The Nine Cauldrons

"The Undying Phoenix gifted the Fiery Gilt Steel to Senior Teng Qingshan and he then gave it to Gui Yuan Sect..."

The disciples were not stupid. When they found out about what really happened, their attitude towards Teng Qingshan changed drastically. Actually, they had always viewed Teng Qingshan as a superior grandmaster. He was the one who created the ’Internal Martial Arts’, the third branch of martial arts that is nothing like the Daoist cultivation and Buddhist cultivation. Indeed, almost all young people in the Land of the Nine Prefectures admired Teng Qingshan.

The disciples of Gui Yuan Sect merely resented him because they thought he had taken their Fiery Gilt Steel.

Furthermore, the homicide case that happened at Sanchong Restaurant and the cause of Ni Hanshan’s death made the situation worse. However, now that the truth had been revealed, their perspective of Teng Qingshan was renewed.

"Senior Teng Qingshan was the one who gave Gui Yuan Sect the Fiery Gilt Steel, yet he was bombarded by criticisms. Even so, he never attempted to defend himself. As expected, he is truly acting like a power senior."

The hundred thousand disciples felt increasingly embarrassed of themselves. Simultaneously, they admired and revered Teng Qingshan even more."

"Even as countless criticisms attacked him, he never argued for himself."

...

The numerous disciples of Gui Yuan Sect were shocked and amazed. As they discussed and uttered words of praises, Zhuge Yuanhong, who stood in front of the great hall of Gui Yuan Sect stopped talking. He was giving the disciples enough time to think things through... Simultaneously, Zhuge Yuanhong cast a glance at somewhere in the distance.

On the veranda of a three-story building:

At first glance, there seemed to be no one.

However, Zhuge Yuanhong could clearly feel the presence of ’black hole’ in his domain.

He was right.

Teng Qingshan and Li Jun were indeed standing on the third-floor veranda. Actually, cultivators who had reached Emptiness Realm Culmination could easily render himself or herself invisible to human beings. The method was easy. The Emptiness Realm Culmination Expert just had to control the full Power of the Heavens and Earth and change the direction and reflection of the light.

Insightful Emptiness Realm Experts could do the same thing as well. They could use their Power of the World to easily achieve this invisibility.

"Qingshan, your teacher has sacrificed a lot for you this time," sighed Li Jun.

"Yes," nodded Teng Qingshan, "It’s all for my sake. He had really ’beautified’ me..."

The words that his teacher had said made him seem like he was perfect.

However, Teng Qingshan was well aware. During the fight at the Great Yan Mountain, his teacher’s daughter, Zhuge Qing, died all because of him. Teng Qingshan could never forgive himself for the death of Lady Qing. The two jars of the Elixir of the North Sea could never compensate for the loss of a daughter.

As for the declaration to never contend for hegemony...

He did declare that for the sake of Gui Yuan Sect. This was a means to prevent a fight against Gui Yuan Sect. However, he had also done it so that the power of Xing Yi Sect could increase quickly without any interruptions. And now, the result showed that the method was very effective.

But Qingshan, you did sacrifice a lot for Gui Yuan Sect too," said Li Jun.

"You too," Teng Qingshan held his wife’s hand, feeling sorry.

Hearing this, Li Jun could felt as though she was in a bubble of joyful love.

For the past twenty years, Li Jun had only met her teacher Pei Xuelian once, which was during the Celebration of the establishment of Xing Yi Sect. Although the Heavenly God Palace did not consider Xing Yi Sect as an enemy, their attitude towards Teng Qingshan was not as friendly as the time when Teng Qingshan had just returned from the North Sea.

As the volume of the hundred thousand disciples decreased, Zhuge Yuanhong, who stood before the great hall, began to speak again. "These are all things that had happened in the past. Let us talk about the homicide case that happened in Sanchong Restaurant recently."

"Immediately, all the disciples became quiet.

The homicide case at Sanchong Restaurant was a problem to all the disciples of Gui Yuan Sect. All the disciples raised their heads and looked up at Zhuge Yuanhong as he spoke.

"Regarding the homicide case that happened at Sanchong Restaurant..." Zhuge Yuanhong’s expression became serious again. "According to the investigation conducted by the Gui Yuan Sect, someone had taken advantage of Ni Mengzhong of the Ni Family. Someone had smeared a poison called "Tears of Beauty" on his scimitar and the poison almost killed Teng Qingshan’s son. Fortunately, Qingshan and I were there to save Qingshan’s son."

An uproar sounded in the crowd.

"What?"

"Poison? He was actually poisoned?" After all, if rumors are spread around for too long, they would seem real. The Gui Yuan Sect’s disciples heard a few versions of this but they had no way to validate the rumors. However, if it’s the words of their Sovereign Zhuge Yuanhong, they would believe it immediately. If the sovereign of Gui Yuan Sect lied about something like this in front of thousands of disciples, that would be ridiculous.

With a horrible expression, Zhuge Yuanhong continued saying, "Not only that, but we also found out that Ni Mengzhong’s father, Elder Ni Hanshan of Gui Yuan Sect, did not die out of anger. The cause of death was the medicine he was drinking every day. One ingredient was greater in amount and the ratio was wrong. This made his injuries worse. And so, he spat out blood and died."

The noises in the crowd became even louder.

"Who is it?"

"Sovereign, who did it?"

"So this was what actually happened."

Chaos ensued among the hundred thousand disciples.

"In the end, we found that..."

As Zhuge Yuanhong’s voice sounded, everyone became quiet. Every one of the disciples had their eyes on Zhuge Yuanhong.

"In the end, we found out that the mastermind was the Shooting Sun God Mountain of Yanzhou!" shouted Zhuge Yuanhong angrily. His face turned red from the rage. "How dare the Shooting Sun God Mountain secretly stir up such great commotion? Because of them, an Elder of Gui Yuan Sect died. They are looking down on Gui Yuan Sect!"

As Zhuge Yuanhong shouted angrily, the disciples, who had always been proud of Gui Yuan Sect, became extremely furious.

Gui Yuan Sect does not have a lower status than the Shooting Sun God Mountain.

Yet, the Shooting Sun God Mountain actually had the audacity to stir up trouble. They even tried to use Gui Yuan Sect to kill the son of the Sovereign of Xing Yi Sect. Because of their sly actions, an Elder of Gui Yuan Sect died. No human being can tolerate such actions. As this case involved Teng Qingshan, the disciples, who felt sorry towards Teng Qingshan, felt even angrier.

"Sovereign, we can’t just let this go."

"Sovereign, the Shooting Sun God Mountain has crossed the line."

The great number of disciples began shouting.

...

Teng Qingshan, who was on the third floor of the building, looked furious.

Li Jun looked very angry as well. She couldn’t help but say, "So it was the Shooting Sun God Mountain! How dare they harm Hongwu!" She was the mother of the son who almost died. Li Jun could never forgive them for what they had done. As Li Jun spoke, her body trembled in rage.

"Shooting Sun God Mountain!"

"So it was really the Shooting Sun God Mountain!" A horrifying cold glint flashed in Teng Qingshan’s eyes. His eyes were terrifying. The look in his eyes was sharp like a cold knife.

After the conversation with Zhuge Yuanhong, Teng Qingshan thought that the Shooting Sun God Mountain was the sect besides Qing Hu Island to have the highest possibility of being the mastermind.

If his son really died...

Then—

Even if Teng Qingshan knew that it would a conspiracy, his relationship with Gui Yuan Sect wouldn’t be as good as before. Even if Gui Yuan Sect and Xing Yi Sect did not become enemies, Teng Qingshan could not go to battle for Gui Yuan Sect. Without Teng Qingshan’s help, Gui Yuan Sect would never be able to conquer Yanzhou. Xing Yi Sect does not contend for hegemony.

The Shooting Sun God Mountain would then be able to protect itself.

The Shooting Sun God Mountain have been preparing for such a long time. Their first move was to take the life of Teng Qingshan’s son. Unfortunately for them, the gods were on Hongwu’s side. When Hongwu was poisoned, Teng Qingshan and Li Jun coincidentally came to Gui Yuan Sect and saved Hongwu’s life.

Otherwise—

If Teng Qingshan heard about his son’s death in Xing Yi Sect, how could he not hate Gui Yuan Sect?

"What a good plan," Li Jun breathed heavily, holding down her anger.

"How dare they harm my son!" Teng Qingshan looked at Zhuge Yuanhong from afar.

The hundred thousand disciples assembled before the hall were furious. They shouted out in rage, "Since Gui Yuan Sect has conquered the eight counties of Yangzhou, our sect has been recovering in silence. We have not been provoking any enemies. Even after the Shooting Sun God Mountain sent out Emptiness Realm Experts to help Qing Hu Island attack Gui Yuan Sect in Jiangning County, Gui Yuan Sect still showed an agreeable attitude toward the Shooting Sun God Mountain for these past two decades."

"However, who would have thought that... the Shooting Sun God Mountain was unscrupulous!"

"If they have the audacity to use Gui Yuan Sect to kill the son of the Sovereign of Xing Yi Sect and secretly kill the Elder of Gui Yuan Sect today, they might have the audacity to attack Gui Yuan Sect tomorrow."

Zhuge Yuanhong’s angry roar stimulated anger in the hearts of the disciples.

"Gui Yuan Sect should let the people of the world know that we are not an easy target."

"Gui Yuan Sect should let the people the world know that the ones who have the audacity to provoke Gui Yuan Sect will be hunted and killed by us. We will risk everything to take revenge!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Thousands of hot-blooded disciples began shouting.

Zhuge Yuanhong shouted, "Tomorrow, the army of Gui Yuan Sect will depart and attack the Shooting Sun God Mountain."

"General Zang Feng, you will lead the Longgang Army at noon today and open up the path for the entire force of Gui Yuan Sect.

"Yes, Lord."

Zang Feng, who stood at the side, replied with force.

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

The hundred thousand disciples began shouting hysterically. In the Land of Nine Prefectures, if one was insulted, he would resolve the matter with violence and only back away when blood is shed. If such a thing happened to a strong sect, there would only be one solution—the opponent’s blood should be used as the atonement!"

Earn back the respect by making the enemy bleed!

A battle!

Fight!

...

When Zhuge Yuanhong revealed that the mastermind was the Shooting Sun God Mountain, Teng Qingshan was filled with the desire to kill. When Zhuge Yuanhong declared war against Yanzhou, Teng Qingshan asked Zhuge Yuanhong with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique, "Teacher, is the Shooting Sun God Mountain really the mastermind that plotted this?"

"Yes," Zhuge Yuanhong replied with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique.

"I believe you, teacher."

"I will go now and take the heads of the Emptiness Realm Experts of the Shooting Sun God Mountain! As for the war against Yanzhou, you will have to depend on your army." Teng Qingshan said with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique. He quickly sent his wife back to the headquarters of the Qingshan Enterprise. With the Reincarnation Spear in one hand, he transformed into a flash of light and flew towards the Desolate Land.

The spy of Shooting Sun God Mountain would report this news to Shooting Sun God Mountain. However, before the news would even reach the Shooting Sun God Mountain, Teng Qingshan, the Insightful Emptiness Realm Expert, would have completed the assassination.

"The Shooting Sun God Mountain..."

"Harming my son is the stupidest plan ever." Teng Qingshan was filled with the urge to kill. He rapidly flew towards the Desolate Land and disappeared at the ends of the earth.