The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

Zixuan had made a trip to Yuling Mountain to investigate the whereabouts of “Su Yu.” She had been away for a few months and wasn’t expected to return so soon.

“I’ve been searching for a long time, yet I couldn’t find him, so I came back,” Zixuan said, her expression casual. It seemed as if she regarded this place as her home.

Su Yu smiled. “It’s good that you’re back.”

“Will you help me to continue searching for Su Yu?” Zixuan tilted her head and asked with a smile.

For some unknown reason, Su Yu felt that Zixuan had changed, but he could not tell in what ways exactly. “Of course.” Su Yu stroked her head as usual.

Zixuan’s nose cringed, but she did not refuse his touch. After dinner, they engaged in friendly conversation and laughter, just like two friends that had not seen each other in a long time.

Suddenly, Shangguan Yunque entered in a hurry. “Junior Brother Su, you’ve come back!”

Shangguan Yunque came to find Su Yu the moment that he heard the news. Su Yu was quite fond of him, so he smiled and greeted him, “Senior Brother Yunque, come and sit with us!”

Shangguan Yunque cast a glance at Zixuan with an “I know it all” look in his eyes, then laughed and said, “Haha! How could I disturb Junior Brother Su’s sweet time? I came under the Great Palace Master’s order to invite you to come and meet him. Now that I’ve delivered the message, I won’t disturb your reunion after your short separation.”

Based on the rumors, Zixuan was undoubtedly Zhongyao Wushang’s woman. After talking a bit more, Shangguan Yunque ran off with a wicked smile.

Su Yu laughed awkwardly. “Zixuan, don’t mind him, he’s always been like that. Let’s carry on chatting…”

“No, you’d better go and meet the Great Palace Master now. Since he summoned you so soon, there must be some important matters to discuss,” Zixuan said.

Su Yu felt a strange feeling inside. They had not met for months, and he felt as if Zixuan was no longer as naive and adorable as she was before. Instead, she seemed much more mature.

“Oh, alright,” Su Yu replied.

Zixuan paused, then said, “By the way, someone delivered a message. It was asking you to make a trip to the Fairy Confining Forest as soon as you returned. Apparently, you’re needed for something.”

So mysterious! A figure appeared in Su Yu’s mind. It was the silver-faced, middle-aged man from the Severed Fairy Cliff. And, speaking of the Severed Fairy Cliff, now that Su Yu had gathered enough crystals, it was time for him to start collecting the Real Spirit Dragon Veins via the Severed Fairy Cliff.

“Well, I’m going,” Su Yu said as he headed for the main palace of the Great Palace Master.

When Su Yu arrived, there were already two people sitting there quietly. One of them Su Yu recognized as Wei Zheng from the Left Palace Master’s camp. Wei Zheng used to invite Su Yu to join the camp, but was always rejected by him. Another one was a lady dressed in palace attire. Her fair neck was slightly raised, and she was surveying Su Yu with a measuring look, which seemed rather insolent.

The Great Palace Master, who was clad in a blue robe, was resting with his eyes closed, only opening them when Su Yu entered. He laughed when he saw him and said, “You’re here! Come and sit.”

Su Yu greeted him with cupped fists. “May I ask, what did the Great Palace summon me here for?” As he asked the question, he glanced at Wei Zheng and the lady in palace attire out of the corner of his eye.

“I did not summon you regarding my affairs, but theirs. You talk amongst each other! You can just ignore me.” After saying that, the Great Palace Master closed his eyes to rest again.

Su Yu felt that this was quite bizarre, and he wondered… What is happening?

Wei Zheng smiled and said, “Junior Brother Su, I haven’t seen you in a long time. I see that your cultivation has improved, as you broke through the fifth-grade fairy level really quickly!” Apparently, he intended to recover his former relationship with Su Yu.

“Yes, I was lucky,” Su Yu answered. Even half a sentence felt too much when speaking to the wrong person. He felt the conversation was a bit forced.

When Wei Zheng failed to arouse Su Yu’s interest, he looked at the lady in palace attire beside him and introduced her, “Ehem, Junior Brother Su, let me introduce Senior Sister Bi, the youngest daughter of the Left Palace Master.”

“Junior Brother Su, I’m Bi Xueling. My father heard about your victory after fighting Jian Wusheng, so he gave me a special order to invite you to the inner sanctum for a meeting. Hence, you can be exempt from the standards for being an Almighty and enter the inner sanctum directly to further your training. It’s a wonderful opportunity that doesn’t come often.” Bi Xueling’s way of speaking was just like her personality, arrogant and condescending. It was as if she was offering Su Yu something like charity.

Recruiting me into their camp again? Su Yu thought incredulously, but he actually said, “I’m grateful for the Left Palace Master’s invitation, and thanks for coming all the way here from the inner faction, but I’ve made up my mind that I will not consider joining any camp right now.”

Bi Xueling was clearly displeased by this. “Junior Brother Su, you’d better think about this carefully, as the Almighty level is not so easy to break through. Now, I’m offering you an opportunity to enter the inner sanctum, which can increase your probabilities. If you stay in the outer sanctum and have a single accident, you can get stuck in the ninth-grade fairy level forever, thus delaying your progress immensely.”

Su Yu closed his eyes and remained firm. “Thanks for your concern, but I’ve made up my mind.”

Rejected twice, Bi Xueling was frustrated. She felt like he was being very disrespectful to her!

As the Left Palace Master’s youngest daughter, she got everything that she asked for in the inner sanctum. So, no matter who you were, you had to show her respect when you saw her.

At first, she thought that if she invited Su Yu in person, her distinguished identity could make Su Yu consider the offer. She never would have predicted that Su Yu would be so unbending!

“Su Yuxian, you’d better not be unreasonable! Yes, you defeated Jian Wusheng’s virtual shadow, but that was merely at the third-grade fairy level. Whether or not you can break through the Almighty level in this lifetime is still uncertain, so it’s too early for you to get arrogant!” Bi Xueling was still very angry..

Su Yu did not open his eyes as he replied calmly, “If Senior Sister has come for a fight, please forgive me for not engaging.” As he was talking, he decided that he really wanted to leave.

“Humph! I’ll go then! Wei Zheng, let’s go! An ignorant student like him won’t achieve any success in the future, even if he joins my father’s camp! So, let’s not waste time on him,” Bi Xueling said as she got up, her pretty eyes still full of anger.

Wei Zheng grumbled inside… Why did they appoint this domineering young woman for this job?

Initially, the person appointed by the Left Palace Master was a composed, gentle, and reasonable senior sister, but somehow, Bi Xueling had heard that they were going to invite Su Yu, and so she had secretly followed them here without the Left Palace Master’s consent, quickly replacing the senior sister to negotiate with Su Yu herself!

But, she wasn’t negotiating at all! She was bullying him! Upon seeing this, even Wei Zheng was full of anger at the situation.

“Senior Sister Bi, don’t let your emotions get in the way. The Left Palace Master regards him highly, and we can’t report our mission as a success when we get back if we leave it like this!” Wei Zheng hurriedly delivered his message through telepathy.

It was too bad that Bi Xueling had already started throwing a temper tantrum right then and there, not showing Wei Zheng the slightest respect. “What is there to report? I don’t believe that my father’s camp is lacking a fairy genius! Wait till he reaches the Almighty level, then I’ll consider asking him again! Humph!”

After that, she flicked her sleeves and stomped off. Wei Zheng felt bitterness rise in his throat, but he could only tag along and try to calm her down.

After they left, Su Yu exhaled a deep breath. “Great Palace Master, if there’s nothing else, can I leave now?”

Somehow, he understood the reason that the Great Palace Master had summoned him. If the ordinary people invited Su Yu into the inner sanctum, they could come negotiate by themselves, without needlessly bothering the Great Palace Master.

However, the one who had just come was the Left Palace Master’s youngest daughter, who carried significant weight. So, he had to show his respect by summoning Su Yu on his own.

The Great Palace Master lifted his eyes and lightly snorted. “But… It’s still early!”

Crash!

Suddenly, another two groups of people walked out from the back of the palace, each sitting on one of the Great Palace Master’s sides. Su Yu recognized one of the groups, but those from the other group were complete strangers to him.

“Ehem, Junior Brother Su, congratulations on your improvement!” Lao Ai cleared his throat before speaking in order to break the silence.

Su Yu shot a glance at him. This person had tried to assassinate him more than twice, and Su Yu felt like he was like a venomous snake. “You must be disappointed right? I didn’t die out there as I’m sure that you wish I would have.”

Back then, the Deputy Hall Master Qi must have wanted to kill him because of Lao Ai’s instructions behind the scene. Su Yu did not plan to simply forgive him and let go after such an offense.

“It’s all in the past, so why do you bring it up, junior brother?” An alluring, gentle voice sounded in his ears at that moment.

When Su Yu turned to look where it came from, he saw a woman dressed in a thin blouse with a willowy body and a pair of fair legs that were long and slim. Although the fullness on her chest was concealed by thin muslin, her mesmerizing contours were still visible.

She also had a delicate face, and she looked enchanting and lovely. Su Yu never got good feelings when he was around women like her. But, he had to admit that she looked tempting.

“Whether or not it’s in the past, I’m the one to decide about that, not you,” Su Yu replied indifferently, while turning to glance at the duo on the other side, which consisted of a man and a woman.

“Have you two come to look for me as well?” Su Yu asked.

They nodded, then the man said, “Yes, we were dispatched by Junior Sister Bing to invite you for a meeting in the inner palace. Junior Sister Bing wants to see you on her own.”

Su Yu then asked, “For what reason?”

Junior Sister He slightly scowled, as she did not like Su Yu’s tone. “You defeated Jian Wusheng’s virtual shadow, so Junior Sister Bing wants to challenge you.”

“Then, ask her to come to me, not the other way around,” Su Yu replied indifferently.

Junior Sister He raised her thin brows. “How rude of you to say such a thing, a mere student of the outer sanctum! Junior Sister Bing is in isolation all year, so the outsiders can’t even meet her once, but we invited you out of respect! If not for your record of defeating Jian Wusheng, you wouldn’t even be qualified to meet her!”

Hearing that, Su Yu became impatient. “If you like respect so much, you can save it for yourself. I don’t think going to someone to be challenged is something to be proud of. If you have nothing else to say, you may go. I have something to discuss with these two…”

Junior Sister He was so angry that she laughed, and she was secretly stopped by Senior Brother Lu, who sat beside her, just when she was about to continue arguing with Su Yu.

He then smiled and said, “Don’t be mad, Junior Brother Su, as junior sister is a straightforward person. Please don’t be angry with her. I still hope to talk to you. If you have important matters to handle now, you can settle them first. I can wait.”

Su Yu looked at him and nodded. He then looked over to Lao Ai and the flirtatious woman and said, “Fire away! What did you two come to find me for?”

Both of them belonged to the Right Palace Master’s camp, so Su Yu was wondering if they had come here to recruit him to their camp. Even though after he defeated Jian Wusheng’s virtual shadow, Su Yu had immediately left the faction to execute a mission in order to avoid troubles, he still had to face them! It was pretty crazy.

The flirtatious woman chuckled. “Do we have to say? The Right Palace Master is a person who appreciates talents, so we clearly want to recruit you. However, we would never behave like the bossy Miss Bi, who willfully tramples on talents like Junior Brother Su.”

Lao Ai revealed a scornful look, while thinking… Will it make a difference? If Su Yuxian wanted to join, he would have entered the inner sanctum early on. Any advice we give him would be pointless now, especially because he would not join the Right Palace Master’s camp.

“I can consider joining you…” Su Yu said calmly, surprising everyone.

Lao Ai was startled, and he couldn’t believe his ears. Senior Brother Lu and Junior Sister He were also slightly stunned, and they both wondered… Su Yuxian is on the opposing side of some influences of the Right Palace Master’s camp, so why would he join this camp?

Even the Great Palace Master slightly opened his eyes and looked at Su Yu with surprise.

The flirtatious woman was delighted. “Haha, I knew Junior Brother Su was a reasonable person…”

“Wait! Before I join the Right Palace Master’s camp, I have a request,” Su Yu said.

A request? The flirtatious woman instantly felt unsatisfied. Anyone who got invited to join the left and the right camps were usually beyond grateful, and no one ever dared to request anything!

Nonetheless, Su Yu had a unique identity. So, after giving it some thought, the flirtatious woman yielded. “You can voice your request, then I’ll deliver it to the Right Palace Master and have him decide.”