Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“How do you want them to be held accountable? Little friend Mo, feel free to do what you think best.”
Tan Qiyue looked coldly at the members of the two large sects. He indeed would not intervene if Mo Wen killed a few people, as long as the Purple Qi Pavilion still existed and its heritage continued. He would not make an enemy of Mo Wen just for them.
Grandmother Hui Ling’s bent figure trembled. She shook slightly as she stood up. Slightly emotional, she said, “Please wait, Lord Patriarch Tan. We will take all responsibility. However, the Purple Bottle Gourd is the inherited treasure of the Purple Qi Pavilion. I believe you were told how important it is to us by sect great grandfather. If we lose the Purple Bottle Gourd, it means that the heritage of the Purple Qi Pavilion has ended. Patriarch Tan, please help us get it back.”
Grandmother Hui Ling looked at Patriarch Tan with a steady gaze. To preserve the heritage of the Purple Qi Pavilion, they had to get the Purple Bottle Gourd back. Without it, the Purple Qi Pavilion would exist in name only.
For the Purple Qi Pavilion, the importance and significance of the Purple Bottle Gourd were above that of even the Cries of Hades Bell and the Dark Soul Pearl. It was because it was the symbol and the religion of the Purple Qi Pavilion. For generation after generation, the sacred Purple Bottle Gourd had been passed down through the Purple Qi Pavilion.
Grandmother Hui Ling could die, but the Purple Bottle Gourd must not be lost. If Patriarch Tan wanted to preserve the Purple Qi Pavillion’s heritage, he needed to get the Purple Bottle Gourd out of Mo Wen’s hands.
“This…”
Tan Qiyue was somewhat hesitant. He knew how significant the Purple Bottle Gourd was to the Purple Qi Pavilion. Yet, since the treasure had ended up in Mo Wen’s hands, it was somewhat inappropriate to ask for it back. However, if he did not get it back, wouldn’t his previous promise be meaningless?
“Little friend Mo Wen, you see…” Tan Qiyue said, looking at Mo Wen. “If you are willing to return the Purple Bottle Gourd to the Purple Qi Pavilion, I am willing to compensate you with a treasure of equal value.”
The Purple Qi Pavilion’s Purple Bottle Gourd was a powerful treasure, but as a Martial Arts Grandmaster Second Realm ancient martial art practitioner, Tan Qiyue had a few good items on him. Even he would feel his heart ache if he gave away a treasure of the same value as the Purple Bottle Gourd, but to honor his promise to his sworn brother and avoid offending Mo Wen, he could only endure the pain.
Mo Wen frowned. On the surface, the Purple Bottle Gourd was a treasure second only to a profound level weapon, but in reality, it was rather mysterious. It certainly had an extraordinary origin. If Mo Wen did not know this, with Tan Qiyue personally asking, he might have returned the Purple Bottle Gourd to them. But since he knew that the Purple Bottle Gourd was extraordinary, it was impossible for him to return such an important treasure.
“Little friend Mo Wen, is there some difficulty?”
Seeing Mo Wen hesitate, Tan Qiyue frowned slightly. The Purple Bottle Gourd was extraordinary, but for Mo Wen, it should not be of much use. After all, Mo Wen had quite a few profound level weapons on him. No matter how good the Purple Bottle Gourd was, it could not compare to a profound level weapon. He had not expected Mo Wen to hesitate over the Purple Bottle Gourd.
Grandmother Hui Ling stared at Mo Wen intently, afraid that he would not return the Purple Bottle Gourd to the Purple Qi Pavilion.
He Xiangyu and the other members of the Five Beasts Sect were all pale, watching everything in despair. The Purple Qi Pavilion was able to use the memory of their sect great grandfather to ask Patriarch Tan for help in preserving their heritage and in getting their inherited sacred item back. But what about their Five Beasts Sect? Not only was it impossible for them to get back the Five Beast Hoops from Mo Wen, they most likely would be eradicated by him.
The difference between the two sects’ heritage was now completely displayed. The Purple Qi Pavilion had a heritage of a thousand years. It was not something a sect that had not even prospered for a hundred years could compare with. The Five Beasts Sect had a heritage of fewer than two hundred years. It wasn’t even as old as Patriarch Tan. The Purple Qi Pavilion would survive because of Patriarch Tan. The Five Beasts Sect had no such support.
“Elder Tan might not know, but it is unlikely that I will be able to return the Purple Bottle Gourd to the Purple Qi Pavilion. It has… grown attached to me. If the Purple Bottle Gourd had not followed me to start with, I would not have taken it with me.” Mo Wen sighed softly. This bottle gourd was a very strange object. Ever since he encountered it, the Purple Bottle Gourd had followed him wherever he went. He could not give it away even if he wanted to.
“What do you mean?” Tan Qiyue was slightly stunned and was unable to respond for a while. A treasure had actually grown attached to Mo Wen? What did he mean?
Mo Wen waved his hand and took the Purple Bottle Gourd out from his sleeve. Then, he held it up and threw it. The Purple Bottle Gourd became a beam of purple light, instantly flying out more than ten kilometers.
“The sacred item!” Grandmother Hui Ling became anxious. She subconsciously flew up and chased after the Purple Bottle Gourd. She never would have imagined that Mo Wen would throw it away.
A strange look flashed in Tan Qiyue’s eyes. He did not know what Mo Wen was thinking.
In a flash, Grandmother Hui Ling’s silhouette flew out of the city, chasing after the Purple Bottle Gourd. Just as she reached out her hand to catch it, a beam of purple light shone out from the Purple Bottle Gourd. The beam of purple light swept past Grandmother Hui Ling, sending her flying.
At the same time, with a nimble turn, the Purple Bottle Gourd became a bolt of purple lightning and instantly returned to Mo Wen’s side. It flew back even faster than it had flown out. It burrowed into Mo Wen’s chest, seemingly not wanting to come out again.
“The Purple Bottle Gourd!”
All the ancient martial art practitioners that had entered the Fighting Spirit Tower were shocked. Wasn’t that the little purple bottle gourd that had appeared during the final moments of the battle? Many ancient martial art practitioners had rather deep impressions of the Purple Bottle Gourd.
Tan Qiyue was also shocked. He had not expected that Mo Wen’s little bottle gourd was the most valuable inherited treasure of the Purple Qi Pavilion. Even he did not know that the Purple Qi Pavilion’s most valuable inherited treasure was actually so strange.
“The sacred gourd has recognized its master! How is it possible? How is this possible?” Grandmother Hui Ling flew back with a pale expression. She looked at Mo Wen in disbelief. It was as if she had seen a ghost.
All of the Purple Qi Pavilion ancient martial art practitioners looked at Mo Wen with gazes of disbelief. Their expressions were much more complicated than before. The legend of the sacred gourd recognizing its master, which was the highest ancestral teaching in the sect, had just happened in real life!
“What about the sacred gourd recognizing its master?” Tan Qiyue looked incredulously at Grandmother Hui Ling. Could it be that the magical treasure could actually recognize a master? Right now, Tan Qiyue could tell that the Purple Bottle Gourd was a most complex item.
Grandmother Hui Ling ignored Tan Qiyue. Before, this would have been a huge disrespect. She would not dare to ignore him even if she had the gall of a bear. She looked at Mo Wen with a complicated gaze. The next moment, a scene that stunned everyone played out before their eyes.
Thump.
Grandmother Hui Ling knelt in front of the crowd. She went down on one knee and pressed her right hand to her chest, paying homage to Mo Wen.
Grandmother Hui Ling was not the only one to do so. Every Purple Qi Pavilion ancient martial art practitioner, including Pavilion Leader Ye Rong, and Wu Feng, dropped to one knee, bowing their heads and paying homage.
In the square, everyone was stunned. No one had expected that such a scene would play out.
Could it be that the members of the Purple Qi Pavilion were afraid of dying and intended to use this sort of method to plead for their lives? That was the first thought of most of the people watching. But Patriarch Tan had promised to protect the Purple Qi Pavilion, so why did they need to kneel, and why were all of them kneeling at the same time?
The ones who by rights should be kneeling and begging were the Five Beasts Sect. Yet they had not kneeled; it was the Purple Qi Pavilion who had actually done so.
“Why are you doing this?” A look of incredulity flashed in Mo Wen’s eyes. Since the Purple Qi Pavilion had the protection of Tan Qiyue, Mo Wen had to allow him to save face. Why did they still have to kneel to him? It was one thing if just the few main culprits that would certainly be punished had knelt in front of him. But right now, all members of the entire Purple Qi Pavilion, including the various pavilion leaders and elders, as well as the ordinary disciples, were actually kneeling.
“In the Purple Qi Pavilion, there has always existed the legend of the sacred gourd recognizing its master. It has actually happened.” He Xiangyu laughed bitterly. He sighed a heavy sigh and looked at the sky with a lifeless gaze. With his status, he knew that the Purple Qi Pavilion had always had a legend of the sacred gourd recognizing its master. However, legends were legends. No one had ever taken it seriously.
He also had considered it a legend that intentionally made the inherited sacred item of the Purple Qi Pavilion seem more mysterious. He had never expected that this legend was actually real.
“The sacred gourd has recognized its master? Could it be…” Bu Zhangkun was shocked. His eyes suddenly opened wide.
He Xiangyu nodded his head as he bitterly laughed and said, “The sacred gourd recognized its master. Mo Wen is the Purple Qi Pavilion’s supreme master.”
“Lord Master, please allow me to explain in detail…” Grandmother Hui Ling lowered her head and slowly revealed the Purple Qi Pavilion’s well-known secret.
It turned out that the Purple Bottle Gourd was a treasure left behind by the first founding ancestor of the Purple Qi Pavilion. The first ancestral teaching in the sect was also about the sacred gourd recognizing its master. The person whom the sacred gourd recognized as its master would be the master of the Purple Qi Pavilion.
Since the first founding ancestor, there had never been a true supreme ruler in the Purple Qi Pavilion. In a thousand years, the sacred gourd had never recognized a master. Many people considered the sacred gourd recognizing its master to be a legend, something that didn’t exist.
Due to this ancestral teaching, for a thousand years there had been no supreme ruler in the Purple Qi Pavilion. Instead, they chose three separate pavilion leaders, each managing a district, supervising matters and keeping each other in check. This model had continued for a thousand years. No one had believed that the Purple Qi Pavilion’s true master would ever appear.
“Lord Master, our ancestral teachings state that the person that the sacred gourd recognizes as its master is the supreme ruler of the Purple Qi Pavilion. From now on, your every word is our highest command. I have offended Lord Master. I am willing to die as an apology.”
Grandmother Hui Ling knelt on one knee on the ground. There was a hint of helplessness and desolation in her voice. Who would have thought that the end result would be like this? Even in her most desperate hour, she had never imagined that she would be kneeling to a youth and begging. As long as Patriarch Tan could protect the heritage of the Purple Qi Pavilion, she would die if necessary.
Now, Mo Wen had become the supreme ruler of the Purple Qi Pavilion, becoming her master. They could not defy the ancestral teachings. No matter how proud she was, she had to kneel.
“So that’s what it was!” Tan Qiyue looked at the sea of kneeling Purple Qi Pavilion members. A look of understanding flashed in his eyes. He naturally knew of the Purple Qi Pavilion’s legend of the sacred gourd recognizing its master. However, he had always considered it a legend and never imagined that it would actually happen.
Lan Zhongzhi, Zong Changsheng and the other ancient martial art practitioners from the outside world looked at each other. No one had expected that such a dramatic scene would play out.
Things became even more dramatic. The members of the Purple Qi Pavilion were still kneeling, when another large group of people followed suit and also knelt down suddenly. The entire center square seemed to be littered with kneeling silhouettes.
