Over the next several days, Mu Chen deliberately kept a low profile and did not have much contact with Liu Bai and the others.
After all, whether it was Liu Bai, Xiao Xiao, or Lin Jing, each of them represented one of the peak forces of the Great Thousand World. Their movements naturally attracted a great deal of attention.
As for how Mu Chen concealed himself, with the help of the Qing Line, there was naturally no problem.
However, Liu Bai's side was rather lively these days. Both Xiao Xiao and Lin Jing frequently came over to chat.
It was obvious that the two girls were very interested in everything that had happened to Liu Bai over the past few years.
There was no helping it. His experiences during this period had simply been too extraordinary.
"You know, after returning from the Western Heaven Continent, my father was happy for several days straight. He looked completely refreshed. Even when he forced me to cultivate, he was smiling the entire time."
The corner of Liu Bai's eye twitched as he looked at Lin Jing enthusiastically complaining about her father.
He could not help wondering whether the Martial Ancestor would hang this rebellious daughter up and beat her if he ever heard this.
"You've surprised me as well. I never expected you to successfully advance to the Heavenly Sovereign Realm. With your lazy personality, you've probably been disciplined quite a bit, haven't you?"
Compared to Xiao Xiao, Lin Jing's talent was actually even greater.
After all, Xiao Xiao had been born in the Dou Qi Continent. At that time, both Xiao Yan and Queen Medusa were neither particularly powerful nor possessed especially strong bloodlines.
Furthermore, if one only considered cultivation time, Xiao Xiao had cultivated for more than ten times longer than both Liu Bai and Lin Jing.
"Don't even mention it. The more I talk about it, the more miserable I feel."
Lin Jing immediately drooped her head and patted Liu Bai's shoulder with a bitter expression full of hardship.
Seeing the two chatting, Xiao Xiao could not help revealing a smile.
She was not someone who enjoyed talking much, a trait she clearly inherited from her mother.
"Actually, my father likes you very much as well, Liu Bai. After he returned from the Phoenix Clan, I once heard him tell Grandmaster Yao that your future achievements would definitely not be beneath his own. It was the first time I had ever heard Father give someone such a high evaluation!"
Liu Bai smiled calmly upon hearing this.
"Then I truly must thank Senior Flame Emperor for thinking so highly of me. However, reaching the level of someone like him, one of the absolute peak experts of the Great Thousand World, is not an easy thing."
"Tch, you should be secretly celebrating."
"My father shares exactly the same opinion as Senior Flame Emperor, yet he's never praised me like that."
Lin Jing pouted in dissatisfaction.
And so, time passed quickly amid the occasional conversations between the three.
The atmosphere within the Buddha World also became increasingly lively.
Every day, spiritual ships continuously descended from the sky above the Buddha World.
The various super forces emerging from those ships each possessed foundations even stronger than the current Five Elements Divine Palace.
It was clear that beyond the famous super forces known to the public, the Great Thousand World still concealed countless experts.
Thinking about it carefully, this was only natural.
After all, among the thirty two major clans of the Fiends Race, although not every clan possessed a Heavenly Demon Emperor, any clan capable of being called a "major clan" within the even more brutal Fiend Regions was undoubtedly a top tier existence.
Since the Great Thousand World had managed to remain stable under the covetous gaze of the Fiends Race for so many years, and even maintained the upper hand during the Great Thousand Pact held every thousand years, it was obvious that the Great Thousand World's true strength was far greater than what appeared on the surface.
Thus, another three days passed in the blink of an eye.
When the bell that echoed throughout the entire Buddha World sounded, Liu Bai, Lu Tong, and the others from the Great Thousand Palace stepped out of their courtyard and prepared to attend the Martial Competition of the Various Lines.
Dong! Dong!
Vast Spiritual Energy swept across heaven and earth.
One after another, enormous war drums rose from the peaks of the mountains.
As giant hammers struck down heavily, deep and thunderous drumbeats reverberated throughout the world, causing the hearts of all who heard them to race.
Amid the endless drumbeats, the gathered super forces all turned their gazes toward the nineteen enormous white jade platforms located on the main peak.
Standing atop those nineteen platforms were nineteen figures.
Brilliant spiritual light surged around each of them, while terrifying Spiritual Energy pressure swept through heaven and earth.
Every one of them was a genuine Heavenly Sovereign.
"Nineteen Heavenly Sovereigns. It seems the Five Elements Divine Palace still falls far short of these top super forces in terms of foundation."
Including Liu Bai himself, the Five Elements Divine Palace currently only barely possessed five Heavenly Sovereigns.
And that was counting Mu Chen, whose status was still somewhat uncertain.
But who could say that this represented the entirety of the Buddha Ancient Clan's strength?
Among the Five Ancient Clans, the Buddha Ancient Clan was neither the strongest nor the weakest. It was generally considered to be at a middle level.
Therefore, the other Ancient Clans likely possessed similar numbers of Heavenly Sovereigns.
In that case, the Five Ancient Clans alone already accounted for nearly one hundred Heavenly Sovereigns.
However, when it came to the force with the greatest number of Heavenly Sovereigns, it was not the Ancient Clans.
It was the Great Thousand Palace, which had been established after the Great Calamity.
Excluding those Heavenly Sovereigns who only held honorary positions, Liu Bai knew that the Great Thousand Palace alone possessed more than twenty Elders.
And that did not even include the Great Thousand Towers spread across the various dangerous regions of the Great Thousand World.
Every Great Thousand Tower had at least one Heavenly Sovereign level manager.
Although many of these managers simultaneously held Elder positions, Liu Bai estimated that the total number of Heavenly Sovereigns within the Great Thousand Palace was roughly equal to the combined total of the Five Ancient Clans.
"It seems the development of the Five Elements Divine Palace still requires time to accumulate."
Liu Bai sighed inwardly.
Even if he immediately reached the Ruler Realm, it would still be impossible to simply create Heavenly Sovereigns at will.
This was a process that had to be experienced.
The only advantage Liu Bai possessed over other Heavenly Sovereigns was that he was unlikely to be merely a fleeting phenomenon.
Therefore, he had plenty of time to slowly cultivate his own foundation.
The Martial Competition of the Various Lines soon began.
The three Lines each sent out their respective participants.
However, compared to the others, the Qing Line's disadvantage was obvious, both in terms of numbers and strength.
And just as expected, the competition eventually turned into a joint assault by the Xuan Line and the Mo Line against the Qing Line.
This scene shocked all the observing forces.
Even among rival factions, there was usually a certain level of decorum maintained.
Yet the Buddha Ancient Clan had completely torn away all pretense.
And they were doing it openly in front of everyone.
They were no longer even concerned about saving face.
Liu Bai noticed more than one observer revealing expressions of disdain and even mockery.
On the main peak where the experts of the Buddha Ancient Clan were gathered, Great Elder Buddha Xuan likewise lowered his head and watched the scene, his brows slightly furrowed.
Yet in the end, he said nothing.
Naturally, he understood the intentions of the Xuan Line and Mo Line.
However, what they were doing did not technically violate any rules.
Even as Great Elder, he could not openly interfere.
And that was exactly why Liu Bai looked down on Buddha Xuan.
As the leader of an Ancient Clan and a Saint Grade expert, he allowed his subordinates to constantly engage in internal division.
They oppressed even their own clansmen, and did so mercilessly.
If even such behavior could be tolerated, then what purpose was there in maintaining the Buddha Ancient Clan at all?
Would it not be better to simply dissolve and split apart?
It was said that the Buddha Ancient Clan had once stood as the foremost of the Five Ancient Clans.
Yet now they had fallen to such a state.
And honestly, they had no one to blame but themselves.
Many people sighed upon witnessing this scene. Powerful cities were often destroyed from within. The same principle applied to top super forces.
If the Buddha Ancient Clan failed to produce a sufficiently strong leader, then perhaps it would not be many years before everyone witnessed a peak super force gradually decline toward destruction.
The battle gradually entered its fiercest stage.
Six figures transformed into dazzling Spiritual Bodies almost simultaneously.
Every movement they made released terrifying power.
"Putting everything else aside, the Buddha Ancient Clan's Spiritual Bodies really are incredibly durable."
Watching the battle on the platforms, Liu Bai could not help commenting.
After all, the Buddha Ancient Clan still possessed the Primordial Celestial Body known as the strongest in defense.
Meanwhile...
"Mu Chen, can Aunt Xuan and the others win?"
Still holding onto a trace of hope, Qing Shuang asked in a trembling voice.
Mu Chen immediately shook his head without hesitation.
"The Xuan Line and Mo Line came prepared. The two experts they sent are stronger than the two Elders of the Qing Line. Under these circumstances, the outcome is destined to be one victory and two defeats."
Qing Shuang's pretty face instantly lost all color.
Her fingers dug so deeply into her palms that blood began to drip.
She could already foresee how bleak the future of the Qing Line would become.
Mu Chen glanced at her but said nothing further.
His expression remained calm as he watched the earth shaking battles taking place upon the three white jade platforms.
Finally, the battles reached their conclusion.
Although Qing Tian, the Qing Line Leader, fought fiercely and secured a victory, the Qing Line had already lost two of the three matches.
His victory could preserve only the final dignity of the Qing Line.
It could not save the Qing Line itself.
"So it's over..."
Lin Jing pouted unhappily.
As a "righteous little heroine," she could not stand this kind of bullying the most.
So at this moment, Lin Jing felt not the slightest goodwill toward the people of the Buddha Ancient Clan.
"Why are they doing this? Weren't they originally one family?"
Lin Jing transmitted her complaint to Liu Bai and Xiao Xiao.
Liu Bai only smiled faintly.
Although the Martial Realm was stronger than the Buddha Ancient Clan, it had only been established for a few hundred years, and with the Martial Ancestor, Lin Dong, suppressing everything above, there would naturally be no such internal conflicts like "brothers turning against each other."
"Even if they were once one family, after tens of thousands of years, there is probably no remaining affection between them."
Liu Bai could only gently comfort the girl.
Xiao Xiao then said, "In the end, it's because the Buddha Ancient Clan lacks an iron-fisted clan leader."
Compared to Lin Jing's innocence, Xiao Xiao had clearly experienced more, so she could see things more clearly.
"I am truly incompetent."
On the other side, under the countless gazes filled with either sympathy or mockery from heaven and earth, Qing Tian, the Line Leader, let out a bitter sigh. His already aged face became even more desolate.
With this failure in defending the stage, the Qing Line would lose another seat. Only two seats would remain in the Elder Council. According to the rules of the Buddha Ancient Clan, only Line factions possessing three seats could become a Main Line.
From now on, the Qing Line would be demoted into a Branch Line, resulting in an immeasurable loss of resources and authority. It would be unknown how many years it would take for them to regain the status of a Main Line.
Moreover, at this moment, the Line Leaders of the Xuan Line and Mo Line had already begun requesting the Great Elder Buddha Xuan to announce the result.
"It's here, it's here. The most exciting part of today's Martial Competition of the Various Lines is about to begin. Don't blink."
Liu Bai's slightly excited voice, as if enjoying the spectacle, sounded in the ears of the two girls.
With the intelligence of Xiao Xiao and Lin Jing, they naturally guessed what Liu Bai meant very quickly.
Lin Jing, who also loved watching the excitement, immediately clenched her small fists and said excitedly, "Is Mu Chen about to make his move?"
"I knew it. That guy has been mysterious. Coming to the Buddha Ancient Clan this time, he's definitely here to cause trouble!"
Among the three, Xiao Xiao was the most composed. She frowned and said, "If Mu Chen really intends to disrupt the competition, I'm afraid the Buddha Ancient Clan won't just stand by and allow it."
"That's why!" Liu Bai raised his eyebrows and said, "I might as well get a bit active myself later…"
"Hehe, great! Count me in!"
Naturally, only Lin Jing, who loved chaos and excitement, would say something like that.
"Oh? Then count me in as well."
Xiao Xiao also surprisingly spoke up.
On the side, Yao Chen looked at the three youngsters who were eager to try, and could not help but sigh.
It seemed that Xiao Yan's decision to have him come along was correct. None of these little fellows were simple.
At the peak of the towering main mountain, Great Elder Buddha Xuan opened his slightly closed eyes. His expression was calm as he looked at the sorrowful Line Leader of the Qing Line, and his deep voice resounded across heaven and earth.
"The Qing Line has failed to defend the stage and shall lose one seat."
The voice echoed through the world like the final hammer strike, completely shattering the last trace of hope of the Qing Line.
On the mountain where Mu Chen stood, Qing Shuang's originally cold and beautiful face had already turned dim. Her clear eyes were filled with despair.
"It's over…"
However, Mu Chen's eyes flashed with a strange light at this moment.
"Over? I think not."
Taking a deep breath, after saying this, Mu Chen took a step forward.
"Mu Chen? What are you doing?"
Qing Shuang was startled and quickly called out upon seeing his figure step out of the mountain.
At a time like this, stepping out was no different from directly provoking the Great Elder.
"Don't worry. Since I have already accepted the benefits of the Qing Line, I will naturally return the favor."
Mu Chen slightly turned his head and said with a faint smile.
"Due to the failure in defending the stage, the Qing Line has only two seats remaining. According to the rules of my Buddha Ancient Clan, it shall be stripped of its main status…"
Buddha Xuan's words had not yet finished when they were directly interrupted by a voice.
"Wait!"
The sudden voice caused everyone in heaven and earth, except for Liu Bai's group, to freeze in shock. Immediately after, countless gazes turned toward the slender figure who dared to interrupt Buddha Xuan.
"This kid really is as bold as ever…"
Liu Bai chuckled with great interest.
A good show of showing off and slapping faces.
He had never tried it himself before, so watching someone else do it was quite enjoyable.
"Hehe, Mu Chen, fly boldly. With our trio backing you, just go ahead and cause a huge commotion!"
Lin Jing's excited voice rang in their ears, causing both Liu Bai and Xiao Xiao to roll their eyes helplessly.
..
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