บท 20: The Return of the Disciple of the Ex-Peak Lord
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
The bones of this skeleton might look rotten but the death Qi flowing all around it made it stronger than fine gold.
The skeleton swung his blade and a blade ray suffused with gray-white death Qi slashed out to make a deep cut on the cliff before him.
This was a blade method that the skeleton had learned before it died, the Wind Splitting Slash.
Even though it was using death Qi instead of divine energy from when it was alive, the effect of the attack was still the same.
Soon, a second skeleton came out of the ground, then a third, fourth, and so on.
In addition to human skeletons were beast skeletons.
Some of these beast skeletons were spirit beasts that elders of the Holy Land had raised before they died, while others were beasts that had invaded the Holy Land, then there were those that were killed by the disciples of the Holy Land. Regardless of how they died, their skeletons rose from the ground with a single command from Ye Chen.
As long as Ye Chen's divine consciousness was present in the area, the dead present could be summoned and controlled concurrently!
Moreover, Ye Chen wouldn't even need to be physically present to summon the dead in the future. His substitute puppets would suffice as long as it was imbued with Ye Chen's divine consciousness.
Meanwhile, back at the various peaks of Xuantian Holy Land, many powerful figures shot up into the sky. Their eyes scanned their surroundings cautiously, but they could not find what they were looking for.
The Xuantian Holy Lord stood proudly in the air as his vision of 108 huge stars shone around him with an unprecedented bright light. His entire being emitted an ocean-like pressure and his eyes were filled with cold electricity. With a voice as loud and clear as a bell, he asked, "Who dares to play tricks on us?"
D*mn, had he just alerted the Holy Lord and other Peak Lords?
Ye Chen's divine consciousness shifted slightly and the dead that he had summoned sank back into the ground once more.
"Where do you think you are going?"
The Peak Lord of the Crimson Flame Peak shouted as he reached out his hand toward a human-shaped skeleton, grabbing it forcefully.
But the moment he did, the death Qi encircling the human-shaped skeleton disappeared and the skeleton returned to its lifeless state. It appeared to have been shattered with a single touch by the Peak Lord.
The Xuantian Holy Lord, Peak Lords, and elders were shocked. No matter how many skills and secret methods they scoured through, they could not find any information that could explain what had just happened. In the end, they had no choice but to disperse.
A few years ago, there was a vision that had blotted out the sky. Now, the dead had risen. The Xuantian Holy Lord was physically and mentally exhausted from trying to figure all of these out. He simply asked the rest to be on their guard and thoroughly investigate each of their disciples to ensure no evil cultivators had snuck in.
Since he had to lay low to avoid attracting any more attention in Xuantian Holy Land, Ye Chen continued to immerse himself in his cultivation.
Now that he had the Time Spirit Spring and the Auspicious Pill Cauldron, Ye Chen was prepared to continue living on the mountain with no plans to leave until he was invincible.
And with that, Xuantian Holy Land regained its usual peace. The Disciple Acceptance Ceremony, outer disciple competitions, inner disciple competitions, ranked battles, and sect missions continued with no further interruptions.
And as usual, the only participation Ye Chen showed was in the annual Disciple Acceptance Ceremony via his puppet to search for more Qi anomalies.
Unfortunately, Qi anomalies were not easy to find and Ye Chen did not get anything from subsequent Disciple Acceptance Ceremonies.
Zi Menghan was not interested in that either, so she had also been focusing on her cultivation.
One day, Ye Chen's peaceful life started to change.
While Ye Chen was in closed-door cultivation, he could sense that a Jade Communication Talisman with the aura of the Xuantian Holy Lord had entered the boundaries of the Heaven and Earth Five Elements Reversal Array.
Hmmph! This old man must have given up on using his divine consciousness to enter after being trapped in the array twice. So he decided to switch to using the Jade Communication Talisman instead.
The Jade Communication Talisman was not like those that could only transmit a single message. It consisted of two parts - a Yin and Yang. Thus, as long as one was not too far away and each end had one part of the talisman, they could communicate through the distance.
Ye Chen allowed the Jade Communication Talisman to land on his hand. Then, he heard the voice of the Xuantian Holy Land come out from it. "Junior Brother Ye, the eldest disciple of the previous Qingyun Peak Lord, Liao Wuhen, has returned from his training in the outer world. After learning about what happened to Qingyun Peak, he vowed to take revenge."
Ye Chen was surprised. "I didn't expect that there would still be disciples from Qingyun Peak who managed to survive. Why hasn't he returned after so many years? Is the current Liao Wuhen even the same person? Or has he been possessed?"
Qingyun Peak had been destroyed for a full ten years. And now someone wanted to enter, claiming to be a disciple? Ye Chen immediately raised his guard. This was just too suspicious.
The Xuantian Holy Lord spoke again. "Don't worry. I have also investigated his claim thoroughly. Apparently, Liao Wuhen had gone out with three other core disciples of Qingyun Peak to explore a ruin sixteen years ago. But he had accidentally entered an ancient array and was trapped in.
"Not long ago, the Xuantian Holy Son happened to pass by that ancient array and sensed his distress signal. Eventually, he managed to rescue Liao Wuhen from the ancient array.
"I had also considered the possibility of Liao Wuhen being possessed. For that, I used the Xuantian Treasure Mirror to examine his soul and the mirror reflected a soul and body that was in perfect harmony with each other. So I can confirm that he hasn't been possessed."
"As long as he isn't possessed!"
Ye Chen was slightly relieved. "Were the other three core disciples rescued?"
"They were not so lucky. Liao Wuhen had stepped into a trapping array but the others entered a killing array. This is why Liao Wuhen is the only survivor."
Ye Chen frowned again. He was the only one who made it out alive?
Something was starting to smell fishy again!
"Since Holy Lord has informed me of this, do you intend for me to let him return to Qingyun Peak to cultivate?" asked Ye Chen.
The Xuantian Holy Lord fell silent for a moment before he said, "Liao Wuhen has found out that Senior Uncle Changsheng appointed you as the Qingyun Peak Lord. But he is unconvinced of your eligibility, thus he intends to challenge you in public. If he wins, he will replace you as the new Peak Lord of Qingyun Peak based on the rules of Xuantian Holy Land."
Obviously, Ye Chen was not too pleased to hear that.
What was his problem?
'He has just returned to civilization and now wants to steal my position?'
"I refuse to accept the challenge!" Ye Chen replied without hesitation, which made the Xuantian Holy Lord choke for a moment.
"You can refuse if you want. But you should just hand over your position to him," said the Xuantian Holy Lord.
So, there was nothing to discuss?
"What is Liao Wuhen's current cultivation?" asked Ye Chen.
"Late Stage of Vision Realm," said the Xuantian Holy Lord quickly.
Ye Chen asked, "Can I send my disciple to fight in my stead?"
If he could, he would. Wouldn't that fall in line with his philosophy of being as cautious and prudent as possible?
The Xuantian Holy Lord said, "Of course, you can! But, your two disciples..."
Obviously, to the Xuantian Holy Lord and anyone else, Ye Chen's two disciples were both cripples - one with an Innate Crippled Body and the other with a crippled Sword Spirit Body. How could any of them be able to face Liao Wuhen?
"Don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. And since Liao Wuhen is the one who challenged me, I have the right to decide when, right?"
"Yes, but don't drag it out too long. You should decide on a date and time no longer than one month from now."
The Xuantian Holy Lord had to give Ye Chen a deadline to prevent the latter from dragging things out for too long.
"A month later it is! And in that period of time, I will stand my ground as the Peak Lord of Qingyun Peak. I'm still a little suspicious of Liao Wuhen so as long as I'm the Peak Lord, he is not allowed to take a single step into Qingyun Peak!"
"Alright, I shall let him stay in Xuantian Main Peak in the meantime."
And with that, the Xuantian Holy Lord ended their conversation.
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