Chapter 254 - Seal Suppression Hallmaster
Zhong Yue then walked forward and sat beside the old man before removing his shoes and sticking his feet into the pond. Then, he laughed and said, “Such a happy mood you have there.”
His laugh however, was greeted with an angry shout from the old man, “Move your smelly feet, don’t scare my fishes off with those smelly feet of yours!”
Zhong Yue’s face turned a little red, but he did not take his feet out of the pond. Then, a fish monster swam towards his feet and after smelling them, it swam away with a disdainful expression.
Zhong Yue felt the vitality of the old man was leaking faster and faster, giving him a feeling that the old man would die anytime.
After quite some time, he then asked, “So Lei Hong deserved his death?”
The old man shook his head and said, “Yeah, what’s your opinion on this matter?”
“He asked for it for working with the celestial messenger from the Xiao Mang Celestial Race and even trying to harm junior martial sister Jun Sixie and senior martial brother Feng Wuji, so he definitely deserved it.”
Zhong Yue continued, “Judging from how you are still so casually fishing here, you must have something in your mind already, right?”
“You are right, I do have some answers in my mind already.” The old man sighed and said, “The spy is the spy and the celestial messenger is the celestial messenger. They are two different species, the spy is a pure human and the celestial messenger is a mixed human and celestial race. This time, Lei Hong’s death was purely served up as a distraction to stir up the situation, he is the shield used to cover the sword hidden behind the shield, causing people to focus on the shield and allow the sword to strike in a discrete angle. Besides, there might even be a shield behind this shield.”
“You mean that…”
The old man did not reply but Zhong Yue was still shocked as he thought, There’s only one celestial messenger, but there’s more than one spy! Lei Hong was just a distraction used to cover up the identity of the other spies!
Lei Hong is after all too young and too simple, how could he be able to play with these old and sly foxes….
He was incredibly stunned. The older generations were just way too scary at playing mind games, such that even someone like Lei Hong was easily played to death by them.
Lei Hong had been an Innate Spirit Body, and his strength was even more greater than some elders. With that strength of his, he wanted to become the new headmaster of Swords Gate. He hid his true intention for years, but in the end, he was exploited by the older generations and became their scapegoat.
He had the strength and potential to become the headmaster, but the path he walked was an extreme one, ultimately leading him to be used by others... which was also why the old man said that his ambition and method used was too wild.
“I have a plan that could expose the identity of the celestial messenger.” Zhong Yue collected his thoughts and said, “Shi Buyi’s disciple, Lang Qingyun, is a celestial messenger placed by Xiao Mang Celestial Race. We can catch him and through him, we can find out the identity of the celestial messenger hidden in Swords Gate!”
“So Lang Qingyun is a member of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race?” The old man finally showed some surprise and said with a laugh, “This Shi Buyi is even more useless than me! The disciple that weighs most heavily in his heart belongs to the Xiao Mang Celestial Race!”
He laughed and suddenly, he coughed so hard that it felt like he was going to cough his lungs out.
Zhong Yue immediately helped him soothe his cough and said, “The Xiao Mang Celestial Race has this wild ambition to not only conquer the Great Wilderness, but also the East Barren. If we could capture Lang Qingyun…”
The old man stopped his cough and said casually, “Why should we help Shi Buyi in solving his problems? We shall leave Lang Qingyun for Shi Buyi to worry about himself. Besides, that old fox Shi Buyi would probably be able to find out something about Lang Qingyun’s true identity in no time.”
“Why is headmaster not interested in capturing the celestial messenger in Swords Gate?” Zhong Yue was shocked and suddenly, something struck him and he let out a gasp, “Could it be that you have discovered his true identity, which is why you are not willing to capture Lang Qingyun? This celestial messenger, who is he?”
The old man laughed and replied, “The celestial messenger is nothing but the shield. Behind the shield is something big. This celestial messenger would not be able to do much alone in Swords Gate, he needs someone to work with him so that he could continue his game. I will definitely remove his existence when the time has come for me to pass my position of the headmaster to someone else. I have to ensure that the next headmaster is able to take over my place according to plan, and let this new headmaster lead Swords Gate to prosperity. How am I supposed to face the ancestors when I go down there if I could not guarantee another five hundred years of peace for the future Swords Gate, just like our ancestors?”
Zhong Yue remained silent and after a moment, he asked again, “Who is this celestial messenger?”
“You don’t have to worry about this celestial messenger, for you are still weak now, all you have to do is just watch at the side because this is not something you can interfere with. I will probably die by this year’s end and at that time, chaos will hit Swords Gate for sure. If you draw too much attention to yourself, I’m afraid that I could not guarantee your safety at that time.”
The old man coughed harshly again before saying, “There are too many things for me to do before I die; the spy, celestial messenger, the Xiao Mang Celestial Race and the Devil Soul Forbidden Land in the underground. At the end of the year, I will announce the selected candidate for the next headmaster. At that time, no matter where you are and what you are doing, you must get back here and in the next half year, the competition will be very intense…”
“Have you decided the person to take over your position, headmaster?” asked Zhong Yue.
The old man did not answer his question. He laughed and said instead, “Doesn’t matter much to you, you have no part in this. By the way, you are one with great talent and bright future, being able to reach Atman Body level at such a short period of time, like both of the Qiu Tan and Shui Tu Clan’s little girls. With the strength you have now, you are qualified to become a hall master. Elder Pu, come in!”
Elder Pu walked in and the old man said with a laugh, “Bring him to Yu Changji and say that it is my wish that Zhong Yue will become the hall master of the Seal Suppression Hall.”
Elder Pu was stunned, and asked, “Then what about the current hall master, Nan Qianfang?”
The old man laughed and said, “How can she suppress the two second hall masters in place now? One of the second hall master is a Wood Innate Spirit Body and the other is… is someone she could not handle. I am sure that she will be relieved if this Zhong Shan Clan’s member were to take over her post.”
Elder Pu nodded and brought Zhong Yue to Elder Yu.
---
At the time they were meeting, Elder Yu had just come out from Feng Wuji’s courtyard. Elder Pu quickly explained the situation. Elder Yu looked at Zhong Yue in surprise before he said, “He is still so young, how could he be able to handle such heavy responsibilities?”
Elder Pu laughed and said, “Elder Yu may not know, but this Zhong Shan Clan’s member is now an Atman Body level Qi Practitioner, his strength is even stronger than mine by quite a few times! With the power he possesses now, it is enough for him to be a hall master. We must remember that Zuo Xiangsheng also became the hall master of Cloudless Hall at Atman Body level, as well.”
Elder Yu shook his head and replied, “The Cloudless Hall is just a hall responsible for managing the outer hall, so it is not such a big deal for Zuo Xiangsheng to become the hall master. The Seal Suppression Hall, however, is incredibly important, so how could we pass the responsibility to handling the Seal Suppression Hall to such youngster. Zhong Yue may have a great talent and great strength, but to pass such an important place to him might be too reckless. I think that the headmaster’s decision lacks consideration. I will talk to the headmaster about this myself!”
He then quickly left the scene, leaving Zhong Yue and Elder Pu behind to wait.
---
After quite some time, Elder Yu returned with a stiff expression and he said, “Zhong Shan Clan’s member, follow me to the Elder Council! The assignation of the hall master of Seal Suppression Hall is no joke and not as simple as the assignation of the second hall master in charge. You will have to collect the markings of the ten hall master from the Elder Council in order to replace your jade seal with the jade seal of Hallmaster Nan. Elder Pu, please inform Hallmaster Nan and bring her jade seal to the Elder Council.”
Elder Pu nodded and left quickly.
Zhong Yue, on the other hand, followed Elder Yu to the Elder Council. When they arrived at the palace of the Elder Council, elders could be seen walking into the palace one after another.
Zhong Yue looked at them he realized that the faces were all the same old faces, except for Elder Lei Shan of the Lei Hu clan and Elder Shui Zian from Shui Tu Clan. Elder Lei Shan had fallen sick and been replaced by elder Lei Ting, while Shui Tu Clan’s Elder Shui Zizheng replaced Elder Shui Zian after his death.
Elder Yu then relayed the command to the other nine elders and said, “The headmaster insists that this Zhong Shan Clan’s member will become the hall master of the Seal Suppression Hall. I told him that this is a serious matter, as Zhong Yue might not be able to handle the heavy responsibility due to his young age and urged the headmaster to take back his orders, but my warnings have fallen on deaf ears. With that, I have no choice left but to summon my dear junior martial brothers and sisters and Hallmaster Nan to remove her markings on the jade seal so that the Zhong Shan Clan’s member can control the jade seal of the Seal Suppression Hall. “
The elders were shocked. When they looked at Zhong Yue, the Elder from Tao Lin Clan said, “The Zhong Shan Clan’s member will become the next Seal Suppression Hall’s master? Could it be that you are already at the Atman Body level?”
Zhong Yue bowed to the elders as he said, “I recently managed to achieve the state of Atman Body As One. This was one of the reasons why the headmaster relieved me from my punishment.”
The elders praised him, and the elder from Jun Shan clan said with a laugh, “Elder Yu, Zhong Shan Clan’s member is a Sun Innate Spirit Body, a rare and precious talent. In my opinion, I think that he might be able to take on the responsibility of taking care of the Seal Suppression Hall as he managed to enter the Atman Body level after such short period of time. Not to mention, he possesses such a bright future.”
The elder from Li Shan Clan also said, “Right now, he may be an Atman Body level Qi Practitioner, but with the speed he is improving now, I’m afraid it is only a matter of a few years before he progresses into the Inner Core level. Hallmaster Nan may be an Inner Core level Qi Practitioner, but she is too old now, we should probably relieve her from the heavy burdens so that she can enjoy the rest of her life.”
Elder Yu nodded and said, “That is right, but he is still so young. Besides, the death of Shui Zian…” He sighed and continued, “Every time I think of that junior martial brother Shui dying to save him, I will feel that there’s this prick in my heart. Zhong Shan Clan’s member, keep this in mind, I will not forgive you if you make even the slightest mistake after becoming the hallmaster of the Seal Suppression Hall! Do you understand?”
Zhong Yue bowed again and replied, “Understood.”
A moment later, Nan Qianfang followed Elder Pu into the Elder Council. Nan Qianfang appeared to be incredibly old, and was trembling as she walked because of her infirmities.
The lady might be very old, but her gaze was still as sharp as her sword. When she looked at Zhong Yue, she said in a very serious tone, “Dear elders, I dare not disobey the orders of the headmaster, but I have to witness and test the strength of this Zhong Shan Clan’s member, to see if he is qualified to receive the jade seal of the Seal Suppression Hall!”
The elders frowned as they heard the old lady’s words. Nan Qianfang took out a huge jade seal from her Yuan Shen secret realm. This jade seal was square in shape, three inches tall and nine inches wide, while the handle of the seal was a sword hilt.
Around the jade seal were various sealing-type totem carvings formed into four creatures that had the blood of dragons flowing in them. These creatures were the Pulao, Bixi, Bian, and Jiao Tu. With them, the power of their seals were incredibly powerful.
Zhong Yue’s expression changed slightly as he asked, “How is senior martial sister planning to test my capabilities?”
Nan Qianfang panted and said, “I am too old now and I could no longer compete with youngsters like you in physical combat. I do, however, still have my powers with me. This old lady will not bully you so I will not use my inner core. We will exchange a blow with our Yuan Shen, and if you manage to walk away unharmed, you will be able to take over this jade seal from this old lady.”
Zhong Yue stood up straight and said firmly, “Alright. After you, senior martial sister.”
Suddenly, a mountain god Yuan Shen with no face appeared behind Nan Qianfang, charging towards Zhong Yue as it swung its fist towards him!
Zhong Yue remained standing still while a scorching sun emerged from his back. The Great Sun Golden Crow flew out from the sun, turning into a celestial being with a bird’s head, human’s body and four wings before it blocked the fists of the mountain god Yuan Shen with its wings.
At the same time, the four fists of the mountain god Yuan Shen opened up while the eyes on its palms shot out bright rays that turned into four orange Sword Qi. The four Sword Qi rampaged around the palace, shaking the ground, causing the roof to tremble with incredible power!
At this point, the old lady had unleashed her full power and the four Sword Qi merged into one, transforming into a huge Sword Qi that contained countless tiny small Sword Qi facing outwards. Then, this huge Sword Qi started spinning rapidly and shot towards Zhong Yue!
“Such incredible power!” said Zhong Yue, whose face changed when he saw the huge Sword Qi unleashed by the old lady.