Chapter 1151: Appointing A Successor
After a good while, Old Xian softly stated: “Maybe old bones like us should just die.”
Li Qiye laughed it up and said: “If you still want to follow me up there, I welcome it. But like I said earlier, I still need you to bring that thing along!”
Here, he became serious: “This is the only thing from your temple that can exert any pressure! Otherwise, you alone are not enough up there. If you have it with you, it would be a different story.”
“Since you have been guarding and polishing it for so many years, I trust that you can use it at will.” Li Qiye said: “You can definitely climb up, but without it, who knows what you will face once you’re up there? If you are lucky, then you will meet a weak link, but if not, then even an Immortal Emperor must pay a heavy price. Things like this have happened before.”
Old Xian pondered again after hearing this. He eventually asked: “Who is your Excellency drafting this time?”
Li Qiye replied: “You’ve got the wrong idea, I have never forced anyone to join. Plus, they have their own ideas. You probably heard it from Bing Yu, but that campaign was not by my wish. They simply wanted to gamble.”
The old man had heard stories from Immortal Emperor Bing Yu, but he didn’t know any of the specifics.
“You don’t believe me?” Li Qiye smilingly quipped.
Old Xian quickly responded: “No, if I don’t trust Your Excellency, who can I trust? This lowly one is willing to follow Your Excellency’s orders.”
“Not bad. Very well, state your conditions.” Li Qiye smiled. Everyone knew that there was no free lunch in this world.
Old Xian answered: “This lowly one does not dare to ask for much. If Your Excellency is truly successful in the future, I only want a part of it, nothing more.” [1. It is that vague in the raw.]
“I understand, just like the item your temple is hiding. If you can get another part, then it can make the War God Temple shine again.” Li Qiye commented with emotion: “It really is something good.”
Old Xian movingly added: “Indeed, even this little one has not seen it with my own eyes. I have only heard the ancestor say that it is truly rare in this world, something that all cultivators would dream about.”
“Fine, as long as we can survive, you can pick something that you need.” Li Qiye promised.
“Thank you, Your Excellency.” Old Xian took a deep breath. It was time for the War God Temple to change its ways. To him, this was a great gamble, all for the sake of the temple.
If he were to fail, then it would end there; the future generations would still be protected by the other ancestors. However, if he were to be successful, then a bright new era would come.
“Then prepare well, that day will come soon.” Li Qiye stood up and quickly disappeared from the door.
Old Xian murmured after his departure: “After so many years, it is time for my old bones to face death.”
He turned quiet at this point. Existences that had lived for a very long time by sealing themselves were separated into two camps when facing death: the first group would face it calmly while the other would be stricken with fear.
Li Qiye went back to Cleansing Incense and summoned the younger disciples: Nan Huairen, Xu Pei, Qu Daoli, Zhang Yu, and Luo Fenghua.
Outside of these five, Li Qiye also called for Tu Buyu. Today, this young group had quite outstanding accomplishments. Of course, there was still a sizable gap between them and supreme geniuses, but they would surely become Virtuous Paragons in the future. Xu Pei was especially excellent with her meticulous cultivation. Her hidden power was the strongest among them.
All six of them arrived. Even though Tu Buyu was a lot older than Li Qiye, he was only the second brother.
Li Qiye glanced at the group and slowly spoke: “I am very happy to see your achievements today. This is the fruit of your efforts.”
In these days, they were capable of handling matters on their own. The disciples from the Cleansing Jade Peak had also become a strong pillar of the sect, giving it hope for a brighter future.
The group stood respectfully before him. Today, their first brother was deterring the world, so they were a bit restrained with formality.
Li Qiye continued: “I won’t blabber on after calling everyone here. The main business is to decide the successor of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.”
After hearing this, the group was quite startled and looked at each other in confusion. Everyone here knew that the main descendant of the sect should be their first brother.
Only Tu Buyu was carefree among the group. He knew very well that a small place like Cleansing Incense couldn’t contain their first brother’s advance. In his eyes, Li Qiye would one day leave this world. Only the nine heavens would allow him to rampage as he pleased!
He pointed at her and slowly declared: “The next successor of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect will be Xu Pei.”
This made Xu Pei jump. The others also looked at her for this news came too suddenly to everyone.
“M-me?” She was quite confused. This came without any warnings. Even the sect elders didn’t talk about this. No one expected for their first brother to suddenly decide the next successor.
Everyone knew that the sect master was still young. Moreover, he was the current successor. To establish a new successor was something the entire sect didn’t expect.
“Yes, you.” Li Qiye nodded: “In the past, you were lacking courage, but years of training have made up for your inadequacy. You are soft but not weak, allowing you to be flexible on top of having great wisdom and vision. You will shoulder the great responsibility of taking care of Cleansing Incense in the future.”
The group was still stunned. There was a reason why Li Qiye chose Xu Pei. Even though Luo Fenghua had the greatest aptitudes among them, he was also the most prideful. Sometimes, his actions were too radical and hasty.
As for Nan Huairen, he was wily and flexible, but he had a tendency to exaggerate in a grandiose manner. Moreover, his dao heart was not firm enough.
The one with the strongest dao heart among them was Zhang Yu. However, he was unyielding while lacking a sense of astuteness; he was intelligent without wisdom.
The second best candidate for the position was, in fact, Qu Daoli. He had the heart as well as the knowledge for this, so he was a very good choice. Unfortunately, he joined the sect before Xu Pei and did not dare to redo everything like Zhang Yu. Thus, it was predetermined that his future cultivation wouldn’t be as strong as Xu Pei’s.
“From now on, all of you need to do a good job at assisting your first sister.” Li Qiye solemnly spoke with a stately yet intimidating presence.
The group understood that this wasn’t a momentary whim. Their first brother had already made this decision. Plus, due to his supreme position in their minds, they would naturally obey his order!
The group respectfully answered: “Rest assured, First Brother, we will follow First Sister and lead Cleansing Incense to a new glory.”
Xu Pei began: “First Brother, the sect master...” To tell the truth, this was not the time to choose a new successor because the sect master was still very young.
“The sect master has her own path.” He gently waved his sleeve: “The responsibility lies on your shoulders in the future. Work hard.”
The group didn’t dare to question the decision any further and bowed.
Li Qiye’s eyes then shifted towards Tu Buyu: “Brother Tu, they are still young and the path is very long. They will need your guidance and support in the future, so I promote you to being the sect guardian.”
“I dare not decline First Brother’s request. I will definitely do everything possible to contribute to Cleansing Incense.” Tu Buyu prostrated on the ground and responded resoundingly.
He was much more experienced than Xu Pei’s group. In fact, if it wasn’t for his age, he would have been suitable for the position of sect master. However, taking into account his personality as well, a role behind the scenes was more fitting.
Eventually, Li Qiye nodded his head and said: “Okay, all of you can go now. I need to talk to the elders.”
The majority of the group left, the only one to linger behind was Nan Huairen. He deliberately stayed a few steps behind.
Li Qiye glanced at him and asked: “Huairen, do you have something to say?”
In the past, Nan Huairen was the first to follow him, so today, Nan Huairen was still the one closest to him among the group.
“First Brother, do you want to leave?” He stared at Li Qiye with a sad gaze.