He Xingping returned to Beast G.o.d City long after the immortals. He wasn"t able to see their reactions and he wished he could have been there at that moment. From the rumor grapevine, He Zicheng and Qu Shen almost started fighting again in the city but were stopped by their subordinates. The damage to the top of the mountain was severe. The entire city and its citizens were in shock from the attack.The news of this brazen attack quickly spread across the subcontinent and Beast G.o.d Sanctum lost a ma.s.sive amount of face. The two lords tried to track down Mei Qiaofeng but she had retreated deep into human territory. Once her sob story of avenging her master emerged, there was nothing they could do. The sect also put out a ten million gold bounty on the mysterious fat and ugly old immortal that helped raid the city. Hundreds if not thousands matching the description were dragged up by the immortals of the sect, bounty hunters, and mercenaries and their ultimate fates were unknown but probably tragic. But the citizens of the city didn"t care, they simply wanted revenge, for the attack and for the people they had lost.
The sect also lost a hundred years of c.u.mulative wealth and resources. While the most valuable treasures were stored away in spatial bags, this was still a super sect and that money and material was needed to run a sect with so many members. Immediately after the attack, all disciples were recalled across the lands and a ma.s.sive effort began to replenish the losses. He Xingping was among the elders that were soon called back to the Lion castle, this time for a meeting with the lord himself.
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Chen Wentian, as He Xingping, arrived at the top of Beast G.o.d City. He finally set eyes on Lion castle and saw that reconstruction was well under way. The Eagle faction, to his chagrin, had shamelessly taken over the empty Snake castle that had been left untouched. This was probably what the two lords had almost fought over.
He entered the castle and was escorted to the newly construction great hall and was surprised to see the lord and all three immortals there. Soon as he arrived, three other elders also came in and he could guess where this was going.
"Greetings Lion Lord! Greetings immortals!" They said as they bowed.
"Rise…" He Zicheng said tiredly, "Sigh… this attack on our sect by Mei Qiaofeng was devastating, four executive elders lost their lives, as I"m sure you"ve heard. These positions must be filled. Each of you have shown great skills and loyalty and have made great contributions. Thus, you four have been selected for promotion."
"Thank you, lord!" They bowed again.
He Zicheng called up each of them one by one and spoke to them briefly about their new position.
Chen Wentian went up when it was his turn. Once close to the immortals, he noticed that Ji Tiangu was looking at him fiery eyes. He ignored it and bowed to He Zicheng. "Lord, please advise me."
"Mmm, He Xingping. I"ve watched you for a long time. Your talent was never great but you are diligent and hardworking. The hunt for the comet lynx was a failure but He Xinghan told me you performed your duty well. As you know, Ji Yeming died during the attack so you will a.s.sume that position as executive elder, effective immediately."
"Yes, my lord!"
"Good, executive elder is fundamentally different from the lower ranks. Being one gives you access to some of the sect"s most important secrets. Thus, you need swear by this spiritual oath." He Zicheng said and handed him a slip of paper.
Chen Wentian didn"t hesitate and read the oath, "I, He Xingping, swear to loyalty to He Zicheng and shall not reveal any secrets to outsiders and anyone below the rank of executive elder."
A soft glow of golden spiritual energy surrounded him as the spiritual oath took effect. He Zicheng nodded in satisfaction and waved him away. Chen Wentian returned to stand next to the other three newly promoted executive elders. What n.o.body in the room realized was that such oaths were simply useless in the face of his divine soul art!
Within He Xingping"s body, the strand of spiritual energy belonging to the oath entered his spiritual sea, seeking to anchor itself there forever. But as it floated, the entire spiritual sea disappeared as if everything was an illusion. Everything was replaced by an endless black void that was filled with multi colored stars. The spiritual oath floated about in confusion before becoming attracted towards a dim yellow star that was emitting a familiar spiritual energy. It glided towards it; it flew and flew, but the yellow star seemingly remained an infinite distance away. The spiritual oath seemed to realize something and turned around, trying to escape, to return from where it came.
But how could Chen Wentian let it escape? A blue star suddenly s.h.i.+ned bright and beam of pure energy suddenly shot forth. The spiritual energy of the oath was incinerated by the divine flames of the Blue Dragon and not a single bit of it was left… The whole ordeal only took a few seconds and Chen Wentian opened his eyes again with the slightest smiles on the face. n.o.body sensed anything was amiss, they only a.s.sumed he was happy about his promotion.
He Zicheng went over some secrets with the new executive elders, explaining why the city was attacked. He described Mei Qiaofeng, the strange old man, and a mysterious prisoner that had escaped. He did not mention Jasmine by name or that she was a nine tailed fox, only referring to her human form. He also did not say anything about the betrayal and death of the Snake lord, only that the Snake faction had betrayed the sect and sided with their enemies. Chen Wentian listened intently, acting angry, surprised, and indignant at all the right times. His performance was totally on point and convincing.
The meeting eventually ended with each of the new executive elders being given a mountain of work. He Zicheng left by himself while the four chatted with the three remaining immortals. Chen Wentian took the opportunity to approach Qiu Chuyi who he had only spoken to a few times before.
"Xingping, happy with the promotion?" Qiu Chuyi asked.
"Of course, absolutely! It is a huge honor from the lord to be given such responsibility." Chen Wentian said. He then lowered his voice, "Although, I"ve noticed that Ji Tiangu seems to be overly hostile towards me."
"Haha, don"t worry. Ignore him. He is just angry his son was killed. He tried to get another one of his sons into your position but you were the most qualified. You are related to the lord and your wife is also related to me. There won"t be any problems, just do your job well."
"Yes."
"Oh, by the way, I heard about your wife, congratulations." Qiu Chuyi said and handed him a small bag.
Chen Wentian was surprised and bowed. "Thank you, sir."
He opened the bag to see some herbs and medicine that he recognized as being beneficial for pregnancy. He felt slightly conflicted as he watched Qiu Chuyi walk away. His wife"s clan head wasn"t that bad, he seemed like a reasonable man. He shook his head; in the end it didn"t matter. His revenge against the Beast G.o.d Sanctum still wasn"t finished and he would destroy anyone that stood in his way.