HPDBC Chapter 1218: Imminent
Chapter 1218: Imminent
Chapter 1218: Imminent
"As expected of a Reincarnation Palace mask of the highest caliber, even I can't tell you apart from myself," Chang Qi praised.
"Brilliant! I'm sure this disguise will be convincing enough to fool even the elders of our sect!" Zhou Xianyang exclaimed in an exultant manner.
"Fellow Daoist Chang, I'm going to need you to tell me about the characteristics of your cultivation arts," Han Li said.
Han Li was already very well-versed in posing as others from past experience, so he was already beginning to mimic Chang Qi's expressions and mannerisms. This made his disguise even more convincing, much to the delight of Zhou Xianyang and Chang Qi.
"I'll leave you two to chat here, I'll go gather some information on the other cultivators taking part in the selection event," Zhou Xianyang said before departing, leaving Han Li and Chang Qi on their own in the secret chamber.
......
A month flew by in a flash.
This morning, almost the entire population of Nine Origins City had gathered at the foot of Nine Origins Mountain, leaving the rest of the city virtually completely deserted.
The selection event for the Bodhi Banquet was set to commence on Nine Origins Mountain on this day, and Han Li had already adopted his disguise as Chang Qi and arrived with Zhou Xianyang and several Prominent Mountain Sect elders.
Even though Chang Qi was always traveling outside the sect, there were still a few acquaintances of his among the elders of the sect who approached him to strike up conversations, but Han Li was able to navigate these conversations in a confident and appropriate manner, with no one suspecting anything amiss.
The group arrived at the foot of Nine Origins Mountain, where they were greeted by the sight of a giant mountain range in the distance.
The mountain range was incredibly lush, and large sections of it were concealed by the clouds above.
There were rays of light that were flashing faintly within the clouds, indicating the presence of a protective array.
The mountain that the entrance of the Nine Origins Temple was standing upon was extremely abundant with the world's origin qi, and in front of the temple's entrance was a massive plaza that was several hundred kilometers in size.
The plaza was split up into many sections, within which stood elevated platforms that were raised roughly ten feet above the ground.
There was an array around the plaza that separated it from the area outside, and at this moment, there were already countless eager spectators gathered outside the array.
Han Li's group had already been led to the entrance of the temple through a designated passageway by a disciple of the Nine Origins Temple, and they were standing on a huge, semi-circular stone platform.
A massive, three-story, dodecahedral archway was standing at the entrance of the temple, and it looked as if it had been carved out of a single, enormous piece of spirit jade.
Hanging above the archway was a white jade plaque, upon which were inscribed the words "Nine Origins Paradise" in antiquated golden seal text.
"Is it not obvious enough? He's most likely planning to throw away what little dignity that he has to personally take part in the selection event," Zhou Xianyang replied in a completely unsurprised manner.
Zhao Yuanlai was rendered speechless upon hearing this.
It wasn't against the rules for a sect leader to personally participate in the event, but generally speaking, most sect leaders wouldn't do this. After all, if they were to suffer defeat at the hands of a junior, then they would be putting their entire sect to shame.
Right at this moment, a resounding bell chime suddenly rang out from within the Nine Origins Temple.
As the sound echoed throughout the mountain range, five figures appeared on the stone platform amid a flash of light.
All of the sect leaders seated on the stone platform instantly rose to their feet before extending respectful bows toward the five figures.
Han Li bowed along with everyone else, but at the same time, he was sizing up the five figures through his peripheral vision.
The five figures were led by none other than the token-bearing immortal envoy from the Middle Earth Immortal Region, and standing on either side of him were Daoist Master Chun Jun and the master of the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, Lu Chuanfeng.
The remaining two figures were unfamiliar to Han Li, but he had heard mention of them from Zhou Xianyang, so he was able to guess their identities.
The one on the left was a purple-robed elderly man with a large belly and a lethargic expression, and he was the leader of the Sun Moon Alliance, Immortal Lord Heavenly Star, while the one on the right was a tall and handsome young man by the name of Huo Yuan, also known as the current master of the Hundred Creations Mountain.
According to what Han Li had been told by Daoist Master Jingyang back in the Black Mountain Immortal Region, Huo Yuan was already the fifth mountain master of the Hundred Creations Mountain.
The arrival of these five figures was met with thunderous cheers across the entire plaza, and the waves of raucous cheers were only silenced when Daoist Chun Jun made a quieting gesture.
After everyone had taken a seat, Daoist Chun Jun turned to all of the spectators gathered on the plaza as he declared, "In light of the upcoming Bodhi Banquet, the Heavenly Court, in its infinite generosity, has bestowed upon the sects of our Golden Origin Immortal Region twelve Bodhi Tokens, granting twelve fellow daoists the opportunity to attend the banquet and sample the Bodhi Dao Fruit."
Everyone instantly erupted into thunderous cheers once again, as if each of them had also been granted a Bodhi Token.
The Heavenly Court envoy seemed to have been quite pleased with this reaction, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Everyone else on the stone platform also had smiles on their faces, with the exception of Immortal Lord Heavenly Star, who had dozed off for a nap.
A Nine Origins Temple elder responsible for overseeing the competition stepped forward as he declared, "Our Golden Origin Immortal Region is home to a vast number of sects, but there are only twelve Bodhi Tokens to go around, so not everyone will be able to leave with one. All of the sects have already elected their representatives, so I'll now ask the representatives to step forward to draw lots for the first round."
Han Li exchanged a glance with Zhou Xianyang, then stepped forward alongside Zhao Bolao.
All of the elected cultivators of the other sects stepped forward as well.