Chapter 805: Tie Clan
The old turtle wanted to leave after taking Li Qiye to his destination. He naturally wished for Li Qiye to spare him. However, Li Qiye didn’t say anything and he was too afraid to ask, so the turtle had to keep on carrying Li Qiye forward.
The ruins ahead were quite large. One could easily imagine that this was once a grand city. Li Qiye shook his head and thought that the Tie Clan had fallen. Even a stronger clan wouldn’t escape the fate of eventual decline.
In the Heavenly Flame County, many people knew the Tie Clan. The older generation would always say positive things when talking about the Tie Clan: “The Tie Masters have always been good people across the generations. It is our county’s blessing to have such great rulers.”
The county’s people only knew that the Tie Masters were kind and merciful because the county was the land of the Tie Clan. At the same time, the tax here was the lowest in the entire Ox-Herder Country! Because of this, the county was a good place to live.
They didn’t know about an even more illustrious and ancient past of the Tie Clan. Very few people in the present did since that time was long gone.
Back in the distant past, there was a Heavenly Flame Goddess who was renowned across the nine worlds and stood at the peak. She was adored by countless geniuses in her generation. Back then, she pledged loyalty under the Dark Crow’s banner and was one of his generals with many meritorious contributions. Not only was she beautiful, more importantly, her cultivation was earth shattering.
After countless expeditions, the goddess grew weary. Eventually, Li Qiye as the Dark Crow allowed her to leave, no longer working under him.
He bestowed generous rewards to her. Eventually, she settled down in the Stone Medicine World. She had a family that she passed her torch to, the mighty Tie Clan!
Lamentably, the name “Heavenly Flame Goddess” had been forgotten along with the glory of the Tie Clan.
The old turtle carried Li Qiye further into the ruins. After entering the central area, they found that there were still several mansions standing intact without any damage. These mansions were quite grand and majestic.
However, they were old and no longer as brilliant as before. Only traces of their glory were left from their lofty appearances.
There was an eye-catching stone tablet in front of these mansions. It must have been carved from an unknown type of rock to be so large and heavy. There was only one word on top of the tablet — “Tie”. 1
Just this word “Tie” alone showed the clan’s previous prestige. Just this word alone was enough to deter countless people in those years.
No one knew who wrote this word, but it soared like a dragon and phoenix with an overbearing momentum, seemingly looking down on the nine worlds and myriad realms.
Unspeakable emotions rose in Li Qiye’s mind as well after seeing this “Tie”.
Back then, he was the one who gave her this tablet. Although there were also other reasons, it was to give the Tie Clan another form of defense. This word “Tie” came from his own hand and made countless people come to bow down in worship!
After millions of years, this tablet was still here, the word “Tie” was still here, but the Tie Clan had fallen.
“Pluff!” While Li Qiye was looking at the stone tablet and reminiscing, a flying spear suddenly pierced the ground in front of them.
“Scram! The Tie Clan does not welcome you!” A cold and fierce voice came.
A woman adorned in a martial arts robe could be found standing in front of the mansion. It was very tight which highlighted her especially alluring figure. Her expression was cold, a murderous glimmer in her eyes. She had a decisive and war-like atmosphere just like a powerful general.
Behind her was a series of spears that all emitted cold glints. Although this woman had a strong aura with explosive amounts of blood energy, she was only a regular human and at best a martial artist; she wasn’t a cultivator.
Li Qiye looked at her and spoke with a blank expression: “Miss, I came bearing no malicious intentions.”
“Malicious or not, get the hell out of here!” The woman coldly declared: “None of the Qilin Marquis’ lackeys are good people! Scram now or I won’t be so polite anymore.”
Li Qiye shook his head in response: “I’m afraid you are misunderstanding something. I don’t know this Qilin Marquis at all. I only came for sightseeing.”
“Even if you are not one of his lackeys, my Tie Clan still does not welcome you. Leave now!” The woman uttered with a voice as cold as ice.
Li Qiye looked back at the mansions behind her. It was empty without another soul. It seemed that she was the only person left from the Tie Clan. Although her vitality was still plentiful, she was only a martial artist without any cultivation.
“Miss, acting polite towards me would be beneficial for you.” Li Qiye had a rare moment of good temper and flatly said.
At this point, the woman took out another spear and coldly said: “No need for pleasantries, I don’t need anything from you. Just leave already!” She was ready to throw it at any time! She was the current master of the Tie Clan, Tie Lan.
The people in the county would all praise her: “The master is brilliant and shows that women are no less than men.”
Tie Lan was the best master that the people of the county could ask for. She was obsessed with martial arts and waived the taxes of the county! Many citizens here supported her. In fact, she was very famous across the entire country as well, at least in the mortal world. At a young age, she had already defended the borders and made numerous great contributions. She was even bestowed the rank of general by the country’s ruler.
“So aggressive.” Before Li Qiye could reply, a loud laughter accompanied by derisive clapping resounded.
A young man came at this time with more than ten followers behind him. His blood energy was very powerful. It was clear at a glance that he was a cultivator.
“Qilin Marquis!” Tie Lan’s expression sank after seeing the young man and she coldly uttered: “You and your lackeys, scram right now or else I won’t be so polite anymore!”
“A mere mortal dares to act like this in front of me?!” With a cold expression, the young man declared: “If I wasn’t considerate of the Ox-Herder Royal Lord Su Mingchen, I would have killed you already! Be smart and sell this land to me; otherwise, I will no longer give the royal lord any face and take it by force!”
“Don’t even dream about it!” Tie Lan shouted: “I would rather die before I sell the Tie Ancestral Land!”
“Killing you is beyond child’s play.” The Qilin Marquis snorted: “Killing you is simply like stepping on an ant. I am only offering to buy this land to give a little bit of respect to the Royal Lord.”
“She told you to scram, so scram. The Tie Clan’s land is not for sale.” Li Qiye gently waved his sleeve as if he was swatting away a fly before Tie Lan could defend herself.
The young man’s gaze fell upon Li Qiye and noticed that he seemed quite ordinary. There was no point caring about this young man or the turtle below him.
“Hey, we have a white knight here.” The young man looked at Li Qiye and smirked: “Looking at you, you must be a cultivator. Defending girls is good and all, but you also have to look at who you are going against!” 2
Li Qiye looked at the young man and replied in a dismissive manner: “I’ve never given a damn.”
“Such a big tone.” The Qilin Marquis laughed then sneered: “Do you know who I am? You don’t even know yet you’re still trying to act cool, how courageous!”
“What’s the difference?” Li Qiye leisurely said: “I don’t care who you are since you are only a stray dog on the street, that’s all.”
The marquis was basking in his greatness, but after hearing this, his face paled: “Stray dog? Little brat, do you know who I am? I am a disciple of the Heavenhoof Ravine! My senior brother is the Bird King of the Feather Country and my first brother is the Golden Crow Prince!”
The marquis felt proud after mentioning his background. He was a lizard demon and called himself the Qilin Marquis. He was indeed a disciple from the ravine, but only an outer sect disciple. 3
A behemoth with two emperors like the ravine had many outer disciples. Of course, there was one thing the marquis was very proud about, and that was his backing was the second brother of the ravine, the Bird King!
He often boasted to others about being a disciple in addition to his second brother being the Bird King and his first brother being the Golden Crow Prince! This kind of talk made it seem like he was a big shot at the ravine.
Li Qiye was too lazy to look at the boasting marquis, so he contemptuously waved his hand: “Don’t know, never heard of you before.”
This attitude left the marquis enraged as his face became quite unsightly!
“Young Master, let us teach this fool a good lesson. You can go take care of the girl.” The ten followers behind him immediately jumped forward.
They had a fierce look and headed for Li Qiye with an aggressive momentum.
Li Qiye didn’t bat an eye in the face of this oncoming attack. He pointed with his finger and unleashed a strike. All ten followers immediately turned into a bloody mist.
This scared the soul out of the marquis. He knew that he had kicked an iron wall this time. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t even take a single step before Li Qiye had him gripped by the neck.
“You… do you know who I am? I am a Heavenhoof disciple! My second brother, the Bird King, wants this land. I came under his orders. If, if you dare to touch me, then you would be opposing my second brother and the ravine!”
1. Tie means Iron.
2. Flower Envoy is the raw meaning of “protector of women”, but more often than not, it’s said in a derisive tone, and white knight fits so well.
3. Lizards are close to qilins/dragons.