Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”That damn Blood Buddha, wasn’t he sent tumbling off the cliff by my palm strike, damaging his heart meridian? How can he still be alive?”

Fei Qingchen felt that everything had been going wrong lately. Not only was the Empress Statue in Yulong City destroyed, but many elders of the Emperor Palace had been killed by some unknown youngster. Now, even the Blood Buddha, who was supposedly dead, was causing trouble. He was nearly spitting blood in anger.

Years ago, the Blood Buddha killed an early-stage Heavenly Realm Elder of the Emperor Palace. It was a private vendetta, but the Emperor Palace was fiercely protective. Even if the elder was at fault first, it had to be handled internally. How could they tolerate an outsider killing him?

Thus, in his fury, Fei Qingchen gathered all the Heavenly Realm experts from the palace and finally cornered the Blood Buddha at a ten-thousand-foot cliff, striking him with heavy injuries and knocking him off the cliff.

Although Heavenly Rank experts can fly, that’s only when they have the Meridian Qi. Fei Qingchen was extremely confident in his attack, believing he had dissipated all of the Blood Buddha’s Meridian Qi, leaving him to shatter upon his fall.

Due to this confidence, Fei Qingchen did not bother to check the bottom of the abyss for the Blood Buddha’s body. Instead, upon returning to Yongxiu City, he issued a public notice to all cultivators, declaring that the Blood Buddha had been executed.

This maintained the prestige of the Emperor Palace and warned those restless cultivators of the consequences of challenging the palace’s authority. After that, no one dared to provoke the palace until Yun Xiao’s appearance.

Yet no matter how much Fei Qingchen never imagined, the Blood Buddha he had severely injured and sent off the cliff was not only alive but also now appeared before so many people.

In this light, the notice from back then had become a joke, leaving the usually dignified Fei Qingchen unable to hold his head high.

”Fei Qingchen, you didn’t expect this, did you? I must thank you, though. If not for you, how would I have broken through two realms to reach the late stage of the Heavenly Realm? Hahaha!”

Looking at his old nemesis from years past, the Blood Buddha first scoffed, then burst into laughter. As his laughter subsided, an overwhelming aura of Meridian Qi emerged from him, causing everyone’s expression to change drastically.

”Late-stage... Heavenly Realm?!”

Especially Fei Qingchen, who found his thoughts in a muddle. After all, he was only at the middle stage of the Heavenly Realm himself, and his face darkened significantly.

Despite Fei Qingchen’s disbelief, the aura emanating from the Blood Buddha was unmistakably that of a late-stage Heavenly Realm expert.

Fei Qingchen clearly remembered that it had only been a short three years since he knocked the Blood Buddha off that cliff. How could he have advanced two realms to the late stage of the Heavenly Realm in such a short time?

For most people, rising a realm even within the Heavenly Realm might take years, if not decades. Some talented cultivators remain stuck in a small realm within the Heavenly Realm for their entire lives without breaking through.

Breaking through from the early stage to the late stage within three years was nothing short of astounding, and the Blood Buddha had now surpassed Fei Qingchen.

Thus, it could be inferred that the Blood Buddha must have had some fortuitous encounters in those three years. From his earlier words, Fei Qingchen could vaguely guess that it might be related to being knocked off the cliff by him back then.

If that’s true, Fei Qingchen felt as if he had dug his own grave, and it nearly made him cough blood in frustration.

”Fei Qingchen, is this how you handle matters?”

At this moment, Lou Liheng, the inspector from the Emperor Canglong Palace, finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up. His voice carried heavy dissatisfaction.

After all, Lou Liheng was only a late-stage Heavenly Realm cultivator himself. He originally thought he could dominate the scene and obtain the Nangong Family’s secret treasure as soon as he arrived.

But now, the suddenly appearing Blood Buddha also turned out to be a late-stage Heavenly Realm cultivator. Even as an inspector of the Emperor Canglong Palace, with no fear of matching-level opponents, it was still a considerable headache.

And since this headache was ultimately caused by Fei Qingchen, Lou Liheng was naturally displeased. He was already in a bad mood due to the upheaval at the Yongxiu City Emperor Palace, and now he was even angrier.

”Yes! Yes! It was my oversight!”

Under the inspector’s reprimand, Fei Qingchen knew that no amount of excuses would avail in the face of facts. Hence, he straightforwardly lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

”Lord Inspector, how about we join forces to kill that Blood Buddha first?”

It seemed to be the most straightforward thought in Fei Qingchen’s mind: to kill the Blood Buddha, who mocked and embarrassed him, as swiftly as possible.

Moreover, Fei Qingchen believed that with himself, a middle-stage Heavenly Realm expert, and a late-stage inspector joining hands, they could definitely make the Blood Buddha regret his actions and reclaim his lost dignity.

”No rush, the Nangong Family’s secret treasure is the priority!”

Who would’ve thought that Fei Qingchen’s slightly impatient proposal only elicited a slight wave of Lou Liheng’s hand. After his words fell, Lou Liheng’s gaze shifted to the mysterious place below, with a hint of gravity in his eyes.

”It seems that the place where the Nangong Family hides the Secret Treasure is not as simple as imagined!”

With Lou Liheng’s insight, he could naturally see the corpse and the scattered pieces of flesh on the ground. Even if he hadn’t witnessed the scene just now, he could still deduce some clues.

”Brother Xiaofeng, it seems we arrived a bit late!”

While Lou Liheng, Li Xuefu, and others were observing that mysterious place, a voice suddenly reached everyone’s ears, sounding unusually clear in the quiet sky.

Compared to those ordinary cultivators, when Fei Qingchen, the chief of Yongxiu City Emperor Palace, heard this voice, his body couldn’t help but shiver. He turned his head with a face full of malice, staring intently at a rough-clothed young man who had made the sound.

In the sky above, at some unknown time, there appeared two young figures. One of them was dressed in a blue robe, about thirty years old, but his aura was enough to make many people’s faces change.

Next to the blue-robed youth was a rough-clothed young man in his early twenties. However, no matter how people sensed, even Meridian Refining Masters with powerful Power of Soul couldn’t discern the true cultivation of that young man.

These two young men were none other than Yun Xiao and Nangong Xiaofeng, who had rushed from a certain place. Their skills were high and their courage bold. Instead of hiding in the rear, they openly appeared before everyone.

”Is it you?!”

These two words were almost squeezed out from between Fei Qingchen’s teeth, containing a deep sense of malice. Just these two words let the spectators know that there was surely a significant grudge between these two.

”Is it him?!”

At the same time Fei Qingchen uttered his words of malice, a small group of people also slightly changed their expressions. These were the cultivators who had seen Yun Xiao battle against the Dark Assassination Star Moon Pavilion before.

Back then, these people witnessed how easily Yun Xiao defeated the Star Moon Pavilion. If not for the Dark Assassination Star having his own escape methods, his life might have been left there.

Therefore, even if these cultivators couldn’t sense Yun Xiao’s true cultivation, they knew his combat strength was certainly above the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage. It wasn’t something the Floating Life Realm Lingyun cultivators could easily provoke.

”Lord Inspector, he is the one who killed many of our Emperor Palace Elders and destroyed the Yulong City Empress Statue!”

Knowing that he might not be a match for the rough-clothed young man in a duel, Fei Qingchen suppressed his anger and turned his head to start complaining.

”What?!”

As soon as Fei Qingchen’s words came out, everyone was shocked, thinking that the ordinary-looking young man could do such a major thing. It truly proved that people cannot be judged by appearance!

While killing many Yongxiu City Emperor Palace Elders was shocking enough, daring to destroy the Yulong City Empress Statue was truly an earth-shattering matter.

Since the ”betrayal” of the Long Xiao Battle God a hundred years ago and being killed by Emperor Canglong and the Empress, the human territory of the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud was almost dominated solely by the Canglong Emperor Palace.

Setting up Emperor Palaces in major cities was a means by the Canglong Emperor Palace to further control the major sect families. The Empress Statue standing in the center of each city was voluntarily done by the continent’s cultivators.

It was unclear whether there was secret instruction from the Canglong Emperor Palace authorities, but no one dared to disrespect the two statues in the cities that possessed them; they even had to bow when passing by.

This had become an unwritten rule. In the hearts of these low rank cultivators, the Emperor and Empress of Canglong were supreme, and any slight disrespect was considered high treason.

However, now there was such a young man who blatantly destroyed the Canglong Emperor and Empress Statues. Was he not afraid of being torn to pieces?

This was no longer an individual matter. Once this was confirmed, even his family might be utterly eradicated. Such bold people were indeed rare.

Because of Fei Qingchen’s words, absolute silence fell over the crowd, their gaze fixed on the rough-clothed young man carrying a strange wooden sword.

They all wanted to see who this mysterious figure was and who gave him such audacity to commit such a heinous act.

”Oh?”

Unlike the many watching cultivators, when Lou Liheng heard Fei Qingchen’s accusations, a flash of ruthless light suddenly appeared deep in his eyes. His old eyes fixed unblinkingly on the rough-clothed young man, as if wanting to peer into the depths of his soul.