Chapter 1322: The Wors.h.i.+p Day
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The entrance to the ancestral grave in the mountains behind the Heaven Palace Academy was a place with a long history. It was studded with giant stone pillars. The names of all the apprentices of the Heaven Palace Sect who had died were carved on these pillars. Li Xuanqi had tried to commemorate them in this way.
Behind these stone pillars, the ancestral graves of the Heaven Palace Sect could be found. More than half of the mountain had been used to build the ancestral mountain graveyard. Many horrible demonic beasts were carved on the stone walls at the entrance, which themselves were quite magnificent and captivating. At this moment, the high-level management staff of the Heaven Palace Academy, including the four building heads and pavilion heads led by Li Qinghe, the third-generation Dean, appeared.
Today was the ancestor wors.h.i.+p day of the Heaven Palace Academy, which took place every five years. Wors.h.i.+ppers would enter the graves every five years to refine the Spiritual Celestial Stones that supplied the Celestial Core Power for the first two Deans. The first two Deans were thought to have died. Actually, they had run out of their life spans. However, Li Xuanqi managed to find a way to realize recovery in their ancestral graves. In his later years, Li Xuanqi had set up a recovery spiritual Array with great efforts. Then, he managed to retain his soul and prevent his body from corruption on the day that his life span ran out with countless precious resources and Celestial Artifacts.
However, the drawback of this method was also quite obvious. It would consume countless precious resources constantly. Every five years, his apprentices had to enter the grave to maintain the running of the Array by refining many Spiritual Celestial Stones. Also, the two Deans were not allowed to leave the ancestral grave, but had to stay there forever. In this way, their bodies would recover and merge with their souls again after being nourished by much Celestial Core Power over many years. Then they would resurrect with more life span.
Li Qinghe, the current Dean of the Heaven Palace Academy, was the descendant of Li Xuanqi. Li Qinghe strictly abided by the ancestral guidance to enter the ancestral grave every five years with the building heads and the Elders. When they maintained the Array, they would take the opportunity to learn a lot by communicating with Li Xuanqi and the second-generation Dean. Moreover, some young descendants with good qualifications could also enter the grave to get the inheritance from the two Deans. In this way, the Heaven Palace Academy could get many young sovereigns from different places. Also, their apprentices would grow stronger. The key figures in this sect wouldn’t go to other sects easily. The two Deans, who were thought to have died, could also be used as trump cards for this sect in the future.
Now, those who were standing outside the ancestral grave were descendants of Li Xuanqi or the building heads who were loyal to the Heaven Palace Academy and the Li Family! However, as the Li Family became larger, this kind of cohesive force was also being weakened gradually. Although they were also members of the Heaven Palace Academy, each of them wanted to get an inheritance to become stronger. Therefore, the compet.i.tion among the younger generation for the inheritance every five years was getting extremely fierce.
Li Xuanqi was the first-generation Dean and also the founder of the Heaven Palace Academy. The second-generation Dean was Li Xuanqi’s younger son, Li Qinghe, the third-generation Dean was Li Xuanqi’s second grandson. The Deputy Dean was Li Xuanqi’s eldest grandson. The four building heads, who were the descendants of the sons of the second-generation Dean, were also Li Xuanqi’s descendants! All of them had their own descendants. Among these young descendants, the strongest one with the best qualifications was Li Wenqu, the son of the Deputy Dean!
This was a large family system, which formed the Heaven Palace Academy and absorbed countless sovereigns on the Heaven Continent. Also, it was divided into many factions that were fighting with both open and covert means fiercely. Standing at the rear of the crowd, Li Wenqu was smiling. This was the tenth time for Li Wenqu to partic.i.p.ate in the ancestor wors.h.i.+p ceremony in the ancestral grave. 50 years ago, he was just a cultivator with mediocre strength. Now, he had become the best young cultivator in the Li Family and was also one of the most powerful sovereigns on the Heaven Continent!
Many people compared him with the Divine Being of Taoist Fetus of the Sage Sect, though finding that the Divine Being of Taoist Fetus was more powerful. However, Li Wenqu was quite clear that the more inheritance he got during the ancestor wors.h.i.+p ceremony, the smaller the gap between him and the Divine Being of Taoist Fetus would become! Moreover, there was a hidden secret between him, his father, Li Qingshan, who was the current Deputy Dean of the Heaven Palace Academy, and the second-generation Dean who was in the grave now! The so-called Divine Being of Taoist Fetus and the Body of Heavenly Kismet would become his fortune and opportunity at last!
“Wenqu, when the wors.h.i.+p ceremony is finished, don’t leave immediately. Just remember to report to your grandfather!” A message was sent to Li Wenqu at this time.
“I know, father!” Li Wenqu nodded his head slightly as he fixed his eyes on a middle-aged man who was standing at the forefront. It was his father, Li Qingshan. Li Wenqu knew clearly the content of the report mentioned by his father, Li Qingshan. The Heaven Palace Academy had promoted the marriage between the Divine Being of Taoist Fetus of the Sage Sect and Jiang Hongyan, who had the Body of Heavenly Kismet. However, they didn’t want to witness the birth of the Divine Being of Heavenly Kismet at all! To be exact, it was the purpose of the rest of the members of the Heaven Palace Academy. However, the purpose of Li Wenqu, Li Qingshan, and the second-generation Dean was far more complicated.
“Also, have you got any updates about the old man you are looking for?” Li Qingshan sent another message to Li Wenqu at this moment.
Li Wenqu shook his head as he replied to the message, “Not yet! They just disappeared after showing up in the Taiyin Celestial Realm. I don’t think we should pay any more attention to him. He is just an old liar. His son is even not worth mentioning at all!”
“You shouldn’t underestimate them! The cultivation companion mentioned by Jiang Hongyan is Xu Que! Now, Xu Que hasn’t shown up. But his father has made a lot of noise. It is quite weird. Just handle this issue with care. The marriage between the Divine Being of Taoist Fetus and the Body of the Heavenly Kismet must go forward!”
“As you wish, father!” Li Wenqu nodded his head slightly and said with a smile, “Xu Que and his father might cause some trouble. But, father, please don’t forget the Sage Sect is looking forward to the birth of the Divine Being of Heavenly Kismet more than we do! So, we don’t need to worry about them!”
“I know that! But I was hoping you could eliminate those troublemakers before they could make any trouble, understand?”
“Yes, father! Please don’t worry because we will kill Xu Que’s father as soon as we find him. Then we will find the whereabouts of Xu Que. As for the Sage Sect…I have worked out a plan to force the Sage Sect to do something!”
“Oh? Tell me about your plan!”
“Father, I got a message a few days ago. The Sage Sect’s Holy Water River on Snow Fog Mountain has dried up. I did my best to get some information. The palace on Snow Fog Mountain was stolen by someone. However, the Sage Sect blocked the pa.s.sage of information. I took this opportunity to plant this issue on Xu Que’s father. Before long, the rumor that Xu Que’s father stole that palace will be widely spread. At that time, the Sage Sect will definitely send people to hunt down that old guy and even force him to give an explanation about the theft!” After saying that, Li Wenqu sneered, “I don’t believe that old guy could stay calm after that. n.o.body in this world dares to offend the Heaven Palace Academy and the Sage Sect at the same time!”
BOOM! At that moment, an enormous bang came from the entrance to the ancestral grave. Li Wenqu and Li Qingshan stopped their message-sending communications. They fixed their eyes on the ancestral grave seriously like the rest of the people in the area.
“Li Qinghe comes here to wors.h.i.+p the ancestors together with the Deputy Dean Li Qingshan, four building heads, and 36 pavilion heads of the Heaven Palace Academy!” Li Qinghe boomed out. His voice echoed all around this place. The next moment, a majestic voice could be heard from the ancestral grave, “Come in!”