Archfiend

Chapter 255: White Tiger Linghu

The light screen stopped glimmering. An old man slowly stood up, his slender finger gently tapping the table. “This Throne dares not believe… that such a massive qi reparation actually occurred in Longsu Province… yet we were so close but unable to detect it. Daomasters Ancientpine and Titanspirit truly joined hands to seal off news to the outside world.”

“Have you looked at today’s cultivation net?” another old man said, “As we expected, they shut down all information related to the qi reparation.”

“Are they planning to market and sell by themselves?” the first old man sneered and shook his changpao. “They still must ask whether the Linghu Clan consents!”

“What are we still waiting for!” The last person was a burly fellow. Although he had a full head of white hair, his beard was oddly black. He slammed the table. “Longsu Province… so long as it’s properly managed, in fifty years, no, thirty years, it’s bound to become a heavenly paradise! Is it not Sichuan’s Baili Clan who dominates the Ming Tombs of the Shu Princes? If our Linghu Clan takes hold of this paradise, how could it be the Baili Clan’s turn to be Western China’s top demon clan?” [1]

“Wait?” the first old man laughed grimly, “Have I… ever waited?”

“Reporting to Ancestor.” At this time, a Qi Condensation disciple dashed in. “Prince Linghu Chaofeng has already completed preparations!”

“Go!” The old man reared his head back and laughed heartily, “The Linghu Clan… has concealed our strength, biding time for a hundred years. We’ll make those humans look upon the sharp claws of our Linghu Clan!”

Three figures swiftly vanished from the inside of the room. When they appeared again, they were already outside the palace hall. Over yonder was a wide training ground. In the center, there was a lifelike white tiger statue, and in front of them… was a great horde of half-kneeling people that numbered in the hundreds!

To call it a crowd wasn’t appropriate. This was because everyone’s skin right now was oddly pale, and black lines emerged on their faces. Their arms were covered in white fur, and they had pointed cat ears and golden beastly pupils. A thousand took a knee on the ground, yet it was so quiet that a falling needle could be heard! The severity of military discipline and strict obedience was visible with the slightest of glances.

Above them in the sky was a white tiger manifested from qi. It was no less than a hundred meters long, endlessly surging in the sky! The spiritual pressure that it leaked caused the surrounding landscape to turn fuzzy.

The tiger appeared transparent. In its stomach, there was an ink stone flashing with white light slowly revolving within. An old man suddenly took a stride forward and walked to the forefront before a youth. 

This youth hadn’t demonized.

“Tao’er was lost in Danxia Temple.” The old man calmly looked at him.

“This child knows.” The youth took a knee on the ground, his voice firm and upright like a javelin.

“As expected, there’s been no information published about the qi reparation.” The old man petted the top of the youth’s head. “The Linghu Clan has no room to allow this opportunity to slip by.”

“I understand.”

“Good.” The old man brushed an eye on the crowd below and took his hand back. His gaze sparked. “Go… Take the Linghu Clan’s Screaming Wind Legion. As soon as the Core Formation ancestors finish rushing in six months…”

He inhaled deeply. In the next second, terrible half-step Core Formation aura formed a visible ripple, hastily storming through the entire space! Everyone’s clothes rustled in the wind!

“In the highest point there, insert the Linghu Clan’s White Tiger banner!”

“YES!” Hundreds of voices answered in chorus. Their voices caused the stones on the ground to skip chaotically!

“YES!!!” The youth at the front suddenly faced upwards and roared, his gaze like fire as he looked at the old man. “And if there are apex lineages?”

“Kill them,” the old man uttered.

“And if the great powers obstruct us?”

“Kill them.” The old man carried a wisp of bloodthirsty red in his eyes. “The Linghu Clan has hidden and mustered its strength for a century. Were it not for our lack of heavenly paradise, how could we be comparable with those clans!”

“And if…” A kind of intense battle intent radiated from the youth’s eyes. “There’s the disciple of a Core Formation master in the place that the Linghu Clan has selected?”

The old man chuckled darkly as he looked at the youth. “Linghu Chaofeng, I didn’t know you still feared those of the same stage.”

“Yes.” Linghu Chaofeng licked his lips with a thirst for blood and stood straight up.

He was about 1.73 meters tall, and his face was pale. Merely, his eyes revealed a shred of deep ruthlessness so heavy that it couldn’t be cleared.

He bowed towards the old man and raised his hand, fiercely waving it! In the sky, the white tiger manifestation unleashed a roar that shook the heavens. In the next moment, all of the Screaming Wind Legion transformed into white lights, vanishing from the floor.

“Clan Elder.” The burly fellow faintly narrowed his eyes and walked to the elder’s side. “Longsu Province is bound to follow as a struggle between tigers and dragons. I believe in Feng’er’s ability, but sending a Great Circle Qi Condensation to go… isn’t that worse than not going ourselves?”

“No…” The old man’s gaze slightly flickered. “Daomaster Ancientpine has already made a warning, and Daomaster Titanspirit should’ve been present then as well, yet he didn’t refute it. They didn’t speak, but they wounded a Ming Clan elder who was ready to act against a Core Formation disciple. This was a deliberate show of strength… Don’t count on the great clans daring to strut their military power in Longsu Province. ‘You want a hundred-year foundation? Sure, but you’ll have to send your most elite juniors’.”

“Why is he doing it like this?” the burly fellow was dazed and asked.

“There’s something else.” The old man sneered, “His disciple is indeed stunning. He… This is the territory that he brazenly gave to his disciple to divide.”

“He’s not worried?”

The old man looked to the ceiling and laughed boisterously, “Old Three, he exterminated our entire Linghu Clan. He wants to kill us and leave no chicken or dog behind. What does he need to be worried about?”

“Whoever wants this hundred-year foundation in Longsu Province that’ll turn into a heavenly paradise in fifty years, they’ll have to stand firm in the conflict. Everyone will be baptized through a true trial of fire and blood.” He looked the burly man and said deeply, “This isn’t cultivator versus demonbeast, but rather… cultivator versus cultivator. Compared to cultivator versus demonbeast, and exploring secret realms, it is a war that is even franker in cruelty and bloodshed.”

“If one wants to stand firm and claim territory, one must establish might. The enemy’s head is the Linghu Clan’s best method to establish power.”

The burly man was enlightened and nodded, but his brows furrowed. “There are some first-rate clans coming. They… To tell the truth, they aren’t weaker than our Linghu Clan in any aspect…”

The old man sneered, his gaze trained on the sky above. “Yes… but who said we must find an equal first-rate clan?”

The burly man was bewildered, and the light of his eyes immediately flashed. Nevertheless, he immediately knitted his brows again and said, “Branchmaster Xu? He can’t be trifled with.”

“He can’t be pushed around, but it’s still much better than bloodsport with an equal clan!” The old man’s smile dwindled, and he said coldly, “Right now… he has the authority, but who under him is willing to give him their utmost? That’s right, the A-rank Legions are starting to mobilize. He’s surely capable of resisting this blade, but A-rank Legions are Foundation Establishment cultivators! He’s a Qi Condensation branch master; who will obey him? If it was you, would you?”

The burly man instantly shook his head. “Of course I wouldn’t! Make a Foundation Establishment cultivator like me listen to a Qi Condensation cultivator’s command? What a joke!”

“That’s how it is…” The old man laughed grimly, “His reputation flourishes right now. He’s the best target to set up our might! The time we hang his head from the Featherwood Guard branch will be when the Linghu Clan seizes Longsu Province’s heavenly paradise!”

The burly man sucked in deeply and nodded, but he said again, “But, he’s a Core Formation disciple…”

The old man floated away as he roared in laughter. “Old Three… you’ve really cultivated a dog’s belly…” [2]

“That day when the Dao Masters didn’t speak to grant him protection in Longsu Province was the day that they tacitly approved of our actions. This is a rearing of Gu… Do you understand? This is the Core Formation seed that Daomaster Ancientpine is raising… All we have to do is lay hands and kill. Even if we dismember him, Daomaster Ancientpine won’t let out a peep…”

“Look, this time, he’ll be our chief target… He certainly won’t be the one to stop our Linghu Clan…”

Xu Yangyi was none the wiser to all of this.

Although he didn’t know, he still held the feeling of crisis. In spite of this, food had to be eaten bite by bite, and business done step by step. There was still six months to prepare. His first issue was to restore his left arm.

The Ketu-Rahu Sword… Quan Ningyue had said that it was an even more powerful bodily weapon than her Three Moongazers. It could allow him to fight and unleash divine abilities. This was the first thing he wanted done.

“Fellow Daoist Xu.” They were on an airplane, and Quan Ningyue was sitting at Xu Yangyi’s side. She watched Xu Yangyi, who was looking outside the window with a somewhat spellbound expression, and couldn’t help but laugh, “What’s the matter?”

They didn’t have a chartered plane. Although spirit stones and Chinese dollars had an exchange rate of one to twenty thousand, the only mortal-world company that accepted spirit stones was the strange Qin Imperial Court. To speak of this topic, their reserve of Chinese dollars wasn’t plentiful at all.

There were three seats. Xu Yangyi sat at the window side, Quan Ningyue sat at his side, and Peony sat the furthest outside.

She, Jun Man, Qin Xueluan, and Mo Yeyu had returned to the Mingshui Province branch early on. There was no way that Xu Yangyi would casually speak about his murder of Thousandedge. When the Mingshui Province Featherwood Guard discovered that Thousandedge was missing for over a year, someone was bound to report it.

“Nothing.” Xu Yangyi was dressed in a well-ironed suit. It was just that his left arm was partially empty. He pulled his gaze back and chuckled, “I was only thinking about when I won’t have to use an airplane and can just fly by myself instead.”

“Ahem…” Peony gently coughed, “Command… Branch Master, Qi Condensation can still use flying magik artifacts to fly. But compared to Foundation Establishment, it’s only low-altitude flight. Foundation Establishment can reach around 2,000 to 3,000 meters in height. Compared to an airplane, the speed is second to none. Qi Condensation can only fly at a thousand meters or below. Furthermore, an airplane’s speed can’t be achieved. As for ‘free flight’...”

She laughed, “Maybe you don’t remember, but as your assistant, I have the obligation to remind you that China’s Cultivation Court has ruled that unless there’s an especially urgent matter, high-altitude flight is strictly prohibited. After all, four or five cases have occurred since the initial period of the Nation’s Founding where cultivators have collided with airplanes.”

“I was just thinking about it.” Xu Yangyi laughed and shut his eyes. “Still, things are better than with the ancient cultivators.”

“While Fellow Daoist Xu may be thinking about this, it would be better to think about how you’re going to get my master to cut down his price.” Quan Ningyue had a lolita’s appearance. She took a bag of snacks and started eating, giggling, “Master’s work isn’t cheap. Apart from refining artifacts for Core Formation ancestors, he hasn’t accepted anything for ten years.”

“The last one was to refine a flying hammer for Ancestor Titanspirit. The price was 3,000 high-grade spirit stones, equal to 300,000 medium-grade spirit stones. I can’t even exactly count the amount in Chinese dollars. The bank? Hahaha.”

1. Ming Tombs of the Shu Princes is a real place. You may remember the Thirteen Ming Tombs previously mentioned. The distinction here is that the Thirteen Ming Tombs are located to the north and the Shu Princes Tombs are located in the south.

2. Chinese swearing can be very colorful. Animals are used in particular sometimes. Dog is generally used to express lowness.