Chapter 430: Liu Ying

As Grand Elder Wang Guyuan finished speaking, a disciple in a Steward's uniform slowly walked out. He came before Shen Daoxing, Wan Hai, and Tang Yi and said, "You three, please follow me."

Shen Daoxing, Wan Hai, and Tang Yi raised their hands in a cupped-fist salute. "Senior Brother!"

The three of them then followed the Sect Steward into Pengze Hall.

Above the Martial Arts Arena, Grand Elder Wang Guyuan smiled faintly as his eyes swept over the crowd, his gaze eventually landing on Shen Daoxing and the others.

The Elder from Fusang Immortal Island, standing beside him, followed Wang Guyuan's gaze to Shen Daoxing and couldn't help but speak up. "Senior Brother, is that the one you have your eye on? To pass the Immortal Island's trial at such a young age, his strength is indeed impressive! But in the end, his cultivation is only at the Ninth Layer of the Spirit Transformation realm. He's still a far cry from the likes of Jun Wushuang and Gu Muyun."

As he spoke, the Fusang Elder couldn't help but shake his head.

"That's right! That's right!"

The other Immortal Island elders at his side nodded in agreement. "With that kid's strength, he's probably not even a match for Ouyang Cheng. Wanting to defeat Gu Muyun and Jun Wushuang to win the Celestial Mirror Order? That's likely harder than ascending to the heavens!"

"Oh?"

Grand Elder Wang Guyuan raised his eyebrows and suddenly chuckled. "In that case, why don't we make a bet? We'll see which disciple will emerge victorious in the competition for the Celestial Mirror Order this time."

Hearing this, the eyes of the four Immortal Island elders beside him immediately lit up.

Elder Tan Yuan was the first to speak. "Alright. I'll put up five hundred Golden Elf Stones and bet on our Ouyang Cheng to win!"

Hearing this, the Yingzhou Elder couldn't help but laugh. "Five hundred Golden Elf Stones? Junior Brother Xu, aren't you being a little too stingy? Heheheh, I'll put up one thousand Golden Elf Stones! I bet on our Gu Muyun to win!"

The Fusang Elder beside them also smiled faintly, as if full of confidence. "Heheheh, in that case, I will put up my Brahma Heaven Cauldron and bet on our Jun Wushuang to win!"

The Brahma Heaven Cauldron!

Upon hearing this, the other three Immortal Island elders were stunned. The Brahma Heaven Cauldron was a top-grade, peerless Divine Artifact, the Fusang Elder's most precious Magical Treasure. The fact that he was willing to stake it showed how much confidence he had.

Seeing this, Elder Pengze paused for a moment, then slowly said, "Then I will also put up five hundred Golden Elf Stones, and bet on... bet on Jun Wushuang to win!"

Clearly, Elder Pengze had no confidence in the disciples from his own Pengze Immortal Island.

The other three Immortal Island elders couldn't help but jeer.

Finally, after the four Immortal Island elders placed their bets, they all looked toward Grand Elder Wang Guyuan.

Grand Elder Wang Guyuan raised his eyebrows and smiled meaningfully. "Then I will stake my Vast Sea Sword, and bet on Shen Daoxing to win!"

As he spoke, Grand Elder Wang Guyuan pointed toward the back of the departing Shen Daoxing.

The Vast Sea Sword!

Hearing this, the four Immortal Island elders were even more shocked. The Vast Sea Sword was Wang Guyuan's Lifebound Magical Artifact, the very vessel of a cultivator's life force and their most cherished possession. One had to understand that a Lifebound Magical Artifact was a personal divine weapon nurtured with a cultivator's mental energy and their own Essence Qi. If it were to be damaged or its connection severed, the cultivator would suffer a severe backlash.

For Wang Guyuan to actually dare to use his own Lifebound Magical Artifact as a wager—this spoke volumes of his confidence in Shen Daoxing.

"Senior Brother, you can't go back on this, can you?" Elder Pengze asked, looking at Grand Elder Wang Guyuan in astonishment.

Wang Guyuan nodded and chuckled lightly. "Let's all wait and see tomorrow."

With that, his figure flickered and vanished on the spot.

*Heheheh!*

As the Grand Elder, Wang Guyuan was responsible for overseeing the Cyan Nether Sword Sect, constantly standing guard over it.

'How could I not be aware of everything Shen Daoxing has been doing within the Cyan Nether Sword Sect this past month?'

'I first took notice of Shen Daoxing after I made a move to suppress the Flood Dragon that invaded the Cyan Nether Sword Sect.'

'After that, I watched everything Shen Daoxing did over the month with perfect clarity.'

'The Cloud Dream Flood Dragon... that was a powerful demonic beast with the strength of the Refining Dust realm.'

'Shen Daoxing is only a minor Spirit Transformation realm cultivator, yet he was able to repeatedly escape its grasp unscathed, and even trade dozens, or even hundreds, of blows with it.'

'The difference between the Earth Profound and Refining Dust realms is already a world apart, like heaven and earth. So let alone a direct gap of two entire major realms!'

'Heheheh!'

'How could I possibly fail to see what Shen Daoxing truly is?'

'This boy is anything but ordinary!'

...

Shen Daoxing followed the Sect Steward, rising into the air via Sword Control. To their sides, magnificent halls rested upon massive floating stones. Ethereal clouds and mist swirled around them, creating a hazy, dreamlike scene, as if they were in a true immortal realm.

Shen Daoxing could clearly feel that the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi here was much denser—so dense it was almost visible to the naked eye. Without any command from him, the one hundred and eight apertures in his body automatically opened, frantically absorbing the surrounding Primordial Energy.

This was undoubtedly a Cultivation Sacred Land. And now that Shen Daoxing was a disciple of the Pengze Lineage, he would be able to live here from now on.

Beside him, Wan Hai and Tang Yi were also looking around with immense excitement. For them, they had never dared to dream of becoming the Island Master of Pengze Immortal Island; simply passing the Immortal Island's trial and becoming a disciple of the Pengze Lineage was enough to leave them completely satisfied.

Soon, the group arrived before a majestic hall of carved railings and jade-like splendor, a true heavenly palace.

The leading Steward Disciple smiled faintly, pushed open the great doors, and gestured inside. "Fellow juniors, you will be staying here tonight. There are many rooms inside; you may choose whichever you like."

With that, he turned and left.

The three of them stepped inside and found that many of the Four Vein Disciples were already there.

Suddenly, Shen Daoxing spotted a woman in yellow robes laughing charmingly amidst a group of female disciples. They were chatting and laughing merrily, seemingly discussing some romantic gossip with great delight as she blended in perfectly with the crowd.

Shen Daoxing couldn't help but point. "Senior Brother Wan Hai, who is that senior sister?"

Wan Hai looked up. "Oh, that's Senior Sister Liu Ying, an Immortal Island disciple from the Yingzhou lineage. Her strength is extraordinary—that goes without saying among the Inner Sect Disciples. Even on Yingzhou Immortal Island itself, her power is said to be second only to Gu Muyun. I heard that before she joined our Cyan Nether Sword Sect, she was the princess of some empire."

Wan Hai suddenly leaned close to Shen Daoxing's ear with a grin. "Heheheh, Little Junior Brother, Senior Sister Liu Ying and Junior Sister Muyun are known as the 'Peerless Beauties' of our Cyan Nether Sword Sect, you know. The number of people who want to become their dao companions is countless."

Wan Hai waggled his eyebrows and said meaningfully, "What, Little Junior Brother? Are you interested in Senior Sister Liu Ying? Want me to teach you a few moves?"

But just then, Shen Daoxing's expression suddenly turned serious, and he hurriedly coughed a few times.

Wan Hai froze for a moment.

Then, Tang Yi's gentle voice slowly sounded from the side. "Oh? What kind of moves? I'd like to learn them too, wouldn't I?"

Wan Hai stiffened and turned to look at Tang Yi. In an instant, his expression changed completely, and he said with a dead-serious face, "Yi, what are you talking about? How would we know about things like that? I'm not that kind of person!"