Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"Sect Master, since that Xu Shitong is a disciple of the Long Xiao Battle God, then that escaped Xu Qingshan, isn’t he just..."

The Great Elder of the Jade Sword Sect at the side reacted rather quickly. As soon as he spoke, Liu Wenzong’s eyes involuntarily lit up. He suddenly realized that this great merit seemed not to be just a single one.

A dead Long Xiao Battle God disciple, Xu Tongshi, and a living grand-disciple of the Long Xiao Battle God—which one weighed more, Liu Wenzong really couldn’t calculate for a moment.

But since he now knew that Xu Shitong was Xu Tongshi, that is, the disciple of the Long Xiao Battle God back then, he definitely would not let Xu Qingshan off.

Even though Liu Wenzong was merely a petty Chief of a remote city, he still knew just how desperately the Emperor Canglong Palace had searched for Xu Tongshi back then.

It was just a pity that over all these years, Xu Tongshi had seemed to evaporate from the mortal world; even the intelligence network of the Emperor Canglong Palace hadn’t been able to discover the slightest trace.

In recent years, the open operations to search for Xu Tongshi had already been greatly toned down, but Liu Wenzong knew that the Emperor Palace Headquarters had never given up in secret. He hadn’t expected that he would be the one to find him.

"We must immediately send a message to the Yongxiu City Emperor Palace—no... I have to personally take men there, lest that old codger Fei Qingchen snatch the credit!"

Liu Wenzong muttered under his breath, making one decision only to deny it himself. He had no intention of handing over such great merit to anyone else, not even to Fei Qingchen, who was likewise an Emperor Palace Director.

"Jade Sword, didn’t you say you wanted to find the murderer who killed your disciple? Come along with me to Yongxiu City!"

Liu Wenzong cast a glance at Daoist Jade Sword beside him. After speaking, he gave that Offering Tablet one last deep look. A thought stirred in his heart, and with a wave of his right hand, the tablet vanished.

This was all evidence proving that Xu Tongshi was Xu Shitong; he absolutely could not leave it behind. The group then left the empty secret chamber and returned to the surface.

"Sect Master, something bad has happened!"

However, just as the few of them had crawled out of the secret passage and were heading toward the outer hall, a somewhat panicked voice rang out. A figure rushed over, causing the few of them to be slightly taken aback.

"Shouting and screaming like that—what kind of decorum is this!"

Daoist Jade Sword was truly being driven to a headache by his subordinates today. He suddenly realized this was yet another cultivator of the Jade Sword Sect, and his face sank as he barked a rebuke.

"Greetings, Lord Supervisor, Sect Master... our Sect Headquarters has been challenged at the doorstep!"

That Jade Sword Sect cultivator finally noticed Liu Wenzong at the side, but after giving a respectful greeting, he lost his composure again and addressed Daoist Jade Sword.

As soon as these words came out, not only did the high-level figures of the Jade Sword Sect show strange expressions, even Liu Wenzong’s face revealed a hint of surprise. He thought to himself, within the current boundaries of Ye City, who would still dare provoke the Jade Sword Sect?

One had to know that the Jade Sword Sect had originally been one of the Two Major Sects of Ye City. After annihilating the Hidden Blade Sect, they were already dominant; aside from the Emperor Palace, they were virtually unmatched in Ye City.

What’s more, the upheaval of the Hidden Blade Sect had long since spread throughout the great families and sects of Ye City. Everyone knew the Jade Sword Sect had latched onto the high branch of the Emperor Palace. To offend the Jade Sword Sect was equivalent to offending the Emperor Palace, and further, offending the Emperor Canglong Palace.

Perhaps some families with a bit of strength might have the courage to provoke the Jade Sword Sect, but once the target of their provocation might become the Emperor Palace, they would probably fold up their banners and retreat in an instant, wouldn’t they?

"Who has eaten Dragon Heart Phoenix Gall, daring to cause trouble in my Jade Sword Sect?"

Indeed, upon hearing this news, Daoist Jade Sword could not help but fly into a rage. As he soared into the air, he bellowed, and everyone could hear that trace of fury in his tone.

"It... it... it’s the Young Master of the Hidden Blade Sect: Xu Qingshan!"

Following Daoist Jade Sword into the sky, the messenger spoke again, and when that name left his mouth, Daoist Jade Sword’s body violently shuddered, while an extreme excitement appeared on his face.

"Aha, I haven’t even gone looking for him, and he actually delivers himself to my door. Heaven truly is helping me!"

Thinking of his precious disciple’s death, Daoist Jade Sword did not grow angrier but instead laughed. Yet the laughter from his mouth contained not the slightest mirth, only a trace of icy killing intent.

"Then what are we waiting for? We absolutely can’t let this great merit slip away!"

Liu Wenzong at the side was likewise somewhat excited. He had originally planned to go to the Yongxiu City Emperor Palace to search for Xu Qingshan, yet hadn’t expected that brat to return to Ye City.

For the moment, neither Liu Wenzong nor Daoist Jade Sword thought of anything else, nor did they realize that the Jade Sword Sect cultivator’s loss of composure implied the matter would not be so simple.

They only assumed Xu Qingshan harbored bitter hatred over his father’s death, perhaps even wished to snatch back his father’s corpse, and thus had risked his life to return to Ye City. This was simply walking right into their net.

In Liu Wenzong’s eyes, Xu Qingshan was not a person, but a great merit that could help him soar to prominence. As long as he could capture this grand-disciple of the Long Xiao Battle God alive, this achievement would be firmly his.

Yet what Liu Wenzong and Daoist Jade Sword did not know was that the reason Xu Qingshan dared return to Ye City this time was that he had someone backing him. And the supporter standing behind him was precisely the Long Xiao Battle God they feared in their hearts, yet pretended to disdain.

......

Time rewinds to two hours earlier!

Outside the west gate of Ye City, two young figures descended from the sky, looking a bit travel-worn. They were Yun Xiao and Xu Qingshan, who had just flown out of the Yannan Mountain Range and arrived at Ye City.

The two of them naturally didn’t know that the secret chamber of the Hidden Blade Sect had already been discovered, and even if they did, they wouldn’t care, because they had come precisely to avenge the Hidden Blade Sect—or rather, to avenge that Hidden Blade Sect Leader.

On the way here, Yun Xiao had already learned from Xu Qingshan that the Sect Master of the Jade Sword Sect, Daoist Jade Sword, was only a Cultivator at the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage, on par with Xu Shitong before his "death."

As for the Chief of the Emperor Palace, he apparently hadn’t reached the Heavenly Realm Peak either. Faced with enemies like this, how could Yun Xiao possibly have any scruples? So he directly brought Xu Qingshan and stepped into Ye City’s territory.

"Qingshan, you should know where the Jade Sword Sect’s Sect Headquarters is, right?"

After entering Ye City, Yun Xiao didn’t bother with the Cultivators brushing past around them at all. He went straight to the point and asked, and saw Xu Qingshan nod excitedly.

"Grandmaster, come with me!"

As soon as Xu Qingshan’s voice fell, he took the lead and strode forward. As a genius born and raised in Ye City, who had been fiercely fighting overtly and covertly with the Jade Sword Sect all these years, how could he possibly not know where the Jade Sword Sect’s headquarters was?

After about thirty minutes, a vast stretch of majestic buildings appeared in front of the two. Beside one tall archway, a giant Sword with its tip pointing at the sky stood upright, looking incredibly imposing.

"That’s the Jade Sword Sect?"

Staring at the archway and the giant Sword ahead, a glint flashed in Yun Xiao’s eyes. After murmuring, he stretched out his hand and pointed at that tall archway.

"Qingshan, do it. First destroy the Jade Sword Sect’s mountain gate!"

Yun Xiao pointed at the tall archway, and the words that came out of his mouth made Xu Qingshan extremely excited, because this was something he had always wanted to do but had never been able to.

Ever since the Hidden Blade Sect was destroyed, Xu Qingshan had once felt that this matter had become a luxury he could never afford. He never expected that the Grandmaster he had just recognized would be this domineering—this was going to uproot the Jade Sword Sect entirely.

Although he was a little worried they would provoke the Emperor Palace because of this, Xu Qingshan absolutely could not disobey his Grandmaster’s order. He soared into the air and shot straight toward the Jade Sword Sect’s mountain gate archway.

"Who goes there, daring to trespass into the Jade Sword Sect?"

Seeing a young figure flying toward the Jade Sword Sect’s mountain gate, one of the Jade Sword Sect guards below suddenly bellowed, his voice filled with thick condescension.

Never mind that these guards who watched over the Jade Sword Sect’s mountain gate hadn’t even reached the Heavenly Rank Floating Life Realm and were merely Cultivators at the Late Stage of Earth Bending Realm; judging from his tone, he sounded like some Heavenly Realm powerhouse.

The truth was that in the past two months, ever since the Hidden Blade Sect was wiped out, the Jade Sword Sect had basically become the sole overlord of Ye City. Normally, even a true Heavenly Realm powerhouse wouldn’t dare come slap the tiger on the head.

This had nurtured these Jade Sword Sect guards’ condescending, arrogant temperament. All they knew was that the Jade Sword Sect had the Emperor Palace at its back—anyone who dared provoke them lightly would surely die without a burial place.

"Hmph, I, Xu Qingshan, am here specifically to beat you Jade Sword Sect dogs!"

Seeing an Ant at the Late Stage of Earth Bending Realm dare to talk to him, a Lingyun Realm Early Stage powerhouse, like that, Xu Qingshan snorted coldly, then drew a long saber from his waist ring.

This long saber’s aura was extraordinary, its power looking astonishing. The moment the saber appeared, an incomparably majestic Meridian Qi burst out from his body, pressing down so hard on the Jade Sword Sect guards below that they almost couldn’t breathe.

Clang!

Xu Qingshan didn’t bother with the furious expressions on the faces of the Jade Sword Sect guards below. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he swung the saber down viciously from above.

The saber’s edge cleaved down with extreme precision right at the center of the top of the Jade Sword Sect’s mountain gate archway, producing a loud crash.

Even if this Jade Sword Sect mountain gate archway was cast from solid stone, Xu Qingshan was now a genuine Lingyun Realm Early Stage powerhouse. How frightening was the force behind that strike?

On top of that, this big saber was also a fierce weapon that had reached the Heavenly Rank Low Level. With the two working together, a huge crack began to spread from the central point at the top of the archway.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of stone splitting echoed out, making the originally enraged Jade Sword Sect guards below instantly turn pale. In a panic, they bolted toward the interior of the Sect.

Crash!

The next moment, the towering archway could no longer withstand the power of that strike and suddenly broke apart from the middle, collapsing toward both sides. Dust and stone exploded into the air, the sight awe-inspiring.

As clouds of dust rose, they reflected the terrified faces of several Jade Sword Sect guards. They suddenly realized that their mighty Jade Sword Sect background didn’t seem quite so reliable anymore—whoever had come this time was clearly not here with good intentions.