Chapter 1591: Reversal of Situation
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The news about the Emperor Pavilion still continued to spread. It was about to reach the end of the three months and it was very possible for the Emperor Pavilion to leave Lifire City. This caused even more people to be extremely unhappy. A territory would only grow stronger if there were constantly new blood joining it. If everyone acted like how Governor Xia Hou did, in the future, who would still dare to set up a new major power in Lifire City?
In addition, everyone could clearly see Grandmaster Di's capabilities. Many people still wanted to buy the treasures he personally forged. But right now, Grandmaster Di was going to be forced away by Governor Xia Hou, this was naturally something many didn't wish to see. Hence, the scandalous rumors spread even fiercer.
But everything seemed hopeless now, there was no way the situation could be reversed. The three months was about to be up but there was still no news from the governor's manor. In any case, the power wielded by the governor's manor is overwhelming, public opinion alone was unable to affect them. The arrogant Governor Xia Hou wouldn't care at all. In this strength-oriented world, as long as you are powerful enough and have enough authority, so what if others cursed at you? He, Xia Hou, was the king of the central city regions.
If Xia Hou wanted the Emperor Pavilion to disappear then it would disappear. Many of Di Tian's acquaintances even went to the Emperor Pavilion to offer their consolations to Di Tian. There were also major powers inviting him to become a guest elder. Even if his business, the Emperor Pavilion was no longer able to exist, Grandmaster Di Tian was still extremely popular.
But at this moment, the governor's manor actually acted. They used iron-blooded methods and directly captured a group of people. After that, they announced to the central city regions that they had completely captured everyone involved in the matter regarding the Emperor Pavilion and had imprisoned them. They also told the Emperor Pavilion to rest at ease and feel free to reopen. There was no need to worry about future trouble.
After this piece of news from the governor's manor was circulated out, countless people in the central city regions felt a little dumbstruck. This sudden reversal made them completely not understand what was going on.
The governor's manor had compromised?
Amidst the many scoldings and discussions, the governor's manor actually acted finally? They even caught the masterminds and told the Emperor Pavilion to be at ease to go ahead and resume with their business. What was going on?
In addition, these actions taken by the governor's manor were extremely mysterious. They didn't announce who the masterminds were. For this point, many people guessed that the water behind these affairs, must definitely be extremely deep.
But at the very least, this incident could be considered resolved.
The three months deadline was reached and the Emperor Pavilion did reopen. Because of the previous scandalous rumors about the governor's manor, as well as the fact that Di Tian did say that should the Emperor Pavilion manage to reopen he would take out three unique treasures for the auction. Thus, today the Emperor Pavilion was packed to the brim. It was unknown how many experts came. Roughly, the amount of people here was ten times more than what they had when their business was at their peak in the past. This amount of people made those transactors who signed a contract with the Emperor Pavilion to go wild with joy.
The grand supervisor Mo Fei and Mo Junyi were both so busy that they almost couldn't cope. The entire Emperor Pavilion was filled with life and laughter. So it turned out that the governor's manor was intentionally helping the Emperor Pavilion? This was the thought of many in the crowd. If Governor Xia Hou was to learn of this, one could only wonder if he would be so angry as to cough out blood.
Xia Hou's emotions were naturally not so good. Contrasting to the lively atmosphere at the Emperor Pavilion, the atmosphere within the governor's manor felt extremely cold. Other than the governor's manor, the Yan Clan, Han Clan and Wei Clan were extremely unhappy as well. Right now, their clan leaders were gathered in the governor's manor.
"Governor Xia Hou, didn't you say that Di Tian has offended the Lifire Empyrean? Why are you capturing our men?" The Han Clan Leader asked, his tone filled with unhappiness. In the past, they had already gifted Xia Hou with treasures and received his silent approval. But now, Xia Hou actually ordered for the arrest of many of their immortal emperors? What was going on?
"That's right. Governor Xia Hou, we only did so because the governor's manor had approved of it in the past. Now that you are doing this, are you not going too far?" The Wei Clan Leader was also extremely unhappy. They came here today because they wanted to get their immortal emperors back, but Xia Hou actually forbid the three clan leaders from getting their men back. Hence, their tones naturally changed. Although Xia Hou was the central governor and had immense authority and power, they were all from aristocrat clans that had extremely deep foundations. Xia Hou couldn't bully them as he wished.
One must know that in the northern city regions, there already was a Jialan Clan that even the Lifire Empyrean could do nothing about, let alone the governor of a city region. Although these three clans were far inferior to the Jialan Clan, they were after all, still considered ancient aristocrat clans. If they joined forces, Governor Xia Hou would truly face many troubles.
"When did this governor grant you all any silent approval?" Xia Hou's expression turned black upon being questioned like that. His eyes were extremely cold as he stared at the three clan leaders.
The three clan leaders seemed to have felt his anger. Their eyes flashed and almost coughed out blood when they heard that. They clearly remembered that during their meeting then, Xia Hou really didn't express his attitude clearly but as they were leaving, a vice governor came to them and hinted that the governor's manor silently approved of their actions. Although this wasn't something said by Xia Hou, it could be considered a very clear hint, right?
"The tone of you three clan leaders is truly overbearing. If this seat refused to set the immortal emperors free today, are you all planning to act against me?" Xia Hou had a sinister look on his face.
"Lord Governor must have misunderstood. We are only anxious." After the Han Clan Leader started for a moment, his tone turned slightly more harmonious.
"Governor Xia Hou, the people you captured are all immortal emperors. We naturally hope that nothing will happen to them, but we have no intentions of being overly forceful." The Wei Clan Leader spoke.
"Hmph." Xia Hou coldly snorted. "Since you all want the answer so badly, this seat will tell you guys. This matter caused a great deal of commotion that made the Lifire Empyrean extremely unhappy. He wants me to silence all the scandalous rumors so I can only do this and capture your men. I will naturally think of methods to free them but if you three want to force me, don't blame me if I investigate everything to the end."
"This…" The Yan Clan Leader started. Xia Hou was clearly threatening them. The faces of all three clan leaders turned extremely unsightly but they still chose the soft approach, "Lord governor, don't be so hasty. We naturally understand that lord governor will settle this matter. Since this is the case, we will step back and allow you to handle this fully."
Xia Hou didn't say anything. After that, the three clan leaders bid farewell and departed. The moment they exited the governor's manor, their expressions all instantly turned extremely unsightly. Similarly, inside the governor's manor, Xia Hou's eyes flashed with a cold light. He was extremely unhappy about this.
How in the world did Di Tian manage to reverse the situation?
Why would the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor come all the way here to investigate this?
Is it really because of the overwhelming public opinion? Also, the questions asked by the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor were straightforward and to the point, asking if he did follow the palace lord's instruction completely to offer Di Tian a position equivalent to the five governors.
For this to happen, something must be brewing within the shadows.
…
The Emperor Pavilion was growing more and more in terms of popularity. After it reopened, the three aristocrat clans no longer dared to act recklessly. Right now, they were at the center of a storm and the governor's manor kept delaying, refusing to release their subordinates. How would they dare to stir up more trouble? Only after several days did Governor Xia Hou visit the Lifire Palace and ensure that the Lifire Empyrean wouldn't pursue this any longer did he finally secretly release the prisoners.
This matter didn't attract the attention of others. The Emperor Pavilion didn't make a fuss too, as though they have already forgotten it. The Emperor Pavilion naturally understood that it would be the best for them if they could continue developing in peace and quiet.
Also, the Emperor Pavilion further expanded after this matter and recruited many guest elders. In fact, they spared no expenses to recruit talent. Di Tian and Mo Fei believed that as long as their development continued at this pace, they would sooner or later be rewarded by nurturing so many talents. To Di Tian, it didn't matter if he temporarily earned less. What he wanted wasn't brief profit. His sights were set much further into the future.
Hence, Di Tian once again went to the southern city regions to pay a visit to Beauty Xiao. He came by this time around to express his thanks. He naturally wouldn't assume that a serving lady by the side of the Lifire Empyrean would be so free to pay a visit to the central city regions just for him. Clearly, someone was helping him in the shadows.
Di Tian was brought to an elegant-looking room as he waited for Beauty Xiao. After some time, a marvelously attractive figure walked into the room. This was naturally none other than the southern governor, Beauty Xiao.
At this moment, she only had a bathing robe wrapped around her body, obstructing the view of her twin peaks that would cause many to fantasize. However, there was just a simple knot linking her bathing robes together. She was barefooted and showed no restraint, freely revealing her beautiful legs for Di Tian to admire. Clearly, she just finished bathing.
Beauty Xiao exuded a natural fragrance, her slightly wet long hair draped around her shoulders, and her charming smile was truly mesmerizing to the extreme. Di Tian was already sweating, he then spoke, "Do you want me to come again later?"
"You've already seen my current state, what's the point in coming again later?" Beauty Xiao giggled as she stared at Di Tian. "Why? Are the troubles your Emperor Pavilion is facing all settled?"
"Mhm, I came here specially to thank you." Di Tian nodded.
"Oh? How do you want to thank me? Why don't you help me change my clothes?" Beauty Xiao smiled. Di Tian replied, "Beauty Xiao, don't you know that you would cause people to commit crimes by acting the way you are now?"
"Oh? I really want to see how you would commit the crime." Beauty Xiao's smile turned even more charming.
"As long Beauty Xiao is willing, I'm clear that I won't suffer a disadvantage." Di Tian slowly moved forward. Beauty Xiao laughed, "Still the same conditions. Remove your mask for me first. If not, I won't even know what you look like and you would have already seen me naked. I would suffer too much of a disadvantage then."
"Let's forget about it then." Di Tian shook his head. "Beauty, this time the troubles with regards to my business have been resolved. Many thanks, if you need me to do anything for you in the future, you can just directly pass on a message to me. This is my messaging crystal."
Beauty Xiao laughed and sent a strand of her immortal sense in. After that, she took out her own messaging crystal and Di Tian also left his immortal sense inside it.
"I'll bid farewell first. If I keep looking at you, I might not be able to control myself." Di Tian laughed. After that, he turned and departed. Beauty Xiao's smile grew even more charming, she has never met someone so interesting before. This fellow, what did he look like exactly?
"Qin Wentian of the northern city regions, Di Tian of the central city regions. Both their names have the character 'Tian.' How interesting. Before this, I was only interested in Qin Wentian but right now, that fellow is so low-profile that it's frightening. To think that a fellow like Di Tian would appear in Xia Hou's central city regions. The situation in this Lifire City is definitely going to be extremely interesting in the future."
Beauty Xiao mumbled to herself, unconsciously comparing Qin Wentian and Di Tian. Qin Wentian was famous due to his exceptional combat prowess, able to slaughter his way into the Jialan Emperor Palace and fight against many peak-stage immortal emperors.
As for Di Tian, he was famous because of his capabilities in formations and weaponsmithing. He was able to forge high-grade emperor-ranked weapons with ease.
Between these two, which of them would be the more interesting one?
Chapter 1592: Nibblesun Mine
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
After this calamity, the Emperor Pavilion was completely revived, their popularity shot up through the roof and Di Tian's fame grew even further due to the rumors surrounding the governor's manor. Right now, there was no one in Lifire City that didn't know of the Emperor Pavilion. As time flowed by, the Emperor Pavilion's development also grew stronger and stronger.
The people in the central city regions all predicted that another brand new supreme power would soon rise up. In addition, they rose up by relying on their transaction grounds and had no aristocrat clan acting as their backing. There was only one man supporting this, he was Grandmaster Di Tian.
Time flowed by, the Emperor Pavilion expanded again and more and more experts joined it. Their territory grew by ten times, and right now, when one stared down from the sky, they could see rows of majestic buildings dotting the landscape which was controlled by the Emperor Pavilion. The human flow was endless and many people came here to participate in transactions. The atmosphere was extremely lively, but the events that drew the most people, were undoubtedly the auctions held there.
Currently, countless people came to the Emperor Pavilion daily to seek out treasures.
Today, Di Tian was walking through the transaction grounds and he had a faint smile on his face underneath the mask when he saw the bustling crowd. He also didn't expect the development to go this well. In just a few short ten years, the Emperor Pavilion had already reached this scale. In fact, he could already stand equal to some auctions organized by peak powers in the central city regions. The popularity of his business wasn't inferior to the Han and Wei Clan's auctions.
"During these years, it has been tough on you and the grand supervisor." Di Tian spoke in a light voice. There was a beautiful woman walking beside him, it was none other than Mo Junyi.
During these years, the main operations were run by Mo Fei with Mo Junyi as an assistant. As for himself, he spent the majority of his time on cultivation and weaponsmithing. He wasn't really involved in the management or operations.
"Don't need to thank me. If you are not at the back supporting the Emperor Pavilion, it would be impossible for the Emperor Pavilion to have developed up till this scale today." Mo Junyi smiled. Her beautiful eyes had a hint of reverence in them when she looked at Di Tian. She was truly impressed by him. Right now, the divine weapons forged by Di Tian wasn't restricted merely to sealing-types. There would occasionally be other unique divine weapons forged, all these would maintain the anticipation of the customers with regards to their Emperor Pavilion's auctions.
That rule set by Di Tian in the past, the strategy of auctioning high-grade emperor-ranked weapons periodically, was extraordinarily effective.
"Hahaha, I left all the hard work to you two." Di Tian self-mockingly laughed.
"Don't forget, back then those years ago when our Emperor Pavilion encountered danger and was about to close down, we actually reversed the situation when everyone felt that we were helpless. Although I don't know what you did, but you pulled strongly against a crazy tide and we managed to find a path of survival in the end. I'm sure that the serving lady of the Lifire Empyrean came here because of your efforts." Mo Junyi laughed. After that incident, she and Mo Fei had many guests but they still couldn't be sure of what Di Tian did exactly.
"Alright, you guys should stop overly praising me. Let's hope the business of our Emperor Pavilion will be better and better." Di Tian smiled.
…
The Lifire Palace, was one of the nine world-palaces within the Lifelong Realm. Under the Lifire Empyrean, there were still nine monarchs helping to manage the territories as well as to control the cultivation resources.
However, the Lifire Palace itself also directly controlled some cultivation mines. In addition, the ones under their control were the most important ones, much higher grade compared to those under the nine monarchs control. If not, the Lifire Empyrean wouldn't have bothered to control them.
The Nibblesun Mine was one of the main mines under the direct control of the Lifire Palace. The Lifire Empyrean would only use those he trusted to supervise the collection when the mine opened. The Nibblesun Mine was located within a mountain range at about ten thousand miles away from the border of Lifire City. The landscape here was extremely complex and the entire mountain range was heavily guarded with many protective formations. If there were people who dared to barge in, they would definitely die without a burial place. Just the power of the formations alone was sufficient to ensure that immortal emperors can enter, but they cannot exit.
As for bandits, even for those supreme great bandits, they didn't dare to casually make a move against the Nibblesun Mine. Not only were the defensive fortifications extremely strong, there was also teleportation arrays connected to the Lifire Palace. Bandits who dared to target this place were simply courting death.
Also, despite the strong defensive aspects, there were also many immortal emperors acting as guards here. The leader of the guards was someone that the Lifire Empyrean had absolute trust in, he was the Lifire Empyrean's wife's younger brother.
In the mountain range, there naturally were also secret spatial gates that led directly into the mine.
The airspace above the Nibblesun Mine was like a stretch of starry skies, flowing with terrifying law energy. The entire atmosphere was tinged a dark red and radiated heat. The temperature here was very high and could be considered extremely dangerous because only characters who were immortal kings or stronger were permitted to enter here.
If one stood in the air and glanced downwards, they could see a vast dark red ground with black flames occasionally appearing from the earth. There would also be frequent bursts of resplendent light that shot up into the skies. These were all emperor lights, the indication that emperor-ranked stones had appeared.
In this mine, emperor-ranked stones were considered common. Nothing was rare about them appearing.
Currently, Qin Wentian was in the air space above the Nibblesun Mine.
The Nibblesun Mine wasn't the same as the mines controlled by the Jialan Monarch, where one could only enter once every ten years to collect the harvest. This mine was opened once every year because the resources within were simply too valuable. The yearly harvest had an extremely terrifying value and no mistakes were permitted to occur. Hence, Qin Wentian need not worry about missing the once-per-ten-years tribute collection gathering at the Lifire Palace even if he came here.
In truth, during these tens of years, other than using iron-blooded methods to slay the three vice governors, he was extremely low profile in all other aspects. There were even people saying that he was the same as the past governors, mediocre and only wanted to live out his tenure peacefully as he didn't want the Jialan Clan to make trouble for him. This was why he was constantly in closed-door seclusion within his governor's manor.
In truth, he did spend the vast majority of his time and effort on his cultivation during these tens of years but it wasn't completely true that he spent all his time in closed-door seclusion. He would often head out to temper himself. This was precisely the reason why he was here today, he wanted to enter the Nibblesun Mine as today was the opening day. Naturally, he didn't come here with his true identity, he was using a false one.
Right now, he was walking about in the airspace above the mine. Whenever he saw the bursts of emperor light, he would speed there to seize the emperor-ranked stones. His entire being radiated an extremely cold aura.
"Mhm?" At this moment, Qin Wentian felt something. He inclined his head and glanced in a direction only to see a resplendent beam of light shooting up into the sky. Qin Wentian's eyes flashed and shot through space with incredible speed as he soon arrived at the area.
The beam of light was dark red, but it was extremely bright. Up ahead, he could see a piece of dark-red stone that was absorbing the essence of the heavens and earth. This was none other than the source of light he spotted earlier. The power of the terrifying light it emitted was enough to destroy everything, akin to energy currents flowing from hell.
More and more experts moved towards this direction but they all maintained a respectful distance from it as no one dared to get near. Those who approached the stone earlier, had all already turned into dust.
"BOOM!" A powerful immortal emperor stepped out, moving towards the zone of destruction where the dark-red stone lay in the center. A tyrannical burst of law energy enveloped his body as he resembled an indestructible rock. Emperor light cascaded unceasingly from the sky. He brimmed with confidence and moved closer and closer to the stone.
With a flash of light, the dark-red glow from the stone shone against his indestructible body of laws. A strange projection of a dark-red flower imprint immediately appeared, piercing right through his body. That immortal emperor roared in pain and wanted to retreat, but how could he still have a chance to escape? The flames produced from the dark-red glow instantly shrouded him. In a mere instant, black smoke rose up into the air. The body of the immortal emperor had already vanished completely.
Nobody dared to get any closer. They were all staring at that dark-red stone as though it was a devil.
Qin Wentian also had a face full of shock. Was this a supreme mine in the Supreme Ancient Immortal Realms? Many unusual treasures would be born occasionally, so terrifying that it caused people to despair. An immortal emperor expert that has cultivated for countless years actually couldn't even be compared to a single stone. He was destroyed so easily.
"It must be an empyrean stone!" Someone at the side spoke as his heart pounded rapidly.
Qin Wentian's gaze was filled with heat. He had to obtain that for sure.
However, this terrifying treasure clearly would cause even interspatial rings to melt from the heat. How could he obtain it?
There was an expert who blasted out a palm imprint, wanting to use law energy as a coating to take the stone away. However, the palm imprint instantly got destroyed the moment it neared the stone.
With an intention of his will, spatial energy gushed forth from Qin Wentian, moving towards the reddish zone of destruction around the supreme emperor stone. He wanted to separate the stone from its surroundings but the moment his spatial energy got into contact with the stone, it was also directly dissipated.
More and more experts gathered in the airspace above the mine. These people were the guards of the Nibblesun Mine and they were all clad in dark-red armor, appearing extremely imposing. There were immortal emperors whose eyes glowed with a terrifying light.
"Should we inform the outside?" Someone asked.
"Let's try to get the empyrean stone first. If we are unable to do so, it wouldn't be too late to inform the palace lord." The man in the lead had a sharp expression on his face. He stared at the terrifying zone of destruction that seemed akin to an apocalypse. The reddish light from the zone around the stone continuously expanded, corroding everything. Such a stone was extremely tough to obtain, only existences on the level of the Lifire Empyrean would have the qualifications to enjoy such cultivation resources. For people like them, they couldn't even tell what was the grade of this stone!
Chapter 1593: Great Commotion in the Northern City Regions
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
Qin Wentian stared ahead. The entire surroundings had turned into a dark-red hell with red liquid flowing about, corroding the mine. If he lowered his head and looked, the surroundings began to look like an ocean of blood that radiated a terrifying aura of destruction.
"Seems like the area around the stone has long been scorched and burned," Qin Wentian mumbled. He then asked, "Is this empyrean stone recently discovered? How could the energy that it radiated go undiscovered before this?"
"Empyrean stones need unique conditions before they form. If we compare them to humans, it's akin to breaking through from the emperor realm to the next level. Since the stone broke through to the empyrean-rank, this was why it unleashed such a terrifying aura of destruction. As for before, it most likely hasn't completed its evolution yet." An immortal emperor at the side explained, his eyes staring ahead.
"This should be the reason why many supreme characters refused to excavate everything in a mine in one shot, choosing to proceed slowly instead." Qin Wentian's eyes flashed. Mine stones are able to absorb the essence of the heavens and earth and they would gradually evolve, how truly wondrous.
"In that case, this stone should have no fate with us, right?" Qin Wentian asked in a low voice.
"The attacks unleashed by this empyrean-ranked stone are too powerful. No immortal emperors can bring it away." An expert by the side nodded. Qin Wentian didn't say anything, he found a spot and sat down while extending his immortal sense outwards, quietly contemplating the energy radiating from the empyrean stone. He didn't try to take it, although his strength was extraordinary, Qin Wentian didn't feel that his power would be stronger compared to all the immortal emperors here. Such a destructive force was something he still cannot come in contact with.
He quietly contemplated the wondrous energy for very long, even after a year has passed, the Lifire Empyrean didn't appear here, allowing the empyrean stone to unleash its startling aura. To an empyrean, he had too many places under his control. Even when such a special stone appeared, it wasn't sufficient to warrant him coming personally. If this was the case, wouldn't he be very busy and not have any time to cultivate himself?
Although empyrean stones were rare, they would still occasionally appear. As long as the Lifire Empyrean knew about it, he would just get someone to record it down and come in the future to take a batch of empyrean stones away.
Qin Wentian continued to stay in the Nibblesun Mine for many years before he eventually left. Although he could only take 10% of his harvest away, it was still considered quite a fortune. Naturally, this can't be compared to the amount of resources gained by Di Tian. By excavating mines, one had to pick up stones piece by piece and even might have to encounter life-threatening danger. How could that be compared to a steady business ran by a grandmaster in formations and weaponsmithing? However, to Qin Wentian, the important thing wasn't excavating, but rather to temper himself and gain more experience.
He silently returned to the northern governor's manor. This manor that has been desolate for over tens of years, was as quiet as ever. It felt like a non-existent entity and it was gradually neglected and disregarded by many major powers in the northern city regions. The influence and authority the northern governor's manor held was just too weak, so weak that even some small powers refused to comply with the tribute collection. Even when they personally went to knock on the doors of the various powers, it was also difficult for them to collect any tribute. The name of the governor's manor naturally remained, but in reality, it no longer had any prestige.
Right now, the tribute collection day that occurred once every ten years arrived again. However, the governor's manor was completely empty, no one came to take the initiative to pay the tribute. It was so quiet that the atmosphere felt tense. However, the people of the governor's manor had long grown used to this.
Right now, within the file room of the governor's manor, Qin Wentian silently read through a few scrolls. He then glanced at the butler beside him, as well as the serving girls and the Evil Emperor.
"All these should have been settled. There are no mistakes, right?" Qin Wentian asked.
"There are no mistakes. During these years, according to sir's orders, we probed and investigated in the dark. Because the various major powers no longer feel any wariness towards our governor's manor, their actions grew more and more audacious and there were holes everywhere as they failed to cover up properly. This is why we can easily check up on everything the Ancient River Auction House is up to." The butler replied.
"It's not that they are not wary of us. More accurately, they completely disregard the existence of our governor's manor.," Qin Wentian laughed, seemingly self-mockingly. However, the butler's heart couldn't help but to tremble when he looked at that handsome face.
During these years, it was very rare for him to interact with Qin Wentian. This new governor who took over, other than the time when he used iron-blooded methods to kill the then three vice governors, it was very rare for Qin Wentian to show up in his vision. But everytime Qin Wentian showed up, he gave off an intense pressure and the butler would always vividly recall the deaths of the three vice governors in the past. Such a character actually kept a low-profile for so many years and he simultaneously ordered people to gather information about the dark deeds and current net worth of the various major powers. The moment when he acted, the moment when he erupted forth, what sort of situation would it be?
The butler shivered when he imagined this. Most probably, there would be many people that would be unlucky soon. They might even see blood painting their respective territories red.
"The loopholes are the most obvious when it comes to the Ancient River Auction House. Evil Emperor, what do you say if we use them to show our might?" Qin Wentian's voice was low, like he was speaking about an insignificant matter. The butler's heart pounded even more violently when he heard that. He spoke out in a low voice, "Governor, the major power behind the Ancient River Auction Hall is very terrifying, their true owners might even be the Jialan Clan."
"Did I ask you a question?" Qin Wentian's eyes swept over to the butler, causing him to shiver in fear. He kept quiet as his body trembled, not daring to say anything more.
"If we act against the Ancient River Auction House, we can truly save ourselves some trouble. The other powers will be able to see it as well and we don't need to waste time to act against the smaller ones one by one." The Evil Emperor nodded lightly, agreeing with Qin Wentian's point of view.
"Get vice governor Xu Li to gather his men and move out." Qin Wentian calmly spoke. The heart of the poor butler trembled even fiercer, Qin Wentian was truly going to act?
"Right." The Evil Emperor didn't say anything more and turned about as he departed.
…
The Ancient River Auction House is an extremely large auction house situated in the northern city regions. This auction house was already in 'mature' development. There were many transaction buildings in the area and a large number of people would come here to trade every day.
"Look, the people of the governor's manor are here again." At this moment, someone stared in a direction where a group of experts wearing the governor's manor's uniforms could be seen moving over.
"I almost forget that the tribute collection day is here. These people from the governor's manor are so useless usually, but they actually put in so much effort when it comes to tribute collection day?" Someone laughed.
"Well, they only have this little bit of capabilities. Even their governor Qin Wentian is keeping a low profile now, what can the others do? Qin Wentian must have been frightened silly by that soul slaying needle years ago."
The crowd mumbled to themselves. Just as they were speaking, vice governor Xu Li brought his men and came over. Their eyes flashed with coldness and soon arrived before a transaction pavilion. The boss of this pavilion smiled at Xu Li, after that, his gaze swept to other directions, completely disregarding Xu Li, treating him like air.
Xu Li entered the pavilion and calmly spoke, "The governor's manor is here to collect the tribute."
"Vice governor Xu, we have not prepared fully yet. Can you give us some time to gather the resources and temporarily head to the Ancient River Auction House to collect first?" The boss of this transaction pavilion smiled. Many in the surroundings were stifling their laughter when they heard that. Go and collect from the Ancient River Auction House first? When did the governor's manor ever dare to do such a thing? They had never done so throughout all these years.
"This is the criterion. In the past, your transaction pavilion was classified as a fourth-tier power but recently, you all have been expanding and can now be considered a third-tier power. According to the tribute collection standards, you have to pay the tax up immediately." Xu Li took out a piece of paper as he placed it in front of the boss.
The boss's gaze froze, his smile also turned stiff. He lowered his head and stared at the notice for him to pay tribute. The difference between a third-tier and a fourth-tier power's tribute collection, was roughly ten times in terms of the numbers.
"Vice governor Xu, what is the meaning of this?" The expression of the pavilion's boss face turned cold, he was extremely unhappy.
"Pay up immediately." Xu Li couldn't be bothered to waste words. He directly spoke with a tone of ice.
"During the past ten years, my transaction pavilion has encountered plenty of troubles but I have never disturbed the governor's manor before as we handled it ourselves. The scale of our business also didn't change, why does vice governor Xu wish to classify us as a third-tier power suddenly? Isn't this somewhat inappropriate?" The boss coldly spoke.
Xu Li waved his hand and his subordinates stepped forward, directly surrounding the boss. The boss's expression instantly turned extremely unsightly. Xu Li continued with a glacial tone, "I'll give you an incense worth of time. If you still refuse to pay your share of tribute, we will seal this entire transaction pavilion."
"You…" That boss pointed at Xu Li in anger. His body trembled due to how infuriated he was. This Xu Li clearly came here prepared. Was the governor's manor planning to use him to establish their dominance?
His eyes glanced at the various major powers near his transaction pavilion. At this moment, many people felt that something strange was going on. Other than Xu Li, the other two vice governors were doing the same thing at two other transaction pavilions as well, demanding that they pay the tribute.
Many experts speed over, observing the situation. Something strange was definitely going on.
The Ancient River Auction House was right in front of these transaction pavilions. Flows of humans came and went, and the atmosphere was very lively. At this moment, many people from the auction house crowded over, staring at the situation with interest. What was going on with the governor's manor? Seems like something big was about to happen.
Only to see an immortal emperor exiting the Ancient River Auction House. He brought some subordinates with him and glanced around before asking, "What's going on?"
"Old He, these people from the governor's manor actually want to classify us as a higher-tier power, we have to pay ten times more tribute." One of the pavilion's bosses spoke to that immortal emperor.
"Vice governor Xu, these transaction pavilions exist only because they depend on my Ancient River Auction House. If you all make such a big commotion, you will undoubtedly affect my auction house's business." That old man spoke in an unhappy tone.
Xu Li turned his gaze over and didn't say anything. And at this moment, a group of experts flew through the air as a burst of power flooded the area. The man in the lead was actually none other than the Evil Emperor.
Upon seeing the group of experts all wearing the governor's manor uniform, at this moment, everyone could definitely tell that something big was going to happen.
Was the governor's manor planning to deal with the Ancient River Auction House today?
"What does the governor's manor mean by this?" Old He's gaze turned chilly as he coldly spoke. Could it be that they were really planning to make a move against his auction house?
Chapter 1594: Blood Flowing, Dying the Ground Red
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
At this moment, the Evil Emperor was in human form. He stepped out and moved towards Old He. "Today is the tribute collection period. A few months later, Governor Qin will head to the Lifire Palace to pass it. We are naturally here to collect what you ought to pay up."
"Collecting tributes?" Old He coldly laughed. He stared at the Evil Emperor. "How many things has the governor's manor done for the northern city regions? A customer of my auction house was killed and his treasures plundered, there were even cases of people making trouble before. I've also sought help from the governor's manor but when did the governor's manor ever do anything for me?"
"That's right. It's one thing that the governor's manor refuses to be concerned for our matters, you guys are actually putting in so much effort when it comes to collecting resources from us? Also, my transaction pavilion has always paid up on time but right now, your governor's manor reclassified us as a third-tier power, this means that we need to pay ten times more tributes. What do you mean by this? Are you guys intentionally making things difficult for us?" The pavilion boss where Xu Li was speaking to, coldly spoke now.
With the Ancient River Auction House at their backs, this boss was naturally extremely confident.
"That's right, it's the same for my place too. I really want to know on what grounds are the governor's manor forcing us to pay ten times more tax. Even the Lifire Empyrean would understand us." Another boss from the other transaction pavilion spoke loudly. More and more experts gathered here. After all, these were an extremely popular transaction grounds. Now that such an incident occurred, a chain reaction naturally would easily happen. All the experts in the surroundings stopped by to spectate.
Some were merely watching a show, there were others mocking the governor's manor, standing on the side of the Ancient River Auction House and planned to join forces with them to resist the pressure from the governor's manor.
"Understand you?"
Xu Li walked up, his eyes flickering with coldness. "Governor Qin has been benevolent, to care for your business, he always tries not to collect tributes whenever he could, letting you all be exempted. Has the Ancient River Auction House paid up even once during these tens of years? However, do you know that when Governor Qin was in the Lifire Palace for the tribute transfer, he has to stand up to the questioning of the other governors and he had to do so alone. You bunch of thankless wretches actually felt that it's your privilege?"
"Hahaha…" Everyone started laughing when they heard Xu Li's words.
"Qin Wentian is benevolent?" Zhang Kuang, another pavilion boss laughed out loud. "A figure who domineeringly killed three of his vice governors when he just assumed office but was scared off into hiding after a single battle. You actually say that he is benevolent? You are making my teeth fall out from laughter."
The Evil Emperor's gaze turned cold as he turned to stare at the person who was speaking. It was a young immortal king from the Ancient River Auction House. He stood beside a powerful immortal emperor as he laughed blatantly.
"Openly slandering his excellency. According to the rules of the city, what punishment does he deserve?" The Evil Emperor stood in the air as he asked.
"He will be whipped." Someone behind answered. The Evil Emperor then waved his hand, "Capture him."
Numerous experts stepped out, all of them from the governor's manor and surrounded the opponents, preparing to capture that immortal king.
"IMPUDENT!" Old He's eyes grew cold as his emperor might gushed forth. His thunderous voice caused the hearts of everyone to tremble. He stepped forward, as though he was intending to block a thousand soldiers with himself alone as he icily spoke, "What place does the governor's manor treat this to be? Disrupting my business in this manner, is this something the governor's manor ought to do?"
"You dare to obstruct our governor's manor from executing our duties?" The jade-green eyes of the Evil Emperor stared at him.
"What a good sentence, saying that we want to obstruct the governor's manor from executing their duties." At this moment, numerous figures walked out from the auction house. They were all experts at the immortal emperor realm. There were so many of them that it caused the crowd to silently sigh with admiration, musing that the Ancient River Auction House was truly wealthy and was indeed one of the largest auction houses in the northern city regions. The number of immortal emperors they had wasn't any fewer compared to the governor's manor.
The moment they came out, powerful waves of might engulfed the surroundings, as they stood in opposition to those from the governor's manor.
"This old man has never heard of such a rule before. If casually having an opinion about the governor means that one has to be whipped, I wonder how many people in the northern city regions ought to be whipped. Do you not know how people are evaluating Governor Qin out there? Also, which of the words these people spoke are false?" An old man at the peak-stage of the immortal emperor realm coldly spoke. He was one of the leaders of the Ancient River Auction House.
"The governor of each region can freely add rules if they want to. This is undoubtedly a rule by the northern governor's manor. If you have any questions, you can head to the Lifire Palace and consult the palace lord. If anyone dares to obstruct us again, the punishment won't be a simple whipping anymore." Xu Li sinisterly spoke. This Ancient River Auction House was truly domineering, they actually brought out so many immortal emperors to stand in opposition to the governor's manor.
Seems like the governor's manor has been too low profile for too many years. These people only had complete disregard for them. If not, no matter how strong they are, they would dare to act like this openly. One mustn't forget that behind the governor's manor, it was the Lifire Palace backing it up. The entire Lifire City was the territory of the Lifire Palace.
The atmosphere was tense, it felt like a loud sound could set off a series of unstoppable eruptions. Although there were countless people in the crowd, all of them were extremely quiet now. They were all silently observing the situation. The governor's manor abruptly came by and was clearly extremely unified, exuding imposingness. They came with unkind intentions for sure. The Ancient River Auction House wasn't willing to show weaknes
s and directly challenged the governor's manor publicly.
"Fine." The voice of the old man turned cold. "Even if this is a rule of the governor's manor. I want to ask, which of the words spoken by the immortal king is considered slandering the lord governor? A person that killed three of his vice governors the moment he assumed office…don't forget that he was once a bandit. He gave you bandits official positions the moment he took over to consolidate his strength. Is this considered slander too? Don't tell me everyone in the northern regions cannot have their own opinions and speak out regarding Governor Qin's actions."
"Well spoken. How can such words be considered slander? They are nothing but the truth." One of the transaction pavilion's bosses spoke confidently as he laughed coldly. He wanted to see how the governor's manor would get off the stage today.
These people really felt that the northern city regions were the territory of the governor's manor. Ultimately, the Jialan Clan still had the greatest authority here. Only the Jialan Clan could control everything and the Ancient River Auction House's backer was none other than the Jialan Clan. Since the governor's manor wanted to make things difficult for them, they shall teach the governor's manor a lesson today.
Xu Li frowned, his gaze was extremely cold. But at this moment, a calm voice rang out, "He naturally did slander me."
This voice abruptly rang out, causing the eyes of people here to flash as they stared in its direction. They only saw the group of experts from the governor's manor now splitting into two rows as they shifted to the left and right respectively, opening up a pathway. From this, one could see how high the status of the person walking right in the center was.
Although he was held in contempt by the outside world for many years, but no one in the governor's manor dared to show him the slightest disrespect given how domineering he was when he killed the three vice governors back then.
The current governor Qin Wentian, has he finally appeared?
Many people stared at him. To the northern city regions, many people have never seen how Qin Wentian looked like before. Right now, they only saw an extremely handsome figure radiating a wondrous light that filled them with a sense of holiness. Regardless of males or females, people from both genders couldn't help but to praise silently in admiration. What a good-looking fellow with such an extraordinary aura.
He slowly stepped out, moving towards the front of the crowd. Even for the Evil Emperor and Xu Li, both of them retreated to the side, allowing him to walk to the front.
"We pay our respects to lord governor." Many of the experts from the governor's manor bowed as they greeted, their voices as one and their tones solemn. In just an instant, the hearts of many people involuntarily trembled. Was this Qin Wentian?
"Governor Qin?" The old man from the Ancient River Auction House continued standing in the air, he had the appearance of peering down with disdain at those below him.
"That's right." Qin Wentian replied.
"This old man wants to seek guidance. How can his words be considered slander?" The eyes of the old man flashed with sharpness, staring at Qin Wentian.
"He said that this seat was so scared that I went into hiding, not daring to come out. But now, isn't this seat here?" Qin Wentian slowly spoke.
"Hehe." That old man laughed, he stared at Qin Wentian as he spoke, "His words mostly can only constitute disrespect, it isn't equal to slandering you. Sir, you are the governor of the north, wouldn't people take you for a joke if you started saying that they are slandering you due to a few disrespectful words?"
"Since you put it this way, I can forget about it." Qin Wentian smiled casually as though he didn't mind it at all. He continued. "However, your auction house obstructed my governor's manor from tribute collection. What do you mean by this?
"In addition, my purpose here today, is to collect tribute from your Ancient River Auction House."
"It's only natural for the governor's manor to collect tributes. It's just that these transaction pavilions are dependent on my auction house for their survival and their income and profit isn't high at all. Now, the governor's manor wants them to pay ten times their normal tax? How can they bear this? As for my auction house, there has been so many troublesome incidents that happened during the years but did the governor's manor do anything for me? Lord governor wouldn't not understand, right?"
The two of them sounded very calm, with no hints of anger in their voices at all.
"During these years, I am apologetic that the governor's manor had no major accomplishments. Hence, this seat came here today. Other than to collect tribute, I have one more purpose and that is to investigate all those 'accidents' and 'incidents' that happened those years ago. Next, I will be conducting a stringent check, please pardon and bear with us." Qin Wentian calmly spoke. He then continued, "Spread this seat's order, immediately seal the Ancient River Auction House, we will conduct a full-scale investigation before we unseal it. Other than those customers who are here for the auction, all internal personnel of the Ancient River Auction House cannot leave. You all will stay here and cooperate with my investigations. For those who defy the order, you will be summarily executed.
This calm voice was like a shocking bolt of thunder. Many people felt their minds trembling as their hearts pounded.
Those who defied orders shall be executed?
This voice reverberated through the air, the calmness within it contained an unquestionable authority, exuding Qin Wentian's dominance.
The people of the governor's manor felt their blood coursing through their veins intensely. At this moment, they couldn't help but to recall the scene where Qin Wentian killed the three vice governors back then. His aura was infectious – whoever blocked him, shall die.
"Qin Wentian." That old man coldly snorted.
"How dare you. Who dares to act?" Staring at the experts from the governor's manor rushing into the auction house, Old He directly sped over, wanting to block them.
"Qin Wentian, do you know what you are doing?!" Old He raged. However, he only saw a pair of cold eyes looking right at him. A resplendent beam of sword light erupted forth, causing Old He to scream in pain as his eyes bled. After that, another beam of sword light shot out, beheading Old He. In just an instant, his head was lopped off as his blood caused the surrounding ground to be dyed red!
Chapter 1595: State of Mutual Hostility
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
Old He's corpse landed on the ground, his head separated from his body. Countless gazes turned over, all of their hearts trembling as they stared with terror on their faces at this sudden scene.
Qin Wentian acted directly, slaying an immortal emperor.
"Little He!" That old man who was one of the auction house's leaders cried, staring at the ground dyed red with blood. His eyes flashed with terrifying killing intent. Many experts from the auction house stepped forward, staring at Old He's corpse as their intent to fight soared up into the sky.
Qin Wentian actually dared to kill? How the hell did he get the guts to do this?
The spectators around were all frightened silly. This was especially so for the transaction pavilion owners. Right now, it was like cold water was being poured onto them as they instantly awoke. They finally understood what level of conflict this was. And as for them, were they even qualified to participate in this?
Old He was an immortal emperor from the Ancient River Auction House, yet Qin Wentian killed him just like that, without even wasting words. Old He wanted to obstruct the people from the governor's manor, but Qin Wentian reacted instantly, in proof of his earlier words. Those who defied orders shall be executed!
Although they were the owners of the transaction pavilions, what do they count for? Qin Wentian even dared to kill Old He and did so in the face of the Ancient River Auction House. Right now, how could they still not understand that the governor's manor was planning to make a move on the Ancient River Auction House, using them as an example to warn the people of the northern city regions. Just when everyone was gradually forgetting about the existence of Qin Wentian, Qin Wentian appeared.
When everyone felt that the governor's manor was a symbol of uselessness, the people from the governor's manor actually came in such a domineering manner to the Ancient River Auction House.
"Everyone from the governor's manor listen up. Immediately execute my orders, those who dare to obstruct us from our investigation, execute them directly." Qin Wentian barked out another command, his tone much heavier compared to earlier.
"Yes, governor." The experts from the governor's manor replied together. During these years, although they feared Qin Wentian, they all knew that many people looked down on their governor's manor outside. Their reputation was very low, the other governor's manors in the other regions were all extremely imposing. Only their northern governor's manor was severely lacking, everyone dared to antagonize them and when they collect tribute every ten years, it felt like they were begging the powers to pay up instead of the powers voluntarily paying. Not only so, these powers in the northern regions also liked to make things difficult for them.
They had long suppressed this breath of resentment for way too long, over tens of years. Now, their lord governor was finally going to act. When they smelled the scent of blood, they understood that when they saw Qin Wentian killing the three vice governors long ago, he was nothing but a beast in human form. Although he had remained low-profile for many years, he finally revealed his sharp claws and fangs.
The experts from the auction house turned their gazes to the old man, one of the leaders of the auction house. At this moment, the old man looked exceptionally calm. He merely glanced at the corpse on the ground before coldly speaking, "Let them investigate."
Evidently, he also understood that Qin Wentian was truly making a move against them. If they obstructed him, it meant that their auction house wanted war.
In addition, the other party had sufficient reason to do this. As for the Ancient River Auction House, they had already sent out hidden messages to their allies for help but none of their allies arrived yet. Even if they wanted a war, they had to first ensure they had more experts on their side. Currently, Qin Wentian's forces were stronger and they would lose for sure if they clashed head-on. At that time, they would already have lost their lives, what would be the point for everything else then?
Hence, what they needed to do now, was to endure.
Their faces were filled with rage, as they clenched their fists. The experts from the auction house wanted nothing more than to slaughter their way over but they didn't do so and all chose to obey the old man's order.
The old man didn't hide any of his actions. He took out his messaging crystal in front of Qin Wentian and sent a strand of his immortal sense within. Everyone understood what he was trying to do. Qin Wentian naturally understood as well but he simply watched quietly.
Today, it was useless no matter who came.
The various immortal emperors from the governor's manor, chained up and lock several important locations of the Ancient River Auction House. The experts from the governor's manor then entered and began their search. Qin Wentian and the Evil Emperor stood outside, calmly watching everything.
"Governor Qin, my Ancient River Auction House is still considered to have some status in the northern city regions. By doing this, have you thought about the consequences?" The old man calmly asked, his eyes staring at Qin Wentian after he sent the message.
"Isn't the Ancient River Auction House the one who wanted this seat to investigate all those 'incidents' years ago? Now that this seat is doing so, you actually say such a thing. What do you mean by this exactly?" Qin Wentian stood with his hands behind his back, coldly looking at the old man.
"Governor Qin truly knows how to act. Everyone knows that you were once a bandit and also understand why you were put in this governor's position. Hence, I honestly recommend that before the governor's manor does anything, you guys best think of the consequences or be prepared." The old man continued, his tone was calm and wasn't filled with anger at all. Yet, even so, there was no denying that his words were extremely threatening.
A cold light flashed through Qin Wentian's eyes. Threatening him? Very well.
Very swiftly, a person was escorted by the governor manor's guards outwards. This was a peak-stage immortal emperor. He icily stared at Qin Wentian as he asked, "Lord governor, what do you mean by this?"
Qin Wentian swept his glance over but he didn't say anything. He quietly continued waiting.
After that, more and more people were escorted out by the guards. Upon seeing this scene, the face of the old man finally changed as a strange light flashed through his eyes.
So it turned out that the governor's manor has planned for this day for a very long time.
Today, they truly came prepared.
From afar, more and more experts came over. Gradually, the area around the Ancient River Auction House was filled to the brim, there were crowds standing both on the ground and in the air.
Although the Ancient River Auction House was a major auction house in the northern city regions, its human flow had never been as high as it was today.
The governor's manor has been keeping a low-profile for so many years but the instant they acted, they were making a move against the Ancient River Auction House whose backer was the Jialan Clan. How could this fail to attract attention? Also, this seemingly affected the benefits and interests of various major powers. After all, in the past tens of years, it was very rare for people to pay their tributes. Hence, this had another meaning in it. Many people wanted to see what changes would this current situation evoke.
In the air, there were a few major powers who arrived with many experts. There were even several immortal emperors among them, including peak-stage ones. They directly stood beside the Ancient River Auction House the moment they arrived and the location they were at was the closest to the center of the storm. All of them were staring balefully at the people from the governor's manor.
Clearly, these people came with unkind intentions.
However, Qin Wentian didn't even incline his head to look at them. He stood with his arms behind his back and quietly stood there. He even closed his eyes as though in meditation. That handsome face was extremely attractive and many young female cultivators all had bright light flashing through their eyes as they stared at him with admiration.
Young, strong, handsome, iron-blooded methods. It has been many years since the northern city regions saw such a dazzling governor.
Finally, after many experts of the auction house were escorted out by the guards, the people from the governor's manor returned to their original positions. The old man from the Ancient River Auction House coldly spoke, "Lord governor, what are you planning to do exactly?"
"Evil Emperor, I'll hand them to you." Qin Wentian's eyes remained close as he spoke.
"Mhm." The Evil Emperor nodded. His eyes flared with a strange light as he took a step forward.
"Hold on." The old man roared. "Lord governor, what do you want the Evil Emperor to do?"
"I naturally want to investigate the incidents." Qin Wentian replied.
"Investigate? Then why must you capture the people of my auction house?" The old man coldly asked.
"Maybe, all of them have some problems but your auction house didn't discover anything. Since my governor's manor said that we would investigate the incidents that happened those years ago, we will naturally put in our best efforts to do so. Why are you trying to obstruct me?" Qin Wentian opened his eyes as a resplendent light shot out. This light was sharper compared to swords and directly shot into the eyes of the old man.
The old man felt his heart shaking but he icily continued, "Qin Wentian, don't go too overboard."
"Evil Emperor." Qin Wentian disregarded the old man. He waved his hand, the Evil Emperor's eyes gleamed even brighter with a green light as he stared into the eyes of one of the captives. The eyes of the person reflected the green light as his expression turned wooden, like he was in a daze.
"Twenty years ago, do you know anything about the incidents of plundering and robbery that happened to the Ancient River Auction House?" The Evil Emperor asked.
"I know." That person nodded as he replied.
"Tell me the exact details." The Evil Emperor spoke.
"The date of tribute collection had almost arrived then. In order to avoid paying tribute, our auction house put up a grand show." That person replied.
"Shut up!" That old man screamed, his voice like a thunderbolt, causing the soul of that person being questioned to shake. After that, the green light in his eyes dissipated, he stared at the old man as his expression paled.
"Evil Emperor, continue." Qin Wentian calmly spoke.
"Mhm, Zhu Yan. Eight years ago I heard that you once spoke about an incident that happened ten years before, that incident was about a person being assassinated at the doorstep of the Ancient River Auction House. Was that assassination carried out by one of the experts of the Ancient River Auction House?" The Evil Emperor directly asked.
"Yes. That target was someone our auction house wanted to kill since a long time ago. Just so coincidentally, the date for the tribute collection then had arrived and we used this chance to kill two birds with one stone, finishing off that target. After that, we made a report to the governor's manor, but how would they be able to even trace it back to us? Not only for that incident, every time when the date of tribute collection neared, even if we don't want to pay the tax, we have to find an excuse. The governor's manor's people are all cowards, it's fine even if they knew about it. They are just a bunch of trash." Zhu Yan's mouth curled up in a mocking smile as he revealed the truth.
The entire space turned silent. The old man's chest heaved up and down, he was so angry that his entire body was shaking. His eyes slowly turned over and landed on the Evil Emperor, "That should be enough. Who doesn't know about the Evil Emperor's ability? He can make them say whatever he wants to. This is a clear case of using my people to frame my auction house. What despicable methods."
"Despicable methods?" The Evil Emperor glanced at that old man. "Your Ancient River Auction House is the one who used all types of shameless methods, yet you still have the face to say such a thing?"
"Hmph. It's pointless to argue with you." The old man glanced at Qin Wentian. "This is why I was asking what Governor Qin plans to do exactly. It's fine that you want to deal with my auction house, but why is there a need to use such a method to frame me?"
"I heard that because the northern governor failed in collecting sufficient tributes during these years, he would be held in disdain everytime he gathers at the Lifire Palace every ten years. Is this the reason why Governor Qin did this?" Another voice rang out. Everyone turned their heads over, the person who spoke was actually from a major power. Right now, there was a mocking expression on his face. Clearly, he was here to help the Ancient River Auction House!
Chapter 1596: Tyrannical Governor
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
The tone of this person was extremely mocking. Clearly, he was against Qin Wentian. Sarcastically hinting that Qin Wentian wasn't able to collect enough tributes and couldn't answer to the palace lord and this was the reason why he used such 'despicable' methods to act against the Ancient River Auction House. Although he didn't clearly say this, how could people not know what he was hinting at?
Qin Wentian inclined his head and stared at the person who spoke. A faint smile appeared on his handsome face, "You are?"
"It's not important who I am. What's important is that you, as the lord governor, how can you use such methods to deal with honest businessmen like us in Lifire City? It truly makes our hearts go cold. Although people like us are often alone and weak, although we cannot be compared to the governor's manor, there's no way we will sit around to wait for death when the governor's manor uses such methods against us." The tone of the person who spoke turned more domineering as he continued speaking.
"Oh?" Qin Wentian glanced at that person who spoke. It was a peak-stage immortal emperor with several other emperors around him. Such a power was weak? Just based on the number of immortal emperors alone, his governor's manor might not even be compared to this.
"That's right. We are all honest businessmen in Lifire City and it isn't easy for us to develop. Since the governor's manor cannot provide a guarantee of safety to us, we naturally have no need to pay any tributes. But, your governor's manor actually resorted to such underhanded methods, it truly causes our hearts to turn cold." Another expert from a major power spoke, all of them seemed to be on the side of the Ancient River Auction House.
"Xu Li, who are these two? Have they ever paid their tributes properly?" Qin Wentian turned to vice governor Xu Li as he asked.
"The pavilion lord of the Crimson Moon Pavilion and the sect leader of the Sky Incense Sect. Both are considered first-tier powers and have businesses on an extremely huge scale within our northern city regions. But if we were to check from the date sir assumed office, these two powers have never paid any contributions before." Xu Li replied.
"The governor's manor is so useless and does nothing yet you still want us to pay tribute? Are you guys fools?" The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord continued.
"You all say that the governor's manor did nothing after you reported trouble. Because we are unable to investigate this clearly in the past, you guys used it as an excuse to reject paying contributions. For this point, this seat has to admit it that there's nothing wrong with your actions." Qin Wentian stared at everyone as he slowly spoke. "But now, I came here in all sincerity to set an example to solve the previous 'incidents,' yet you guys say that I'm trying to slander and intentionally want to harm you all? In that case, no matter what my governor's manor does, you guys are clearly not intending to pay any contributions."
"Governor Qin, you are intentionally misinterpreting my meaning. If you truly have the heart to investigate, why would you send people to investigate the internal staff of my auction house and capture my people? You should know very well what you are trying to do." The old man from the Ancient River Auction House coldly spoke.
"The Lifelong Realm is above us, below the Lifelong Sovereign, the nine world palace empyreans control the boundlessly vast territories. Lifire World Palace is controlled by the Lifire Empyrean and the city is split into five city regions, given to each of the five governors. I, Qin Wentian, as one of the five city governors, I have authority over everything in the northern city regions. Since this seat wishes to investigate the truth, all of you must cooperate with me. If you are unhappy about my actions, you can go straight and report this up to the Lifire Empyrean."
Qin Wentian's voice turned solemn and extremely cold. "Today, the truth is out for everyone to see. It's useless if you all try to prevent it. For anyone else who dares to obstruct my governor's manor from doing its duties, we will kill all without mercy."
A fearsome chill wind seemed to have breezed past, everyone only felt somewhat cold. Earlier, Qin Wentian said such a sentence and he immediately executed Old He of the Ancient River Auction House.
Right now, he had also put it extremely plainly. Whoever dares to obstruct the governor's manor shall all be killed without mercy.
The voice was so calm and cold, emitting his killing intent. It was like no matter who came today, no one would be able to stop him from making his move against the Ancient River Auction House.
The experts of the Crimson Moon Pavilion were here, there were several immortal emperors and even their pavilion lord came personally. The experts of the Sky Incense Sect came as well, with just as many immortal emperors, and their sect leader also personally showed up. They, in addition to the Ancient River Auction House, was sufficient to form an extremely powerful group of experts. If war really began, even if their opponent was the governor's manor, the governor's manor wouldn't be able to win against them, right?
"Lord governor, think thrice before acting." Another expert spoke, it was the boss of one of the larger transaction pavilions near the Ancient River Auction House. His cultivation base was at the mid-stage of the immortal emperor realm. At this moment, many people involuntarily stood in the same camp as the Ancient River Auction House. It wasn't because they were in some alliance but rather, this affected their benefits.
This battle was extremely critical. Once the governor's manor took down the Ancient River Auction House, it meant that the governor's manor had reversed the situation and in the future, when the governor's manor collects tributes, would they dare not to pay up?
"Governor Qin, please think carefully." Another person reminded, but his tone had no hints of kindness at all. He spoke coldly like he was threatening Qin Wentian.
"If lord governor really plans to act so recklessly and unfairly, we can only join forces. If the palace lord sends people down to blame us, we will also do our best to contend against them. It's Governor Qin who refuses to give us a path of survival." The old man from the Ancient River Auction House slowly spoke, his eyes flickering with terrifying killing intent.
Qin Wentian knew that the old man wanted to kill him. But he also knew that if he didn't cause any damage to the Jialan Clan's influence and was killed by their cronies instead, this means that he had no value at all in the eyes of the Lifire Empyrean. After he dies, the Lifire Empyrean definitely wouldn't stand up for him. It would only have meant that he was useless. What the Lifire Empyrean needed was a useful Qin Wentian.
As for the Jialan Clan, there was no need to say anything about them. The moment he took on the office and acted against his vice governors, he already encountered an assassination attempt by two of them using a soul slaying needle. As long as the Jialan Clan finds an opportunity, they would definitely move in for the kill. And right now, Qin Wentian was planning to give the Jialan Clan an opportunity. A glaring opportunity that they cannot afford to miss.
Regardless of the Lifire Palace or the Jialan Clan, both had their own schemes. Qin Wentian was sandwiched in the center and was in an extremely pitiful situation. However, he had no path available to retreat.
"The 3,000 soldiers of my governor's manor listen to my command." Qin Wentian coldly commanded.
"We are here!" A terrifying thunderous voice echoed through the air. After that commotion back then, the governor's manor had recruited new batches of experts and right now, there were precisely 3,000 soldiers under his control. Right now, all of them were gathered here in the Ancient River Auction House.
"In order to avoid paying tributes, the Ancient River Auction House plotted against themselves, wanting to damage the reputation of the governor's manor. From the time I assumed office till now, they had never once paid any contributions. From now on, the Ancient River Auction House shall be sealed away and closed down. Instantly begin the cleansing operation, all their assets will belong to the governor's manor to make up for the lack of contributions through these years."
Qin Wentian's voice was extremely cold as he gave the order. He directly seized the ownership of the business, transferring assets to the governor's manor.
"QIN WENTIAN, YOU DARE?" The old man howled in rage as a terrifying aura erupted forth. Destructive bolts of lightning could be seen flashing through the sky.
"Those who obstruct my governor's manor from carrying out duties shall be executed with no mercy." Qin Wentian coldly repeated. Instantly, the 3,000 soldiers all unleashed their auras, causing the atmosphere to be extremely tense. Violent waves of energy gushed everywhere, causing the hearts of many in the crowd to tremble.
Given the strength of immortal kings and immortal emperors, the size of the Ancient River Auction House was still considered small. Many in the crowd started to retreat, especially so for some innocent spectators. All of them hurried away as they were worried that they might be injured due to the aftershocks from the battle.
"Seems like lord governor is truly prepared to be a tyrant." The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord coldly spoke. His men also unleashed powerful auras as killing intent flickered in their eyes.
The leader of the Sky Incense Sect was the same, leading his experts to step out, wanting to surround the 3,000 soldiers from the governor's manor.
"All of you want to bear the weight of their crimes for the Ancient River Auction House? In that case, I want to see if you all truly have the capabilities to bear the weight or not." Qin Wentian slowly rose up in the air, resplendent emperor light flashed as an intense light illuminated the area, so blinding that many couldn't help but to close their eyes against the glare.
"Mid-stage immortal emperor?" Many people felt their hearts shaking. The rumors claimed that Qin Wentian's cultivation was only at the initial-stage of the immortal emperor realm. But now, he actually broke through to the mid-stage. No wonder he would act against the Ancient River Auction House, his strength had just explosively increased.
"Let me repeat this one last time. Those who obstruct my governor's manor from doing its duties, shall all be executed with no mercy."
Qin Wentian took another step forward. The Evil Emperor waved his hand, "Move!"
The 3,000 soldiers exploded into action, sealing the entire Ancient River Auction House.
"BOOM!" The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord soared into the sky as a fiery energy erupted towards the Evil Emperor. The experts from the Crimson Moon Pavilion also acted as they moved towards the 3,000 soldiers.
"ROAR!" The Evil Emperor howled in rage, violent waves of demonic energy rocked the area as countless spectators in the crowd retreated with frenzied speed. The battle was about to start, who would still dare to get near?
"Scram!" The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord blasted out a terrifying red-colored palm imprint that covered the skies. Even before the attack landed, the berserk aura and the chaotic energy flow had already forced many immortal kings back. After that, the giant palm imprint slammed against the Evil Emperor as an explosive boom thundered.
"Governor Qin, you have forced us too far." The old man from the Ancient River Auction House released his emperor might. The experts around him stood in a row, ready to attack. On the other side, the experts from the Sky Incense Sect as well as experts from a few other powers, all unleashed their auras as well, preparing for a war against the governor's manor.
"This time, things are getting crazy." Many people felt their hearts trembling. It has been many years since they saw such a scene. The governor's manor was actually warring against the major powers.
The northern city regions were considered the Jialan Clan's territory, even the Lifire Empyrean could not control the things here fully. Hence, many major powers here were under the Jialan Clan's influence and acted very domineeringly against the northern governor's manor. In the past, there were also tyrannical and domineering governors but all of them had died and the Lifire Empyrean took no actions to avenge them.
Right now, an even more brutal and tyrannical governor compared to his predecessors has appeared. Qin Wentian, someone who was once a bandit.
Today, this tyrannical governor Qin Wentian, was he going to finally die after keeping a low-profile for so many years?
The northern city regions of Lifire City have always been a pool of muddy water. It was not so easy to change the situation here!
Chapter 1597: Under the Light
This entire space started to turn bright. Those spectators all retreated to extremely far away, not wanting to be involved.
Numerous immortal kings and emperors erupted forth with dominating might. The soldiers of the governor's manor were blocked by the enemy experts and couldn't advance. The Evil Emperor and Xu Li roared loudly as they ferociously led the charge.
Qin Wentian floated in the air as the light radiating from him grew more and more brilliant. Has he gone crazy?
Since he chose to act today, he naturally wouldn't fail.
Roughly about fifty years ago after he took over, other than killing his three vice governors, Qin Wentian had never made any moves in the northern city regions. He has either been in closed-door seclusion or he has been out tempering himself. Until today, only after his cultivation base broke through to the mid-stage of the immortal emperor realm, did he chose to make his move. He wanted to tell all the major powers in the northern city regions that held him in contempt that it's time to account for the debt that has accumulated for the past fifty years.
A blinding light illuminated the area, many people couldn't open their eyes due to the glare. The Ancient River Auction House, Crimson Moon Pavilion and Sky Incense Sect and the other smaller powers who participated in this, only felt a bright light enveloping them. They became separated from the others, all of them trapped within this domain of light.
A mid-stage immortal emperor from the Ancient River Auction House began to radiate forth with terrifying emperor light. Law energy danced wildly around him, yet he couldn't help but to lift his hand up to shield his eyes. The piercing glare from Qin Wentian's domain of light effortlessly seeped through his defenses and shone onto his body. As time flowed by, the light from him was actually submerged within the light from Qin Wentian's domain, he glowed brighter and brighter as though he wanted to become one with that light.
"NO!" He roared in rage and misery. How could this be? How tough was it for him to reach the mid-stage of the immortal emperor realm? How many trials and tribulations did he have to overcome to reach his current status? But now, was he going to die just from being trapped in a light domain? He was filled with reluctance to accept this.
But no matter how he struggled, he was unable to break free. He eventually became part of the light and completely disappeared without a trace.
Not only him, all enemy mid-stage and initial-stage emperors caught within the domain of light, had no way to escape as well. Their bodies vanished one after the other and became part of the light. Those spectating from afar couldn't even see anything due to how glaring the produced light was.
Although no one could see anything, they could still hear sounds from within the domain of light. Every voice was filled with anger, with sorrow, with reluctance and despair. The spectators couldn't help but tremble when they heard that.
When the radiance finally faded, when everyone inclined their heads and stare into the air again, they felt their souls trembling as they perspired cold sweat. When they looked at the handsome figure in the air, they felt respect from the depths of their soul.
Cowardly and useless, a governor that only knows how to hide?
He didn't dare to collect tributes because he feared assassinations?
Just a blast of light from his domain was enough to cause everything to turn topsy turvy. The Ancient River Auction, Crimson Moon Pavilion, Sky Incense Sect and the other powers that participated in the battle, the vast majority of their immortal emperors died. Only their peak-stage emperors remained and they were all forced to retreat. Clearly, the screams echoing out earlier was from them. All the mid-stage and initial-stage emperors have all died.
The surviving peak-stage emperors were all panting as they stared in terror at Qin Wentian. Why was he so powerful to this extent? He could slaughter a group of emperors with just a blast of light from his domain? This was simply inconceivable, it was just too terrifying. Didn't this mean that before Qin Wentian, all group attacks are useless?
As for the soldiers of the governor's manor, the look in their eyes when they stared at Qin Wentian, was like they were seeing a god. This was truly a godlike figure. Qin Wentian domineeringly killed the three ex vice governors the moment he assumed office, he didn't die under the sneak attack using the soul slaying needle and right now, just a blast of light from his domain killed a group of immortal emperors. How imposing was this?
Weren't the people from these major powers very arrogant? They looked down on the governor's manor and actually wanted a war against the governor's manor. Before this, all of them purposely made things difficult for them. Right now, the governor's manor finally could look up in pride.
From afar, those transaction pavilion bosses, who had the backing of the Ancient River Auction House, were all so frightened that their expressions drastically changed. They kept sweating as panic filled their hearts. Earlier, they even dared to mock Qin Wentian. When they thought of this, they only felt terror nibbling away at their hearts, the sensation was extremely terrifying.
This time, a major thing was definitely about to happen.
With the joining of forces from so many powers, they even dared to join the fight when their opponent was the governor's manor. Before this, it wasn't that they didn't dare to do this, but it was because the previous governor had never once been able to unite his subordinates fully. However, today, a person finally did it. The new governor, Qin Wentian, although his cultivation base wasn't high, his combat prowess was extremely terrifying.
He united his subordinates and led them to the Ancient River Auction House, when he did so, he had already planned it all out, making arrangements in the case where the other major powers might join forces against him. By targeting the Ancient River Auction House, Qin Wentian wanted to flush out everyone that wanted to kill him.
But so what even if he did so? So what even if he had to fight against multiple major powers? In front of absolute strength, all schemes and plots were useless.
Qin Wentian, who has broken through to the mid-stage, undoubtedly had enough strength to be as tyrannical as he wanted to. He could disregard all the plots from the various major powers, he could disregard group attacks consisting of numerous enemy immortal emperors. Those who blocked him would simply be killed.
"Qin Wentian, as the governor of the northern city regions, are you sure you are going to act in this manner towards the major powers here?" The old man from the Ancient River Auction House didn't sound as confident as before.
"There's no need to place a hat on this seat's head. You still know that this seat is the northern governor? During these years, who has ever respected me? You guys know very well how you treated my subordinates when they went to collect tributes. There were so many schemes and plots, intentionally making things difficult for my governor's manor, even trying to find excuses earlier. You guys wanted to bully my forces because you have greater strength? Didn't you all earlier announce war against my governor's manor, wanting to kill this seat? But why the sudden change in the situation? Why am I the one bullying you all now?"
Qin Wentian's voice was domineering to the extreme, he swept his gaze through the air, "Earlier, this seat already gave the order to execute those who obstruct my governor's manor from carrying out their duties. Right now, the Ancient River Auction House refused to accept their punishments. The Crimson Moon Pavilion and Sky Incense Sect also have never paid any contribution during the past tens of years and even chose to join forces with the Ancient River Auction House now to fight against my governor's manor. These are unforgivable crimes, and from now onwards, I shall seal the businesses of the Crimson Moon Pavilion and the Sky Incense Sect that's in the northern city regions. All the assets you own shall be transferred to my governor's manor to make up for the fact that you lot failed to pay any contributions for the past tens of years."
As the sound of his voice faded, countless people felt their hearts trembling. This was too crazy. This time around, not only for the Ancient River Auction House, the Crimson Moon Pavilion and the Sky Incense Sect were all going to have their businesses and assets taken away. This time around, the governor's manor initially only wanted to use the Ancient River Auction House to establish their dominance. But because the two other major powers wanted to join in, they too, became the targets of the northern governor's manor.
"Yes, governor!" The subordinates of the governor's manor roared.
"Xu Li." Qin Wentian called out.
"Here." Xu Li replied.
"Other than the three major powers, there are other immortal emperors from the smaller powers participating earlier. Do you recognize them?" Qin Wentian asked.
"I do." Xu Li nodded.
"Good. Since they dare to obstruct our governor's manor from doing things, go and confiscate all their assets. Lead your men over and for those who dare to resist, kill them all without mercy." Qin Wentian gave the command.
"I hear and obey." Xu Li nodded. He then roared, "Brothers, come with me!"
The power structure of the governor's manor was still the same. Each vice governor was in control of a thousand subordinates. Right now, all of Xu Li's subordinates stepped out, departing the area with him.
"Evil Emperor." Qin Wentian spoke.
"Here." The Evil Emperor replied.
"Lead a thousand men over to the Crimson Lord Pavilion and the Sky Incense Sect. Confiscate the businesses and assets under them. If they have more experts and dare to resist, temporarily delay them first and wait for me." Qin Wentian continued.
"Right." The Evil Emperor nodded. With a wave of his hand, another thousand subordinates followed him as they rushed towards the businesses of the Crimson Moon Pavilion and the Sky Incense Sect.
"Qin Wentian, don't go too far." The Crimson Pavilion Lord started to panic. His pavilion was considered a first-tier power. He naturally had to resist it once the Evil Emperor went to confiscate his businesses. However, given Qin Wentian's iron-blooded attitude, as long as he dared to resist, it meant that he would have a crime of rebellion pinned on him and he would be killed with no mercy.
"Go too far?" Qin Wentian coldly laughed. "The killing intent you had towards me earlier, why has it vanished now?"
"Let's go." The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord spoke. The Sky Incense Sect Leader nodded. Both of them stepped back, actually wanting to leave. They didn't dare to fight against Qin Wentian who was merely at the mid-stage, despite them having several peak-stage emperors around them.
Qin Wentian's combat prowess was too terrifying. Earlier, he only used a single attack from his law domain to destroy so many emperors, leaving them with an extremely deep impression. Given his power, even peak-level emperors like them didn't dare to resist. They didn't have the absolute confidence that they would win.
"Since you guys have already entered the war against my governor's manor, do you think you can leave here so easily today?" Qin Wentian laughed coldly, causing the hearts of everyone to tremble. He wanted to stop all the peak-stage immortal emperors from leaving.
Numerous experts stepped out, soaring through the air, preparing to flee. However, Qin Wentian's eyes turned exceptionally terrifying at this moment. A pair of gigantic demonic eyes appeared in the sky, with just a glance from it, the entire space changed. The Crimson Moon Pavilion Lord and the other peak-stage immortal emperors were all brought into an eye-technique dimension, the phantasm world Qin Wentian was in.
"I already said it before, since you guys wanted a war, let's all remain behind then." Qin Wentian's voice seemed to have come from the void. After that, he materialized in the air, before the peak-stage immortal emperors. He was dressed in white, his hands were clasped behind his back, exuding a magnificence that would last through the generations. Although his cultivation base was only at the mid-stage, he gave off an aura of invincibility to these immortal emperors.
As the sound of his voice faded, radiance from his laws of light illuminated everything, piercing the eyes of his enemies. Boundless light flared, containing destructive might within. Qin Wentian then punched out the fist of a divinity, aiming for the old man of the Ancient River Auction House. The old man frenziedly resisted but the fist of light penetrated everything, there was nothing that could block it!
An instant later, a hole appeared in the chest of that old man, penetrated through by Qin Wentian's attack.
The old man lowered his head, staring at the hole in his chest with disbelief. His eyes were filled with boundless despair and terror!