense the power's source. It was indeed in the heart of the mountain."
After Yun Jin had bound him, Yun Mu had lost that sensing ability.
"No matter, I will confirm it myself."
Yun Jin lifted her hand, wood-attribute spiritual power pulsing. At once, every plant and tree upon Luoyun Mountain stirred with joy.
"Boss, benefactor, you have returned!" the plant spirits chattered.
Yun Mu smiled faintly. "This time, perhaps we can free you."
Free them?
The plant spirits burst into excited cries.
For plant spirits to gain true form was even harder than for spirit beasts. Yet among them, several had already reached the threshold. But bound as they were, they could not transform nor depart. If the benefactor could free them, it would be like granting them a second life.
"Feel carefully for the source of that binding power," Yun Mu instructed them. "Then point the way for Master."
The plant spirits agreed at once.
Their leaves all pointed toward the same direction.
"Senior Di, let us go," Yun Jin said, stepping forward.
Di Xiao's eyes flickered as he followed. Inwardly, he marveled. This Primordial Wood truly was remarkable. Especially in a place of abundant plant life, its potential could be raised without limit.
Guided by the plant spirits, Yun Jin and Di Xiao arrived before a mountainside cliff. There, a faint outline of a copper door emerged upon the rock.
But just as they stopped—
The copper door vanished again.
The plant spirits quickly guided them anew.
"Master, the copper door's position changes constantly. It must be opened the very instant it appears," Yun Mu explained.
===
From now I want to refine further about the usage of 大道. At first, I just used 'Law' or '[X] Attribute Law' for it, before I learned that the author uses a different term for 'Law' itself (法则).
Additionally, I am changing the translation of 意境 from 'Intent' to 'Concept'. The text describes them as "大道碎片" - "fragments of the Primordial Force." This implies they are discrete, conceptual understandings that are pieces of a larger whole.
Since I'm making this change mid-stream (I'm now translating around Chapter 850), you might still see the old terms ("Law" for 大道) in earlier chapters. I'll be going back to clean those up when I can, so thanks for your patience if you spot any leftovers!
Cheers!
So here is the final hierarchy:
道 (Dào): The formless, ultimate source of all existence.
大道 (Dàdào): A primordial, foundational domain and the complete source of all laws for a specific concept (e.g., Metal, Fire). It is both the system and the origin.
法则 (Fǎzé): A single, definable, and masterable universal law or principle that manifests from a 大道.
意境 (Yìjìng): The conceptual fragments that make up a Law.
For more information about this you can read on The Xianxia Handbook: A Guide to Cultivation and Beyond Chapter Tao (道, Dào) that I already refine it again.