Chapter 462 - Head of the Su Family

Gusts of cold wind whistled as they swept the summit. The crowd under the arena swiftly came to a quiet, watching the two men on the arena of the Mount Wuyue peak with rapt attention. When the two men continued to face off for a long time, some people began talking. Several elderly, bearded cultivators in the distance were nodding as they discussed something.

A red-robed elder evened out his beard and asked the person beside him, “They’re both rare talents among the younger generation. What do you think?”

The cyan-robed elder smoothened his beard and said slowly, “Xiao Chen was extraordinary before, but he has been imprisoned for a year after all. Mo Jinyan has never been defeated in his life. More importantly, his family is one of the Ancient Immortal Clans and possesses ancient cultivation methods. Just this point alone makes him far ahead of Xiao Chen.”

The two other elders nodded in agreement. The red-robed elder shook his head, laughing. “Don’t you forget that Xiao Chen possesses an ancient cultivation method of his own?”

“You’re not wrong,” the cyan-robe elder said. “But do you know which lineage of Ancient Immortal Clans the Mo family comes from?”

“Which lineage?”

“The six ancient heaven-exterminating clans.”

The red-robed elder trembled after hearing his words and his expression changed as well. Even his voice was shaking. “For real? The legendary heaven-exterminating clan? I thought…”

The cyan-robed elder nodded. “Correct. The Su family and a few others have lost the right to call themselves the heaven-exterminating clans a long time ago, but the Mo family has survived a great calamity and is the true heir of the heaven-exterminating clans.”

The red-robed elder once again trembled in shock. He slowly turned his head to look at the arena. This time, the only one he was looking at was Mo Jinyan.

The wind whizzed atop the summit, causing the two men’s clothes to rustle loudly. Mo Jinyan looked relaxed, even a little proud, as if he never considered Xiao Chen his true opponent. He smiled. “Did you hear what they’re saying? I’m a Mo, a member of the heaven-exterminating clan. You’re just a nobody from the Human World, the lowest of the low in the Human World!”

Xiao Chen spread his hands without care. “Whatever. When it comes to putting up pretenses, I’ll never win against you, so I don’t care.” He even shrugged.

“You!” Mo Jinyan clenched his fingers. A murderous glint crossed his eyes. Right then, a figure stepped across the air. When he came close, they could see that it was an ethereal-looking elder with white brows and a horsetail whisk in hand.

The crowd under the arena, including the older cultivators in the Apotheosis Realm, stared at the white-browed old man in shock. The man could travel through the air at such a high altitude without using magic treasures or flying swords. Had his cultivation reached the Grand Completion Realm?

The white-browed elder looked at the two men standing in the arena. “I’m the White-brow Solitarian. I’m here to bear witness to your sword battle atop Mount Wuyue. You must fight on your own during the battle, or else…” He swiped his horsetail whisk. Following a loud explosion, a mountain top five kilometers away crumbled into dust.

The onlookers were once again alarmed. Grand Completion Realm! The old man was indeed in the Grand Completion Realm! Many wore reverence on their faces. For a moment, they even forgot to breathe. They had never seen a Grand Completion Realm cultivator in their lives. That realm was almost a legendary realm for them; it was just one step away from immortality itself.

Of course, those who had seen Xiao Ning and Gu Feng fight yesterday didn’t seem too surprised. They had the feeling that those two were even stronger than this old man.

Xiao Chen was a little taken aback as well. A pure cultivator in the Grand Completion Realm who didn’t touch the teachings of other sects. This unadulterated aura felt very familiar. The leader of the Mystic Cyan Sect, also his grandmaster, Perfected Immortal Qingxuan was in the Grand Completion Realm. At least, that was what his memories told him.

Suddenly, Mo Jinyan turned around and saluted White-brow Solitarian. “Thank you for coming all the way here.”

He had always held the older cultivators here in contempt, only to treat this old man so deferentially. It was obvious that they knew each other. To be frank, he had sent an urgent letter out after seeing None-flower Dust and Yi Tong’s abrupt appearances yesterday.

The crowd below was stunned to learn that the old man was an acquaintance of the Mo family. The group of elders watching from a distance was startled at first, but upon second thought, it wasn’t anything strange for the Mo family to be able to invite a Grand Completion Realm cultivator.

White-brow Solitarian nodded. “Fight with ease. I’d like to see who can interfere with me around,” he said, staring at the distant None-flower Dust and Yi Tong.

Frowning, Qingluan whispered, “Not only is he a Grand Completion Realm cultivator, but he also knows the Mo family. I fear…”

Before she could finish her sentence, an old man’s powerful and sonorous voice reached everyone’s ears. “If so, allow me to bear witness as well.”

The voice resonated so strongly throughout several of the peaks that people couldn’t help but be surprised. They turned to look in the direction of the voice, where they saw an old man dressed in a rosewood-colored robe taking large strides up the mountain path with his hands clasped behind him.

Even though he was an elderly, gray-haired man, he looked energetic. His eyes were especially striking. His grave stare produced an intangible force upon everyone, making them feel suffocated.

Several elders from the cultivation sects in the Apotheosis Realm looked at him, dumbfounded. They took in the jade-green reed hanging from his waist, and the people coming after him, including Su Yue and Su Zimu. Shock rippled through them. “Senior Su Ying!”

The old man was none other than the present Head of the Su family, Su Ying. When Xiao Chen heard people utter this name, he thought, “Grandpa?”

Xiao Chen turned around to look and saw that it was indeed the Su family. He immediately scanned the entourage and found Su Yue, Su Zimu, Su Wan, and several Su family disciples. He didn’t see his mother. Though dejected, he also felt relaxed. He was glad that his mother didn’t come.

Finally, his attention landed on Su Ying. Was this old man truly his grandfather? He had imagined quite a few times how Su Ying would look. He had the feeling that he was the imposing and unapproachable sort. Now that he saw Su Ying in person, he seemed right on the mark.

Su Ying was also looking at him, his stern gaze immediately turning gentle. He nodded at Xiao Chen, surprising the latter. Shouldn’t his grandfather reject him just because he had the surname Xiao?

Even so, the moment he remembered how the Su family looked down on his father, took his mother away, and even forbade her to meet his father again, he was down spirited again. He forcefully turned his head and looked away.

His action didn’t seem to irritate Su Ying. On the contrary, it was Su Yue who frowned. Su Wan scoffed and said, “What a brat.”

Mo Jinyan’s gaze turned cold when he saw the Su family. Underneath, the crowd was crying out in surprise, “It’s the former chief! It’s really the former chief!”

Su Ying was the former chief of the Daoist League of Five Continents. He commanded great status as a person of virtue and prestige. Even though he was also a Grand Completion Realm cultivator, his prestige far surpassed that of White-brow Solitarian. Quite a few people in the crowd were running over to him, some of them being sect leaders. “Senior Su, do you still remember me? You once gave me some pointers on cultivation fifty years ago!”

Commotion swiftly swept the crowd. Su Ying’s sudden arrival nearly overshadowed Xiao Chen and Mo Jinyan’s battle. Ziyun’er had also lost her grumpiness and was smiling from ear to ear. “This is great! Senior Su is here to help you, my Lord!”

Mo Jinyan clenched his fingers so hard that his bones creaked in protest. His expression was progressively worsening as if it was covered with layer upon layer of dark clouds. He yelled, “Enough! Today is the day of the battle on Mount Wuyue! What are you guys fussing about? Make your noise down the mountain!”

The crowd immediately fell silent and turned to look at him. Su Ying narrowed his eyes and nodded. “Indeed, the young will one day surpass the old.”

White-brow Solitarian coughed once and landed on the snow-covered ground. “Since the Head of the Su family is here, then let us begin the battle today.”

The crowd once again refocused their attention on the two young men in the arena. Huangfu Xin’er stood under a distant tree, watching with rapt attention. Xiaoyue, Zuoqiu Yang, and the others were doing the same. The three youngsters from yesterday were clenching their hands as they stared fixedly at the arena.

Xiao Chen composed himself. Since the Su family was here, he mustn’t let them look down on the Xiao family. With such a thought in mind, he said coldly, “Let’s start!” Following the end of his sentence, an orb of light materialized and raced toward Mo Jinyan. The Unsullied Sword also appeared in his hand in the blink of an eye. He swiped the sword, producing a sword light to strike Mo Jinyan.

The onlookers were stunned to see that it wasn’t Mo Jinyan, but Xiao Chen who made the first move. Seeing how ferocious Xiao Chen’s sword momentum was, Mo Jinyan also whipped out a blunt sword that seemed several times heavier than regular ones. The blade had neither a pointed end nor an edge, but it kept emanating a cold aura that appeared to lower the temperature of its surroundings.

“Clang!” The swords collided, producing sparks in the air. Mo Jinyan felt his arm sinking from the weight. Never in a million years did he imagine that one swing of his opponent’s sword would be this powerful, leaving no leeway whatsoever.

Before he could react, Xiao Chen was already swinging his sword again. This time, it was as eye-piercing as a ray of light piercing through the halo, bringing with it an aura that could engulf mountains and rivers. Thousands of layers of snow erupted from the ground, covering the air with specks of ice. “Clang!” An ear-splitting sound resonated as the snow coating the cliff cascaded without an end.

The force of the attack sent Mo Jinyan tumbling backward nearly seventy or eighty feet. A look of incredulity crossed his face. This Xiao Chen was completely different from the one that Mo Yu and Mo Wen mentioned. The difference was like heaven and earth!

Xiao Chen smirked. Since he had taken the initiative to suppress his opponent, he would never give the latter any chance to counterattack. While thinking, he was already charging forward and forming a strange, quick dance with his sword in hand. The wind swiftly picked up. Tens of sword-shaped silhouettes materialized in the air, each one looking as tangible as the real thing, and enveloped Mo Jinyan in a split second.

Since this was a battle of swords on the Wuyue Sword Conversation, they naturally had to compete using their swordsmanship. The crowd watched the battle with their jaws open. They had never seen such exquisite swordsmanship. Each time the sword attacked, snow would scatter and wind would rise. He was using one of the moves in Ling Yin’s self-invented 33-fold Green Flute Swordplay, Phoenix’s Cry Amid Bamboos.

Mo Jinyan was stunned. His opponent’s swordsmanship was so polished that he couldn’t even find a flaw to exploit. He hastily leaned backward. “Tss!” One of the swords slashed him on the shoulder, spilling his blood. The crowd of onlookers gasped in shock. This time, their shocked gazes were focused on Xiao Chen.