"Tomorrow, after the Demon Sealing Ceremony, we will deal with the matters that happened inside the secret realm. For now, this old man wishes for everyone to stay inside the Heavenly Sword Villa and not cause any trouble."
Ling Kun's words made Ling Tianni and the other people silent. Due to his strength, they could only remain silent and nod their heads like weak chickens.
Ling Kun looked pleased with their response. He turned and looked at Yun Che before a smile appeared on his face, like a dog finally meeting his master, and said, "Virtuous Nephew Yun, you should also return and rest for the day. This journey to the secret realm must have tired you."
"I will do that then. Thank you for your generosity, Elder Kun." Clasping his hands, Yun Che returned a standard greeting to Ling Kun before looking towards the silent Wushang and said, "Elder Wushang, let's go."
Wushang nodded before both of them flew and vanished into the sky, leaving behind astonished elders.
"He looks to be younger than his twenties but is already in the Sky Profound Realm? Who is he? Why haven't I heard of such talent within the Blue Wind Empire before? Did he win the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament too?"
No one could have answers to Ling Tianni's questions, as they were not present during the ranking tournament. They decided to go back and ask the people who were present during the tournament to get some information regarding Yun Che and see if they could invite him to their clans.
Otherwise, killing him was better than letting a potential threat roam freely.
...
The morning sun hung high in the sky as the people who remained from the previously conducted ranking tournament gathered at the sword terrace, the place of the Demon Sealing Ceremony.
Confusion and bewilderment prevailed within the minds of the people attending the ceremony.
"... It's only us remaining from the ranking tournament. Princess, I think we should leave this place as soon as possible and report back everything to His Highness. It's better not to get involved within the inner strife of the major sects."
"Do not worry about it, Elder Wushang." At Wushang's worry, Cang Yue replied with a smile. "You are worrying too much. Cang Yue thinks everything will be alright."
Wushang frowned, confused at Cang Yue's confident expression, but did not say anything in return. He looked at Yun Che, standing beside Cang Yue with a soft smile on his lips, and inwardly thought, "Is it because of him? Did he do something again? Personally, at this point, I would not even be surprised. Getting a read on him is just impossible."
"Elder Wushang, what are your thoughts about the four major clans?" Gently playing with Cang Yue's little soft hand, massaging it and feeling the softness of her skin, Yun Che inquired.
"Personally, I think their existence is important for the stability of the empire," Wushang replied after a little thought. "At the same time, their existence threatens the position of the Royal Family within the Blue Wind Empire. Be it financially or strength-wise, they have surpassed the Royal Family completely. Due to this, even though the Royal Family rules the empire outwardly, every smart person can see that the real authoritative power within the Blue Wind Empire is held by the four major clans. If they vanished, the Royal Family would take over the full authority within the empire, but the empire would fall back hundreds of years."
"Without the four major clans, our Blue Wind Empire would be vulnerable to attacks by others within a matter of months."
"Your analysis is indeed correct, but only one thing is missing."
"Oh, and what is that?"
"What if the Royal Family is able to produce the same or even stronger experts than the four major clans? Even though the weakening of the empire would be inevitable, with time, it should not take long for the empire to regain its position or even take over other empires."
"An ideal scenario indeed," Wushang softly laughed and shook his head. "Sadly, reality can never go as planned. The chances of raising such experts after taking over full control of the empire's resources are high, for sure, but who gives the guarantee that other empires would not attack us in the meantime? After all, you don't get an emperor rank expert in a day. They take decades to centuries, while hunters don't wait for their prey to weaken to attack; they attack when it is at its weakest."
Yun Che's lips curled up slightly, much to the bewilderment of Wushang, who was keeping note of his expression. He said, "The ceremony is about to start. Let's not miss it... it is my first time watching it, after all."
Wushang stared at Yun Che's expression, feeling weird within his heart, but nodded nonetheless and returned his attention back onto the stage where the huge sword impaled the ground with Ling Kun flying up ahead.
Ling Kun looked down at everyone, mostly towards Yun Che and then at the elders of all three major sects that had gathered within the sword villa, and started to speak loudly.
"This is the first demon ceremony where only a single team from the ranking tournament is left to see it… I am sure that most of you have many questions brewing within your minds, but this old man hopes that all of you patiently wait till the end of the ceremony; after that, this old man will personally investigate this whole method under his watch."
Ling Tianni and the elders listening all snorted inwardly. Even if they wanted to, could they make a move? With Ling Kun's strength, killing them was as easy as breathing for him; they were like fish on the chopping board, without any will to move or escape.
"Well then, even though most people present here are already familiar with the motive of this demon sealing ceremony, this old man shall give the explanation once more for those who have never been here before…"
{What a load of bullshit. As if these people have what it takes to seal a demon.}
{Oh, were you asleep when I first came here, right?}
{What do you mean?}
Yun Che's eyes narrowed hearing Jasmine's confused tone.
{Nothing, just that the so-called demon in their mouth is my grandfather.}
{What?! Then why are you so calm observing it?!} Jasmine thought for a second before it dawned on her as she further added. {Do you hate him perhaps?}
Yun Che rolled his eyes.
'Not everyone has as fucked up a family relationship as you…' Obviously, he would never say that out loud lest he hurt his little master's feelings. Despite how she acted, she was still only a fourteen-year-old girl.
{It's not that… Just, if I had to make a move against the sacred grounds, it would take too much of my personal time. I'd rather have them make a move against me… It saves me so much time and effort. Isn't the best way for that for the supposed demon to get released? I am sure the sacred grounds would send people to capture him; he is a valuable asset for them after all.}
{So you are just baiting them?} Jasmine asked for further clarification. The method itself was quite different from how she would deal with her enemies.
{Yep. You know, if I were to leave this star without clearing all the bullshit that exists here, I would spend most of my days in worry. I'd rather hit a "reset" button on this star than wait for something bad to happen.}
'Another thing is that I want this whole star to be under my sole control alone… Having a place to come back and spend your retirement is good if you don't see a young master or some power suddenly popping out of nowhere and starting to dance while flaunting their pathetic dicks…'
{... You plan on leaving for the God Realm?} A frown adorned Jasmine's face as she softly inquired. {This princess thinks it's better to wait until you enter the Divine Realm before deciding to leave. With your current strength, you would be dead just by existing there… Not to mention all those treasures on your body.}
{My dear little master, your disciple is not that stupid… of course, I will wait until I am of sufficient strength rather than jumping the gun. You can think of this as me preparing for an extended cultivation period where no random young master would come out to pick a fight with me.}
'And I also need that Profound Ark to train the Great Way of the Buddha. I'm still stuck at level four… That space distortion within the Ark would be perfect to stimulate my physique further.'
...
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