The moment Li Qiye and the others returned to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, Elder Sun was already eagerly waiting outside. Seeing Li Qiye’s group riding on top of a giant snail, Elder Sun was stunned; this snail was so fast that it was downright illogical.
However, Elder Sun wasn’t in the mood to talk about this. He looked at Li Qiye and hurriedly said: “Thank the heaven and earth that you are all finally back.”
He then busily brought Li Qiye down from the giant snail.
Elder Sun anxiously told Li Qiye: “You need to go to the ancestral chamber, fast; there might be a fight.”
Seeing his worried look, Li Qiye asked: “Enemies from outside? Or is it that the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom has finally arrived at our door?”
Seeing Li Qiye’s slow and calm words, Elder Sun couldn’t do anything else but explain: “No, the sect master is back, and she’s inside the ancestral chamber. Elder Gu’s group is quarreling with the sect master! You should still hurry and see!”
“The sect master...” Elder Sun’s answer was outside of Li Qiye’s expectation. Regarding Sect Master Su Yonghuang, Li Qiye didn’t have half an impression. One could even say that, regarding this master that he got by chance, he never really paid attention to or asked about her.
Su Yonghuang’s current return surprised Li Qiye. He calmly said: “Good, I should meet this master after all.”
Finished speaking, he went inside.
Niu Fen turned his body back into his second form. He became the old man once again, walking alongside Li Qiye. Seeing a giant snail turning into an old man, Elder Sun couldn’t help but become lost in a daze; however, at this moment, he also didn’t have time to ask about this matter.
This time, inside the ancestral chamber, the elders almost flipped the table. The elders, as the highest power in charge of the current Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, should be maintaining their composure, yet at this moment, Elder Zhou and his group were all glaring with their eyes wide open. The subject of their gazes was the current sect master, Su Yonghuang, of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.
Only Elder Gu’s attitude was pleasant. He simply sat in his place and didn’t speak a single world.
Su Yonghuang, as the sect master, was, in fact, not welcomed by the upper echelon. The reason was simple, Su Yonghuang didn’t have any credentials or experience inside the sect. One could even say that she was not a disciple of the sect.
Su Yonghuang’s sudden appearance and becoming the sect master was an extremely sudden matter. The entire sect was not prepared for it, and they didn’t even know about such a character.
Her becoming the sect master was because the previous sect master was still alive. At that time, there were two or three Supreme Elders who were still alive. There was even one Supreme Elder who had lived for a very long time and was rumored to be part of the fight thirty thousand years ago; he was in isolated cultivation due to his mortal wound.
Regarding the specific circumstances of this matter, no one was very clear about it with the exception of First Elder Gu Tieshou. Anyways, Su Yonghuang was declared to be the next sect master by the previous one. This decision was supported by all of the Supreme Elders. The oldest Supreme Elder even summoned Gu Tieshou, and he personally persuaded him.
To sum it all up, after one night, Gu Tieshou agreed with Su Yonghuang taking the seat of Sect Master. In reality, at that time, the entire sect was in an uproar. This matter was too great; a person who no one knew suddenly became the new sect master. This matter was truly hard for the sect to accept.
At that time, Gu Tieshou earnestly persuaded the group of Elder Zhou, and he suppressed the majority of the disciples who were strongly opposing Su Yonghuang. Thus, the matter was settled.
However, Su Yonghuang herself seemed to know her situation. As the sect master, she didn’t stay behind in the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. She instead brought along a small group of disciples, including a few sectional leaders. Afterward, Su Yonghuang was the sect master and was located on the outskirts of the sect. She essentially didn’t interfere with the internal affairs; however, she still kept in contact with the sect.
Fortunately, with this decision, the sect finally calmed down. The six elders became the main deciders of any big decisions of the sect from then on.
It could be said that, when Su Yonghuang was the sect master, First Elder Gu Tieshou was the grand contributor to the sect. Before her appearance, Gu Tieshou was the first to inherit the seat as he was the most qualified for the position.
Gu Tieshou was the direct disciple of the last sect master, and he was also the most experienced within the first generation disciples, who had been in the sect for the longest amount of time. Not only this, he was also diligent and dedicated to the entire sect.
If at that time, Gu Tieshou didn’t persuade Elder Zhou’s group, no one else would have been able to convince the rest of the upper echelon.
Because Gu Tieshou was willing to give up his position and also personally took charge of the matter, Su Yonghuang was able to become the sect master.
That very same Su Yonghuang who was always outside decided to come back today. Su Yonghuang had never come back to the sect with the exception of when the previous sect master passed away.
Her reason for returning this time was because of the Evil Infested Ridge. She wanted to take some disciples into the Evil Infested Ridge. This was immediately subjected to opposition from Elder Zhou’s group.
Currently, in the eyes of the sect’s upper echelon, such as Elder Zhou, Li Qiye was the leader for the sect’s revitalization. He was the driver of the sect. Su Yonghuang’s return naturally was opposed by the upper echelon. Plus, they didn’t trust her. How could they hand over the disciples to her?
Because of this, the two sides almost flipped the table on each other. Frankly speaking, the group of Elder Zhou didn’t agree for Su Yonghuang to take charge of the sect no matter what.
After bringing Li Qiye inside, Elder Sun hurriedly told everyone present: “Good, it is good now. Li Qiye is back. Everyone can slowly talk.”
Seeing Li Qiye’s return, the group of Elder Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief, and the atmosphere inside the ancestral chamber clearly eased up.
At this time, Tu Buyu, who was standing behind Su Yonghuang, smiled as he kindly said: “Big Brother, this is our master and also our sect master.”
Regarding the address of “Sect Master”, Elder Zhou’s group let out a scowl as they were clearly irritated.
Li Qiye observed Su Yonghuang, and he was not without astonishment! The Su Yonghuang in front of him was a woman, a very young woman at that!
The woman before him seemed to be around twenty or so and possessed a charming and noble presence; she was wearing a faintly yellow robe, causing her nobility to be even more apparent. Regarding the woman in front of his eyes, her forehead was like the moon and she had eyes like the stars. Her most attractive feature was her elegant brows; they were like swords, causing her elegant charm to have three parts domineering presence. It was as if she was the heaven’s royal daughter, possessing a matchless imperial air along with an unmatched grace.
Comparing beauty, Li Shuangyan next to Li Qiye was not less than the woman ahead; however, Li Shuangyan didn’t have the matchless imperial atmosphere along with this unmatched grace.
When Li Qiye was looking at her, Su Yonghuang was also checking him out. The master and disciple were analyzing each other.
Li Qiye’s wits returned, and he glanced at Nan Huairen next to him, saying: “You never told me that the sect master was a woman.”
“Well...” Nan Huairen was stunned for a moment, and he forcefully smiled as he whispered: “Brother didn’t ask, ah! I thought you already knew.”
Li Qiye was a bit speechless. Up until now, he had always thought that Su Yonghuang was a man. Tu Buyu, as her disciple, was more than one thousand years old so his master, Su Yonghuang, should also be an old man with gray hair that was around six or seven thousand years old. However, Li Qiye didn’t expect that Su Yonghuang was a woman around the age of twenty-five and possessed extreme beauty.
At this moment, Gu Tieshou wanted to smooth things over, so he said: “Qiye, the sect master wants to bring disciples to the Evil Infested Ridge.”
Su Yonghuang looked at Li Qiye and then said: “The Evil Infested Ridge, to our current Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, is the best place for training; it is also the time where we harvest materials. From my calculations, it is half a year away at most, and the soonest is around three months. At that time, the Evil Infested Ridge will open. This is the one and only opportunity in a hundred years and our sect cannot afford to let it go.”
Li Qiye spoke as he gently nodded his head: “I’m fairly clear on this. Sixty-three days later, the Evil Infested Ridge will definitely open.” The moment when he was buried underground, he also found out when the ridge would open.
Gu Tieshou asked Li Qiye: “Then what is your opinion?”
At this moment, all of the elders were looking at Li Qiye. In their hearts, Elder Zhou’s group wanted Li Qiye to become the sect master of the sect.
“May I have a little talk with the sect master?” Eventually, Li Qiye said to the group of Gu Tieshou.
Gu Tieshou and the others looked at each other. In the end, they all agreed with Li Qiye’s request.
Li Qiye returned to Lonely Peak, and Li Shuangyan and the others all took their leave. Inside the small courtyard, only Li Qiye and Su Yonghuang, as well as Tu Buyu who was standing behind Su Yonghuang, were present.
Li Qiye stared at Su Yonghuang, and he was silent for a long time. Certain memories came back to him. After a while, Li Qiye finally said: “Is the Heaven’s Edge Su Clan doing all right?” [1]
Li Qiye’s words greatly changed Su Yonghuang’s expression. Even Tu Buyu was shocked. Su Yonghuang looked at him and emotionally exclaimed: “How do you know about the Heaven’s Edge?! In the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, outside of Grandpa Tu, no one else knew about the Heaven’s Edge Su Clan!”
As soon as Li Qiye opened his mouth, he immediately spoke of her origin. How could Su Yonghuang not be surprised? The Heaven’s Edge Su Clan’s name never appeared in this world, and no one knew about it in the Nine Worlds.
After calming his emotions, Li Qiye nonchalantly smiled and said: “The Patriarch simply told me in my dreams.”
[1] Heaven’s Edge means the other end of the world / a faraway place in this usage.