At this time, a person entered the Ghost Pavilion. The moment he walked in, he let off his Royal Noble pressure causing the elders to greatly change their expressions.
Seeing this person, Elder Sun blurted: “Dong Shenglong...”
“Cao Xiong, you didn’t tell me that this little brat was the key to the Heaven’s Will Secret Law!” Dong Shenglong’s gaze fell upon Li Qiye. His eyes narrowed before he burst out in laughter: “In other words, obtaining this little brat is the same as obtaining the Emperor merit laws of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect!”
“Brother Dong, this isn’t the time for us to blame each other!” Cao Xiong spoke with a serious tone: “At this moment, we have to work together. Let us leave this place first, then speak!”
Dong Shenglong glared at Cao Xiong and coldly sneered: “Cao Xiong, you still want to command me with your little strategy? Hmph, if I hadn’t been watching over you closely, you would be a dead man right now!”
“Cao Xiong, conspiring with an outsider and betraying the sect, you have committed irredeemable crimes!” At this moment, Elder Zhou couldn’t help but roar; the four elders were enraged by this betrayal!
Cao Xiong’s face turned white, then green. Finally, he chillingly scowled, and he didn’t bother arguing. Dong Shenglong’s arrival had sealed the conclusion of this matter.
Dong Shenglong stared at the four elders and smiled: “Old Man Zhou, your words are true, but after today, it will not be. Heh, Li Qiye conspired with the Nine Saint Demon Gate to steal the Emperor merit laws of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, and he was discovered by the four elders. Then, a great battle broke out between you all and the traitor and Li Shuangyan! In the end, both sides died valiantly in battle!
“As for Gu Tieshou, ah. Cao Xiong and I will join forces with him and enter the formation, and we will defeat Lie Zhan Hou and expel the enemies, but Gu Tieshou will die from his heavy wounds inside. The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect’s Su Yonghuang was cowardly and weak, and she hid away in the outskirt, not daring to fight. The sect will definitely remove her sect master position. Elder Cao has contributed greatly along with the support of the entire disciple body, so he becomes the new sect master of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.” Dong Shenglong spoke slowly.
The four elders’ faces were extremely difficult to look at. One Cao Xiong, they were not afraid of, but with the appearance of Dong Shenglong, the outcome has been determined. The four of them would not be able to compete with Dong Shenglong!
“This story, it isn’t that bad, right? It could even be a legend praised by the future Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.” Dong Shenglong was quite satisfied with his ploy, so he grinned: “Cao Xiong will be at ease with his sect master position, and, as for me ah! As the guest adviser for the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect for so long, I have fulfilled my obligations.”
“The moment you step down, you will also bring the Emperor merit laws of the sect away, right?” At this moment, a pleasant and ringing laughter came forward from Li Qiye, who was in Cao Xiong’s grasp.
Li Qiye was still hugging his ancient zither. Even under Cao Xiong’s control, he still maintained his cool.
At this moment, he smilingly stared at Dong Shenglong, and he clearly spoke: “Not a bad plan. Unfortunately, in my eyes, it is simply superfluous. Also, before killing you all, remember this one phrase, anyone who opposes my path will be killed without mercy!” [1]
“Zhang...” Finished speaking, the five fingers of Li Qiye suddenly pulled on the zither strings. In a flash, the zither in his hands spewed out an endless brilliance with continuous Dao pressure, and he broke Cao Xiong’s grasp on him.
“Zhang...” The harmonious sound of the zither caused the melodic patterns inside the Ghost Pavilion to come alive. At this moment, these densely packed patterns suddenly lit up, and endless magical runes came forward along with a clear sword note; two sword auras immediately came pouring out!
“Ahh...” A sword blade cleaved down, Cao Xiong was too late to scream as his head was sent flying upward. He then noticed the blood spewing from his neck. Even after death, he didn’t realize what just happened.
“Ahh...” Dong Shenglong pitifully bellowed. The sword aura swiftly pierced into his body, and the sword edge, in a flash, destroyed his Dao foundation. Under one sword, his fragile Dao foundation couldn’t handle one blow; it was as if it was dry and rotten wood. He violently spurted out a mouthful of blood, and he fell straight down on the ground!
“No...” Dong Shenglong bellowed while rolling on the ground. His skin lost all color from fear, and he crazily screamed: “No, NO, this is impossible!”
At this point, the four elders and Protector Mo were frightened frozen. Cao Xiong was acceptable, but Dong Shenglong was a Royal Noble, yet he still couldn’t block one blow. Even till now, the four elders still didn’t know exactly what just happened.
“M-my, my three thousand years of cultivation...” In the end, Dong Shenglong let out a loud roar, and he shiveringly crawled up. In a short moment, he was a few hundred years older. His back bent down, and his flesh dried up.
“Little animal, I will fight you till death...” After standing up, Dong Shenglong became crazy, and he rushed forward at Li Qiye. However, at this moment, he was like a hundred-year-old man that couldn’t walk without shaking.
At this time, Li Qiye raised his eyebrows and ordered: “Grab him!”
The four elders and Protector Mo regained their spirits. Elder Qian easily captured Dong Shenglong. He was stunned when he noticed that Dong Shenglong’s cultivation was completely destroyed.
“Little animal, kill me if you are courageous! Kill me, ah!” Deng Shenglong, with disheveled hair, crazily struggled to escape Elder Qian’s grasp. He even tried to pounce on Li Qiye with his nails.
He cultivated for three thousand years just to lose it all in one night. To a cultivator, this was a fate worse than death. One couldn’t blame Dong Shenglong for being so outraged.
Li Qiye slowly glanced at him, and he said: “We will definitely kill you, however, just not right now. You a thousand times, ten thousand times shouldn’t have offended me; this was you courting death.”
Dong Shenglong deafeningly screeched, and he tried to pounce on Li Qiye again, but Elder Qian easily held him back.
Such a change rocked the four elders’ hearts. Earlier, Dong Shenglong was a Royal Noble, causing them to fear ten thousand times over. Even if the four of them fought together, they wouldn’t necessarily be a match for Dong Shenglong. However, just a moment later, he became an old man that couldn’t catch a chicken properly! This matter was too frightening.
The four elders hesitatingly stared at the ancient zither in Li Qiye’s chest. Seeing its ancient style, they couldn’t help but shiver.
Finally, Dong Shenglong was taken away to be imprisoned.
“This, this matter... What actually happened in the end?”
Cao Xiong betrayed the sect; this matter did not need to be discussed. However, Li Qiye easily killing Cao Xiong and destroying Dong Shenglong caused the elders to still be stunned.
Hugging his zither, Li Qiye calmly explained: “It was only an Immortal Emperor’s emperor’s power and immortal intent; when they turn into swords, they are enough to slay the four directions.”
At this moment, the four elders and Protector Mo couldn’t help but to analyze this Ghost Pavilion. Earlier when Li Qiye played the zither, they all felt the change in the Dao; however, everything was so fast and they couldn’t see clearly. Right now, they still couldn’t see through the mysteries here.
Elder Sun drew in a cold breath of air and asked: “Where did this ancient zither come from?”
Li Qiye smiled: “I was meditating at this wall. When night came, the Patriarch appeared in my dreams and told me that downstairs had an ancient zither that was buried. That year, the Patriarch used to play it and later on, it sunk to the ground.
“I followed the Patriarch’s instructions, and I dug out this ancient zither. In my dreams, the Patriarch also informed me about the true mysteries regarding this Zither Pavilion. Originally, this pavilion was the place where the Patriarch used to reminisce. During his period of upholding the world’s immortal power, he used to play the zither here. Unwittingly, Dao truths were imprinted within the zither laws. After a long period of time, the entire Zither Pavilion contained these zither laws, and eventually, these zither laws were able to contain the vast emperor’s power and immortal intent of the Patriarch. Not only that, these zither laws also hid a peerless Dao of the zither.”
Li Qiye spoke continuously as if everything was a matter of fact.
Li Qiye smilingly continued: “The Patriarch in my dream taught me how to play and activate the zither laws in order to borrow the emperor’s power and immortal intent.”
Hearing Li Qiye’s words, the four elders couldn’t help but greatly change their expressions. Even in their wildest dreams, they wouldn’t believe that a place they considered the Ghost Pavilion would contain such emperor’s power and immortal intent like this!
Elder Wu emotionally said: “Li Qiye is the person our ancestor has personally chosen to lead our Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. The Patriarch had chosen him, and this means that in the future, he will lead us to revival. He will bring back the glory of our Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect!”
It was originally Dao instructions in a dream, but now it was treasure seeking in a dream. To the four elders, there was no doubt that the Patriarch had chosen Li Qiye to be the new leader of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
In the midst of everything, Li Qiye’s status, in the minds of the four elders, became completely different. Li Qiye was the one chosen by Immortal Emperor Min Ren, and he would be his representative!
The four elders struggled to regain their spirits, and Elder Qian muttered: “The matter of the Zither Pavilion, I had read about. I heard that this really was the place where the Patriarch used to play his instrument. Who would have thought that this place inherited his emperor’s power and immortal intent!”
Elder Zhou couldn’t help but quietly murmur: “This pavilion inherited the emperor’s power and immortal intent; does that mean it was even more powerful than our patriarch’s portrait?”
Elder Sun exclaimed: “This is all thanks to Qiye; otherwise, we would have missed this emperor treasure.”
Elder Wu excitedly said: “The Patriarch protects our Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect! He is not willing to see our decline, so he chose Qi Ye to be the one that restores our sect!”
Suddenly, the four elders were too ecstatic; Li Qiye’s miracle allowed for them to see a ray of hope.
“Not good...” At this moment, Elder Qian suddenly gathered his thoughts, and he shockingly said: “First Brother is still trapped within the formation! We need to make haste in order to save him. Perhaps the Heavenly God Sect would even use another evil plot to harm First Brother!”
Li Qiye smiled, and he said: “Within the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, this is not a difficult matter. Let me play a tune and destroy the formation of Lie Zhan Hou.”
Finished speaking, he sat down in a meditative pose on the ground, and he began to play the ancient zither.
The ancient zither lit up at once, and the Zither Pavilion also lit up as well...
[1] Superfluous raw expression was – drawing a cake on a piece of paper. One can draw a cake on a piece of paper, but they can’t eat it, so it is meaningless.