Opening of Ten Thousand Cases

Autumn.

There was a light rain last night, which finally stopped this morning, dripping down from the eaves and accumulating on the uneven ground.

Chen Xia stood at the door, leaning on it at an angle with his arms crossed. His eyes were slightly raised to look outside the door.

The rainwater falling from the eaves formed thin lines in front of him. As the lines accumulated, they became a fine, dense curtain.

The curtain shielded Chen Xia.

The row of monks hanging on the courtyard wall were not exposed to the rain. Chen Xia had built a shed for them, a humane design.

These monks also dared not speak, knowing that Chen Xia was waiting for someone.

After about half a quarter hour.

Hasty footsteps were heard not far away. Bai Jie's figure appeared in everyone's sight, and soon arrived at the door. He apologized to Chen Xia.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's fine," Chen Xia nodded. With a slight raise of his finger, he stopped the falling of the dense curtain of rainwater in front of him. Then he slowly walked out and said, "Let's go. Today is the day of the Ten Thousand Sects' Assembly that Zhen Hu notified me about two months ago."

"There's no need to rush," Bai Jie said with a laugh. "We can walk slowly. The alchemy contest of the Ten Thousand Sects' Assembly still has plenty of time."

"Okay." Chen Xia nodded. He walked side by side with Bai Jie and suddenly turned his head to say something to those behind him, "Take good care of the house. It's the final stretch of time. When I get back, I'll release all of you. Don't come see me anymore. After being forced to watch me for decades, you must be tired of it."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jie looked back and saw a row of monks hanging on the wall, of all kinds. He was slightly surprised and fell silent.

But the monks had a lot to say, each voicing their own opinion.

"No, Master Chen, don't drive me away. I want to watch more!"

"Master Chen, when I miss you, can I come back to take a look, just one glance!"

"The people here speak so pleasantly and interestingly, I really can't bear to leave."

"..."

The row of monks spoke sadly.

Chen Xia replied, "Alright then, you can continue hanging there."

The voices stopped abruptly. Someone immediately explained with a laugh, "Actually it's not that hard to part. Come and go, there are no eternal feasts in life."

"Indeed, indeed."

"..."

"Indeed," Chen Xia also nodded in agreement. Then he took a step forward, side by side with Bai Jie, and said, "Let's go."

As he lifted and lowered his feet, a crisp sound was heard.

Bai Jie looked and found that Chen Xia had a small wine jug swinging at his waist. It looked rather light, and he didn't know if there was wine in it.

Lost in thought, Bai Jie saw that Chen Xia had already walked far away, so he immediately caught up and walked side by side.

The two figures gradually went farther away.

A short figure appeared at the original doorway, staring blankly at Chen Xia leaving until he completely disappeared. Only then did he murmur, "May the gods protect you."

The monks on the wall became spirited again.

"Brother Zhang, you've reached the realm of Moving Mountains, what do you need the gods' protection for?"

"Haha, right on point, we're gods too."

"..."

Zhang DaoMing's muddy eyes were blurred. He shook his head and said, "I'm not a god. Only those who can protect are gods."

The monks on the wall voiced more doubts.

"What gods could possibly protect Master Chen? At least above the fifth heaven of the Firmament Realm right?"

"That's too low. Master Chen is not even afraid of Triumphant Mountain. To truly protect Master Chen, at least the ninth heaven of the Firmament Realm right?"

The monks discussed loudly. Zhang DaoMing remained silent. He carried a small wooden stool and sat leaning against the wall at the door.

At this moment it was early morning, and the sun had just risen.

The old man in the dusk of his life sat at the door and started waiting.

The Ten Thousand Sects Assembly was located in the central area of the Middle Layer of the Realm, occupying a hundred square miles. Different areas and positions of each sect were clearly divided inside and out.

Starry Sky Pill Sect was located closer to the inside. The neighboring sects had similar strength to Starry Sky Pill Sect.

Zhen Hu started introducing them to Chen Xia, "On the left is Armor Wood Mountain, the sect of Wang He who offended you that day. To the right is Zhengyang Sect. The sect master is at the third heaven of the Firmament Realm. Overall, the sect has good strength and foundation."

"As for Triumphant Mountain, it's located a bit further inside. It's one of the top sects in the Middle Layer of the Realm. Its sect master is at the fifth heaven of the Firmament Realm, with formidable strength. It also has a solid foundation. But our Starry Sky Pill Sect isn't too afraid of it either."

Zhen Hu spoke confidently. He had the confidence to say this as a cultivator at the third heaven of the Firmament Realm.

The Ten Thousand Sects Assembly had three important sections.

First was the magic treasure exhibit, which could demonstrate a sect's foundation and military power. One could also negotiate trades for any treasures they fancied.

Second was the fighting match, where cultivators of the same realm would compete to determine the winner, although "same realm" had some flexibility here. As long as you were in the same broad realm, you could fight.

If you weren't afraid of death, even a first layer Immersion Realm cultivator could fight a ninth layer one.

Moreover, these fights could truly lead to death. As long as the weaker side did not surrender, the stronger side could kill them.

No one would blame the stronger side, because it was the rule of the Realm. If you died, it meant you were weak, and the weak being killed by the strong was only natural.

Furthermore, the fights required mutual consent. If one side refused, no fight could take place.

Finally, the third section was the alchemy contest. Since the participating cultivators were all alchemists, it was placed at the end as a spectacle finale.

Right now was the magic treasure exhibit. Starry Sky Pill Sect exhibited 36 treasures in total: 10 spiritual artifacts, 25 mystic artifacts, and 1 half-immortal artifact.

This was the full depth of Starry Sky Pill Sect's foundation. The half-immortal artifact was a defective product. According to Zhen Hu, it was picked up by Starry Sky Pill Sect's old patriarch from the Ancient Battlefield of the Realm.

"What a trash," Chen Xia commented.

"Indeed," Zhen Hu nodded in agreement. He also felt the old patriarch was like that. Legend has it that the old guy loved to pick up random things everywhere, from fairy maidens' discarded clothes to mystic artifacts thrown away by cultivators, he would bring everything back to use.

Chen Xia sat on a small stool, watching the coming and going of sect cultivators. He also asked again, "Are the materials to refine the grand elixir really fully prepared?"

Zhen Hu laughed. "You've asked this several times already. My answer is still that everything is fully prepared."

"I'm a little nervous," Chen Xia replied.

"You don't look nervous at all, more like fully confident," Zhen Hu said with a laugh.

"That's fake," Chen Xia shook his head. He had never refined a grand elixir before, how could he be fully confident?

It still relied on luck in the end.

The magic treasure exhibit was somewhat boring. The cultivators of various sects were just mingling and networking, which was very lively but utterly uninteresting in Chen Xia's eyes.

He had never cared for magic treasures, and there were no treasures in the Realm that interested him anyway.

Things like AK Fire Qilins, Gatling Hells, none of those existed in the Realm.

It was quite boring indeed.

Chen Xia sat on the stool and started swaying it around idly out of boredom.

Behind him, Zhen Hu was mingling with cultivators of other sects, laughing and chatting.

Bai Jie had gone off somewhere, probably to check out treasures at other sects.

"You...you really are here," a clear voice sounded.

Chen Xia turned his head to see a woman in a black skirt, and frowned slightly.

"You are?"

"I'm one of the sixteen who had conflicts with you, and I even spoke for you." The woman in black explained anxiously, her brows raised in worry that Chen Xia wouldn't recognize her.

Chen Xia thought hard but his mind had been muddled recently, and his memory was somewhat blurry. He really couldn't recall her, so he asked, "Did I hit you? If so, I apologize."

"No, no, you didn't hit me. You only hit Qin Guan. I was with Qin Guan and tried to advise restraint afterward. I'm from the Zhang family, my name is Zhang Bailu."

The woman in black explained anxiously.

Chen Xia thought hard, frowning and staring intently at Zhang Bailu. He nodded slowly then revealed a faint smile. But in response to her expectant gaze, he said,

"Still no impression."

Zhang Bailu opened her mouth, not knowing how else to explain. After a long stunned pause, she suddenly asked,

"Do you know Zhang DaoMing?"

"What?" Chen Xia's voice turned a little cold.

Zhang Bailu quickly explained, "Zhang Daoming is my third uncle, we are all descendants of the Zhang family."

Chen Xia frowned, not having heard Zhang DaoMing mention this before, and looking at Zhang Bailu, asked in a flat tone.

"You got this information from the scouts?"

Zhang Bailu put her hands in front of her skirt, lowering her head, "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to offend, we just probed a little."

"Um, I know," Chen Xia nodded, and yawned at the same time, a little bored, and then said.

"Let's talk about Zhang DaoMing's affairs, since he is your third uncle, then you should know some things about him, right?"

Zhang Bailu nodded and recalled, "I'm young, I only heard that third uncle's talent wasn't very good..."

"This I know, later Old Zhang chose to leave the Realm Middle Layer alone and went elsewhere to cultivate, right?"

Chen Xia said.

There was a flash of doubt in Zhang Bailu's eyes, which quickly disappeared, and she was about to nod in agreement.

Chen Xia suddenly asked again, "What did you hear?"

Zhang Bailu pursed her lips and said softly.

"I...I heard that third uncle was...was driven out by the Zhang family..."

"Exiled."

The autumn wind was a little bleak at this moment.

Chen Xia blinked and said softly,

"Old Zhang lied to me."

Perhaps to preserve his last shred of dignity in front of Chen Xia.

Not to be completely unable to hold his head high in front of Chen Xia.

Who knows?

What cannot be seen through is life, what cannot be guessed is the human heart.

An old man wanting to preserve his dignity at the last moment is nothing wrong.

Chen Xia shook his head and said righteously to Zhang Bailu.

"I declare here that it was not you who drove Old Zhang away, but Old Zhang who isolated all of you."

Zhang Bailu was slightly surprised.

There is this statement too?!