Chapter 814: Jian Wushuang's Arrival
After returning from the Ox-Herder's imperial palace, Li Qiye had been staying at the Tie Clan the whole time. Outside of chanting to the old monument outside of the mansion, he had been training as well.
He would also occasionally teach the old turtle a thing or two about cultivation. Although the old turtle was a Heavenly Sovereign, calling his merit law as an indescribable, chaotic mess was not an exaggeration.
There was no other way. He was a vagabond cultivator with a lowly origin. His merit laws were all either stolen or found. Moreover, they weren't great merit laws to begin with.
It could even be said that it was a miracle for him to reach his current level. Any other cultivator would have already suffered from qi deviation long ago.
Li Qiye could only make this comment: "You had a good river gestating you. If this wasn't so, then you would have died countless times over."
It was impossible for the old turtle to completely change his merit laws outside of completely restarting his cultivation, which required destroying his current dao foundation and cultivation. However, he was quite old. Destroying his cultivation was the same as taking his life. He would immediately die from old age, so Li Qiye could only mold his incorrect training methods.
As for Tie Lan, Li Qiye was too lazy to care about her. Whether she cultivated to enter the dao or not was not important to him. He had given her the merit law, the rest was up to her.
Tie Lan was also a cold person with an unyielding stubbornness. She remained unwelcoming towards Li Qiye's stay at the Tie Clan and never gave him a friendly gaze. She never went to him to ask questions about cultivation either.
Of course, she was puzzled by Li Qiye's actions. If, say, he was here for her clan's treasures, then he should be searching around the Tie Clan. However, he didn't try to search in any of the broken pavilions or buildings.
He only did one thing at the Tie Clan, preach at the ancient monument of their clan. This was quite ridiculous. Preaching an entire day to a monument — if any outsiders saw this, they would assume that he was mentally ill.
On one day, after finishing his daily preaching, Tie Lan came. She looked at him a bit with her usual ice-cold demeanor: "Someone is here for you!"
Having said that, she stood to the side without saying anything else.
Jian Wushuang came in right after Tie Lan, still as beautiful and charming with that air of arrogant nobility as always. No matter the time and location, she would resemble a phoenix showing off its most gorgeous feathers; no matter the time and location, she was always confident and arrogant like this.
This was Jian Wushuang. If there was one day when she didn't display this imperious aura, she would cease to be herself!
Tie Lan couldn't help but take a better look at Jian Wushuang. Although she was a mortal, she also had experience on the battlefield and had even become a general at a young age. Thus, she was naturally very confident as well.
However, Tie Lan's cold and confident demeanor was overshadowed by Jian Wushuang's temperament. She was inferior to Jian Wushuang in both looks and aura.
"You found me so quickly." Li Qiye smiled; he was surprised to see Jian Wushuang here at the Beast Realm.
Jian Wushuang looked at him and said: "I have always valued time! When are we going to the Bi'an Beastworld?" She went straight to the point without any unnecessary blabbering.
"This matter can't be rushed." Li Qiye brought her into the Tie Clan. When there was only the two of them left in the room, he sat down and looked at her: "The pathway to the beastworld will take some time to open. But first, I need to touch your body a bit."
"Touch my body?" Jian Wushuang immediately glared at him with her never-changing and aggressive demeanor. Of course, she didn't misunderstand what he meant.
"Hmm, I'm afraid you won't dare to face it." Li Qiye touched his chin before speaking: "I have to let you know beforehand, this process is very painful. Will you be able to withstand it?"
"Just reveal the alteration." She leered at him. In fact, back during her oath with Li Qiye, she was already mentally prepared.
Li Qiye slowly said: "In terms of physical conditions such as talents, aptitude, and merit laws, very few youths can compare to you! However, I want to turn you into an unprecedented divine general, thus I will have to change you. Are you interested?"
"I suppose you can train me into an Immortal Emperor." Jian Wushuang proudly smiled. 1
Li Qiye's initial annoyance at Jian Wushuang's arrogance had turned into appreciation. He shook his head and smiled: "You are not only arrogant but ambitious as well! Alas, you were born in the wrong era since this Heaven's Will belongs to me."
"Then how about an existence capable of challenging Immortal Emperors?" Jian Wushuang aimed to challenge Li Qiye. Although she had pledged loyalty to him, it didn't mean that she couldn't challenge him.
Li Qiye smiled at her provocation and responded: "An existence capable of challenging Immortal Emperors, huh? Definitely possible and I shall do so!"
"That's more like it." She was satisfied with this answer. Coming from the Jian Clan, she naturally had wise masters. However, after witnessing Li Qiye's heaven-defying means, she had a different view on Li Qiye from then on; from that point onward, everything Li Qiye said sounded quite compelling.
Li Qiye shook his head: "You misunderstood something. What I meant was, if you put in the effort, then you can challenge Immortal Emperors. However, these are emperors of the past — ordinary emperors. But me? Impossible. I shall be the Eternal Prime Emperor!"
"Stop bragging." Jian Wushuang coldly glared at him. Although she wasn't quite sure of the authenticity of his declaration, she hesitated to flatly reject it as well.
"You will see." Li Qiye didn't mind: "However, if you want the power to challenge emperors, then you must be prepared. This will not be easy. You will need a firm dao heart and outstanding persistence. It is impossible to succeed in a short period of time."
"Just say it, what do I have to do?" She was completely confident as always.
"The first thing I want to do is to change your true fate weapon." Li Qiye solemnly stated: "Will you be able to accept that?!"
Jian Wushuang's expression quickly changed upon hearing this. She was not a beginner at cultivation. She was quite powerful already and would reach the Virtuous Paragon realm in a short amount of time.
A powerful cultivator of this level would already have a sufficiently strong true fate weapon. In Jian Wushuang's case, her weapon had been through enough tempering and was mighty enough.
"You should know that my true fate weapon was crafted from a nine heavenly accumulations stone. There is nothing better than it in this world." Jian Wushuang responded with a serious tone.
Li Qiye replied with a smile: "You are erroneous about this matter. There is no good or bad destiny stones, only the most suitable one."
Having said that, Li Qiye looked at her again: "You must change if you want to follow the path of your forefather, Immortal Emperor Diyi Jian. You must understand that although your true fate weapon is related to the bow, even if it was more powerful, it would not allow you to reach the end of the road."
"Cultivation is different for everyone. Some reach the extreme from a singular sphere while others take in everything to reach the same peak. You? You must go on the path of one and from one to reach the zenith!" Li Qiye solemnly said: "If you want to surpass your forefather, you must use purity to reach the top with the bow alone in your heart and solely the arrow in your life. Only with this would you be able to transcend. Otherwise, you will never be able to surpass your forefather!"
Jian Wushuang turned silent after hearing this. She had many wise teachers from her imperial lineage, but even their God-Monarchs couldn't clearly explain this path. This was due to the fact that even Immortal Emperor Diyi Jian couldn't reach the end. The future of this path was full of unknowns.
Jian Wushuang couldn't help but say: "What kind of stone are you replacing mine with? It is very difficult to find a stone that relates to the bow, not to mention one that could surpass the Nine Words True Bow."
In fact, she loved the bow after receiving it. She was determined to use all of her effort to refine this bow for the rest of her life!
The Jian Clan was known as the best archery clan. They had countless bow artifacts, and the strongest was the emperor's bow. However, this bow belonged to the emperor, so if the clan's descendant wanted to surpass their forefather, they must refine a bow that belonged to them and them alone!
She understood the moment she held the Nine Words True Bow that it would surpass her forefather's bow. Even though it was not a true treasure, she already considered it to be the most important weapon in her arsenal! It was ranked even higher than her true fate weapon.
"I've already picked one for you." Li Qiye took out a destiny stone and handed it to her: "I plan for you to replace it with this stone. You can start refining it now if you're ready."
In the past, Li Qiye had taken many destiny stones from the Prime Ominous Grave. Many among them were nine accumulations stones.
"This destiny stone only has one heavenly accumulation!" Jian Wushuang took a look and was not happy at all.
814 TeaserAfter returning from the Ox-Herder's imperial palace, Li Qiye had been staying at the Tie Clan the whole time. Outside of chanting to the old monument outside of the mansion, he had been training as well.
He would also occasionally teach the old turtle a thing or two about cultivation. Although the old turtle was a Heavenly Sovereign, calling his merit law as an indescribable, chaotic mess was not an exaggeration.
There was no other way. He was a vagabond cultivator with a lowly origin. His merit laws were all either stolen or found. Moreover, they weren't great merit laws to begin with.
It could even be said that it was a miracle for him to reach his current level. Any other cultivator would have already suffered from qi deviation long ago.
Li Qiye could only make this comment: "You had a good river gestating you. If this wasn't so, then you would have died countless times over."
[collapse] Left out one line here: "Her smile was still beautiful and charming as before". We see this line a lot with female characters. I'm not sure if it adds anything at all. Do comment whether you want to see these lines kept in or omitted within reasons. ↩Chapter 815: Reforming Jian Wushuang
Any cultivator with some power or wealth would not pick a destiny stone with only one heavenly accumulation! Stones of this grade were considered cheap and useless. Even ordinary cultivators wouldn't pick one of these, let alone Jian Wushuang who came from an imperial lineage.
"Like I said, there is no good or bad for destiny stones, only their suitability." Li Qiye added: "In the past, Immortal Emperor Bu Zhan was an invincible existence that swept through myriad realms."
"How many Immortal Emperor Bu Zhans can there be in this world?" Jian Wushuang couldn't help but make this comment. In fact, she had heard her seniors in the Jian Clan talk about him before. However, they did not emphasize the tale because the legend of Immortal Emperor Bu Zhan definitely couldn't be duplicated.
"You!" Li Qiye gazed at Jian Wushuang and declared: "You will be the second Immortal Emperor Bu Zhan! Remember well, the sole bow to reach the extreme, the lone arrow to reach the zenith — this will allow you to surpass your forefather and become someone who can challenge Immortal Emperors. Otherwise, you will never be able to escape his shadow!"
Jian Wushuang contemplated Li Qiye's words. She truly wanted to tread on the path unfinished by Immortal Emperor Diyi Jian. Back then, when the emperor failed to prove his dao using the bow, it became his biggest regret! If Jian Wushuang wanted to continue the path from where her forefather left off, she indeed needed to change.
However, this was easier said than done. A destiny stone with one heavenly accumulation replacing a nine accumulations stone… Moreover, it required scraping her existing true fate weapon and starting from scratch. Only a madman would even consider such a thing.
However, Jian Wushuang took a deep breath and formally accepted the suggestion: "Okay, I will change! As long as it will be a better pairing with the Nine Words True Bow, I am willing to do so!"
The decision for such a sacrifice was not easy to make for Jian Wushuang.
"This determination is necessary to reach the peak!" Li Qiye praised. Despite her arrogance, she was brilliant in that she was able to back up her words.
"What else do you want me to do?" She threw caution to the wind after having made up her mind. She would tread this path to the very end!
Li Qiye replied in a serious manner: "Second, I want you to change your longevity treasure. I want your blood energy and longevity blood to maximize the power of your arrows!"
This shocked her a second time despite mentally preparing herself. This wasn't something she could easily accept. First he wanted her to change her true fate weapon, and now he wanted her to change her longevity treasure. This was starting over from the beginning in the truest sense.
"I know your longevity treasure is amazing. The Jian Clan has expended a lot of effort and thoughts on you." Li Qiye dismissively said: "However, I will repeat the same thing again. If you want to challenge emperors or even slay them, you must change!"
Jian Wushuang took a deep breath and slightly gritted her teeth before answering: "Very well, I will change. What kind of longevity treasure do you want me to use? I will tell my father to prepare what's necessary!"
"No, I already have one prepared." Li Qiye gently shook his head. Back in the Beast Vein, he had massacred countless monsters, so he had a large quantity of life rings, longevity blood, and beast marrow.
"Okay, I'll change both of them then!" Jian Wushuang nodded. This required great determination and perseverance. Others would surely think that she was crazy right now.
Li Qiye solemnly said: "We'll change your true treasure first. The changing of your longevity treasure can wait a bit. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle both at the same time since this is a complete redo."
Li Qiye pulled out all the stops for Jian Wushuang. He only had one goal — to train an invincible general under his banner! Even though Jian Wushuang didn't have unparalleled talents nor was she the strongest, Li Qiye took note of her fearless heart, boundless confidence, matchless arrogance, and especially her heart that stood undaunted by failure and even death! This was exactly what he was looking for!
"Outside of the treasures, is there anything else I need to change?" Jian Wushuang didn't care about anything anymore. Since she was already changing the treasures, what else was off the table?
"I want you to refine a physique law." Li Qiye said: "In the future, I want you to rely on this physique to make your archery unfathomably stronger!"
"My physique is only an ordinary one." Jian Wushuang shook her head: "I'm afraid there won't be a suitable law for it."
"Don't you worry, I have prepared everything for you. You are not someone who is aiming for a saint or immortal physique, you're just aiming for a supreme dao of archery. Thus, I will not pass down any immortal physiques to you." Li Qiye said.
"Then let's begin." Jian Wushuang agreed. Cultivating a new physique was no big deal at this point.
Li Qiye nodded: "We'll have to first refine this physique then change your true weapon. Once your true weapon takes form, we'll switch to the longevity treasure. Trust me, only at the apex of the bow would you be able to challenge Immortal Emperors and maybe even kill them!"
"I'll leave the arrangements to you. Just give me the conditions and I'll fulfill them." Jian Wushuang responded with confidence.
Li Qiye taught her a new physique law. Of course, it also stemmed from the Physique Scripture. However, it was not an immortal or saint physique, it was only a Houtian physique.
Houtian physiques were nothing special in the eyes of many people. It wasn't even considered a real physique law. However, this houtian law from Li Qiye was not ordinary due to its origin!
Of course, this was not Li Qiye's attempt of getting her to create an invincible body to use it to crush all of her enemies. This physique was merely to complement her archery, to take it to an even higher level by exerting the most powerful force!
Her talents were great and she also had a solid foundation, so it was incredibly easy for her to learn a houtian physique. After Li Qiye passed on the incantation, she only took several short days before achieving some results. During this process, Li Qiye was preparing a physique paste for her to temper her body.
All was ready. Li Qiye summoned the pentagate to seal the room with only him and Jian Wushuang inside. Li Qiye took out all the materials and the Myriad Heavenly Cauldron to begin the boiling process!
"What kind of physique paste is this?" Jian Wushuang was surprised after seeing all the materials. Although she was not an alchemist, she still had an understanding about paste formulas.
Li Qiye shook his head: "I am going to make you extraordinary, so this is no common formula. Moreover, the common pastes were created by the Alchemy God to spread to the rest of the world. Your paste is different from these common pastes as it will have three different tempering acts. Each tempering will be different from the others."
She carefully identified these medicines. All were treasures of the world, and many of which were ones she had never seen before.
"A three million year old Calmstream Turtle's marrow — this is the calmest and most righteous type of marrow. It's even combined with an old root of a Soldier Tree several million years old. There's also some juice of a Violetblood Ginseng Ancestor and some young leaves from a Bewildering Bamboo…" After noticing her careful examination and confusion, Li Qiye introduced them with a smile.
After hearing these names, even an arrogant person like her took a deep breath and stammered: "These… these are legendary immortal medicines…"
"That's right, some of them are indeed immortal medicines." Li Qiye gently nodded as if there was nothing special about it.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Jian Wushuang was dazed for a moment. Even her clan wouldn't be able to gather this batch of medicines together!
Even if an imperial lineage could do so, it wouldn't give it to a junior. This particular batch could be considered supreme. Using this for the first body tempering was too wasteful.
Although it was said that she was working for Li Qiye, the harsher way to put it was that they were master and servant. She could understand the Jian Clan treating her well because she was the jewel of the family. However, she couldn't believe Li Qiye's great treatment towards her.
"Miss, don't get me wrong." Li Qiye laughed in response: "It isn't that I like or love you or anything. I only hope that it will be worth spending all of this on you. In the future, I want to see you being able to embody ‘see god, slay god, see devil, slay devil’. Where my war banner points is where you shall attack. Do you dare to achieve this?"
"Yes, what is there to be afraid of!" Jian Wushuang took a deep breath and replied with a sonorous tone. At this second, she found herself a new goal. It was as if she could see a grand scene with thunderous storms as she destroyed the sky, signaling an apocalypse!
"Very good!" Li Qiye gently nodded: "One day you shall come to understand that slaying immortals is not impossible!"
Jian Wushuang's blood was boiling. Prior to this, she assumed that by pledging loyalty to Li Qiye, she would only be helping him kill a few enemies. It was now different, she could sense how greatly he valued her and that he wished to train her into an invincible general!
Chapter 816: Exquisite Body
After some mixing, the physique paste cauldron was ready. The paste seemed akin to liquid fat and emitted a musky aroma, yet it wasn't musk. People would become lost in this fragrance.
"Take off your clothes and get in." Li Qiye commanded.
Jian Wushuang immediately stared at him with a gaze as sharp as an arrow. She aggressively shouted: "Don't try to trick me, who says tempering requires one to strip!"
Li Qiye only smiled in response: "I do! If you don't take them off, that's fine, it'll be your problem then."
Jian Wushuang continued to look at him for a bit before taking off her clothes. A dazzling scene appeared right before Li Qiye eyes, a scene so beautiful that it was impossible to describe with mere words.
Trembling white peaks, full and round with a touch of red like two budding flowers… Skin as white as jade and as soft as satin… The lack of clothes revealed a beautifully tempting figure.
Not only were her features pretty, her figure was also impeccable. Slender shoulders and a thin waist, and a pair of long and healthy legs that only accentuated her peerless beauty…
Li Qiye looked up and down at this beautiful scene before him. He took his time appreciating it as if it was a unique piece of art in this world.
"Had your fill?" Jian Wushuang coldly quipped. Of course, Li Qiye was simply enjoying it without any dirty thoughts. This made Jian Wushuang a lot more comfortable than it could have been.
"Not bad." Li Qiye gently nodded and turned his gaze away from the pretty scene. He leisurely smiled: "Your body can be called a masterpiece. However, out of all the beautiful figures I've seen, it would be a bit difficult for your body to be among the top ten."
She was about to vomit blood from anger. She knew that Li Qiye didn't have vulgar thoughts towards her, but this evaluation was still enraging!
Everyone liked beautiful things to an extent. Jian Wushuang was very confident with herself; whether it was her talents, face, or even her figure, she was sure that very few people in this world could compare to her.
But now, Li Qiye had seen all that she had to offer only to comment with "not bad" as if it was a common sight.
"Who is number one?! Ming Yexue?" Jian Wushuang arrogantly glared at Li Qiye and grew a bit competitive.
Li Qiye smiled and shook his head: "I haven't seen Yexue, but thinking about it, I'm afraid Yexue would not be number one either."
This was met with a scowl from Jian Wushuang.
"Okay, no need to be competitive about something like this." Li Qiye chuckled: "I picked you not because of your bag of skin, so who cares about first place. Listen and go in for me. Delaying any further would decrease the effect of the paste."
After giving another cold glare to Li Qiye, she stepped into the physique paste and let her entire body soak in the medicine.
Li Qiye controlled the cauldron with great concentration. He was grasping the slight changes in the flame to utilize the paste's effect to the degree of perfection.
Li Qiye wanted something even better than perfect for this physique paste. It was not just because he used precious materials for this batch, he also wanted Jian Wushuang to be free of errors.
This went beyond her physique temperament. Her physique was also an experiment to him as he strived for perfection.
Time passed by quickly. Eventually, Jian Wushuang finally finished the tempering process. She stepped out from the cauldron with a foggy violet aura. Lotus flowers seemed to be blooming from her steps as an extraordinary aura permeated the atmosphere.
She appeared before Li Qiye, nude like before. Li Qiye meticulously looked over her again with a serious expression as if he was inspecting his flawless masterpiece.
Prior to this, Jian Wushuang's jade-like figure was already very beautiful. However, after the tempering process, it was different from before. A magical light pulsed above her skin; her body seemed to be encompassed in an immortal energy. From inside came a faint yet clear aura. This made her body seem even more flawless.
"Seen enough yet?" She only looked at him without a hint of embarrassment or awkwardness.
In fact, she couldn't become bashful. Li Qiye simply didn't see her as a woman. She understood very well that in his eyes was a reflection of a piece of art, there was no lewdity.
After a careful observation, he was very pleased and nodded his head: "Hard and soft in co-existence, fire and water in harmony, this tempering will lay down a strong foundation that will make your future much easier."
"What do you take me for!" Jian Wushuang had the urge to puke blood! She was the jewel of the Jian Clan, the pearl of an imperial lineage!
Her body had never been seen by an outsider before. Today, Li Qiye got a good look. If, say, Li Qiye praised her by saying that she had a pretty figure, she would feel much better. This kind of observation only made her angry.
Li Qiye looked at her and laughed: "I, of course, am praising myself for creating this physique for you. Why would I praise your figure as if it was pretty? Your figure is priceless; I am the only one who can create something like this. As for your bag of skin, there are many such ones in the nine worlds."
"You!" She fiercely glared at him before angrily putting on her clothes.
"Okay, miss, no need to be mad." Li Qiye smiled: "Be ready, I will change your true treasure tomorrow!"
She took in a deep breath and met his gaze: "Don't worry, I will be ready at any time and won't let you down!"
After all, she was the arrogant and confident Jian Wushuang! Someone that would never back down!
The next day, Jian Wushuang changed her true treasure with Li Qiye helping her by the side. This process required a lot of courage and was a big price to pay for any cultivator. However, no matter how difficult it might be, Jian Wushuang boldly faced it, for this was the path chosen by her.
Not everyone could withstand this painful process, but Jian Wushuang took it in stride. With Li Qiye's help, the whole process was very smooth, and there were no mistakes. Li Qiye was very content with everything as a whole.
"Now, take the time to train and start the aggregation." Li Qiye commanded after the swap: "You just need to refine this destiny stone so that it takes shape, then everything will be well. There is no need to be stringent during this process, just let it flow naturally."
Jian Wushuang went into seclusive training after the swap in order to gestate her new destiny stone.
Li Qiye continued to stay at the Tie Clan. Outside of preaching was training; he had stepped into the Heavenly King realm. This was also a very important realm for cultivators.
They would have to face the most powerful and difficult calamity in one's life… Life Reduction! This was the most difficult tribulation for many cultivators. Even extremely powerful kings couldn't surpass it in the end and would miserably die to this test.
However, after defeating it, reaching the Virtuous Paragon realm would be quite simple. Li Qiye meditated inside his room as divine rings pulsed from his body. Each divine ring appeared to be opening an entirely new world with an eternal grand dao. Li Qiye resembled an ancient god at this point.
Four inner physiques emerged from his chest at this moment: Hell Suppressing, Soaring, Void Imperfection, and Sky Destroyer!
The Sky Destroyer Physique was from the same branch as the Hell Suppressing Physique. Both originated from the word "Taint" among the six words of the Physique Scripture.
Upon completion, this physique would allow for endless unyielding strength! This meant that the user became a very powerful weapon that was capable of breaking treasures and other weapons!
If the Hell Suppressing Physique was meant for suppression, then the Sky Destroyer Physique was meant for oppression.
Imagine this, the weight of the Hell Suppressing Physique, the speed of the Soaring Physique, the avoidance of the Void Imperfection Physique, and the destructive force of the Sky Destroyer Physique… The four physiques together were something beyond imagination.
Their combination meant that nothing was impregnable against its unstoppable might! This turned Li Qiye into a walking humanoid weapon with several times as much power as before!
What defense could withstand such destruction? Li Qiye chose the Sky Destroyer Physique in order to increase his body's power by several orders of magnitude!
One day during his meditation inside his room, his eyes suddenly opened with a streak of lightning flashing across his pupils. At this time, he heard shouts outside of the premises with a scream from Tie Lan.
Although he couldn't be bothered to teach her and he didn't care about her matters, she was ultimately still the Heavenly Flame Goddess' descendant. Li Qiye would absolutely not let anything happen to her.
Chapter 817: The Tombskull Sect
In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye's figure shifted; he instantly rushed out of the Tie Clan. He appeared in the ruins and saw more than a dozen cultivators there. Some of them were excavating the ruins.
Their looks were quite varied. Some had a stronger blood energy than others, and some resembled corpses that had just climbed out from a grave. However, they all had the same uniform, so it was clear that they came from the same sect.
Tie Lan was captured by a middle-aged cultivator that looked like a ghost that had been hanged. His eyes were completely white and he had a really long neck; a sizable blood energy emanated from his body, revealing that he was an Ancient Saint.
"Can I help you?" Li Qiye smiled after seeing these cultivators.
All the cultivators shifted their eyes to Li Qiye. The cultivator who caught Tie Lan cupped his hands and said: "You must be Young Noble Li."
Li Qiye dismissively said: "If you know who I am, then you should know what I have said before."
The cultivator quickly responded: "Young Noble Li, we’re here for a different matter. I am an elder of the Tombskull Sect. A Corpse Monarch from our sect disappeared, and while we were giving chase, it hid in these ruins."
"And then?" Li Qiye chuckled upon hearing this. He cultivated the Death Scripture that was capable of controlling all undead. How could he not know if there was a Corpse Monarch hiding underground in these ruins?
The elder hastily said: "We have spent a lot of effort to groom this Corpse Monarch. Right now, we want to excavate these ruins in order to find it." He cleared his throat before continuing: "This young miss misunderstood us and didn't allow for us to dig here, so I had no choice but to calm her down a bit. I hope that Young Noble Li can sympathize with our problem. In the end, this Corpse Monarch costed us a lot and we wouldn't be able to answer our seniors if we were to lose it! So please, be generous and let us dig through these ruins. We will compensate for any losses."
This was Sheng Fei's plan. Let the Tombskull Sect come with an excuse for excavating the ruins. Nothing would be better if Li Qiye gave permission. Then, they would be able to see if there were treasures here.
If there were actually treasures, then they would use all kinds of excuses to seize them. Moreover, if the hidden grove actually came out, their ravine would send a great army here. At that time, even if Li Qiye didn't agree, it would no longer be up to him.
On the other hand, a rejection from Li Qiye would be fine as well. Then they could accuse Li Qiye of the crime of stealing a Corpse Monarch from the Tombskull Sect. With that, they would have the moral high ground!
Li Qiye was quite amused. This kind of scheme, to him, was only child's play. Although he wasn't certain who the true mastermind was, he immediately knew what the Tombskull Sect wanted after hearing their words.
"Excavate these ruins?" Li Qiye raised his brows. If some people wanted to die, then he would be more than willing to please them. He leisurely said: "I trust that your sect has heard that the Tie Clan is under my protection."
The elder replied: "We have heard of this before, but we hope that you can understand. Losing a Corpse Monarch is a grave matter, so we have to excavate these ruins. Please forgive any inconvenience that this might cause. Rest assured, Young Noble, we will take responsibility for any damages to both you and the Tie Clan."
Li Qiye smirked before slowly responding: "Such pleasing words, but I only have one thing to say. Either scram now or leave your heads here. It is that simple."
"Young Noble is being too aggressive." The elder's expression sank: "Our Corpse Monarch is a priceless treasure. Don't tell me that you wish to seize it?"
The elder finally latched onto the chance to accuse Li Qiye of this crime. If successful, then they would have a reason to launch an offensive.
Li Qiye didn't even bat an eye as he declared: "One last warning, either you leave intact, or leave behind your heads."
"Li Qiye, don't be so presumptuous!" The elder had reached his goal and was ready to retreat. He coldly said: "Don't think that our Tombskull Sect is so easily bullied! If you steal our Corpse Monarch, then don't blame us for what's to come!"
With that, the elder winked towards the other disciples. They held a small dao platform while chanting a mysterious and devious incantation.
"Clack, clack, clack…" From their summoning, countless skeletons came out from their platform. Their eyes were flashing with red lights. Moreover, they all emitted a powerful evil energy! They were swift and some were flying as well; this was quite a formidable force.
"Boom!" The elder summoned an even more powerful skeleton. It was a skeletal knight with a terrifying aura that rode a draconic corpse.
Although the sect considered themselves demons, many other lineages didn't think so. Rumor has it that the patriarch of the sect was a corpse that turned into a demon, allowing him to summon the dead.
It could be said that this sect was the only lineage in the Stone Medicine World that could summon corpses. From the first day of cultivation, its new disciples would train corpses that belonged to them alone. These corpses, more often than not, were even more powerful than their controllers!
"Li Qiye, we will not let this thievery go unpunished!" The elder shouted as they commanded their skeletons to attack Li Qiye.
At the same time, they began to retreat since they didn't wish to fight directly with Li Qiye. Their goal was to frame Li Qiye, and it had been accomplished, so retreating was the next course of action.
Meanwhile, the elder had also captured Tie Lan. When necessary, he would use her as a hostage to threaten Li Qiye.
"Rumble!" The earth shook from the stampede. Under the control of the Tombskull disciples, this skeletal army maneuvered towards Li Qiye with an aggressive momentum. This was especially true for the skeletal knight. It appeared to be the general of the battlefield as it took the vanguard with an unstoppable might capable of stamping the earth.
"Damn!" The old turtle was shocked to see such a terrorizing scene. He paled from fear and immediately shrunk his head back into his hard shell.
Li Qiye only smiled against the oncoming skeletal onslaught. He stood still without moving. The moment these skeletons got close, death energy emerged from Li Qiye's body along with the Death Chapter. With a buzz, the Death Chapter created by countless intertwining laws shot out rays of light.
These laws instantly pierced the powerful bodies of these skeletons, causing them to stand still on the spot as if petrified.
"Go!" The elder and the other disciples were startled after seeing this unfold. They immediately unleashed more chants to regain control of their skeletons. However, the skeletons didn't have the slightest reaction.
Their minds almost shattered from this. Although they had heard that Li Qiye could summon undead, their sect was very confident that no one could compare to them in this regard. Their patriarch was the tyrant of myriad corpses!
What they didn't know was that the Death Scripture was one of the nine greats. Compared to its art, their corpse controlling technique was simply insignificant and unable to reach the apex!
After locking and taking over these skeletons by using the Death Chapter, they were completely under Li Qiye's control.
The Tombskull crowd wanted to run from fear, but Li Qiye smiled: "You still want to run away after coming here?"
In a split second, the Death Chapter created a loud blast as it activated the maximum potential of these skeletons; they were now even stronger than they used to be when they were controlled by their original masters!
"Boom!" These undead went forth with killing intent towards the other cultivators.
"Get back!" The group tried to use their laws to control the skeletons, but these undead simply didn't listen to their commands!
"Ah!" In the shortest time, a disciple had been killed by his own skeleton.
The elder wanted to grab Tie Lan and escape. However, he couldn't even take two steps forward before Li Qiye appeared in front of him and blocked his path.
The elder quickly turned pale. However, his reaction was still quite fast. He immediately grabbed Tie Lan by the neck and shouted: "You, don't come over here or I'll kill her first!"
Li Qiye looked at him and smiled: "You should know that no one has ever been able to threaten me."
"Ah…" The moment Li Qiye's words came out, blood spurted everywhere. The two hands that were holding Tie Lan were instantly torn apart; she was already in Li Qiye's embrace.
"You're only at this level yet you still dare to come and threaten me?" Li Qiye threw the elder's hands to the ground and smirked.