Chapter 208: Donghuang Sect
"Brother... are you leaving soon?"
From up above the Xuanyin Sect base on the back of Little Gold, Yun Lu stared resolutely at Zhou Donghuang, her pretty face marred by a rare show of solemnity.
"Mm."
Zhou Donghuang smiled dotingly as he stroked Yun Lu's hair. "After I've sent Mother to Shenguang Peak and made the necessary preparations... then I'll leave."
Zhou Donghuang had brought up the topic of his departure from Ziyun to Yun Lu a long time ago.
"Brother... will you return?" Yun Lu asked again.
"Of course." Zhou Donghuang nodded. "I can't bear to leave you behind, you brat... Hmm, wait for me to come back. I'll definitely bring you something good."
"I don't want anything good... I just want for you to come home regularly," Yun Lu replied, solemn.
"Alright, alright... Alright."
Zhou Donghuang responded with a smile. At the same time, he scanned the base of Xuanyin Sect. There were swords and knives everywhere, but it was a completely one-sided battle where there was not even a shred of suspense with regards to how the battle will turn out.
The strongest of Xuanyin Sect had been killed by him at the Feast of Ziyun.
Even the strongest of the remaining people were no match for Divine Light Sect Leader Tuo Jin, much less the adepts under the leadership of the Thousand-Year Sect and the Tianwu Sect leaders who had joined the fray.
In just an hour, the dust settled.
"Your Highness, I will have a hundred thousand spirit stones transported to the Divine Light Sect the moment I return. The stones will be handed over to Lord Tuo Jin, who will deliver it to you."
Tianwu Sect Leader Ye Wen brought his men and bowed in greeting to Zhou Donghuang. Ye Wen said, "Also, if time permits, please feel free to stop by our sect... We of the Tianwu Sect will greet you with the warmest welcome!"
"Your Highness, I, too, will have the spirit stones delivered to you as soon as possible... The Thousand-Year Sect awaits your arrival as well," the Thousand-Year Sect Leader declared.
After the battle today at the Feast of Ziyun, both leaders knew full well that the young man clothed in white standing before them was destined to be a god!
The young man had more power than all of the adepts in Ziyun combined. There was no doubt that he was the strongest in all of Ziyun.
Such an existence should be one they had on their sides and not against them.
"Mm."
Zhou Donghuang nodded mildly. He then turned to look towards Divine Light Sect Tuo Jin. "I'm leaving to pick somebody up now, Tuo Jin... You return too, to make your preparations."
"Yes, Your Highness," Tuo Jin replied respectfully.
Shortly after, Little Gold flew up with a flap of its wings, bringing Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu up with it and disappearing into the clouds.
The people of the big three sects stared in awe up until the eagle had completely disappeared from their sight.
"Lord Tuo Jin, you're rather chummy with His Excellency... Is he really from Ziyun like the rest of us?"
After Zhou Donghuang had left, the Tianwu Sect leader could not help but ask Tuo Jin.
In the history of Ziyun—which spanned more than a thousand years—this was the first time they had seen someone who defied the laws of nature like Zhou Donghuang did. All of them were suspecting that the man in question was not actually from Ziyun.
The leader of the Thousand-Year Sect looked at Tuo Jin as well, clearly curious about the man.
"Lord Ye, I know what you're thinking."
Tuo Jin sighed, then spoke again, "But His Excellency is really from Ziyun."
"I can't believe someone like him is actually from Ziyun," Lord Ye sighed in response.
"After the people who attended the Feast of Ziyun have gone home, they will take this news back with them... It's only a matter of time before the name 'Zhou Donghuang' will spread through the entirety of Ziyun!" Ye Wen exclaimed again. "You can just imagine the history of Ziyun in the future, a lasting one, one where his name will have its own place.
"The few Dharma adepts that have appeared before him simply paled in comparison. He just overshadows them!"
...
Things unfolded exactly as the Thousand-Year Sect Leader Ye Wen had predicted.
In the short span of a few months, there was no one in the whole of Ziyun—barring the remote and desolate outskirts, like the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and the Fourteen Countries of Southern Jiang—who did not know that name.
Zhou Donghuang.
A late Primal Core adept.
Why did they say that he defied the laws of nature?
He who was barely twenty.
He who had killed the Xuanyin Sect's Golden Essence elder, Qi Ming, a man who stood on top of the entire Ziyun, and then went on to kill Elder Zhong Ya despite the latter having stepped into the Dharma stage!
He who had wiped out the Xuanyin Sect, one of the five great sects of Ziyun, with his own strength.
"Even if the combined strength of all the Golden Essence adepts of the other four great sects of Ziyun is somehow a match for him, the more important thing is that the man is still young. His potential is boundless!"
"Zhou Donghuang will become a prominent figure for Ziyun."
"His Excellency is the role model for the adepts of Ziyun!"
...
It seemed like Zhou Donghuang had become a lifelong goal for many people through the whole of Ziyun, whether they were adepts who had been at Xuanyan City witnessing the man's prowess first-hand, or adepts who had heard of but never seen the man.
There were also a few adepts who had seen Zhou Donghuang in Xuanyan City and committed his image to their memory. They then returned to have his likeness carved out as a statue to be put in their sects and families for worship.
Zhou Donghuang was none the wiser about any of this.
After he had left the base of Xuanyin Sect, he brought his younger sister, Yun Lu, back to Valley of the Medicine Masters. He then picked up his mother, Lin Lan, and the rest of the people back to the base of the Divine Light Sect—Shenguang Peak.
The Valley Head Su Mo immediately commanded that the Valley of the Medicine Masters will disband. Instead, the Donghuang Sect will be established.
His master, Zhou Donghuang, will serve as the founder and first leader of the new sect while he would be the vice-leader, in charge of its general affairs.
After the Divine Light Sect completely uprooted and relocated away from Shenguang Peak, the place had become the base for the Donghuang Sect and was subsequently renamed to Donghuang Peak.
And the Shenguang Empire had been renamed the "Donghuang Empire."
As for the original Valley of the Medicine Masters base, it was not left deserted. It had become a branch base for the Donghuang Sect, to be owned by Lu Qinghu. Lu Qinghu was the former head of the Lu family from Yunfeng Prefecture, the Western Chu Ridge in Yunyang.
"Spread the word to every one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley: the Valley of the Medicine Masters is hereby dissolved, and the Donghuang Sect has been established. Detail the deeds of our Donghuang Sect leader, His Excellency, and have it bound into books to be delivered to the royal families of each of the Sixteen Countries. Have them replicate it and circulate it to even the furthest corners of the East Valley."
Following the announcement made by Lu Qinghu, every single person in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley knew of Zhou Donghuang's deeds not long after.
They also knew that, from this day forth, the new master of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley was no longer Valley of the Medicine Masters but the Donghuang Sect.
The Valley of the Medicine Masters had now been incorporated into Donghuang Sect.
And the previous Valley Head, Su Mo had declared Zhou Donghuang to be the Donghuang Sect leader.
"To think that there would be so many Primal Core adepts of legends here in Ziyun... This is completely unheard of in the five great empires and the five great sects of Ziyun!"
"So the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley is but a remote village in Ziyun... The five great empires are so vast, tens and hundreds of times more so than the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. How fascinating."
"Who would have thought that the Xuanyin Sect, which was once part of the five great sects of Ziyun, would have been leveled by someone from our Sixteen Countries of the East Valley... Not only that, but that person was currently the strongest in the whole of Ziyun and has singlehandedly founded Donghuang Sect. He is crowned leader by the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, no less. He seems so much like someone from Yunyang."
"They say that, in the future, the Donghuang Sect will return here to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley every year to recruit new disciples... The really talented adepts have a chance of being sent to the main sect of the Donghuang Sect."
... .
This year, 1234 of the Ziyun Era, was meant to be an unforgettable one for the people of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.
This year, they learned about a lot of things that they had never heard of before.
This year, they knew that an outstanding figure had walked out from the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. That person was now the Donghuang Sect leader, who had the whole of the Donghuang Empire in his palm.
Of course, the ones who felt this the most were the people in Yunyang.
"Zhou Donghuang... Is it that Zhou Donghuang?"
"It's him."
"The preeminent Lu Family that used to reside at Yunfeng County beneath the Western Chu Ridge... they've been escorted to the Donghuang Sect... That family is also on good terms with Zhou Donghuang—Lu Qinghu of that family has always been following Zhou Donghuang's lead, no less!"
"For a preeminent family like theirs to hit it big in one go like that, they're practically superior to the royal families of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley!"
"They say that Lu Qinghu is the leader of the Donghuang Sect, and he's now a Primal Core adept!"
"He picked a good man to follow, huh. His master's hit it big, and now he's reaping the benefits as well."
...
A group of high-level officials from the Chu royal household were gathered in the Chu royal city in the Western Chu Ridge. They were sighing and laughing bitterly as they chatted.
If they had befriended Zhou Donghuang instead of making an enemy out of the man in the beginning, this success could have been theirs!
"There are quite a few people in the influential, aristocratic Tang Family who followed the lead of Ren Jiapei, the first lady of the Ren Family, to the Donghuang Sect. I heard that the she was sent directly to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect."
"That's to be expected. Ren Jiapei's on good terms with Yang Zixi, who's always by Zhou Donghuang, but she's also on good terms with Zhou Donghuang himself."
"I heard quite a number of people from the Yang Family are fuming."
"I really didn't think that the young man who had been an adept back then is now standing on top of the entirety of Ziyun, completely peerless!"
...
Qingshan town.
Residence of the Qin Family.
"Miss Xiaoyu, Uncle Zhen, I've been sent by my brother to come pick you up."
The huge black eagle hovered above the front yard of the Qin residence, and on its back sat a young girl who seemed to be around eight or nine years old. When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice seemed to magically carry to the Qin residence below.
Not long after, many people were gathered in the front yard.
"It's Miss Yun Lu, younger sister of Young Master Donghuang!"
"She's come to personally pick up Xiaoyu and Elder Qin Zhen? Are they being brought to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect?"
...
Now, even a small town as remote as Qingshan town was well aware of what had happened regarding Zhou Donghaung.
It was to the extent that a statue of him had been placed in front of the main gates of the Yunxuan Restaurant in the town. There was a tablet on one side of the statue, and carved onto it were the various things that Zhou Donghuang had done after his departure from Qingshan town.