Chapter 408: Heavenly Dove Rising from the Yellow Sand

Tianjiu Palace is located at Xiankong Peak and is considered one of the most powerful sects within a radius of tens of thousands of miles.

The palace master is called Nalan Sheng, and has a nickname, Shaputian, all because of a magic gourd that has 38,000 grains of soul-shaking magical sand collected from it. The sands float out and first dazzle the eyes, then confuse the mind, wash the body and destroy the bones, shake the spirit and cleanse the soul. It is extremely powerful.

Now Nalan Sheng is gathering a group of independent cultivators to drink and have fun. As he is expected to live to be 500 years old, he wants to hold a wedding banquet to bring good luck.

He was the master of a palace and in charge of the surrounding fertile land, so he naturally had some airs. The practitioners who came and went were led to the table by servants. All of them carried gifts, had fawning looks on their faces, and formed cliques. They did not seem like free and easy immortals, but more like ordinary people.

The dynasties in this world are not prominent, and most sects rule the world. Different sects have different rules. Even the emperors of that dynasty are ordered around by cultivators, so how could they care about the common people at the bottom of society?

Therefore, the people of an area almost became the private property of the sect. If they caused a disaster, they would be beaten and killed, and they would only have to pay some money as compensation. The disciples of the sect were royal family, and their words were the law. The common people did not dare to be angry or speak out, and could only curry favor with the sect in order to protect themselves.

The rule of Tianjiu Palace is particularly absurd. It is extremely harsh on the lower-class people, and many of the sect disciples are vicious. An evil incident even happened a few decades ago.

A true disciple of Tianjiu Palace had shallow cultivation and damaged his foundation in a battle with others. His cultivation came to a halt and he gave up the idea of ​​practicing Taoism. In recognition of his contributions, Tianjiu Palace demoted him to be the lord of a city.

This disciple no longer had any thoughts of practicing cultivation, and only sought to enjoy himself. What men like are nothing more than wine, sex, money, power and fame, but he was a lustful person. He didn't know where he had learned the folk remedy of taking yin to replenish yang, which he said could complete the foundation of Taoism, so he let his passion run wild.

In the city under his jurisdiction, there were countless women who were targeted by him and wanted to harm him. If one of them disobeyed him, the whole family would suffer. Some of the women were forced by their families, or wanted to marry into his family, so they obeyed him. Some of them could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide.

That disciple was still not satisfied and even tried to announce in the city that all newly married women and young ladies must be sent to his house on their wedding night. However, because his behavior was too absurd, the news got out and he attracted the true disciple of the upper sect, who cut half of his life off. Only then was the situation settled. This shows the reputation of Tianjiu Palace.

Today, the palace is brightly lit, dotted with sparkling lights, reflecting the surrounding golden tiles and red bricks, white jade carved railings, and bluestone roads leading directly to the high platforms and pavilions. What a magnificent place.

In the high pavilion, Nalan Sheng sat in the first seat. The seats below were not full yet, but people came one after another. Those with profound cultivation and far-reaching reputation were invited to sit in the upper seats, while those without any reputation sat at the end of the hall, filling the last seats. The hierarchy was strict.

"Palace Master Nalan, the side sect cultivator Yu Liang has come with gifts to congratulate you. May the Palace Master enjoy eternal blessings and a long life."

A man came out from the banquet. He was a rough man. He fiddled with something in his hand for a while and presented a precious inkstone. "This inkstone is made of pine and sandalwood. It is most suitable for writing talismans and drawing inscriptions. It is quite elegant."

"Fellow Daoist Yu, you are too polite. This palace master is only halfway through a thousand years old. Living for five hundred years is already a fluke. How can I expect to live for ten thousand years?"

Nalan Sheng said this, but his smile did not diminish, and it was obvious that he enjoyed it very much. A servant took the inkstone, but he didn't even look at it and asked someone to send it to the back room.

"Fellow Daoist Yu, you are here, but you are so polite. It is really a waste of money. I think the precious inkstone has a restrained brilliance and a pervasive fragrance. It can be considered a good product. Fellow Daoist, you are thoughtful."

Yu Liang thought to himself: If I come here empty-handed, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of this door. He smiled and said:
"What are you saying, Palace Master? It is not right to come empty-handed. As for this precious inkstone, it was just a coincidence that I passed by a city that day..."

So he started telling the story vividly, nothing more than an accidental encounter with a young cultivator, killing someone and stealing treasure. Once he told these things, the party became lively. When he heard that the person killed was from a small clan, he became even more fearless.

"Fellow Daoist Yu is very thoughtful and tells a good story. It is my birthday and I sincerely invite fellow Daoists from all over the world to come. Everyone who comes is a guest, and I have a gift in return."

Nalan Sheng smiled and spoke, clapping his hands. Then a group of people came out from the back. The one in the lead was well-dressed and looked rich, but he had no cultivation. He should be a housekeeper or a deacon. Behind him, there were a dozen girls, all of them had their eyebrows drawn and their hair combed, and they were neatly dressed. However, they had timid eyes and shrank bodies.

"These are the maids I asked people to select. They are all virgins. You are all delicate people and need to be served. During this banquet, they will serve you. After the banquet, there will be other precious materials for cultivation."

The butler led the girls to the table and distributed the food one by one. The practitioners below also understood Nalan Sheng's intention. Since the maid was sent out, even if her master changed, they could do whatever they wanted, whether it was to serve in the bedroom and warm the bed or to fight and kill. They could take her away after the banquet.

There was the one who was not interested in women and had no interest in her, so he just let the girl stand aside and do some chores of serving dishes. There was also the lustful man who hugged the beautiful girl and kept moving his hands, causing her to cry out in pleasure.

Nalan Sheng took a few looks at them and didn't care about the dissolute things at the table. They were just a few mortal women, so what? As for the group of independent cultivators from side sects, he didn't care at all. The Tianjiu Palace was not originally called that name. It was called the Tianjiu Demon Sect before. It was only because Nalan Sheng was a scheming person that he joined the right path early and got a reputation of being a righteous man who had abandoned darkness and joined the light, and even wiped out all the previous grievances.

"Palace Master, I have a treasure that I would like to present to you!"

Another person came out during the banquet. Nalan Sheng found this person familiar. He was one of his own, but he was not from the Central Plains and his face was a little strange. Fortunately, he was not picky about strangers or strangers. He would accept anyone who came to him for surrender and gave some tribute.

"You are not like them, you are one of us. If you have anything, please hand it to me so I can see it. If it is new, it will be counted as a contribution to you."

Nalan Sheng said that family members know their own business. He is like a bone scraper. No matter whether his disciples are rich or poor, they will be cut first and their wealth will be scraped away. There will not be much wealth left. He just said something novel to avoid taking out some rubbish later and making a fool of himself by others.

The disciple bowed and took out a jade box: "Palace Master, this treasure was found by me by chance. It is a cricket god with three rings on its tail. It is a rare and strange insect."

Nalan Sheng was stunned when he heard that. He stood up and walked down, took the jade box, opened it and saw that it was indeed a black-armored three-ringed cricket god.

"Okay, okay, you are thoughtful. This treasure is very much to my liking and deserves a reward. So, after the banquet, take my token and go to the inner storehouse to choose a few treasures. Three, I allow you to take three!"

He patted the disciple on the shoulder, overjoyed, because the magic sand in his hand was difficult to refine. With the Cricket God, he only needed to feed some sand every day and the quality of the magic sand would be much better, saving a lot of hard work.

"Thank you for your kindness, Palace Master. I am willing to sacrifice my life for you, even if it means death." The disciple lowered his head and said, but when he raised his head, he looked embarrassed. Nalan Sheng looked at him, thought for a moment, and said with a smile: "Why do you look like that? Do you think my reward is too light?"

"I dare not, but there is a reason why I got this treasure. I snatched it from Xieyang City. The man has some background, he is the son of Dugu family. I fought with the priest of his clan, which might cause trouble." The disciple explained the reason.

"It's okay, it's okay. Xieyang City is nothing but a small city. I also know that Dugu clan is a vassal of Wanfa Sect. Even if Wanfa Sect comes to ask for it, what can they do to me?"

Nalan Sheng laughed loudly. This treasure was just right for him. Now that it fell into his hands, it would naturally be his. How could he let it go?

"That's right, the Wanfa Sect has always been overbearing, and we have long been fed up with it. If they come to attack us, we will definitely lend a helping hand."

"The Wanfa Sect has the reputation of being an orthodox sect, so it looks down on us, the independent practitioners and side sects. It is time for them to learn a lesson because of their arrogance!"

"I've heard that Palace Master Nalan is invincible with his divine sand, which is extremely mysterious. He will definitely not be afraid of the Wanfa Sect!"

The people below echoed them. They had no clean roots and no righteous supernatural powers. They were all heretics. They could only get a seat at the table in the Tianjiu Palace, which had a not very clean foundation. They couldn't even get in the main Xuanmen sect.

Nalan Sheng felt a little flattered after hearing the compliment. People like him, to put it nicely, have turned from evil to good, but to put it bluntly, they are just a real dog, or a horse bone that is worth a fortune and is recruited by others. It is better for them to live freely in their own land.

"Palace Master Nalan is so majestic!"

A cold snort was heard, and then a sword flashed to the ground, sweeping away the most cheerful people at the table, shocking the serving girl into screaming.

A figure appeared, an old Taoist standing in the hall, followed by a young man. The young man looked at the jade box in Nalan Sheng's hand, lowered his head and whispered for a while.

"I was wondering who it was. It turned out to be Master Zu Huan of the Wanfa Sect. What gust of wind brought you here?"

Nalan Sheng snorted coldly without even giving him any face. The jurisdiction of his Tianjiu Palace bordered the Wanfa Sect, so friction was inevitable on a daily basis, so it was inevitable that he would be a little angry.

“Enough of the small talk. The Cricket God in the jade box was given to me by my disciple as a gift, but it was taken away by your disciples in the palace. Return it immediately to avoid damaging the relationship.” Master Zu Huan said unhappily.

Nalan Sheng fiddled with the jade box, smiling: "This jade box has no name or mark. Just because you say it's yours, it's yours? I also said that the Purple and Green Double Zhu Sword in your hand was a token of love given by my deceased master to your mistress. Your mistress passed it to you, but I don't accept it. Logically, I should get half of it. Master Zuhuan, why don't you give me the purple sword!"

"you!"

Master Zu Huan shouted angrily, then took a breath and said, "Disciple, explain the whole thing clearly."

The young man behind him stepped forward, held his head high and said, "I am Dugu Xin from Xieyang City. I asked my younger brother to bring this Cricket God as a gift to our master. It was taken away before we entered the city. According to my family's worshiper, it was your disciple who did it!"

Dugu Xin felt a pang of pain in his heart after he finished speaking. As soon as he got the news, he went to look for his brother, who was in name only and was always fighting against him, to smooth things over. After spending a lot of money, he finally came to an agreement and asked him to change his words and say that it was the alien insects he was looking for. After he changed his words, he hurriedly found Zu Huan and told him the reason.

"Oh, my foolish second brother, you didn't even dare to say a word when someone took away your treasure. Little did you know that the immortal way is about fighting. Without the Cricket God, how could the Immortal Zu Huan promise to take me as his disciple? If you are cautious in everything, you will only be stepped on by others. Wait, second brother, when I ascend to heaven in one step, I will make you spit out everything you have eaten."

Just as he was thinking, Dugu Xin felt a pair of eyes falling on him. He raised his hand and saw Nalan Sheng smiling and saying, "It's a good story, but did you see it with your own eyes?"

The gaze was like a torch, piercing through people's souls. Dugu Xin lost his mind and said staggeringly, "I didn't see it with my own eyes, but there are testimonies from the people of Xieyang City and my family's testimony."

"Oh, you are just ordinary people, how can you frame an immortal? I think you are confused. You dare to make a rash conclusion without seeing it with your own eyes. You are really blind. I think you don't want this pair of eyes anymore!"

Nalan shouted angrily, and Dugu Xin screamed immediately. He felt a red and black color in front of his eyes, and it was extremely dry. When he opened his eyes again, there was a layer of sand and miasma that blinded him and he could not see anything clearly.

A grain of divine sand fell into Nalan Sheng's hand. He rubbed it and said, "Since your master has never disciplined him, I will enforce the family rules on his behalf."

Dugu Xin cried out, holding his head and rolling on the ground. Amid the screams, Zu Huan finally spoke calmly, "Palace Master Nalan has a bad temper. My disciple just said a few truths, but you destroyed his eyes. You are really overbearing."

Although Dugu Xin had not yet entered his school and formally became his disciple, Zu Huan had already accepted the title. He glanced at the still wailing Dugu Xin and sneered in his heart, wondering what this kid was thinking. How could he hide the secrets from him? He was just using his body to get a legitimate reason. To be authentic, he must have a legitimate master.

This is his dear disciple. Now he is blind, how can he not ask for an explanation? I think that Cricket God is a good one!
Thinking of this, Master Zu Huan's hair and beard stood up, and he was furious: "You are so good, Nalan Sheng, you hurt my disciples for no reason. If I don't ask for an explanation, people all over the world will really look down on me!"

After saying this, he held the Purple and Green Twin Swords in his left and right hands, as if he was going to take action without telling anyone and getting some precious materials or elixirs as compensation.

"Hahaha, I'm not afraid of you!"

Nalan Sheng laughed loudly and a brown gourd appeared in his hand. The gourd opened and yellow sand rolled up into the sky.

Thirty-eight thousand grains of soul-shaking sand were scattered all over the ground. The energy was building up, and there were bursts of whistling sounds. It formed a formation, which became a large yellow sand formation. In an instant, the roof was overturned. The group of casual cultivators all cried in the wind and screamed continuously.

(End of this chapter)