Hearing such an argument, Elder Yu smiled bitterly. Ye Chen was correct; authority was not as important as strength. Unfortunately, knowing it was one thing and accomplis.h.i.+ng it was another. Not everybody could be like Ye Chen, with a boundless potential. Their potential had already been exhausted, and thus, could only rely on sect for the resources that could let them advance slowly."Everybody has different circ.u.mstances, and everybody has their own view. Seems like I ended up being impulsive." Elder Yu thought that Ye Chen had been impulsive in his actions, but after hearing his reasoning, he felt that he had actually overthought the matter. For Ye Chen to achieve his current accomplishments, how could he not be clear on what should be the most important? He must have thought through before committing to his actions.
Amongst the twenty four members of the Elders a.s.sociation, Ye Chen could observe that seven-eight elders were partial toward Wei Longtao. Although they concealed it quite well, how could they hide it from Ye Chen"s eyes? It was clear how powerful Wei Longtao"s connections were.
However, Ye Chen didn"t care. Even if the Elders a.s.sociation unanimously declared Wei Longtao not guilty and reinstated his position as the Azure Dragon Hall Leader, it would have nothing to with him. He only did what ought to have been done, and thus, it wouldn"t affect him much. Of course, if the other then tried to overestimate his abilities and seek revenge, he wouldn"t suffer in silence.
"Ye Chen, you did well." Right at this moment, the second elder, Master Silver Sword, sent a Zhen Yuan transmission to Ye Chen.
Ye Chen glanced at him from the corner of his eyes. Second Elder didn"t look back at him, but continued, "As far as we"re concerned, sufficient basis for suspicion is enough. There is no need for strong evidence. If you truly had to wait to evidence before apprehending someone, who knows how many months or even years it would take. You can be rest a.s.sured. I, Great Elder, and third elder all think that you did the right thing. Since this Wei Longtao is suspicious, he can"t be allowed to return to the Azure Dragon hall, neither can he be allowed to leave the palace. However, in order to not let the others think that you did this to s.n.a.t.c.h his position, you can"t be the Azure Dragon leader. If you have something to add, you can say it directly."
"Second elder must be joking. I"ve never had much interest in authority." Ye Chen replied.
"Hehe, then there"s no problem! You"ll know tomorrow who the new Azure Dragon Hall Leader is. We"ll try our best to cooperate with you."
Second Elder"s wasn"t lying, and neither was he apprehensive of Ye Chen"s ident.i.ty as the Dragon G.o.d Envoy. He really felt that Ye Chen"s conduct was excellent, allowing him and Great Elder to take care of a th.o.r.n.y problem. As the saying went, "If you want to catch an adulterer, you must catch them in the act". Although this saying sounded pretty pleasant, if they were not in the act, wouldn"t it mean they would remain free for their entire lives? Extraordinary times required extraordinary actions. The current Dragon G.o.d Celestial Palace was going through a dangerous phase, and the most effective means of solving the problem of the mole was to capture all the suspicious characters, and Azure Dragon Hall Leader was no exception.
Cough Cough!
At this moment, Great Elder cleared his throat and asked Wei Longtao,"Hall Leader Wei, this is not a question of trust. Let me ask you, when you killed Yao Yifeng, were you only acting on impulse?"
"Correct!" Wei Longtao calmly nodded his head.
"You"ve always been very calm."Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
"No matter how calm I am, there are times when I can"t control my fury. And Yao Yifeng certainly made me furious. So many of our brothers died because of him."
"Good! If there is no problem with you, the position of Azure Dragon Hall Leader will still belong to you. However, before that, you will be required to undergo a series of investigation. Please understand and show cooperation!"
Great Elder was the Great Elder; handling such a tricky situation was as easy as a breeze for him. His tone neither supported Ye Chen nor Wei Longtao. His intent sort of comforted Wei Longtao without reprimanding him, but he didn"t allow the other to walk away, thus putting sufficient importance on Ye Chen"s words.
Hearing these words, Wei Longtao"s face turned unsightly. No matter how good his words were, he was still being investigated. In the end, Great Elder chose to trust Ye Chen.
"Great Elder, this seems somewhat inappropriate, doesn"t it?"
Wei Longtao didn"t speak anything. It was an elder with good relations.h.i.+p with him—eighth elder Liu.
At that moment, the second elder frowned, "Elder Liu, how is that appropriate? I agree with Great Elder"s decision.
"I agree as well."
"Elder Liu, I know that you think that Hall Leader Wei is innocent, and we think the same. However, an investigation is imperative. Therefore, I will go with Great Elder"s decision."
"Count me in as well."
"...."
Sixteen amongst the twenty four elders agreed with Great Elder"s decision. Even if the remaining eight wished to speak up for Wei Longtao, it had no meaning at this point. In the Elders a.s.sociation, the minority had to obey the majority.
Smiling bitterly, Elder Liu cast an empathizing yet helpless glance toward Wei Longtao and took a step back with a sigh, "Since this everybody"s opinion, this Liu will comply."
"Then it"s settled. Investigating Wei Longtao is not targeting him. Once the truth comes to light, he"ll still be Azure Dragon Hall Leader." The third elder spoke, his face beaming with joy.
Great Elder turned his head toward Ye Chen, "Dragon G.o.d Envoy, we"ll trouble you for the affairs of Azure Dragon Hall. Tomorrow, we will dispatch an expert to temporarily a.s.sume the command of Azure Dragon Hall. I hope you two will cooperate with each other and strive together against the four enemies."
"Be at ease, this is my job!" Ye Chen faintly nodded.
"Good, you can return first! If something comes up, I"ll send someone to inform you."
At this moment, the next day had already begun. Great elder knew that Azure Dragon Hall still had a transportation a.s.signment, and it couldn"t do without Ye Chen.
"Farewell then!"
Ye Chen shot a glance toward Wei Longtao and left the Elders Hall. Looking at his figure disappearing into the night, a cold light flickered in Wei Longtao"s eyes.
…
As Ye Chen returned to Azure Dragon Island, Xu Danian and Wu Chuan were awaiting him. "Deputy Ye, how did it go?" Xu Danian asked.
Ye Chen responded, "Wei Longtao will be subjected to an investigation. Tomorrow, someone will come here to subst.i.tute his position."
"Thank goodness!"
Xu Danian and Wu Chuan exchanged a glance and sighed with relief. If Wei Longtao had resumed the position as the Azure Dragon Hall Leader, the two of them would have been the most unsettled. After all, they didn"t have Ye Chen"s strength or courage, and neither his backing. They were nothing more than deputies under the command of the Azure Dragon Hall Leader.
"Deputy Ye, what about today"s a.s.signment? The enemy already knows the location and number of our troops." Wu Chuan asked.
A cold light flickered in Ye Chen"s eyes, "Proceed with the original plan."
…
Azure Spirit Island was a resource-heavy island near the center of the Blood Battle Ocean. This island had an ordinary upper grade spirit fountain with a dense Yuan Qi of the heaven and earth. Every breath here would be equivalent to a fifteen minute breathing of mortal realm martial artist. If one stayed here for a long time, their illnesses would be cured and their body would become healthy and robust. If one gave birth here, the baby would certainly have good talent for martial arts.
On the island, the miners were working hard as usual. However, they didn"t know that a big group of people had arrived and was hidden nearby last night.
"Three gentlemen, you can be at ease! I"ve brought about fifteen hundred people from the Sky Eagle Cult. Even if we can"t catch them, we certainly won"t lose. Once you flank them from the back, they will be killed like dogs." The hall leader of Sky Eagle Cult, the bird-nosed middle-aged man, said heroically.
"I hope so!" Whirlwind Gate"s Yin Wind Hall Leader He Lengji replied.
"Alright, there is no time to lose! My Water Wave Sect will move out first. Brother Zhou, the task of keeping the enemy"s attention will be yours." The green robed hall leader of Water Wave sect waved his hand, and more than a thousand members of the sect shot in the southwest direction.
"Well then, until later!"
"Victory is ours!"
Black King Sect"s hall leader, the black-robed man, and Whirlwind Gate"s hall leader He Lengji separated toward south and southeast respectively, leaving behind only the members of the Sky Eagle Cult.
Retracting his gaze, the bird-nosed middle-aged man said loudly, "My brothers, the time for us to get rich is finally here. Half of the resources and enemy"s treasures are ours, and we can also obtain half of the contribution points. This is not something we can get our hands on everybody. This is our good fortune!"
"Hall Leader can be at ease. Who knows that we Sky Eagle Cult might be enough to sweep them off alone and s.n.a.t.c.h all the resources and wealth." A sinister fatty beside him said with extreme confidence.
"That"s right! Kill the enemy and s.n.a.t.c.h the wealth."
According to the rules, they had to return ninety percent of the s.n.a.t.c.hed resources back to their sects, and the remaining ten percent would be distributed according to the proportion. Therefore, everybody was in high spirits and unafraid of death. Even if they couldn"t catch the enemy, they only had to hold them back for a little while. Even if the number of enemies turned out to two thousand, they were fifteen hundred themselves, and their formation would not lose instantly. They could easily battle while retreating.
""Let"s go!" Seeing the morale so high, the bird-nosed middle-aged man revealed a pleased expression and waved his head, leading his men toward the Azure Spirit Island.
Soon, they arrived two thousand li outside of Azure Spirit Island.
"Alright, form three groups and get ready!" This time was different from the past. In the past, they primarily relied on ambushes. However, this time, there was no need to do so. They only needed to kill as soon as they saw the enemy and buy time.
Fifteen minutes.
Thirty minutes.
"They"re here! It"s actually so many of them." A bloodthirsty expression flickered in the eyes of the bird-nosed middle aged man. In his line of sight were eleven hundred people coming toward them. The three in the lead were precisely Ye Chen, Xu Danian, and Wu Chuan—the three deputies.
"Haha, you came! But, you won"t be able to leave."
The bird-nosed middle-aged man let out a sigh of relief. The enemies" number was only eleven hundred, four hundred less compared to theirs. This was an immense advantage!
"That actually goes for you!" Ye Chen and the other two deputies had determined expression.
"Hmph, what arrogance! You won"t even know how you die!" The bird-nosed man raised his hand and was about to give command. But at that moment, Ye Chen also raised his hand and commanded, "Come out!"
His majestic voice, under the amplification of Zhen Yuan, transmitted around with a speed dozens of times that of sound. In an instant, it spread out up to hundreds of li.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
From north, east, and west, a thousand people each came charging through. The people from the north were wearing black robes and were members of the Black Dragon Hall; the ones on the east were wearing red robes and were members of the Red Dragon Hall; the ones on the west were wearing white robes, the members of White Dragon Hall under the lead of White Dragon Hall Leader Mo Feng.