Chapter 1667: What A Haughty Manner!

"Jing Xu Zi." At this moment, Duan Ling Tian's gaze landed on Jing Xu Zi.

He had long heard about this genius Dao Cultivator in the Rising Sky Mansion district and knew that his strength was almost on par with the Flowery Monk. Besides, both of them were also much more powerful than Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion.

Of course, saying that they were much more powerful than Xu Jing only meant that they used to be much more powerful than him.

Tomorrow was the day the Rising Sky Rankings battle would be officially held and for the sake of this day, Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion, must have done his preparations too.

Not only that, even the Rising Sky Mansion must have spared no effort in nurturing him and spent a great number of cultivation resources on him.

For this reason, even Duan Ling Tian did not dare conclude that the Flowery Monk and Jing Xu Zi would be able to beat Xu Jing now.

Of course, even though he was not sure, his intuition told him that the Flowery Monk and Jing Xu Zi would be stronger than Xu Jing was.

"Zhong Gu is here too!" Another exclamation reverberated and attracted many people's attention, including Duan Ling Tian's.

Duan Ling Tian cast a glance and saw an ordinary-looking, plain-dressed, young man walking in the air toward them from a distance. He had a pair of broadswords that had no sheath on his back. Instead, it was merely tightly wrapped by layers of plain cloth, making him appear particularly low-profile.

However, even though this young man was low-profile, the moment he appeared in the Nimble Valley, he still startled many people because he was Zhong Gu.

If it was said that the most outstanding people in the middle-aged generation not more than 50 years old in the Rising Sky Mansion district were the Flowery Monk and Jing Xu Zi, then other than Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion, he was next.

When Zhong Gu was still at the peak of the Pristine Saint Stage, he had once defeated Xu Jing who was on a similar stage too.

However, after Xu Jing had made a breakthrough to the Early Refined Saint Stage, he was no longer a match for him.

Be that as it might, Zhong Gu had also made a breakthrough to the Early Refined Saint Stage now. If Xu Jing was still at the Early Refined Saint Stage now, he might not be a match for Zhong Gu.

Of course, the chances of Xu Jing still being at the Early Refined Saint Stage were slim.

After all, he was the Young Mansion Master of the fourth-rated force, the Rising Sky Mansion.

The Flowery Monk, Jing Xu Zi, and Zhong Gu appeared in succession, attracting the gaze of many people in the Nimble Valley.

On the other hand, Duan Ling Tian, who was hovering in the air not far from the Flowery Monk, did not attract much attention due to his wallflower presence. It was only the Flowery Monk who seemed to express interest in him from the start.

However, after a series of probing, the Flowery Monk did not notice any difference in Duan Ling Tian and this made him puzzled. In the end, after bidding goodbye to Duan Ling Tian, he proceeded to leave and go back to the corner of the Nimble Valley where the other Brahma Temple people were.

As for the group of people from the Pure Yang Shrine, including Jing Xu Zi, all of them had now descended at the Nimble Valley.

As a sectless cultivator, Zhong Gu did not put on such a display of splendor. He found a place alone and quietly rested there. From the beginning till the end, he did not talk to anybody at all, appearing to be particularly cold.

As time passed by, the last fifth-rated force arrived in the afternoon.

Of course, the people from this fifth-rated force had already come to occupy an area before this. They took up a corner in the Nimble Valley as their resting place and proceeded to stay there the moment they arrived.

Even though this fifth-rated force did not have such outstanding genius disciples like the Flowery Monk of the Brahma Temple and Jing Xu Zi of the Pure Yang Shrine, they were not lacking disciples with high innate talent too. This time, they came in a huge group, aiming to participate in the Rising Sky Rankings Battle the next day.

Of course, they dared not think of entering the top three spots.

Furthermore, they dared not even think of claiming the fourth place of the Rising Sky Rankings too.

In the opinions of most of the people in the Rising Sky Mansion district, if no mishaps occurred, the top ten of the Rising Sky Rankings would definitely include the Flowery Monk, Jing Xu Zi, Xu Jing, and Zhong Gu.

Of course, even though the words "no mishaps" were used here, how could there possibly be so many accidents? Therefore, many people were almost certain that the top four in the Rising Sky Rankings would definitely be the four of them.

The target set by this fifth-rated force for its disciples was to make it to the top ten in the Rising Sky Rankings.

Soon, evening arrived and the sky above the Nimble Valley seemed to have been dyed as it completely transformed into a crimson red.

"The people of the Rising Sky Mansion are not here yet." Many people looked left and right when they did not notice anybody from the Rising Sky Mansion at all.

Of course, the Rising Sky Mansion people currently in the Nimble Valley now had been sent out by the Rising Sky Mansion to occupy the space. The leader was Elder Jiu from the Rising Sky Mansion.

"What's wrong with the Rising Sky Mansion? Don't tell me that they only plan to come tomorrow?"

"It can't be. According to the previous rules of the Rising Sky Rankings Battle, it always starts the moment the sky turns bright in the east. I'm sure it will be the same this time too, so it's impossible for the Rising Sky Mansion people to come tomorrow. That will be too late!"

"It's not only the Rising Sky Mansion. The people from the other two fourth-rated forces aren't here yet too."

"The powerhouses of the fourth-rated forces abide by the ancestral rule of their respective forces and will come to our Rising Sky Mansion district every 50 years to make sure our Rising Sky Mansion's Rising Sky Rankings is absolutely fair."

"Usually, they will come together with the Rising Sky Mansion."

The discussions in the Nimble Valley were constant and lively.

"The other two fourth-rated forces," Even Duan Ling Tian had also found out recently that people from two other fourth-rated forces would come during the Rising Sky Rankings Battle.

The people from the fourth-rated forces were the powerhouses of their own respective forces.

The reason these powerhouses came to the Rising Sky Rankings Battle was not due to the Rising Sky Mansion's invitation, but because they abided to the rule of their respective forces. A long time ago when the Rising Sky Rankings was introduced, in order to ensure fairness, the people presiding the Rising Sky Rankings Battle were not from the Rising Sky Mansion but from two other fourth-rated forces instead.

The strength of these two fourth-rated forces was in no way inferior to the Rising Sky Mansion.

For this reason, none of the powerhouses who walked out of their places feared the Rising Sky Mansion at all. In this case, they would not worried that the Rising Sky Mansion people would overwhelm others with their power and cheat.

It was precisely because of this that the Rising Sky Rankings Battle could be deemed as very fair.

After knowing this, Duan Ling Tian also breathed a sigh of relief. "This way, even if I kill Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion in the Rising Sky Rankings Battle, the Rising Sky Mansion powerhouse won't dare to do anything to me in front of the powerhouses of the two-rated forces."

He only had one purpose today — to kill Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion and rescue Xue Nai from the crisis.

As for his ranking in the Rising Sky Rankings, he did not care at all.

Casting aside the fact that he was not from the Rising Sky Mansion district and did not need such honor at all, even if he was, he had no interest in the Rising Sky Rankings either.

It was merely a bubble reputation.

Throughout the journey, he had gone through so much and was no longer attached to this world.

"They're here!" An exclamation reverberated, causing Duan Ling Tian to snap back to reality. At the same time, he followed the gaze of the majority of people in the Nimble Valley and looked over.

A group of people was making their way over in a vast formation in the distant sky.

After these people got closer, one could still see that they were split into three waves of people. The three waves of people were walking abreast side by side, in no particular order.

"It's Xu Cen, the Grand Elder of the Rising Sky Mansion!" Somebody who had sharp eyes looked at the wave of people who were walking in the middle, or to be more precise, the person who was leading the group of people walking in the middle.

It was a curly-bearded, old man. Be it his hair, brows and curly beard, all of them were white. From afar, he appeared to be like a white lion that gave off an invisible pressure to the others.

He was Xu Cen, the Grand Elder of the Rising Sky Mansion.

Even though Xu Cen's strength could not contend with the top three in the Rising Sky Mansion, making it to the top five was no problem for him at all.

Therefore, his presence sent quite a fright throughout the crowd.

In the Rising Sky Mansion, Xu Cen's position was merely inferior to the Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion, the two Vice Mansion Masters and that Supreme Elder who was secretive in his movement and trace.

"I can't believe that Elder Xu Cen would come personally. It looks like the Rising Sky Mansion also places great emphasis on the Rising Sky Rankings Battle this time too."

"Aren't you talking nonsense? The Rising Sky Rankings is the ranking that has the most authority in the Rising Sky Mansion district and holds extraordinary meaning. As the ranking that has the most authority in the Rising Sky Mansion district, isn't it normal for the Rising Sky Mansion to regard it as important?"

"Eh? Why didn't I see that Young Mansion Master from the Rising Sky Mansion?"

"That's right! Where's that Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion?"

As the discussions spread out, everyone realized that Xu Jing, one of the lead roles in this Rising Sky Rankings Battle, did not seem to have arrived together with the Grand Elder of the Rising Sky Mansion and the rest.

"Don't tell me that Xu Jing isn't coming at all!"

"Impossible! No matter what, Xu Jing is still the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion and on top of that, his innate talent isn't bad, so how could he possibly miss the Rising Sky Rankings Battle this time?"

"That's right! The Rising Sky Rankings Battle is held every 50 years and there's an age limit. In other words, a person only has one chance to join the Rising Sky Rankings Battle once in his entire life. How could he possibly not come?"

"Even if he doesn't want any fame, he'll still want to become the next Mansion Master! As far as I know, a person who has never entered the Rising Sky Rankings will never stand a chance to become the Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion. It's the law of the Rising Sky Mansion and has been an iron law since ancient times."

"I've heard of that too. Still, although the great battalion of the Rising Sky Mansion has come, Xu Jing who is the Young Mansion Master has not shown up at all. What's actually going on?"

"Perhaps he has met some sudden situation."

In the Nimble Valley, the fact that Xu Jing had not come yet had caused a commotion to erupt.

"Hmph! That's rather haughty of him!"

"In terms of strength, the Flowery Monk and Jing Xu Zi are much stronger than him, yet he's still not yet here. What show is he putting on now?!"

"The Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion... Tsk Tsk... If he doesn't have this ring of glory with him and he's in either the Brahma Temple or the Pure Yang Shrine, he'd have long been suppressed by the Flowery Monk and Jing Xu Zi till he can't lift his head up at all."

The Nimble Valley was getting livelier with chatter. Many people even started to mock Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of the Rising Sky Mansion.