Chapter 21: The Big Buddha Head (2)

When the core disciples felt the terrifying aura press down upon them, they immediately lost connection with their legs as they each kneeled down on the ground powerlessly.

*Plop!* *Plop!* *Plop!*

Being forced to direct their entire focus and energy into defending against this crushing aura, none of the disciples had time to voice their shock, much less make any sound besides the occasional soft grunts of pain. This energy...was simply too tyrannical for them to withstand.

“This...isn’t this aura that of an Empyrean?!”

“Ughh...I...can’t hold any longer!”

“Gahh!...this pain…!”

These frantic thoughts flashed through all the mind of the core disciples present, as many of them began to quickly faint under Huang Xue's pressure. At the same time, the aura that was pressing down on them had slowly began to climb higher and higher…

Before long, after the Qi aura had reached that of a genuine early staged Empyrean Hun, only six core disciples were left.

“Very good...to be able to withstand the Qi pressure of an early staged Empyrean Hun cultivator..these peak Dao Ascents at least proved their endurance is at a terrifying degree! They are worth nurturing!” Huang Xue thought silently to himself as he looked down at the six disciples with satisfaction.

By now, these six top core disciples were already clutching onto the ground with their entire strength, while they tried to stay conscious. As they pushed with their entire power to finally lift their head up to look at the Big Buddha Headed figure, there was not a shred of contempt nor confusion left in their heart.

Instead, there was only an intense fear and reverence towards this monstrous being who was standing before them! It was now that they clearly understood everything...with the other party being an exalted Empyrean Hun, it was no wonder why their Sect Master would invite such a person to luxurious fifth floor of the Head Martial Tower, and treated him/her with respect!

Even for some of these arrogant geniuses, in face of an Empyrean Hun, they are more willinging to acknowledge and revere this sort of being. After all, as Dao Ascents, while they could battle those of the normal Heavenly Wang realm and even reach it at one point, for them to enter the Empyrean Hun realm was truly a difficult task.

The amount of hard work, talent, and luck that are related to this tremendous advancement was so much that out of five hundred million cultivators, only one person could possibly become an Empyrean Hun! Thus, even in those exalted grand sects, and even across the known regions of the Feng Shui Continent, Empyrean Hun cultivators were few and were in every way considered beings of peerless status.

Now that these six core disciples of the Godly Supreme Hall were looking at the Big Buddha Head, they felt the person seemed much more majestic and imperial than before! And the previously foolish looking mask was now a strong symbol of terrifying strength and status in the heart of these six!

*Whooo…*

The air suddenly twisted for a second, before the tremendous Qi aura that was pressing down on them disappeared. It was an instantaneous phenomenon. The pressure faded so quickly that for a moment, the six core disciples almost thought that they may have been trapped in an illusion previously. However, upon looking around and seeing the unconscious figures of their fallen apprentice brothers and sisters, the six core disciples knew that everything that had happened before was real.

While they were still momentarily dazed, a resonating voice rang from in front of the six disciples:

“Excellent! The remaining six of you have done well to endure under my pressure! Ahh, what a pity is it! If only you all were a bit more stronger, perhaps I can attempt to test if you can endure a mid-staged Empyrean Hun’s aura...but alas, I can only stop here. Otherwise, your meridians and mind may go berserk later on, hahaha!”

A chill ran down the spine of the six core disciples as they stared at the Big Buddha Headed elder on the podium. Attempt to endure under a mid-staged Empyrean Hun’s pressure? If we fail, our meridians and mind will break? Just who the hell was this madman!

Although the disciples were shocked, they quickly recovered. After all, high leveled experts all had their peculiar personalities and traits; this much was at least well known among the lower cultivators. But still, the words coming from the mysterious elder in front them were truly a bit too... uncomfortable, not to mention this was said within their very own Godly Supreme Hall!

“Alright, Yue’er, I like these six little Dao Ascents! Later, go take them to our Hall’s Ancestral Repository and let them pick out something they like! And from now on, pay more attention to these six core disciples. Provide them with greater resources amount, but make sure to not overdo it; a little extra is fine. In the end, having them learn and train on their own is still the best way!” Huang Xue sent used his divine sense to send a mental message to Yue Jing, who was standing a bit behind him. Once a cultivator reaches a certain realm, transmitting messages or even holding conversations in between minds would easily become possible!

“I understand, master!” Yue Jing transmitted back.

Facing the three males and three females, who each looked younger than thirty years old, Huang Xue was extremely pleased. Although the Star Decree Stone did not enlist these six individuals as people capable of reaching the peak of the Sovereign Immortal Realm, with the great talent they exhibited, Huang Xue still believed that they could perhaps reached the initial realms.

After all, Huang Xue had set the condition on the star decree stone to search for those who could reach the peak of the Sovereign Immortal realm and contend against himself!

Thus, it was still worthwhile for him to nurture these children. After all, wasn’t this Godly Supreme Hall supposedly a den full of monsters? To keep watch over a few outstanding ones here may perhaps prove beneficial in the future one day!

Even without a complete mastery over the Dao of Fortune, a Sheng-level Dao, Huang Xue decided to trust his vague gut feeling of taking this chance on the six youths. Huang Xue believed, no, he wanted to believe that the chances he had took now will prove useful in the distant future, even if it was only a little!

“You six may now leave. Later on, your Supreme Monarch will give you the details of what to do next!” Huang Xue declared behind his mask. Even up until now, he did not bother asking for the names of these remaining core disciples. Huang Xue did not even check any of the core disciples’ physiques or let them display their abilities. To him, who was leaving soon, there was no need to care so much about these Sect disciples yet.

The six disciples by now have already roughly recovered their energy back. Thus, when Huang Xue gave his order, the six quickly bowed in respect before transforming into streaks of light and disappearing out the open windows.

As for the two hundred plus unconscious core disciples, Huang Xue did not bother with them. He directly left for the sixth floor of the Head Martial Tower to meditate, leaving Yue Jing to summon several elders to help carry the immobile disciples back to their room.

***

After a brief encounter with the three hundred core disciples of the Godly Supreme Hall, Huang Xue had shut himself off on the sixth floor of the Head Martial Tower for the next two days to meditate. No one, including Yue Jing, was allowed to disturb him during this time.

Sitting in a lotus position, a black robed youth could be seen meditating in silence. His jade-like face and snowy white hair gave him an ephemeral atmosphere that no mortals could trespass through. A powerful undulation of Qi could be felt rippling from the youth’s body.

However, as seconds passed, this strong aura gradually began to wither down. Before long, only a faint energy could be felt from the youth’s body.

Huang Xue’s eyes fluttered open. Breathing out a light air, Huang Xue inspected his body before he nodded in contentment.

“5th stage of the Jie Hai realm...this should be enough for me to stand out in the crowd while blending in with those higher elites…” Huang Xue mused to himself.

From the reports he had received from Yue Jing before he went into his meditation, in the Long Dynasty, the cultivators there were considered quite weak. This was mainly due to the scarcity of cultivation resources, thus Huang Xue heard that it was very hard for the people in those Lower Regions to increase their strength.

It was even said that it was common for cultivators to be unable to breakthrough to the Jie Hai realm in their entire lifetime because of lacking resources and proper guidances! For them, being a late staged Di Temporal cultivator was already considered decent, with Jie Hai realm being hailed as ‘true experts’. And it was known that for these Lower Region inhabitants, increasing a single stage after entering the Jie Hai realm was extremely taxing and difficulty!

Thus, a Jie Hai 7th staged cultivator below the age of twenty was sufficient to be called a genius in the eyes of these people! This was why Huang Xue chose to suppress his cultivation to this rank.

Looking out the window, Huang Xue murmured softly to himself:

“Since today is the second day, I should go to the Shen Clan now. I’ll be staying there for a while, might as well go meet them and observe the surrounding environment there personally...”