Under the scorching gaze of hundreds of thousands, a deep, resonant bell suddenly rang out from within Trinity Hill, followed by the ground shaking and the mountains trembling, as if some invisible ripple was radiating from Trinity Hill in all directions.

Evelyn Foster, being closer, suddenly felt her mind go blank, her nose heat up, and then a nosebleed started to flow.

Evelyn Foster: “…Damn, I’m bleeding.”

She wasn’t the most unfortunate, though—the ones who suffered most were the high-ranking leaders above. A flash of light swept past, and they all let out a miserable scream, flying backward. Two even staggered and landed in front of the group of a hundred female disciples. Evelyn Foster clearly saw a middle-aged man, who seemed to be the sect master, spit out a mouthful of blood, fall to his knees, and shout loudly, “Shibo, please calm your anger!”

Since even the sect master was kneeling, how could the others not kneel? Even though they didn’t know why the ancestor seemed to be furious, a large crowd immediately dropped to their knees, all shouting in unison for the ancestor to calm down.

So many people, their voices shook the land, yet even so, everyone could clearly hear a cold laugh.

It was a laugh full of dissatisfaction and hostility.

“When I come out, you will all die.”

It seemed to be the ancestor inside Trinity Hill speaking.

Evelyn Foster: “…” Wait, are you sure the one coming out is the righteous ancestor, not some demon lord? Your ancestor seems intent on killing people, and the ‘慈’ in Edward Grant doesn’t seem to mean ‘benevolent’ at all!

It wasn’t just Evelyn Foster who panicked—the sect master, several palace lords, and the elderly cave masters were even more anxious. The disciples didn’t know why the ancestor was so fierce, but these old-timers, who had lived for thousands of years, naturally knew the reason, and their mouths grew even more bitter.

How had five hundred years passed, and this ancestor not only failed to mellow, but had become even scarier! If this wasn’t resolved, their Sterling Estate, a great sect that had lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, might end with their generation. How could they face their ancestors then?

The sect master couldn’t care about anything else now. This ancestor was even angrier than they’d imagined, so he could only prepare for the worst.

“Shibo, five hundred years ago, not long after you went into seclusion, Master passed away. Before he left, he wrote you a letter, hoping to present it to you in person.” The sect master knelt respectfully on the steps before Trinity Hill, showing none of the authority he’d displayed before the disciples.

But now, no one cared about that. They all strained their ears, listening for any movement from the ancestor.

“Come in.”

The sect master got up and entered the mist of Trinity Hill, leaving the disciples outside, craning their necks in anticipation.

Evelyn Foster pondered that the ancestor’s voice didn’t sound old at all. In fact, it sounded rather young—just fierce.

Not long after, the mist suddenly cleared, and the true face of Trinity Hill appeared before everyone.

Trinity Hill had been sealed for five hundred years. The younger disciples had never seen its true appearance, and now, seeing it for the first time, they were all stunned. The entire Trinity Hill was devoid of any vegetation, paved entirely with jade, arranged in mysterious patterns. At first glance, it looked like a single whole, but on closer inspection, it seemed to contain countless formations.

At the center of the mountaintop was a cluster of circular palaces, rising and falling in height, surrounding a central high tower with golden tiles and red walls, looking extremely magnificent. But around the palaces stood over a hundred pitch-black iron pillars, each wrapped with massive black chains tightly binding the central tower, upon which floated a huge jade plaque inscribed with a sealing rune.

This setup, as if imprisoning something terrifying, looked less like a place for seclusion and more like the ‘Five Elements Mountain’ that suppressed Sun Wukong.

Evelyn Foster understood. Looking at the lineup of beauties around her, she suddenly felt a bit bald. If this ancestor was a “Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” why not go find Tang Sanzang or the Buddha? What’s the point of gathering a bunch of White Bone Spirits, snake demons, and peacock princesses? Were they here to be sacrificed to appease the ancestor’s wrath?

Evelyn Foster: help.jpg

Chapter 3

The disciples of Sterling Estate, full of confusion, waited under Trinity Hill for most of the day. By then, Evelyn Foster’s initial terror had completely dissipated, and she’d returned to her usual laid-back self.

Even if the principal shouted on stage, “When the results come out, you’re all dead!” a poor student like her would be scared at first, but then wouldn’t care—after all, everyone was in the same boat, so there was nothing to fear. Now, she wasn’t thinking about distant death, just about her aching legs and wanting to sit down for a rest.

Looking around, she was probably the only one with the lowest cultivation. Just now, the ancestor’s aftershock had even caused her to get a nosebleed—how could she handle this? She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, then back again, and finally, the sect master, who had braved the lion’s den alone, emerged from the principal’s office.

He looked as if he’d been beaten up, extremely disheveled, the fancy jade crown on his head shattered and about to fall off. His once refined and elegant face was now a mess of red and white, a real sight to behold. Out of breath, he weakly instructed, “The ancestor has emerged from seclusion and dislikes being disturbed. Everyone, disperse.”

“You, go in and serve the ancestor well.” This last sentence was directed at the group of a hundred female disciples.