The First Immortal of Destiny-Chapter 577: Times Have Changed_1

At those words, Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei were immediately taken aback!

"I had originally thought that Junior Brother Shen’s interest in this girl was merely due to the close personal ties between you two." Running his hand over his white beard, Yuan Heming spoke leisurely, "I never expected you to have such great confidence in her strength, believing that she could overcome all rivals and seize the position of chief in this competition."

"In that case, I am curious to see just how extraordinary this Chen’s girl is!"

Although the Riverside Sect didn’t have a vast number of Sect Disciples at or above the Qi Gathering Realm, there were other factors. Firstly, cultivation is an extremely private matter; even the closest kin might not fully understand each other’s cultivation methods and techniques. Secondly, as Supreme Elders, juggling sect affairs and personal cultivation already consumed considerable effort, they simply did not have the extra mental power to pay attention to every Sect Disciple.

Consequently, neither Yuan Heming nor Zhou Zhiwei knew much about Chen Mengze beyond the fact that she was "Junior Brother Shen’s" childhood friend, their relationship was rather delicate, and she had encountered certain fortuitous circumstances that had greatly boosted her cultivation and magic. As for more specific details, such as what kind of opportunity Chen Mengze had obtained, what magic treasures she possessed, and how strong her true combat prowess was, they were not very clear.

But after hearing Shen Mo’s words, they couldn’t help but anticipate Chen Mengze’s upcoming performance with a little more excitement.

It had to be understood that among these seventeen competing Sect Disciples, Zhou Ru and two others were current core disciples who had stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm for periods ranging from ten to over twenty years. Among the other core candidates, there were those with substantial foundations like Guo Zhao and Yao Ting, individuals with extraordinary talents like Lu Ming of the Thunder Body, and dark horses like Cao Ren who had emerged from the Inner Door—truly a star-studded gathering of elites!

If Shen Mo said Chen Mengze was a contender for chief and even intended to promote her to a Peak Master position, then she must possess truly extraordinary qualities.

During their conversation, Chen Mengze and Guo Zhao had already entered the arena below. They performed the customary salute to the three Supreme Elders and Jin Chinian, the Sunrise Peak Master, beneath the Green Cloud Umbrella, then quickly entered a combat stance.

WHOOSH!

Chen Mengze exhaled, and accompanied by a surge of white, frosty light, the crystal-clear Returning Snow Sword landed in her hand. The heavy rain falling around her was instantly frozen into beads of ice that hung suspended in the air. These quickly formed a dome-like ice shield, composed of tens of thousands of densely packed ice beads.

"Senior Brother Guo, make your move!" Chen Mengze held the magic sword defensively in one hand while clutching a few Grade IV talismans in the other, nodding at Guo Zhao.

Across from her, Guo Zhao also took out his magic treasure and activated his defensive magic. He didn’t rush to attack, his expression rather sentimental. "I never thought a day would come when I’d compete with Junior Sister Chen for a core seat," he lamented. "Still less did I imagine that the one who, back then, painstakingly tried to get... from me..." As he said this, he glanced at the figure seated high above on the clouds and forcibly swallowed the rest of his words.

The person he was so wary of, not daring to speak ill of, was undoubtedly Shen Mo. With Shen Mo’s Golden Core Realm five senses, he perceived Guo Zhao’s expression and words with extraordinary clarity...

At that moment, a muscle in Shen Mo’s eye twitched, and he suppressed the urge to slap Guo Zhao dead.

He didn’t need Guo Zhao to finish to guess what he was about to say. It would undoubtedly be about how Guo Zhao had once looked down on this peripheral disciple, Chen Mengze, and how she had tried all sorts of ways to extract information about Forging and various benefits from him. And now, that same peripheral disciple had cultivated to the Golden Core Realm and become one of the sect’s three current patriarchs! To be honest, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with his actions back then. After all, he hadn’t taken Guo Zhao’s help for free; hadn’t he also offered advice in return? It was only natural for an outer disciple, lacking everything, to strive to acquire cultivation resources. In nature, it was no different from Guo Zhao competing in this tournament for a core seat; the only distinctions lay in their cultivation realms and the scale of the benefits sought. Of course, times had changed. If the present Shen Mo were to return to his past circumstances, he wouldn’t resort to such methods to seek benefits. The reason was simple: his temperament and perspective were different. More importantly, his relationship with Chen Mengze was far beyond what it had been back then!

Facing the probing gazes of Yuan Heming and Zhou Zhiwei, Shen Mo snorted coldly, "Senior Brothers, isn’t your curiosity a bit excessive?"

The two patriarchs, Yuan and Zhou, exchanged a smile and let the matter drop.

Down below in mid-air, Chen Mengze was growing impatient. She swung her Returning Snow Sword, unleashing a sharp, icy sword Qi towards Guo Zhao.

CRACK!

The magical shield Guo Zhao had raised shattered like an eggshell, startling him into hastily summoning a defensive magic treasure.

He tried to say something more, but Chen Mengze cut him off sharply, "Enough reminiscing. If you don’t focus on the fight and I cut you down, don’t blame me for disregarding our past friendship!"

As her words fell, she unleashed several more icy sword lights.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The gate-shaped magic treasure Guo Zhao summoned formed two large bronze doors, blocking the streams of sword Qi. However, several menacing gashes were torn into the bronze doors, and the powerful shockwaves of the impact brought a cold sweat to Guo Zhao’s brow.

He knew Chen Mengze had apparently obtained a great opportunity and was no longer the person she once was, but he hadn’t imagined that a few casual slashes from her sword could be so sharp and terrifying!

For years, besides cultivation, he had dedicated himself to studying Forging techniques, becoming a Grade III Forgemaster two years prior. This gate-shaped magic treasure was the only one among the numerous magic artifacts he had crafted that reached the top-grade profound level. Its defensive power was quite extraordinary, and he had always regarded it as a treasure.

Who could have predicted that in just one exchange, it would be so badly damaged by Chen Mengze’s assault? Even if repaired, its grade would likely drop, reducing it to a high-grade profound magic artifact!

But he had no time for regret. The ice beads Chen Mengze had frozen, suspended above his head like a canopy, now transformed into a torrential attack, hurtling towards him.

SWOOSH!

Amidst the sound of tearing air, the pouring rain, carried by the ice beads, also transformed into individual ice beads that whistled and swept forth.

From the perspective of the spectating Sect Disciples, it was as if Chen Mengze had effortlessly summoned an icy waterfall that surged overwhelmingly towards Guo Zhao.

Fortunately, Guo Zhao came from a prominent family and possessed many powerful magic treasures.

In the next instant, an oil lamp, entirely crimson and burning with a scarlet flame, appeared in Guo Zhao’s hand. His mana surged into the crimson oil lamp like a torrent. Then, with a puff of his breath, the initially bean-sized flame instantly flared up, transforming into a vivid, ferocious fire dragon.

The fire dragon’s tail remained connected to the lamp’s wick, while its massive head and body crashed headlong into the icy waterfall!

BOOM!

Vast clouds of scorching steam billowed upwards. The rain curtain had been boiled by the intense heat of the oil lamp’s fire dragon; this dragon-shaped flame was considerably stronger than ordinary Earthly Fire. Thus, the oil lamp in Guo Zhao’s hand had to be a low-grade Spiritual Artifact.

As the scalding steam slowly dissipated, Guo Zhao’s figure was revealed once more. He was covered in a thin layer of ice crystals, his face an ashen blue from the cold. He cast a seemingly resentful glance at Chen Mengze, then plummeted headfirst from mid-air!