Little Sea Village was a tiny fishing town, at least from the view of the main continent.
It was located in a remote region in the Grand Sea, far away from the hustle and bustle of the cultivation world.
This fishing village was still under the jurisdiction of Heaven Suppression City.
There was nothing special about this village and its few residents. It seemed to be floating across the vast sea like a tiny boat, lonely and calm.
As expected, fishing was the main way of life here. It seemed to be an entirely different world versus the distant cultivation world.
However, this was not the case. Outsiders didn’t know of the village and its secret. Even the inhabitants of this place weren’t privy to all the information.
After leaving the Field of Dragon War, Li Qiye headed for this tiny village because he wanted to take something from this place in order to complete his Netherlord Hexagear Launcher, allowing it to exert its true power.
Due to its nature of being a forbidden weapon, it was too easy to use. For safety reasons, Li Qiye made necessary preparations after its creation by separating it into two sections. The main one was hidden beneath the earth vein while the other one was stored in this place.
Of course, the village itself carried a greater significance to both him and Heaven Suppression.
Nevertheless, this eluded all outsiders, especially someone like Gu Zun since the Black Dragon King didn’t trust him.
Sentiments struck him the moment he set foot in this village after so many years. Many generations have gone by but this tiny village still remained.
There was only around one thousand meter from start to end of this village with wooden houses on both sides of the street. They were quite old, seemingly built for many years now.
There were drying fishnets before each house and some boats. Some houses had strings of fish as well…
A dog barked after seeing a stranger like him entering the village. In a short period, the people here came out of their houses to take a look. There were old men and women and some children as well. They carefully observed this uninvited guest.
The village has grown accustomed to familiar faces coming and going. They rarely had foreign visitors so a stranger like Li Qiye attracted their attention. Everyone stared at him cautiously.
Li Qiye simply chuckled and leisurely walked on the small street towards the village’s temple. He didn’t get far before someone came to greet him. It was a muscular middle-aged man with a bright pair of eyes. It was clear that he has cultivated before, not just a regular fisherman.
“May I ask where you are from and where you are going?” He was quite polite.
“From a faraway place to over there.” Li Qiye chuckled and pointed towards the temple.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed. His smile became forced as he shook his head: “I’m sorry, that’s our ancestral shrine, not open to outsiders.”
“I know but I’m not an outsider. I want to meet the old man from your village, the real one.” To which Li Qiye responded.
The man’s eyes moved a bit. The smile became a stern expression.
“May I ask for your name?” He stared intensely at Li Qiye.
“Li Qiye.” Li Qiye calmly said.
“Li Qiye!” The old man was astonished while gauging him even more.
“Looks like you have heard of my name. Let me go see the old man now.” Li Qiye revealed a thick smile.
The old man hesitated a bit and didn’t know what to say.
“Is there a problem?” Li Qiye slowly asked.
“Well, the ancestors aren’t in our village right now.” The man said helplessly.
Li Qiye became serious and peered at him: “What about Zi Cuining, your Heaven Suppression Goddess?”
“The goddess isn’t here either.” He threw his hands exasperatedly in the air.
“They’re all going to Heaven Suppression?” Li Qiye could faintly guess what was going on.
“You’re right.” He smiled wryly and sighed: “Their group isn’t back from the trip just yet.”
“What happened?” Li Qiye inquired further.
The man replied: “I don’t know, something about a great matter in the sect. The elders didn’t tell me the exact details though.”
“Not smart at all.” Li Qiye shook his head: “Those old men can’t contend against Gu Zun. Gu Zun is pretty much a wily demon by this point. He has waited for many generations so when he takes action, victory is certain. Your old geezers aren’t thinking, to actually be running towards the city like bees losing their nest. Isn’t this the same as helping Gu Zun, allowing him to catch everyone with a single net?”
“The ancestors were pretty confident about it.” The man said.
Li Qiye couldn’t help but laugh: “Damn geezers. What the hell did their ancestors teach them? Maybe it's because Gu Zun hadn’t shown up for many years, that’s why they think he’s so easily bullied. Compared to Gu Zun, your geezers are still too inexperienced. He’s a fox that has lived for three generations! Your old men are no match for him.”
“How, how do you know?!” The man’s eyes widened.
“I calculated with my fingers, not hard at all.” Li Qiye lightly said.
Of course, the man didn’t believe Li Qiye. However, he was worried indeed since the group has been gone for a while now without any news. Nothing came from Zi Cuining either.
“Well, since you know who I am, take me to the ancestral temple.” Li Qiye commanded.
The man eventually made up his mind and left. He eventually returned with a key to the temple.
“Squeak, squeak…” He unlocked and opened the heavy wooden gate.
The two of them entered and were greeted with an incense fragrance. Judging by the incense burner in the middle, the people here have never stopped worshiping and honoring their ancestors.
Despite being a small fishing village, this temple was quite large. Others would actually think that it was a temple from a great clan.
There were many rows of memorial tablets to the astonishment of the spectators because there were more than ten thousand here. How could this be the temple of a small village?
More importantly, there were very few new tablets. The newest was around two or three years ago. Some of the older ones had indiscernible origin date. The ones at the forefront couldn’t even be read. They were left here for a long time now so the writings have faded.
Li Qiye quietly sighed after seeing the tablets at the very top.
“Have you been to Heaven Suppression? How many elders are still in charge there?” Li Qiye stared at the tablets for a bit before asking the man.
“Well.” He scratched his head in response: “I haven’t joined the sect for that long so I don’t know too much. I just know that the goddess is in charge of the city right now.”
“That’s just Gu Zun’s strategic guise. He purposely tricked the old men into thinking that they still have some authority, that they had control over the entire situation. That’s a wily fox for you.” Li Qiye smiled and shook his head.