Chapter 103 : Southern Heavenly Kingdom (1)
A Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure was an item that could cause many people to shiver. A Virtuous Paragon, no matter which era, was an existence that could cause the rain to fall and wind to blow in an entire corner of the world. They could even trample the Eight Desolaces! However, to become a Virtuous Paragon was not such an easy matter.
In any given generation, a Virtuous Paragon was enough to establish a sect, or even establish a profound heritage.
Even though the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect had lost its Emperor weapons, it still had three or five Virtuous Paragon Life Treasures. These were the last hidden cards of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
To many great sects and powerful nations, Virtuous Paragon Life Treasures and True Treasures were the national treasures or sect protecting existences. The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect still had three or five Virtuous Paragon Life Treasures left — this was called a thin camel is still greater than a fat horse.[1]
Normally, Gu Tie Shou wouldn’t recklessly use a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure. Even the last time when he fought Lie Zhan Hou, he still didn’t summon his Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure. However, this time, he and the others were going to the Evil Infested Ridge. He knew that it would be an ominous event, so Gu Tie Shou especially brought along a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure.
To the current Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, whether it was the Kun Peng’s Six Variants or a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure, they were both things that could bring about a sect-destroying disaster to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. These existences were too temptatious to others!
In the past, he didn’t dare to use them in order to avoid other people becoming lustful, but today, Gu Tie Shou carried an aggressive presence. He first used the Emperor merit law, followed by the Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure, to suppress Zhen Wei Hou.
The power of the Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure was not fully exerted by Gu Tie Shou, but it was still infinitely frightening. Zhen Wei Hou had no way to resist it and his body heavily smashed into the ground, cracking a whole mountain with his broken bones.
At this moment, Zhen Wei Hou’s blood stained the earth. He was lying in a pit and had difficulty moving. If he was not dead, then he would at least be gravely injured.
The ridge was completely silent, everyone held their breath. Whenever a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure came out, the people nearby had to be cautious. An experienced Royal Noble wielding a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure and becoming crazy — no one could oppose such a character.
At this time, Gu Tie Shou was filled with killing intent and had a murderous presence with his Life Treasure. Deep in his heart, he felt extremely satisfied.
The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect had been weak for so long and were always disadvantaged. It couldn’t even oppose others. As the first elder of the sect, and as the disciple who had joined for the longest period of time, whenever he dealt with other sects or outsiders, he always had to be cautious with his appearance. He was always anxious and afraid of enemies from the four directions that would bring about a calamity to the sect, so he never got the chance to be arrogant.
However, today, he was killing in all four directions and suppressed a previous generation Royal Noble of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom, Zhen Wei Hou. His Emperor merit law astonished the four directions and his Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure frightened the heroes; this matter made Gu Tie Shou emotionally unrestrained with a sense of freedom. One could only imagine how proud and dominant the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect felt, that year, as they ruled over the Nine Worlds and swept through the ten heavens.
This battle made Gu Tie Shou even more determined to revive the sect. Only a powerful Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect would cause outsiders to be in fear!
At this moment, Gu Tie Shou’s eyes were cold with a decisive and murderous undertone. He stepped towards the immobilized Zhen Wei Hou! Without a doubt, Gu Tie Shou, who was always peaceful, wanted to kill today.
Seeing this scene, the Royal Nobles from the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom were shocked. Even though the group of Hun Yuan Hou wanted to save Zhen Wei Hou, they had to faced Gu Tie Shou who was wielding a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure. As Royal Nobles, they didn’t have enough power to complete such a task.
“Brother Gu, show mercy!”
At this moment, a loud shout came from afar. A person came from across the sky and shouted from afar towards Gu Tie Shou.
Everyone watched as this person traversed the sky, like a violet light from the east. This person raised an Imperial Decree into the air and loudly said:
“Brother Gu, please show mercy. The Mortal King’s Amnesty Imperial Decree is here.”
Before, Zi Shan Hou came to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect to save Lie Zhan Hou. This time, Zi Shan Hou, again, came with an Amnesty Imperial Decree.
Seeing the Amnesty Imperial Decree, many people had cold sweat running down their skin. Many became emotional from seeing the Mortal King’s godly aura within the word “Amnesty”. Even the Royal Nobles from the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom didn’t dare to say anything.
The Mortal King was an incomparable character in the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom. During the Difficult Dao Era, many genius cultivators were stopped, but he was always flying forward. Rumor has it that he and Demon King Lun Ri of the Nine Saint Demon Gate were the greatest kings of the Grand Middle Territory!
When Zi Shan Hou held the amnesty order in his hand, it suppressed the Royal Nobles nearby. He quickly said:
“Brother Gu, Zhen Wei Hou had a misunderstanding. This time, there is also a spot for your respected sect to enter the Evil Infested Ridge. Everyone lives together in this territory and the Evil Infested Ridge is very dangerous; we should work together to take the treasures.”
His last visit to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect could be described as aggressive. However, this second time, today with the amnesty order, his attitude was a lot better.
Plus, when Zi Shan Hou was telling Gu Tie Shou these words, his eyes were naturally glancing at Li Qi Ye. Before, when Li Qi Ye only said one word, he then immediately cut the imperial word and destroyed the Mortal King’s will. Towards this legendary character with a Mortal Physique, Mortal Life, and Mortal Fate, the prime disciple of the third generation of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, he was a bit dreadful.
Zi Shan Hou, as a previous generation Royal Noble, had seen many waves and winds. He had a good eye for judging other people, as well as the ability to guess people’s thoughts.
There were many cultivators and sects here who were surprised because, after the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect lost their ancient kingdom, it no longer had the chance to participate in the Evil Infested Ridge. However, at this moment, the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom was especially compromising for the sect to enter the ridge!
Could it be that the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect of today had truly revived?
There were Royal Nobles that knew the inside stories, so they sighed:
“It seems like the Nine Saint Demon Gate has decided to support the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.”
At this moment, Gu Tie Shou also glanced at Li Qi Ye. Currently, whether or not to kill, it was up to a single phrase from Li Qi Ye. As for Zhen Wei Hou, he was a fish on a platter and couldn’t do anything but accept his fate.
“His Majesty said that this time, for the journey into the Evil Infested Ridge, all of the sects and Royal Nobles of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom have to be harmonious, and work together — hand in hand — to seize the treasures.”
Seeing Gu Tie Shou glancing at Li Qi Ye, Zi Shan Hou was smart enough to say a few words that were advantageous for the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
As for the harmonious and hand in hand comment, the Mortal King did not say. However, outsiders had no way to know.
At this moment, Zi Shan Hou didn’t want to escalate this matter. Last time, he could only bring the heads of Dong Sheng Long and Lie Zhan Hou back. If something also went wrong this time and he had to bring back the head of Zhen Wei Hou, then he would have nothing to say to the Mortal King. This matter forced him to throw away the face of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom.
“If everyone was just confused, then let us forget about this misunderstanding.”
Li Qi Ye leisurely smiled. He was very comfortable and at ease, like he was standing in his own garden.
Gu Tie Shou didn’t say another word and put away the Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure, then he silently went back to his place.
As for Zi Shan Hou, he could only bitterly smile. He could only swallow the bitterness of this situation. Under these circumstances, his intuition told him that the most frightening thing was not the number one expert, Gu Tie Shou, but this Li Qi Ye, who seemingly had a shallow cultivation!
Zi Shan Hou didn’t have any other choice. Unless there was an Enlightened Being or an Ancient Saint that came, Named Heroes and Royal Nobles were not capable to reversing this situation. His instinct was telling him that if he dared to make a move, this young person in front of him would eat him alive. This was a demon who would eat humans without spitting out the bones.
Zhen Wei Hou was mortally wounded and more than one hundred experts were eaten alive, yet only one word, “misunderstanding”, was enough to let the whole thing go. To Zi Shan Hou, as a Royal Noble, even in his whole life, this was harder to swallow than a fly. However, if he didn’t deal with it like this, then not only Zhen Wei Hou, but maybe even his own head would be brought back by another person.
Many cultivators glanced at each other and felt that the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was too arrogant this time, ah! Could it be that the backing behind the sect was this frightening?
“Bang— Bang— Bang—”
When the cultivators were still staring at each other, a thunderous sound appeared. It was like an army of ten thousand stallions riding and the sounds of heavy battle drums beating!
At this time, many people lifted their heads up to observe this phenomenon. They could only see ancient chariots, crushing the empty space. They came like a wave of steel, leaving behind mottled marks on the golden wheels.
There were not many chariots, there were only around ten. However, these chariots sounded just like ten thousand riders. The chariots were made from godly gold and rushed forward, causing others to think about a powerful division made from thousands of wolves and tigers.
The chariots didn’t land on the ground, they stopped in the air above the ridge. Each and every ancient chariot emitted a powerful aura and was scarred with battle marks. This was not a decorative carriage but a chariot of the battlefield.
Before, the Jiang Zuo Clan used one thousand stallions to arrive with a surging momentum. However, compared to these ten chariots, the presence was much greater than the Jiang Zuo Clan.
“The Nan Tian Clan…”
Seeing the banners on the chariots, a person exclaimed:
“They are the ancient chariots from the Southern Heavenly Nation. Which prince has arrived?”
Seeing the aura of the chariots, the old expert of the Violet Cloud Sect lost his colors as he murmured:
“To travel with more than ten chariots, only a prince would have this standard.”
Hearing the words “Nan Tian Clan”, many cultivators lost their colors. Although Jiang Zuo Hou was from the Jiang Zuo Clan and it was an ancient family, but in front of the Nan Tian Clan, the Jiang Zuo Clan wouldn’t dare to call themselves an ancient family.
The Nan Tian Clan was much older than the Jiang Zuo Clan. The Nan Tian Clan dated back to the Desolate Expansion Era. During that era, Heavenly Beasts and Longevity Spirits were rampaging about, but the Nan Tian Clan still towered in one direction. They overcame all obstacles and treacheries during the desolate time of the world!
Bao’s Note: Nan Tian = Southern Heavenly, I just chose to use the pinyin for the clan name instead of the English translation
[1] Another extremely common saying. I guess a thin camel can still carry more stuff than a fat horse, but the meaning is even a declining great existence is still better than a young new power