Chapter 1827: A Nine-step Saint King Kneeling
Kong Hongbi and two of the Ming Hall’s one hundred and eight Saint Generals—Guo Song and Yuan Che—sat close to the main door. Although their cultivation bases were strong, there were no weaklings in Tianjue Pavilion.
Therefore, the three of them were not particularly conspicuous.
All these years, Kong Hongbi had suffered plenty of setbacks, and his defiant personality had seemingly transformed a lot as he spoke with a serious face. “There are too many strong folks in the Eastern Region Holy city, and it’s a dangerous place. We better hurry to Yunwu Commandery, and not stay here for a long time.”
Guo Song whispered, “Sir, are you really that willing to hand the Godstone to Zhang Ruochen?”
After breaking through the realm of a Saint King, Kong Hongbi was promoted to the Deputy Hall Master of the Ming Hall.
He was already one of the powerful persons in Ming Hall.
Kong Hongbi was naturally very reluctant. One needed to know that the first time he saw Zhang Ruochen, the latter was as weak as a flea. Who would have thought that Zhang Ruochen would be so powerful now? He was like an insurmountable divine mountain, blocking Kong Hongbi’s path and leaving him to only look upward.
Yuan Che smiled and came up with an idea. “Why don’t we hide the Godstone and say that it was taken away by the cultivators from another realm. Now that the Ming Hall needs all the manpower it has, the Saint Lord will definitely not punish us heavily.”
“That will work. The Ming Hall’s Godstone should never be handed to an outsider,” Guo Song said in a righteous tone.
“You think the Saint Lord is so gullible?”
Kong Hongbi stared at Yuan Che and Guo Song before he slowly said, “Zhang Ruochen may not have seen a Godstone yet.”
“What do you mean?” Guo Song and Yuan Che asked at the same time.
“Even for me, this was the first time I saw a Godstone. Legend has it that Zhang Ruochen’s cultivation had reached a rather terrifying level, but it happened in a very short period of time. His accumulation of knowledge is far from comparable to that of mine. There is a possibility that he may have not seen a Godstone before,” Kong Hongbi said.
Yuan Che let out a contemplative look as he smiled. “Understood, so Deputy Hall Master, you mean that we hand Zhang Ruochen a fake Godstone since he won’t recognize it. But, it won’t be easy to do fake it. After all, Zhang Ruochen is not a fool.”
Kong Hongbi replied, “In this world, there is a kind of unusual stone called the Godlight Stone. This stone is born from a place where a god had fallen. The Godlight Stone is very similar to the Godstone, but the difference in their value was like the gap between Heaven and Earth.
“So, we will use the Godlight Stone in place of the Godstone to give it to Zhang Ruochen. Brilliant, Deputy Hall Master, your idea is simply brilliant.” Yuan Che laughed in a flattering manner.
A self-satisfied smile unwittingly formed at the corner of Kong Hongbi’s mouth. “Previously, I went to the Black Market just to purchase the Godlight Stone. Let’s go, we’ll head to Yunwu Commandery now, and hand it to Zhang Ruochen, so that the Shengming Crown Prince would be happy for nothing. He must be dreaming to get his hands on our Ming Hall items.”
Before Kong Hongbi and the others could even leave Tianjue Pavilion, they were stopped by Hua Cangying.
“Sirs, how about we have a talk in one of the private rooms upstairs?”
With a smile on his face, Hua Cangying made a gesture of invitation.
Kong Hongbi frowned as he said, “We don’t seem to know one another, though?”
“Won’t we get to know each other after the get-together?” Hua Cangying asked.
Kong Hongbi knew that his opposite number was a very powerful person, so he dared not offend him. So, while he joined hands in a salute, he said, “Thank you for your nice intentions. But I still have some important business to attend to, we can get together next time.”
As he said that, Kong Hongbi walked around Hua Cangying toward the exit.
When walking past Hua Cangying, be it Kong Hongbi, Yuan Che or Guo Song felt extremely nervous, and their hearts were beating faster.
For Hua Cangying to invite them into the private room upstairs, it was definitely not something good.
Could it be that Hua Cangying knew that they were carrying a Godstone on them?
Hua Cangying wore a strange smile as the White Bone Hand in his hand gently flapped. Suddenly, a dark wind swept past Kong Hongbi, Yuan Che, and Guo Song.
“Sh*t.”
Kong Hongbi’s expression changed suddenly, and just as he was about to escape, the scene before his eyes underwent an earth-shaking changes.
The skies darkened and dark winds bellowed as a unit of white-bone soldiers surrounded the three of them as they bellowed a thunderous roar before charging toward them.
In the clouds, Hua Cangying’s figure appeared, standing hundreds of feet tall and looking down at them like a giant.
“Where do you three think you are going?”
Hua Cangying stretched out a pale white bone arm and pressed it on their heads as he was about to capture them.
Kong Hongbi, Yuan Che, and Guo Song were extremely fearful. They wanted to resist, but Hua Cangying’s powerful cultivation had suppressed them and rendered them immobile.
“Shatter.”
At this moment, a loud voice rang out.
Suddenly, the roiling clouds and tens of thousands of white-bone soldiers all disappeared.
Kong Hongbi, Yuan Che, and Guo Song felt the pressure on their body lightened as they looked around, and found that they were still inside Tianjue Pavilion. Clearly, Hua Cangying had used a spiritual attack to send them into a mirage world.
Someone had saved them.
Kong Hongbi and his entourage looked at the man who had saved them as they gaze landed on Xie Chengzi.
Hua Cangying too glared at Xie Chengzi, and the anger in his heart was irrepressible. “Enough is enough. Why do you go against me every single time?”
Xie Chengzi said, “My Lord is inviting them to go to his private room upstairs for a get-together.”
Hua Cangying faced off against Xie Chengzi as he said, “There’s the etiquette of first and seconds. I invited them first.”
“So, this means that we can only fight to determine who they belong to?” Xie Chengzi sneered.
“That’s right up my alley.”
Hua Cangying had been holding back for long enough, if not for the fact that he was wary of the Pavillion Master of the Tianjue Pavilion, he would have fought them long ago, and instead of taking steps back.
Since the other side offered to fight, it was an opportunity to teach them a hard lesson.
“If it is a fight you want, it is a fight you will get.”
Xiang Chunan jumped from the fifth floor, roaring as he landed, the impact sending a deafening bang across the entire Tianjue Pavilion.
He immediately took out the demonic metal crown and held it in his hand as he was about to smash it on Hua Cangying.
The red-robed man, Luo Yi chased him to the first floor, and stopped Xiang Chunan. “Brother Chunan, don’t use a Supreme Sacred Artifact unless as a last resort. Let me talk to him.”
“Don’t stop me. Let me end him!” Xiang Chunan bellowed.
“Calm down, calm down.”
Luo Yi blocked Xiang Chunan and appeared before Hua Cangying.
A look of horror appeared in Hua Cangying’s eyes, as he stared at the demonic crown in Xiang Chunan’s hand, wondering if that was a Supreme Sacred Artifact?
Luo Yi performed a fist-palm salute and smiled. “My brother there is a little short-tempered. Please don’t take it to heart.”
Hua Cangying thought that both his seniors, the Drifter and Wayfarer were still sitting upstairs, and even if they did indeed have a Supreme Sacred Artifact, it was not something terrifying.
Hua Cangying calmed himself and puffed his chest up as he said, “I don’t want to cause too much trouble in Tianjue Pavilion, naturally, I won’t take issue with a black fool like him. But those three, I have to take them away, and anyone who tries to stop me will die.”
Just when everyone in the Tianjue Pavilion thought that Hua Cangying had the upper hand…
Without any warning…
A thud rang out, as Hua Cangying knelt before Luo Yi.
“Look, Hua Cangying is kneeling on the ground!.”
“Goodness, I’m not seeing things, am I?”
…
The change in Hua Cangying’s attitude was just too great, and countless cultivators were so shocked that their tongues were tied and their jaws dropped.
Note that this was a Nine-step Saint King, and even a Supreme Saint might not have been able to compel the former to kneel. But now, Hua Cangying was kneeling like a subservient person and kowtowing nonstop.
What was going on?
On the fourth floor of Tianyue Pavilion, the Pavillion Master, Jiang Yunchong smiled as he looked at Luo Yi with his hands on his back.
Jiang Hai, who was standing behind Jiang Yunchong, was rather surprised. “My Lord, what did he do? Was it the Way of the Soul?”
No one thought that a strong person like Hua Cangying would really kneel before Luo Yi, and he must have been blindsided and was afflicted with some sort of technique.
Jiang Yunchong shook his head. “It’s not the Way of the Soul, but probably Soul Manipulation.”
“For him to control a Nine-step Saint King with Soul Manipulation, how powerful are his spiritual powers? Could he be that legendary demon?”
Jiang Yunchong gently tapped his finger on his nose. “I’m not sure whether he is the demon or not, but he had definitely used Soul Manipulation, and had used a dark-cold artifact for him to succeed. That artifact is not any simple artifact, and this person is quite dangerous.”
“Should we remind Zhang Ruochen?” Jiang Hai said.
Jiang Yunchong shook his head. “What sort of trials and tribulations that Zhang Ruochen had not encountered before? He’s not that feeble, and perhaps, he had already seen through somethings, including our identities.”
“Why are you kneeling now? Kid, are you afraid of Daddy Xiang now?” Xiang Chunan walked to Hua Cangying’s side and kicked him over onto the ground.
Luo Yi smiled and shook his head, speaking while looking at Kong Hongbi and the others. “Come with me.”
It was a very casual sentence, but Kong Hongbi and the others dared not even have a contrarian thought.
Kong Hongbi and his entourage were not fools like Xiang Chunan. They had been totally terrified by Luo Yi’s techniques. If this person could get Hua Cangying to kneel, then getting rid of them was an even more simple thing.”
Kong Hongbi followed obediently behind Luo Yi and asked, “Sir, what do you want to see us for?”
“Not me, but the crown prince upstairs wants to see you,” Luo Yi said.
What sort of terrifying figure this crown prince was, why were there so many powerful people around him? Kong Hongbi’s heart was even more disturbed.
The Drifter and Wayfarer of the Fane of Youshen had walked out of their private room, as they stood behind the railing on the fifth floor of the Tianjue Pavilion as they stared at Luo Yi, Xiang Chunan, Xie Chengzi, and the rest who were climbing the stairs.
Hua Cangying being restrained by someone else was something beyond their expectations.
However, the two did not do anything. The pavilion master of the Tianjue Pavilion had placed a lot of pressure on them. If things were to escalate, it would be odd if the pavilion master did not act.
“What have you seen through the origins of this person?” the Drifter asked.
The Wayfarer’s eyes shone with a golden gleam, and he shook his head gently. “It’s weird. There seems to be a layer of mist on his body, and I could not find any clues.”
The Wayfarer said, “Then forget it. We will just bear it for a while and settle everything with them once Mister Godcliff arrives. By then, we should also get a grip on the identity of the Tianjue Pavilion’s master. Such an elite powerhouse cannot just pop out of thin air.”