Chapter 1359: The Feast Begins

To the right of Gu or Jin stood a fresh-faced young girl in a blue short skirt, forming a stark contrast with the red-robed old woman on the left. Not only was her attire quite cool, but she also wore a sweet smile on her face, captivating at first sight.

On her head grew two tender dragon horns, her long black hair was braided into countless small plaits, her round eyes sparkled with vitality, and delicate blue rings adorned her arms and ankles, with a few small bells hanging from them.

Such an appearance and dress would make anyone think she was a harmless, lovely young girl. Yet in reality, she was Chen Ruyan, the Water Attribute Origin Dao Ancestor among the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court, who had cultivated the law of water to its utmost.

She and Chi Rong had completely opposing auras, giving a sense of clashing great Daos—not the friction of two cultivators on the same path, but two different Daos that naturally detested each other, conflicting upon meeting.

The girl did not look at Chi Rong, nor did Chi Rong look at her; they found each other repulsive, like water and fire, incompatible.

On the other side of Chi Rong stood a short, gaunt old man. Today, he was not wearing his usual coarse linen clothes but had changed into an eye-catching purple-gold Daoist robe, every warp and weft thread shimmering with unusual luster, clearly a celestial-grade robe.

The old man's shoulders and back were still slightly hunched, but his eyes were bright and sharp. He was none other than Li Yuanjiu, the master of the Nine Elements Temple.

On the other side, beside Chen Ruyan, stood a tall figure wrapped tightly in a black robe, even his face covered, revealing only a pair of deep purple eyes, within which seemed to contain thousands of stars, glittering with points of light.

This man was named Yinming, the most mysterious of the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Dao and a supreme Dao Ancestor little known to the world.

If it could be said that Patriarch Chen Tuan had long ceased to walk the world and was gradually being forgotten, yet still had tales of his might surviving, this Dao Ancestor Yinming did not even have legends, and even the high-ranking cultivators of the Heavenly Court were unclear about his background.

In fact, Patriarch Chen Tuan had been devoured by the Heavenly Dao and was as good as a cripple, while Xuan Yuanjie had been slain by Han Li and Jintong together. Aside from these five, there were no others among the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Dao.

In truth, at past Bodhi Banquets, aside from Gu Huojin who appeared every time, most of the other Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court did not show themselves easily, especially the black-robed man. For as many as five to appear at once like today was already quite numerous.

Seeing these people appear, nearly all the attending cultivators present stood up to pay their respects.

The direct-line cultivators of the Heavenly Court even called out in unison, "We pay homage to the Supremes."

Gu Huojin smiled and nodded, then spoke: "Daoist Cangwu, today the Lord of the Reincarnation Palace is a guest. Do not breach propriety."

His words carried little warning, instead seeming like a gentle admonition.

Yet after this seemingly light remark, True Lord Cangwu indeed withdrew his hand and returned to sit behind his table, though his expression showed even more weariness and desolation.

The Lord of the Reincarnation Palace lifted his gaze, looking toward Gu Huojin and the others, his eyes calm and his expression composed.

Qingqiu Zhenren breathed a sigh of relief and led him forward, continuing to the front row where the Dao Ancestors, including Cangwu Zhenjun, were seated, to a position near the right edge.

"Hall Master, this is the seat arranged for you. Please be seated," Qingqiu Zhenren said.

The Reincarnation Hall Master glanced at that seat, laughed heartily, and strode forward, stepping directly over the low table to the space between this row of seats and the seats of the Seven Heavenly Lords.

He suddenly curved his five fingers, made a grabbing motion toward one of the seven low tables, and casually pulled it back.

That low table, along with the cushion behind it, was wrapped in a force and flew backward, landing in front of the Reincarnation Hall Master.

"Since the people are no longer here, isn't it too inauspicious to keep their seats set up?" the Reincarnation Hall Master said with a loud laugh.

Having said that, the Reincarnation Hall Master sat down without ceremony, casually picked up a flask of celestial wine from the table, poured it into a cup, and gently swirled it.

At the sight of this, the entire assembly erupted in uproar.

Qingqiu Zhenren, who had just managed to stop sweating, now found himself perspiring again.

However, he couldn't help but admire the Reincarnation Hall Master for being able to display such a domineering attitude in this environment; there was probably no one else in the world who could do the same.

But admiration aside, it was his duty to advise, so he steeled himself and said, "Hall Master, this... goes against protocol."

The Reincarnation Hall Master ignored him and drained the cup in one gulp.

"It's fine. I appreciate the Hall Master's concern," Gu Huojin said with a smile.

Since the Supreme One had spoken, no one else had any objections. Qingqiu Zhenren took his leave, turned, and left the assembly, returning to the Eastern Victory Continent.

Gu Huojin and the others took their seats, but not adjacent to each other.

As the head of the Seven Heavenly Lords, Gu Huojin naturally sat in the center, his low table also slightly higher than the others.

To his immediate left sat the black-robed Dao Ancestor named Yinming, while the seat to his right was empty, originally meant for Ancestor Chen Tuan.

Further to the left, next to Yinming, sat the young female Dao Ancestor Chen Ruyan, and the seat to her left was not only empty but its low table had been taken away by the Reincarnation Hall Master; it had originally belonged to Xuan Yuanjie.

On the right side, next to Ancestor Chen Tuan's empty seat sat Dao Ancestor Chirong, and beside Chirong sat the head of the Nine Yuan Temple.

Only after these few had taken their seats did the others, who had risen to pay their respects, finally sit down one after another. Celestial music began to play throughout the assembly, and the atmosphere truly began to calm somewhat.

At this moment, a figure wrapped in layers of thick white cloud appeared ahead of the crowd.

When the clouds dissipated, a tall figure was revealed, dressed in a sky-blue robe embroidered with clusters of snow-white cloud patterns. It was none other than the White Cloud Dao Ancestor, who currently oversaw the entire operation of the Heavenly Court.

"Today is the Bodhi Feast, and I sincerely invite all honored guests to partake in the immortal blessings. I hope everyone enjoys themselves to the fullest," said the White Cloud Dao Ancestor, first bowing to Gu Huojin and the others, then turning to the rest with a hearty laugh.

As his words fell, a patch of multicolored clouds suddenly appeared above everyone's heads. Within it, dozens of fairy maidens and palace attendants dressed in rainbow-feather garments swayed gracefully, dancing as countless flower petals rained down from their flowing sashes—a breathtaking sight.

The crowd watched with great interest, momentarily relaxing as they raised their cups and sampled the immortal wine and spiritual fruits.

…

Deep within the endless chaos of the void, a colossal silver mountain floated, its peak invisible, standing like a silver giant within the turbulent void currents.

The silver mountain was entirely formed from a translucent silver ore. Each piece of silver ore emanated fluctuations of spatial laws. If any knowledgeable person were present, they would immediately recognize this silver ore as the legendary void crystal, imbued with the power of spatial laws.

Countless fluctuations of spatial laws radiated from all parts of the giant mountain, converging into an overwhelmingly powerful wave of spatial law fluctuations, seemingly capable of shaking the entire void chaos.

The nearby chaotic void currents, upon approaching the silver mountain, instantly became docile and flowed smoothly around it.

At the base of the mountain, there was an enormous black turtle, its massive body like a continent, carrying the silver mountain on its back.

As the giant turtle paddled its limbs, it slowly moved forward through the void chaos, carrying the silver mountain on its back.

Countless small holes were distributed across the silver mountain, from the foot to the peak, densely packed, countless in number, like a beehive.

Upon closer inspection, behind those small holes were caves, each containing a network of interconnected passages extending far into the distance, as if the silver giant mountain had been hollowed out.

On both sides of each passage, stone chambers were built at regular intervals. The number of stone chambers in each passage was incalculable, and the total number within the entire mountain was beyond counting.

Between the stone chambers, thick silver patterns connected them, forming a dense and intricate silver net that linked all the stone chambers throughout the mountain.

Moreover, many silver patterns directly disappeared into the void, extending to unknown places.

These silver patterns flickered continuously, as if transmitting something.

Each stone chamber contained several arrays, different from ordinary teleportation arrays—they were object-transmission arrays.

All these arrays hummed and buzzed, occasionally spitting out various items.

Countless members of the Reincarnation Palace stood guard beside each array, placing these items into other object-transmission arrays to be sent away, or handing them to nearby puppets.

These puppets, upon receiving the items, immediately hurried out, scurrying about all over the silver mountain.

The silver mountain resembled a vast kingdom, extremely busy yet operating in an orderly manner.

At the peak of the silver mountain stood a grand hall.

The hall was spacious, thousands of zhang in size, quite empty with not much else. At the center of the hall were four massive refining furnaces.

These furnaces were dozens of zhang high, nearly reaching the hall's ceiling, identical in shape but colored blue, cyan, red, and black respectively.

The bases of the four furnaces were enveloped in a layer of silver flames. Around each furnace sat dozens of cultivators, most wearing Reincarnation Palace masks—members of the Reincarnation Palace.

Some wore purple robes, the attire of the Yeyang Dynasty in the Demon Domain.

These people continuously formed hand seals, sending precious materials flying into the four furnaces.

Flames flickered, and the furnaces slowly rotated, emitting a rumbling sound like muffled thunder from within.

The surface of the blue furnace flashed with light, and the lid suddenly shook, flying off on its own. A ball of blue light shot out from within.

A tall man from the Reincarnation Palace near this furnace waved his hand, drawing the blue light into his grasp. It was a blue rabbit-head mask—a Reincarnation Palace mask, though it looked somewhat stiff.

The man examined the mask, turning it over a few times, then nodded slowly. He turned and walked to a side hall at the back of the main hall.

There, three stone platforms stood, each occupied by a cultivator holding a white jade tablet, on which lines of text flickered continuously.

The three of them browsed the text on the tablets while tracing patterns on them with hand seals, appearing very busy.

The one on the left was a middle-aged man in gray robes, with a gaunt face and sunken eyes, looking somewhat gloomy.

The one in the center was an old man in purple robes, also from the Yeyang Dynasty by his attire. He was slightly stooped, with sparse hair on his head and wrinkled skin, but his spirit was very vigorous.

The one on the right was a woman in white robes, with fair skin, bright eyes, and white teeth, quite beautiful, but her expression was very cold.

The auras of the three were all immense, reaching the Da Luo realm. The purple-robed old man had the highest cultivation, having reached the peak of the mid-Da Luo stage, only a step away from the late Da Luo stage.