“The Jadeleaf King?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
That was the third strongest expert of the Five Upper Kings! Who could have thought that such a powerful figure would be here as well?
Just a Stoneleaf King had nearly caused their entire team to be wiped out. How was he supposed to deal with the even stronger Jadeleaf King?
However, given his current identity as the Violetleaf King, there was no way he could turn down the request. Besides, since the other party was in the ancient domain as well, it was only a matter of time before they encountered one another. If he could meet the other party in advance, perhaps he could gather some intelligence and formulate a plan to deal with the other party.
“He’s in the vicinity. I will call him here right now…”
Flicking his wrist, the Stoneleaf King whipped out a Communication Jade Token and casually wrote a few words on it, sending a message over. After that was done, he suddenly turned his gaze back towards Zhang Xuan with a doubtful expression. “If this human is really a Celestial Master Teacher, how could he appear here? Not to mention, how could you have possibly managed to uncover his identity?”
Clearly, the Stoneleaf King was still a little iffy about the claims made by the fellow before him.
It was also no surprise that he would be feeling so skeptical about the matter. The Violetleaf King had disappeared an entire half a month ago, abruptly vanishing. On top of that, the other party had made a move against him while the other party was disguised as a human… There were far too many doubtful points regarding the issue.
Not to mention, there had only been a single Celestial Master Teacher in the world so far, and many millenniums had passed without anyone reaching the same height. If another Celestial Master Teacher were to appear, the Master Teacher Pavilion would surely place that person under the tightest of protection. It was inconceivable that the Violetleaf King was able to uncover a Celestial Master Teacher that easily and even lure the other party into a dangerous place like this.
“Now that I think of it, it’s truly a huge coincidence. The Celestial Master Teacher didn’t come from any Sage Clan or the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarter. Instead, he originated from a measly Unranked Kingdom, slowly making his way up through the ranks…”
Without any hint of embarrassment, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly and said. “In order to avoid unneeded trouble, he has been concealing his identity all along. In other words, not even the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarter is aware of the appearance of that person. It’s only through a series of coincidences that I found out about his identity. Back when I was looking into the whereabouts of the Poison Hall in Jingyuan City, I saw him undergoing the acknowledgement by the heavens, and it was only through that that I was able to ascertain his identity as a Celestial Master Teacher!”
“You are saying that… you happened to chance upon him receiving the acknowledgement of the heavens?” the Stoneleaf King asked in disbelief.
“Indeed.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“Then… what kind of sight is it?” the Stoneleaf King asked in curiosity.
“A unique aura, powerful and inviolable, descended from the heavens and surrounded him. Before this aura, all master teachers were forced to bow down to him and acknowledge his identity and standing. At the same time, many bizarre phenomena occured, such as the Trembling of the Myriad Tablets and so…” Zhang Xuan replied earnestly.
As someone who had undergone the acknowledgement ceremony thrice, he was extremely clear on the various happenings that would occur in the process.
“It does seem like the acknowledgement of a Celestial Master Teacher…” After hearing Zhang Xuan’s account, the Stoneleaf King slowly nodded in agreement.
He had never seen the phenomena associated with the acknowledgement of a Celestial Master Teacher before, but he had heard of the various legends relating to it. The descriptions he had heard didn’t differ much from the scene depicted by the Violetleaf King.
It seemed like there might be some truth to the Violetleaf King’s words. Even if the man lying on the ground wasn’t a Celestial Master Teacher, there was a good chance that he was closely related to the matter.
“The merit from capturing a Celestial Master Teacher and handing it over to the royalty is immeasurable…” At this point, the Stoneleaf King couldn’t help but ponder over the implications of the matter.
It went without saying how important a Celestial Master Teacher was. If the news was true, the entire Otherworldly Demonic Tribe would go into a frenzy!
Just through this itself, he would surely be able to earn the favor of the elders. Through their guidance, even if he couldn’t advance to the Emperor Stratum, he would still be able to easily reach the pinnacle of Saint realm!
But to ensure that he would be entitled to all of those valuable resources, he would have to make sure that the merit only went to him and him alone. At the current moment… it seemed like he had practically done nothing at all!
After all, it was the Violetleaf King who had lured the Celestial Master Teacher into the ancient domain.
“Should I just kill this fellow straight? That’s the only way I can claim full credit of the matter. In any case, he has disappeared for quite some time, so who would know whether he had betrayed the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe or not? As long as I move fast and clear up his corpse, there’s no one who would suspect me…” A sharp glint flashed across the Stoneleaf King’s eyes as he shot a discreet glance towards the Violetleaf King.
While they were part of the Qingtian Ten Great Kings, they didn’t share any camaraderie amongst them. On the contrary, there was even strife rivalry amongst them.
The Qingtian Lineage allocated resources based on contribution, and considering the scarce resources in the otherworldly battlefield, he had been long wishing for his fellow Kings to drop dead.
This was precisely the reason why he didn’t feel the slightest sympathy or sorrow when he heard that the other Kings had been killed, and he didn’t bother to track down their murderer either. Instead, he was secretly delighted over the matter even!
“I am the one who brought that human here, and I know everything about him. Furthermore, after the time we have spent together, he already regards me as his true friend… If you were to kill me, not only will you be unable to make him submit to the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, you might even be setting up a powerful enemy for yourself in the future!” Noticing the Stoneleaf King’s killing intent, Zhang Xuan said with a wry smile.
He had already heard of the relationship amongst the Ten Great Kings from the Violetleaf King. To put it in a phrase, it was every man for himself. Given so, it wasn’t too surprising that the Stoneleaf King would want to snatch a merit as large as one concerning a Celestial Master Teacher.
“Violetleaf King, you must have misunderstood me… Since you were the one who found him and brought him here, it goes without saying that the merit should go to you? How could I possibly think of snatching the merit from you?” the Stoneleaf King laughed dryly as he swiftly concealed the ferocity in his eyes. However, his right hand continued grasping the Lightning Elemental Orb firmly, seemingly ready to make a move at any time.
“There’s no need for us to put up such facades before one another. If I had the power to do so, I would have just taken him away right here, right now. I wouldn’t have revealed his identity and wasted so many words with you.” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
“Just a word of advice, but you should hold back any intention you are harboring against me for the moment. Otherwise, if this human were to die, it will be impossible to verify his identity. Even if you were to send him back to our tribe, you won’t be able to get anything good out of this.”
“This…” Hearing those words, the Stoneleaf King hesitated for a moment before finally loosening his tight grip over the Lightning Elemental Orb. “Very well, I won’t make a move against you.”
The other party was right. They could claim that the human was a Celestial Master Teacher all they wanted to, but if they couldn’t substantiate their claim with evidence, it would be all for naught. In other words, the human would become worthless to them.
“You won’t make a move against me? I don’t believe you. I want you to swear on that to the Spirit God!” At this point, Zhang Xuan’s face abruptly turned grim as he spoke.
“You want me to swear to the Spirit God?” the Stoneleaf King frowned.
“Indeed. If you swear that you won’t make a move against me, I will say that we have discovered and captured the Celestial Master Teacher together when reporting the matter to the elders.” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“Oh?” the Stoneleaf King frowned.
It went without saying that it would be best for one to claim sole credit for the matter. After all, an additional person in the picture meant less soup to go around.
“I know that the strength I wield is insignificant amongst the Ten Great Kings. If anyone were to make a move against me to snatch the merit from my hands, there will be nothing I can about it. Furthermore, the merit for capturing a Celestial Master Teacher is too great, I don’t think that I will be able to swallow the rewards of it alone. It will be much safer with someone on the same boat… So, why not?” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.
“This…” the Stoneleaf King fell into deep contemplation.
The Violetleaf King was right. As the saying goes, the tree that rises above the forest will be torn down by the gale. Given the Violetleaf King’s current strength, there was no way he would be able to ward off those who intended to snatch the merit or rewards from his hands.
Through extending an alliance to him, the Violetleaf King would be in a much safer position. In other words, the Violetleaf King would be dependent on him for protection and wouldn’t betray him for the time being.
But more importantly than that, he was stronger than the Violetleaf King. It wouldn’t be too late for him to find a way to deal with the other party after the tribe affirmed the Celestial Master Teacher’s identity and distributed the rewards.
“What do I have to do to gain your trust?” Having come to a decision, the Stoneleaf King turned to Zhang Xuan and asked.
“Simple. I have a gourd of wine here. We shall first have a toast of blood1 to seal our alliance before swearing to the Spirit God that neither of us will harm the other. That’s the only way that I will be able to trust you!”
Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist and took out a gourd of fine wine.
“A toast of blood?” the Stoneleaf King was a little hesitant after hearing those words.
“Indeed. I advise you to quickly make your decision. Once the Jadeleaf King arrives and learns of the matter, I fear that he will attempt to kill the both of us…” Zhang Xuan said.
Greed brought out the darkest shadows hidden within one’s heart. Even master teachers were no exception to the rule, let alone the unprincipled Otherworldly Demons.
Should the Jadeleaf King learn that the person before them was a Celestial Master Teacher, there was a very good chance that the other party would attempt to silence them so that he could claim full credit over the matter.
And more importantly, if the Violetleaf King were to choose to side against the Jadeleaf King at that point, he would be placed in a very dangerous position…
“Alright, I’ll agree to it!” the Stoneleaf King made his decision.
The personalities of the Ten Great Kings was no secret, and the Jadeleaf King was particularly renowned for his greed and cruelty. He could indeed see the other party killing his own brethren to fulfill his desires.
And given the Jadeleaf King’s strength, it would be hard for them to match the other party even with their combined strength, let alone by themselves!
“Let’s begin then!” Seeing that he had the other party’s agreement, Zhang Xuan nodded.
He slit an incision in his finger and dripped a few droplets of blood into the gourd of wine. After shaking it slightly to mix his blood into the wine, he tossed it over to the Stoneleaf King.
Catching the gourd, the first thing the Stoneleaf King did was to extend his Spiritual Perception towards the wine. After confirming that there was nothing else mixed into the wine, he was finally able to allay his worries. Biting his finger, he dripped a few droplets of blood into the wine as well.
“Good. Let’s drink it!” Zhang Xuan waved his hand and said.
“Very well!” The Stoneleaf King lifted the gourd to his mouth, and just as he was about to drink it, a thought that suddenly surfaced in his mind made him halt his action. “You go first!”
With just a glance at the other party’s face, Zhang Xuan could instantly tell what the other party was worried about. He took the gourd of wine from the other party’s hands and took two hearty gulps of it.
On the other hand, seeing that the Violetleaf King was fine after drinking the wine, the Stoneleaf King heaved a sigh of relief. He took the wine and drank several mouthfuls of it as well.
After which, he raised his palm up to the sky and vowed, “I, the Stoneleaf King, swear to the Spirit God that I shall honor my alliance with the Violetleaf King. We shall stand aside one another through adversities as brothers, never to betray the other…”
“I, the Violetleaf King, swear to the Spirit God that I shall honor my alliance with the Stoneleaf King…” Seeing that the Stoneleaf King had made his vow, Zhang Xuan hurriedly followed suit.
He was swearing in the Violetleaf King’s name anyway, there was no need for him to hesitate.
“Since we are now allied with one another, I hope that we can team up against the Jadeleaf King should he try to pull off anything funny.” Zhang Xuan turned to the Stoneleaf King and said.
“Don’t worry!” the Stoneleaf King reassured.
Amongst the Ten Great Kings, the Jadeleaf King was the only one who had an artifact that could possibly verify the identity of a Celestial Master Teacher. If it wasn’t for that, there was no way they would have invited the other party over!
“Once we verify that this human is a Celestial Master Teacher, the Jadeleaf King could attempt to snatch him from our hands or even make a move against us. So, pay close attention to me and act on my command later on…” After a moment of thought, the Stoneleaf King turned to the Violetleaf King and instructed.
While he still didn’t have unreserved trust towards the Violetleaf King, at the very least, they had already sworn to the Spirit God in their names. Naturally, he was also more inclined to trust the latter instead of the Jadeleaf King.
“Alright!” Zhang Xuan nodded. “I will try to sound him out later on after we confirm this human’s identity. If he were to make a move against me, I hope that you can immediately step forward to slay him. We are on the same boat right now, and we will either float together or sink together.”
“Un.” the Stoneleaf King nodded.
Just as he was about to continue speaking, a huge gale of wind abruptly blew in the surroundings. In the distance, a towering figure could be seen flying over.
“Stoneleaf King, don’t you know that I have better things to do? Why are you calling me over in such a hurry?”
Huala!
A powerful Otherworldly Demon landed on the ground before them.
Sorry, having midterms at the moment so the schedule has been a little erratic. Still off by one chapter at the moment. I am currently working on it at the moment, so hopefully it should be up soon.
Regarding the two more bonus chapters (from the 1000 chapter event earlier), I will try to get them up by the weekends after my midterms are over.
As per usual, I post updates on my Discord on the release if I’m going to be late, so do check it out there.
https://discord.gg/uDD5nad
Several changes:
Windleaf -> Jadeleaf King.
Upper Five Kings (In order of strength):
Skyleaf
Scarletleaf
Jadeleaf
Stoneleaf
Fireleaf
My original intention was to push down Jadeleaf to Windleaf, but the details wouldn’t fit. So, I decided to just change the original order instead. The changes have also been reflected in other chapters.
