Martial Cultivator

The Great General, who had put away his ordinary stance, stood with his hands behind his back, paying no attention to Daoist Redsky seated on the bell. After a moment of silence, he walked back into the ranks of the military officials.

On the entire square, countless court officials looked towards Daoist Redsky, who had come uninvited and presented a bell at the grand court session. Most of the court officials' thoughts were running wild at this moment. Regarding the arrival of Daoist Redsky, they could only think that it was unexpected yet somehow within expectations too.

His Majesty the Emperor had uprooted the Xia Family without a trace of respect for the foreign cultivators, and it was said that on the night at the Xia Family's private residence, many foreign cultivators had died. This could be seen as a form of provocation to the foreign cultivators. Now, with the foreign cultivators coming to the Divine Capital and gifting a bell, it was actually a form of reciprocity.

It was also a way to make the Great Liang Dynasty understand a truth: having what seemed to be an impressive Great Liang Emperor did not mean they could disregard the will of the foreign cultivation world.

As for this Daoist Redsky, he actually has a great reputation. He comes from the Longevity Dao lineage of Daoism, and he reached the Nepenthe Realm several years ago. As for his current realm, others are unaware, but solely based on his identity as the master of the Purple Cloud Grotto, he commanded considerable respect among cultivators as he traversed the world. Now that he has personally come, it was unlikely that it was just a simple gifting of a bell.

However, as the colorful clouds behind him slowly dissipated, several figures gradually appeared in the sky. Among them were men and women of all ages, totaling five people.

From left to right, standing on the far left was a middle-aged daoist nun with an ordinary face. She wore a loose, gray daoist robe that draped over her figure that was not considered lithe, holding a whisk in her hand with an indifferent expression.

Beside the daoist nun stood a young sword cultivator. He had a slender figure and handsome appearance, with a pair of eyes brimming with sword intent. The flying sword beneath his feet gleamed brightly, with the characters "Everlasting Light" engraved at the end of the sword. Clearly, this was a renowned sword from the Sword Qi Mountain. Those knowledgeable immediately recognized him as Lu Chu, the most outstanding sword cultivator of the Purple Cloud Grotto in this generation. He was once considered the leader among the young disciples of the Purple Cloud Grotto. During the Myriad Willow Convention, the Purple Cloud Grotto had also sent representatives, but he was in seclusion at the time and did not accompany his fellow sect members.

Now that he had exited seclusion, his cultivation realm had improved greatly. It was likely that his ranking on the so-called Latent Dragon List would rise significantly.

Speaking of the Latent Dragon List, even though Chen Chao previously surpassed the genius He Yi, who was on the Latent Dragon List, and later defeated Song Changxi's lightning technique by the lakeside, he was fully qualified to enter the so-called Latent Dragon List. However, for some unknown reason, even after the list was changed, his name never appeared on the Latent Dragon List.

Beside Lu Chu stood another young woman dressed in a bright red robe. The woman had a beautiful appearance, giving off a sense of otherworldliness. If an ordinary commoner were to see her, she might be called a fairy maiden. In reality, the woman did hold the title of the Fairy Red in the foreign cultivation world. In the eyes of foreign cultivators, this Fairy Red was quite comparable to Chen Chao's old rival, Jiang Shuchan. However, the realm of this Fairy Red was indeed much higher than that of Jiang Shuchan.

However, this Fairy Red was not a disciple of the Purple Cloud Grotto. Their arrival together here implied that this provocation from the foreign cultivators was not just from the Purple Cloud Grotto alone.

Beside Fairy Red stood a middle-aged cultivator with a restrained aura. He appeared unremarkable at first glance, but his body emitted an extremely dangerous aura. For a moment, none of the people present could recognize him.

As for the elderly man beside the middle-aged cultivator, his face was covered in wrinkles. In his cloudy eyes, there seemed to be endless cycles of stars, as if he had lived for countless years. When he looked down at the ground, it seemed as though everyone in the imperial city was like white bones to him.

Without a doubt, this elderly cultivator was the most powerful and terrifying existence among them.

Daoist Redsky's gaze shifted away from the figure of that Great General and landed on the Lord Warden Commander. This master of the Purple Cloud Grotto smiled faintly and said, "The Great General has guarded the Northern Frontier for many years, devoting his entire life for the sake of the human race. Now, it would be excellent for him to retire and return to his hometown. However, this penniless daoist is very concerned whether the newly appointed Great General can shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the Northern Frontier."

His words sounded indifferent, but they were actually very provocative. As soon as he spoke, there was a flurry of criticism. Although the martial arts realm of Great Liang's military officials could not match that of this Nepenthe cultivator before them, they were extremely furious at this moment too, criticizing Daoist Redsky about how the selection of the Great General's successor was a matter for Great Liang alone. When did we need you cultivators to intervene?

"Not quite. The defense of the Northern Frontier is the barrier of the entire human race. We, too, are members of the human race. We naturally have to ensure that the newly appointed Great General has the capability."

Daoist Redsky did not speak, the one who spoke was that middle-aged daoist nun. She looked at the court officials on the square, her voice cold and aloof.

When this statement was made, the expressions of the court officials on the entire square turned ugly, while the military officials' faces flushed red. They wanted to retort, but as people who usually only focused on cultivating their bodies, they lacked the eloquence to do so. Hence, they naturally could not say anything.

As for the civil officials, many of them also had ugly expressions, but they did not speak up from start to end.

However, after a moment, the Grand Historian stepped forward from the ranks of civil officials. He looked up at the middle-aged daoist nun and retorted, "Ridiculous! If the defense of the Northern Frontier is the barrier of the entire human race, then why haven't we seen any of you foreign cultivators there? Is resisting the demon race solely the responsibility of my Great Liang Dynasty?" "Even if that were the case, what does it have to do with you whom the Great Liang Dynasty appoints as the Great General?!"

The Grand Historian was just an ordinary scholar who had never cultivated. He was frail in stature, perhaps even too timid to kill a chicken normally. But now, standing before this middle-aged daoist nun with profound cultivation, he showed no signs of fear whatsoever.

After the middle-aged daoist nun spoke, she did not expect that anyone would dare to oppose her head-on. Seeing the Grand Historian speak up at this moment, her expression turned dark and she asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to die?"

Faced with this blatant threat, the Grand Historian lifted his head without a trace of fear and replied, "Bamboo can be burned but its joints are indestructible; jade can be smashed but it will remain immaculately white. What fear is there in death? Why should I fear a slanderous charge?"

As the Grand Historian, his pen was like a sword, and his entire life was dedicated to upholding the annals of history. If he lacked backbone, he would not have become the Grand Historian.

The middle-aged daoist nun's expression darkened and she was just about to speak when a lazy voice suddenly interjected, "Ding Yinjun, if you want revenge for your junior sister, come find me. Bullying a powerless scholar here, where's the meaning in that?"

The middle-aged daoist nun followed the voice and saw a young sword cultivator in green clothes. He was currently sitting atop the roof of the hall, holding a gourd of wine in his hand. He took a big sip, smacked his lips, and grinned, "Your junior sister died by my sword. If you seek revenge, come find me. Just ask, and I'll battle you right away and send you to meet your unlucky junior sister."