"The following day, on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, it was the Double Ninth Festival.

In "The Book of Changes," the number nine is considered a yang number, and the repetition of two yang numbers, 'nine nine,' is hence called 'Double Yang.' In this, returning to truth at ninety-nine, One Element begins, marking the closest auspicious day on the ecliptic.

People from the Taoist sects take great care in these matters, even choosing highly auspicious days for meetings.

Though on this auspicious day, bloodshed was inevitable.

Just as with the Confucian literary arena battles for position, Taoist Debating Conferences seeking truth would ultimately not avoid physical confrontation and bloodletting. Determining winners and losers through force is an unchanging truth throughout the ages.

Of course, if your rhetoric is sharper, and you can coerce others into conceding defeat, that is also an encouraged tactic for victory.

Qing Yu alighted behind a group of Daoists clad in blue and white Daoist robes, following their every step. Even though he was completely out of sync with these men, whether in terms of elegance or temperament, Qing Yu stood out like a crane amongst chickens, yet the guarding Taoist directly overlooked his presence and allowed him entry into the Taizhen Palace.

Crossing the long white stone steps, Qing Yu reached the square in front of the main hall of Taizhen Palace and sat down cross-legged in a secluded corner.

Most Daoists took their seats in this manner, including sects with the standing to vie for Taoist position like Chunyang Palace, which only added a cushion.

However, as the current top four Great Taoist Sects, they could not afford to appear so lacking in boldness and style.

Four high platforms stood before the main hall, with people from the Four Great Taoist Sects upon them, looking down at the rest of the Daoists.

Of course, since the Supreme Taoist Sect's Xuan Du had stood them up to return to their sect for healing and enlightenment, and Qing Yu, the impostor, did not show himself, the high platform designated for the Supreme Taoist Sect remained unoccupied.

This significant expression of status filled the other sect members present with yearning, especially those from Chunyang Palace. The look in their eyes when they gazed at the representatives of Luo Fu Palace was incredibly complex.

There was envy, but even more so hostility, mixed with craving, jealousy, hatred... and schadenfreude.

This was because the Palace Master of Luo Fu Palace, Hua Yufei, had not made an appearance, only three True Core Realm Martial Artists of the same generation leading the disciples of Luo Fu Palace sitting cross-legged on the high platform.

'Zhang Xuanji said yesterday that Hua Yufei's injuries are suspected to have recovered. Is he playing possum?" Qing Yu's gaze swept over the three leaders from Luo Fu Palace and he thought to himself.

The strength of these three was obvious to Qing Yu at a glance. While formidable, their prowess was limited to the standards of the True Core Realm. Any sect daring to contend for the position of Luo Fu Palace would surely have a warrior from the Divinity Realm in support.

The other three sects would rather have an injured Hua Yufei stubbornly persist than allow a sect with a maximum strength of only the True Core Realm to ascend.

The reason was simple: embarrassment. The weakest from the Divinity Realm was still transcendent. Replacing them with someone from the True Core Realm would be a loss of face for the entire Four Great Taoist Sects.

'It seems that there are not many sects capable of challenging Luo Fu Palace.'

The three sects sitting at the forefront of the square were the highlight of this Debating Conference: Chunyang Palace, Shenxiao Dao, and Mingxuan Temple—only these three sects.

Among them, Shenxiao Dao needs no introduction because their Divine Power warriors are also not in attendance. As the antagonistic force to Dragon Tiger Mountain, Shenxiao Daoist and others could not bear to be belittled by Dragon Tiger Mountain. They would only enter the fray when the real competition began.

Now, Shenxiao Dao was led by Qing Yu's acquaintance—Zhang Xuanji. He still showed himself with that same unremarkable face, sitting right at the forefront without question.

Not far to his right front sat Dragon Tiger Mountain. There, the Heavenly Master's eldest son, Zhang Yuanchu, who had his brother attacked and killed by Zhang Xuanji, was staring intently at the people of Shenxiao Dao, attempting to find traces of Zhang Xuanji."

Aside from the incredibly powerful Shenxiao Dao, among the other two factions, Chunyang Palace was the sect that had been brought down by Master Feiyu of Luo Fu Palace in the past. The Palace Master, True Master Tianyang, had mastered the Pure Yang Taoist Skill to perfection, possessing the style of the ancestor Pure Yang True Man.

Of course, with Qing Yu's Realm, he could only sense so much. The precise strength was beyond his estimation.

Then there was Mingxuan Temple. This sect...

Qing Yu pondered in his heart, 'Although Mingxuan Temple is also a top-notch sect, it is far from Chunyang Palace. The sect has never produced a Divine Communication Realm warrior. With this in mind...'

His doubtful gaze swept over the solitary group of four from Mingxuan Temple, quickly retracting before anyone noticed. After all, as one of the three leading sects at the forefront, they were accustomed to the scrutiny of everyone's eyes; one more person like Qing Yu would not make a difference.

'There might be a Ghost in Mingxuan Temple,' Qing Yu muttered to himself.

It wasn't that he had spotted any flaws with the four people from Mingxuan Temple, but he was reasoning with a mindset of suspicion.

Generally, when things are out of the ordinary, there is usually something demonic at play. Mingxuan Temple was neither a former member of the Four Great Taoist Sects like Chunyang Palace nor a faction that had split from a top-notch Daoist sect like Shenxiao Dao.

If a sect that has never had a Divine Communication Realm suddenly has one, it would naturally raise suspicion.

In TV shows and novels, if such an anomaly appears within a sect, there is definitely something fishy going on.

The one thing Qing Yu was never short of was imagination. Now that he suspected there might be something amiss with Mingxuan Temple, Qing Yu subtly changed his position, staying away from the group of four.

It's better to be prepared and not need it than to be caught off guard when disaster strikes.

'Hm?' Qing Yu suddenly noticed something else unusual.

He turned his attention to someone in Luo Fu Palace.

'Zhu Kong, I remember that his abilities were nothing remarkable during the contention for the Heavenly Calculation Inheritance.'

Qing Yu initially did not pay much attention to this person. If it weren't for researching the information on the people of Luo Fu Palace, he would have almost forgotten Zhu Kong's name.

'His Qi Mechanism is off.'

At this moment, Zhu Kong's strength had reached the Divine Origin Realm, which was a somewhat surprising discovery. Qing Yu had estimated that this gentleman should still be lingering in the Innate Realm because compared to other young talents, Zhu Kong was just too lackluster.

During the struggle for the Heavenly Calculation Inheritance, Zhu Kong, the leading disciple of Luo Fu Mountain, had merely been a spectator, not even leaving an impression on Qing Yu.

While figures like the Demon Young Master and Yuan Jianyi advanced to the Divine Origin Realm and made a name for themselves in the worldly society, Zhu Kong was nowhere to be seen.

Now reappearing, he had unexpectedly broken through to the Divine Origin Realm. At his age, he could also be considered a genius. It's just that there was something slightly off about his Qi Mechanism.

Zhu Kong exuded an extraordinarily dense killing intent, even faint grey shadows visible around his body.

This was a manifestation of having a dense killing intent to a certain extreme, a sign of powerful spiritual power. Without enough mental state and spiritual power to suppress the killing intent, Zhu Kong should have been on a rampage, killing people like a madman by now.

Given his past performance, this was very abnormal. To normal people, Zhu Kong would be considered a genius. But compared to those top figures in his generation, he was merely mediocre.

And now, Zhu Kong's strength seemed to be on par with the Demon Young Master, whom he had met before.

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