Chapter 344 - The Three Demon Elders
Long Chen followed Zhao Qingyun into the Heavenly Demon Palace. The architecture was the same as what he saw from the outside: refreshing, elegant, and classic. From the plants and trees to the birds and flowers, it felt like a paradise in the mortal realm. The Heavenly Demon Palace was huge, but there were not many people inside. That was why he did not see many people along the way.
However, whenever someone passed them, they looked at Zhao Qingyun with reverence in their eyes, bowing slightly before veering out of his way. Of course, they also cautiously studied Long Chen. Since they did not recognize him, they knew from a glance that he did not belong to the Heavenly Demon Palace.
“Why is this teenager following the Palace Lord? He doesn’t usually pay attention to mortals and mortal matters. We don’t even see him for a month sometimes.”
“I don’t know either. But it’s best we don’t speculate on the Palace Lord’s matters.”
There were whispers when they walked past, even turning around to study Long Chen.
“He’s only at the Fourth River Stage. Not some prodigy or anything. There’s no need to pay him any attention.”
Long Chen smirked when he heard the whispers.
It looks like the only demon in the Heavenly Demon Palace is my master, Zhao Qingyun. The rest of them are mere mortals suffering from jealousy and hatred and competing for status. It looks like it’s exactly as Master described. It won’t be easy here. Long Chen shook his head.
Ignoring the shocked gazes from passersby, he followed Zhao Qingyun into the largest hall in the Heavenly Demon Palace.
This building was named the Demon Pavilion, its architecture exuding regal magnificence. It definitely lived up to its name. Under the revered gazes of the guards, who were also disciples of the Heavenly Demon Palace, at the entrance, Zhao Qingyun entered the hall.
“Gather the Three Demon Elders, Eight Protectors, Enforcers, Executioners, as well as the various Pavilion Lords. I have an announcement to make,” Zhao Qingyun instructed the guards when he entered.
“Right away, my Lord!” The guards nodded, then he hurried off. They went to instruct other disciples, who then scattered through the place to inform all the high-level members mentioned by Zhao Qingyun.
Zhao Qingyun sat on a large, raised, sandalwood chair and looked down at the seats below before he said to Long Chen, “Long Chen, the Heavenly Demon Palace has a strict hierarchy, but it’s alright if you can’t remember everything right away. Out of all these people, only the three Demon Elders have the right to speak in front of me. Sometimes I respect the Demon Elders’ opinions, since they have managed the Heavenly Demon Palace for many years and have a deep loyalty to the people.”
Since Long Chen was a junior, he naturally did not have a seat here.
“The three Demon Elders are all at the Ninth River Stage. Other than me, they are the most powerful people in the Heavenly Demon Palace. They hold great influence here too,” he explained.
“Does that mean that they might not listen to your instructions? That they might target me?” Long Chen understood what he was implying.
“It’ll be fine. They can’t do anything about my decisions.” Zhao Qingyun grinned as he stroked his beard.
Soon, people started arriving in the hall. The lower their positions, the earlier they arrived. Many elders, Enforcers, and even Palace Lords started to gather within the hall. The three Demon Elders were still not present.
Everyone had already noticed Long Chen standing behind Zhao Qingyun. This was a stranger, and they had a feeling that the announcement would be related to him. Since the Heavenly Demon Lord was present, they could not discuss loudly, but whispers were rampant.
“The Palace Lord must have gathered us here because of that teenager.”
“I know that. But what’s so special about him?”
“He is at the Fourth River Stage. That’s barely an acceptable level for his age. However, the way he acts so nonchalantly and without a change in expression despite standing in front of so many people means that he has a strong mind.”
“We’ll see if he has a strong mind later.”
Zhao Qingyun maintained an impassive expression as time passed. When all the people had arrived, he looked up to see three elderly people walking slowly into the Demon Pavilion. Long Chen looked up immediately, studying the legendary three Demon Elders. They were directly under Zhao Qingyun in the clan.
They were not young. Standing in the middle was an old man who looked like he was at least eighty years old. He was thin, with a lot of wrinkles on his face, but a pair of bulging eyes with a sharp glint as they swept across the crowd.
To his left was an old woman. She looked a little younger than him and could still walk with a straight back. She had an arrogant look and did not seem like an easy person to deal with.
The last elder was a short and fat old man, younger than the woman. His hair was still black, but he had a fierce face with fat rolls, making him look terrifying.
They were not attractive in the least; to a normal person, they were indeed demons. As for Zhao Qingyun, although he was no longer young, he still looked charismatic. He must have been as handsome as Dongfang Xuanxiao when he was young.
After entering the Demon Palace, the three Demon Elders took their seats and finally looked up to notice Long Chen standing behind Zhao Qingyun. They were no idiots, so they instantly guessed that Long Chen was the reason why they had been called to the hall. This was a mere Fourth River Stage cultivator, yet all three Demon Elders had been called over just for him. A bad impression of him formed in their minds. They could not care less about what he was here for.
Seeing as everyone had gathered, Zhao Qingyun’s eyes opened and surveyed the room. “I have gathered everyone here today to make an announcement,” he said mildly.
“Please do, Palace Lord,” the group replied respectfully in unison below.
To them, although Zhao Qingyun usually did not intervene much in clan matters and rarely appeared in public, he was a Heavenly Passage Realm cultivator through and through. Without his presence here, the Heavenly Demon Palace would have been flattened by the imperials a long time ago.
Over the past thousand years, the imperials and the Heavenly Demon Palace had maintained one Heavenly Passage Realm cultivator each, causing both clans to maintain a thousand-year-long stalemate. This meant that both parties had existed at the same time for that long. That was why they maintained great respect for the Palace Lord.
Zhao Qingyun pointed at Long Chen and said, “It’s nothing major. I only wanted to introduce everyone to him. This is my ninth direct disciple!”
The crowd erupted when he finished speaking. There had been many disciples before Long Chen, but he had never gathered everyone to make such a grand announcement. Also, he usually selected his direct disciples from the pool of regular disciples. This time, Zhao Qingyun had picked up a random Fourth River Stage cultivator from God-knows-where!
To be honest, the Fourth River Stage was an extremely average cultivation level. The Palace Lord had always been mysterious, appearing whenever he wanted, and they could never figure out his personality. They thought that he was excellent in all aspects, except he was terrible at picking disciples. So far, the best direct disciple he had wasn’t even ranked in the top fifty in the Heavenly Demon Palace. In contrast, the number one disciple of each Demon Elder took up the top three spots, and the rest of the top ten were almost all under them too.
From this alone, they opined that Zhao Qingyun was terrible at selecting and teaching disciples compared to the three Demon Elders. Now it was even worse because he had gathered so many people at the Demon Pavilion just to announce that he had recruited an outsider to be a direct disciple.
This seemed like a childish act.
Of course, most only criticized Zhao Qingyun’s decision internally, though there were some who outwardly expressed their dissatisfaction, namely the three Demon Elders. The fat Third Demon Elder laughed dryly once, then he said, “Palace Lord, you’re kidding, right?”
“Did that sound like it was a joke?” Zhao Qingyun squinted. He had been expecting the damn fat man to cause trouble, and indeed, he was the first to blurt out an objection.
“This teenager isn’t a Heavenly Demon Palace disciple, is he? And he’s only at the Fourth River Stage. His talent is only average. How could he have the right to be your direct disciple? That is why I thought you were only joking.” The Third Demon Elder smirked.
“You don’t have to say anything else. I have already made my decision. Long Chen, greet your elders. These are the three Demon Elders. They manage the affairs of the clan.” Zhao Qingyun could not be bothered to argue, so he started introducing them to Long Chen instead.
“I am Long Chen. Greetings, Demon Elders.” Long Chen knew that these were only formalities. He only had to greet them as those were rules, then he would shut his mouth.
Of course, he did not like the three Demon Elders either.
The three old geezers were clearly not people who could be offended, because they dared to refute Zhao Qingyun in public.
“We shall begin the master-disciple ritual now,” Zhao Qingyun said with a smile, looking at Long Chen approvingly.
“Wait.”
That was when the Third Demon Elder suddenly spoke up. He continued, “Palace Lord, are you really going to take him in as your direct disciple? Please be cautious about this, Palace Lord. You have not even told us where this person has come from!”
Annoyed, Zhao Qingyun replied coldly with raised eyebrows, “His name is Long Chen. Have you all not heard his name?”
“Long Chen?” Everyone thought for a second and suddenly recalled something. They then stared at him in shock!