After hearing that, Yan Liren, Ba Xiaoyu, and Master Bitter Cicada all looked at Qi Zhongdao in shock.
After all, Qi Zhongdao, as the nominal leader of all the Cultivators, had always been on the side of the Cultivators and kept the court in check. It was even safe to say that he was the embodiment of the entire world of Cultivators.
Li Yao went on. "With Wang Xi's assistance, the late emperor was gradually suppressing the entire world of Cultivators. But the major sects were greatly dissatisfied, too. After Emperor Phoenix inherited the throne, under the pressure of the major sects, or perhaps because he did not trust Wang Xi, who had been serving him for a long time, he disgraced and destroyed Wang Xi's unparalleled power.
"However, just because Emperor Phoenix expelled Wang Xi did not mean that he would bend to the will of the Cultivators. On the contrary, it was possible that he was trying to raise his own Wang Xi to keep the world of Cultivators in check. Right now, the Great Qian Dynasty was in the middle of a storm. There was not much time left for him to reorganize the country. It was impossible for him to raise a brand-new powerful minister from scratch. Fellow Cultivator Qi was his best choice. Wang Xi of Emperor Phoenix."
"Is it true?"
Ba Xiaoyu could not help but ask. "Old Qi, did the emperor really come to you?"
Qi Zhongdao was emotionless, but the veins on the back of his hands were suddenly bulging. He stared at Li Yao thoughtfully and said, one word after another, "I am an open and honorable man. There is nothing that I cannot say to anyone. It's true that the emperor did come to me, hoping to purge the foul world of Cultivators in thunderous approaches and bring back peace to the world."
Master Bitter Cicada chanted in a low voice. "Did you agree, Fellow Cultivator Qi?"
"No."
The brilliance in Qi Zhongdao's eyes dimmed. He said in a low voice, "After all, I am the grand leader of the Grand Mystery Sect and a member of the world of Cultivators. I believe that as long as everybody abides by the rules and considers the big picture, the vitality of the past will be restored. Therefore, I am unwilling to let the emperor meddle in the internal affairs of the major sects."
"It is a pity that the actions of the major sects during the trip to the southeast have completely disappointed you, Fellow Cultivator Qi," Li Yao said. "You are cold-blooded, and your heart is dead. You believe that the world of Cultivators will never be able to purge the foul and evil spirits on their own. It is like a man who is mired in mud and will only sink deeper and deeper without the help of external forces until he is doomed. Only by cooperating with Emperor Phoenix and borrowing the power of the court can the world of Cultivators be renewed."
Qi Zhongdao's eyes were frozen for a while, as if he was unwilling to admit the sad fact. He sighed gloomily and said, "There was another reason why I didn't agree to it at that time. I was all by myself at that time, and I did not have any leverage to bargain with the emperor. Even if I agreed to it, I would only end up as one of his chess pieces and claws. At that time, I did not believe that Emperor Phoenix was strong enough to suppress the major sects. If the conflict between the two parties escalated and a civil war broke out in the Great Qian Dynasty, I would be a sinner for all eternity.
"But right now, your arrival, fellow Cultivators, and the news from the Divine Palace have given me a new glimmer of hope.
"As long as the five of us are completely united, we will be a force that is enough to shake the world. We will have leverage to negotiate with both the emperor and the major sects.
"If we can control the Cloud Qin Gold Statues in the Divine Palace, we will be able to purge the world of Cultivators with our invincible strength and bring new rules to the major sects and even the entire world. I can assure you that the rules will definitely be fair and just.
"That is what I have been thinking all my life. What do you think, fellow Cultivators?"
Qi Zhongdao was like a black nail. His deafening words pierced into the hearts of the four of them.
Master Bitter Cicada sighed and said, "I have nothing to ask for except that all the people in the world can stay away from the suffering of weapons. If I have to visit the frigid hell of the Land of Eternal Night in the northernmost continent in order to realize my wish, who will go to hell if not me?"
Ba Xiaoyu spat hard, too. He clapped his hands and smiled. "This beggar has long been infuriated by the pretentious guys of the major sects. If they can be taught to abide by the rules, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing to cooperate with the emperor."
"I stand by what I said," Li Yao said. "As long as everything related to refining in the Divine Palace is given to me to study, it doesn't matter who you cooperate with."
"What about you, Fellow Cultivator Yan?"
Qi Zhongdao turned his eyes to Yan Liren.
Yan Liren was an elder of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. Of the five of them, he and Qi Zhongdao were relatively close to the major sects.
Yan Liren was still studying the patterns on the scabbard carefully and the influence of the patterns on the weight of the scabbard. Without raising his head, he said, "The Purple Pole Sword Sect and Emperor Phoenix have nothing to do with me. You can fight however you like. All I care about is whether or not there is an opponent in the Divine Palace who is worthy of me drawing my sword."
He suddenly raised his head. With interest beaming out of his eyes, he mumbled, "Have you noticed that the Divine Palace is very close to the battlefield where Wu Xingyun and Meng Chixin, the two experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage, had a duel a hundred years ago?
"At that time, Wu Xingyun and Meng Chixin had a duel deep inside the Land of Eternal Night in the far north. It is said that they encountered an unprecedented snowstorm during the duel. The cold wave was so intense that even the air was frozen. After the snowstorm passed, the two experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage vanished into thin air.
"Do you think that Wu Xingyun and Meng Chixin, the two experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage, are somehow connected to the so-called Divine Palace?"
The question slightly dazed the other four people. They looked at each other in bewilderment, but it was impossible for them to get an answer.
"Hehe."
Yan Liren's interest was immediately piqued. He extended his short, thick finger and snapped his scabbard hard, causing the sound of sabers and swords colliding to echo. "In the exploration of the Divine Palace, it is very likely that we will run into opponents such as the Four Rapscallions who are worthy of my full strength. We may also run into two seniors in the Divinity Transformation Stage. We will even have a chance to slay the legendary deities.
At this point, the five super Yuanying had reached a consensus driven by their different purposes.
Li Yao, however, had one last question.
"Fellow Cultivators, have you ever seen Wang Xi in person? What kind of person is he exactly?"
Li Yao grabbed a pebble on the desolate island casually and kneaded it into powder, building a vivid sand sculpture. He then fixed it with his spiritual energy. It was exactly Wang Xi, who had appeared in the form of 'Long Yangjun' just now.
Li Yao was a refiner. Most of the time, he had to sculpt and micro-sculpt the workpieces. Although the works he sculpted were not masterpieces of the best craftsmanship, the proportions were precise, and the shapes were delicate. They were vivid and lifelike.
"This is Wang Xi."
Looking at the image of a plain-looking but plump woman that Li Yao had sculpted, everybody could not help but frown.
"This is Wang Xi."
Yan Liren copied Li Yao's technique and built a statue of Wang Xi with sand and pebbles, too.
"Yes. Wang Xi always looks like this when he shows up in public."
Wang Xi was a powerful eunuch. Naturally, he would not hide himself. Many Cultivators had seen what he looked like in person. Yan Liren and Qi Zhongdao, in particular, had been in close contact with him many times and captured his features precisely.
Li Yao observed Yan Liren's statue carefully. Wang Xi did not look like the arrogant, humble, or cunning 'eunuch' that most people imagined. Instead, he looked like a graceful, if not feeble, middle-aged scholar. Other than his fair face and beard, he was not much different from a transcendent Cultivator.
Because Yan Liren and Wang Xi had been fighting each other when they met, the Wang Xi on the statue was carrying a longsword on his back, too. His eyes were glittering, and he did look like an unparalleled swordsman.
Li Yao put the two statues next to each other for comparison. 'Wang Xi' and 'Long Yangjun' were simply too different.
However, it did not prove anything. For Cultivators of Li Yao's and Wang Xi's level, it was not difficult for them to change the orientation of their bones and muscles, enlarge or shrink their body size, or control the secretion of male hormones and female hormones in their body to produce different secondary sexual characteristics.
If Li Yao was willing, he could stimulate the secretion of female hormones in his body crazily from now on. Naturally, his skin would be smooth and smooth, his beard and leg hair would be shed, the fat beneath his skin would be thickened, and his breasts would rise. None of that was a problem.
"Wang Xi, Long Yangjun, what is the real identity behind you?"
Li Yao suddenly thought of something and remembered the files about Wang Xi.
According to the files, Wang Xi had entered the palace about ten years ago.
For the job of eunuch, if they were not the best talents that were in urgent need, they would usually be groomed from a young age.
It meant that Wang Xi was born almost a hundred years ago.
It was a crucial point of time.
A hundred years ago, two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators completely vanished in the icy storm near the Divine Palace in the Land of Eternal Night.
A hundred years ago, Wang Xi was born. He had spent almost his entire life searching for clues about the Divine Palace. Now, he was finally about to set off to search for the Divine Palace.
A hundred years ago, a mysterious signal was sent from the Ancient Sages Sector to the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector.
Was there a mysterious connection between all those things?
It seemed that the answer to all those questions could only be revealed after he arrived at the Divine Palace.
One month passed.
Shua! Shua!
The flying arrows were like rain, covering the sky and the earth. Like a large swarm of hungry crows, they passed through the cloudy sky and smashed into the battle formation. Immediately, heart-wrenching screams and the ear-piercing sound of blood were heard.
"Charge!"
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