Tianming only needed one look to tell how deep their father-daughter relationship was.
"My precious daughter, anyone that dares touch a hair of yours will have their ancestors' graves exhumed," Li Wudi proclaimed.
"Dad, calm down. Stop boasting like that," Qingyu said. She was actually quite touched. Anyone could tell that Li Wudi loved his daughter with a fervor. Back then, he had to endure, as he wasn't powerful enough, and he felt like he had greatly wronged her. But now, he would treasure her even more than the sect.
"What about me?" Tianming asked.
"You can buzz off. Sons need hardship to grow, go kill enemies on the battlefield!"
Tianming couldn't even find tears to cry.
Right then, a dragon flew past them. Ye Shaoqing had moved the main plaque and throne from Kunpeng Sacred Hall up the sacred mountain, a sure sign that the Li Saint Clan had regained control. Nobody in the sect would dare go against them now, especially after word of Li Wudi overcoming his fourteen-year-long trial had spread.
"It truly is a legend worth chronicling!"
"Who can take being tortured by the Venomdrake Spike for fourteen years?"
"The sect master is not only strong, but he's definitely talented too! He even has one more bane-ring than the junior sect master!"
"It took the Elysian Emperor ten years to step into the Sky Saint stage. Our sect master will definitely surpass him!"
"The Li Saint Clan will definitely rise again with a figure like that!"
Li Wudi had done all that for the day he’d taken revenge. There would be nobody who wouldn't be impressed by what he had done. When Ye Shaoqing brought the throne back to the mountain, Li Wudi looked in that direction and said, "Come, let's go home!"
Everyone cheered as the Li Saint Clan moved to the sacred mountain.
"Sect Master!" The twenty plus elders knelt as he passed. "Sect Master, we were forced by Yuwen Taiji to harm and nearly kill the junior sect master. Please punish us for our sins!" Huangfu Fengyun said as their representative.
Shangguan Jingshu, Zhao Zhiyuan and the rest shivered. They were absolutely terrified of Li Wudi. Everyone looked at him and wondered what he would do, now that they were pressured by the sect war with Heaven's Elysium and the others.
"Everyone, let me first mention that Yuwen Taiji did well in the first few days of the war. His effort is worthy of respect. I never said he didn’t contribute to the sect. In fact, he can be considered our hero. I only killed him out of a personal grudge, and was only paying back a debt of blood. Our feud had nothing to do with the sect.
"Shangguan Jingshu and Zhao Zhiyuan, you were wrong for taking the Grand-Orient Sword, but as you have sincerely repented, you can make up for your wrongdoings by fighting for the sect from now on. I'll decide your punishment after weighing it against your merits during the war.
"As for the rest, while you did much to displease me, I don't fault you for it, as you did so with the sect's best interest in mind. This time, I'll let you off, but from today onward, the elders must obey the sect master and cultivate the junior sect master. You shall never do anything against our interests from now on. Otherwise, it’ll be considered a slight against the sect and you’ll be heavily punished, understood?"
"Yes, thank you for your forgiveness, Sect Master!" The elders kowtowed and teared up. It was both forgiveness and a warning. The elders, and by extension, the sect, were now filled with worship for Li Wudi.
"Sect Master, Yuwen Kaitai still remains." The elders brought the apprehended Yuwen Kaitai before him. An hour back, he was still parading around like a boss. Now, he was kneeling like a pathetic wretch. "How shall we deal with him?" They all believed he would kill off the whole Yuwen Clan.
"Yuwen Kaitai," Li Wudi said as he raised his face up by his chin.
"Do you want to kill me?" he spat.
Li Wudi simply slapped him, sending him flying thirty meters. He landed and bled from his orifices. It was as if the energy within him had blown up, causing him to bleed nonstop.
"I've crippled you, so I'll spare you. You may leave now."
"Li Wudi! End the Yuwen Clan! I dare you!" he said hoarsely.
Li Wudi merely smiled, then addressed the crowd. "For a thousand years, the Yuwen Clan has done much to protect the sect. However, in the present day, they’re no longer a good fit for us. So, I've decided to remove the Yuwen Clan from the Grand-Orient Sect and exile them. Yuwen Kaitai, leave with your clansmen. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Grand-Orient Sect."
Not even Yuwen Kaitai had thought he would live on. "Aren't you afraid we’ll rise back up?"
"Based on what? A cripple like you?"
Yuwen Kaitai blanked out. He was the strongest of the clan as of just recently, and he was now crippled. All that remained were the branch members that didn't show much talent.
"Leave, now!" cried many from the crowd.
This was how one showed power. If a sect master like Li Wudi feared the crippled Yuwen Clan so much he would kill them, he wouldn't deserve his position. Yuwen Kaitai would never understand that he was spared because his ancestors had indeed contributed to the sect. If it weren’t for them, the Yuwen Clan would be no more.
"Actually, my son would've exterminated them, and it wouldn't have been a big deal, given what he’s suffered by their hand," Jingyu said.
"Why didn't he, then?" Tianming asked.
"The main culprit's already dead. All that's left are his minions. Wudi doesn't want to become another Yuwen Taiji."
......
Only after everyone from the sect had reentered the barrier did the day's battles finally end. However, Sikong Jiansheng and the rest had been left hanging for a long time. He had been defeated by Yuwen Taiji, who was in turn slaughtered by Li Wudi. How could he not feel unnerved about it?
"This Li Wudi is far more terrifying than Yuwen Taiji was. How should we deal with someone who can change fate like him? Niancang, should we report this to your dad?" Sikong Jiansheng nervously asked. His ears were ringing from the sheer pressure, but he still seemed rather dispirited after suffering defeat at the hands of Yuwen Taiji. If even someone like him was terrified, the young Jun Niancang definitely was too.
"This person is Li Tianming's father!" Jun Niancang furrowed his brow.
"Your revenge will be even harder to attain now," Yuan Chen said.
"That's right. He's a sky saint who’s almost as powerful as your father. While eliminating the sect will be easy, killing him won’t be!" Yun Zhenzhen said.
Sky saints could fly, after all. While the numbers of the Cloudmist Sword School and Onyx Sect combined was enough to send a hundred earth saints to take care of Li Wudi, they wouldn't be able to stop him from bringing his kin away to safety.
"I suggest we proceed with care, thanks to these sudden developments. Let's leave it to the Elysian Emperor to decide," Sikong Jiansheng said. He was afraid that Jun Niancang would force their two sects to continue attacking out of his desire for revenge. While the Grand-Orient Sect had lost a few elders, taking them down seemed much harder than before.
"Their sect master has changed, they still have the Onyx Empress!" he added.
Jun Niancang finally nodded. "Fine. I'll relay this to my dad and have him decide."
"Make sure to send all details about Li Wudi to the Elysian Emperor."
"Sect Master Sikong, you’re someone on the same level as Li Wudi. Please don't act too cowardly, alright? A single sky saint won't change the fact that the Grand-Orient Sect is weak. They’re fated to be destroyed by us." Jun Niancang noticed that his outlook had changed considerably from before. It was as if Yueling Long had possessed him; he couldn't help but want to wipe out this sect.
"Li Tianming, even if you have your dad protecting you, don't think you'll get to survive!" After all, his father, Jun Shengxiao, was the true legend of the Grand-Orient Realm. Nobody could hope to resist him. It would take some time for news to reach them, and the troops of Heaven's Elysium were heading toward the Southsky Sect. As such, all they could do was wait.
......
Within a hidden dungeon, Tianming looked at the Onyx Empress, who glared back with killing intent. Her arms had been reconnected, but she had been bound all over by a saint beastial weapon. It was hard for her to even move, let alone escape.
"So that was Yuwen Taiji's promise to you?" Li Wudi said.
"That's right. What’ve you decided?"
"Cooperate, of course."
"You're another brave one. Aren't you afraid we'll attack when we're inside?" she asked with a smile.
"You're mistaken. I'm anything but brave. In fact, I'm a coward, but I think the same way they do. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and both you and I are Heaven's Elysium's enemies."
"What if we're their dogs instead?"
"Stop messing around. Your Onyx Sect has fought us for tens of thousands of years, and I've never seen you submit. You just didn't have a chance to wipe us out. But now, this is one such opportunity." Li Wudi stood up and looked down at her with a bloody aura. "If you do break your promise, however, even I might not be able to save the sect. But at the very least, I can make sure your sect's elites, you and your husband included, as well as your family, will die without a single doubt."
His eyes were the color of hell. They made the Onyx Empress shudder uncontrollably. Those were the eyes of a murderous god. All she could do was nod, for she knew he wasn't joking in the slightest. While she was part of Yuwen Taiji's plan, Li Wudi felt that she was also their best chance of fighting back. It would now depend on how Heaven's Elysium would react.
"What if they send reinforcements?" she asked.
"We'll wipe them all out at once in that case."