Edited by RED

The moment the rainbow pillar shot to the skies, numerous experts appeared on rooftops in every part of Rivulet City. Astonished looks showed on each of their faces when they saw the rainbow pillar to the east of the city, near Mt Burning Cloud. As if they had an agreement beforehand, all of them sped in that direction almost simultaneously.

The three green-robed men on Mt Burning Cloud also flew in that direction when they saw the rainbow pillar. However, the authoritative one among them, who always had his hands to his back, extended his hand and sent the other two back to the ground, nodding slightly to those two bowmen before flying off toward the rainbow pillar alone. The two looked at one another and gave helpless shrugs.

As the experts sped in the direction toward Mt Burning Cloud, they discovered that the rainbow pillar which shot to the sky gradually disappeared. Those who hadn’t made it to the location immediately sped up, afraid to miss out on anything.

Many experts rapidly gathered on a summit not far away from Mt Burning Cloud. The ones who arrived first were all staring blankly at a small tree emitting rainbow energy. Seven little beggars were sitting around it, each of them munching on half a fruit in their hand, completely ignoring the stares of these strangers.

“These children are eating mysterious fruits!” a crazed voice yelled out, breaking the silence on the mountain summit.

The crowd looked to the empty little tree emitting faint rainbow energy, then shifted their gaze to the children, who were eating the fruits in their hands. They all gulped a mouthful of saliva uncontrollably at the sight.

As the beggars felt the burning gazes directed at them, they quickly finished up the fruits. It looked like they were starved, afraid that these people would snatch their food away.

The surrounding cultivators watched as the fruit juice leaked from the corners of the beggars mouths, feeling indescribable heartache. Those were mysterious fruits! And they ate them just like that! Though, they didn’t know a thing about the effects of the fruits; they would just wait and see.

Suddenly, the seven beggars let out powerful auras at the same time, causing the crowd to immediately change their expressions.

“This aura, it’s at the strength of a third stage Qi realm at the very least!” Nangong Fang whispered to the disciples behind her. She was still dressed in white, and was one of the first to arrive. The disciples all looked at the seven little beggars in astonishment as they heard her whispers.

“If we could just get one of these children, that would mean we have already secured a future peak expert for ourselves!” muttered the red-robed Third Elder of the Undying School, Bu Wangsheng. His eyes lit up at the sight of the seven beggar children.

“Snatch!” someone suddenly yelled, causing numerous silhouettes to instantly flash toward the seven beggars.

However, before the first few to arrive at the kids could lay their hands on them, the cultivators were blocked by the experts who had caught up to them.

“Such talented children are not something you people of tiny schools can lay your hands on! Take my slash!”

“Hmmph! Our Glacial Ambuscade Pavilion are calling dibs on these children; who dares to vie against us!?”

“You dare to take all of them away with just your Glacial Ambuscade Pavilion? Don’t think of bringing even just one of them away!”

The area had turned into the cultivation schools’ battleground, and the seven beggars had all fainted from the sudden surge of aura in their bodies.

As the cultivators fought, they all tried to avoid going near the seven children, afraid of injuring them accidentally. However, if someone tried to extend their hands towards them, they would be repelled by the others around them!

Both Nangong Fang from Misty Tower and Bu Wangsheng from Undying School had yet to enter the fray. Their respective school’s disciples were about to join in, but were ordered by the two to halt.

Just as the smaller schools were busy fighting against each other, suddenly two yellow silhouettes enveloped in fiery light flew into the battleground and grabbed at the children lying unconscious on the ground.

“Hmph, Firesoul’s Monarchy Pavilion! Didn’t expect you to come, too, but there’s no way in hell I’ll let you snatch the kids!” Third Elder Bu Wangsheng directly flew over to the two yellow silhouettes and stopped them.

Seeing as the battle had reached a climax, yet no one could lay a hand on these beggars, Nangong Fang couldn’t help but feel a slight hesitation in her heart. Then, she noticed one of the children, a female beggar, was lying not far from her. She slowly unsheathed her longsword.

“Go, we must get that little girl!” Nangong Fang exclaimed, and the Misty Tower disciples all entered the fray following her.

“Haha, Misty Tower couldn’t hold it any longer and decided to contest, hmmph! You’ll have to get past us Shadow Wind Sect!” a sinister voice suddenly called out.

Right when the voice reached Nangong Fang’s ears, two black-robed man appeared before her, each with two daggers in hand, blocking her path.

“Shadow Wind Sect’s Crazed Ten members, Yi Wu and Yi Jiu! I didn’t expect for you to have come, too. Get out of my way now, or don’t blame me for being impolite!” Nangong Fang yelled after identifying the two blocking her path, her face showing anger.

“Impolite? Even if you were to be polite to us, we brothers will not reciprocate! Stop talking nonsense and hand over your life!” Yi Wu declared with his sinister voice, then teamed up with Wi Jiu and attacked Nangong Fang.

With the top cultivation schools entering the fray, some of the smaller schools could only reluctantly quit the contest. After all, with the top schools fighting over the children, one had to reflect on whether they had the strength to fight against them.

“Haha, how lively. How could we of the Imperial Void Valley miss out on such a lively event?” a crisp voice called out. People instantly paused their fighting, as if there was an unwritten pact.

A white-clothed man had appeared, gliding upon a wooden sword in the sky above the forest. His sudden and suave appearance gave off an extraordinary presence.

“Psh, and I wondered who was here. So it turned out to be Imperial Void Valley’s Yu Lingzi. You guys didn’t stay put in Earthdream as you should and made a trip here to Rivulet City. Hmph, look at you, still with that habit of mystifying yourselves!” Yi Wu from the Shadow Wind Sect immediately humphed indifferently upon identifying the approaching figure.

“Oh, it’s Brother Fifth Crazed. Long time no see, your temper is still as irritable as ever,” Yu Lingzi said, stepping off his sword and landed next to Yi Wu and Nangong Fang.

Yu Lingzi turned his gaze to Nangong Fang and hurriedly greeted respectfully, “Hello, Senior Sister Nangong.”

On the other hand, Nangong Fang didn’t seem as enthusiastic to see Yu Lingzi. She nodded slightly, then walked over to the unconscious little girl.

“Everyone, the matter today can be discussed properly. Why is there a need for fighting, am I right? That would cause a rift in our harmony,” Yu Lingzi turned to say to the crowd, not taking Nangong Fang’s lack of regard to heart.

“Yu Lingzi, don’t act like a good guy right as you make your appearance. You people from Imperial Void Valley are all hypocrites. I don’t believe that you don’t have any designs on these children.” The one who refuted him was the fifth elder of Firesoul’s number one cultivation school, Monarchy Pavilion’s Wang Nu. He was exactly like his name suggested - a steadfast person with a fiery temper. His principle was to talk as little nonsense as possible if violence worked.

Yu Lingzi wasn’t angry at all when he heard this. Instead, he put on a smile and said, “Senior Brother Wang, some issues have to be settled, one way or another. It doesn’t necessarily have to be through violence; that would hurt our harmony.”

“Oh? So is Daoist Yu Lingzi suggesting that you have already thought of a solution with regards to these children?” Bu Wangsheng asked with a hostile voice.

“Hur hur, Brother Wangsheng’s words err. We are all clear on the reason why the six top cultivation schools have come to Rivulet City; however, we have unintentionally come across these children, who accidentally ate the mysterious fruits. That is fate. I suggest that we sit down and discuss. Each of us gets to bring one of them back to our respective schools. Is that agreeable?” Yu Lingzi chuckled.

“Hmph, Daoist Yu Lingzi’s words are incorrect. These children are citizens of Mirrorlink. How could they join other nations’ schools? This is, after all, our Undying School’s territory. Naturally they would all belong to us Undying School!” Bu Wangsheng rebutted angrily.

Bu Wangsheng was clear on the fact that, given these children’s ages and the auras they exhibited after accidentally eating the mysterious fruits, having these children would mean that their school’s future was guaranteed. Thus, it was natural he would be unable to contain himself.

“What are you thinking, Bu Wangsheng? Do you think the Undying School has the capability to bring all of them away? Not a chance in hell!”

“Hmph, and I thought you, Bu Wangsheng, would see the bigger picture. Can’t believe you’re an idiot, too.”

Bu Wangsheng’s declaration immediately triggered the rage of the others. Although the Undying School was undisputedly the number one school in Mirrorlink and kept their word, the people gathered here right now were those from the top cultivation schools of five other nations. They didn’t give two hoots about the prestige of the Undying School.

“What arrogance, Undying School. Do you really think that by being the top in Mirrorlink, no one would be able to do anything to you?!” an unfamiliar voice roared out.

Everyone looked to the distance where the voice had sounded out. Yu Lingzi’s brows furrowed once he saw the person descending from the sky, dressed in simple clothing holding a fan.

“Cai Luren, there are certainly people capable of keeping us Undying School in check. However, that doesn’t include your Virtuous Clan!” Bu Wangsheng exclaimed with a sunken expression once he realized who was approaching.

It was the third young master from Woodsprout nation’s number one clan, Cai Luren from the Virtuous Clan.

Seeing as how the situation unfolded, Bu Wangsheng dropped all hopes of bringing all seven of them away. He said deliberately, “Fine, since all of you have qualms about it, each of the five schools can bring one of the seven children back to your respective schools, leaving two for our Undying School. That should be fine, right? We, the Undying School are the host, after all. We won’t give any further concessions.”

Bu Wangsheng was now very clear that bringing all of them away was impossible. It would be advantageous if he could get his hands on even one extra child.

Woodsprout’s Virtuous Clan, Waterdusk’s Misty Tower, Firesoul’s Monarchy Pavilion, Earthdream’s Imperial Void Valley, and Ghosteem’s Shadow Wind Sect. They all looked at one another, feeling a little reluctant in their hearts. However, there was no other choice; they couldn’t possibly start a fight in Undying School’s territory. Thus, they agreed to his proposition.

Seeing as they agreed, Bu Wangsheng felt elated and hurriedly said, “Good. Since there’s no further qualms, then we shall..”

“Wait a moment! I haven’t give my consent!” a deep and resounding voice travelled indistinctly to their ears, interrupting Bu Wangsheng.