Chapter 165: Watched by the Entire City!
“Xingran, how about you… reconsider?” Chief Reverend Luo Zhichang started.
Second Reverend Fang Qi and Third Reverend Jiang Hao’s eyebrows also moved slightly. A strange light appeared in those dim yellow eyes.
Once they were reminded by Xie Jingxuan’s explanation and changed their way of thinking, they realized that the anger in their hearts actually calmed down quite a bit when they looked at Qin Lie again.
Xie Jingxuan understood that things should be done in moderation and that she did not need to add any more pressure onto Ying Xingran anymore, so she kept quiet as well.
The moment the two outer sect elders, Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping, heard that Chief Reverend Luo Zhichang had a change of heart, they immediately became excited. They hurriedly look towards Sect Master Ying Xingran and waited for him to make a new decision.
Tang Siqi, Yi Yuan, and Lian Rou’s eyes also lit up as they stared in unison at Ying Xingran with hope blossoming inside their hearts.
At this moment, Qin Lie was still completely frozen while standing still amidst the falling snowflakes.
The snowfall was heavy, and the snowflakes that were like goose feathers had covered Armament Sect’s entrance. The many people standing around could not feel the slightest bit of warmth from the blazing sun and were all s.h.i.+vering in the bitter cold.
But they still stayed in place and waited, waiting for a decision that would decide Armament Sect’s future.
Wu Tuo and many other heads of other forces all had solemn expressions on their faces. From time to time, they would look at Qin Lie and then they would look at Ying Xingran. They were unable to calm down.
“Xingran…” Fangqi said quietly.
The crowd could clearly see Ying Xingran’s gaze swimming between Qin Lie and Tang Siqi. His expression of anger that was like an erupting volcano was also starting to slowly calm down.
He seemed to have regained his cool.
“Qin Bing’s background is unknown, and there is no way to investigate his ident.i.ty. It is a possibility that he was placed into our sect by other forces and bears ill will towards Armament Sect,” Ying Xingran pondered for a moment while staring somberly at the onlookers. He let out a cold snort and started again, “If that is true, then introducing Qin Bing into Blood Spear will only cause a huge problem in the future!”
The moment he said this, many people’s expressions had changed a little once again. Even the three great reverends nodded their heads lightly.
The knew that Ying Xingran had finally truly regained his rationality and begun to consider the problem from many angles. Therefore, they chose not to speak any longer.
They trusted in Ying Xingran’s abilities.
“Imprison Qin Bing temporarily at Fire Prison Cliff and check his background first. We will discuss this further and come to a decision together on whether he lives.” Ying Xingran stared at the three great reverends.
The trio nodded and acknowledged his decision.
“Tong Jihua! Cheng Ping!” Ying Xingran yelled, “Escort him to Fire Prison Cliff!”
“Please wait for a moment.” Tong Jihua bowed. Staring at him, he said seriously, “To be able to affect the world with a concept and influence nature is a wondrous state that could only be encountered through pure luck. Qin Bing is still experiencing the wonders of a concept at the moment, and this will bring him great benefits in the future. To forcefully awaken him from this state will not be proper.”
Ying Xingran and the three great reverends had given their entire lives to Armament Sect. All their efforts were committed to the study of artifact forging, so their recognition of the many wonders of martial arts was not deep enough.
But they were not stupid. They immediately understood upon hearing Tong Jihua’s explanation.
“Then we shall wait,” Luo Zhichang nodded.
“Just wait,” Ying Xingran followed.
And so, everyone watched Qin Lie quietly at the entrance to Armament Sect, waiting for him to awaken on his own from the frost concept.
A heavy snow that was like goose feathers fell under the hot sun. The snowflakes grew larger and larger, and they slowly covered the area near the Armament Sect entrance while exuding cold air. The snow fell, slowly covering the trees, stone floors, roofs...
Four hours later, everything within a five hundred meter radius of Armament Sect’s entrance had actually turned into a silvery world of harsh winter!
This extraordinary phenomenon had shocked everyone in Armament City!
The leaders of various forces who were currently in Armament City, the martial pract.i.tioners who had traveled a thousand miles to obtain spirit artifacts at Armament Sect, the individual travelers who stayed around Free Trade Street for years, they had all heard of the shocking phenomenon at Armament Sect.
And so, they all gathered there.
White snow covered both heaven and earth. There were crystalline icicles an arm’s length hanging off the eaves. The martial pract.i.tioners all looked like snowmen with their bodies buried in snow.
Ying Xingran, the three great reverends, and the seven great inner sect elders all stood by Armament Sect’s entrance.
There were also some outer sect elders who wore blood-red s.h.i.+rts present. The fierce and brutal Blood Spear experts had rushed over after hearing the news.
This land sealed by white snow in front of Armament Sect’s entrance seemed to have attracted every single martial pract.i.tioner in the entire city there.
If there was someone floating in the sky right now, they would see that with the snowy land beneath them as the center, the area was completely filled with people and they squeezed so tightly together that they looked like ants, causing the streets nearby to be completely congested.
Those who stood at the center of the snowy lands were true experts, the heads of various forces and Armament Sect’s higher ups.
They knew what was happening and could endure the chilliness of this land. That was why they stood here and waited in silence. No one had spoken up noisily, nor did anyone whisper to each other.
But on the outside, those who had heard of the news and rushed over were all having loud discussions and shrilly questioning others for details because they did not know the exact situation. Some of them were pus.h.i.+ng to the center, desperate to get a glimpse of the icy world.
A martial pract.i.tioner who could learn a concept and, with said concept, cause a phenomenon was incredibly rare on this continent.
For many people, a concept was the stuff of legends. To cause snow to fall with a concept, under the blazing sun even… this was practically a miracle of the G.o.ds.
Naturally, this attracted countless people’s gazes, and among them were Han Qingrui, Han Feng, Kang Hui, and Kang Zhi.
These former Nebula Pavilion personnel were forced to leave because Liu Yuntao had ascended to the position of Pavilion Master.
Under Pan Jueming’s recommendation, they had arrived in Armament City and become Armament Sect’s foreign delegates. They were responsible in a.s.sisting Armament Sect with transporting spirit materials and selling them at the various Armament Pavilion at the surrounding forces.
“Armament City is truly Armament City. It really can’t be compared to Icestone City. Truly, the experts here are as numerous as the clouds.” Little fatty Kang Zhi had been pressed by the human traffic until he was as shrivelled as having lost ten pounds of fat. He sweated profusely while trying to rush inside for a look. “Dammit, all these people pus.h.i.+ng against me are all Natal Opening Realm pract.i.tioners. Some of them even look to be in the Manifestation Realm. It seriously makes me want to crawl in a hole.”
“This place is truly vast. There’s actually a genius who can learn a concept and even triggered a world changing phenomenon!” Hang Feng exclaimed.
These two former higher ups of Nebula Pavilion, Han Qingrui and Kang Hui, were also defeated by the traffic and had no choice but to retreat. They were unable to see the wonder of the inner frost land. The two met each other’s eyes and shook their heads with wry smiles.
“Sigh, let’s hope that we can receive Elder Tong’s invitation after our mission is complete a while later.” Han Qingrei said.
“Yeah. At the very least we could get him to get us a place to stay in the city for real. Then we’ll be able to get an ident.i.ty card from the outer sect and traverse the outer sect freely.” Kang Hui sighed once, “This truly is a Black Iron force, and the richest and most headache inducing for its surrounding forces, Armament Sect. There are too many people who want to become their high rank foreign delegates. There seriously isn’t anyone who fancies us.”
“Endure it. We’ll eventually rise as long as we endure long enough,” Han Qinrei said helplessly while tiptoeing in attempt to look inside. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t see anything.
“Awake! He’s awake!”
Abruptly there was a cry of shock coming from inside, and everyone madly rushed inside once more.
Han Qingrui and Kang Hui’s group was knocked off balance by the rus.h.i.+ng crowd, and a moment later, they were completely flooded by the sea of people.
Inside the circle formed by the sea of people, an icy land of falling snow, Qin Lie, who was like an ice sculpture, had suddenly opened his eyes.
He had awakened from his concept.
His eyes were icy and cold. It was as if he was still walking alone in the endlessly wide land of absolute chilliness, as if he was still tasting what absolute zero meant with his own soul...
“Qin Bing!” While he was still in a trance, he heard Tong Jihua’s solemn cry and finally but slowly regathered his consciousness.
He frowned and looked around him.
Countless faces of curiosity, doubt, shock, and excitement appeared before his line of sight. Tong Jihua, Yi Yuan, Lian Rou, Tang Siqi, Sect Master Ying Xingran, the great elder Mo Hai...
Many recognizable and strange, familiar and unfamiliar faces abruptly appeared all at once.
“Qin Bing!” Tong Jihua cried out softly and immediately said, “You have killed Liang Shaoyang, and we will judge you by the sect’s rules. Come with us to Fire Prison Cliff at the back of the mountain and await the sect’s decision!”
“We will investigate your background and make a final decision about your fate in accordance to the sect’s laws and the judgement of the sect master and three great reverends,” Cheng Ping also said.
Qin Lie calmed down and quickly sorted out his mind. He understood what had happened.
He had expected all of this from the moment he decided to kill Liang Shaoyang, so he wasn’t surprised in the least. “I will come with you.”
He cooperatively took the first step.
“Pak pak pak!”
The ice that had formed on his body shattered and fell heavily onto the frozen stones on the ground. Cracks had also appeared on the icy land, and as he walked, the world of snow and ice that seemed like it would stay frozen forever strangely began to shatter.
The heavy snow falling from the sky had also stopped at the same time.
Under the radiance of the blazing, hot sun, the people standing in this area of ice and snow had finally experienced the long missed warmth of the sun at this moment.
“It was him. It was all because of him. The moment he woke up, this phenomenon had also stopped.”
“Amazing. He looks to be only at the Natal Opening Realm, and he looks very young. If he truly could pour all of his heart into working for Armament Sect, then Armament Sect has truly picked up a treasure. This person’s value may not be weaker than that dead Liang Shaoyang!”
“I believe that his value is way higher than Liang Shaoyang! Based on the fact that he had learned a concept alone, he would be placed at the same level as Liang Shaoyang who caused the spirit pattern pillars to react, and this guy was even able to cause the world itself to change. This isn’t something that Liang Shaoyang could do.”
“Makes sense.”
The crowd watched Qin Lie as he followed behind Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping, walking to Armament Sect’s entrance one step at a time. They watched Ying Xingran and the three great reverend’s complex expressions as they began to discuss quietly.
“No matter what the circ.u.mstances, you should not have killed Liang Shaoyang. The sect will have to imprison you for at least half a year.” When Qin Lie had walked beside Luo Zhichang, Luo Zhichang abruptly let out a cold yell with a stern face.
However, everyone who had heard this cold yell felt their expressions froze.
They’re going to imprison him for only half a year?
Didn’t they say that they were going to burn him to death with Fire Prison Cliff’s earthfire?
Wasn’t this change in att.i.tude a little too quick?
What surprised the crowd even more was that Sect Master Ying Xingran, did not refute him at all. He actually did not reprimand him for this ridiculous statement.
Tong Jihua, Cheng Ping, Tang Siqi, and Yi Yuan’s eyes abruptly lit up and grew excited on the inside.
“I do not believe that you will imprison me for half a year.” Qin Lie’s footsteps paused as he turned around and looked at Ying Xingran and the three great reverends. He then said with certainty, “You will not even imprison me for even a day.”
“Wanton!”
“Too arrogant!”
“Even if you’re a talented martial pract.i.tioner, don’t you think too highly of yourself?”
“Do you really think we’ll be merciful?!”
Ying Xingran and the three great reverends were utterly flabbergasted. They all thought that Qin Lie did not appreciate their kindness and that he had actually said something so blunt in front of so many people. This caused them to turn furious instantly.
The onlookers were all dumbfounded as well.
Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping repeatedly glanced at Qin Lie. They also felt that this kid was a block of wood. The chief reverend was obviously covering for you already, but still you contradicted him. What was going on in his brain?
“Qin Bing, quick, apologize to the sect master and three great reverends, quickly!” Tang Siqi was so anxious that she stomped her foot.
“Brother Qin, aren’t you being a little too, too full of surprises?” Yi Yuan smiled wryly and didn’t know what to say.
“You should be imprisoned for a whole year! Ungrateful fellow!” Lian Rou yelled loudly.
“Let’s lock him up for a year!” Luo Zhichang was so angry that his beard fumed as he glared, “Let’s see how your behavior is after a year. If your att.i.tude is still the same, then the imprisonment will continue!”
“Take him away!” Ying Xingran was also annoyed as he yelled harshly.
Tong Jihua and Cheng Ping had also scolded Qin Lie blue and black in their hearts. They thought to themselves, “Does he have glue inside his head? He’s practically an idiot. To think that he would taunt the sect master and three great reverends at a time like this.
“Is he really not afraid of death?"
“You will change your minds.” Qin Lie coolly threw down such words and finally moved through Armament Sect’s entrance.
He left behind the ugly-looking higher ups of Armament Sect who were still taking turns to reprimand him at the entrance.
This Chapter’s Teaser