As time trickled away, Yu Yuan began to grow anxious.
Not only him, but all the major powers that had come for the Chaos Bell Fragments were now on edge.
They had all been in Eastern Emperor Heaven for so long, yet there hadn't been a whisper of news regarding the fragments.
To be precise, there was no true news.
False leads were plenty, with eight out of ten being decoys set by the major powers to mislead others.
The remaining two were pieces of information spread by Yu Yuan himself.
That afternoon, Yu Yuan and Yun Zhongzi were strolling through a vast forest... treasure hunting while hoping to encounter some unwary Immortal Gods.
Suddenly, Yu Yuan's eyelids twitched, sensing a surge of Evil Qi ahead.
A moment later, Yun Zhongzi too sensed something amiss and said in a low voice, "There's a battle up ahead."
"There are a lot of people battling," Yu Yuan corrected him, focusing his vision ahead.
Ahead, boulders flew across a mountain range, waterfalls flowed in reverse, and seven or eight Immortal Gods were engaged in battle in the skies above the mountain, not grouped into two or three factions but each fighting on their own, entangled in chaos.
"Dao brother."
Yun Zhongzi said in a low voice, "Should we intervene in this situation?"
Yu Yuan spoke with righteous conviction, "Where there is conflict, we cannot sit idly by! At the very least, we should stop the strife and find out why they are fighting."
"Your words hold truth."
Yun Zhongzi nodded, his eyes scanning the battlefield, "Among those seven battling Immortal Gods, they are all Heavenly Immortal masters. I'll take care of the four on the left, and you take care of the three on the right..."
Before he could finish, he saw Yu Yuan transform into a rainbow streak, zipping past him and directly into the midst of the battlefield.
"Boom!"
A thunderous sound.
A Mixed Gold Hammer, large as a hill, thunderously crashed down at the center of the battlefield, immediately raising fierce gusts of wind in all directions, sending the seven embattled Heavenly Immortals tumbling.
Yu Yuan stood atop the Mixed Gold Hammer, looking around and declared, "Stop for a moment, you won't be able to kill anyone like this."
His hammer strike was meant only to disperse the Immortals, not to exert his full strength, thus, none of the seven Heavenly Immortals were harmed and stabilized their forms quickly, all of them looking towards him, surprised and angry.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
At this moment, Yun Zhongzi caught up and explained, "Fellow Daoists, please do not misunderstand, I am but a Loose Cultivator, the One Qi Immortal, I'm here because I could not bear to see you fighting to the death, wishing to quell the conflict..."
Before he finished, one of the Heavenly Immortals interrupted irritably, "Are you the One Qi Immortal who likes to fight against the strong and support the weak? What does our fight have to do with you?"
"Brothers?"
Yun Zhongzi said in surprise, "If you are brothers, why don't you sit down and discuss your issues instead of coming to blows?"
The Heavenly Immortal sighed, "It's precisely because we can't discuss it clearly that we have come to blows."
As his voice faded, a younger Heavenly Immortal on the side cried out excitedly, "Don't put on an act there; I saw the Star Banner first, yet you all insist 'to the able goes the spoils'! Isn't it just that you want to snatch my treasure? Just come at me!"
"Star Banner?"
Yu Yuan raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You're fighting over the Star Banner that the Ancient Demon Court used to act as the eye of the Celestial Stars Formation?"
He looked around and asked curiously, "Where is the Star Banner?"
"On the mountain peak below..."
Yun Zhongzi quickly located the target.
Following the indication, Yu Yuan saw at the top of the peak a large black banner surrounded by spiraling stars, wrapped in auspicious mists.
Could it really be the Star Banner?!
Legend has it that the Demon Emperor, Emperor Jun, once crafted three hundred and sixty-five Great Celestial Stars Banners and fourteen thousand eight hundred Lesser Celestial Stars Banners, respectively entrusted to three hundred and sixty-five Daluo Golden Immortals and fourteen thousand eight hundred Golden Immortals. Ultimately, they deployed the Celestial Stars Formation, capable of obliterating heaven and earth.
Yu Yuan's heart quivered slightly, a surge of excitement faintly rousing within.
Having been in Eastern Emperor Heaven so long, this was his first encounter with something related to the Ancient Demon Court.
Moreover, this Star Banner seemed as though it had been deliberately placed at the mountain's summit.
Could it be that remnants of the Demon Court had escaped the great battle against the Witch Demon and sought refuge here in Eastern Emperor Heaven?
This was indeed very possible!
Although Yu Yuan's mind was awash with tumultuous thoughts, his expression remained serene as he turned to the Heavenly Immortals with puzzlement, "If the Star Banner is indeed at the mountaintop, then what's the meaning of you all fighting to the death over here?"
The previously conversing Heavenly Immortal responded in a muffled voice, "We brothers discovered the Star Banner together, but there's only one, naturally, only one among us could possess it, so we quarreled over who should go and retrieve it…
Then came a young yet highly accomplished daoist, who suggested that since worldly treasures belong to the mightiest, we should sort out the superior from the inferior. The victor would then claim the Star Banner..."
Hearing this, Yu Yuan's interest peaked as he pointed to a figure rapidly departing on a white cloud in the sky, "The young daoist you speak of, is it that one?"
The Heavenly Immortal looked up, nodded, and said, "Indeed, that's him. Strange, why did he suddenly leave?"
Yu Yuan had a plan in mind, as he addressed Yun Zhongzi, "You wait here for a bit, I'll be right back."
Having said that, he transformed into a rainbow light, chasing after the figure riding the cloud.
The latter, sensing something, abruptly turned into a streak of rainbow, speeding away into the distance.
However, his speed of flight as a rainbow was far inferior to that of Yu Yuan's, and in a mere moment, he was overtaken.
Approaching closer, one could see he was wearing a green Daoist robe, tall and formidable.
Yu Yuan didn't bother with niceties, hurling his hammer forward, forcing the man to stop and turn around with an expression of fright, yelling, "Who are you? What is it that you want by stopping me?"
"Heh—"
Yu Yuan sneered, "Did you really think you could take the Star Banner away?"
The man's complexion shifted, stubbornly retorting, "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Yu Yuan was not in the mood for idle chatter, reaching out his hand, "If you said that worldly treasures belong to the mightiest, then I'm stronger than you, therefore that Star Banner should rightfully be mine…
Now hand over the Star Banner, and I'll let you leave. Otherwise, one swing of my hammer will ensure you stick to the rocks and never come off!
Don't you dare tell me you don't have the Star Banner. Your Blinding Technique won't fool me; you'll need another thousand or eight hundred years of cultivation."
The man's complexion grew even uglier, fists clenched, his face a mix of reluctance and astonishment as his bright eyes flickered ceaselessly.
Seeing that he remained silent, Yu Yuan weighed his Mixed Gold Hammer in his right hand, "I'm counting to three...three..."
"The Star Banner is here!"
Before Yu Yuan could count to two, the man promptly tossed over a black banner and then sped away as a rainbow without looking back.
Yu Yuan reached out to catch the banner, and after a close inspection, his brows furrowed, "This is a half-finished product! You dare to fool me with a fake?"
The man hastily replied, "This is how it was when I obtained it; I swear it's true!"
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"…"
After a brief moment, Yu Yuan watched the rainbow light swiftly disappear into the distance, a smile creeping onto his face as he murmured to himself, "Smart lad."
Having been compelled to surrender the Star Banner, the tall man in the green robe transformed into a rainbow light and traveled nearly ten thousand miles before stopping.
But once the rainbow aura faded, what appeared was a handsome young man clad in a white robe.
This was none other than Yang Jian, a disciple under the Chan Sect Golden Immortal, Yu Ding!
At this moment, his face bore a solemn and puzzled expression, muttering, "Strange, why would he be with Uncle Yun Zhongzi? And...how could Uncle Yun Zhongzi be the One Qi Immortal?
No, I must report this to my master as soon as possible."
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