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Chapter 178: The Assembly of the Divine Nine

In a solitary pavilion behind the Boundless Palace on the Heaven-Reaching Peak hung a large bell without a striker or anyone attending to it.

However, on this day, the bell suddenly rang on its own, its sound echoing through Heaven-Reaching Peak.

"It\'s the Bell of Celestial Hearing," someone from within the Boundless Palace said. "Three tolls signify a disaster in the mortal realm. Guardian elder, please go and investigate."

"Alright."

At the same time, these three chimes of the bell resonated in Buddhist Cloud Monastery, Penglai Supreme Sect, Great Astral Sect, Endless Sword Sect, Greater-Yin Cult, Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals, Celestial King Sect, and so on.

The Divine Nine all took action!

When the ranking of the Divine Nine was established, the Bell of Celestial Hearing was created. If one sect rang their bell, the sound would reach the eight other sects, and they would all gather immediately.

However, the bell would only ring if a major event affecting all the sects was occurring.

At this moment, three chimes sounded, signaling for Mount Shu to dispatch a guardian elder. If it had rung seven times, it would indicate an assembly of all the sect leaders from the Divine Nine!

The guardian elder was dressed in a fluttering Daoist robe, with a head of jet-black hair tied up. He appeared to be a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, with clear and sharp eyes, exuding a handsome and refined demeanor.

He didn\'t move, but instead sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion with his eyes closed. His innate self entered a vast and ethereal realm, the exact location of which was indiscernible.

The immortal aura lingered in this space, resembling the immortal realm.

It was precisely the realm for the gathering of the Divine Nine.

It was quite similar to the interdimensional soul domain within the Soul Subjugator Token. However, this realm looked very different.

There were nine elevated platforms within the space. After just a moment, nine massive figures formed by condensed clouds appeared in this space. They settled into their positions and looked towards the figure at the forefront.

This time, the one who had struck the Bell of Celestial Hearing was an elder from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion. The cloud-like figure vaguely resembled an elderly, frail man.

"The Bell of Celestial Hearing hasn\'t rung for a hundred years. We\'ve alerted everyone because this matter is truly very urgent," he said clearly, adding, "Our sect master just conducted a divination, foreseeing the fate of the mortal realm. He discovered the imminent presence of a Cataclysmic Ba emerging from the Immortals\' Marsh!"

"What?" The bald monk from the Buddhist Cloud Monastery spoke first. "A Cataclysmic Ba at the seventh realm?"

"Didn\'t something like that already appear two hundred years ago?" asked the guardian elder from Mount Shu Sect.

"Indeed, in the long years gone by, the Cataclysmic Ba would only appear about once every thousand years," the elder from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion continued, "but that doesn\'t necessarily mean that it would take a thousand years for the Immortals\' Marsh to nurture a new one. Or perhaps this was merely a coincidence."

"Once it steps out of the Immortals\' Marsh, it will bring forth calamities. It must be killed while it is still in the Immortals\' Marsh!" Someone from the Greater-Yin Cult spoke coldly. It appeared to be a tall woman with loose flowing hair.

"Kill it," a middle-aged Daoist from the Penglai Supreme Sect succinctly uttered in a cold manner.

"We will simply do what we did last time. Each sect will dispatch a cultivator at the seventh realm and assemble at the Immortals\' Marsh. There\'s no need to panic. When the Cataclysmic Ba emerges, the whole world will know. It is very hard for it to hide," a hoarse voice sounded. It was an elderly man from the Fog-Hidden Mountain of Immortals. Clearly, he had participated in the previous hunt that occurred two hundred years ago.

"Then let\'s take action," the man from the Great Astral Sect said without hesitation.

The individuals from the Celestial King Sect seemed somewhat gloomy and unsociable. They simply nodded without much expression, indicating that they might not be very cooperative, but they would likely participate in the upcoming actions.

The sword cultivators from the Endless Sword Sect showed no expression whatsoever. They remained silent, standing there like statues formed from clouds.

The old man from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion specifically inquired, "Elder Mo of the Endless Sword Sect, did you hear clearly?"

"Mm," responded the elder with the sword on his back.

If he hadn\'t responded, it would have been really hard to tell if this person was still present...

"Let us then return and inform our respective sects and start the preparation. We will assemble above the Immortals\' Marsh in one hour," the elder from the Celestial Pivot Pavilion said at last.

The cloudlike figures all dispersed instantly.

...

Inside the underground cave in the Immortals\' Marsh.

A seemingly naive little girl bared her tiny fangs at Chu Liang, but as she approached, she noticed something odd, sniffing with her nose as if sensing something.

She furrowed her little eyebrows and appeared puzzled.

Chu Liang swiftly turned back to her and reassured, "Don\'t worry, I\'ll get you out immediately."

He gently patted the little girl on the head and released a soft sigh.

Who would have thought he\'d end up picking up a child? Originally, he was in great danger in the Immortals\' Marsh.

And now, without the support of Old Fei, he willingly shouldered this new burden, though he felt somewhat helpless about it.

This child can\'t speak. She has no idea where her parents were located and she looks a little dumb. Did her parents abandon her here? Chu Liang thought to himself.

This conjecture wasn\'t entirely impossible. After all, similar situations had occurred in the impoverished areas of the Southern Regions. It was highly possible that a child who hadn\'t learned to speak by several years of age would have been taken to the boundaries of the Immortals\' Marsh and abandoned there.

If that was the case, the little one would be quite pitiful.

I wonder if the fight outside has ended.

Chu Liang pondered.

Even when Old Fei and Xu Ziyang worked together to fight the Gold Ba, they still struggled.

On the surface, their strengths seemed comparable, but the Gold Ba possessed a tough and highly defensive body. Their techniques weren\'t particularly effective against such formidable defense, especially as Old Fei excelled in Confucian and soul cultivation.

Although Xu Ziyang was powerful, the disparity in cultivation levels still created a noticeable gap.

Breaking through the Gold Ba\'s defenses seemed challenging for these two. As time passed, Old Fei would be at risk of being drained.

Considering all this, winning was far from certain.

Chu Liang hoped that even if they didn\'t win, they would still manage to escape the Immortals\' Marsh safely.

The most challenging part was that there wasn\'t just one Gold Ba outside, but also countless Silver Ba, Copper Ba, Iron Ba... The Immortals\' Marsh was in great turmoil, and the thought of numerous Ba wandering on the outskirts gave him a headache.

How am I going to get out?

Eh. What if I explore outside with a clone first?

Chu Liang suddenly remembered those three golden strands of hair.

"Why not use them now? What better time than this?" he muttered inwardly.

However, utilizing this item required him to concentrate his entire consciousness on the clone. His main body would remain stationary and entirely unaware of the surroundings.

He first needed to ensure that he was in an absolutely safe place. After some consideration, he deemed the current location relatively safe. If there was any danger, it would only be the little girl in front of him.

The little girl gave off the aura of a normal human being. Her presence here was the only odd thing.

If she was capable of disguising and hiding herself from his powerful method of detecting evil entities, then...

Suddenly, Chu Liang raised his hand.

He pointed behind and called out, "What\'s that over there?"

When the little girl turned to look, a golden brick appeared in his hand seemingly out of thin air. With a gentle whack, he struck the back of the little girl\'s head.

Whack.

But nothing happened.

The little girl did not reveal her true form nor did she faint.

There was a possibility of the dizziness effect of the Demon-Revealing Brick being triggered. In fact, Chu Liang had reason to suspect that it had occurred every time in the past because he had simply struck with too much force, resulting in only evil entities strong enough to resist the dizziness being safe from this effect.

Chu Liang quickly withdrew his hand and looked around with an innocent expression.

The little girl glanced back at him. With a hint of confusion in her eyes, the little girl rubbed the back of her head.

Chu Liang quickly reached out and massaged the little girl\'s head. "What\'s wrong? What\'s wrong? A stone must have fell and hit you on the head just now. Let me give you a massage. It won\'t hurt at all."

The confusion in the little girl\'s eyes deepened. After confirming her identity with the Demon-Revealing Brick, Chu Liang became certain that she wasn\'t an evil entity.

At this point, he had to ensure the little girl\'s safe exit from the Immortals\' Marsh.

He whispered to the little girl, "I\'m going to use an enchanted art to scout the road ahead. Be a good girl and don\'t wander off. Can you stay here and protect me for a while?"

The little girl continued to gaze at him with an expression that made it unclear whether she understood his words or not.

Chu Liang ignored her. He sat cross-legged on the ground and retrieved a strand of golden hair.

Swoosh—

A golden light flashed as he activated it with his divine intent.

The strand of hair transformed into a humanoid figure identical in height, appearance, temperament, and expression to Chu Liang.

Even those closest to Chu Liang wouldn\'t be able to tell that something was off.

Chu Liang immediately transferred all his divine intent onto the clone, then swiftly flew out along the opening above the cave.

After he departed, the little girl remained standing there, watching him with a blank expression.

After a while, her small eyebrows furrowed again, and she started getting closer to him.

Baring her tiny fangs, she sniffed along Chu Liang\'s body, sensing that there was something really strange about this person.

There seemed to be a savory aroma on this person\'s body, making her want to take a bite... but it was mixed with the foul smell of the Immortals\' Marsh, which she found quite repulsive.

In short, the smells on him were both repugnant and fragrant.

For a long time, her instinctive consciousness battled over whether or not to take a bite.

Just as she hesitated, the light from above the cave was suddenly blocked, and a tall figure appeared there.

The figure wore tattered golden clothes and was missing one arm and half of its torso. There was also a hole in the right chest. If it were a human, they would undoubtedly be dead; however, it could still survive because it was a Ba.

It was a powerful Gold Ba.

Indeed, this was the sixth-realm Gold Ba they had briefly fought earlier, the one that escaped from the battle with Xu Ziyang and Fei Qi!

The Gold Ba exuded a gloomy aura and emanated a strong sense of greed and murderous intent. It stared at Chu Liang with its empty eye socket, seeming to convey, "I finally found you."

But then, it sensed another presence.

The little girl lifted her head and gazed up at the formidable Gold Ba.

"Hiss..." She bared her fangs and hissed at the Gold Ba with a hint of fierceness and a slightly childish tone.

Upon seeing this, the Gold Ba trembled. Its entire body quivered. Then, without looking back, it fled, leaving a trail of golden light!

The Gold Ba, which had dared to charge fearlessly at the three cultivators, was actually scared away by the little girl baring her fangs!

After scaring off that foul creature, the little girl turned her head again to look at the thing in front of her that emitted this pleasant yet repugnant smell.

She felt conflicted.