Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Moreover…” Li Yao sneered. His hands in his back, he continued unhurriedly, “How much are they going to pay if they really make up their mind to demolish the Purple Pole Sword Sect? The wrath of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is never to be underestimated. You have six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators right now. If I were your leader, I would gather the six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and attack one of the sects, say, the Grand Mystery Sect that ‘Iron Saint’ Qi Zhongdao belongs to!
“As the saying goes, ‘tall trees catch much wind’. As the largest sect in the world, does the Grand Mystery Sect not have any enemies or any rivals that covet its position? So, the Purple Pole Sword Sect would concentrate all their strength on it and drag it to hell together!
“The Purple Pole Sword Sect dares to die, but does the Grand Mystery Sect dare to?
“The Grand Mystery Sect dares not. None of the so-called ‘six major sects’ dare, not to mention the insignificant smaller sects! A hundred sects have indeed arrived aggressively on the surface, but they have their own interests, plans, and concerns. What are they if not an unruly mob?
“Lastly, although so many sects are standing against you, are there not any sects that are standing on your side in secret? The Purple Pole Sword Sect obviously cannot be the only ‘eunuch’s conspirator’. The other ‘eunuch’s conspirators’ must’ve already gathered in the Hundred Blade Mountain, too!
“The Purple Pole Sword Sect will be their example. What you suffer will happen to them later. Do you think that they will watch the giant tree named Purple Pole Sword Sect fall without doing anything?
“When the time of life and death comes, rest assured, those ‘eunuch’s conspirators’ will certainly jump out and fight on your side!
“Even I, a barbarian from nowhere, know all the above. Can Qi Zhongdao, the well-respected leader of all Cultivators, and the leaders of the other major sects not think of that? It will be a great joke!”
Ling Lanyin was dumbfounded at what he said. She looked at Li Yao in disbelief, admiration, and reverence.
She knew every word that Li Yao had said, but the connotation after the words were connected was fresh for her. It was like a gate was opened in front of her, introducing her to a brand-new world!
Noticing the girl’s apparent shock, Li Yao secretly sighed in his heart.
He discovered that abundant spiritual energy was not necessarily a good thing.
Because of the abundant spiritual, training was simple here. So, the population of Cultivators in the Ancient Sages Sector was very large. Their speed in upgrading their Cultivation was quite high, too.
But it was exactly because of the ease of training that they overlooked the whetting of their will and belief. As a result, a lot of them, just like Ling Lanyin, were simple-minded, weak-willed, and did not have a firm belief despite their immense strength.
At the same level, the Cultivators from the Ancient Sages Sector were certainly no match for those from the federation. It was not about the technological gap but about the gap in will and belief!
At the very least, the experts at the peak of the Core Formation Stage in the federation were all determined, extraordinary people who were pillars of their field. They certainly would not ask stupid questions like that.
Ling Lanyin simply felt that the old monster was growing more and more mysterious. She did not dare to look down on him at all now but asked respectfully, “If I may ask senior, with what you said in mind, why are the parties in such tension right now?”
“This is negotiation.” Li Yao snorted. “The Purple Pole Sword Sect swallowed too much in the past few years with your personal connection with Wang Xi. You enraged everyone. Now that the new emperor has claimed the throne and Wang Xi has fallen, you must surrender some of your benefits!
“Labeling you as a ‘eunuch’s conspirator’ is just their exorbitant proposal. In fact, they would never be bold enough to really shoulder the consequences of forcing the Purple Pole Sword Sect to rebel!
“Everybody in the game knows that. So, this Dragon Spring Meeting is simply a bargaining meeting where you propose your demands and they propose their counteroffers. The Purple Pole Sword Sect will definitely have to give up some interests, but as for exactly how many interests you surrender and who you surrender the interests to, it will depend on the results of the ‘competitions’ here!
“If the Purple Pole Sword Sect proves to be strong enough and wins most of the competitions, naturally, you will be able to keep most of your interests.
“If you accidentally lose a lot of ‘competitions’, and even your best expert ‘Sword Maniac’ Yan Liren is crushed by ‘Iron Saint’ Qi Zhongdao, you will have to chop off your own flesh to feed the hungry intruders.
“Of course, if you suffer such a humiliating defeat that you are not able to counterattack at all, it will only be reasonable that the guests take the chance to demolish the Purple Pole Sword Sect. However, according to my observations, the disciples in your sect are in high spirits, and the cloud of spiritual energy inside your mountain is still condensed. You are still united. So, the likelihood of such a scenario is rather low!”
Taking a deep breath in relief, Ling Lanyin was fully convinced. She bowed deeply to Li Yao and said, “Thank you for your enlightenment, Master. I was disturbed by what the Cultivators of other sects said just now and lost my calmness. Please do excuse my lack of manners.”
“That’s alright.” Li Yao glanced at the Cultivators of other sects who were rather excited with a fake smile before he chuckled. “When the wolves and tigers are fighting, the rats and snakes are bold enough to watch at such a close distance. They don’t know what they are doing! When the wolves and tigers are exhausted and hungry, who will they feed on?
“Just wait and watch. In my opinion, none of the six major sects or the Purple Pole Sword Sect will be the losers in the Dragon Spring Meeting. Chances are that those fellows who are gladly preparing to loot the burning house will take the blame of ‘eunuch’s conspirators’!”
Li Yao did not hide his analysis abilities because he did not intend to be regarded as a pure warrior with no brains.
While showing his unparalleled combat abilities, he had to demonstrate a certain degree of wisdom and cunningness in order to be involved in the real core secrets.
Otherwise, other people would always consider him a ‘lunatic’ or an ‘old monster’. How could he communicate with them?
Li Yao’s glance raised the attention of the Cultivators of the ‘twelve sects of the South Desert’.
The few Cultivators had observed Li Yao and Ling Lanyin in secret for a long time, too. However, both of them had intentionally disguised themselves, and they showed no distinguishable features. So, they were not recognized.
Li Yao did not conceal the brutality and hostility inside his eyes at all. He eyed the Cultivators as if they were fish that were bouncing on a chopper block not knowing what was coming to them. The few Cultivators were certainly not happy to be watched in such a way.
Toughness was a mandatory trait for the Cultivators from the harsh lands. All the Cultivators from the South Desert put their hands on their blades. A muscular man in the lead glared at Li Yao and bellowed, “Are you talking about us in our back, Fellow Cultivators? Just say whatever you want in front of us. What are you if you do not even dare to fart loudly?”
Taking a long breath, Li Yao smiled at Ling Lanyin. “Kid, you’ve been working hard to be at my service on the way here. For your sake, I do not want to pollute your headquarters with blood when I just arrived. However, if the swine continue throwing out such vulgar language, do not blame me for what I’m about to do!”
Ling Lanyin gasped. Of course, she knew that the temperamental old monster could do anything!
The scene where he minced Master Black Moon into pieces and then burnt the pieces into ashes was still haunting Ling Lanyin in her nightmares!
Besides, Ling Lanyin was quite angry herself at the dirty words of the Cultivators from the South Desert.
Now that she had returned to the territory of her sect, she was no longer worried about ambushes. What was there to hesitate for?
Shua!
Ling Lanyin’s strength of the peak of the Core Formation Stage suddenly burst out. Her flying sword was not even unsheathed when it crashed into the Cultivator of the South Desert’s chest in a streak of blue, blowing him dozens of meters away. The guy was throwing out mouthfuls of blood crazily, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to move at all!
“You!”
The other Cultivators from the South Desert was both shocked and infuriated. They did not expect the two unattractive Cultivators to be so brutal!
“They are not worth your anger, Master. I will teach such arrogant, idiotic things a good lesson. You don’t need to bother taking action.”
Ling Lanyin did not look at the South Desert Cultivators at all but simply begged Li Yao hard.
She knew that blood-vomiting would have been the least of their concerns if Li Yao had attacked. How would the old monster stop if they had only thrown out all their guts?
“Who are you pretentious fools?”
Being utterly ignored, the Cultivators from the South Desert burst into fury.
However, swooshing sounds echoed far away as dozens of streaks of brilliance rushed close. They were a team of tough-looking ’empyreal swordsmen’ of the Purple Pole Sword Sect!
The empyreal swordsmen were the best of the core disciples of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. Many of them were elites above the middle level of the Building Foundation Stage. Every one of them had a well-tempered weapon. They had a lot of experience in real-life battles and were a famous troop in the world of Cultivators!
Intimidated by the newcomers, the South Desert Cultivators hesitated and did not dare to act recklessly anymore.
Dozens of empyreal swordsmen darted close like lightning toward the spot and stopped around Ling Lanyin like dozens of arrows that had been shot into the ground. They cupped their hands and bowed at her.
“Senior Sister Ling, you are finally back!”
“Senior Sister Ling, the leader has been waiting for you for a long time!”
“Welcome back, Senior Sister Ling!”
“Which sect do you come from, Fellow Cultivators? Now that you have come to join the Dragon Spring Meeting of our sect, you should settle your conflicts on the Sword Testing Field. Why are you offending Senior Sister Ling before you even enter the gate of our sect?”
Seeing that the empyreal swordsmen were greeting Ling Lanyin respectfully, some of whom had even fallen on one knee, and hearing their addressing for her, the South Desert Cultivators finally thought of a name. They changed their face color greatly and shrieked, as if somebody grabbed their throat, “Or—Or—Orchid Angel Ling Lanyin!”
‘Orchid Angel’ Ling Lanyin was one of the youngest experts at the peak of the Core Formation Stage in the Great Qian Dynasty. She was definitely a terrible existence that they could not afford to anger!
The South Desert Cultivators looked at each other in bewilderment, their faces pale. Recalling what they had said earlier, they felt that their legs were shaking so hard that they could barely walk away.
With the old monster around, Ling Lanyin did not want any fuss. She yelled at the South Desert Cultivators gravely, “Get lost!”
Pardoned, the South Desert Cultivators hurried to carry their wounded companion who had already lost the courage to moan and fled.
Finally, Ling Lanyin took a long breath in relief. Putting on an expression that was so obedient and respectful that she was almost a cat, she hurried to gesture at everyone. “Come on. Let’s welcome Elder here now!”