Li Che knew he was being given special treatment, but didn’t care about the gazes of those around him. Wearing a gentle smile, he subtly used his unmanifest energy to clear a path through the crowd. Accompanied by his wife and daughter, Nurse Momo, his uncle’s family, and Old Chen, they followed Lu Chi.
Just as they started to follow Lu Chi, Shangguan Qinghong began to bounce around in the distance, irritated, “Li, I’m over here, there’s a good spot here too!”
Liu He and Hai Chuanying couldn’t help but laugh. “Didn’t expect Brother Li to know people inside the Divine Sect too,” they said.
“That’s Lu Chi, the disciple of Li Qingshan, one of the three who resonated with the Temple God last year, reaching an astonishing resonance of sixty-five percent.
He’s the only one among them still persisting in practicing the ‘Wrathful Third Prince’ Divine Method, nurturing the divinity of the Third Prince, aiming to forge the Divine Foundation of the Six Bureaus’ ‘Furious Third Prince,’ just like his teacher,” they continued.
Hai Chuanying, from the Hai Family of the Five Great Clans, had extensive knowledge and explained.
“Brother Li’s daughter, she’s one of the three Supreme Spirit Children of the Thirteen Cities under Mansion City’s jurisdiction, right?” Liu He recalled.
“Correct, Li Nuanxi, a Supreme Spirit Child… but her chances for the True Succession are slim. She’ll probably have to enter the Inner Sect first and then gradually strive for the True Succession. She really is too young.”
“All the Spirit Children hidden within the Five Great Clans and many medium and small-sized families in Mansion City have been brought out. I’ve heard there are over fifteen Supreme Spirit Children this year, yet the Divine Sect’s True Inheritance will only take in five,” said Hai Chuanying nonchalantly.
Liu He sighed and shook his head, “It’s not easy. After such troubles in Fei Lei City, Brother Li can still bring his daughter, a Supreme Spirit Child, to Mansion City. He’s had to endure so much suffering…”
“It would be decent to even make it into the Divine Sect’s Inner Sect,” Liu He added.
Hearing this, Shangguan Qinghong immediately became displeased and clenched her fists, “My sister Xi Xi will definitely become a True Successor. You all have no idea how strong Xi Xi is!”
Hai Chuanying scoffed, “A three-year-old child, who barely knows how to urinate clearly, how impressive could she be?”
“My family’s Supreme Spirit Child, Hai Chao Sheng, was reluctantly offered by our distinguished ancestor. If it weren’t for the resonance with the Temple God at the Third Prince’s Mysterious Temple, our ancestor would have continued to keep him hidden and personally tutored him,” Hai Chuanying declared.
Shangguan Qinghong glanced at Hai Chuanying, oblivious to the significance of achieving the Major Accomplishment of Bone Tempering at just three years old.
She didn’t make a fuss about it in advance, considering them petty and ignorant…
Just wait until Emperor Xi Xi gives them a fright!
…
…
At the Divine Sect Mountain Gate stone archway, on the bluestone steps below.
Chairs were placed, occupied by figures dressed in fluttering robes, radiating elegance and merging with the spring breeze. Drizzling rain poured down, yet before it could touch their bodies, it was twisted away by an invisible force.
“This year is really bustling… so many have come. It seems as if all the Spirit Children with talent from Golden Light Prefecture have been brought here, right?” said an old man sitting in the seat of honor, with white hair and beard, gently stroking it while watching the packed crowd warmly.
This person was none other than Nan Lihuo, the Sect Master of Qian Yuan Divine Sect’s Yunzhou Sub-sect, whose Cultivation was profound and immeasurable.
“Of course, it has to be lively. After all… this time the Third Prince Temple is initiating the Temple God Resonance. It’s feared that it will be another twenty years before it opens again. Missing this chance means that for the next twenty years, it will be difficult to attain the legacy of the Third Prince Temple God,” said Li Qingshan, sprawled lazily in his chair.
“Li Qingshan, you’re indeed ruthless. Barely back in Mansion City and you’re already wielding your hammer, forcing out an Eight Extremes Corpse God Envoy from the Corpse God Cult, almost causing a major disaster!” said a slender old man dressed as a scholar from not far away, immediately scolding him after Li Qingshan finished speaking.
Li Qingshan was immediately discontent, “What do you mean ‘causing a major disaster’? Are you not clear on what sort of rabble the Corpse God Envoys are? You allow them to linger in Mansion City, luring, deceiving, and corrupting all sides…”
“That is the real disaster!”
“Are you not aware of the situation in Jizhou? It’s already become infested by the Corpse God Cult! The common people have become tools for the Corpse God Cult to refine Death Qi, dying in droves. Do you want Golden Light Prefecture to fall into the same state?”
The scholarly old man’s face turned red with anger, “Of course the Corpse God Cult must be stopped, but we need to have a strategy. Your way of openly hunting down the Corpse God Envoy in the city, while the Chief Supervisor, Sect Master, and the rest of us Divine Ministers can’t return from Strange Que…”
“If they chose desperation over escape and started a mass killing spree without restriction… how many would die?”
Li Qingshan barely lifted his eyelids, “That is due to the incompetence of the Divine Ministers left to guard the city.”
A woman in a red robe opened her eyes in the distance. Her eyes flickered with flames as she spoke in a faint voice,
“Li Qingshan, are you implying that I, Zhu Hong Dou, am incompetent?”
Li Qingshan immediately shut his mouth.
This woman, who had observed the ‘Eight-Armed Prison Lotus Furious Third Prince’ for an entire 60-year cycle, was a tenacious and vengeful person. It would be wiser for him to say less.
Sect Master Nan Lihuo raised his hand to calm the dispute, “Well now, evil fiends like those from the Corpse God Cult, once found, must be eliminated. What Qingshan did was the right thing to do.”
“It’s just that his methods were quite harsh; he should act more cautiously in the future. Elder Zhang, as a former imperial scholar, you are suitable as the proctor for this sect examination. You should be more composed to set an example for the younger generation. Also, try not to always look so stern, you might frighten the children.”
The scholar-like old man, one of the four Elder God Phenomenons of the Divine Sect, Zhang Qing Zheng, assented with a bow. Sitting back down, he rubbed his distressed face, trying to smile.
Alas, it only appeared more frightening.
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Li Qingshan caught a glimpse and almost laughed out loud.
“Si Time has come, prepare to open the mountain gate and begin the entrance examination for the sect,” said Sect Master Nan Lihuo solemnly, glancing at Li Qingshan which caused him to swallow his laughter.
“Dang—!”
The red-robed elder Zhu Hong Dou stood up and approached the massive black gong set up behind the archway. Clutching the mallet, she gently struck down.