Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 903
"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!"
Chapter 1386: The Elder Likes a Low Profile! |
"Elder?"
All the empyreal swordsmen were greatly surprised at Ling Lanyin's respectful attitude that bordered on adulation.
When Ling Lanyin reached the Purple Pole Sword Sect's branch, she had written everything that had happened in the Southland of Sorcerers, including the death of 'Thunderous Straight Swordsman' Lou Chongxiao and that she was probably going to invite a new Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator to go back with her, in a letter and had it delivered to the headquarters.
However, the death of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and the participation of a new Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator were both shocking pieces of news.
Right now, the Purple Pole Sword Sect was in great peril. Naturally, such astounding news could not be released to the public immediately. Only the few elders including the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators knew the information.
Meanwhile, Li Yao did not intend to embark on the boat named the Purple Pole Sword Sect so quickly, at least not until he had gotten a satisfactory reward. Therefore, he specifically stated that he did not want the elders or leader of the Purple Pole Sword Sect to welcome him at the gate, or he would immediately go away.
Those empyreal swordsmen only knew that they were there to welcome Ling Lanyin for her return and that they had to follow Ling Lanyin's orders on everything. What they did not know was that Ling Lanyin had brought such a terrifying monster back!
Although Ling Lanyin was quite obedient and ignorant in front of Li Yao, it was because she was entirely suppressed by the aura of the 'old monster'.
In front of the regular disciples, however, the Orchid Angel, who was one of the youngest Cultivators at the peak of the Core Formation Stage in the Great Qian Dynasty and the most distinguished sword Cultivator in the Purple Pole Sword Sect recently, was truly an awe-inspiring and inviolable existence. She was even worshipped by a lot of young disciples as a 'goddess'!
But today, their goddess, who had always been cold, proud, and strong, was actually as humble as dust before the plain-looking, unattractive young man. How could the empyreal swordsmen not be dumbfounded?
"What are you waiting for?" Ling Lanyin grew anxious. The old monster had only agreed to take a tour of the headquarters of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. He had never promised that he would stand on the Purple Pole Sword Sect's side. The guy was temperamental and immeasurable. Who knew what kind of horrendous things he would do if he felt offended?
Therefore, standing in front of everywhere, she cleaned her clothes and bowed down to the ground, performing the courtesy in the strictest way. "Ling Lanyin of the Purple Pole Sword Sect is privileged to meet Master Spiritual Vulture!"
"Spiritual Vulture…"
All the empyreal soldiers blinked. Master Spiritual Vulture was an ancient person from more than a hundred years ago, and he had been active in the Southland of Sorcerers most of time and barely set foot in the central plateaus. For the Cultivators of the Great Qian Dynasty, he was a Mr. Nobody. Many young men had never even heard of him.
He is probably an expert that Senior Sister Ling invited from the Southland of Sorcerers to help us?
However, except for Master Black Moon who is somewhat capable, the Southland of Sorcerers does not boast any excellent high-level Cultivators. I fear that Senior Sister was too desperate!
No matter what, the guy must be at least in the Core Formation Stage, considering that Senior Sister is so respectful to him. Also, the barbarian Cultivators' approaches are often untraditional, and their skills to manipulate insects and venomous smoke can be very erratic and unpredictable. He might catch many of our enemies unprepared later!
Therefore, all of them bowed deeply exactly like Ling Lanyin.
The empyreal swordsmen above the middle level of the Building Foundation Stage, who considered themselves to be more or less capable, called him 'Master', and the disciples in the Refinement Stage addressed him as 'Elder'.
Then, Ling Lanyin grew anxious again. She tapped everyone's head with her sheath. "How rude of you! It is too disgraceful for you to call 'Master'. Call him Elder. Elder!"
"… Elder!"
"We are privileged to meet you, Elder!"
The empyreal swordsmen were deeply confused again by Ling Lanyin's hassle. They lowered their heads, but they were rolling their eyes and glancing at Li Yao suspiciously, not having the first clue what was amazing about this 'elder'.
Emotionlessly, Li Yao took everyone's courtesy. It was not until the tough-looking empyreal swordsmen bowed for half a minute that he waved his hands lazily and said, "Forget it. Just stand straight. I prefer to keep a low profile. Such courtesy will certainly raise unnecessary attention.
"Who is your captain? Come on and talk. Has your Senior Uncle Yan finished the competition with 'Iron Saint' Qi Zhongdao?"
"Right!" Ling Lanyin asked earnestly, "Ah Wu, the Dragon Spring Meeting has been on for three days. What's the situation now?"
The one named 'Ah Wu' was a slightly fat young man with a broad saber on his back. He stepped forward and bowed to Li Yao and Ling Lanyin again before he replied loudly, "Elder, Senior Sister Ling, the Dragon Spring Meeting this time is different from unusual. We have brought forth all our best collections of flying swords and magical equipment for exhibition. Since the meeting started three days ago, the experts from various sects have been challenging us under the name of 'testing the weapons'!
"Thankfully, all the disciples in our sect know that this is a time of life and death. Everybody fought bravely and did not dishonor our sect too much in the competitions in the previous two days!
"Today is the first day that we have suffered defeat. The high-level Cultivators in the Core Formation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage in the 'six major sects' led by the 'Grand Mystery Sect' are all showing up. Just now, Elder Hong and Zhuge Xuan, the leader of the Thunderstorm Valley, had a match, and we unfortunately failed. Even the newly-produced 'Nine Turns Fish Intestine Sword' has been broken!"
Ling Lanyin was slightly worried and glanced at Li Yao.
Li Yao snorted. "The Purple Pole Sword Sect and the Thunderstorm Valley both belong to the 'six major sects'. It is not a big deal that your elder was defeated by their leader. The most important thing is, was the match a one-sided one, or did Zhuge Xuan go through a lot of trouble?"
"Although Zhuge Xuan wounded Elder Hong, he seemed to be badly injured, too, and went to treat himself with a pale face the moment the match was over," Ah Wu replied.
"Then, it shouldn't be countered as a failure," Li Yao said casually. "The key is still the battle between 'Sword Maniac' Yan Liren and 'Iron Saint' Qi Zhongdao. When will it begin?"
"In about four hours, when the sun is high!" Ah Wu said.
Ling Lanyin was quite astonished. "So soon?"
The Dragon Spring Meeting was a 'commodity sales exhibition' that would last ten to fifteen days. She had thought that the summit confrontation would happen in the last few days as the highlight.
Li Yao nodded, not surprised.
The Dragon Spring Meeting was a negotiation where the combat ability of the two sides was their bargaining chip.
As the representatives of the best combat ability of the two sides, if Yan Liren and Qi Zhongdao did not decide which of them was stronger, the other competitions would be meaningless.
Even if the other sects won every competition with the Purple Pole Sword Sect, what would the final result be if Yan Liren executed Qi Zhongdao, the leader of all Cultivators, with his sword?
Or, if the Purple Pole Sword Sect was on a winning streak and resisted the opponents' every provocation, only to find that their strongest Cultivator was blown into meat and blood by the Heaven Flipping Seal, which side would be counted as the final winner?
Therefore, only after Yan Liren and Qi Zhongdao determined the main theme of the negotiation through their summit confrontation would the lesser competitions, which would determine the specific interests regarding a certain order, territory, or trade, be significant.
"Kid." Pondering for a moment, Li Yao flicked a piece of paper into Ling Lanyin's hands.
The piece of paper seemed as heavy as a bucket when he tossed it out. Many keen-sighted empyreal swordsmen were quite shocked and finally grew really respectful for Li Yao.
Ling Lanyin took the piece of paper, only to discover that the names of all kinds of materials had been listed on it.
"Twenty kilograms of Insect Wave Stones… Five kilograms of Class-Nine Jade… Sixty kilograms of Red Star Copper…"
Many of the hundreds of materials on the paper were rare metals and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. It was quite troublesome even for the Purple Pole Sword Sect to collect them despite their capabilities.
"Give the inventory of the materials that I need to those who are really in charge," Li Yao said matter-of-factly. "Tell them that I will help you once in the Dragon Spring Meeting if you collect all the materials in the inventory for me in one month and lend your best refining workshop to me for three months!"
Ling Lanyin was dazed, and she frowned slightly.
The old monster was indeed a super expert who could suppress Han Yuantai in one move, but the price of his help seemed a big too high.
It would be quite difficult to gather all the rare materials!
"Do you feel that my price is too high?"
Chucking for a moment, Li Yao said slowly, "It is not high at all. You must realize that what you get is not just that I will fight as a champion of the Purple Pole Sword Sect once but also a promise that I will not attack you for at least three months!"
Ling Lanyin bulged her eyes, and her mouth hung agape.
"It's truly exhausting to talk to a kid like you. If you can't understand, let me explain it to you.
"Give me the materials on the inventory, and I will help you deal with whoever you want me to during the Dragon Spring Meeting.
"Otherwise, I would very much like to find out exactly how sharp the swords of the Purple Pole Sword Sect are. Hehe. Hehehehe!"
"You—" The empyreal swordsmen all heard the coercion in Li Yao's words. Their hostility was naturally raised.
"Huh?" Li Yao narrowed his eyes. Greenness suddenly flourished inside his black eyes. Even the tiny green spot at the center of his eyebrow was spreading out thorn-like tentacles and about to grow into a green bird!
