Chapter 550: The Qingyang Sect

Duan Rong, Lv Qingzhu, and Li Ruojian, the three of them, drank six whole jars of wine that day.

Lv Qingzhu didn't say a word, but he could certainly drink.

Li Ruojian drank until he was dead drunk, clutching Duan Rong's arm, sobbing and pouring out his grievances, lamenting his own tragic fate.

They drank until midnight before dispersing, and Lv Qingzhu returned to the deep valley alone.

Li Ruojian was so drunk he was unconscious, so Duan Rong carried him into the east side room and threw him onto the bed.

Only then did he, half-tipsy himself, climb onto Xiao Yu's bed.

Xiao Yu had originally wanted to probe why the three of them had gathered to drink, but seeing Duan Rong fall into a muddled sleep the moment he climbed onto the bed, he had no choice but to give up.

The next day, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

Inside the Longyu Hall at Cuiwei Peak, more than twenty Attendants were sleeping on floor mats in the central open space; at this moment, in the pitch-black hall, there was a chorus of snoring, like a symphony of echoes.

Just then, the closed hall door was pushed open gently, and in the dim morning light, an old History Supervisor with graying hair walked in.

This person was none other than History Supervisor Qin, who was responsible for the layout of the Longyu Hall for this Engagement Ceremony.

These past few days, he had come every day just as the sky was beginning to brighten to wake these sleep-deprived Attendants so they could get up and work. He knew these Attendants had been working hard during this time, but the task was right there, and it wouldn't allow them to sleep!

History Supervisor Qin stepped into the hall, looked at the Attendants sleeping so sweetly, and suddenly felt a bit of reluctance.

By rights, tomorrow was the day of the Engagement Ceremony, so today, no matter what, they had to finish up the final loose ends early to leave some time for final adjustments. Therefore, today's task was not light either.

History Supervisor Qin suddenly turned and left, even closing the hall door behind him as he went, and the Longyu Hall became pitch-black once more.

Li Ruozhou had already escaped, so the Engagement Ceremony tomorrow surely couldn't be held. Why bother being harsh on these Attendants? It was better to let them get a good night's sleep.

The sky had just fully brightened when, in the Elder Council at the platform on the mountainside, the Elders of both Sects were already sitting there, yawning.

Li Yunjing cast an unkind glance at Chu Qiushan opposite him, then suddenly put on a smile and said, "Sect Master Chu, let us begin."

Chu Qiushan nodded upon hearing this and said, "Let us begin."

"Li Yunjing! The fine son you've raised!?"

Just then, a thunderous roar suddenly rolled in from the outer door of the Elder Hall, as if exploding right beside everyone's ears.

The thunderous sound was so loud it made the eardrums of everyone in the Elder Council ache, and the Elders of both Sects turned their heads in unison to look toward the gate of the Elder Council.

They saw a black shadow, like rolling dark clouds, whistling toward them, as swift as a thunderbolt!

The dark cloud arrived in an instant, and the black Qi at the top dissipated, revealing the true face of the Tianyan Sect Ancestor, Li Ku. He was full of rage, his tiger eyes sweeping across the room, and he locked onto Li Yunjing sitting among the crowd at a glance.

"Ancestor?!"

Li Yunjing and the Elders of the Tianyan Sect had not expected Ancestor Li Ku to descend suddenly, and they were all filled with astonishment!

Just then, four figures suddenly came from four directions, flashing toward Li Ku together.

These were the four Sect Elders of the Dongming Realm who guarded the Elder Council.

Li Ku's speed was too fast; by the time they reacted, Li Ku had already entered the Elder Council!

With a flicker of their figures, the four of them had already surrounded Li Ku.

One of the old men with white hair and a long beard looked at Li Ku and said cautiously, "Who are you? This Elder Council is the sacred ground of my Taiyi Sect; you must not trespass!"

The four Sect Elders guarding the Elder Council had felt the speed and momentum with which Li Ku had just flashed in, and they knew that the person was likely a great cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm. Furthermore, as this was a time of alliance negotiations between the two Sects, they had already vaguely guessed the identity of the person before them.

However, they had a duty to guard the land, and since this person had entered without asking, they had to question him.

Upon hearing this, Li Ku merely drooped his eyelids and glanced at the old man, not deigning to answer him at all.

At this moment, the Sect Leader of the Tianyan Sect, Li Yunjing, and a group of Elders flew over and knelt in a row not far in front of Li Ku, calling out, "Greetings, Ancestor!"

Chu Qiushan had also come over and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Senior Li!"

The four guarding Sect Elders had already retreated, and Chu Qiushan gave a look to one of them.

They withdrew from the hall; three of them returned to their guard posts, while one turned into a black streak of light and shot into the clouds. The meaning of the look Chu Qiushan had given him was to tell him to go report to the Ancestor that Li Ku had arrived!

Li Ku ignored the people kneeling before him, his tiger eyes staring only at Li Yunjing.

At this time, the black Qi around Li Ku's body finally dissipated completely, and the crowd saw that he was actually still holding a person in his hand!

"Boom!"

Li Ku threw the person in front of Li Yunjing. "Keep a good eye on your son! If he runs away again, you don't need to return to the Tianyan Sect!"

Li Yunjing focused his eyes on the person on the ground before him, only to see that he was wearing the clothes of a Personal Attendant, his face swollen like a pig's head; it was none other than his son who had fled his engagement, Li Ruozhou!

Li Yunjing checked Li Ruozhou's pulse and found that he was merely unconscious. He was both overjoyed and startled, and he knelt down, saying, "Many thanks, Ancestor!"

Tomorrow was the day of the Engagement Ceremony, and since the Ancestor had caught Li Ruozhou and brought him back at this time, the Engagement Ceremony tomorrow could proceed as scheduled. In this way, they would not have to make concessions in the alliance agreement.

The difficulties in Li Yunjing's heart were instantly resolved. At this moment, his heart surged, and he even had an urge to weep with joy, but he was, after all, a Sect Leader, and he managed to suppress his loss of composure. These past two or three days had been like a nightmare; being a Sect Leader was truly difficult!

Li Ku had come here full of rage, but the moment he saw Li Yunjing—though it had only been a few days, he seemed to have aged significantly—the anger in his heart dissipated by more than half, and he only scolded him in a lukewarm manner.

Chu Qiushan and Yang Sixuan were both there and naturally saw Li Ruozhou unconscious on the ground; their expressions were slightly startled.

In fact, it was not just them who were startled; even Li Yunjing was quite shocked!

It was only in the latter half of the night before last that Li Yunjing had sent the news back to the Sect via eagle messenger!

You Province and Qingzhou were a thousand miles apart; even with an eagle messenger, it would take at least a day and a night. This meant the Ancestor could have received the news at the earliest last night.

Yet, at this moment, Li Ruozhou was already before everyone.

This meant that the Tianyan Sect's Ancestor, Li Ku, had found the fleeing Li Ruozhou and brought him back to the Taiyi Sect in just a few hours.

This... was truly inconceivable!

The earth was vast; finding a person was surely like looking for a needle in a haystack!

At this moment, a gust of wind rose within the Elder Council. Where the wind passed, Ancestor Lv Yinlin was already standing at the entrance, though no one knew when he had arrived.

Lv Yinlin smiled and said, "Brother Li! I didn't expect you to take action yourself for this matter!"

Li Ku turned his head and said, "Marriage is a major event. If this old man did not take action himself, I saw that this matter was about to be ruined."

Lv Yinlin said, "Since you are here, let us go out and chat for a while."

Li Ku said, "I have the same intention." He really did have something he wanted to discuss with Lv Yinlin.

Li Ku turned his head to look at Li Yunjing and instructed, "Yunjing! Handle your affairs well, and don't cause any more trouble!"

"Yes, Ancestor!"

Li Yunjing called out, but Li Ku and Lv Yinlin had already walked out of the Elder Council.

In fact, the reason Li Ku was able to find the fleeing Li Ruozhou so quickly was precisely because of the Longevity Lock, a protective dharma treasure, that Li Ruozhou wore around his neck.

This object was an heirloom of the Li family, and it was also something Li Ku had painstakingly refined back then after collecting Ye Water Copper. When he refined it, he had cast a sensing dharma seal into it.

Not to mention Li Ruozhou, he could sense the location of anyone wearing this object.

And this point, even Li Yunjing, who was the Sect Leader of the Tianyan Sect, was unaware of.

Li Ku and Lv Yinlin walked out of the Elder Council and arrived at a corner of the platform outside.

As soon as the two stood still, Li Ku got straight to the point and asked, "The people from the Qingyang Sect have contacted you as well?"

Lv Yinlin's expression flickered; for Li Ku to ask this, he was clearly telling him directly that the Qingyang Sect had already contacted him.

Lv Yinlin nodded and said, "They said they were inviting me to the Qingyang Sect for a visit, as they have important matters to discuss."

Li Ku sneered and said, "The rhetoric they gave me was the same."

For a thousand years, the Qingyang Sect has used a sect-balancing strategy to keep the six sects in check.

Now that Zhuang Tairu of the Divine Physician Sect has suddenly achieved the Nascent Soul Realm, the Divine Physician Sect alone has two cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm; logically speaking, wouldn't they be able to go toe-to-toe with the Qingyang Sect?

Under such circumstances, the Qingyang Sect will certainly find ways to weaken the Shenyi Sect.

At this time, their calling Lv Yinlin and Li Ku to the Qingyang Sect made their intentions obvious. The Qingyang Sect's abacus was clearly to have their two sects act as the vanguard to weaken the Shenyi Sect, while the Qingyang Sect provided some support from behind.

There is a lot of nuance in this!

The Taiyi Sect and the Tianyan Sect do indeed face pressure from the Shenyi Sect, and they also want to borrow the power of the Qingyang Sect. However, Li Ku and Lv Yinlin's thoughts were aligned: they wanted a joint defense to protect their own interests, and as for the actual work of weakening the Shenyi Sect, they hoped the Qingyang Sect would step into the arena themselves.

Li Ku looked at Lv Yinlin and asked, "How did you reply to the Qingyang Sect?"

"I haven't replied yet," Lv Yinlin said. "I originally intended to discuss it with you, and it is a coincidence that you came."

Li Ku sighed and said, "Sigh, it is a misfortune for the family. Such matters still require me to take action personally."

As Li Ku spoke, he changed the subject and said, "Brother Lv, this is how I see the matter of the Qingyang Sect. You and I must go; after all, in the matter of keeping the Shenyi Sect in check, the Qingyang Sect's stance is consistent with our two sects. However, before we go, our two sects must first finalize the alliance treaty. This way, we will have some confidence when we go to the Qingyang Sect."

Lv Yinlin said, "That is my intention as well. Regarding this alliance treaty, we will both go back and put pressure on our respective people, striving to negotiate it within these few days."

Li Ku said, "Agreed!"

Lv Yinlin said, "Tomorrow is the Engagement Ceremony! After the Engagement Ceremony, once the alliance treaty is negotiated, we will send out invitations far and wide to notify all the sects of the wedding date! The day the wedding invitations are sent out will be the day you and I set off for the Qingyang Sect!"

Li Ku said, "That suits my wishes perfectly!"

"The matter has been settled, so I shall take my leave. Brother Lv, until we meet again!"

After Li Ku finished speaking, he transformed into a mass of black clouds and soared into the sky.

Lv Yinlin stood there and looked up; as a gust of wind passed, his figure vanished like a ghost.

(End of this chapter)