"Everyone, may I have your attention."
A sweet, melodic voice floated across the amphitheater. It came from Immortal Dawn Euphony Li Shishi, the head abbotess of the Millennium Mountains Campus. All the sacred daughters and acolytes that had gathered turned towards one end of the arena; the special seats reserved for the judges.
Li Shishi stood at the center of a throng of women. Each one was an abbotess, a proud Spirit King Realm cultivator, and an influential existence in the continent. This time, it was not just the seven-member executive council of the campus. Other abbotesses in the surrounding provinces had also arrived.
"Everyone, the end-of-year examination for first years is once again upon us," Li Shishi said, her words gentle yet carrying great power, "It is a time of celebration, celebrating hard work, talent, and the product of a long school year. The sacred daughters are eager to show off their achievements. We, as members of the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen, are eager to witness them. And…"
She smiled and looked around the amphitheater, "I am sure your acolytes are also eager to see it as well."
She raised her arms wide, "Come! Everyone, let's give a rousing applause to our precious daughters."
The whole place erupted with thunderous applause. A rousing spiritual wave swept across the place, from close to a thousand immortals. Each person was eager to suppress their neighbors. Their immortal auras clashed high above, creating loud crashes like lightning and tremors like earthquakes.
Li Shishi waved her hand, bringing silence once again, "Excellent! Excellent! I am sure we are all eager to get started so I won't be long. Today, as is our custom, we have gathered abbotesses from across the Martial Brilliance Continent to be the judges. Whether it is a competition of song and music or a display of art and literature, we will have to defer to their expertise in choosing a worthy winner. Let us introduce ourselves. Many of you should already know, I am Immortal Dawn Euphony Li Shishi, head abbotess of the executive council."
She then beckoned to the abbotesses sitting around her who began introducing themselves one by one.
"Immortal Archivist of Waves Yang Mengshi, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
"Immortal Amethyst Tailor Zhang Ziwen, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
"Immortal Frostfire Bell Mao Ling, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
"Immortal Songbird of Gold Yun Jieqing, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
"Immortal Porcelain Star Wei Jiarong, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
"Immortal Sword Dancer Jiang Yuexia, the executive council of the Millennium Mountains Campus."
Chen Wentian perked up at the mention of that name. Jiang Yuexia, she was a member of the Profound Sword Palace, one of the Seven Potentates of Jiannan. He didn't know her personally and he didn't really care. But he was interested in the Profound Sword Palace.
After spending the better part of a whole year digging for information with various living souls, he finally found a lead to the elusive method to craft spatial bags as well as a possibility of teleportation arrays. The secret had something to do with swords, or more specifically, sword arts with the ability to split space and shatter the void.
Of course, he wouldn't do anything about it personally. That would be a task for the infamous sword bandit Lin Huzhong whose name would soon spread across the continent!
After Li Shishi finished introducing the members of the executive order, she moved on to introducing the various guest abbotesses. These were all well-known people. Some were affiliated with the Seven Potentates while others were loyal to the Order only. However, the one thing they all had in common was that they were each the ruler of a whole province.
This was the political structure of the southern region of the Martial Brilliance Continent. Unlike the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent where the Immortal Association gave free land to independent immortals to do whatever they pleased; every meter of the south already had an owner. Every province was a wealth of resources that the major powers held onto tightly. Aside from the provinces owned by the Seven Potentates, each other province was ruled by an abbotess of the Order. There was no chance for an independent immortal to establish a foothold.
"Immortal Soul Zither Huangyang Tiantian, Falling Star Province."
"Immortal Living Flower Hua Siyi, Drifting Hills Province."
"…"
One abbotess after another stood up and then sat down. Each one could be considered a city-toppling beauty. They could be tall, short, slender, or full-figured. They could have glossy black hair, wavy brown hair, or many other colors. But one thing was consistent, they were all amazingly gorgeous. Even if many of them were showing their age, it was a miracle how these women could still look so good.
Then, Chen Wentian considered another frightening fact. These were all abbottesses of the Virtuous Order, they were all virgins. Regardless if they had touched or kissed a man or not, they were pure in spirit. A bunch of old virgins, two hundred, three hundred, maybe even five hundred years old, gathering here together produced a supreme concentration of pure yin and femininity. It made one's imagination run wild in both good and bad ways.
"Immortal Tranquil Flute Dong Ruming, Glacier Springs Province."
"Eh?" Chen Wentian muttered.
He glanced over at Long Yifei who's eyes were locked onto this newly introduced abbotess. It was Dong Ruming, the same Dong Ruming who supposedly knew Long Yifei's deceased mother. They were even secret friends. This person was the only link to Long Yifei's past.
Long Yifei's eyes shined fiercely as she gazed at the woman in question, the woman who held all the answers. Dong Ruming was a tall and slender woman. She had a flawless face and silvery hair tied up in an elegant bun. It was impossible to tell her age but from the records, she was two hundred and fifty-five years old, the same age as her mother if she was still alive.
Long Yifei had researched all she could about Dong Ruming but she couldn't find much. There were few records of Dong Ruming's time at the Millenium Mountains Campus as a student. It only said that she graduated with a top-ten ranking. After that, she disappeared to cultivate in earnest. She broke through to the Spirit Lord Realm at the age of forty-one and then the Spirit King Realm at the age of one hundred and sixty-three. As a Spirit King, she spent a few decades in obscurity before being appointed the ruler of the Glacier Springs Province. That was about it. There was nothing else to gleam from the records.
Chen Wentian held Long Yifei's hand and injected a bit of warmth, "Relax. Fei'er, it will be alright."
Long Yifei snapped out of it and shook her head, "Thank you, master."
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, "There will be plenty of time to get to know Dong Ruming in the future. Just focus on yourself right now. You've prepared so hard for this, don't let yourself down."
She glanced at him and returned a dazzling smile, "Yes, master."
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