Chapter One Hundred: Black Mountain
Closing the gates to the mountain and assassinating Zhang Yi, strictly speaking, was an unprecedented internal conflict of Celestial Seal Sect. Regardless of which side won, this would completely change the direction and fate of Celestial Seal Sect.
Other than these battles concerning Zhang Yi, there were many other battles happening in Celestial Seal Sect. From when Li Daoji appeared and used his sword to defeat multiple seals and kill Cheng Qingye, to the old man in black robes being convinced by the master of Celestial Seal Sect, the internal conflict had finally ended. Once there was consensus, there was no need for fighting or face-offs.
Near death did not mean true death. Multiple Celestial Seal Sect cultivators skilled in medicine appeared and helped Li Daoji take care of the wounds of Zhang Yi and the others. They looked at Chen Xingchui’s cooling corpse with a strange gaze. They thought, originally, they should have been treating Chen Xingchui right now.
Zhang Yi was carried out of Celestial Ascending Hall. He was also being treated but his wounds were not as serious as Su Qin’s. He tried to get up to thank Su Qin, he could not help but ask, “Why did you help me?”
Even though they were one from the same sect, ever since Su Qin left Changling and came here, the things that had happened told him that Su Qin would not think of him as a friend, especially coming to save him at the risk of his own life. To him, this was an unusual thing that could not happen.
Su Qin looked coldly at him, a mocking smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. He turned his head and looked in the direction of Changling.
“You may not have heard, your Junior Sect Brother Ding Ning has died,” he said slowly with a hint of pleasure.
Zhang Yi’s body stopped at this moment. He maintained his slightly raised posture and stopped there. To a person like him who was seriously injured and on the verge of death, it was harder to maintain this position than sitting up. But he stopped there, like being half up had nothing to do with him.
“What did you say?” Zhang Yi seemed to not have heard clearly and asked Su Qin.
“Ding Ning is dead.”
Su Qin did not look at him but laughed. “On the battlefield, someone used him to open the seal on the Tianliang ancestral lands and he died there. Because of his death, I must save you. Because at least for now, only if you are alive will I have meaning to the mistress of Changling.”
“Only if you are alive will I have value. “Su Qin reiterated. Then he said mockingly, “Otherwise, I am a dog that can be left here at will.”
“Impossible.”
Zhang Yi suddenly struggled up. He wanted to sit up and ask Li Daoji, but his struggles caused him to fall heavily on the stretcher.
“Unless you received the sword manual of Min Mountain Sword Sect, she will only kill you because Ding Ning is dead. In her view, leaving you is a future trouble. If she kills you, she does not have to care about Ding Ning’s feelings.” Su Qin turned to Zhang Yi who could not breathe and said coldly, “Otherwise, why would you be killed?”
Zhang Yi’s chest and head were in tearing pain. All of his reason, including his intuition, told him Su Qin was not lying. But he still did not believe it. He used all his power and shouted, “Sect Uncle!”
**
The Yan Palace.
Outside the imperial study was the imperial garden. There was a path made from white jade that passed through the imperial gardens. Between, there was a white jade bridge that passed over the pond. The white jade was carved with dragons, phoenixes and lucky clouds. It was usually beautiful and peaceful, exuding majesty.
But at this moment, the imperial garden was covered in pieces of corpses and weapons. Except for the study and the white jade bridge leading to the study that were untouched, the other scenery had been torn apart by primal energies of the universe.
Thick blood and gore moved over the carved patterns. The floating blood and pieces of organs seemed to carpet the garden. Multiple powerful cultivators had all kinds of terrible wounds. The primal energies of the universe around them uncontrollably moved, turning into all kinds of light and clouds. They looked like demons. Yet their eyes were filled with despair and fury.
Weapons and seals flashed with cold light from the roofs and surrounding paths in the imperial palace. The flashing lights formed a sea, with great heaviness, and pressed on them from all sides, turning the garden into a lonely island. The ground was shaking slightly. Something enormous and metal was slowly coming close, meaning a powerful and giant seal weapon was being pushed in.
“Zhongshu Marquis!”
A yellow figure appeared at the damaged doors to the imperial garden. One person among the multiple powerful cultivators shouted in fury.
This was a beardless middle-aged man, extremely handsome. But even more importantly, he wore the bright yellow robes of the nine dragons.
In the Yan, only the king could wear this. This represented the power of the monarch. For the subjects loyal to the Yan Emperor, this was rebellion, open disrespect.
Yet hearing the shout, the man who appeared at the gates of the imperial garden covered in blood and flesh smiled gently.
“It is already at this step, why care about this?” He looked warmly and sympathetically at the cultivators. At the same time, he looked at the tightly closed study doors. “Imperial Brother, you will really wait until everyone is dead before you are willing to abdicate?” His voice was gentle. But it rippled in the blood pools. He appeared cold-blooded and powerful.
The door to the imperial study remained closed. There was no response from inside.
The Zhongshu Marquis of the Yan, from a commandery far from the capital, was the person who had returned to launch this unprecedented rebellion. He smiled warmly, and said, “I do not know what you are waiting for?”
After saying this, his hanging right hand was about to rise. But at this moment, a light but majestic voice came out of the imperial study.
“After the Deer Mountain Conference, even with the new Chu king, no rebellion occurred. Of the three dynasties, in terms of stability, my Yan is the top. No one in other dynasties dared to rebel. I want to know why you subjects have dared to rebel in the Yan.”
As the voice sounded, the doors opened soundlessly. A similar figure in yellow appeared at the doors to the imperial study.
Zhongshu Marquis’s eyes contracted slightly, but he still kept his warm smile. He said mockingly, “Imperial Brother, do you want me to speak the truth … You are the emperor of Yan, but compared to the other rulers, you have a fatal weakness. You are the weakest of them. Even the woman that is actually in power in the Chu Capital has higher cultivation.”
“If your cultivation is not enough, you cannot convince the others. Even more importantly, you cannot stop other’s desire to kill you.”
The Zhongshu Marquis heard this, and laughed proudly. “But if I become the new Yan Emperor, there will not be this problem.”
“Really?”
But to his surprise, the Yan Emperor did not show any despair, but a mocking expression. He looked at him, lifted his head slightly saying, “My cultivation is the lowest among the rulers, but I am not more stupid than them..even more importantly, your cultivation is not the strongest in the dynasty. So some people dream of a mountain, but you sense nothing.”
The Zhongshu Marquis frowned. He could not understand the Yan Emperor’s words.
“I have only come out now, not because of fear and hoping to see some luck, but because I want to clearly see, at the end, how many people stand by my side and how many that I trust stand on your side.” The Yan King’s voice had an uncontrollable hint of fury.
The Zhongshu Marquis’s body suddenly felt cold. He had a bad feeling. His right hands quickly lifted up.
But in this moment, his body stiffened slightly. Shocked gasps sounded.
A thick black wave and cold surged out of the imperial study. The entire study was torn apart easily like paper. Even the last few cultivators guarding the study turned around, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
An ancient monster seemed to have appeared.
A mountain appeared.
A black mountain.
