Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
There are some things which could not be expressly mentioned, but one’s facial expression or attitude could reveal a person’s thoughts and opinions.
Great Elder Ying Yu chose to remain silent, as he had already made his arrangements. He merely had to “add on to the fire”.
Sixth Elder did not continue, and waited quietly at the side.
Following the Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciple’s announcement, the space in front of the Middle Stream Cauldron was filled with a few hundred disciples shortly after.
Everyone of them seemed solemn.
Four Elders, each clothed in a black robe, were standing in front of the disciples, waiting quietly too.
During this time, due to the weird occurences in the Holy Region, many disciples and Elders were sent out, leaving only a few to guard the place. Only Great Elder Ying Yu and four Elders were left in Nine Pinnacles Mountain, as well as a few hundred disciples.
Sixth Elder saw the four Elders, and he was sure that they were ready to support Great Elder Ying Yu anytime.
“Only four Elders? Second Hallmaster is indeed a genius!” Sixth Elder sighed to himself, as he guessed that Great Elder had put in quite an amount of effort for the leader position.
However, he had only received the support of four Elders, thus it could be seen that the competition within Nine Pinnacles Mountain was even more intense than he had expected.
While four Elders were already the majority, it would seem forceful for him to take on the role of the leader, and chaos might ensue.
Of course, this is beneficial for Yin Yang Hall, as it can better control Nine Pinnacles Mountain when the latter was not steady.
“Let’s count the time, 49 days, the herb should be completed already!”
“Yes, I heard whenever the Middle Stream Cauldron is cooking, there’s always weird occurrences happening. Sometimes there would be thunders, and sometimes there would be rays in the sky, I’m not sure what would happen this time?”
“The Thousand Years Fire Herb is one of Nine Pinnacles Mountain’s top two treasures, there are not many of it in the whole of the Holy Region, I think this weird occurrence must be very unique as well!”
“Can’t wait!”
Clearly the disciples did not know that it was the day of appointing the new leader, as they looked at Great Elder Ying Yu, who was standing in front of the Middle Stream Cauldron, as well as Sixth Elder from Yin Yang Hall.
And at this moment, Great Elder took two steps forward, and his eyes swept across the Elders and the disciples.
“It has been a thousand years since we Nine Pinnacles Mountain were set up, Leader Tian Xing was bright and magnanimous, he was able to lead well, and was respected in everyone’s hearts. However, a few months ago, a tragedy happened in the Heaven Dao Pavilion, unfortunately he met some obstacles, and till this date his presence is still unknown…..” Great Elder Ying Yu stopped for a moment.
The expressions of the disciples and four Elders turned cold suddenly upon hearing the words.
“Avenge the Leader!”
“Hatred!”
The few hundred disciples exclaimed at the same time, as their voices reverberated across the horizon.
Great Elder Ying Yu nodded his head lightly as he saw the situation, and his expressions slowly turned from one of sadness to one of anger, as his eyes revealed a cold tone.
“Now, the person who harmed our Leader has already been caught by us, and he has been put in the Middle Stream Cauldron for a total of 49 days, the Thousand Years Fire Herb has been retrieved back, we can finally request for Leader Tian’s soul to rest in peace!” Great Elder Ying Yu continued.
“Under the leadership of Great Elder, we then can avenger our Leader Tian!”
“Yes, it’s Great Elder’s hard work!
“We request Great Elder to lead us!”
Many Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples started shouting as soon as Great Elder finished speaking, resulting in other disciples to support him too.
“Great Elder!”
“Support Great Elder!”
“…..”
“A country cannot be without a king, a Sect cannot be without a leader, we Nine Pinnacles Mountain have been without a leader for a few months already. During this period, Great Elder’s efforts have been seen by everyone, I am proposing now, for Great Elder to assume the position of the new Leader of Nine Pinnacles Mountain!” One of the Elders stood out at this moment, as he bowed in front of Great Elder Ying Yu.
“Great Elder please take on the position as the new Leader!”
“I support Great Elder becoming the new Leader!”
“Great Elder please do not reject this.”
Upon hearing that Elder’s words, two of the Elders and many other disciples stood out as well, expressing their support for Great Elder Ying Yu.
“I oppose!” Just then, a voice rang in the air. Then, a disciple clothed in a black robe stood out from the crowd. “While Great Elder has indeed worked hard, but it was Yin Yang Hall who has caught Fang Zhengzhi, and not Great Elder!”
“So what? Is there another person who is stronger and more capable than Great Elder?” Another disciple refuted.
“I think the position of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain Leader should be taken on by someone younger. While Great Elder is indeed capable, his potential has already reached the maximum, the new Leader must be someone of potential, so that he can make a name in the Holy Region!”
“Someone with potential? So many people has potential, how do we choose?”
“We can organise a competition, before allowing the nine Elders to discuss and come to an agreement! Moreover, four of the Elders are away now, it is not appropriate to push for a new Leader now!”
“Now the world is in a chaos, and the Holy Region is in a mess. If there’s no Leader to manage the situation, how are we going to fight against the other four Sects?”
“I just don’t agree that we should hold the selection now!”
“Shua!” Just when the disciples were quarrelling among themselves, the silent Sixth Elder made his move, the sword in his hand swinging up.
The stubborn disciple did not even expect that Sixth Elder from the Yin Yang Hall would attack him at this moment, in front of all the other disciples.
“Hong!” A loud sound could be heard.
As the sword landed, spurts of blood flew in the air. That disciple collapsed in the pool of blood, his eyes wide in disbelief.
Such a sudden change naturally caused the other disciples to quieten down, as their expressions were filled with bewilderment, ridicule, anger…..
“Sixth Elder, what have you done?” The Elder who had remained silent all this while finally opened his mouth. He looked at Sixth Elder who was standing in front of the cauldron, and his expression seemed solemn.
“We Yin Yang Hall has formed an alliance with Nine Pinnacles Mountain, of course we hope to have a capable ally, and not a divided one. At this important moment, how can Nine Pinnacles Mountain afford to be messy internally?” Sixth Elder did not seemed worried about the question.
“Even so, you cannot harm my Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciple!”
“As the saying goes, punishment is necessary in times of troubles. I feel that Yin Yang Hall and Nine Pinnacles Mountain cannot fall apart. I do not hope for Nine Pinnacles Mountain to be in shambles internally, of course my method may be a little inappropriate. I am willing to submit 10 high grade soul pills as compensation, and as for the injuries of this disciple, I will bear the burden completely!” Sixth Elder said calmly.
“Sixth Elder is indeed generous!” The Elder understood Yin Yang Hall’s stance on such matters.
Silence, temporary silence.
The few hundred disciples looked at one another, as each of them had realised that the ceremony was not merely just for opening the cauldron.
“We support Great Elder!”
“Together!”
“We will come together as one!”
After the silence, the few hundred disciples finally opened their mouths. However, nobody dared to oppose now.
A smile revealed om Great Elder Ying Yu’s face as he saw the situation. After making two light coughs, he gestured towards the crowd.
“I had no intention of assuming this role. However, now is indeed Nine Pinnacles Mountain’s most difficult period, I am willing to hold this role temporarily. As for the new generation, just like what ‘Li Jin’ had said just now, I am already old, and my potential cannot increase much already. As such, I hereby announce that I will not take control of the Thousand Years Fire Herb. As agreed, I will give half of it to Yin Yang Hall, and I will keep the other half, until the next successor has been identified. He will then imbibe it, so as to ensure the continuity of Nine Pinnacles Mountain!” Great Elder looked at the hundreds of disciples as he made the announcement.
“Great Elder please take on the role!”
“Great Elder please take on the role!”
“…..”
“Congratulations Great Elder Ying! Oh, wrong, I should call you Leader Ying now!” Sixth Elder looked at the disciples who were kneeling on the floor, as a smile appeared on his face.
“Thanks to Yin Yang Hall’s help, we are then able to carry out justice. Now, let us allow Sixth Elder to open the cauldron to retrieve the pill!” Great Elder Ying Yu nodded his head, as he pointed to the Middle Stream Cauldron behind him.
“Alright!” Sixth Elder nodded his head, before walking to the Middle Stream Cauldron before looking up in the sky and putting his hands together. “Open the cauldron!”
“Yes!” Four disciples, upon hearing the instructions, went up to the Middle Stream Cauldron immediately, and stood at the four corners of the cauldron.
Then, the four disciples extended their hands too, as they held onto the four sides of the Middle Stream Cauldron, before lifting the cover.
“Cauldron!”
“Open!”
Following the two sounds, they opened the cauldron. A silver and a purple flame rushed up the sky immediately, resembling two fire dragons taking off into the sky.
Such a sight attracted the attention of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples, and their hearts were filled with anticipation
It was their first time retrieving a pill from the Middle Stream Cauldron, and it was the Thousand Years Fire Herb, what will happen then?
No one would be able to guess.
Everyone was waiting for something to happen. However, after the lid of the cauldron was opened, and after the two dragons rushed up into the sky, everything seemed to have resumed their peace.
The two fire dragons had already disappeared.
“What is happening?”
“Where is the unique occurence? Has the alchemy process failed?”
“How can this be possible, Sixth Elder and Great Elder were….. no, Leader Ying they were refining the herb, how can they fail?”
Moments later, the disciples could no longer tolerate the situation, as they started discussing among themselves.
And the four disciples who had just opened the lid looked each other in the eye, as they were able to detect each other’s suspicions.
The cauldron has been opened?
Why was there no movements?
A daring disciple looked at Great Elder and Sixth Elder, and after attaining their permission, he leapt forward.
He was able to see the interiors of the cauldron.
“Ah!!” A shocking sound emitted from the disciple’s mouth, as afterall, anyone who had seen the same situation would have emitted the same sound.
Because, there was no herb inside the Middle Stream Cauldron. Of course, there was no charred body, and there was only a sight of lucious mountains, clear rivers and blue skies. Furthermore, the scenery was constantly evolving, and it seemed like there was another world inside the cauldron.
“What are you screaming about? What happened to the herb? Is it a success, or a failure?” Great Elder Ying Yu seemed flabbergasted at the situation.
“This….. I, I…” The disciple did not know how to reply Great Elder.
Is it an illusion?
Yes!
It must be an illusion!
Just when the disciple was preparing to muster up his courage, the Middle Stream Cauldron vibrated a bit, and a sound emitted from within the cauldron.
“Eh? Is it time now?”
While the sound was not loud, it was clear enough for everyone to hear it. The disciples were dumbfounded. Even in the sweltering heat with the shiny sun in the horizon, a chill went up their spines.
It was a chilly feeling!