“Your old geezers know the truth.” Li Qiye glanced at the stunned fella and said: “They know just why so many people had to commit suicide and why the princes had to run into the prison.”
“This…” It took a while before Lin could muster a response: “Our three branches had nothing to do with this, it’s all Immortal Emperor Ren Xian’s group.”
In fact, he understood that there was no point in defending themselves because it had already happened. Despite not experiencing it himself, he understood the immense loss they suffered as a consequence.
“I know.” Li Qiye said: “Otherwise, Soaring Immortal wouldn’t have been able to skirt past destruction so easily!”
Lin became quiet. Under the old circumstances with Immortal Emperor Qian Li and the Black Dragon King in action, they couldn’t resist at all. Further resistance would only bring about destruction.
“Go back and tell the old generals to obey the vow. Out of consideration for Immortal Emperor Tun Ri and Immortal Emperor Ba Mie, and them as well, your sect was spared in the past. However, a second time won’t happen. If this is happening again and they can’t deal with this looming disaster… I don’t need to speak further on the consequence. At that point, they themselves won’t be able to beseech anything, it will be too late.” Li Qiye spoke emotionlessly.
Lin shuddered after hearing this. Li Qiye was the Dark Crow’s representative. His stance right now should be the same as the Dark Crow.
“Brother Li, don’t worry, I will send the message. Nothing like back then will happen again. The ancestors will be able to take control again.” Lin said solemnly.
Li Qiye simply smiled. Though Lin indeed had this thought, the Soaring Immortal Sect’s current agenda couldn’t be controlled by a junior like him.
“If your sect is so confident in grooming a sixth Immortal Emperor, then do you think who is stronger between me and your Eldest Brother?” Li Qiye asked with a smile.
This question made Lin a bit awkward. In the past, he would think that their background was even or rather, his Eldest Brother would have the advantage. However, this was no longer the case since he found out the Dark Crow was behind Li Qiye.
“Go ahead, I won’t be mad.” Li Qiye continued.
Lin hesitated before giving a straight answer: “Brother Li, I’ll be candid. In my personal opinion, my brother has the arts of five emperors and have fused them into his own grand dao, not to mention his grand completion physique. His dao is flawless with a sturdy foundation, leaving virtually zero openings. Moreover, he also has an abundance of treasures from the sect. Of course, you have thirteen palaces, that’s one and only.”
“A bit interesting.” Li Qiye said with a smile: “So in your personal opinion, I am still a bit lacking compared to your Eldest Brother. You chose against flattering me despite knowing my origin. Interesting indeed.”
Lin smiled wryly in response. He didn’t know whether Li Qiye was praising him for his honesty or criticizing him for a lack of craftiness. The only thing he could do was to give a direct answer.
In his mind, the thirteen palaces were indeed a miracle. However, his brother’s dao foundation was too firm and flawless. Without taking the Dark Crow into account, he still thought that his brother would have a great chance in a one-on-one.
“Alright, I’ll stop making it hard for you.” Li Qiye gently waved his sleeve and said: “Go now, tell your old geezers that there will be only one chance for Soaring Immortal this generation. Survival or demise, that will be up to their own effort.”
Lin took a deep breath and bowed before leaving. After his departure, Li Qiye sat there quietly with a profound pair of eyes capable of piercing through eternity itself.
A while later, Matriarch Yu entered the room. She sat quietly by his side for a long while before speaking: “You have something on your mind?”
“War is about to begin. This might be my final sweep in the nine worlds.” He uttered slowly.
“You want to mobilize against Soaring Immortal?” The matriarch became surprised. Soaring Immortal avoided destruction back then after the search. Who would have thought that this would still end with a battle?
“Yes.” He answered: “It’s time for me to go in this generation but there are still people who won’t give up regarding the Ancient Ming’s bloodline. Only by destroying Soaring Immortal will people learn that certain things are taboo for a reason!”
The matriarch responded: “The ancestors could be considered pretty powerful since they were once great generals under emperors. They should have been prepared for this already with preventive measures since they know the gravity of the situation, killing the problem in the cradle.”
“It’s not their generation anymore. They are indeed old now while the fiercer crowd continued to appear in Soaring Immortal. As time passed by, they grew weaker as their vitality withered away, not able to reach the old apex. If they were capable of controlling the situation, Soaring Immortal wouldn’t have appeared again. The young faction is unstoppable now, this was also the case when the old men couldn’t do anything to stop Asura from supporting Immortal Emperor Ren Xian's ascension.”
He gently sighed before continuing: “Back then, Asura didn’t only want to groom an Immortal Emperor. The truth is that the sect itself desired to break the limit, to become truly timeless, the strongest imperial lineage in history.”
“Indeed.” The matriarch quietly nodded: “Soaring Immortal does have the most resources in the world. Their ancestral ground has turned into a separate world. Then they have their merit laws and excellent bloodlines. We add that to their previous successes with emperors; all of this fuel their great ambition.”
Her point was that if any other sect were to have the same advantages as Soaring Immortal, they would become ambitious as well. Otherwise, there would be a clear shortage of aspiration.
After producing the fifth emperor, the young faction in the sect became emboldened with the desire to unite the nine worlds.
Because of this, they researched the bloodline of the Ancient Ming. They wanted to possess the finest and most powerful bloodline in the world. This would boost them to a new level. Everything else would be within their grasp.
“This is my final sweep, the nine worlds will have to rely on themselves in the future.” Li Qiye said insipidly.
This wasn’t a hasty decision since he understood that the ancestors in Soaring Immortal have lost control. Lin’s arrival now only confirmed his speculations.
No matter what, he would never allow this bloodline to appear again so a cleanse was necessary to avoid the engulfing darkness.
Li Qiye was quiet for a moment before questioning: “Maybe I was really too soft back then. If I started with killing, something like this wouldn’t be happening now.”
The matriarch replied: “It isn’t your fault, Your Excellency. They made their choice and have to face the consequences despite being shown mercy before.”
Back in those days, he had a moment of softness and agreed for Soaring Immortal to groom Immortal Emperor Ren Xian after all of their promises and concessions. The emperor had an extremely thin strand of bloodline from the Ancient Ming. It was of a negligible level.
All of the massacres wore him down which led to this decision. However, the emperor didn’t let him down and only conducted himself in a perfect manner. This was the reason why he chose his title to be “Ren Xian”, to display his human roots. [1]
Alas, his descendants didn’t do the same. Some among them had ambitious thoughts which led to the forceful search from the Dark Crow.
“Seems like I must destroy Soaring Immortal. If I do not, the young faction there will never give up.” Li Qiye said softly.
Soaring Immortal had deep ties with him, especially Immortal Emperor Tun Ri and Immortal Emperor Ba Mie who were essentially his students. He wouldn’t be wanting to destroy their sect unless it was the last resort.
1. Ren = Man/Human; Xian = Merciful/Kind/Worthy