Overnight, the Myriad God Ridge’s main peak suddenly turned cold. Large snowflakes the size of down feathers fluttered across the sky and continued to fall for about ten hours. Early the next morning, when the Myriad God Ridge disciples opened their doors, they saw meter-thick snow. The feet of those who stepped through it sunk to their kneecaps, producing grinding sounds.

“What a huge snowstorm!”

Duanmu Qingwen was fascinated by the silver-coated world outside.

One had to know that with the Myriad God Ridge being on a hundred thousand foot tall mountain, it should have been extremely cold. But array formations covered the Myriad God Ridge that kept the temperature at a comfortable level. Such heavy snow was truly rare.

The Myriad God Ridge was originally covered with all sorts of spirit vegetation. The palaces were also mostly constructed from gorgeous jade. Now, they were covered in crystalline white snowflakes, with a clear frost stream flowing across them. It was truly as though flowers were in full bloom amid the towering jade buildings. Everything took on an appearance that was crystalline and enchanting.

“It was a heavy one…”

Yi Yun also came to the yard’s entrance. The morning air was at its freshest with the cool chill, and the air he inhaled truly left him feeling refreshed.

Duanmu Qingwen felt a lot happier after seeing the beautiful scenery. Although she had been grounded for the past half year because of Yi Yun, she was not bored, despite the days being filled with nothing but leisure.

“Young Master, about Zuoyan Xiaoyu…”

All this time, Duanmu Qingwen had no idea of Zuoyan Xiaoyu’s whereabouts. Although she once considered Zuoyan Xiaoyu a rival, she also felt a kinship with her and so wondered where she was.

“She’s very well. There’s no need for you to worry.”

Yi Yun had nowhere to hide Zuoyan Xiaoyu, so he could only stow her away in the God Advent Tower and give her some cultivation techniques to keep her busy. That was all he could do until he settled the situation with the Myriad God Ridge.

As Yi Yun spoke, the morning bell suddenly sounded from the Myriad God Ridge’s main peak.

Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong…

The ringing bell could be heard from all over the Myriad God Ridge’s grounds.

“Oh? This is the bell that summons all personal disciples and Elders.”

Yi Yun was taken aback. The last time the patriarch returned, he had summoned for everybody, but he had not rung the bell.

“The bell has been rung. All personal disciples have been called the Jade Emperor Palace on the mountaintop. You have to go as well!”

A few black-clothed guardians came in front of Sunken Moon Tower and informed Yi Yun with a commanding tone.

For the past half year, Yi Yun had been grounded. These black-clothed guardians would patrol the area daily. They did not even rest when it snowed the entire night.

“I have to go?” Yi Yun’s brows pricked up. Did he have to go while grounded…

He had a premonition that something was going to happen on his trip to Jade Emperor Palace. However, Old Snake had left a mark in him. If he were to encounter any danger, Old Snake would know of it immediately. Furthermore, Old Snake had mentioned that even the Myriad God Patriarch was not his match, so it did not seem like there was too much to worry about.

With this thought emboldening him, Yi Yun followed the black-clothed guardians and headed for Jade Emperor Palace.

On the way, he saw numerous personal disciples and Elders traveling in groups. Stepping on the accumulated snow, they marred the beautiful scene with their haphazard footsteps across the flat and smooth snow.

Finally, the summoned elders and disciples came to a square in front of Jade Emperor Palace. However, Yi Yun was somewhat special. He was surrounded by a few black-clothed guardians, making him stand out.

In the middle of the Jade Emperor Palace, Yi Yun saw Feng Yunyang at a glance.

Feng Yunyang was dressed in special young sect master’s attire today. It had been tailor-made and, judging by the workmanship on the materials, only the best fabrics were used. It aided both cultivation and defense and was worth eight million Spirit Jade. Many were envious of the extravagant piece of clothing.

As his status had never changed, Feng Yunyang remained the moon that was encircled by the stars. This formed a stark contrast with Yi Yun.

“Isn’t that Yi Yun? Has he actually been released? Well, that’s nice. He needs to get some air or he might suffocate in there.”

Standing beside Feng Yunyang, someone saw Yi Yun and said this in derision. It was Song Bowen’s father, Song Zhanchen.

Over the past half year, it appeared that the Myriad God Ridge was making every effort to compensate the Song and Zhang family for the deaths of their heirs. It selected two young men from the respective families with outstanding talent and made them personal disciples. This made the Song and Zhang family a lot more confident. Furthermore, they learned from Cang Wu and Feng Yunyang that Yi Yun was not valued by the patriarch in any way. Instead, the patriarch seemed to have a silent agenda of finishing off Yi Yun. This made them show no more fear towards Yi Yun.

Feng Yunyang looked back at Yi Yun. His gaze had a derisive hint to it.

He knew very well that the patriarch called this meeting today to cleanse his body. After that happened, his cultivation level would enjoy a meteoric rise and Yi Yun would no longer be his match.

“Yi Yun, long time no see. How’s it going? Are you out on probation? Why aren’t you in a prison wagon? How pitiful. So what if you defeated me half a year ago? Today, I stand with Master on this Jade Emperor Platform, while you are but a lowly prisoner. The difference in our status will never change!”

“By the way, you must be curious why my master imprisoned you. Let me tell you now. Master was giving me time, time for me to develop my strength before I defeat you. You are only a grinding stone for me!”

Feng Yunyang was not quiet in his speech. He spoke delightedly with a deliberate sense of revenge. Many people heard him.

This information was in fact confirmed yesterday by the sect master. Even as Feng Yunyang intended to make Yi Yun a human pole, he still had his reservations. Therefore, he asked the sect master for the reason behind imprisoning Yi Yun. He never expected to receive an answer that gave him such a pleasant surprise.

“What? The patriarch and the sect master imprisoned Yi Yun in order to make him a grinding stone for Young Sect Master?”

People were astonished but, on careful thought, there was indeed such a possibility. If the patriarch wanted to punish Yi Yun, there was no need to go through all the trouble to imprison him. No matter how much of a genius Yi Yun was, he was only a junior. Crippling him directly would put an end to things. Why was there a need to imprison him? So that was the reason why!

Indeed, with Feng Yunyang receiving a setback from Yi Yun, his Dao heart had been damaged. The ridicule he faced in the future would become a mental demon that plagued him. Only by defeating Yi Yun would he be free of that mental demon.

By defeating Yi Yun after having his body cleansed, his mental demon would be removed, and Feng Yunyang’s cultivation level would soar.

“So that’s the reason. I was wondering why the patriarch imprisoned Yi Yun.”

Zhang Tianxing laughed out loudly. The stone that weighed down his heart was finally lifted. As long as it was executed in such a manner, Yi Yun would definitely die.

“Patriarch sure goes to great lengths. It’s really enviable that Young Sect Master has such a master.”

“From what Young Sect Master said, wouldn’t that make Yi Yun a beast reared for training purposes?” the newly promoted personal disciple from the Song family said with a laugh.

He was thin and had slanted eyebrows. As Yi Yun was too powerful, he did not dare to make any over-the-top statements in case Yi Yun remained able. At most, he would mock him behind his back. But now, knowing of Yi Yun’s destined outcome, this kid who had only reached the first-storey Dao Palace began to assume the majesty of others.

Now, the Song and Zhang families had a clear goal. They would desperately cling on to the powerhouse known as Feng Yunyang.

When the slanted brow punk made the comment, people began roaring with laughter. “The kid from the Song family has made such a perfect analogy!”

Yi Yun remained indifferent towards the reprobation that Feng Yunyang, as well as the many Myriad God Ridge Elders and personal disciples, gave him. He remained silent.

He was already accustomed to being in a perilous situation. He was only waiting for the Myriad God Patriarch and the Ascending Dragon Cauldron.

At that moment, the atmosphere of the square suddenly changed. A powerful and cold energy descended from the sky.

Yi Yun looked up. Somehow, the red-dressed boy had appeared above the square without anyone noticing.

He rested his bare feet on a gigantic cauldron. Yi Yun had seen the cauldron once before. It was a replica of the Ascending Dragon Cauldron. The last time the red-dressed boy appeared, he had appeared on the cauldron as well!

“Greetings, Patriarch!”

All the Elders and personal disciples immediately bowed to the patriarch.

Yi Yun couldn’t be bothered with bowing. Since he was almost at the point of losing all decorum with the Myriad God Patriarch, he didn’t care.

The red-dressed boy did not even give the upright Yi Yun a look. It was as though Yi Yun’s very existence was of no importance to him.

He looked up as dark clouds shrouded the sky. The heavy snow from the previous night had not let up.

“Clouds, disperse!”

The patriarch nonchalantly said the two words and they manifested into reality. Two golden words flew into the sky.

Demonic chants began to flash as the dark clouds in the sky were dispersed because of the patriarch’s sentence. Sunlight scattered down and, in a blink of an eye, the sky was a lot brighter!

The red-dressed boy stood in a beam of golden sunlight with his eyes closed. As he basked in the sunlight, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes to look at everyone present.

“Let’s begin!”

“Yes!” An elder appeared from behind the red-dressed boy. He was none other than the Myriad God Sect Master.

He took out seventy-two array flags from his interspatial ring and waved his hand, scattering the array flags around the square’s periphery.

Following that, an old woman walked out of the crowd. Yi Yun had seen her before. Back when the Myriad God Sect Master failed in his attempt to awaken the Ascending Dragon Cauldron, she had been there. She was the one that had brought Snake Girl along.

When he saw the old woman, Yi Yun had a thought. Was Snake Girl also here?

He looked around for her and indeed, he saw her among the crowd.

Upon noticing Yi Yun’s gaze, Snake Girl forced a smile. Her situation was obviously not that great!

“Snake Girl is here. Old Snake probably also left a mark on her,” Yi Yun thought. Although Old Snake appeared unreliable, he would still take care of his disciple while she was in the Myriad God Ridge.

The old woman began producing seals, and together with the Myriad God Sect Master, all the array flags were quickly set up in place. Black light shimmered from the array flags which surrounded the entire Jade Emperor Palace square.

“This array formation…”

Yi Yun’s eyes twitched. Only then did he realize that Myriad God Patriarch was likely an array formation master!

One had to know that Feng Yunyang was also proud of his array formations. Back at Sunken Moon Tower, Feng Yunyang had attacked Yi Yun with array formations. His so-called ‘minute accomplishments’ in array formations were, in fact, imparted to him by the Myriad God Patriarch. He was a reed that came from a tiny sect, to begin with, so how could he have attained much skill in array formations?

However, Myriad God Patriarch had nurtured Feng Yunyang into an array formation genius in a very short amount of time. That alone was evidence of the Myriad God Patriarch’s mightiness in array formations!

When he came to this realization, Yi Yun knitted his brows tightly. He was unsure what the Myriad God Patriarch was doing.

At that moment, the Myriad God Patriarch threw a disk array out as the cauldron beneath him began to spin rapidly!

Following that, six drops of blood appeared in Myriad God Patriarch’s palm!

Upon seeing the drops of blood, Yi Yun felt palpitations through his heart. He recognized the six drops of blood. Back when the Myriad God Sect Master attempted to trigger the Ascending Dragon Cauldron, he had also used such drops of blood. However, it was heart-wrenching for him to even use a single drop.

But now, the Myriad God Patriarch had produced six drops in one go!

Yi Yun was unsure of the origins of the blood but he was certain that the Ascending Dragon Cauldron would have a great reaction to it.

“Go!”

Myriad God Patriarch flicked his finger as the six drops of blood shot into the Jade Emperor Palace!

The blood droplets were the size of peas but they had the strength of meteorites. They smashed into the Jade Emperor Palace, instantly collapsing the palace’s main hall!

“Boom!”

The main hall’s ceiling crashed down, and its columns shattered while rubble flew into the sky!

Upon seeing this scene, everyone present was confounded. That was the Jade Emperor Palace’s main hall! It was a symbol of the Myriad God Ridge’s supreme power. It had been standing there for millions of years and was treated as a sacred land by the Myriad God Ridge disciples. Why was no one doing anything as it was collapsing?

Why? Why did the patriarch destroy the Jade Emperor Palace?

Before they could think it through, a loud explosion sounded. While the Jade Emperor Palace’s main hall was collapsing, the ground beneath cracked apart. An ancient and unadorned bronze cauldron flew out from the cracks in the ground!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Much of the palace collapsed because of the gigantic cauldron’s emergence. The entire cauldron flickered with faint black light as though a black dragon was coiled within.

Upon seeing the cauldron, Yi Yun was alarmed. This was the true Ascending Dragon Cauldron!

The Myriad God Patriarch had used six drops of blood to awaken the true Ascending Dragon Cauldron!

Yi Yun suddenly had an ominous foreboding! At that moment, the Myriad God Patriarch directly crushed the disk array in his hand.

“Ka-cha!”

The disk array shattered as immense Yuan Qi dispersed outwards. Simultaneously, the Myriad God Sect Master and the old woman flicked their sleeves, throwing out large amounts of Spirit Jade!

Spirit Jade was a common currency of the Sinkhole. But its original use was to provide Yuan Qi and energy needed for cultivation or array formations. And the Spirit Jade in the Myriad God Sect Master and the old woman’s hands were at least of superior grade. There was even some supreme-grade Spirit Jade there. None could say how much worth they were throwing away. The Spirit Jade spread among the array flags and, within moments, the entire square began to quake violently!

The earth quaked as space shattered. Yi Yun could see array runes that effused blood red beams of light suffusing from beneath his feet.

At that moment, the entire square had become a massive array formation. And this array formation was lifting up the crowd slowly into the sky!

Teleportation Array!?

Yi Yun was alarmed. His attainments in array formations were naturally inferior to the Myriad God Sect Master’s, but he was extremely sensitive to spatial dimension laws. He immediately sensed that the array formation was trying to tear through the void!

Furthermore, he could tell it was a long-distance teleportation array because he could sense that the fluctuation of the spatial energies exceeded ordinary teleportation arrays by a hundred times. To require so much Spirit Jade and array flags, it was impossible that they would be teleported somewhere near!

“Oh no!”

Yi Yun’s expression changed! If he was teleported away, it could lead to unimaginable consequences! However, at that moment, he was surrounded by a large number of Myriad God Elders, the Myriad God Sect Master, and the Patriarch. With Yi Yun’s strength alone, it was impossible for him to destroy the teleportation array!