Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 147 The Holy City of the Northern Frontier
Feng Huaiyu's first half of life was that of a spirited and ambitious young man.

Having mastered swordsmanship in his youth, he ventured into the martial world and within a few years established a formidable reputation, almost becoming a powerful figure like the leader of the martial arts alliance.

Then, by chance, he met a senior who was about to pass away, and received his mantle, thus becoming a cultivator.

And then... that's it.

It took him nearly forty years to go from Qi Ling to Qi Hai.

Forty years passed without incident, but those forty years allowed him to see through his own "talent".

Among mortals, he might be a martial arts prodigy, but on the path of cultivation, he is just an ordinary rogue cultivator.

If you're unlucky, you'll never reach the Gang Sha realm in your lifetime. If you're even unlucky, you'll encounter a demon on your cultivation journey and die halfway there.

Feng Huaiyu was really unlucky. He encountered a demon who appeared out of nowhere and almost died at the hands of that demon's Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Just when Feng Huaiyu was driven to the brink of despair, he encountered a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect. With just a light sword strike, the demon who had left him powerless was trapped in a cage of sword energy.

After the Qinghe Sword Sect disciple inquired about the reason and confirmed that the man was a ruthless killer, he killed him with a single sword strike.

The seriously injured Feng Huaiyu was taken to Qinghe. After he recovered, he couldn't wait to go to the Qinghe Sword Sect and express his desire to join.

However, Feng Huaiyu was rejected in the initial swordsmanship test.

The cultivators of the Qinghe Sword Sect believed that he did not have the talent to learn swordsmanship.

Feng Huaiyu was unconvinced. He had once been invincible in the martial arts world with his exquisite swordsmanship. Even if the swordsmanship of the mortal realm was not very useful after cultivation, how could anyone say that he lacked the talent to learn swordsmanship?

No matter how many times Feng Huaiyu tried, he could never learn even the basic sword techniques of the Qinghe Sword Sect.

He didn't remember how many years he had wasted in Qinghe until he noticed he had gray hair and wrinkles on his face, and then he realized that his lifespan was running out.

Only then did Feng Huaiyu accept reality: he truly lacked the talent to learn swordsmanship.

Then, he could only join the Qinghe Sect, a sect whose members were all pitiful souls rejected by the Qinghe Sword Sect. A few years later, Feng Huaiyu barely endured the pain of the Gang Sha Body Refinement.

After body refinement comes the stage of penetrating the profound, requiring one to sense the mysteries of heaven and earth, and no longer able to continue cultivating in isolation. Feng Huaiyu then traveled throughout the world, unexpectedly encountering the monk Bu Mei in the Northern Frontier, then meeting Chen Ye, and finally, through Chen Ye, meeting Wang Wancheng.

Originally, Feng Huaiyu wanted to tell Wang Wancheng that he had finally mastered the basic sword techniques of the Qinghe Sword Sect and hoped that he could be given another chance to rejoin the Qinghe Sword Sect, even if it was just as a sweeping servant.

Unfortunately, Wang Wancheng rejected him once again and told him some bad news.

The Qinghe Sword Sect disciple who saved his life had failed to break through to the Nascent Soul realm and had already died.

Wang Wancheng wanted to warn Feng Huaiyu that there was no need to waste any more time on swordsmanship, because even for a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect, the path of cultivation was by no means smooth sailing.

Instead of constantly thinking about joining the Qinghe Sword Sect, you should think about other options.

Feng Huaiyu never expected to hear such devastating news. He remembered how that young sword immortal had been so spirited and possessed unparalleled swordsmanship. Could such a genius really perish before even reaching the Nascent Soul stage?

Feng Huaiyu left in a daze, not knowing how long he had been wandering the snowfield until he met this fellow Daoist Pang.

Pang Wen claimed to be a disciple of the Burning Lamp Sect.

Feng Huaiyu had heard of this name before. Just as the Qinghe Sword Sect had its own Qinghe Sect, the Fenxiang Sect also had a similar imitation.

However, the Qinghe Sect forcibly took over the reputation of the Qinghe Sword Sect, while the Randeng Sect was not like that; it was more like an affiliated sect of the Fenxiang Sect.

It is said that any disciple who performs well in the Burning Lamp Sect can smoothly join the Incense Burning Sect, which is like a meteoric rise for ordinary cultivators.

"The Nirvana Sect has committed heinous crimes in the Northern Frontier. Although the Qinghe Sword Sect leader has severely injured them, there are definitely still demons hiding in the Northern Frontier. Our goal is to find these demons. As long as we can make contributions in eliminating demons, you and I can both join the Incense Burning Sect."

Feng Huaiyu was completely confused at the time, so he followed Pang Wen onto the treasure ship. Later, he learned that there were many other cultivators on the ship who had been invited by Pang Wen to board the ship for the same reason.

Of the dozen or so cultivators, only seven were from the Burning Lamp Sect; the rest had come to check on the situation or join in the fun after hearing about the disaster that had occurred in the Northern Frontier.

Feng Huaiyu didn't initially feel anything was wrong; it's true that it's safer to have more people to slay demons and monsters.

But Pang Wen sailed his treasure ship to the tribe of the barbarians, saying that cooperating with the barbarians would make it easier to find the remnants of the Nirvana Sect.

At this point, Feng Huaiyu began to sense that something was wrong.

Even if it was to facilitate the search for the demons of the Nirvana Sect, why would they bewitch that barbarian priest and create false ancestral divine pronouncements? Such methods are far too insidious, and once exposed, they are more likely to provoke resentment.

Feng Huaiyu sensed something was amiss, so he went alone to the bow of the treasure ship to think it over carefully. But to his surprise, Pang Wen actually came here specifically to explain, as if he was afraid that Feng Huaiyu would inform on him to the barbarians.

Feng Huaiyu tried his best to keep a straight face and asked Pang, "Fellow Daoist Pang guessed that the Nirvana Sect's demons would appear at the Deer Hunting Gathering, which is why you're willing to help those barbarians?"

Pang Wen laughed and said, "The demon of Nirvana Sect has been hiding for a thousand years. Even the five righteous sects couldn't find their mountain gate. How could they be discovered so easily? However, this deer hunt is a grand event in the Northern Frontier. If a demon wants to harm people, he will most likely choose a place like this. Let's go and join in the fun, and also gather some information. What do you think?"

Feng Huaiyu nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist is right. Then I will go back and cultivate in peace. When we arrive at our destination, please remind me." After saying this, Feng Huaiyu walked towards the cabin.

Once Feng Huaiyu disappeared from sight, Pang Wen's amiable demeanor turned cold as he thought, "I underestimated Feng Huaiyu. Could it be that he has seen through something?"

The claim that they were hunting down the demon of the Nirvana Sect was false. The true target of the Burning Lamp Sect was never to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, but rather Chen Ye, who had secretly established his sect in the northern border region.

All of this was ordered by the Incense Burning Sect.

The Nirvana Sect sacrificed over 100,000 people, and although Zhang Qi wiped them out with a single sword strike, such a large-scale operation must have had ulterior motives.

The Demonic Sect wouldn't simply slaughter hundreds of thousands of people for the sake of tyranny, especially now that the Demonic Sect has to live in hiding. Knowing that they would be attacked by Zhang Qi's sword, they still chose to take the risk.

There must be something fishy about this.

The Incense Burning Sect has sent disciples to investigate multiple times, but the secrets of heaven have been obscured, and they have found almost no clues.

However, both the head and chief of the Seven Star Hall were in seclusion, and unless the sect leader Lu Xingzhou asked for their permission, no one else could persuade them to come.

After waiting for a while, I heard that Chen Ye had established a sect here.

The mere mention of Chen Ye's name sends shivers down the spines of everyone in the Burning Incense Sect.

After the Nirvana Sect caused such a great uproar, Chen Ye started his own sect here? Even if the divination yielded no results, it's obvious that something is wrong.

Chen Ye must know some secret, a secret related to the Nirvana Sect's blood sacrifice.

However, the Incense Burning Sect could not directly intervene, while the Qinghe Sword Sect was practically ready to take Chen Ye as a disciple; everyone knew their intention to protect him.

The Incense Burning Sect didn't want a direct conflict with the Qinghe Sword Sect, so they had no choice but to ask someone else to test the waters. The Burning Lamp Sect was there to do just that. Pang Wen received orders from his sect that, whether it was to test, provoke, or use other methods, he had to find out Chen Ye's true strength.

At the very least, we need to know why he suddenly established a sect in the northern frontier, and how much he knows about the secrets of the Nirvana Sect's blood sacrifice.

Therefore, Pang Wen traveled all the way here, inviting cultivators from all walks of life to join him. For easy-going people like Feng Huaiyu, he used the promise of eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path to win him over. For other rogue cultivators, he spent a lot of money. In short, he wanted to make the forces on this treasure ship more complicated.

If a conflict does arise, we can find many excuses; in short, we cannot allow the Qinghe Sword Sect to interfere.

If Chen Ye intends to establish a sect in the Northern Frontier, he will most likely participate in this Deer Hunting Gathering. It is only natural that Pang Wen would also bring people to participate and have some interaction with Chen Ye.

Whether to negotiate or go to war at that time can be decided depending on the situation.

The relationship with the Bile tribe was merely to give them a legitimate reason to participate in the deer hunt. Controlling a mere barbarian priest was not difficult for the Burning Lamp faction. Once they reached the deer-cutting pool, the barbarians of the Bile tribe would be of no use.

However, Feng Huaiyu seemed to have some doubts.

It was a perfect excuse, and Pang Wen was certain that he hadn't given anything away. He didn't know why Feng Huaiyu would suddenly become suspicious.

Pang Wen planned to find an excuse to send Feng Huaiyu away, since one more wouldn't make a difference.

However, once Feng Huaiyu started cultivating, he truly hid inside the cabin and didn't come out at all. Pang Wen wanted to find an excuse to get rid of him, but he couldn't find one.

The treasure ship flew straight ahead and arrived at the Deer-Cutting Pond in no time.

Literally speaking, Geluchi is a pond on a snowfield, or at most a relatively large lake.

But in reality, it is a city surrounded by a huge lake.

The holy city of the northern frontier stands majestically on the shady side of the snow-capped mountains, surrounded by snow-capped peaks, its entire body white. The city walls cascade down the mountainside, with the largest difference in height reaching three hundred feet.

This holy city has stood here for thousands of years. Countless slaves worked themselves to death to build this magnificent city on this snow-capped mountain. There are 100,000 monks in the city, chanting scriptures day and night, their voices echoing for miles around.

However, the Nirvana Sect was later driven away by the righteous path and could only retreat to some remote corner of the world, leaving the holy city in ruins.

Over time, the magnificent city turned into ruins.

Nowadays, people only come to admire the former glory during deer hunting festivals.

Pang Wen maneuvered the treasure ship to the gate of the pristine holy city and slowly landed. This was the rule set by Bi Le: one must enter the holy city through the main gate, otherwise it would be considered as starting a war with all the tribes.

Bile quickly led his tribal warriors off the treasure ship. Looking at the majestic holy city, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Every time I come here, I walk up from the foot of the mountain. I never imagined that the holy city would be even more magnificent from the sky. Even eagles can't fly up to this holy city. Perhaps in the past thousand years, we are the only ones who have come from the sky."

No sooner had he finished speaking than several unpleasant cawing sounds came from the sky.

A black whirlwind descended from the sky and landed right next to the treasure ship.

Chen Ye jumped down from the black whirlwind and looked at the group of cultivators in front of him with a puzzled expression.

One or two would be fine, but if a large group of cultivators from the Central Plains appeared, would the Northern Frontier people even have a chance to participate in the Deer Hunting Association?

(End of this chapter)