The scenery at the top of the peak was the same as in the past. The ground was covered with uneven white stones, and there were more than ten flower trees growing in the cracks of the stones. Those flower trees seemed to grow very slowly, the thickest was no bigger than the mouth of a bowl, and the thinnest was as big as a thumb. The flowers were in full bloom, and countless petals fell under the trees.
Hundreds of Inner Alchemy masters had gathered in the open space. Those who knew each other gathered together to talk. The head of Xuanming Sect, Zhan Renjie, the master of Feijian Palace, Yu Wuxue and elder Wei Changqing, the head of Duan family, Duan Pin and elder Duan Meisheng, the head of Qi family, Qi Tonghui and elder Qi Zhen, the head of Guangling Sect, Zhou Qiu and his disciple Nie Yu were all there. The old sick master sat alone on the ground, leaning against a white stone and panting. No one took the initiative to talk to him. Li Moqing, Lan Feiyu and some cultivators who came only to listen to the teachings were scattered on the periphery. Hanying Shuangjian also came. The two of them stood behind the flower tree, far away from the crowd. Nie Yu looked over there from time to time, but did not dare to go over to say hello.
"Penglai won't participate in the discussion?" Gu Pinglin asked Nanzhu. He had heard about Penglai's affairs over the years. Shun Shigong failed to break through and is now recovering from his injuries. He has no hope of achieving the Great Dao in this life. After Guo Feng, Ping Canggong is the strongest in Penglai. He didn't come, which shows that Penglai Island has no intention of competing for the first place.
"I have had a hard time practicing in recent years. I just came here to listen to everyone's opinions, maybe I can gain some enlightenment," Nanzhu smiled and did not hide it from him, "Besides, Penglai has just arrived in the land world, so it is not appropriate to be too ostentatious."
Penglai Island's skills are special. It is easy to practice below the external elixir level, but extremely difficult to practice above it. Gu Pinglin nodded when he heard this, and the two walked side by side towards the crowd to greet Li Moqing and others.
Qi Zhen, the old man of the Qi family, took the initiative to come over and talk to Gu Pinglin. He has aged a lot in these years, and his arrogance and temper are not as good as before. It seems that it is difficult to break through. Because of Qi Wan'er, he has always been good to Gu Pinglin.
"No news about the Thirteenth Young Master yet?" Gu Pinglin asked casually. Qi Wan'er was captured by the Qi family at Qizi Reef, but he escaped on his way back. It is estimated that the man taught him how to escape in advance.
Qi Zhen smiled bitterly: "Some years ago, someone from the Yao family came and said that the eldest son of his family has not returned for many years. Both of them are not in the area outside the mountain."
Gu Pinglin said: "I think the Thirteenth Young Master has his own luck, maybe his achievements will not be inferior to those of Elder Qi in the future."
Qi Zhen sighed: "Is it so easy to create your own swordsmanship? We are always doing this for his own good, this brat..." He probably scolded too much and no longer had any temper.
Gu Pinglin said: "There are people who created their own sword techniques."
Qi Zhen was stunned for a moment and shook his head: "How can he compare to Duan..."
Before he could say the name, Gu Pinglin interrupted, "Most sword arts have flaws. Forgive my ignorance and frankness. Elder Qi has found it difficult to cultivate to this point. If it remains unchanged, the Qi sword art will never progress. The Thirteenth Young Master's desire for change may not succeed, but it is not a bad thing."
Qi Zhen didn't blame him: "How could I not understand the truth, but how many people have succeeded in history? I don't want him to end up like this after failure... Besides, he has been practicing in seclusion since he was young. He has a simple mind and is far from experienced. It is impossible for him to create a sword technique."
Gu Pinglin said: "Nothing is impossible."
Qi Zhen finally shook his head and walked back to Qi's side.
Gu Pinglin clasped his fists towards Han Ying's double swords from a distance. Feng Ying and Yan Han had noticed him a long time ago, and they returned the greeting. They had special status, and it was also a good intention to distance themselves from him in public. Since the people of Guangling Sect were present, they would not participate in the discussion.
Not long after, Bu Shuihan also came up. He greeted Nanzhu and stood beside Gu Pinglin.
"It's getting late," Zhan Renjie walked out of the crowd, "Brother Tao, why don't we get started?"
According to the rules of the discussion meeting, the last seat of the discussion meeting was to be presided over by the last seat. However, a thousand years had passed and many predecessors had fallen from grace. There were 20 people in the last seat, but now there are only nine left. Thinking of this, how can one not feel the changes of the world. The last seat was originally the head of the Tianji Sect, Hu Yin, but because he died a hundred years ago, the presiding position fell to the sixteenth elder of the Zhenshui Sword Sect, Tao Yusheng.
Tao Yusheng's hair and beard were all white, and his back was slightly hunched. He was also full of sorrow at this moment. He smiled bitterly and walked forward: "I am not participating in the discussion this time. I am just here to help you guys have fun."
The Zhenshui Sword Sect learned the way of swordsmanship from water, and was once a major sect in the cultivation world. However, a thousand years later, the former major sect has declined to this point. Today, the sword sect has only three great inner alchemy practitioners, including Tao Yusheng, and the number of disciples is decreasing. The sect is even smaller than the Lingxin Sect, which is truly regrettable.
Gu Pinglin sighed.
Anyone can see that Tao Yusheng's life span is coming to an end, and it is meaningless for him to discuss Taoism. The biggest problem of the Zhenshui Sword Sect is the lack of talent. I hope that I can find more talented people for the Lingxin Sect during my lifetime.
Tao Yusheng closed his eyes for a while, then opened them again and stepped aside to make way: "When discussing the Dao, it is not about cultivation that determines who is superior or inferior. Please use the Dao to claim the throne, and you are welcome to compete for it."
Everyone looked towards the stone seat.
The two rows of stone seats were empty, with small flowers falling from time to time, but there was nothing unusual.
Looking at Tao Yusheng again, Tao Yusheng just stroked his beard and silently stepped aside without saying anything else.
The existence of the Cloud Mirror made the Dao Discussion Conference the focus of everyone's attention. Most of the practitioners were concerned about their status and did not dare to act rashly for fear of being laughed at.
Zhan Renjie smiled and said to Yu Wuxue, the Palace Master of Feijian Palace: "Brother Yu, please?"
Both of them had participated in the last discussion meeting and were very clear about Tao Yusheng's ability. However, Yu Wuxue's expression was not as relaxed as Zhan Renjie's. Feijian Palace was the leader of the eight major sects. Last time, the elder Fang Zhongyuan won the first seat. However, Feijian Palace has not had good luck in recent years. Two hundred years ago, Fang Zhongyuan died in a calamity, and fifty years ago, Wang Yong was killed. There is only one new inner alchemy master. On the other hand, Xuanming Sect, although it also lost two masters, has two new ones, whose strength is close to Feijian Palace. More importantly, their last third-ranked dean Yunhe is still there. This time, the famous Feijian Palace is likely to face the embarrassing situation of not getting a seat.
"Thank you for letting me win." Yu Wuxue could not lose his momentum in front of the public, so he said loudly, "The Way of Pure Yang, the ancestor of the Sword Immortal."
After saying this, he walked towards the first seat on the left, brushed off his Taoist robe and sat down.
It was unclear whether Zhan Renjie snorted or laughed as he slowly walked to the last seat on the left: "My talent is limited, so I will sit for a while. I'll have to trouble Dean Yun to discuss the Dao." He didn't have a seat last time, and this time he would most likely be squeezed out, so he said "sit for a while".
Yun He is the dean of the Zhengyang Court of the Xuanming Sect. He has a very tough temper, which fits in with the domineering style of Xuanming Sect's swordsmanship. His attainments are higher than those of the sect leader Zhan Renjie. He is not a humble person, and he laughed when he heard it: "How dare I disobey the sect leader's order? It is so profound, and the Tao is so mysterious." After saying that, he walked to the first seat on the right and sat down.
Everyone's expression became subtle.
The ranking order of the discussion is public. The first seat on the right is equivalent to the second. Last time it belonged to Duan Zheng, the elder of the Duan family. Yunhe occupied this seat first, and then things became interesting.
Yu Wuxue remained calm and sat in the first seat.
Duan Pinxiao, the head of the Duan family, bowed to the elder Duan Zheng and said, "The younger generation is incompetent, so you, the elder, are needed to take action."
Duan Zheng didn't have a good look on his face. He said sullenly, "Drinking ink makes a book. Books are endless, and swords are also endless."
"Duan family's ink-written sword technique." Someone whispered.
Gu Pinglin pondered. Duan's Ink Book Sword Technique is elegant and high-level, and is well-known in the cultivation world. It must be said that the ever-changing characteristics of Gu Ying's Sword Technique should be derived from the Ink Book Sword Technique, and finally it is better than the original. The Ink Book Sword Technique is only known for its infinite changes, and it can be learned by memorizing. Gu Ying's Sword Technique is truly infinite in changes, and no matter how talented a person is, it is impossible to remember all of them.
"What a pity, that eldest son of the Duan family..."
…
Seeing Duan Zheng taking a step, everyone stopped talking and followed his gaze. Unexpectedly, Duan Zheng walked up to Yu Wuxue and bowed: "Master Yu, how are you?"
Yu Wuxue also bowed in return: "It's been a long time since we last met. Master Duan is still as elegant as ever."
Duan Zheng nodded and sat down in the second seat next to Yu Wuxue.
When everyone saw him running towards Yu Wuxue, they thought he was going to grab the first place, but he only took the third place. Everyone was disappointed, except Gu Pinglin. These people had participated in the discussion before, and they were very smart. How could they reveal their cards at the beginning? As it turned out, there was indeed a big surprise later.
Seeing that the three of them had easily obtained seats, everyone became bolder, and a casual cultivator said, "I will also have the audacity to take a seat."
As he spoke, he sat down on the last seat on the right. However, before he touched the stone seat, he suddenly let out a low cry, jumped up, and his clothes were torn into several long slits.
There was a sound of gasps all around.
Tao Yusheng looks at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, and he is unmoved by the eight winds.
Gu Pinglin had experienced this discussion in his previous life and was not unfamiliar with the same scene. He smiled slightly when he saw it.
Of course, Tao Yusheng would not let anyone sit casually. He laid out the True Water Sword Intent on the stone seat. Everyone knows that the True Water Way comes from water, combining hardness and softness, but few people know that its highest realm is actually invisible. Tao Yusheng has cultivated for more than a thousand years, so it is not surprising that he has reached the invisible realm. According to the rules, those sword intents have limited damage without the blessing of cultivation, and can only rely on their own magic or sword intent to fight. At this time, the difference between the orthodox inheritance of the sect family and the casual cultivation can be seen more clearly - the sect family has its own information network, and has the records of the past generations, but the casual cultivation does not have such an advantage.
The casual cultivator suffered a great loss because of his lack of experience. Fortunately, he used his cultivation in time to avoid a more embarrassing situation. However, this had already broken the rules. He immediately blushed with shame, and hurriedly bowed, covered his face, and jumped off the cliff and left.
No one laughed at him. Instead, they broke out in cold sweats and were glad that they did not rush forward rashly.
"Young man, you are still a little impatient." Zhan Renjie said with a smile.
Yu Wuxue and Duan Zheng remained silent. Yun He sneered unceremoniously, "You are overestimating your own abilities."
Because of the example of this casual cultivator, the restless hearts of the people calmed down and they no longer dared to act rashly.
After a while, a middle-aged woman with a slightly thin face and a serious expression came out, carrying a zither case on her back. It was Li Nian Gu, the elder of Guangling Sect. She directly took the fourth seat on the left, which was exactly her ranking last time: "The zither is the sword, and the sword is the zither. The greatest sound is the soundless, and there is no distinction between the zither and the sword."
Soon after, five great masters including Lao Bing Zhenren came out and took seats. They had all participated in the previous discussion meeting. As many people had died, except Lao Bing Zhenren and Li Nian Gu who still chose their original seats, the other four moved forward a few places.
So, there are ten left.
Bu Shuihan was eager to try when he saw this. Before going up the cliff, despite Zeng's repeated warnings not to be reckless, he whispered to Gu Pinglin, "Shall I try?"
With Bu Shuihan's current strength, it would be difficult for him to keep the seat even if he took it, so Gu Pinglin did not stop him: "Take the last seat in the left row."
Bu Shuihan raised his head and stepped out upon hearing this: "The soul asks the sword, and the sword is like the soul."