Hengzhou Tiaoshan Daoist Training Ground.
Xu Qing was the youngest among the crowd, only seventy years of age, as the Qingwei Protector Boy stepped forward to negotiate with True Master Gu Yuanrang one last time.
And he remained guarding the cave entrance, not exchanging a word with True Master Gu Yuanrang.
What level is Qingwei Zi? What level is True Master Gu?
The two of them are separated by a full three realms!
Qingwei Zi was trembling with fear, unable to comprehend why the Sect Leader wanted him to coerce a Primordial Spirit True Man into submission.
But when the moment came, as a Protector Boy, he couldn't falter; his disgrace would be minor, but losing face for the Da Luo Sect would be a major issue!
Qingwei Zi, beneath a tough exterior, though inwardly panicked, still kept a cold face, publicly setting down the Heaven and Earth Red Character Post.
"Please, True Master Gu!"
Qingwei Zi glanced sideways at Gu Yuanrang, only raising a hand to offer the Vermillion Brush.
"..."
Ascendant Fuluan and Zhang Pingsheng, among others, all held their breath in concentration; the person before them, after all, was a Primordial Spirit True Man. Even if they played good cop, bad cop, at this critical juncture, they should address him as a fellow Daoist to coax him into making a vow.
Yet none of them expected that Qingwei Zi, this young Daoist boy who looked somewhat mature, would be so arrogant, daring to command a Primordial Spirit True Man in such a dismissive manner.
Only Qingwei Zi himself faced a dilemma he couldn't speak of.
Did he not want to act with grace and authority, balancing courtesy and dignity?
He desired it more than anyone, yet he was also more aware than anyone that if he showed respect, he would inevitably exhibit a timid demeanor, which would ruin everything!
Should he show cowardice and undermine the hard-earned majesty established by the Altar Masters, he would bear significant blame!
At the cave entrance, Xu Qing observed Qingwei Zi's composed demeanor and secretly nodded in approval.
Among those present, it was undoubtedly Qingwei Zi who most idolized and revered the Da Luo Sect!
This young Daoist sincerely held a great faith in the sect, striving to fulfill the goal of ending calamities and saving the world as per the Da Luo Sect's mission.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have forsaken cultivation, spreading Dao in the polluted lands of Yaozhou for so many years.
Now, as a Protector Boy of the Da Luo Sect, Qingwei Zi truly lived up to Xu Qing's expectations, genuinely treating the sect as an inviolable holy presence.
Gu Yuanrang, seeing Qingwei Zi's impressive and confident demeanor, didn't feel offended; on the contrary, he became even more convinced of the extraordinary status of the Da Luo Sect.
Even a Daoist boy possessed such dignity, illustrating that his joining the Da Luo Sect and becoming an Altar Master wouldn't be a waste of his talents.
All concerns Gu Yuanrang had about 'marrying beneath his station' dissipated completely.
He promptly signed the Heaven and Earth Red Character Post, sealing it with his Dao heart, completely pledging himself.
Xu Qing let out a breath of relief; the Yin River's twelve gates needed at least ten fitting candidates to counteract the tidal backlash.
And this was without even considering the indescribably powerful first seat of the gates.
As the second seat, Ghost Law had already drained Ascendant Fuluan, the sect's most skilled practitioner, so how could the first seat be an easy demon to deal with?
"True Master Gu is now an initiate disciple of the Da Luo Sect; however, to become an Altar Master, he must undergo a test."
"..."
A Primordial Spirit True Man like me has to undergo a test to become an Altar Master?
If anyone else dared say this, Gu Yuanrang would have long struck them down with his sword, giving them a reality check!
But...
Alas, circumstances held sway; in the Da Luo Sect, apart from the Protector Boy, there truly wasn't anyone inferior to him.
"I humbly ask the Sect Leader to clarify."
Xu Qing put away the battle axe, smiled slightly, and said, "The test for advancing to an Altar Master within the sect is straightforward; one only needs to preside over a grand formation."
"A grand formation?"
Gu Yuanrang was perplexed.
Xu Qing chuckled and said, "Has True Master Gu ever met the head of the Yin River causing chaos in Hengzhou?"
"I've never met them, only heard of them."
Gu Yuanrang replied, "Hengzhou has a ghost of impermanence, though this impermanence is not an Underworld Ghost Messenger, but rather a pair of puppets created by the Nine Netherworld's legal corpse presiding over the Netherworld."
"It's said that a millennium ago, the Underworld had black and white impermanence, but now the Yin River demons are a pair of green and red impermanence. The green captures souls and seizes spirits; the red controls death with no life!"
Gu Yuanrang expressed his apprehension: "These two demon gods, one capturing souls, the other controlling death, ensure that any living being who encounters them, whether an enlightened monk or a Land Immortal, faces inevitable capture of the soul."
"Once the soul is captured, a single stroke from the red impermanence spells instant death!"
Zhang Pingsheng and the others were terrified upon hearing this.
The imposing constraints of such capture and extinction were self-contained; how could they possibly contend against it?
Ascendant Fuluan's mind stirred and suddenly said, "Shiyue, as a disciple of the Grand God of the Sea, is a lotus incarnate, with body and soul as one; she could likely break the law of impermanence..."
The Immortal left the words unsaid but abruptly stopped.
Shiyue might be able to handle the spirit-binding law of impermanence, but he forgot the disparity in cultivation levels.
One Shiyue might fight evenly with one impermanence, but with two combined, and others unable to assist, could a young girl with only a millennium of cultivation really overcome them?
Seeing the silence, Xu Qing timely spoke: "Don't underestimate the capabilities of the Grand God of the Sea's disciple; Shiyue has the treasure gifted by her master for protection. Even if she cannot subdue the demons, she won't be restrained by the forbidden law."
"Besides, doesn't this Sect Leader have a treasure to counter them?"
Upon hearing this, Ascendant Fuluan's spirit was instantly lifted: "Indeed! With the Sect Leader's profound heritage, there must be a way to handle it!"
Zhang Pingsheng and Xie Qiongke also revealed relaxed smiles.
The Sect Leader is someone whom even the Nine Heavens Profound Lady was willing to teach swordsmanship; how could his lineage possibly be lacking?