Soon, Ye Shaoqing brought Li Jingyu and Qingyu over.
“Grandma, Qingyu.” Seeing the two safe and sound brought a smile to Tianming’s face.
“My child, your performance in the Realm War is truly something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. You’re the greatest blessing given to our Li Saint Clan for the past thousand years, and our ancestors will be so proud of what you have achieved!” Li Jingyu said with a smile. However, there were tears at the corner of her eyes. The news of winning the Grand-Orient Sword and the news of them losing it had arrived concurrently, putting her in a great shock that she had yet to recover from.
“Don’t praise me too much or I’ll blush,” laughed Tianming.
“If it weren’t for the situation we’re in, I wouldn’t mind running around the entire sect with a banner, telling everyone how amazing my grandson is.” Li Jingyu was still in the mood to joke, at least. In contrast, Qingyu was clearly lost in thought, her eyes swollen.
“Qingyu, which level are you at now?” Tianming recalled that she was at sixth-level Unity before he left.
“Eighth-level.”
“Impressive, you’re almost catching up with me,” Tianming exclaimed. In fact, Qingyu had talent beyond a normal pentabane, and coupled with her own diligence she could easily surpass people like Yueling Long. Being able to catch up with Tianming would be a totally different story, though.
“You’re way more impressive, being the hero that represented our sect in the Realm War.” Qingyu said seriously.
“Too bad this hero you speak of is being forced to leave the sect now,” Tianming smirked.
“We’ll definitely come back!”
“Of course.”
As they were chit-chatting, Ye Qing had brought back the dozen-odd Ye Clan members, Ye Ziyi included. One of them was a bulky middle-aged man that Tianming had never met before. He was scanning the surroundings with hostility, and Tianming reckoned he was Ye Qing’s eldest son, Ye Tianlong. Supposedly, his cultivation was unsatisfactory and even lagging behind Ye Yuxi.
“Father, why did you bring him along?” Ye Shaoqing frowned.
“What do you mean by that? What, you want your eldest brother to die here? It’s all your fault that we’re in such a mess. How useless must you be to lose the Grand-Orient Sword?” Ye Tianlong stared at his younger brother.
“Speak for yourself, weren’t you living the life by being Yuwen Taiji’s dog?” Ye Shaoqing retaliated.
“That’s enough. With his ability, no one wants him now,” Ye Qing said.
“Then you’d better not betray your own family and make everyone die with you,” Ye Shaoqing said to Ye Tianlong.
“Don’t worry, second brother, I’ll keep a watch on him.” Ye Yuxi sighed. Although they were all siblings, they were worlds apart.
Now that all those who needed to leave had gathered, there was no time left to waste.
“Junior sect master, please survive this. The future of the Li Saint Clan is in your hands!” Huangfu Fengyun said as Tianming and the rest boarded the Azureflame Dragon. The rest of the elders were there to witness their departure as well.
As the dragon took off, Tianming took a last look at the blood mist behind Fatepath Peak. It was coming from the Bloodbane Barrier’s direction. Had Tianming hidden within the barrier, there would be nothing Yuwen Taiji could do to him. However, leaving the barrier would be a problem, and Tianming decided that it wasn’t a good time to disturb Li Wudi.
The blood mist of the Bloodbane Barrier was fluctuating, making it look like a giant heart beating, each pulse stronger than the last. If so, then this heart had to be the heart of the Grand-Orient Sect, and the man behind it was none other than Li Wudi.
“Cloud Piercing Peak is over at the western corner of the sect. It’s steep, so few go there, and it can offer us some good hiding spots. On top of that, the western corner of the barrier is the most ideal landscape for Heaven’s Elysium’s attack, so we’ll have a good view of the battlefield from there,” Ye Shaoqing suggested.
“Understood!”
Once the battle began, Tianming’s strength would be close to that of the lowest Grand-Orient guardians. If he could only fight those in the first few levels of Heavenly Will, then he would be nothing but cannon fodder.
All he could do now was wait. Wait for the battle to begin, and wait for Li Wudi’s return. Of course, while waiting, he could still cultivate.
Once they arrived at Cloud Piercing Peak, they quickly settled down.
“What are we doing here? Admiring the end of the Grand-Orient Sect? If I were you, I’d bring Li Tianming somewhere he can actually survive,” Ye Tianlong said.
“No one asked for your opinion.” Ye Yuxi rolled his eyes.
“You’re just waiting for your own death here. Should anything happen, I’ll be the first to leave with my kids.”
“Be my guest.” If Ye Tianlong had his own goals, then there was no point in stopping him.
...
As night fell, Tianming and Qingyu sat on top of the peak, looking up into the starry night sky.
“I wonder when Ling’er will wake up. Hope she’ll be fine,” Qingyu said worriedly.
“Hmm,” Tianming murmured, feeling the warmth of Ling’er’s Love in his hand. He had a hunch that it wouldn’t be long before Feiling’s return.
“Big brother, look there!” Qingyu suddenly hopped up and pointed toward the sect’s direction, her white hair dancing in the moonlight. Following the direction she was pointing, Tianming noticed a semi-spherical barrier that had suddenly appeared. It glistened with five different colors, all of them different types of heavenly patterns.
Out of the five different colors, blue-colored patterns covered half of the barrier, while the other half was equally shared by gold, red, green and violet. Tianming knew that the patterns appearing on barriers and tomes weren’t real heavenly patterns, but imitations made by patternscribes based on real ones. Because of that, the colors on the barrier didn’t represent their rank, but instead their elements.
The blue patterns likely belonged to the water element, and this would be because of the water-type spirit hazards stored within the Heavenly Pattern Barrier. The four other colors represented metal, fire, wind, and thunder respectively. It was a common technique used by the Li Saint Clan to fuse the other four elements into the water element.
The barrier radiated under the constellations like a colorful eye belonging to the earth itself. Its radiance was so bright it even lit up the siblings’ faces. However, being pretty wasn’t all it was good for, as it was the brainchild of countless generations of ancestors, its purpose to protect all who lived in this home. Should the Grand-Orient Sect ever be invaded, it would be the key to ensuring the sect’s survival. Once it was broken, all of the non-combatants would be completely exposed to the enemies.
“So this is the Grand-Orient Barrier. This is the first time I’ve seen it. So pretty,” Qingyu murmured.
“These are the five colors of the Li Saint Clan?” Tianming was also touched by the splendid view.
“That’s right. The barrier was built by our first ancestor after he established the sect. It took ten thousand years of strengthening and improving the barrier to reach this scale. Even though there haven’t been any upgrades to it for the past thousand years, it still remains as one of the three strongest barriers in the Grand-Orient Realm,” Qingyu explained.
“And the other two are?” Tianming asked.
“One of them is Heaven’s Elysium’s Elysium Barrier, while the other is our Li Saint Clan’s
Bloodbane Barrier. The Bloodbane Barrier was the first barrier to be made in our realm, and was also made by our first ancestor. In fact, it’s the only self-sustainable barrier that doesn’t require external input, and it can last for fifty thousand years on its own. Its downside is that it can only cover the Li Mausoleum and allow two people in it,” Qingyu said.
“The secrets of heavenly pattern barriers sure are impressive,” Tianming exclaimed. Just hearing these stories made him admire his first ancestor more than ever. Only a master patternscribe could create barriers like these that could protect his sect and offspring for hundreds of centuries to come.
“They definitely are. But it’s said that the Southsky Barrier from the Southsky Sect is even prettier. It lets the entire Southsky Island descend into the ocean, after which it absorbs all the seawater within ten thousand kilometers to expand the reach of the barrier and protect the Southsky Sect. It’s also very efficient, as it can leverage the energy of the ocean. Even with their sect’s current strength, they’re capable of utilizing the barrier to its fullest for an extended period of time,” Qingyu said enviously.
“That sounds incredible,” Tianming was even more fond of the art of patternscribing after hearing that.
“They do have the advantage of being surrounded by the sea, though. It’s said that the Southsky Barrier was made by our first ancestor together with his wife, Weisheng Yuyin,” Qingyu added.
“Him again? What a monster,” Tianming exclaimed.
“Big brother, that’s our ancestor you’re talking about!” Qingyu rolled her eyes at Tianming. Although, it’s true that he really was a monster.
“Don’t you feel that this ancestor of ours was a little biased? Why is the barrier he built for his wife so much stronger than the one he built for his descendants?” Tianming joked, shaking his head.
“That’s not true, since the Grand-Orient Barrier is much more powerful than the Southsky Barrier, if fully utilized. We just don’t have the natural advantages that the Southsky Sect has. The Grand-Orient Barrier was built based on the ability of the Grand-Orient Sect thousands of years ago. I’m sure that with the power they had back then, they could easily put it to full use. ”
“As for now, we can barely make use of a fifth of the barrier’s full power. And who knows how long that can last,” Qingyu sighed. The Li Saint Clan’s downfall was no doubt one of the main reasons why the Grand-Orient Sect had lost its former glory.
