The Nine Cauldrons

Many disciples and generals gathered in Emperor Yu’s Hall, which was located within the capital city. However, in a very quiet bamboo house, not a maid or disciple could be seen.

In that bamboo house, a very handsome man sat cross-legged. He wore a long, silky, purple cloak, and a few locks of silver hair could be seen on his temple. This was the talented expert of Emperor Yu’s Hall who had reached the Emptiness Realm not long ago. He was the first expert in 17 years to have reached the Emptiness Realm, and now he was the third Emptiness Realm Expert of Emperor Yu’s Hall.

“Eh?” Yu Feng’s facial expression changed. Suddenly, he looked up at the southeast direction.

“Oh, no!” He could distinctly perceive two powerful auras flying toward Emperor Yu’s Hall at an extremely rapid speed. The auras were very fierce and much stronger than him, a beginner in the Emptiness Realm.

Simultaneously—

“Liu Xia, Huang Tianqin, come out!!!” A loud roar sounded. It sounded like the wrathful voice of God. The voice instantly resonated throughout the entire capital city, attracting the attention of the several million citizens as well as the travellers and merchants from all over the land. All of them stopped what they were doing and stared at the sky in shock.

At this moment—

Many people in the capital city saw a huge, godly bird enveloped by a ball of fire hovering in the sky above the city. Because the bird was too far away, many people weren’t able to see the person on the back of the bird.

“The Undying Phoenix! It’s the Undying Phoenix!”

“The Godly Beast! The Fiery Phoenix!”

Immediately, numerous people gasped in shock.

“If the Undying Phoenix is here, Teng Qingshan must be here!” Instantly, the streets of the capital city were crowded with people, and every one of them was looking up at the sky. For the past seven years, Teng Qingshan’s stories had spread throughout every area. Everyone was well aware of the relationship between Teng Qingshan and the Undying Phoenix.

Teng Qingshan and the Undying Phoenix were comparable to the Undying Phoenix and the Omnipotent Expert Li Taibai.

And now, everyone associated the Undying Phoenix with Teng Qingshan.

Whew!

Teng Qingshan stood on the back of the Undying Phoenix and scanned the city down below. As he emitted the furious roar, a streak of light passed through the buildings in the city and was leaving the city.

“Hmph.”

Teng Qingshan smirked coldly. He had come this time to show everyone an example of what would happen to those who went against the Xing Yi Sect! By targeting Emperor Yu’s Hall, the Xing Yi Sect will be able to intimidate the other sects in the land. If Teng Qingshan didn’t stir up a huge commotion and let more people know, he wouldn’t be able to incite fear in all the other sects.

“As expected of the oldest sect in the Land of the Nine Prefectures… I can’t believe Emperor Yu’s Hall now has a new Emptiness Realm Expert. However, his aura shows that he is an Emptiness Realm Expert who has just comprehended the Water Elemental Dao.”

With the Undying Phoenix’s speed, Teng Qingshan could have stopped that Emptiness Realm Expert and killed him. However, he didn’t.

“He must have gone to find Huang Tianqin and Liu Xia.”

The Undying Phoenix flapped its wings and quickly followed the Emptiness Realm Expert who had just fled.

…

The Blind Bear Mountain Range was just outside Yu City. The several ordinary-looking palaces in this mountain range were the actual headquarters of Emperor Yu’s Hall.

“Liu Xia! Huang Tianqin! Come out!!”

The voice even sounded in the Blind Bear Mountain Range.

“Eh?”

Liu Xia, dressed in a green cloak, and Huang Tianqin, dressed in a yellow cloak, dashed out of the sacred palace. They hovered in the sky and instantly saw the streak of light approaching rapidly. It was their junior Yu Feng, the third Emptiness Realm Expert of Emperor Yu’s Hall. Liu Xia and Huang Tianqin then flew to the top of a nearest hill. With a flash, Yu Feng landed on the hilltop.

“Elder Liu Xia and Elder Huang.” Yu Feng stared angrily at the fiery red light flying over from the southeastern direction. “That should be the Undying Phoenix. Teng Qingshan is here.”

“Yes, it is Teng Qingshan.” A cold glint flashed in Huang Tianqin’s eyes as he spoke.

Liu Xia’s face darkened as he growled, “How dare Teng Qingshan shout and scold us right above the Yu Capital City. He is disrespecting Emperor Yu’s Hall! If we don’t teach him a lesson today, everyone in the Land of the Nine Prefectures will look down on Emperor Yu’s Hall.

“Let’s see what gives Teng Qingshan the right to act so brazenly!” Huang Tianqin said furiously.

The humiliation this time was even greater than the time Teng Qingshan said those words…

Someone had come to their territory to humiliate them.

If they chose not to fight back, they would embarrass the ancestors.

“Haha…” A loud laughter sounded. The Undying Phoenix was seen hovering in mid-air and Teng Qingshan, dressed in a white cloak, stood on the back of the Undying Phoenix. He held the Reincarnation Spear as he stared at the three Emptiness Realm Experts of Emperor Yu’s Hall standing on the hilltop faraway. “Liu Xia and Huang Tianqin, both of you should know why I am here, right?”

Teng Qingshan stared at the three. Apparently, the facial expressions of those three standing faraway appeared ghastly.

Huang Tianqin’s clear and fierce voice sounded. “Teng Qingshan, the Xing Yi Sect and Emperor Yu’s Hall have been at peace and minding each others’ businesses. However, you have provoked us again and again. Do you think we are an easy target? If you can’t give us an explanation, we will not let you walk away alive.”

As Huang Tianqin spoke, the other two glared at Teng Qingshan.

…

At this moment, the three were standing on the hilltop while Teng Qingshan was in mid-air, standing on the Undying Phoenix’s back.

The Blind Bear Mountain Range was inhabited by many demonic beasts as well as the elite disciples of Emperor Yu’s Hall. All these creatures and human beings looked up at the figure in the sky. As it was a summer afternoon, the sun was scorching hot. A hot air current flowed in the entire Blind Bear Mountain Range. Still, despite the bright sun and hot weather, all the disciples were still looking up at the sky.

“Explanation?”

Teng Qingshan felt so angry that he started laughing. He then glared angrily at the three standing on the hilltop and shouted, “I will give you an explanation right now.

“Last year, Emperor Yu’s Hall made false charges against an Internal Martial Arts cultivator and tried to take him away. Since ancient times, I have never heard of any sect that forces people to join their sect.” The moment Teng Qingshan said this, Liu Xia shouted, “Teng Qingshan, all of that happened last year. Anyway, we had witnesses and evidence.”

Teng Qingshan sneered.

Witnesses and evidence?

To the highly ranked Emptiness Realm Experts, the witnesses and evidence could be fake. However, Teng Qingshan understood the intention of Emperor Yu’s Hall. Emperor Yu’s Hall had been scolded and humiliated last year, but they didn’t take any actions to counter against this. The intention was apparent: this matter is settled.

“Alright. Let’s not talk about this then.”

“In the beginning of this year, Qingshan Enterprise escorted a group of Internal Martial Arts cultivators from Yanzhou to the Xing Yi Sect. There were over a thousand disciples dreaming to join my sect. However, during the trip to my sect, they were attacked by a mysterious troop.” When Teng Qingshan said this, the three Emptiness Realm Experts of Emperor Yu’s Hall froze. Actually, they appeared slightly confused.

“Those disciples were all teenagers! They were all teenagers with dreams! They haven’t even begun their true cultivation. I can’t believe Emperor Yu’s Hall would do something like that!” Teng Qingshan berated.

“Lies! We never did that,” Huang Tianqin shouted from afar.

“Hmph, do you think you can argue against this evidence?

Teng Qingshan took out a stack of papers and threw it fiercely. Enveloped by the power of the heavens and earth, the papers assumed the form of a bright ball and flew towards the three men of Emperor Yu’s Hall. “The Xing Yi Sect conducted the investigation. The leaders of the troop that tried to slaughter over a thousand disciples of the Xing Yi Sect were named Guo Jiexiu and Gan Zitao. These two were members of Emperor Yu’s Hall!”

Huang Tianqin and the other two took the papers and read quizzically.

“I did not expect Emperor Yu’s Hall to be this ruthless.”

“One more thing!”

Teng Qingshan scolded with an indifferent tone, “Recently, Emperor Yu’s Hall stole a very important cultivation technique of the Xing Yi Sect, which is the “Ninth Emperor Cannon Fist”. And now, many people in Emperor Yu’s Hall are cultivating the “Ninth Emperor Cannon Fist”. Just now, when I was high up in the air, I saw someone practicing it. You can’t argue against this, can you?”

Teng Qingshan continued stating the “facts.” The three experts felt increasingly angry and upset.

…

The many disciples looking up appeared shocked and confused.

“Did our sect really send a troop to kill over a thousand teenage Internal Martial Arts cultivators?”

“No way!”

All cultivators were once teenagers with dreams. The action of slaughtering a group of teenagers who had yet to begin their journey of cultivation was ridiculous. Therefore, even the elite disciples of Emperor Yu’s Hall couldn’t believe that their sect had done such a deed.

…

Teng Qingshan continued accusing with a fierce imposing manner. However, soon, the three Emptiness Realm Experts of Emperor Yu’s Hall had organized their thoughts.

“Haha, Teng Qingshan! Did you just say that Emperor Yu’s Hall was the one who sent people to kill the 1,000+ teenagers who were about to start their cultivation of Internal Martial Arts? Lies! So what if Guo Jiexiu and Gan Zitao were among the troop of men? Someone else might have bribed them and paid them to lead the troop. Moreover, the evidence you found might have been fabricated,” Huang Tianqin said with a sneer.

Teng Qingshan’s facial expression darkened.

“Cunning indeed. However, you did steal the secret cultivation technique of the Xing Yi Sect. I am sure there is nothing you can say about this,” Teng Qingshan said, purposely increasing the volume of his voice and transmitting the sound waves to places far away.

“Steal?”

Huang Tianqin said with the use of Sound Transmission Technique, “Back then, the Xing Yi Sect disseminated a book called “Tiger Form Fist Art”and sold it at a high price. Emperor Yu’s Hall bought one. This time, we spent lots of money and bought the “Ninth Emperor Cannon Fist”.”

“Emperor Yu’s Hall bought the cultivation technique last time and purchased the “Ninth Emperor Cannon Fist”this time. We didn’t steal or rob. We did nothing wrong,” Huang Tianqin said menacingly.

“Shameless!” Teng Qingshan roared.

Hearing this, Huang Tianqin’s face flushed red in anger.

“I am the creator of the cultivation technique.” Teng Qingshan smirked and said, “It’s my fist art! You bought it without my permission, yet you still act so arrogantly and make your statements sound so honorable. You know no shame!” Teng Qingshan was not an ordinary person. He was the founder of the branch of Internal Martial Arts!

He was the creator of the fist art!

Huang Tianqin, Liu Xia, and Yu Feng were so angry that they became speechless.

“Emperor Yu’s Hall spent a great amount of money and bought this cultivation technique! We are not guilty! Teng Qingshan, stop stirring up trouble in Emperor Yu’s Hall,” Liu Xia shouted.

Huang Tianqin, who stood at the side, said coldly, “Teng Qingshan, you must understand that you have no place to behave so atrociously in Emperor Yu’s Hall.”

It was a complete silence…

The entire mountain range was very quiet. Even the black bears were intimidated by the auras of the Emptiness Realm Experts, and not one of them made a sound.

Teng Qingshan, dressed in white, stood on the back of the Undying Phoenix. After remaining silent for a long time, he smiled and said, “Since you three are acting unreasonably… I think this matter can only be solved with a fight.”

“Eh?”

The facial expressions of Huang Tianqin and the other two Emptiness Realm immediately changed.