Chapter 1181: Teng Jiwen's Ability
Li Qiye's criticism deeply stabbed into Teng Jiwen's deepest fear. It was mercilessly striking at the scar of their Heavenvine Citadel.
"We are not trash, parasites, or vermin to the ancestral vine!" In the end, he could only utter this sentence.
Li Qiye dismissively glanced at him: "In my eyes, there is not much of a difference. What are you all if not that? Your old geezers are all talk. Prove it, then, by acting as real descendants for the ancestral vine to see."
Teng Jiwen took a deep breath and bowed to say: "Sir, keep waiting. The citadel will give you an answer within two days!"
He turned and left, determination evident in his firm steps.
Li Qiye smiled and closed his eyes for a moment of repose without a care. In his mind, it didn't matter if the boy was going to ask for reinforcements or to persuade the ancestors. When the time was up, he would take away the calabash and do what must be done.
After Teng Jiwen left, the island became quiet; no disciples came to capture Li Qiye. It seemed like the youth didn't go tell the ancestors to capture him.
On the evening of the second day, Teng Jiwen came back in a hurry with a gaunt demeanor, but his eyes were bright and full of vitality.
He took a deep breath and told Li Qiye: "Sir, our ancestors have agreed to the deal. As long as you can cure our ancestral vine, the calabash will be yours."
Li Qiye looked at the boy and smirked before speaking: "It seems like I must reevaluate you. I'm sure it wasn't easy to convince those geezers from your citadel. This requires great determination."
"This is all to the credit of Master's group." Teng Jiwen sighed without any signs of complacency: "I have only done what any disciple of the citadel should do."
"Very good, if the citadel comes under your leadership in the future, it will certainly be prosperous." Li Qiye nodded.
The youth remained humble even after being praised. He bowed and asked: "Sir, may I ask when you will begin the treatment?"
"Right now." Li Qiye flatly replied: "Time waits for no one. It is time to end the business here as I must go elsewhere."
This startled the youth. He didn't expect Li Qiye to start so soon. Keep in mind that many powerful alchemists had tried to cure this calamity to no avail.
Li Qiye told him: "Tell your ancestors to prepare. I will go to the forbidden area to cure your ancestral vine."
The youth took a deep breath and went to carry out the command. Eventually, the citadel agreed for Li Qiye to begin anytime. It also opened the forbidden ground for him.
Many wise sages implemented an incomparable seal on the land near the ancestral vine. Without their permission, outsiders would have difficulty moving in this area, let alone launching an attack.
The citadel's response and actions were quite swift this time. Who knew what Teng Jiwen did to lobby them? To be able to do so in just two short days was quite impressive for a junior like him.
Of course, Li Qiye wouldn't care about such things. This was the citadel's business, he only cared about curing the ancestral vine and taking the Heavenvine Calabash.
When everything was ready, Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord led Li Qiye to the forbidden ground.
In fact, the boy was only able to successfully persuade the ancestors because of his master's support. Otherwise, a junior like him trying to convince those ancestors would have been much harder.
A couple moments later, they stood right outside of the forbidden ground. This was the most important location in the whole citadel. It had the densest amount of worldly energy. Legend states that one could enter the inner world of the ancestral vine through this forbidden ground, but no one had entered since the death of the treefather's son.
Many disciples and ancestors were standing right outside of the forbidden ground at this moment. They were all important characters of the protector level and up. Some were supreme elders as well.
The treatment of the ancestral vine was of the highest importance to the citadel. Whether it was to be vigilant against Li Qiye or fear of accidents occurring during the process, in short, the citadel's powerful forces were here to cope with any unexpected circumstances!
Li Qiye only gave this crowd a quick glimpse. Regardless of their preparations, he didn't mind killing those who stood in his path.
"Hold it!" As Li Qiye was about to enter the forbidden ground, a shout rang out. Hao Yuzhen stood up.
This made Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord furrow their brows. They had reached a unanimous agreement regarding this deal. They didn't want any complications that might cause the deal to turn awry, thus they had a bad feeling as she stood up.
Li Qiye glanced at her and lazily asked: "What's the matter?"
She put on a business-like appearance as she coldly said: "You must hand over all of your belongings outside of the materials required for the healing process. Other items aren't allowed inside the forbidden ground."
Teng Jiwen raised his voice: "Junior sister, what are you doing?"
Hao Yuzhen was causing trouble on purpose. She didn't know how he managed to convince the ancient ancestors in the sect, but at this moment, his position had soared and it was a great threat to her.
Therefore, she wanted to use this opportunity to stop Li Qiye. Stopping Li Qiye was the same as stopping Teng Jiwen!
"Ancestor, we reached an agreement about this matter, so what are these sudden complications?" The citadel lord was unhappy as well and looked over at Ancestor Hao.
Ancestor Hao slowly said: "The deal and agreement are still unchanged, but we must be cautious for the safety of the ancestral tree. Your alchemist is here for our treasure, who dares say that he won't do anything shady in secret?"
The citadel lord glanced over at the other older ancestors here and asked: "Ancestors, what are your thoughts?"
"Alchemist Li can still bring items inside, but as a preventative measure, we must ask to check your items first." An old ancestor spoke with a deep tone.
They were still very wary of Li Qiye. After Hao Yuzhen's comment, they were indeed afraid of Li Qiye doing anything to the ancestral vine.
Despite being annoyed, the citadel lord and Teng Jiwen had no retorts. The reasoning was sound. Even though they weren't necessarily cautious of Li Qiye, they still didn't want to complicate the deal. Otherwise, all of their efforts would have been in vain.
"Did you hear that? Let us perform a full body search; every item of yours must be checked as well." With the approval of the older ancestors, Hao Yuzhen was emboldened.
Li Qiye didn't bother looking at her. He glanced over at the old ancestors from the citadel and smiled faintly while shaking his head: "There are a few excellent members in this place, so I thought that there would have been changes. It seems that in the end, it is still just a bunch of inflexible old men. What a disappointment."
The older ancestors were not happy to hear this disdainful comment. Meanwhile, the master and disciple pair turned bitter. This matter had taken a sudden turn for the worse.
"Naive fool, you dare to shame our citadel? Take this!" This was a rare opportunity, so Hao Yuzhen naturally wouldn't let it go. Her palm aimed for his face. 1
However, before this slap could reach Li Qiye, her hand was suddenly gripped by him. He stared directly at her face and smiled: "An idiot like you dares to scream in front of me? You don't know life from death!"
"Crank! Crack!" He crushed her slender, jade-white arm before even finishing his sentence. 2
"Help!" She screamed for assistance. Her reaction was too slow, Li Qiye's right hand was already clutching her milky pale neck.
He was way too fast. Even the ancestors here had a difficult time seeing him move. Before they knew it, he already had her raised into the air by the neck.
"Take this" in the raws was actually "Slap (his) mouth". It's fine in Chinese because people know that she is referring to slapping the face as a punishment for disrespect. It just sounds weird in English that she is announcing her own punishment while carrying it out herself. "Take this" makes more sense as a localization versus "Slap him" or "Take this slap". Maybe "you deserved to be slapped" would make sense as well. ↩ Raw here is jade-white arm like a spring onion. The root of a spring onion is white, so it is describing that color. ↩Chapter 1182: Kill Without Mercy
It only took a single blink for him to crush her wrist and then grab her neck; it was too late for anyone to even try and save her.
"No—" Both Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord were jolted with shocked expressions.
"Save, save me…" Her face turned red due to a lack of oxygen from being choked.
"Junior, what are you doing!" The Hao Ancestor was shocked. Very quickly, the disciples from the citadel completely surrounded Li Qiye.
Outside of a few ancestors from the Hao branch, many elders from the citadel itself were present as well.
Li Qiye maintained his grip and coldly glared at the group before nonchalantly declaring: "Still want to play? Try and stop me and I'll crush your heads!"
"Wait, let us talk it out first." The citadel lord was sweating. He quickly mediated: "Sir, we can slowly discuss this again. Just let go of my niece first."
"Sir, we can still talk it out." Teng Jiwen was quite scared as well and hurriedly told Li Qiye: "There's no need to ruin the friendly atmosphere. It was only a misunderstanding."
Li Qiye lazily declared: "There's nothing to talk about. Either scram to the side and don't bother me or I'll cut all of your heads off!"
In just a moment, everyone's expressions turned quite ugly. This was no longer about the internal competition. Li Qiye's blatant contempt had humiliated and antagonized the entire citadel.
"There is nothing to discuss now." The Hao Ancestor coldly said: "Let go of Yuzhen right now and surrender before you risk your own life!"
"With just you all?" Li Qiye dismissively responded: "Only a bunch of nobodies, not enough to even be an appetizer."
The citadel lord was speechless. He couldn't mediate anymore, so he said with a bitter expression: "My little ancestor, just let go of her and I can guarantee your safety."
Teng Jiwen had no words to say. The deal was supposed to be smooth, but look at things now. Just one word of discord could cause blood to splatter every three steps!
At this time, all the experts and ancestors of the citadel were glaring at Li Qiye. He was completely provoking their city's prestige and authority. If they didn't teach this ignorant person a lesson, people would think that their city was easy to bully.
"Junior, you are being too arrogant. Let go of Yuzhen or we'll end your dog life!" Even those who weren't part of the Hao branch were shouting, unable to contain their anger.
If it wasn't for her being a hostage, they would have pounced forward and cut him into countless pieces already.
"Li, listen! Even a Godking would die if they come to our citadel!" With so many ancestors backing her up, Hao Yuzhen became more courageous despite being in his clutches. She struggled to breathe before shouting: "Just let me go. Break your own arms and legs and end your cultivation, then we'll spare your—"
"Crack!" It was a familiar scene. Before she could finish, he had crushed her neck. She didn't even have the chance to scream since death came too quickly.
Everyone became dumbfounded. In the middle of the encirclement, he still dared to kill his only hostage. This was the same as cutting off his only path of retreat!
No sane person in this predicament would kill their only hostage. This truly stunned all the experts and even the Hao Ancestor.
"No…" Teng Jiwen was completely frightened. He spent painstaking efforts to convince the ancestors to agree to this deal. But now, everything had turned into smoke.
"Incomparably foolish, threatening to break my arms and legs as well as my cultivation under this situation." Li Qiye didn't even bat an eye. He threw her body to the side like trash.
"Little animal, I'm going to grind your bones to dust!" The Hao Ancestor's roar echoed to the clouds. He unleashed a palm capable of chopping tides and splitting the ocean.
"Bang!" Li Qiye remained undaunted. With a tyrannical pose, he unleashed a direct punch, a fist that could shatter the past. It was a quiet fist that didn't create gales or display an overbearing momentum.
One could hear something fracturing. The Hao Ancestor's arm shattered after receiving this fist. He had to take several steps back while spewing out blood.
This shocked everyone present, forcing them to take deep breaths to calm down. The Hao Ancestor was still a grand character at the citadel, but he wasn't a match for Li Qiye.
The ancestors became cautious right away. They took out their weapons and began to circle him. The other experts instantly left the battlefield to give room to their ancestors.
This level of battle was not something the juniors could participate in. They would only get in the way.
The Heavenvine Citadel Lord was completely stupefied. He thought that the ordinary-looking Li Qiye was just an alchemist, he didn't expect him to be heaven-defyingly powerful.
Teng Jiwen couldn't speak at all. This had escalated out of his control. It was up to the ancestors to decide now. He had wondered how powerful Li Qiye was, but this remained a mystery until now. He finally got a general concept of how strong the guy was.
"Zzz—" A buzz resounded as the shattered arm of the Hao Ancestor quickly recovered. However, he was in a frenzy. Being seriously injured by a junior was truly a disgrace in his eyes.
With a twisted expression, he took out his true weapon and coldly said: "Little animal, if our Heavenvine Citadel doesn't peel your skin, sever your tendons, and drink your blood, we won't need to stay in the Heaven Spirit World any longer!"
Another ancestor yelled at him: "Junior, it is not too late to surrender!"
Li Qiye sneered at the experts and said: "Surrender? In my eyes, all of you are mere insects. I can trample all of you to death with one stomp."
"Naive fool, still blustering before death." The Hao Ancestor shouted: "Brothers, what are we waiting for, let’s chop this little animal to—"
"Xshhh!" Blood spattered everywhere. Before the ancestor could finish his words, a tree branch came out of nowhere and pierced his skull. His eyes dilated from confusion about his sudden death.
The spectators were dumbfounded by this scene. To their surprise, a long vine was wrapped around Li Qiye's arm. This vine actually grew out from their ancestral vine's body.
The elders audibly gasped after seeing this sudden development. They turned pale and retreated while staring at Li Qiye in disbelief.
A vine growing from their ancestral tree actually killed the Hao Ancestor! How could such a thing happen?!
In their citadel, the ancestral vine was not only their progenitor, it was also their divine guardian that had been sheltering them for generations. But today, instead of killing the enemy, it killed an ancestor from their city.
If such a thing were to be spread, no one would believe it. This was already inconceivable, even when they witnessed it in person.
An ancestor murmured in astonishment: "Evil art, this is definitely an evil art…"
This was the only explanation they could come up with. Li Qiye used some strange and evil witchcraft to control the ancestral vine to kill the Hao Ancestor!
A frightened ancestor screamed: "He cultivates an evil art! We can't let him live any longer, kill him at all costs!"
"Kill!" The rest of the ancestors present all roared together and unleashed their weapons to slay Li Qiye.
They wouldn't mind paying any price to stop Li Qiye from leaving the citadel alive. Otherwise, he would certainly become a great menace in the future.
"A bunch of fools." Li Qiye coldly glared at them and simply flipped his palm over, not bothering to give them another glance. A large leaf that was growing from the vine tree suddenly shot out.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The weapons attacking Li Qiye all shattered before this leaf.
With another loud blast, the flower swept through the ancestors like the end of autumn, sending them flying while spurting blood.
Chapter 1183: Sunflower Forefather
"Splashh—" A series of splashes came about. All of the blown away ancestors fell into the ocean.
This scene was too shocking. The experts here couldn't regain their composure.
Both Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord were slack-jawed from fear. This was simply a legendary tale!
In this split second, they suddenly thought about the possibility that their ancestral tree might be controlled by Li Qiye! However, that would be preposterous. Even their own ancestors couldn't control the vine, let alone an outsider.
If this was indeed the case, then the only plausible explanation was that Li Qiye did have a demonic art.
"Anyone else want to stand in my way?" Vine branches from the ancestral tree began to merge behind Li Qiye.
The experts here were aghast, to say the least. They had never seen such a demonic art before. It was beyond their imagination.
Eventually, the experts glanced at each other. They continued to slowly converge on Li Qiye to the point of not even letting a single drop of water through.
Naturally, they were quite afraid. Even their ancestors were blown to the horizon like flies, and they were not as strong as them.
However, letting Li Qiye go or retreating weren't options they could take. They deemed him too great of a threat to let him leave alive today.
Li Qiye smiled at these experts: "A bit idiotic, but still quite unyielding. Daring to come despite knowing the disparity…"
"Vine Controller!" A loud explosion came from a cave along with a voice. Although this voice was very quiet, everyone could hear it clearly.
An old man emerged from the forbidden ground. To be exact, it was a sunflower tree.
It was much taller than an adult. Moreover, the sunflowers on the tree were blossoming to great sizes.
There was an old man's face on the sunflower in the center. He came out of the forbidden ground without exuding any blood energy. However, he gave the feeling that a simple flip of his palm could cause the world to collapse.
"An ancestral form!" Teng Jiwen murmured after seeing the shape of this sunflower.
The ancestral form was a method of obtaining atavism for treants. Many within this race would cultivate a human form and become powerful existences.
However, this was not to say that a humanoid form was more powerful. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. A humanoid treant was not as powerful as an ancestral form treant because this atavistic form allowed them to control the strongest origin power.
However, despite the great benefits, there was a fatal weakness to the ancestral form. There was no way to pass down their bloodline if they were to keep this form, regardless of how powerful and heaven-defying they might be. Eventually, their legacy would end.
Only those with a flesh and blood body could reproduce and spread their bloodline to future descendants.
Because of this, the majority of the treants would cultivate into a human form. Very few were willing to maintain the ancestral form. After all, everyone wanted to pass down their legacy.
Being strong was meaningless if it meant that one would lose the ability to reproduce and pass down their legacy!
The citadel lord came back from his shock and murmured after seeing this sunflower: "Sunflower Forefather!"
An expert was ecstatic and muttered: "It is the forefather, our forefather has come into being!"
So it turned out that this large sunflower was the Sunflower Forefather. He was the most powerful and oldest ancestor of the citadel. His appearance was a rare sight. Even the citadel lord had only seen him once in his life, and this was at a very young age.
At this moment, this forefather couldn't believe it either. He stared intensely at Li Qiye and the vine branches behind him while feeling that this was a dream.
As the forefather came closer, the experts surrounding Li Qiye all made way.
In fact, they could finally breathe easy. No one would be able to oppose the forefather, not even Li Qiye's demonic art, even if it was stronger.
The forefather was not very confident as he asked Li Qiye: "You, can you really manipulate it? Are you a Vine Controller?"
He glanced at the sunflower and smirked: "Old man, try me and see. I'll be happy to display this majestic and invincible power."
Teng Jiwen panicked after hearing Li Qiye's response. For millions of years, no one had dared to be disrespectful towards the forefather.
The Sunflower Forefather's eyes began to flash like blossoming starlight.
In a split second, he whisked his arm and isolated space as if he wanted to banish Li Qiye.
"Bang!" But before the banishment could take effect, the nearby space shattered. With another bang, the forefather was pushed back into the huge vine tree.
Vine branches then came together to form a hand of god that coiled around the forefather's neck. His entire body was propped up against the vine tree, instantly suppressing him.
"No way!" The citadel lord and everyone else were aghast. It was not an exaggeration to say that they nearly pissed their pants in terror!
Even their invincible Sunflower Forefather was suppressed, so how could they not pale from fear? All the experts felt despair, there was no one left to oppose Li Qiye outside of their ancestral vine.
In spite of this, they still mustered together to try and stop Li Qiye once more. They must face him despite knowing that they were not his match.
In just a moment, both Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord felt suffocated. In their minds, no one should be able to stop the forefather in present times, yet he was rendered motionless — this was too terrorizing.
The forefather being pushed against the vine tree raised both of his hands and quickly said: "Wait, I bear no malice, it was just a test."
Li Qiye glanced at him, then the branches in the form of the godhand loosened to let him go. It turned back into vine branches that hovered behind Li Qiye.
"You really are a Vine Controller…" The shocked Sunflower Forefather couldn't believe it despite having confirmed it.
He finally took a deep breath and asked while staring at Li Qiye: "Is your bloodline from our citadel?"
Li Qiye laughed in response: "Old man, you are overthinking things. My bloodline is the purest of the human lineage. I am not a descendant of your ancestral vine and definitely have nothing to do with your citadel."
"How inconceivable." The forefather carefully looked at Li Qiye and confirmed that he indeed didn't have even a hint of the citadel's bloodline. He continued: "Outside of the only biological son of the treefather, no one else has appeared in all these generations that can communicate with the treefather. No one aside from its son has been able to become a Vine Controller, yet an outsider like you can control the vines!"
Here, his eyes flashed with a revelation: "Could it be that the ancestral vine has chosen you to become the Vine Controller of our citadel…"
"Your imagination is too much." With a grin, Li Qiye waved his sleeve to interrupt the forefather: "I am not your divine guardian or a Vine Controller, I'm only someone who is teaching a lesson to this group of foolish descendants in the vine's stead."
Li Qiye naturally wasn't a so-called Vine Controller. He used the Myriad Age Tree to communicate with the ancestral vine. Although the vine itself had no sentience, its instinct was still there and allowed Li Qiye to use its power.
The forefather said with excitement: "Regardless, you can still control everything here, so you are a Vine Controller. Only those with the permission of the ancestral vine would be able to use its power."
"You are speaking too much nonsense, but one thing is indeed true." Li Qiye smiled: "I can indeed control the power of the ancestral vine!"
Chapter 1184: Vine Controller
Despite Li Qiye's denial of being a Vine Controller, the Sunflower Forefather was still very excited: "After so many years, we have finally waited long enough for a Vine Controller to appear. We shall be able to rise in this generation…"
"Old man, you are overthinking things." Li Qiye interrupted the forefather again and spoke in a lackadaisical manner: "This Vine Controller thing or the citadel rising… I don't have any interest in this. I am only here to make a deal."
Despite Li Qiye's lack of interest, the forefather pressed on with some wishful thinking. He shouted at the experts and said: "What are you waiting for?! Come and greet his venerable Vine Controller. His will is the will of the ancestral vine!"
In the mind of the forefather, this was a one and only chance of this generation. This was a Vine Controller! If he could keep the guy here, his ability would be absolutely priceless for their citadel.
The experts here felt quite confused, but after carefully thinking things through, it made a little sense. Even though Li Qiye was an outsider, he has clearly been accepted by the ancestral vine. Now, even the forefather has recognized Li Qiye's identity. This meant that Li Qiye had won the will of the ancestral vine.
The experts came forward to bow towards Li Qiye. This sudden reversal was like a dream. A few moments ago, they were trapped in a fight to the death against Li Qiye, but now he had become the representative of the ancestral vine.
"Go back and do some personal reflection. There are things that can be done and things that shouldn't be done." In the end, the forefather yelled at the experts from the citadel before chasing them away.
Eventually, the only juniors left were the citadel lord and Teng Jiwen.
"Vine Controller, since you are already here, please stay at our citadel. There are many juniors that require your guidance…" The Sunflower Forefather smiled brightly.
Li Qiye was not interested in being this so-called vine controller. He halted the forefather again: "I won't bother with this kind of laborious undertaking. My time is limited, I am only responsible for curing the ancestral vine. After taking the calabash away, I will have nothing to do with this place."
"Er—" The forefather couldn't find an excuse to reject his refusal. He could only smile wryly: "That's fine, that's fine, we'll focus on the ancestral vine then."
He was someone who understood the logic that an impatient person shouldn't be eating hot tofu. It would be troublesome to push Li Qiye too much. 1
He led Li Qiye into the forbidden ground. Meanwhile, the master-disciple duo finally regained their composure and quickly followed. Even in their wildest dreams, neither of them could have expected the change of tides.
After Li Qiye killed Hao Yuzhen, they knew that the deal was over and that ultimately, they might not escape unscathed. Even if their citadel was strong enough to catch Li Qiye, the two of them would still be responsible for this disaster.
But in the end, Li Qiye was in complete control of the situation. At this time, Teng Jiwen finally understood why Li Qiye was so confident about forcing this transaction. He now realized Li Qiye's ace and where his confidence stemmed from.
The group saw a majestic landscape with peaks towering all the way to the sky dome. Vine leaves were whirling high above. This place truly gave the sensation of being a kingdom of elves.
These protrusions with lush trees and flowing rivers as well as the gigantic vine towering to the sky would make the unaware believe that they were lost in an untouched eden.
The worldly energy was plentiful. Of course, there was also the force of life coming from the ancestral vine. This was the most important location in the Heavenvine Citadel, hence its exuberance.
This was definitely a holy land for cultivation, but not just anyone was eligible to train in this place.
Eventually, the forefather brought Li Qiye to the highest peak of this area. A vine was drooping down from the sky. It was quite thick and resembled jade pillars. It emitted a faint luster as if it was the green vein of the heavens.
This sight would make people recall a certain legend. When a cultivator dies and becomes an immortal, their body would also turn into jade. This vine branch was awfully similar to this legend, so it made people envision the scene of the Heavenvine Treefather meeting his end and turning into this tree.
"A treefather's atavistic end to return to the earth, it is quite an incredible sight." Li Qiye looked at this vine and said: "During that great moment, heaven and earth would shift with wondrous images as the treefather ascends into a jade form."
Teng Jiwen and the citadel lord were surprised because they hadn't heard of this description before.
The forefather praised: "My lord, you have such great knowledge, worthy of admiration and awe. When the treefather returned to the earth, those images were indeed present."
Li Qiye gave the forefather a dismissive glance" "Don't rush to praise me, I'm about to be frank. After the treefather returned to the earth, there should have been two of these jade pillars, but now there is only one left and even it is about to disappear. Everything has been ruined by the hands of his unfilial descendants."
The forefather coughed awkwardly after hearing this while the duo kept quiet without daring to say a word. In the citadel, who would dare to talk this way to their forefather? But right now, he was being scolded by Li Qiye like a junior. There was no way they could add their own comments in this circumstance.
"From the two jade pillars back then, one bore fruit to the Heavenvine Calabash. Later on, when Immortal Emperor Bu Si collapsed, my senior brother wanted to go all out and tried to steal from the heavens so that another fruit could come to be…" The Sunflower Forefather lamented at this point with a soft sigh.
Back then, not only did they fail in their attempt, they also suffered grievous losses.
"Not everything will go according to plans in this world. One can only say that you old geezers were too greedy for wanting another calabash. Were you all trying to squeeze your ancestral vine dry?" Li Qiye sneered.
The forefather rubbed his palms while showing an awkward smile: "Because of that, my senior brothers also wanted to pour the essences of the Heaven's Will into the ancestral ground to revitalize the ancestor…"
"You all were too bold, greedy, and insane." Li Qiye snorted: "A treefather from the Treant Race returning to the earth and taking root to live on is already an act against the heavens, but you all even tried to steal its essences? What was this if not courting death?"
The forefather helplessly replied: "No one knew that such a thing would happen back then. It was already too late once we realized it. The other jade pillar was destroyed while the heavens unleashed its scourge upon us."
Li Qiye coldly said: "Greed is one thing, but to not understand your own limits to this point… Of course the heavens would send down its punishment. If you all had an Immortal Emperor overseeing things, then it might have been a successful struggle. However, relying on you old bones alone? Heh, it was already very fortunate that the villainous heavens didn't render your citadel to ashes."
The forefather sighed again. Several of his senior brothers died miserably during this disaster, not to mention the calamity left behind on their ancestral vine.
Meanwhile, the duo quietly listened. Even though the citadel lord knew a lot, this was the first time he had heard about the details of the past.
While looking at the jade pillar that resembled a tendon of the heavens, Li Qiye ordered the lord: "Go up there and break it!"
"Break it?" The lord felt his legs suddenly become weak and thought that he had misheard. This jade pillar was extremely significant to their citadel. Smashing it was tantamount to smashing their own treasure.
"Break it?" Even the forefather turned silly. He stared at Li Qiye in disbelief and said: "This is the only one left, if you break it now—"
Li Qiye dismissively countered: "Break it and you will understand."
The citadel lord glanced over at the forefather. He didn't dare to do such a thing.
The forefather took a deep breath and commanded: "Break it. If his lordship orders it, it must be correct."
The citadel lord took a deep breath then flew into the sky with a huge hammer in his hands. Both of his hands were trembling at this moment. With one smash, he would personally be destroying the most precious treasure in the Heavenvine Citadel. Perhaps he would even become a sinner of his sect.
Okay, the explanation for this is that when you cook tofu, an outer layer is formed, trapping the heat inside so it won't look hot. Someone impatient would start eating right away and burn their tongue. ↩