Chapter 437 - A Hundred Year Conspiracy
On the sixteenth mountain, Sacred Leader Qinglong stood between the Heavens and Earth while emitting a weakened aura, as if his life would dissipate at anytime soon. Opposite him stood Peak Leader Yang in the leading position, followed by the other Peak Leaders, vice-Peak Leaders, envoys, custodians, etc., resulting in a huge formation.
The disciples who decided to stay were furious.
Did these people really forget how Sacred Leader Qinglong helped them to develop their talents?
Sacred Leader Qinglong’s expression remained the same while he slowly scanned each person among the crowd. Those who met his eyes were ashamed of their decision and lowered their heads subconsciously. After a brief while, they could hear Sacred Leader Qinglong speaking at a slow pace, “I will spare your lives only today due to the friends.h.i.+p between us. Leave now.”
Despite the calm tone, the words were accompanied by a hint of disappointment.
“Humph, let’s go!”
Peak Leader Yang let out a hollow laugh.
Under his lead, the huge crowd left the place in a majestic fas.h.i.+on.
In just less than an hour’s time, the entire Qinglong Sacred Area had turned lifeless as only the minority chose to stay, thus causing it to lose its previous imperiousness of a Sacred Area, resulting in a sad sight.
The eyes of the disciples who stayed—together with Sima Kong and his companions—were spitting flames.
Despite the willingness of Sacred Leader Qinglong to nurture them into outstanding experts, they chose to leave the sect just because the Qinglong Sacred Area was facing a mere crisis?
This type of people could be considered as ingrateful animals!
“I’m the reason that all this happened!”
Qin Nan’s heart turned heavy.
Peak Leader Yang and the others had surely planned for this revolt a long time before executing it. However, as a matter of fact, it had only taken place due to the conspiracy behind the Ocean of Death a few hundred years ago. Qin Nan was not the main reason that it occurred, but he just happened to be dragged into it.
“Everyone!”
At that instant, Sacred Leader Qin uttered a roar all of a sudden.
“Thank you for choosing to stay in the Qinglong Sacred Area, but it is not my will to drag you all into this mess. Therefore, the four great Peak Leaders will bring you to a safe place away from the Qinglong Sacred Area!”
“Don’t worry, this will only be temporary!”
“One day, we will make those who betrayed us pay!”
“By the way, I’ve got something important to announce. From today onward, Qin Nan will be appointed as the Saint of the Qinglong Sacred Area! He will inherit the Qinglong Sacred Area if I happen to pa.s.s away!”
Sacred Leader Qinglong continued to speak.
The crowd of disciples was startled. However, before they could collect their thoughts, they swiftly opposed the suggestion.
“No way, we will not leave the Qinglong Sacred Area!”
“Right, we will not abandon the sect!”
“I’m willing to die as long as I continue to stand with the Qinglong Sacred Area. I’m in debt to the sect for nurturing me into who I am today. How could I leave when the sect is in need?”
The disciples yelled out respectively.
“Everyone, silence!” At that instant, four figures appeared who turned out to be the remaining four Peak Leaders. One of them said, “The Sacred Leader has already mentioned this is a temporary withdrawal. Be patient! Now that the lower district is in such a mess due to the great conspiracy, if we were to stay here any longer, we would serve as a burden to the Sacred Leader. Do you understand?”
The roar continued to buzz in the minds of the crowd.
They had forgotten that the Feiyang Sacred Area was definitely at their peak right now. If they were to continue staying at the Qinglong Sacred Area, Sacred Leader Qinglong would have to protect them.
As the Peak Leader said, if they insisted on staying, they would serve as a burden!
At that moment, the disciples fell silent.
“Come with us!”
The four Peak Leaders said immediately.
Before the huge crowd left, the four Peak Leaders glanced at Qin Nan and nodded their heads without saying anything.
After a while, the Qinglong Sacred Area fell into a dead silence like a deserted place.
“This…”
Sima Kong and the others were stunned.
They had not expected that they would be the only one remaining at the previously huge Qinglong Sacred Area after just a few hours’ time.
“You three should leave with them too.”
Sacred Leader Qinglong suddenly spoke while waving his hand. Before they could say anything, their figures were swept away.
At that instant, only Sacred Leader Qinglong, Princess Miao Miao, and Qin Nan remained.
A sense of loneliness and desolation could be felt.
“Qin Nan, the sacrifice I paid to protect you is huge,” Sacred Leader Qinglong said with a smile, “Now that the plan has changed, the enemies will strike very soon. Since only a few of us remain in the Qinglong Sacred Area, all our hope lies with you. So go crazy and do it your way.”
After saying this, Sacred Leader stomped his foot on the ground. Following this, his weakened body disappeared.
Qin Nan and Princess Miao Miao were left speechless as they stared at the desolated place before them. They could not find any words to describe their feelings at that instant.
Did Sacred Leader Qinglong just leave like that?
And left the two of them there without telling them anything?
Was he seriously not planning to tell them anything regarding the reason why Peak Leader Yang was trying to kill him, why he chose to betray the sect, what the conspiracy was that took place back then—was he actually not telling them anything?
“Qin Nan!”
At that moment, a voice could be heard, which turned out to be Tang Qingshan.
Tang Qingshan glanced at the deserted Qinglong Sacred Area while his eyes flickered coldly with a murderous intent.
Qin Nan did not waste any time after seeing him. He immediately said in a dull tone, “Senior, I would like to know about the conspiracy that took place at the Ocean of Death previously, which provoked Peak Leader Yang to go this far just to kill me.”
Qin Nan would not be bothered by this before, but it was a completely different story now!
“The Ocean of Death is one of the ten great forbidden places of the lower district. There exists the Reaper’s Platform in it! Only those with sufficient Martial Skill Talent are permitted to ascend it, and the greater your talent is, the higher the chance you would be granted its tremendous treasure!” Tang Qingshan took a deep breath before he continued, “A few hundred years ago, when my cultivation was only at the peak Martial Dominator Realm, I accidentally went inside the Ocean of Death with my Junior Sister. I was only a step away from meeting the requirement of the Reaper’s Platform and acquiring the treasure. As such, I was blacklisted by the Feiyang Sacred Area, the Trading Alliance, and the factions from the upper district! My Junior Sister died as a result, and became a phantom!”
After hearing this, Qin Nan and Princess Miao Miao recollected the scene where Tang Qingshan dropped to his knees before them, leaving them in awe.
They clearly knew that the one that turned into a phantom was not only Tang Qingshan’s Junior Sister, she was also the woman he was deeply in love with.
Qin Nan spoke after hesitating for a while, “Why would they want to kill me then?”
“The Ocean of Death is only accessible once every hundred years. In order to acquire the treasure from the Reaper’s Platform, they are forced to search for someone with extraordinary Martial Skill Talent! Now that the date is approaching, they have managed to find a candidate—the eldest son of the Xiao Clan, Xiao Zhonghuang!” Tang Qingshan said calmly, “However, they did not expect you to appear out of nowhere during the selection of the Two Sacred Areas. They felt threatened after knowing that you possessed a tenth-grade Xuan ranked Martial Spirit. They knew you had been chosen by Peak Leader Duanmu, thus they had no chance of recruiting you to their side, leaving them with only one option…”
Qin Nan immediately understood the situation after hearing this.
No wonder this Peak Leader Yang had tried to eliminate him like a mad dog.
It seemed like his very own presence was posing a threat to their plan.
After all, they had been planning the conspiracy since a hundred years ago. If Qin Nan were to ascend to the Reaper’s Platform in the end, all their efforts would end up in vain.
“This Xiao Zhonghuang, is his Martial Skill Talent that insane?” Qin Nan’s eyes flickered coldly.
He had never had anything to do with this eldest son of Xiao Clan, but because of his conflict with Jiang Bilan, Xiao Zhonghuang had sent Xiao Feipeng and Xiao Hong to deal with him!
“I’m not sure about his Martial Skill Talent, but it’s said that he possesses a half-Di rank Martial Spirit!” Tang Qingshan’s eyes were filled with a serious look.
“Half-Di rank Martial Spirit?”
Qin Nan and Princess Miao Miao exchanged glances with one another.
No wonder this Xiao Zhonghuang was selected to ascend to the Reaper’s Platform!
It went without saying that the higher the rank of one’s Martial Spirit, it would without a doubt grant the bearer a greater Martial Skill Talent. A half-Di rank Martial Spirit would easily outmatch anyone from the lower district.
“I’ve got a drop of the Divine G.o.d of Battle’s blood. If I were to consume it, the rank of my Martial Spirit would…”
Qin Nan’s eyes flickered with excitement.
Due to his Divine Battle Spirit, his Martial Skill Talent was immeasurable.
Furthermore, Xiao Zhonghuang only possessed a half-Di rank Martial Spirit. If Qin Nan were to consume the blood of the Divine G.o.d of Battle, he would surely outmatch his Martial Spirit.
“Tang Qingshan, what is the treasure that you mentioned?” Meanwhile, Princess Miao Miao suddenly asked.
“I’m not sure what it is to be honest…” Tang Qingshan wore a complicated look as he spoke, “However, it appears that their ultimate aim in acquiring the treasure is to eliminate Master!”
To eliminate Sacred Leader Qinglong?
Qin Nan and Princess Miao Miao were flabbergasted.
In other words, this plan that the enemies had been preparing for the past few hundred years was actually targeting Sacred Leader Qinglong?
Tang Qingshan’s expression turned serious as he said something extremely shocking!
“Three hundred years ago, our master appeared out of nowhere from the Ocean of Death. No one knew where he came from, and the moment he showed himself, his cultivation was already at the Martial Sacred Realm! Following this, he inherited the Qinglong Sacred Area and was appointed its Sacred Leader!
“According to the intel I gathered, it appears that Sacred Leader Feiyang, Peak Leader Yang, and the Trading Alliance were all receiving orders from some powerful presence from the upper district, allowing them to team up with one another secretly and target Sacred Leader Qinglong!
“Regarding this, this very question bothered me for a long time, why would they target Master?
“Recently, I managed to discover that there exists a rumor saying that Master was actually formed by some kind of G.o.dly object from the Ocean of Death.
“Since Master’s cultivation is too powerful, they are forced to acquire the treasure from the Ocean of Death in order to refine Master. They believe that once Master is refined and one were to devour the product, the person would be granted Master’s strength, allowing the person to change his fate and reach a greater height than the Martial Sacred Realm!”