Chapter 480: Chapter 465: People’s Hearts Change Easily!
Looking over the dozens of wars between the Anti-Light Alliance and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, since the introduction of the death match mode, cultivators who could consecutively win three times in the Death Arena are indeed as rare as phoenix feathers.
Every cultivator who achieved such a feat almost always became a renowned figure in the Land of the Far West, at the very least a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, and several even advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage.
Thus, each occurrence of a cultivator capable of winning three times in a row would cause quite a stir.
When Zhouyang finished collecting the items left by the three dead opponents on the battlefield and walked out of the battlefield, he clearly sensed the different gazes from the cultivators outside the battlefield.
The cultivators from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace, needless to say, all stared at him with sharp, malicious eyes, among which the gazes from several Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators made his back go cold and his body stand rigidly straight.
Meanwhile, the gazes from the Anti-Light Alliance were much more complex.
Among those Purple Mansion Stage Cultivators, most looked at him with admiration, but some had gazes mixed with suspicion, jealousy, and scrutiny.
As for the Golden Core Stage Cultivators, about half had approving looks in their eyes, while the other half either gazed at him with indifference, without showing any emotion, or scrutinized him with suspicion and scrutiny without a hint of goodwill.
As for the several Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, Zhouyang only felt the gazes of two on him, one of which was with evident appreciation and admiration from a red-haired elder unfamiliar to him.
The other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator looking at him was unexpectedly the Supreme Elder of the Haoyang Sect, "Master Hong Guang" Guo Jinhong.
Guo Jinhong’s gaze was very strange, containing appreciation, as well as doubt and curiosity, and a bit of unspeakable meaning that didn’t seem malicious, but also didn’t seem entirely benevolent.
Amidst these complex and strange gazes, Zhouyang flew back using Sword Control to Zhao Hao’s side, and after saying "Mission accomplished," he sat cross-legged on the ground to meditate and heal his injuries.
By this time, the combatants for the fifth death match on the battlefield had already entered the field and started fighting, but these had nothing to do with Zhouyang anymore.
He had already completed his task there, and now just had to wait for the war to end so he could return to Haoyang Immortal City and reunite with his Dao Companion with his earnings.
While Zhouyang was healing, several Golden Core Stage Cultivators tried to approach him under the pretext of offering Healing Spiritual Objects to help with his recovery, but they were all turned away by Han Xiao and Zhao Hao citing the inconvenience of disturbing his healing.
Evidently, after realizing Zhouyang’s potential was far greater than previously imagined, both Han Xiao and Zhao Hao, who initially just wanted to take advantage of his victories, had now shifted to truly wanting to recruit him into the Cyan Origin Sword Sect as one of their own, naturally unwilling to let others swoop in.
Upon discovering this during his healing, Zhouyang was quite relieved and raised no objections.
He certainly wouldn’t earnestly wish to join a sect clan, binding himself with constraints; however, if he refused directly, it would offend people.
Now, with Han Xiao and Zhao Hao blocking those people, it saved him a lot of trouble, and he was quite happy about it.
As his internal organs and meridians hadn’t been harmed, Zhouyang’s wounds healed quickly. After consuming a Healing Spirit Pill and using Healing Talismans, he merely needed to meditate and circulate his energy for over three hours for all the wounds to heal.
Then, with a casual use of Cleaning Magic, he washed away the dead skin and bloodstains from his body and changed into a brand new white Magic Robe, once again becoming the most dazzling person on scene.
By this time, after over three hours of magical combat, the ten rounds of Purple Mansion Stage death matches had reached the eighth round, with the Anti-Light Alliance winning three times and the Great Brightness Immortal Palace winning four times.
However, because Zhouyang accomplished the feat of one-man-out-of-three in his round, the number of fallen cultivators from the Anti-Light Alliance nearly equaled that of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, have your wounds healed? If not, I still have some effective Healing Spirit Pills here; feel free to take and use them,"
Seeing Zhouyang stand up, Han Xiao, the Sect Leader of the Cyan Origin Sword Sect, warmly looked at him with concern about his injuries, a stark contrast to their first meeting.
"Thank you for your concern, Elder Han, the injuries on my body are no longer an issue," Zhouyang cupped his hands, politely declining Han Xiao’s offer.
His well-intended offer being declined, Han Xiao showed no change in expression, still warmly looking at him and said: "I didn’t expect that Fellow Daoist Zhou turned out to be a rare Treasure Body Cultivator. In my seven or eight hundred years of cultivation, this is only the second Treasure Body Cultivator like Fellow Daoist Zhou I’ve encountered, no wonder you were so confident in winning three rounds consecutively!"
Hearing this, Zhouyang’s expression stirred slightly, curiously looking at Han Xiao and asked: "Oh, I wonder what kind of Treasure Body the last Treasure Body Cultivator Elder Han met possessed?"
Han Xiao seemed to have anticipated this question and replied with a slight smile: "That individual’s Treasure Body was known as the ’Vajra Treasure Body,’ and the divine technique mastered was called the ’Vajra Body,’ a divine technique enhancing the defense of the physical body!"
After speaking, he looked at Zhouyang with meaningful eyes and said, "Unfortunately, this person was somewhat unwise. When he was still at the Early-Stage of Purple Mansion cultivation, he actually refused the recruitment from a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator of the Golden Body Fighting Sect. He even looked down on the apprentice of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, ultimately being beaten into pulp by a disciple proficient in the Ninth-Layer of the Purple Mansion Cultivation sent by that Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator!"
Zhouyang’s expression changed instantly, and then he lightly pressed his lips together, muttering in a low voice, "Isn’t the Golden Body Fighting Sect afraid of losing people’s support by doing this?"
"Hehehe, Fellow Daoist Zhou, don’t you find that statement laughable?"
Han Xiao chuckled, seeming to find Zhouyang’s words extremely amusing, and then he leisurely said, "Have you not heard that people’s hearts are fickle? The Golden Body Fighting Sect is one of the six top sects of the Anti-Light Alliance, possessing countless resources and numerous experts. Most cultivators are eager to join, so why would they offend such a formidable sect over a loose cultivator who doesn’t know his place?"
"Moreover, in this Cultivation Realm, magical combat and killing are everyday affairs for every cultivator. It’s also quite normal for peers to fight to the death over a treasure—who really cares about the life and death of someone unrelated?"
Saying this, Han Xiao smiled again, but his gaze turned to the battlefield.
Zhouyang followed his gaze and saw that a cultivator from the Anti-Light Alliance on the battlefield was being killed on the spot by a cultivator from the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
Seeing the cultivator from their side fall, besides the grieving cries from the sect clan to which the cultivator belonged, the majority of cultivators did not have any expression of sorrow on their faces. They merely sighed over losing another battle, cursing a few times at the cultivators of the Great Brightness Immortal Palace.
Zhouyang observed this and couldn’t help but fall silent.
How could he not understand the implication in Han Xiao’s words? It is a common trait among humans to lack empathy for tragedies befalling others, and cultivators amplify their selfish nature even more.
Everyone tends to their own affairs, ignoring the troubles of others, which is the attitude of the vast majority of cultivators in the Cultivation Realm.
This also showed how much risk he took when he rejected Master Cyan Yang’s offer to take him as a disciple.
Fortunately, only the two involved knew about that student recruitment incident, otherwise, Zhouyang wasn’t sure if he could have left Immortal Sun City unscathed afterward.
But now that he exposed his possession of the "Qianyang Treasure Body," he feared he would face similar troubles again.
It was evident what Han Xiao intended by bringing up these matters now.
He was silent for a moment and then bowed slightly, saying, "Elder Han’s words are enlightening; I have much to learn as your junior."
Upon seeing this, Han Xiao furrowed his brows slightly, seemingly surprised that Zhouyang showed no explicit reaction after hearing his warning.
But he soon thought of something and his expression returned to normal, nodding lightly with a hint of self-mockery, "Fellow Daoist Zhou has a bright future ahead. A small sect like Cyan Origin Sword Sect indeed can’t offer much help for the path after your Core Formation, and perhaps it’s just wishful thinking on my part!"
Upon hearing this, Zhouyang knew that he misunderstood his intent but did not correct him, effectively accepting the misinterpretation.
Since Han Xiao mistakenly believed he wanted to align with those top sects and abandoned the idea of recruiting him, there was no need for Zhouyang to offer further explanations and bring trouble upon himself.
"The matters after Core Formation are still far away; as a junior, I am solely focused on the Core Formation now."
He vaguely uttered, then shifted the topic, asking, "But as a junior, I do want to ask Elder Han: when will I be able to receive the Jade Liquid Golden Pill and the Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill?"
Hearing this, Han Xiao immediately replied, "As per usual practice, after the death match concludes, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the alliance will spend some time refining a batch of Jade Liquid Golden Pills to increase the number of Golden Core Stage cultivators in the alliance. So, if you wish to obtain the Jade Liquid Golden Pill, Fellow Daoist Zhou, you may need to wait ten to twenty years."
"As for that Three-Turn Pure Essence Pill, once the war is over, I will personally assist Fellow Daoist Zhou in obtaining it from the Pure Essence Temple."
Ten to twenty years, huh?
Zhouyang slightly furrowed his brow, then nodded gently, saying, "I understand, and will rely on the Elder to handle this matter with care."
He didn’t doubt that Han Xiao was lying since a treasure like the Jade Liquid Golden Pill would indeed be hard to stockpile in a sect like Cyan Origin Sword Sect that lacks Nascent Soul Stage cultivators.
It’s only by making use of this war—by winning three consecutive matches and acquiring a plethora of resources and benefits, and with the collective effort of the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in the Anti-Light Alliance refining the Jade Liquid Golden Pill—that the Cyan Origin Sword Sect could redeem this treasure from the alliance to complete the deal with him.
And he is willing to wait the ten or twenty years.