Chapter 817 Embarking on the Journey Again

“The rest of it is all here. The information inside is much more detailed, including the Cultivation Techniques these people excel at. Keep them in mind. That way, you’ll know what to expect when you actually run into them.”

Xie Yurou handed the documents to Xu Luo as she spoke. She then looked at him and said rather despondently, “I might be leaving.”

“Leaving? Where to?” Xu Luo looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t heard of anything happening within the Xie family recently.

“To my sister’s place, Piaomiao Palace. I’m going to see her,” Xie Yurou said with a sigh.

“Don’t you usually love going out? Why do you seem so reluctant this time?” Xu Luo looked at her, puzzled. “Besides, doesn’t your sister stay in Baihua City year-round?”

“She spends a few months every year in Baihua City, but for the rest of the time, she still has to return to Piaomiao Palace.” Xie Yurou looked at Xu Luo, seemingly hesitating over something. Ultimately, however, she didn’t say anything else and took her leave.

Xu Luo was a bit confused, but he figured she probably wanted him to accompany her and was just too embarrassed to ask. But he had a lot of things to do right now—for instance, the upcoming Xi Hezhou Grand Competition!

As a seeded contestant for Celestial Brilliance, he didn’t need to participate in the initial qualifiers. However, he would still have to take part in the final matches to narrow the top two hundred down to the top one hundred. The Peak of Jiuzhou involved an immeasurable amount of resources and benefits. Any qualified faction would never let such an opportunity slip by. Therefore, no one would back down in the fight for one of those hundred spots.

Every time a grand competition like this was held, a few breathtakingly talented, monstrously gifted youths would emerge. Among them were even some Loose Cultivators! These individuals had no backing factions and seemed to appear out of thin air, yet they could still snag a ticket to the Peak of Jiuzhou during the competition!

This sort of situation occurred in every province during every Peak of Jiuzhou. Although the major factions tried their hardest to prevent it, they simply couldn’t put an end to it completely. This wasn’t entirely due to conflicts of interest, but rather the rules of the Peak of Jiuzhou itself!

Operating on a provincial basis, each province sent one hundred people. In the end, whichever team obtained the most identity tags would emerge victorious. Thus, regardless of any prior grudges, everyone from a given province still had to unite to fend off external enemies once they reached the Peak of Jiuzhou.

For the most part, disciples hailing from major factions and large families would abide by this unspoken rule. Loose Cultivators, however, were a different breed. Most of them were disorganized and undisciplined individuals who kept to themselves. Used to a lack of structure, they were completely unaccustomed to cooperating with others. Furthermore, their mutual distrust often led to conflicts and clashes. On an ordinary day, this naturally wouldn’t matter, but infighting at the Peak of Jiuzhou would have fatal consequences!

Because of this, during the provincial grand competitions leading up to the Peak of Jiuzhou, the major factions would strictly guard against such scenarios. If they truly encountered breathtakingly talented Loose Cultivators, they would essentially use any means necessary to recruit them into their sects. As for the stubborn ones, they would often employ various methods to eliminate them entirely!

As a result, every provincial grand competition was extraordinarily lively, drawing out all sorts of people from every walk of life. Individuals with entirely different motives gathered together, all chasing fame and fortune.

As a Supreme Great Sect of Xi Hezhou, Celestial Brilliance enjoyed the highest of privileges while simultaneously shouldering certain responsibilities. This time, the burden would fall on Xu Luo and his companions. This was a joint decision made by the Elder Council after Xu Luo rejected Xiahou Kaiyuan and insisted on participating in the Peak of Jiuzhou.

Therefore, it was nearly impossible for Xu Luo to accompany Xie Yurou to Piaomiao Palace right now.

Not long after Xie Yurou left, Su Qianqian also arrived at the Medicine Garden. Su Qianqian would also be attending the Xi Hezhou Grand Competition, not as a contestant, but in an official capacity. Celestial Brilliance was one of the main organizers of the competition.

“It seems something has happened to Yu Rou’s sister,” Su Qianqian said upon arriving at Xu Luo’s place. She didn’t bring up her own matters, choosing instead to talk about Xie Yurou.

“Oh?” Xu Luo raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t Yu Rou’s sister the wife of the Piaomiao Palace Master? She doesn’t have any enemies. How could something happen to her?”

“I’m not too clear on the details myself. Yu Rou mentioned it to me briefly, but she was rather vague. She said something about internal chaos within Piaomiao Palace right now and felt it wasn’t safe for her sister to stay there. So… she wants to bring her sister back to Celestial Brilliance.” Su Qianqian glanced at Xu Luo as she spoke.

“She didn’t mention any of this to me,” Xu Luo said with a frown, finally understanding what Xie Yurou had been hesitating over earlier. Naturally, this wasn’t the sort of thing she could easily ask others for help with. Going alone might be fine on an ordinary day, but during a period of chaos, no one would care whether or not she was a Celestial Splendor Noble Lady.

“We’ll pass by Piaomiao Palace on our way to the Xi Hezhou Grand Competition,” Su Qianqian said softly. “When the time comes… we can just go over and take a look.”

Xu Luo cast a slightly peculiar glance at Su Qianqian, wondering what was going through this Little Demon’s mind. She was completely obedient and compliant with him, but when it came to others… that was hardly the case. After all, Su Qianqian had held the title of Little Witch in the Lower Realm. She had stepped into the Ancient Race and entered the Su family all by herself, managed to become the Celestial Maiden of the Su family, and had even played many of its members like a fiddle. This kind of disposition was not something an ordinary girl could compare to.

Seeing Xu Luo’s doubtful gaze, Su Qianqian couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Is it that strange? Xie Yurou and I are as close as sisters. I just want to help her.”

While Su Qianqian said this aloud, she grumbled in her heart, “Those women of yours in the Lower Realm have banded together. Having been together for so many years, their relationship must be incredibly strong. Even if they don’t exclude me, they probably won’t like me very much either. Once we all meet in the future and live together, wouldn’t I get bullied if I don’t even have a single helper?”

Naturally, Xu Luo couldn’t comprehend Su Qianqian’s true thoughts. In many matters, the thought processes of men and women simply didn’t exist on the same wavelength. However, Xu Luo did feel that her suggestion was feasible.

Thinking of that gentle and kindhearted woman, Xu Luo sighed in his heart, “Beautiful women truly suffer cruel fates!”

Such an excellent woman like Xie Yudie lived an unhappy life despite being the wife of the Piaomiao Palace Master. He had heard Xie Yurou mention on more than one occasion that her sister’s marriage was terrible. While Xu Luo didn’t have any improper thoughts about that gentle, kind, and beautiful young woman, he was sympathetic to her plight. If the opportunity arose, he would definitely lend a helping hand. After all, Xie Yudie had helped him out a great deal back in Baihua City.

With this in mind, Xu Luo nodded and looked at Su Qianqian. “Then we’ll do as you say!”

Su Qianqian smiled faintly. She chatted with Xu Luo for a little while longer before taking her leave.

Half a month later, Yu Tianying and the other injured individuals had all mostly recovered, and the Celestial Brilliance team was fully geared up and ready to set out.

Jiang Botao delivered a speech on behalf of the Sect Leader, encouraging the younger generation of Celestial Brilliance to unite as one and achieve great results in the grand competition. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xu Luo embarked on a new journey with the eight of them: Yu Tianying, Yu Tianjie, Tang Xiao, Shao Zheng, Ming Youyue, Zhong Jiuyan, Lv Di, and Wang Tong. Aside from them, eighty-nine Core Disciples of Celestial Brilliance boarded another massive warship. They, too, would follow along to participate in this Xi Hezhou Grand Competition.

As the seeded contestants for Celestial Brilliance this time around, Xu Luo’s group of nine could skip the initial qualifiers involving thousands of people. The others would all have to start from the very beginning and fight their way up step by step. Although they would have to face off against the young talents of the entire Xi Hezhou, these Core Disciples of Celestial Brilliance were entirely unafraid. They swore to bring out their strongest abilities in a bid to secure a place among the final hundred spots.

The warships took to the sky, slowly sailing away from Celestial Brilliance. Under the gazes of countless onlookers, they set off on their new journey.

The warship Xu Luo and his companions were on was of a very high grade. Everyone had a large, independent space where they could go into secluded cultivation. Not wanting to draw too much attention to herself, Su Qianqian didn’t accompany Xu Luo and instead stayed behind on the second warship. However, the two of them had agreed to go check on Xie Yurou when they passed by Piaomiao Palace.

Inside the warship, Xu Luo looked at Zhong Jiuyan’s newly regenerated arm. He walked over, patted it, and asked, “How is it? Are you used to it yet?”

Zhong Jiuyan smiled. “Good enough to kill people!”

“That’s good, then!” Xu Luo nodded.

Following their trip to the ancient ruins, their nine-person team had tightly united together. These people all treated Xu Luo as their pillar of support. As long as Xu Luo was around, they felt completely at ease.

“Senior Brother Luo, there might be some people specifically targeting you during this Xi Hezhou Grand Competition. You need to be careful,” Ming Youyue said softly as she approached Xu Luo.

“That’s right, I’ve received similar information. The Jin family suffered a massive loss and took a severe beating at the ancient ruins this time around. I’m certain they won’t just let this go easily.”

“It won’t just be the Jin family. I heard that people from the Blazing Flame Province might also show up at the grand competition,” Yu Tianying chimed in from the side.

“People from the Blazing Flame Province? What are they doing over on our side? Just to seek revenge against Eldest Senior Brother?” Shao Zheng asked indignantly. “That’s way too much!”

“The people of the Blazing Flame Province have always been like this. They’re allowed to bully others, but others aren’t allowed to bully them,” Yu Tianjie sneered. “Once they get bullied, they won’t rest until one side is dead. However… I’m afraid they’re going to hit a brick wall this time.”

With that, Yu Tianjie glanced at Xu Luo and laughed. “Leader, you probably don’t know this yet, but an ancestor of my Yu family has emerged from secluded cultivation this time! He’s also in our team. When the time comes, if those bastards from the Blazing Flame Province dare to provoke us, I guarantee they won’t return alive!”

“It isn’t just the ancestor of our Yu family; eight or nine other ancestors have also come out of secluded cultivation. First, it’s to ensure that this Xi Hezhou Grand Competition proceeds smoothly. Second, it’s because a few of the ancestors were angered by what happened during our last trip to the ancient ruins,” Yu Tianying said in a deep voice.

Xu Luo stood up and looked outside through the porthole. Majestic mountains flashed by beneath their feet. The warship traveled through the blue sky and white clouds at an extreme speed.

He hadn’t expected there to be so many ancestor-level figures holding the fort this time. A faint smile graced his face as he thought to himself, “It seems this new journey won’t be too lonely after all.”