Chapter 153 - 119: Golden Scale Dao Quota, Celestial Sword Sect’s Scheme

Chapter 153: Chapter 119: Golden Scale Dao Quota, Celestial Sword Sect’s Scheme

"Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao."

At some point, an unparalleled genius who had failed in the previous Genius Supremacy Battle was suddenly moved to slowly murmur the name he had just heard.

His voice was faint, so quiet that only a few people nearby could hear him.

However, following this cultivator’s lead, more and more cultivators from the barren lands began to speak up. Their voices gradually converged into a river, flowing above the Holy City.

The calling started as a faint whisper, grew denser, and eventually swelled as hundreds of thousands to over a million people joined in.

Their voices soared higher and higher, as if crying out the suppression and grievances harbored in their hearts for countless years, venting the humiliation and anger they had endured for so long.

For a time, the entire Holy City echoed with earth-shattering roars, the crowd shouting until the veins bulged on their necks.

"Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao, Jiang Hao..."

Hearing the deafening chants, countless native cultivators of Nanling furrowed their brows.

Jiang Hao also couldn’t help but frown, his expression changing slightly.

At this moment, even Jiang Hao himself felt a faint, lingering sense of opposition. It was a subtle tension—not the direct confrontation between enemies, but rather a silent protest and a silent clash of wills.

The cultivators from the barren lands didn’t truly revere the young man. Instead, his arrival had finally provided them with an outlet to vent years of accumulated frustration.

This scene, unfortunately, inadvertently pushed Jiang Hao into the eye of the storm once again.

It wasn’t just the one hundred and fifty-three Saint Sons and Saintesses of Nanling who narrowed their eyes. Up in the night sky, five figures standing like blazing suns in different directions cast scorching gazes, their eyes glinting with sharp, adversarial light.

"The five sons of the Celestial List now have a new addition. It seems someone will miss out on the Golden Scale Dao." One of the five Nanling sons spoke coolly, his words carrying a deeply targeted undertone.

"As everyone knows, even in our Nanling Sacred City, the Golden Scale Dao only offers eight seats. Apart from the three Sons of the Celestial Dragon who are about to emerge, the five of us hold one seat each."

But the appearance of that young man in white had disrupted this unspoken quota. One of them would lose the opportunity to enter the Golden Scale Dao. Because of this, Jiang Hao had undoubtedly become a thorn in the side of the five Nanling sons.

Of course, Jiang Hao was still unaware of all this. He had no idea that the five Nanling sons already viewed him as a threat.

Right now, he only felt a trace of pressure. Without lingering in the void for too long, he swiftly flew toward the siblings, Mu Zhen and Mu Yiyi.

Meanwhile.

Amidst the sea of people.

An old man and a youth stared at the familiar figure in white, their eyes brimming with shock and astonishment.

"Elder, it really is that boy! Good heavens, tied for first on the Celestial List! How can someone possess such terrifying talent and potential?"

"Zhao Wuji, that fool! He has brought a disaster upon the Celestial Sword Sect. If he had relayed the news back to the sect that day, how could this boy have ever made it to Nanling?"

The prominent figure of the Celestial Sword Sect was filled with rage. Back in Xingyue City, if Zhao Wuji hadn’t been greedy for credit and acted rashly, if he had just reported the events within the ancient ruins to the Celestial Sword Sect first, how could that boy have possibly left Xingyue City alive?

One had to know that the Celestial Sword Sect didn’t just have the unparalleled freaks of the Nine Great Sequences. The Nine Great Sequences were merely the foundational sequences of the sect’s heritage, not the core pillars of the younger generation.

With Jiang Hao’s strength at the time, the Celestial Sword Sect would have only needed to dispatch a single core pillar disciple to kill him. As for the South Mountain Sword Saint, Yan Nantian, it wasn’t as if the sect lacked experts capable of intercepting him.

At the very least, the Supreme Elders of the Celestial Sword Sect had the strength to hold off the Sword Saint for a while, let alone the Branch Sect Leader who was holding the fort.

"Elder, what do we do now? This is Nanling, and you can’t strike at him directly. With such terrifying talent, if we give him more time, he might truly become a threat to the Celestial Sword Sect."

The disciple standing beside the Celestial Sword Sect’s prominent figure was filled with anxiety. To tie for first place on the Nanling Celestial List—what heaven-defying talent was this?

What was even more frightening was that they were in Nanling. Coupled with the ongoing Genius Supremacy Battle, even the Celestial Sword Sect was at its wit’s end, having already missed the optimal window to assassinate the boy in white.

The Celestial Sword Sect’s own Sons of the Celestial Dragon couldn’t enter Nanling, and the older generation couldn’t interfere. They could only watch helplessly as the boy steadily rose to power.

Hearing this, the old man looked utterly helpless. He took a deep breath and said with immense powerlessness, "We can only feign an olive branch using news of his father. We’ll stabilize him first, then wait for an opportunity. If we can trick him into leaving the Nanling Realm and lure him into the Heaven and Earth Net laid down by the Celestial Sword Seven Sons, it will be the end of his life."

"Offer him an olive branch? Elder, do you mean we’ll use news of his father to trick him into leaving?"

Clearly, the old man’s purpose in secretly infiltrating Nanling was twofold: first, to gather all possible information about the boy, and second, to find a way to stall him before tricking him out of Nanling.

Seeing the old man remain silent, the youth beside him furrowed his brows.

"But Elder, as long as he isn’t stupid, why would he trust us? Why would he trust the Celestial Sword Sect?"

"We can’t just do nothing. Let’s make contact and try first. Perhaps news of his father will have an unexpected effect," the old man sighed helplessly.

Obviously, he also knew how foolish this plan was. But they were in Nanling now, not Xingyue City, and even he had to tread carefully.

While the old man spoke.

On the other side.

"Brother Jiang, I knew it was you! Aside from you, there couldn’t possibly be a second person capable of reaching the summit."

Seeing Jiang Hao flying toward him, Mu Zhen beamed with joy.

Jiang Hao simply cast a sweeping glance over the entire Holy City, especially at the five sun-like figures standing in the night sky.

Their targeting gazes felt like needles on his back, even across the endless airspace.

"Brother Mu, let’s talk when we get back," Jiang Hao dropped a brief sentence and immediately flew toward the outskirts of the Holy City.

Mu Zhen and Mu Yiyi exchanged a glance, taking to the air to follow closely behind him.

Tens of millions of cultivators watched the white-clad figure slowly disappear into the night, still shocked beyond measure.

"Tied for first on the Celestial List! This boy is qualified to ascend the Golden Scale Dao. I just wonder how far he can go inside the Dragon Transformation Pool."

"Jiang Hao... compared to Leng Tianyu and the others, who do you guys think has the upper hand?"

"Everything is still unknown, but a world-shaking figure is truly about to be born."

"Tied for first on the Celestial List! Good heavens, is he really a cultivator born in the barren lands?"

The entire Holy City erupted into an uproar all at once.

Ji Qingxue, Ji Wufeng, Ji Xiaotian, and the others stared in the direction the young man had vanished, unable to recover from their shock for a long time.

As for the one hundred and fifty-nine people who had ascended to the first tier of the Celestial List, ripples of emotion surged in their eyes.

At the same time Jiang Hao’s trio departed.

Within the sea of people.

The figures of the old man and the youth quietly trailed after them.

Time slowly passed.

Fifteen minutes later.

In the courtyard of the simple thatched cottage where Mu Zhen and his sister lived, on the outskirts of the Holy City.

As soon as Jiang Hao entered the courtyard, his footsteps halted. He slowly turned around, his sharp gaze locking onto the vast darkness of the night.

"Brother Jiang, what’s wrong?"

Seeing this, Mu Zhen was slightly taken aback. He followed Jiang Hao’s line of sight but saw nothing. However, Jiang Hao’s vigilance let him know that the darkness wasn’t as peaceful as it seemed.

Jiang Hao didn’t answer Mu Zhen, keeping his eyes fixed on that single direction.

A moment later.

"You’ve been following us for so long. Don’t you plan on showing yourselves?"

Jiang Hao’s calm voice rang out. In the darkness, the old man and the youth abruptly looked up, their faces registering shock.

Mu Zhen and Mu Yiyi’s expressions drastically changed. The siblings were, after all, cultivators of the Nine Spirit Transformations, yet they hadn’t sensed anyone tailing them at all.

There could only be one explanation for this: the people tracking them were incredibly terrifying and formidable.

But this was the Nanling Realm, and still within the vicinity of the Holy City. Even in the outskirts, an ordinary person wouldn’t dare cause trouble.

"Brother Jiang, could you be mistaken? There isn’t anyone following us." After probing with his senses, Mu Zhen was utterly baffled. There was nothing in the dark night, not even the slightest fluctuation of an aura, leading him to doubt if Jiang Hao had sensed wrong.

Even Mu Yiyi furrowed her elegant brows, not feeling anything unusual behind them. "Jiang Hao, this is the Nanling Sacred City after all. No one would dare cause trouble here. Could you have made a mistake?"