Chapter 664: Huangfu Clan’s Countermeasure
His words caused the madam’s face to greatly change. This could be said to be a secret of the country, a secret that very few people knew about. Even those who were privy to this wouldn’t reveal this secret, but Li Qiye knew it so well.
The madam took a deep breath; she had slowly grown accustomed to Li Qiye’s tendency of bringing about surprises. After thinking about it, she realized that ointments for recovery were part of the alchemy dao, and with his great skill, he should be able to see through her past injury — this should come as no surprise.
She wryly smiled and gently nodded to say: “Yes, this is true, I have suffered from a lightning tribulation before.” At this point, she sighed again and continued: “The Giant Bamboo Country has not produced a Virtuous Paragon for several generations. Our ancestor is sealed inside Blood Era Stones, and his situation is not looking too optimistic as his blood energy has withered. We don’t know how long he will be able to last underground. Thus, in this generation, I yearn to reach the Virtuous Paragon realm to contribute to the country.”
For tens of millions of years, many ancestors and invincible existences were entombed in Blood Era Stones and buried underground. However, many of them still eventually died inside these stones.
Although the stones could cover someone for a long time, they were not a cure-all remedy. As time went by, even those within the stones would slowly lose their vitality, and this loss would add up over the years. This was especially true for the ancestors whose lifespans had already depleted; it was even harder for them to persevere.
Because of this situation, the near-death ancestors didn’t want to come into being because the next time they came out would signal their demise.
Li Qiye gave her a look before lightly saying: “Don’t worry, I will get you the item you want since I’ll be personally going to the Alchemy Kingdom’s alchemy conference.” He narrowed his eyes after finis.h.i.+ng this sentence.
The madam gently nodded without commenting.
***
Inside the Huangfu Clan, its clan master had received the news from the Giant Bamboo Country, resulting in his sudden exclamation: “What?!”
He fell down on his chair after listening to this news. The elders that were present all glanced at each other with ugly expressions plastered on their faces; some were full of anger while others showed shock.
An elder couldn’t help but angrily shout: “The Giant Bamboo Country is going too far. First they harmed Hao’er, and now they even killed our ancestor. This shall be an irreconcilable blood feud!”
After a while, the clan master calmed down and took a deep breath before speaking in a grave manner to the elders: “This is a great humiliation to our clan. Do you elders have any opinions on this?”
The shocked and angered elders naturally found it hard to let this go, unless they were able to obtain their vengeance. Their clan had always thought highly of itself. It was an alchemy clan, and although they had never produced an Alchemy Emperor, their dao of alchemy could be said to have branched off from the Alchemy Kingdom. Their alchemy skill was not something clans like the previous Qing Clan could compare to.
What made them even more proud was that their clan had been in-laws with the Alchemy Kingdom for several generations, winning them a pivotal position in the Alchemy Realm and even the entire Stone Medicine World.
As the old saying goes, even if you don’t care for the monk, you still have to give Buddha some consideration. Thus, many great powers were very supportive of the Huangfu Clan within the Alchemy Realm. This only further fueled their pride.
From their perspective, no one in this realm would dare to provoke them, but now, not only did the Giant Bamboo Country harm their descendant, they actually killed their ancestor as well! How could they not be furious?
However, despite their enraged state, they didn’t lose their rationality. The ancestor who went to the Giant Bamboo Country was their youngest ancestor, but still, he was now a dead Virtuous Paragon.
“Perhaps we should invite three ancestors to come out!” One high elder mused.
This raised some thoughts from the other elders because this would be their strongest force. These three ancestors were all they had left, and they had been sealed for a very long time now.
“The Giant Bamboo Country is unreasonable and vicious; they are promoting wanton killing of friends… Perhaps, we need to ask the Alchemy Kingdom to come and uphold justice.” Another elder suggested.
Such a proposal was not instantly accepted in the minds of the elders and the clan master. Although they were in-laws with the Alchemy Kingdom, their marriage partners had only been Prefecture Monarchs. It was still difficult for them to meet the main branch of the Alchemy Kingdom, or what outsiders referred to as the imperial family. They all knew that inviting the Alchemy Kingdom was not an easy task.
“Clan Master can try to find the World-Pillar Monarch. If the monarch is willing to help, then maybe we will be able to ask the Alchemy Kingdom to represent us.” A high elder said: “The Giant Bamboo Country might have a Guardian Deity, but so what? As long as the Alchemy Kingdom is willing to show up, even a G.o.dking would not mess with them.”
“This idea is not bad.” The clan master couldn’t help but ponder. The World-Pillar Monarch was the ruler of a prefecture within the Alchemy Kingdom. He had married a daughter from the Huangfu Clan, so he had a deep relations.h.i.+p with the clan.
In this generation, the string that connected the Huangfu Clan and the Alchemy Kingdom was this very World-Pillar Monarch. As one of the oldest lineages, the Alchemy Kingdom was a behemoth in this world. However, for a sect with three Immortal Emperors and four Alchemy Emperors, they had always maintained a low profile, especially the imperial family. Outsiders rarely saw its members, including the Huangfu Clan who had ties with the kingdom for generations. It was still prohibitively difficult to meet royal members, even for the Huangfu Clan.
“Clan Master, this plan is feasible.” Another high elder stated: “The World-Pillar Monarch is a young prodigy in the kingdom with great contributions; he is highly valued by the upper echelons. If the monarch is willing to speak for us on top of our relations.h.i.+p with Fairy Ming, then we still have hope of convincing the Alchemy Kingdom.”
“That’s right, Clan Master, Fairy Ming is somewhat related to us, so it will be even better if we can meet her.” Another high elder couldn’t help but add.
After being advised by the elders, it would be false to say that the clan master was not tempted. He definitely couldn’t swallow this anger; such a feud was a great humiliation to them. As the ruler of the clan, if he couldn’t wash away this shame, then he would be stricken with guilt.
However, he was still not convinced since he was different from the high elders who were usually in isolated seclusion. He was responsible for communicating with the great powers, especially the Alchemy Kingdom.
He was very clear about their relations.h.i.+p with the Alchemy Kingdom. Although the Alchemy Kingdom’s descendant, Fairy Ming, was related to the Huangfu Clan, in reality, the relations.h.i.+p was very distant and spanned across several generations.
In fact, he himself had only seen Fairy Ming once. This was back when she still had yet to become the main descendant of the Alchemy Kingdom. When she eventually obtained this position, using the Huangfu Clan’s thin relations.h.i.+p to arrange a meeting was harder than reaching the heavens.
The truth was that he and the entire clan had always tried to use this relations.h.i.+p as a vantage point. If Fairy Ming herself accepted this relation, then their Huangfu Clan would be able to climb up high and gain a great backing.
The problem was that they had never been able to do so. He had tried to meet Ming Yexue several times before to no avail. The reason why Huangfu Hao spent a great sum in an attempt to buy that Heavenly Cauldron was so that he could use this item to build on that thin connection.
“Clan Master, even though it is very difficult to meet the imperial family, we do have such ties with Fairy Ming. We just need to prepare and have the World-Pillar Monarch pave the way for us; it is still possible.” Many elders strongly endorsed this plan.
The clan master took a deep breath and became determined. No matter what, they must communicate with the Alchemy Kingdom.
“Very well, I will personally take a trip to the Alchemy Kingdom to get revenge for our ancestor.” He said gravely.
Another high elder contemplated for a moment before speaking: “The Giant Bamboo Country has a Divine Guardian, so if we want to fight them in the future, shouldn’t we ask for Sacred Ancestor Gu’s permission?”
Sacred Ancestor Gu was one of the three fortunate ancestors of the Huangfu Clan that remained. He was the oldest and also the strongest one.
The Huangfu Clan Master nodded and said in a formal tone: “I will go visit Sacred Ancestor Gu and ask for his opinion.”
“There is no need to come see me, I already know what happened.” At this time, a deep and hoa.r.s.e voice appeared inside the room. Although they couldn’t see the person, the voice itself was full of authority.
“Sacred Ancestor Gu!” After hearing this voice, everyone in the room instantly prostrated.
The old voice continued: “I have understood the current situation after listening. The clan master can go to the Alchemy Kingdom not to convince the Alchemy Kingdom to represent us, but to build on this relations.h.i.+p instead. If we are backed by its imperial family… Nothing could be better for our clan than this.”
“This disciple understands.” The prostrating Huangfu Clan Master complied.
“However, one thing is forbidden.” The old voice said: “All Huangfu disciples are forbidden to step inside the Giant Bamboo Country for revenge, not a single step. If anyone disobeys, expel them from the clan!”
The words from the ancestor left the elders present in shock. They didn’t know why their ancestor would say such a thing.
“But, Ancestor…” The clan master was dumbfounded by this. Their descendant almost died in the Giant Bamboo Country, and they also lost one ancestor, three high elders, five elders, and numerous experts. It was simply impossible to tell them to let go of this enmity.
“This is my decree, no one is exempt from this.” The old voice sounded; no one dared to oppose his prestige.
“Yes…” Although the clan master was unwilling, he still decided to follow Sacred Ancestor Gu’s command.