The monumental statue in front of them was vivid and dignified. Black hair casually spread across the shoulders. The eyes were so bright that they seemed to be looking through people. The statue had already demonstrated the unsurpassed charm of Emperor Ye Qing.
Emperor Ye Qing was the legend of the Divine Prefectures of the East. Even though his name became a taboo after he died, it was still mentioned privately.
The name had come as a shock. They had never expected that in Mount Tianyao there was such a lifelike statue of Emperor Ye Qing.
And they were wondering whether the dragon was his mount.
"Wow, look at this, the relics of Emperor Ye Qing." Tang Mo, the Headmaster of Heiyan Academy, narrowed his eyes. He realized that Xia Fan had concealed his true intentions about coming in here.
Qin Shuai gazed at the coiled dragon in the canyon below. He frowned with doubt. Several years ago, when he had come here with his master, he hadn't seen the coiled dragon. There were only the statue and monsters at that time. The dragon must have come later.
"Everyone, these are the relics of Emperor Ye Qing. There's an entrance behind the statue, and I believe the treasure of Emperor Ye Qing is hidden inside. Even without the relics of Emperor Ye Qing, the corpse of this dead dragon is a valuable treasure itself." Xia Fan pointed below. He looked so greedy that he would have started the exploration already if not for the monsters lurking below.
Tang Fei went to tell Xia Fan that the monsters below were entirely different from the ones in the monster tide. "Mr. Xia, these monsters are different." These monsters were just being lazy. They didn't even care about the people and kept laying there.
"So, we all need to work together," Xia Fan said.
"I didn't know Emperor Ye Qing was a native of the City of Qingzhou, and that there were relics in this place. How much longer were you going to hide this from me?" Tang Mo asked Xia Fan tentatively.
Xia Fan looked at Tang Mo and then smiled. "In fact, I didn't know that Emperor Ye Qing lived in this city until recently. However, it's still unknown whether the relics are behind the entrance of that statue or not. I didn't tell Mr. Tang because I wanted to keep it confidential information."
"Okay." Tang Mo nodded. Ye Futian was telling the truth. Emperor Ye Qing had been a native of the City of Qingzhou.
However, what he didn't know was that Ye Futian also felt shocked about this fact. He had totally made it up, and he had no evidence to support it. To his surprise, Xia Fan admitted that Emperor Ye Qing had lived in the City of Qingzhou.
"Time to get to work," Xia Fan commanded.
Awkwardly, no one started moving. None of them were going to risk their lives for Xia Fan at this time.
"General Qin, Mr. Gu?" Xia Fan looked at Qin Shuai and asked.
"We have already finished our job. I am not going to let people of the Dark Kylin Knighthood and Qingzhou Academy die for your interests," Qin Shuai said coldly. Due to the huge amount of monsters below, Xia Fan would basically be sending them in as bait to distract these monsters from guarding the entrance.
"Mr. Xia, there are so many monsters and, to be honest, some of us will die if we fight them. If you get the treasure from Emperor Ye Qing, what will we get? I don't want my people to die for nothing," Tang Mo protested. Xia Fan was caught off guard, then smiled. He realized that Ye Futian had talked with Tang Mo about his plan.
"Uncle." Xia Fan looked at the man in black next to him. Then he went silent. The next moment, a fierce storm of sword power burst out of his body. This storm became so intense that it enveloped all the people.
People were nervous. The power of this sword storm was so overwhelming that it could destroy everything, monsters and people alike.
"He's in the Arcana Plane, that's incredible." Hua Fengliu realized Xia Fan was serious this time. He had summoned his uncle from the City of Donghai who was, in fact, a powerful swordsman. The treasure of Emperor Ye Qing was so precious that it was hard for Xia Fan to fully trust his army.
Tang Mo also looked uncomfortable and shot Ye Futian a despising glance.
"Do you have other questions?" Xia Fan laughed out loud. He had gained control over the situation now.
"The Dark Kylin soldiers will fight for you. Let the young students of Qingzhou Academy go," Qin Shuai responded.
"You're asking for death." Xia Fan was impatient. His uncle suddenly launched a powerful strike. The strike was too fast to evade. The dark Kylin under Qin Shuai was killed by this strike, and one of Qin Shuai's arms was cut off.
"General!" The Dark Kylin soldiers gathered around Qin Shuai. They were terrified of what had just happened.
"Dad!" Qin Yi screamed in horror.
The man in black hurried into the air. He could have launched another strike at any moment.
"Any more questions?" Xia Fan sounded indifferent.
"I insist that only the Dark Kylin soldiers join the fight, and the young students of Qingzhou Academy should leave," Qin Shuai was persistent. Blood gushed out of his missing arm, but he was still peaceful.
Xia Fan was mad. He needed Qin Shuai's army to fight against the monsters, but he knew they would not do so without their commander.
"Okay, let the young students go." Xia Fan then looked at Tang Mo, "Mr. Tang, do you have anything to add?"
"I obey your orders." Tang Mo had to comply. He didn't have the same courage as Qin Shuai.
"So, let's move," Xia Fan commanded. The army began to attack the monsters below. The Dark Kylin soldiers were the vanguards of this troop, and those powerful people beyond the Dharma Plane level were following them. Xia Fan observed the fight. He wanted to test the power of these monsters with the bait he had just sent.
"Go away, or die!" A heavy voice came out of the canyon, which stiffened the members of the army. Soon, they saw a white-skinned monster standing apart from the herd. She soon started to grow huge, and she looked almost as big as a hill. The rest of the herd were awakened by this voice. Suddenly, the whole herd became active.
"What the…" Xia Fan was frightened. He didn't know there was a Monster Lord in this herd.
How could that be possible?
He looked at the statue of Emperor Ye Qing. Was the Monster Lord the guardian of this statue?
People were shocked. The Monster Lord was a Snow Ape. When it stood up, it was so giant that it seemed invincible.
"Die, you intruders!" the Snow Ape roared. The mountain began to shake from this roar.
"Sorry for the intrusion," Xia Fan said. He knew that this was an inevitable failure.
They had lost quite a lot soldiers from their army and all of that for just a tour of this place?
All of the armies retreated back to the top. Tang Mo started speaking, "I'm sorry, Mr. Xia, we can't do anything about it."
Xia Fan's face was gloomy. It seemed that he needed to release his anger desperately.
"Go fight the monsters and die there," Xia Fan told Tang Mo. Tang Mo was caught off guard.
"Mr. Xia, please forgive him. Mr. Tang was encouraged by the others." Murong Qiu approached.
Ye Futian knew that the conspiracy had been revealed now. He had tried to cause a crack between Xia Fan and Tang Mo, but he had not expected that Tang Mo would surrender to the power of Xia Fan.
"Yes, Ye Futian tried to turn me against you! He told me that he was planning to mess with Xia Fan with help from the students of Qingzhou Academy and the soldiers of the Dark Kylin Knighthood!" Tang Mo sold Ye Futian out. Tang Yue was embarrassed by her grandfather. She had already started to consider Ye Futian as a friend.
"So, Qingzhou Academy sent Ye Futian to Heiyan Academy to mess up my plans, am I right?" Xia Fan's voice was gloomy and cold.
"Mr. Xia, Ye Futian was expelled from Qingzhou Academy long ago. His activity had nothing to do with this academy. I will kill him for you to prove that," Shi Zhong explained.
"Is that true?" Xia Fan looked at Gu Mu for confirmation.
Gu Mu gave Hua Fengliu a glance, then nodded. "This has nothing to do with Qingzhou Academy."
"So, I will believe whoever kills him first." Xia Fan was laughing out loud.
"I'll do it!" Shi Zhong rushed toward Ye Futian.
Tang Lin also rushed toward Ye Futian. They had already had plans to kill Ye Futian, so even without being interrogated by Xia Fan, he would have been killed anyway.
Hua Fengliu appeared next to Ye Futian to protect his disciple. He glanced at Shi Zhong and Tang Lin. "Do I not exist?"
"Mr. Guqin Devil, this is none of your business." Xia Fan was complacent.
"Even your father didn't dare talk to me like that." Hua Fengliu stared at Xia Fan.
"That was in the past, Mr. Hua," Xia Fan sneered at him, "I am in a bad mood. Stay out of this, now."
The moment he stopped talking, the man in black stepped forward. He soon started to attack Hua Fengliu with the sword-storm.
"I am also in a bad mood. You better stay away from me before you get in trouble." Hua Fengliu sounded peaceful.
"Your natal spirit has been destroyed, and I'm kind of curious how bad your temper could be." He urged his power toward Hua Fengliu, and it looked like he was going to tear Hua Fengliu into pieces.
"Professor!" Ye Futian was worried about Hua Fengliu. This man in black was in the Arcana Plane, he was even more powerful than the people from Heiyan Academy who were in the Dharma Plane. Qingzhou City had never seen someone as powerful as he was. He had no idea what plane Hua Fengliu was in, but the confidence of that man worried him.
"He has fallen under the Arcana Plane since his natal spirit was destroyed." The middle-aged man next to Xia Fan confirmed Ye Futian's fear.
"You don't have to die for me, Professor," Ye Futian ran away and yelled, "Just tell Fox I love her and tell my godfather I have to let him down."
The second half was to Yu Sheng.
Shockingly, Ye Futian began running into the canyon with the endless monsters!
Ye Futian was upset that he had to end his short life in such a way. He was not prepared to die yet.
"Go after him!" Xia Fan commanded. Suddenly, some powerful mages rushed out of the group to pursue Ye Futian.