The rowdy and chaotic Grand-Orient Mountains suddenly fell silent. Su Yunchi, Chen Nantian, and the others' corpses were still bleeding, making for a rather garish sight. Tens of thousands watched the blood-haired man with blank faces. They were petrified for quite some time.
"Yuwen Taiji wasn’t even the sect master for two hours and now he's gone."
Only then did the rest snap out of it. Once more, the status quo in Grand-Orient Sect had been completely upended. However, this led to the most peaceful resolution possible. Now, both the sect master and junior sect master were the strongest to have held the rank and were father and son, not enemies.
"Yuwen Taiji relied on nothing but domination to become sect master."
"There’s tons who weren't happy with his tyranny!"
"Li Wudi is a true member of the Li Saint Clan and he deserves to be the sect master by right!"
Everyone's opinions had shifted. Ye Shaoqing, with his battered and bruised body, came to Li Wudi before their eyes. He watched the man with a passionate gaze and bloodshot eyes.
"You really made a grand entrance, didn't you? I don't know how many times I rehearsed this in my head." He gave him a fist on the chest, though the pain he suffered made him clench his teeth.
"Hey, don't frame me like that. You think I waited until the last moment just to look cool?" he snapped as he kept his saber away. Now finally free and relieved, he turned to look at Tianming, whose eyes were already red from agitation.
It was fortunate that the Grand-Orient Sword had saved him during that fight. Li Wudi waved his finger and drew the heavy sword into his hand. Would he be fighting the sect war with the Grand-Orient Sword? People held that question in their minds as they stared expectantly at the father and son. However, Li Wudi turned the sword around and bumped the pommel of the sword against Tianming's chest.
"What's the meaning of this?" Tianming asked. It only made sense for the stronger Li Wudi to wield it.
"Nothing much. I just don't like using swords," Li Wudi said with a snicker.
"If I use the sword, it might be easy for others to take it." Tianming was talented, sure, but not powerful enough yet. There were still many within the Grand-Orient Realm who could defeat him.
"Tianming, my son," he said as he cast his gaze around, "use the Grand-Orient Sword as you like. As long as I still live, I'll kill anyone that dares come to take your sword!"
His proclamation was heard by all and cheers followed. Almost everyone watched Tianming enviously. The Grand-Orient Sword had historically been given to the strongest within the sect. Never had a person from the younger generation been deemed worthy to wield it, for most feared they would lose it. But with Li Wudi's protection, nobody would dare covet it.
"The Grand-Orient Sword is yours in the first place, for it was you who reclaimed it during the Realm War. It’s full of mysterious heavenly patterns. You can use them to aid your comprehension of the Heavenly Will stage. Use it well, and don't tarnish the name of the sword, got it? And nobody will possibly come for the sword, so forget about it."
Tianming laughed heartily. He hadn't felt like this for a long time. He had only handed the sword to Ye Shaoqing because he feared Yuwen Taiji would fight him for it, yet that man was now no more. Not to mention, now, the true expert of the Grand-Orient Sect, Li Wudi, had personally handed the sword back to him.
The sword rumbled as it returned to his hands, and he raised it to thundering applause. The folks already loved Tianming for his personality. With his good relationship with Li Wudi and Ye Shaoqing, they represented a new hope for the sect's rise back to power—far more so than Yuwen Taiji had.
Once more, Li Wudi regarded the sect members and announced, "Fellow sect members, I, Li Wudi, apologize to you all on behalf of the ancestors of the Li Saint Clan. Our clan's fall from grace has caused the sect to decline. In thousands of years, our disciples were humiliated nonstop, and that blame is for our clan to bear. But from today onward, I will eventually be succeeded by my son and daughter, Li Tianming and Li Qingyu. We pledge to bring the sect back to its glory days! We will rise and dominate again! Unlike Yuwen Taiji, I won't resort to schemes, cruelty, ruthlessness, and terror, but instead use my own true power to protect the sect and restore our clan!"
"This is our true sect master!" Huangfu Fengyun called out as he stood up. Tianming couldn't help but laugh at the old fellow who had immediately switched gears to support Li Wudi. Then again, he was once more impressed by how patient and well-hidden Li Wudi had been the entire fourteen years he was training to overcome his plight. His mental state was not one that could be trifled with.
"Grand-Orient Sect Master!" the rest cheered with fervor. Now, their sect finally had someone they could count on. As the true junior sect master, Tianming couldn't feel any better than this. Since he had come here from Vermillion Bird and experienced all sorts of trials, he was finally a junior sect master, no questions asked, subordinate to one and above all others. It truly awed him how weird life could be.
"Humble greetings to the sect master!" The outer and inner disciples, exalted masters, Grand-Orient guardians, prefects, elders, and mountain lords all knelt to pay their respects.
"Congratulations to the Li Saint Clan for once more regaining the sect after a thousand years! We believe the sect master will lead us to another ten thousand years of glory!"
This time around, Huangfu Fengyun, Shangguan Jingshu, Zhao Zhiyuan, and other elders were genuinely content with how things had turned out. They knew Li Wudi, and had seen him multiple times in the past fourteen years, but never would they have imagined that he would end up like this today. All they could do was envy Ye Shaoqing, who had been brave enough to support him the whole time and go against Yuwen Taiji. This was the day he had been waiting for.
"From now on, Ye Shaoqing is the vice sect master!" Li Wudi announced.
"Sect Master, there’s never been a vice sect master in the history of the sect," Huangfu Fengyun said.
"There hasn't, so can I make one now?" Li Wudi asked with a smile.
"Of course!" answered Huangfu Fengyun. Having witnessed Ye Shaoqing's noble deeds, they couldn't be more satisfied with the arrangement. Both he and Li Wudi were strong, but more importantly, they were still young and could be beacons of hope for the sect.
"Li Wudi, don't tell me you put me in this position so you can slack off and push matters to me," Ye Shaoqing said.
"Wow, you guessed right. My main role is still to drink with my clan's ancestors. I've already sold my body to them, and this responsibility is huge."
"Buzz off!"
Ye Shaoqing had mostly recovered after using many spirit herbs to heal up. He rode his Azureflame Dragon back into the skies.
"Where are you going?" Li Wudi asked.
"Fatepath Peak. I'm going to move the throne of your clan back to you!"
He would move the throne of the Li Saint Clan back to Kunpeng Sacred Mountain. Right after he left, Ye Qing brought Jingyu, Qingyu, and the rest to them. Jingyu and Qingyu's eyes were red from crying.
"Mom, stop crying. Today's a good day. You should sing and dance instead," Li Wudi said with his arms wide open.
"Don't," Qingyu said hastily. Her grandmother's singing and dancing was so terrifying that the lifebound beasts at Fatepath Peak would be scared away.
"Qingyu, you think I can't dance well?" Jingyu said, shooting her a glance.
"No, your dancing is graceful and unparalleled...."
"Since that's the case, I'll spend two hours a day teaching you how to dance."
Who knew that they would still be able to joke around after this life-threatening ordeal? It was truly a day worth celebrating; tears were unnecessary. When the Grand-Orient Sword had bounced off Tianming's head and Li Wudi removed the Venomdrake Spike, they’d already shed all the tears they needed to.
"Qingyu, come in for a hug," Li Wudi said with his arms awkwardly open.
"Dad...." She was a little taken aback. Was this her drunk, pathetic father? Even Tianming had known that Li Wudi was trying to overcome his trials, but Qingyu hadn't until the moment he showed up.
To say she was surprised would be an understatement.
"Quick, my hands are going to fall off!"
"Okay!" She smiled and leaped into her father's embrace. She now had an answer; whether it was back then or now, she only had one father: Li Wudi. She both pitied and loved him the most.