The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

“This scent…” Su Yu’s eyes were half-closed. He had detected the presence of such a scent back in the Evil Fending Villa.

During that time, he attacked Su Yu from across the air, a move Su Yu countered with the True Sky Flute of Heavenly Melody.

“So the powerful man from the Moonwatch Sect that I met back then was the Saint! What was he doing at the Evil Fending Villa?” Su Yu’s eyes were gleaming with a shrewd light.

The Saint’s appearance roused a major commotion.

“Look, it’s Lord Saint!”

“Ah! Lord Saint has come to take part as well.”

“If that is so, I think there is no doubt left as to the identity of the Saint Lady’s future husband.”

“Since ancient times, the Saint Lady’s Palace has never been on the same side as the Saint Palace. Only one of them gets to be the next Moonwatch Sect Master. The Saint must have come to take part in order to wreak havoc.”

“If the Saint Lady does not select a husband whom she’s satisfied with, according to the rules of the Sect, she will be unable to gain the position of the Sect Master.”

The situation was crystal clear to everyone. The Saint’s intention in joining the marriage-seeking competition was obvious.

As Su Yu recalled the ambush he had encountered in the forest, he understood the Saint was determined to sabotage the marriage prospects of the Saint Lady.

“However, it will not be easy for the Saint to sabotage the marriage contest. The two Capitals have sent the most powerful men of the generation. Among them, Wang Qingchen from the Saint Capital is a distinguished young warrior of this era.”

“During the battle for the Saint’s position in the past, he only missed the honor due to a little disadvantage. Now that he has risen to his feet again, I don’t think the Saint can handle Wang Qingchen easily.”

The Saint arrived astride the unicorn, staring down at the people. From his arrogant expression, it was clear that he regarded none of them as being of any importance.

“I’m giving you a chance to get out of my way. Otherwise, if you die or get injured, do not blame me.” The flames between the Saint’s brows flickered and he exuded an air of ferocity.

The participants who had broken their backs to get to the Holy Altar were furious, but no one had to courage to voice their anger.

The Saint was unjust, but who dared to defy him?

Some people, who knew the Saint’s reputation very well, gritted their teeth and quit the contest after a brief contemplation.

Less than half of the contestants chose to stay behind, reasoning that Saint couldn’t inflict harm upon them during the assessment.

Among them were the uncle and nephew Wang Dachui and Wang Feilin.

“I’ve given you a chance! You’re being foolish.” The Saint’s cold glare swept across the contestants who had chosen to stay, his eyes emitting rays of icy light.

Wang Feilin clenched his fists, muttering under his breath, “What’s there to be so arrogant about? The Sect Master has been in isolation for many years and hasn’t heard about any worldly matters.”

“Otherwise, your flagrant sabotage and impudent behavior of blatantly assassinating the contestants of the Saint Lady’s marriage competition would not be forgiven!”

There was a bloody wound on his shoulder.

He got it while being ambushed in the forest.

However, unbeknownst to Wang Feilin, the Saint had such incredible senses of sight and hearing that he picked up Wang Feilin’s mumbling from afar. Murderous desire flashed in his eyes.

“How dare you disrespect the Saint, you little fool! Now die!”

As he spoke, the Saint flicked his wrist, and a wave of Level Three wizardry spell struck towards Wang Feilin.

Wang Feilin’s lips quivered in fear and despair. “The Heart-corroding Curse! You’re so wicked!”

A few random words that he mumbled caused a calamity to befall him.

Wang Feilin retreated hastily while performing spells to counteract his opponent’s magic.

However, he was merely a Level Six wizard. How would he be able to fend off an attack from a Level Three one?

Under such an incredibly brutal attack, he couldn’t even perform his usual spells.

“Careful!” Next to him, Wang Dachui’s face turned pale with fright as he hurriedly performed spells to help his uncle counter the attack.

The wave patterns produced from his spell dissipated in the fraction of a second, before it could even offer any protection.

Seeing that the situation was desperate, Wang Dachui bellowed thunderously and hurled out a statue as large as the palm of his hand.

The statue was very similar to the one Cailin used previously. It contained a powerful spell force, and an umbrella-shaped wave spread from it and sheltered Wang Feilin underneath it.

Buzz!

A strong explosive sound went off, and the Saint’s spell wave aggressively shoved the umbrella-shaped wave until it was retreating rapidly.

Under the oppression of the enormous force, Wang Feilin was sent flying backward, blood shooting out like a fountain from his mouth.

Although the Saint’s wave did not hit him directly, the oppressive force alone was enough to make him choke upon his own blood.

Moreover, coincidentally, the direction in which he was sent flying was right where Su Yu and Cailin stood.

Cailin’s eyes grew solemn and she yelled, “Hurry up and move! We won’t be able to withstand it!”

However, it was difficult to dodge a blow from the Saint. Even by maneuvering all of their divine energies, safety was not guaranteed.

Seeing that the three of them were about to collide, Su Yu soundlessly retrieved an 80-year-old Soul-stabilizing Wood and held it in his hand, deflecting a great portion of the Saint’s spell.

Shortly after, he secretly maneuvered the power of the World Annihilation Dragon and dislodged a great half of the force upon Wang Feilin.

Only then did his speed slow, and Su Yu seized this chance to dodge together with Cailin.

Wang Feilin recoiled rapidly and then stumbled and fell, hitting the ground with the back of his head. His four limbs swung in the air as if he were a tortoise that landed on its back.

People could not help but burst into laughter.

“Although the Saint was overbearing, this guy deserved it for letting his mouth run.”

“He was quite lucky to have saved his own life through this silly fall. The blow from the Saint would have taken his life.”

People were staring and whispering insults.

Wang Feilin, who had been embarrassed enough, felt even more ashamed and indignant.

When his eye caught the calm-looking Su Yu, who dodged to the side and stood unharmed, fury rose within him as he scrambled to his feet and growled, “You idiot! Tell me, who told you to play such a dirty trick and make me fall?”

To everyone around, it really did seem that he had been tripped by Su Yu.

However, he knew best in his heart whether it was true.

Without Su Yu’s protective power, he would have become a cold, hard corpse sprawled on the ground by now, without any chance to hold grudges against Su Yu.

Su Yu sneered. “The person who beat you up is right in front of you, yet you dare not say a word against him, question him, or try to take revenge. You ignore what he had done!”

“So you turn to me instead, making vicious remarks against the very person who had just saved your worthless life, looking all fierce and resentful! Haha, people like you are weak from the inside out. If the Saint Lady falls for you, she has to be blind.”

Wang Feilin’s face turned beet-red. Frustration, anger, and shame rose in him as he bellowed furiously, “How dare you? Who the hell are you to judge me? Do you know who I am?”

“I am from the great Wang family of the Saint Capital. A single toe of mine is worth a thousand of you! You have no right to pass judgment on me!”

“Shut up!” Wang Dachui berated him as he came over with an ugly look on his face.

From his angle of view, he had witnessed the whole scene very clearly.

It was Su Yu who resolved the wizard spell, and Su Yu who alleviated the attacking force. Even if he had not saved Wang Feilin, the tactics and strength he had just displayed were enough to make Wang Dachui tremble with fear.

Seeing his nephew putting the blame on others so ignorantly, he reprimanded the younger man in a raised voice.

However, his scolding backfired upon him.

“Uncle, I don’t understand why you are defending him. Didn’t you see it was he who put me in such a predicament?” Wang Feilin questioned in anger.

Wang Dachui put a hand on his shoulder, shook his head and said in a low voice, “First, there is no need for me to defend him. He is right. If you do not have the courage to get even with the Saint, don’t put the blame on others. It will only demonstrate how narrow-minded, weak and useless you are!”

“Secondly, you are no match for him, so do not bring disgrace upon yourself.”

Although his words were not pleasant to the ear, they were reasonable.

However, being caught up in his anger, how would Wang Feilin listen to this truthful advice?

“Hahaha, so you think I am no match for him?” Wang Feilin shrugged off his uncle’s hand and replied coldly, “Uncle, you’re getting old. Not only are you confused to the point that you’re taking the side of an outsider, but your sight is not so good anymore either. So you’re suspecting that I’m weaker than him?”

“Alright, then. Let’s see just how capable he is!” Wang Feilin dashed swiftly, muttering a spell under his breath. A bizarre wave rose from beneath his feet, making him move as fast as a gust of wind, accelerating his speed by a few times.

Swish!

Su Yu felt a blurry shadow flickering before him, and soon an enormous palm broke the space, flying towards his cheek. “I’m giving you a slap to wake you up!”

Su Yu’s eyes gleamed with an icy light, and he almost let out a peal of derisive laughter.

Outside the forest, this man had made disrespectful remarks about him, which Su Yu did not take to heart. He was not interested in fighting with spoiled brats like him.

Neither was Su Yu bothered about his vicious words and the fact that Wang Feilin blamed him so unjustly.

However, he had gone overboard now.

“Take that!” Su Yu frowned, and a layer of pitch-dark dragon scales emerged on his right arm, whipping twice with the speed of lighting.

Pop! Pop!

Two clear, brisk slapping sounds reverberated through the air.

The onlookers, who were initially just idly watching the interesting scene, grew gradually somber. It was obviously Wang Feilin who attacked first, but Su Yu, who launched his blows later, slapped him and did not give him a chance to retaliate.

Pow!

The slap was so powerful that Wang Feilin’s cheeks turned into a raw mess of flesh and blood, and he flew backward with blood gushing out of his wounds, falling straight into the arms of Wang Dachui, who stepped forth just in time.

The pain made Wang Feilin come back to his senses. Trembling with dread and shock, he stared at Su Yu, who stood motionless.

While they fought, he sensed a horrifying, strangling feeling of suffocation, which he had never felt before even when fighting Level Five wizards.

Only the Saint could instill such immense fear in him.

“You…” Wang Feilin clasped his hand to his cheek, angry and fearful.

Wang Dachui let go of his nephew, offering a respectful bow to Su Yu. “Brother, thanks a lot for having mercy on him. My nephew was ignorant, please do forgive him.”

Su Yu shot a nonchalant look at them and shifted his gaze away, looking up at the Saint hovering in the sky above.

He happened to be staring at Su Yu as well.

An expression of doubt appeared on his face. “Your scent is familiar! We must have met before.”

Su Yu thought to himself: We did not just meet, we even fought.

“Alright then, I’ll finish you off,” the Saint said with indifference, as if killing people who posed a threat was a matter of no importance to him.

However, right at that moment, a reverberating sound penetrated the air, making the unicorn beneath the Saint quiver in panic.

The Saint snorted coldly and kicked the unicorn to quieten it. His eyes stared ahead, narrowing maliciously. “Wang Qingchen!”

In the distance, a handsome youth riding a white crane flew towards him unhurriedly.

The youth had a reticent, withdrawn air about him, but the sorcery waves that he emitted from time to time were as deep as a bottomless abyss.

“Zhao Tianyin. It’s been a long time.” Wang Qingchen had a calm look on his face as he landed beside Wang Dachui and his nephew, gazing at the Saint.

The Saint’s real name was Zhao Tianyin. Back when the two were young, both he and Wang Qingchen had competed for the Saint’s position.

Wang Qingchen lost the throne to the Saint by a single shot.

“Loser,” Zhao Tianyin snorted softly. He concealed his murderous aura and stopped launching attacks.

Apparently, he had some fear of Wang Qingchen.

“Big brother, you have to avenge me!” Wang Feilin clasped his cheek, tottering as he stood.

He was, in fact, Wang Qingchen’s biological younger brother.

Wang Qingchen looked at him and said, “I have seen all that happened just now.”

Wang Feilin was delighted and shot a vengeful, resentful glare at Su Yu. “Big brother, help me get even with him! He deserves punishment.”

“Very well,” Wang Qingchen nodded placidly and raised a hand.

Pow!

Ahh…

However, all of a sudden, he turned around and, with anger in his eyes, he slammed his palm against Wang Feilin’s face, causing blood to gush out from his wounds once more.

Wang Feilin was baffled by the slap and screamed in anguish, “Big brother, why did you hit me?”

Wang Qingchen replied coldly, “This slap was to express my gratitude to this man on your behalf. Without him, you would have been dead already!”

As he spoke, he moved like a bolt of lighting.

Pow!

Another crisp sound of a slap sounded, and Wang Feilin howled in agony.

“This slap is my way of apologizing to him on behalf of the Wang family. The ancient people used to say, one can forget about hatred, but one should not omit to return kindness.”

“Put your ungrateful act aside! You shifted the blame on this man and treated him as your enemy. What a disgrace to the Wang family!”

Puzzlement filled Wang Feilin’s eyes. He was utterly shocked.

Shortly after, he got another slap. Stars appeared in Wang Feilin’s eyes and he collapsed, losing his consciousness.

“This slap is for you, to remember the lesson of today,” Wang Qingchen withdrew his hand indifferently and said, “Uncle Dachui, help him come back to his senses. From now on, do not let him out without my orders. He is an embarrassment to us all!”

Wang Dachui laughed bitterly. “It’s lucky that you came. Alright, this isn’t our stage anyway.”

He greeted Su Yu with a bow, hoisted the unconscious Wang Feilin on his shoulder and left quickly.

After the dramatic episode, Wang Qingchen walked up to Su Yu with his hands behind his back and nodded serenely to express his praise. “Your capabilities are pretty fair, it appears.”

After that, he stood under the Holy Altar all alone, speaking to no one, like the aloof, lonesome white crane in the sky.

Cailin scowled slightly. “How arrogant! How could he belittle you like that? The two great Empire rulers failed to subdue you. Where did he get the confidence to talk to you like that?”

Su Yu only smiled. It did not bother him at all.

“Hehe, the Saint Zhao Tianyin and Wang Qingchen from the Wang family have both come. It seems like the assessment today will be interesting,” an eerie, piercing voice resonated through the air from the deep forest.

Many wizards could not help but begin muttering spells to fend off the high-pitched voice.

The Soul-stabilizing Wood in Su Yu’s hand kept emitting energy, keeping the shrill, dark force away.

“It’s Chu Bawang from the Fan Capital! He came to take part in the Holy Land Assessment today, too!”

“Chu Bawang’s strength was ranked third in the fight for the Saint’s position back then. More than a decade has passed since. I don’t know for sure to what extent he had trained and how much stronger he is now than he had been before.”

Su Yu shot him a stare. His expression was respectful, however.

This man’s strength was very impressive as well. He was no weaker than a Level Three deity.

The Moonwatch Sect was teeming with powerful wizards and talents indeed. A husband-seeking contest alone had brought three brilliant young prodigies together!

Zhao Tianyin and Wang Qingchen both shot him a furtive look and shifted their gaze away without any expression. Hints of dread flickered in the depths of their eyes.

Before long, a youth clad in a black robe, so skinny that his bones were protruding, strode out from the dense forest.

He looked with a smile at the two senile guards guarding the stairs. “It’s about time. You may let us take the assessment.”

The two old guards looked up at the sky and opened up the stairs. At the same time, each of them took out a wooden statue and tossed it on the stairs.

Creak!

The wooden statues cracked open and two unique spirits, one Yin and one Yang, erupted from them, filling every nook and cranny of the stairs.

The Yin and Yang forces merged with each other, integrating and transforming at an incredible speed.

Eventually, with a crackle, two strange flames, one black and one white, set the stairs ablaze.

The black and white flames were very peculiar. They were neither cold nor hot, but being near them made people feel very uncomfortable.

Cailin whispered into Su Yu’s ear, “That is the Yin Yang Wizard Fire, a supreme flame that can only be controlled by the Moonwatch Sect Master.”

“It is more dreadful than any of the magical flames in the God Realm. More specifically, it burns souls. Those whose souls aren’t pure enough cannot withstand the scorching.”

“The test is to walk through the flames towards the Holy Altar. If one manages to persevere, he passes. Otherwise, he fails.”

Su Yu understood. Staring at the Yin Yang Wizard Fire, he did not attempt to advance towards it.

“Who among you is going first?” The two guards asked, machine-like.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, and with a toss of his head, a Level Five Grand Wizard took the initiative to step forward. “I will go first!”