92 Meeting the elders. (2/2)
The moment Li Yang started talking, his entire body tensed up, all his strength and Qi gathering in his legs, just in case. As expected, having something like that said to his face, Yuan Lim instantly flared up.
”You little shit, how dare you?!”
Yuan Lim stood up from the chair with such force that the exquisite wooden chair was thrown against the wall, shattering. A gust of searing wind flew at Li Yang, aiming to smash him into the floor. Li Yang was just about to unleash the energy he had gathered in his feet to dodge, but before he could move, one of the seated people waved his hand and caused the searing wind to dissipate.
”Now now, this isn't what today's meeting is about. Elder Lim, please restrain your temper. Disciple Yang, please take a seat.”
The one who spoke was one of the people whose appearance Li Yang was unable to see, one of the three people who were kindly disposed towards him. The only reason Li Yang had spoken as he did was to test just how kindly disposed these three people were. And looking at the result, it seemed like they were aiming to protect him.
not only did they aim to protect him, but it also seemed like they wanted him to feel kindly disposed towards them as well. Otherwise, they wouldn't have waited until the attack was right in front of Li Yang before dissipating the attack, they would have done it before he was in any danger. But since they had done it when he was in the direst of situation, it would only be normal for Li Yang to feel good towards them for protecting him. He had tested them, but at the same time, they had tried to subtly manipulate his mindset.
Li Yang cupped his hands once more, stepping forward and sitting down on a normal wooden chair that suddenly appeared at one end of the table. Shortly after he sat down, Song Jiahao brought over two porcelain kettles of fragrant tea, pouring everyone in the room a cup before leaving. As he left, he cast a quick glance at Li Yang, wondering why he was receiving such favorable treatment.
Li Yang sipped the tea lightly, enjoying the soft and fruity flavor that it had. When the tea entered his body, he could feel it unleash a peaceful stream of energy that meandered towards his wounds, speeding up the healing process.
Yuan Lim and the other people in the room were also sipping the tea, but looking at the calm expression Yuan Lim wore, Li Yang guessed that the previous outbreak was only a ruse. It seemed like he had followed the orders of someone else, giving the three elders that were kindly disposed towards Li Yang a chance to impress him.
Li Yang could tell that Yuan Lim was still a bit angry at him, but it was nowhere near the level of hostility it had originally been, so it seemed like he was more reasonable than Li Yang first assumed. After everyone had gotten a bit of time to enjoy the tea, the elder that had dissipated the attack spoke up, his gaze landing on Li Yang.
”I believe it is about time we bring up the actual reason we called you here. Disciple Yang, would you mind telling us about that strengthening technique you used during the battle?”
It was perfectly reasonable for them to ask about his strengthening technique, it had after all greatly increased his strength after all. But Li Yang still felt that the actual reason for being called here was something else entirely. Still, he nodded his head with a calm smile, telling them the story he had already prepared shortly after entering the clan.
”I cannot tell you too much, my Master has forbidden me from teaching anyone else the technique. He called it Burning Hope, and it's a technique that uses concentrated fire to forcefull increase my physical strength. If I'm not careful, the technique might backfire and wound me, so I can't use it for too long.”
Li Yang felt a strange energy surround and enter his body, measuring the movements of his Qi, his blood, his heartbeat, even the movements of his soul and mind. They were clearly keeping an eye on him, checking if he was lying by scanning the movements of his body and mind. Sadly, this way of telling if someone was lying was very common even during Li Yang's past life, so he was easily able to deceive them. After scanning him to see if he was lying, the same obscured elder spoke up again.
”Your master? Could you tell us a bit about him? Of course, you don't have to if he has forbidden you from talking about him.”
The elder's voice sounded perfectly normal, but Li Yang was able to detect a tremor so faint that it was nearly unnoticeable. From the looks of it, the elder might already have a few guesses as to who Li Yang's 'master' was. Li Yang didn't reject the elder, nodding his head with a smile as he continued to spin the tale he had prepared.
”No, it's fine, Master didn't forbid me from talking about him. I met Master, I believe he said his name was Jing Yimu, in Mourners Refuge, he was looking at the four statues that are standing there. He said something about me having a great affinity, so he allowed me to travel with him for a bit, teaching me what he knew. The strengthening technique I used in the fight, Burning Hope, was the last thing he taught me before he said he had to leave. He said he wanted to check out a cursed place to reclaim something, but he didn't tell me exactly what it was.”
Even if Jing Yimu had spent a great deal of time in the hidden realm set up by Zhao Feng, there was no way someone like him, a cultivator of the Celestial Immortal realm, would not be known by the higher-ups of the various clans and sects. Li Yang had killed Jing Yimu inside that hidden realm, so unless he had left behind a soul jade somewhere, something that Li Yang found unlikely, there was no way for anyone to know that he had died.
And just like he expected, the nine people sitting around the table shivered ever so slightly after Li Yang spoke the name of his 'master'. Even if it was a large clan like the Yuan clan, they were not willing to anger someone at the Celestial Immortal realm. They had their own Celestial Immortals, but Jing Yimu was very old and very powerful, so he alone could hold back around five or six normal Celestial Immortals. After regaining their calm, one of the obscured elders nodded their head.
”So it was indeed his technique you were using, no wonder it felt so familiar to me. Thank you for answering, that was all we were wondering about so you may return to your abode and return to your recuperating. You should take this, it'll help you recuperate even faster, making it certain that you will be in top condition for the upcoming rank-up test.”
The elder waved his hand, a crystal bottle containing a light blue drop of liquid appearing in the air in front of Li Yang. Even though it was inside the bottle, Li Yang could feel that this single drop of liquid was far better than the pill that Yuan Luoyang had given him. But the pill she had given him was enough to heal his wounds, so he didn't need to use this drop, he could either save it or use it for cultivation, so he didn't reject it.
He accepted the bottle and gratefully cupped his hands, standing up and leaving the room. Looking at how swiftly they had dismissed him after hearing his response, he guessed that they had already figured out that Jing Yimu had likely taught him the technique, making him even more certain that they had called him over for a different reason. After all, they wouldn't call him over just to confirm something that they had likely already figured out. He didn't know the real reason they called him over, so he decided to be warier in the future, preparing to leave the clan if there should ever be a need for it.
After he left the room and the doors closed themselves behind him, only the nine elders seated at the table remained. The six who had inspected Li Yang with curiosity or indifference exchanged a few glances before finally breaking the silence with a question.
”Grand Elder, was there really a need to call him in so that we could have a look at him just because he was taught by the Burning Monk?”
Burning Monk was the title Jing Yimu had been given, much like how Li Yang's previous title used to be Thunder Monarch. To be taught by someone as great as Jing Yimu certainly made Li Yang worthy of interest, but it was not at a stage where it deserved their attention, not when he was just at the Ascending Heaven realm. The obscured elder, the Grand Elder, who had dissipated the attack launched at Li Yang turned his head to look at the six who were looking at him with a curious gaze, shaking his head slightly.
”Were it just for him being taught by Jing Yimu, he would not be deserving of our attention. But that is only part of the reason I had you come here to take a look at him, the main reason is a message that was delivered to our clan about a month ago.”
The Yuan clan had 18 elders, nine of which were currently in deep cultivation. Had it not been for them being in deep cultivation, the Grand Elder would have called over everyone. After making sure that everyone in the room was listening closely to his words, the Grand Elder continued talking, shocking everyone.
”We received a message from the Heaven's Gate sect and the Roaring Soul sect, a message written by the Twin Phoenix Queens themselves. The message is very simple, if we lay a single hand on that boy, it means all-out war.”
The Twin Phoenix Queens was a title given to the twins Fang Xiulan and Fang Yazhu. One was the Ice Phoenix Queen of the Heaven's Gate sect and the other was the Fire Phoenix Queen of the Roaring Soul sect, and both were people who were exceedingly aloof and hard to get close to. The Grand Elder couldn't help but wonder, just how had Li Yang gotten so close to both of them that they threatened the Yuan clan with all-out war if they laid their hands on him?