Dominator Emperor

Chapter 65: One Hand a Cloud, the Other Rain (Part 1)

”Utter nonsense! Vicious slander!” Dong Shenglong’s eyes sharpened at Li Qiye’s words, and he bellowed.

Li Qiye remained perfectly composed. He addressed the Great Elder and the other four elders, saying, ”Elders, what I’ve said is the truth. If the Xiyan Ancient Sect and the Nine Saints Demon Gate were to form an alliance, who would be the most unwilling to see that happen? And if someone wanted to sabotage this alliance, what would be the most direct and effective method? To execute me under some trumped-up charge. ’Deceiving masters and betraying ancestors,’ ’offending one’s superiors’—these are nothing but false accusations, all to destroy the alliance between our two sects.”

’To someone like me, who has lived for countless ages, such petty tricks are hardly worth mentioning. If Dong Shenglong hadn’t shown up, I would have had to waste more words. But now that he’s jumped out, he’s just made himself a living target.’

”Elders, Guardians, it seems the one who wants to betray the Xiyan Ancient Sect isn’t me, but someone else,” Li Qiye said with leisurely ease. ”Someone wants to defect to a sect like the Holy Heaven Sect, colluding with outsiders to frame and murder their own fellow disciples.”

At this moment, with such a major incident unfolding, the other Guardians had also rushed over. In an instant, all the upper echelons of the Xiyan Ancient Sect had gathered in the Washing Stone Valley.

”Traitor! You’re spouting vicious lies! Your crimes are unforgivable—even ten thousand deaths wouldn’t be enough to atone for them!” Cao Xiong’s face was beet red as he roared and tried to charge forward, but he was blocked by Elder Gu.

”Senior Brother, are you really going to protect this traitor who slaughtered his own sect members?!” Cao Xiong demanded furiously.

Great Elder Gu Tieshou’s expression turned cold. ”Junior Brother,” he said icily, ”the sect’s Elders and Guardians are all here. Everyone will come to a consensus on the rights and wrongs of this matter! Why are you in such a hurry?”

’The Great Elder was no idiot. This whole affair was fishy; a single glance told him it wasn’t simple. Dong Shenglong wouldn’t have involved himself for no reason!’ At this thought, the Great Elder’s face hardened.

At that moment, Li Qiye casually interjected again, ”Elder Cao is so eager to kill me to silence me. Does this mean Elder Cao and Old Man Dong are in this together, plotting to murder me and sabotage the alliance? Esteemed Elders, esteemed Guardians, I trust that everyone’s eyes are sharp. A single glance should be enough to distinguish the loyal from the treacherous.”

”You vile beast! Still spewing slander! I won’t tolerate you!” Dong Shenglong roared. In an instant, his Blood Qi surged to the heavens, and the rolling Divine Power of a Prince erupted from him. With each step a new technique, he advanced on Li Qiye.

”Brother Dong, please restrain yourself!” At this, Great Elder Gu Tieshou’s gaze sharpened, and killing intent billowed from him. In that instant, the Great Elder, who was normally a peacemaker, seemed to have transformed into a different person!

Dong Shenglong’s princely might, far from diminishing, actually intensified. A series of metallic CLANGS rang out as his terrifying True Artifact materialized above his head. The roars of dragons and tigers echoed endlessly, and the sheer force of his princely might made even the Guardian Elders’ faces change.

Great Elder Gu Tieshou snorted coldly. His Blood Qi instantly surged forth, the sound of his Longevity Blood crashing like giant drums. As his Blood Qi erupted, the cry of a Peng echoed. At that moment, a Kunpeng leaped from the Great Elder’s Life Palace. It spread its wings, obscuring the sky, its power overwhelming the earth. In that instant, an endless, torrential princely aura erupted from the Great Elder’s body!

A Prince! That’s right, Great Elder Gu Tieshou was actually a Prince. This didn’t just startle all the disciples; even fellow elders like Elder Sun were stunned. Cao Xiong’s pupils contracted sharply!

Now, Great Elder Gu Tieshou strode to face Dong Shenglong, each step seeming to create a new world. The Kunpeng floating above his head looked as if it could tear the earth asunder and shatter the Celestial Vault. Before the Kunpeng’s Divine Power, all living things felt the urge to prostrate themselves in worship!

No one had ever imagined that Great Elder Gu Tieshou had been hiding his true strength so deeply. Everyone had always assumed the Great Elder was a Heroic Hero, at the peak of that realm at most. No one ever thought his true strength was actually at the Prince realm!

Dong Shenglong, himself a veteran Prince, saw his expression change instantly. As a fellow Prince, he felt threatened by Elder Gu, because Great Elder Gu Tieshou was cultivating an Emperor Technique—and not just any Emperor Technique, but one of the most powerful ones left behind by the Mingren Immortal Emperor: the ”Kunpeng Six Transformations”! This was a Core Emperor Technique of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, and it posed a massive threat to Dong Shenglong!

”Good, good, good. Brother Gu, you’ve hidden your strength well. I seem to have misjudged. It seems I was meddling today, and my good intentions have been met with suspicion! Since that’s the case, I shall take my leave!” Dong Shenglong’s gaze darkened. After speaking, he turned and left.

Dong Shenglong was a smart man. He understood that the situation was not in his favor. If he continued to stay, he would only get more entangled. It was better to take a step back for now!

Cao Xiong’s expression turned utterly grim. The Great Elder had hidden his strength, and with a single move, had forced Dong Shenglong to retreat. The situation had suddenly become extremely unfavorable for him.

”Looks like someone with a guilty conscience decided to flee,” Li Qiye commented leisurely at this moment.

This sudden reversal left Luo Fenghua and the others completely dumbstruck. ’So this is what it means to turn the tide against all odds! This is what it means to repel a powerful foe with words alone!’ Today, they had finally witnessed it. Their Senior Brother had been confident all along, completely unafraid of his opponent’s strength.

”Traitor! You deceive your masters and betray your ancestors, yet you still dare to spout such arrogant, slanderous words!” Cao Xiong roared. ”Today, I will get justice for the disciples who died!”

Li Qiye looked at Cao Xiong and said slowly, ”Elder Cao, deceiving my masters and betraying my ancestors? I have never done such a thing. ’He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick.’ Aren’t you just afraid your conspiracy will be exposed, Elder Cao? Is that why you’re so desperate to kill me and silence me?”

”You vile beast, for those words alone, I can kill you!” Elder Cao roared and lunged at Li Qiye.

”Junior Brother, calm down!” Great Elder Gu Tieshou bellowed. This time, Gu Tieshou finally unleashed his fury. He directed the full force of his princely aura to suppress Cao Xiong.

Suppressed by the Prince’s aura, Elder Cao’s pupils contracted. However, he remained aggressive, demanding, ”Senior Brother, are you dead set on protecting this vile beast? If we don’t punish a disciple who murders his sect-mates and betrays his ancestors, it will dishearten all the other disciples and earn the world’s scorn! From this day forward, the Xiyan Ancient Sect will cease to be a sect!”

Li Qiye began to laugh. ”Elder Cao, you so confidently claim I murdered my sect-mates and betrayed my ancestors. Well then, Elder Cao, tell us all: how did I murder them? If you can’t, then that means you, an elder, are framing a disciple for your own ambitious schemes!”

Li Qiye had turned the accusation back on him. This made the other Elders and Guardians exchange glances. In truth, they all felt that this matter wasn’t so simple. Dong Shenglong’s appearance here was already a clear hint.

”Good, good, good! What a sharp-tongued beast you are!” Cao Xiong sneered. ”But no matter how eloquent you are, you can’t erase the fact that you slaughtered three Hall Masters, murdered Guardian Hu, and killed Jian’Er! The evidence is as solid as a mountain. Is that not murdering your own sect-mates?”

”The deaths of the three Hall Masters, Guardian Hu, and He Yingjian can only be described as them bringing it upon themselves. I was simply acting in self-defense,” Li Qiye stated calmly.

”Good, good, good! Senior Brother Gu, you see? In the face of irrefutable facts, he’s still trying to argue his way out!” Cao Xiong said to Great Elder Gu Tieshou.

Great Elder Gu Tieshou looked at Li Qiye and asked in a grave voice, ”What happened? Why did you kill the three Hall Masters, Guardian Hu, and He Yingjian?”

Li Qiye replied innocently, ”To answer the Elder, I acted in self-defense. Guardian Hu suddenly appeared in the Washing Stone Valley with the Law Enforcement Team, and they attacked me without warning, intending to kill me. I could only defend myself. Their accusations were the same as Elder Cao’s—’offending my superiors,’ ’deceiving my masters and betraying my ancestors.’ This must be a conspiracy!”

”Bullshit!” Cao Xiong’s face flushed red as he bellowed, ”According to the report from the Law Enforcement Team disciples, Master Zhou cried for help, which is why Guardian Hu led the team into the Washing Stone Valley! You vicious beast, you were plotting something nefarious, and when you were found out, you tried to kill everyone to silence them!”

”Reporting to the Elders and Guardians, that is indeed what happened.” Master Zhou, who had been hiding behind Cao Xiong, scurried out and said, ”Li Qiye was trying to murder me! I... I... I cried out for help, and Guardian Hu came to rescue me with the Law Enforcement Team disciples. I never imagined this fiend would be so vicious as to kill Guardian Hu and the others.”

”Is this true?” Gu Tieshou asked Li Qiye, his voice grave.

At this, the other Elders and Guardians couldn’t help but exchange glances. The idea of Li Qiye, an ordinary disciple, trying to murder Master Zhou just didn’t add up.

Li Qiye chuckled and said slowly, ”Elder, I don’t know what ’murder’ is. But if I was truly trying to murder him, would Master Zhou still be alive right now? I was able to kill Guardian Hu. If I really wanted to murder him, killing one more person would have been nothing. I spared his life, and all the disciples of the Washing Stone Valley saw it with their own eyes. I was merely teaching Master Zhou a lesson. I just didn’t expect him to be so useless that he couldn’t even defeat a disciple at the Yun Body Realm like me. It’s not my fault that Master Zhou’s skills are lacking, is it?”

”Utter nonsense! You are clearly a spy from another sect, hiding your true Dao Practice, plotting something nefarious! Master Zhou discovered your secret, and that’s why you tried to kill him to silence him!” Cao Xiong declared gravely.

”Elder Cao, now you’re the one making slanderous accusations,” Li Qiye said with a smile. ”Why don’t you ask the disciples of the Washing Stone Valley why I taught Master Zhou a lesson? In my opinion, Master Zhou was probably acting under someone’s orders to frame me. When I took on the role of Dao-instructing senior brother for the Washing Stone Valley, I was diligent and exhausted all my effort. I poured my heart and soul into teaching. And yet, Master Zhou insisted that I was teaching heretical arts, that I was introducing the ways of Evil Sects and the Demon Dao into the Xiyan Ancient Sect! Such an insult to my hard work... how could any man with a shred of dignity endure that?”

”You were teaching heretical arts to the Xiyan Ancient Sect! I was afraid the disciples would fall into the Demon Dao, so I stepped in to stop them from being bewitched by you,” Master Zhou insisted.

Li Qiye laughed again. ”Whether it was the Demon Dao or not, everyone knows the truth in their hearts. One person can lie, but surely the three hundred disciples of the Washing Stone Valley can’t all be lying, can they? As for whether I was teaching the Demon Dao, why don’t the esteemed Elders and Guardians just ask the disciples themselves!”

Hearing this, Gu Tieshou looked at the disciples from the Washing Stone Valley. He randomly called one forward and asked, ”What Cultivation Technique did your Senior Brother teach you?”