“I will support you.”
“I will support you as well.”
Saying those words seemed to take every ounce of strength Feng Xiong and Cheng Xiuyi had. Their eyes were gray with defeat and they silently endured the whispers and voices of ridicule around them.
The karma of their early arrogance had returned fast and furious.
“A wise man submits to circumstances, and you are both wise, Head Feng, Head Cheng.”
Gong Wuwei wore a faint smile on her face. Was it scorn? Ridicule? Both? In any case, Gong Wuwei slowly swept her gaze across the crowd as she said, “Good. If no one else objects to my appointment, then I am the master of Mount Qi from now on. If you give me your full support, then I promise to treat you all fair and square—”
Before Gong Wuwei could finish, a discordant voice suddenly erupted from the crowd.
Gong Wuwei’s smile froze, and the crowd abruptly moved away from where the voice had come from to reveal three people. They were Ye Qing, Mrs. Basket and Mountain Tunneling King, and the discordant voice, as a matter of course, belonged to Ye Qing.
Gong Wuwei didn’t even manage to speak up before those who thought that this was an opportunity to garner her favor leaped out and attacked Ye Qing.
Ye Qing did not move. Besides him, Mrs. Basket and Mountain Tunneling King sneered and stepped forward. Earthen spikes burst out of the ground, and a flower basket descended from above. Three of the five warriors who attempted to jump Ye Qing were skewered by the spikes, whereas the remaining two had their heads plucked clean off their shoulders.
The five attackers were dead in just the blink of an eye. Their deaths hit those who were going to join in on the attack like a bucket of cold water. It chilled them to their very core.
Their silence only grew more profound when they finally noticed Mrs. Basket and Mountain Tunneling King’s cultivation level.
As the two Truemen hadn’t tried to disguise their appearance or energies, Gong Wuwei was able to recognize them instantly. “Ah! Greetings, Mrs. Basket, Mountain Tunneling King. I did not know that you were showing up today. I apologize for not welcoming you properly.”
Neither Trueman responded to her greeting since Ye Qing wasn’t saying anything.
A short silence later, Gong Wuwei asked, “As far as I’m aware, there are no ill ties between my Celestial Cave and you two. May I know why you have decided to grace us with your presence?”
Mrs. Basket replied, “Save the flattery. We are simply accompanying our young master.”
It was only now Gong Wuwei set her eyes on Ye Qing. Of course she noticed him from the beginning, but his presence was so faint that she had subconsciously overlooked him. She thought that he was Mrs. Basket or Mountain Tunneling King’s disciple and thus not worth her attention. That was why she was surprised to hear Mrs. Basket claiming that she and Mountain Tunneling King served the young man.
Gong Wuwei began examining the young man closely. As the seconds trickled by, her expression grew more and more severe. It was because she found herself unable to perceive him even though he was standing right in front of her. It was as if he was hidden behind a thick, impenetrable fog of sorts.
“Are you done admiring my good looks, Head Gong?” Ye Qing said smilingly a few breaths later.
Gong Wuwei was still attempting to see through Ye Qing when suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a grand, formless silhouette. The silhouette cast her an uncaring glance, and her mind immediately quaked in fear despite herself. A muffled groan escaped her lips, and the blood instantly drained from her face.
To Gong Wuwei’s credit, her complexion returned to normal the very next second. For those who weren’t looking, they wouldn’t even notice her temporary loss of composure at all. She saluted Ye Qing and asked, “May I know who you are, scion?”
Ye Qing returned the salute and declared, “I am just a nameless pawn. You don’t need to concern yourself with my identity.”
“It is fine if you don’t wish to identify yourself,” Gong Wuwei nodded before asking, “You do not belong to Mount Qi, do you?”
“No, I do not,” Ye Qing confirmed.
“Did one of my Celestial Cave wrong you in the past?” Gong Wuwei continued her questioning.
“This is the first time we meet, so the answer’s no,” Ye Qing replied.
“Does my Celestial Cave owe you a grudge?” Gong Wuwei asked another question.
“As I said, this is our first meeting. Naturally, I hold no grudge against the Celestial Cave,” Ye Qing replied again.
“If you are not a member of Mount Qi, and you have virtually no ties with my Celestial Cave, then why are you disrupting our business in our very halls?” Gong Wuwei narrowed her eyes a little.
“That’s simple. I have a request for you,” Ye Qing answered.
“What is it?” Gong Wuwei asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing serious. I just thought that the title ‘master of Mount Qi’ has a nice ring to it.” the corner of Ye Qing’s lips turned up. “Do you mind if I become the master of Mount Qi instead, Head Gong?”
Gong Wuwei’s pupils contracted, and her tone grew colder. “That isn’t funny at all, scion.”
“And why do you think I’m joking, Head Gong?” Ye Qing countered.
Gong Wuwei’s voice was as cold as ice at this point. “You’re actually serious?”
“Of course I am,” Ye Qing declared indifferently. “I’m going to become the master of Mount Qi, and not even Tathagata himself can stop me.”
“Hahaha… let’s see if you have the strength to back up your ambition then.” Gong Wuwei sneered and stopped hesitating. She ordered, “Kill them.”
Although she still couldn’t identify the young man’s power level or his background, they had plotted for this day for far too long for a random stranger to ruin it all.
Plus, they outnumbered him several hundred to three. No matter how strong he was, there was no way he was a match for all of them.
When she gave the command, the five warriors behind Gong Wuwei charged Ye Qing immediately.
Seven Kills Guan Dou Yuan and Xin Wuyang charged toward Mrs. Basket and Mountain Tunneling King without hesitation.
Feng Xiong and Cheng Xiuyi exchanged a look with each other before charging Ye Qing.
The two men submitted to Gong Wuwei only because the circumstances were hopeless, and they did not feel like throwing away their lives for the woman at all. However, if they held back now, Gong Wuwei was absolutely going to rinse them later.
As for why they chose to help Gong Wuwei instead of turning against her to help Ye Qing, the answer was equally simple.
Although the young man did not look like a weakling—if he really was, then he would never dare to threaten Gong Wuwei or make such a ridiculous declaration—they didn’t think he could actually defeat Gong Wuwei. For one, Gong Wuwei had the homeground advantage. Even a foreign dragon could not defeat a local snake, not to mention that powerful warriors such as Ding Banshan, Zhong Qiu, Xu Laodao and more had died to the woman. It was proof that Celestial Cave was far stronger than it seemed.
No matter how they looked at it, they just could not see how the young man could possibly defeat Gong Wuwei, or more accurately, the Celestial Cave. They would even go so far as to say that the young man had vastly overestimated his capabilities and was hurrying toward his own doom.
Naturally, they chose to help Gong Wuwei over the unknown young man.
Feng Xiong made a claw with his fingers and reached out toward Ye Qing. A hawk cry pierced the air, and a massive black hawk appeared in the sky.
The black hawk was as gigantic as it was handsome. Its back looked like a hill, its wings resembled the clouds, and its claws seemed sharp enough to split the sky open.
Feng Xiong was a Trueman, and he chose to unleash his ultimate technique, the “Sky Hawk Claw” right from the get go. The ground was punctured long before the claw even landed on it, and a terrible pressure enveloped the entire area.
His rival was impressive, but Cheng Xiuyi wasn’t outdone by him. Every time he took a step toward Ye Qing, large clumps of red tree peony would grow around his feet. They were as beautiful as they were fragrant.
Too small for the naked eye to see, countless invisible threads were crawling out of Ye Qing’s pores and entangling with the tree peonies.
When he was less than three meters away from Ye Qing, Cheng Xiuyi abruptly snapped his fingers, and the tree peonies on the ground began withering at a rapid rate. At the same time, they began sprouting out of Ye Qing’s body. Each one was in full bloom and looked as red as fire or blood.