Chapter 52: Nascent Souls Gather

Within the grand hall, long tables were placed on both the left and right sides, stretching across the entire expanse. Scattered around the tables were over a hundred wooden chairs, quietly arranged in orderly fashion yet exuding a faint, oppressive aura.

Jiuyou lifted his eyes, meeting the gaze of that blood-red figure.

It was an old man with white hair, draped in a wide blood-colored beast-hide robe embroidered with vine patterns. His aged eyes carried the twilight weariness of fading years, but when they looked at Jiuyou, a trace of complexity flickered within.

It was none other than Blood Vine, whose lifespan was nearly spent.

At this moment, his qi and blood had long since decayed, leaving him with only a short decade or two to live. Yet he had still arrived early at the assembly hall, sitting in a remote corner on the right side, his gaunt frame appearing especially frail within the oversized wooden chair.

Seeing Jiuyou, Blood Vine forced a faint smile, his voice hoarse and low.

"Haha, decades have passed, and Brother Jiuyou’s bearing has only grown more impressive than before. Now you’ve become a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator who commands awe across the land. Unlike this old man—even after consuming a four-hundred-year-old longevity fruit, I haven’t many good years left. How shameful, how shameful."

"Brother Blood jests. This old man merely relied on the Myriad Spirit Pill refined by Elder Dan to barely break through the bottleneck. Adding the longevity fruit, being able to live an extra century or so is already a tremendous stroke of fortune."

Jiuyou’s expression remained impassive, but inwardly, he sighed. After all, this was an old acquaintance of several centuries, yet now he had to watch helplessly as the other’s lifespan ebbed toward its end, fated to pass away in meditation. A sense of pity for a kindred spirit stirred within him.

What truly moved his heart was this: had he not seized that Little Green Bottle back then, had it not possessed the power to accelerate growth as if time were irrelevant, then in another century or so, he too would likely be sitting here just like the other, helpless and regretful, facing his end.

After nearly a thousand years since crossing over into this cultivation world, becoming a demonic overlord of great renown—if he were to pass away before encountering the Little Green Bottle, leaving behind a legend of himself in this world, that could be considered a fulfilling life.

But times were different now. He possessed the Little Green Bottle, he had refined the seven-colored longevity fruit. His path would never stop here.

Jiuyou quickly withdrew his thoughts, offered a faint smile, and walked unhurriedly to the tables on the right, sitting down a few seats away from Blood Vine. The wooden chair let out a faint creak, quickly swallowed by the silence of the hall.

Soon after, the two exchanged a brief communication through Divine Sense, revealing nothing to outsiders.

The grand hall remained still and quiet.

Everyone sat in apparent silence, occasionally exchanging glances with acquaintances only through secret voice transmissions, their faces betraying nothing. Dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators gathered in one place, yet the silence was as deep as an empty hall. This eerie atmosphere was far more oppressive than any uproar.

Time passed slowly.

Another dozen or so Nascent Soul cultivators arrived one after another.

At the hall’s entrance, a cultivator in a black brocade robe stepped in, wearing a hood that covered most of his face.

His gaze swept across the hall quickly, pausing briefly on Jiuyou before withdrawing just as fast. He then found a random seat on the right and sat down without a word.

Jiuyou glanced at him and recognized him instantly. This black-robed cultivator was none other than Yin Gu the Old Fiend, who had come to him for a trade after the Heavenly Abyss Mountain expedition.

Over a decade had passed, and this man’s aura hadn’t changed much. Jiuyou wondered if he had managed to snatch a thousand-year longevity fruit. But judging by the bland, indifferent expression on his face, he had most likely returned empty-handed.

Just as Jiuyou was pondering this, he suddenly sensed a hostile gaze fixed on him. The look was extremely subtle; had his cultivation not reached Mid-Nascent Soul and his Divine Sense intensity not rivaled even Late Nascent Soul Grand Cultivators, he might not have noticed it at all.

Jiuyou jerked his head around, locking eyes with the owner of that gaze, and couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow slightly.

It was a cultivator in a yellow robe, topped with a gold crown. He appeared to be only in his twenties or thirties, with a pale, fair face, but a sharp, fierce energy lurked behind his brows and eyes. It was none other than Jade Clarity Superior—Zhou Xuanzhen.

Seeing Jiuyou’s gaze sweep over, Zhou Xuanzhen’s eyes withdrew their cold glint, and he expressionlessly looked elsewhere, as if that glance had been accidental.

"Zhou Xuanzhen… Hmph."

Jiuyou gave a cold snort and withdrew his gaze, not bothering to look again. This man had formed a grudge with him in Heavenly Abyss Mountain; meeting again in this narrow hall was hardly surprising.

Blood Vine, having observed all this, let out a light chuckle and transmitted through Divine Sense.

"It seems Brother Jiuyou has some conflict with this Zhou Xuanzhen. Now that the Beast Tide is raging, we should unite as one. Before the greater good of humanity, this man wouldn’t dare to act rashly. Besides, you’re already a Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator; he wouldn’t truly risk tearing open a rift with you. Still… Brother Jiuyou must remain vigilant."

Blood Vine offered two words of seemingly concerned advice before withdrawing his gaze, looking toward the entrance.

Jiuyou rested one hand on the long table, his fingers rhythmically tapping the surface. He didn’t look at Zhou Xuanzhen again, merely offering a faint word of thanks.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the wooden chairs on both sides of the two long tables were nearly filled with cultivators. Each one, when walking outside, was a Nascent Soul overlord commanding a domain, yet now they crowded together in this hall—a truly spectacular scene.

Strangely, whether by design or accident, all cultivators of the Demonic Path Alliance sat at the right-side table, while those of the Righteous Path Alliance sat at the left, forming a clear divide. Only the cultivators of the Heaven and Earth Alliance seemed indifferent, scattering themselves on both sides, appearing remarkably composed.

Despite the growing crowd, the hall remained utterly silent. Who knew if those old monsters were stealthily communicating via voice transmissions?

Regardless, the hall stayed cloaked in stillness.

And amid that stillness, before long, two figures walked in together through the hall’s entrance.

Instantly, every gaze in the hall snapped toward them. Those who had been communicating in secret, those sizing each other up—all stopped their actions, lifting their eyes to look at the newcomers.

The two figures walked side by side, entering the hall together.

The one on the left was clad in a purple robe, his face lean and gaunt, his aura as deep and abyssal as a chasm. He was none other than the Grand Elder of Endless Island and the only Late Nascent Soul Grand Cultivator of the Demonic Path Alliance—Gu Xuanzhou.

The one on the right was dressed in snow-white robes, his expression stern, his eyes sharp as blades. He was unmistakably the Late Nascent Soul Grand Cultivator of the Righteous Path Alliance—Wei Tianhe.

This man styled himself the "Lord of Ten Thousand Laws," but among Demonic Path cultivators, most referred to him as "Old Monster Tianhe"—though few in the entire Tianyuan Sea dared to call him that to his face.

The two Late Nascent Soul Grand Cultivators walked side by side, their steps steady, their robes swaying gently in the breeze. As they passed, the Nascent Soul cultivators on either side lowered their heads slightly in respect.

But almost at that same moment, a question surged into everyone’s minds: Why were only these two Grand Cultivators present?

What about the Late Nascent Soul Grand Cultivator of the Heaven and Earth Alliance?

At such a serious, such an important meeting—one concerning the survival of the entire Abyssal Sea’s human race—how could one of the three great human cultivators of Tianyuan Sea possibly be absent?

In an instant, this question spread like wildfire, racing through the channels of secret transmissions.

Except for the few Nascent Soul cultivators of the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s True Dharma Sect, whose faces remained calm as if they had already known, all the other old monsters wore expressions of confusion. Their gazes repeatedly swept behind the two Grand Cultivators, yet they never saw that third figure.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly grew delicate.

Jiuyou narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingers pausing their tapping on the table.

The absence of the Heaven and Earth Alliance’s Grand Cultivator—this might not be a good omen.