Kong Yan's True Past

Xi Yunhuai's eyes lit up, and he quickly realized what was going on. "Pavilion Master, have talks completely broken down between you and Tianji Pavilion?" Li Guanqi sneered, offering little detail about what had transpired between himself and Gu Yong. In a calm voice, he continued laying out the next steps. "Remember, do not approach the major factions to negotiate at first. Go speak with the small- and medium-sized clans and sects. "Once someone relents, everything will become much easier. "Under no circumstances can we allow Guanyun Pavilion's covert operatives to be killed! Once people's hearts grow cold, nothing can warm them back up." Xi Yunhuai replied at a rapid clip, "Understood. I'll get to it at once!" Li Guanqi immediately sent a transmission to Qianqiusui, speaking swiftly. "Qianqiusui, didn't you mention before that Guanyun Pavilion was secretly buying up the land deeds for Tianji Pavilion's shops?" Qianqiusui's voice rose with excitement. "That's right! Of all the Tianji Pavilion shops we know about across the Six Domains, nearly thirty percent of the deeds are held in our hands!" Li Guanqi could not help feeling a surge of marvel. Narrowing his eyes, he said chillingly, "Pass down the order: move immediately to clear out Tianji Pavilion's shops and take them over without delay. I give you three days. Can you do it?" Qianqiusui slowly rose to his feet, the corners of his mouth curling upward, his face radiating immense confidence. "Rest easy, Pavilion Master. Qianqiusui is always prepared. "Two days will be more than enough!" A slight smirk appeared on Li Guanqi's lips as he muttered coldly, "If you won't show virtue, don't blame me for lacking mercy. "You want to parade your overt schemes, and you want to play dirty? I can play right along with you." Putting away the jade pendant, lightning flashed beneath Li Guanqi's feet, and he streaked across the void toward the Great Xia Domain. Only now did he truly appreciate just how useful Ji Yuchuan had been. Had the man still been around, Li Guanqi would never have needed to expend so much effort on such matters. *** Great Xia Sword Sect. A visibly exhausted Wu Bing sat upright at the head of the Deliberation Hall. Beside a chair near the doorway, a red-robed man sat sipping wine—Xuan Lin. These days, Xuan Lin was considered an elder of the Great Xia Sword Sect, but everyone understood that he was Li Guanqi's eyes and ears. Kong Yan stood in the center of the hall, his expression stern and resolute, his voice ringing with fierce insistence. "I have already said it several times: Elder Li Guanqi personally told me that if I needed any resources, I could simply take them. "Whatever else may be said, I was once a Disciplinary Master of the Great Xia Sword Sect. Returning to the sect now only to be made a mere consecrated elder was already compromise enough. "I merely took a few hundred high-grade spirit stones. And you dare put me on trial?" A sneer curled on the old man's lips, and he stared disdainfully at Wu Bing on the dais, scoffing, "Even Lu Kangnian addressed me as Elder Kong whenever we met! What right does a wet-behind-the-ears brat like you have to interrogate me? "What qualifications do you have to judge me? Well?" The louder Kong Yan spoke, the more imposing his aura seemed to grow. Sweeping a contemptuous gaze across everyone in the hall, he pointed at their faces and sneered, "Do none of you realize that back during the battle of Ziyang Palace, if I hadn't returned, the Great Xia Sword Sect would have long since been suppressed by other forces?! "How could there ever have been today's prosperity? "To put it another way, if we hadn't come back to back him up back then, that Li Guanqi would have died long ago!" Seated lower down in the hall, Tu Shan's face turned dark, and she shot to her feet with a sharp scrape. She shouted furiously, "Enough!" Tu Shan flashed directly in front of Kong Yan, pointing straight at his nose. "Let me tell you something, Kong Yan! "Today's Great Xia Sword Sect is nothing like it was in the past! "You'd better rein in that ugly attitude you picked up out there, or you'll have hell to pay in the end. "Furthermore... I don't know what happened to you all these years. When you first returned, you were perfectly normal and humble. "Why has your temperament changed so drastically in just a few days, running about everywhere swindling people under Guanqi's name?!" Kong Yan's eyes flickered. Naturally, he would never admit how overwhelmingly useful he had discovered Li Guanqi's prestige to be. Even Qianqiusui of Guanyun Pavilion had to treat him with utmost courtesy whenever they met. Within the sphere of influence of the Great Xia Sword Sect, as long as he claimed close ties to Li Guanqi, countless people lined up to curry favor with him. His cultivation was not particularly high now, but whenever he went out, so long as people believed he was close to Li Guanqi, they treated him like the most honored of guests, showering him with endless benefits. At the Guanyun Chamber of Commerce, all he had to do was say the word and he could take whatever he wanted. Kong Yan slapped Tu Shan's finger away, his expression darkening as he hissed coldly, "I don't need you telling me how to conduct myself!" *Boom!* A terrifyingly immense pressure descended in an instant as Wu Bing slowly rose to his feet, his face dark with fury. The crushing pressure left Kong Yan frozen stiff in place, unable to move an inch. He looked at Wu Bing in shock, his voice cold. "What? You want to kill me? "Do you dare kill me?" Watching coldly from the sidelines the entire time, Tantai Yiting could not resist muttering under his breath, "What a fucking idiot." Wu Bing furrowed his brow. Down below, an old man brought out a jade slip and chuckled softly. "Guanqi, did you hear all of that clearly?" This old man was none other than the former Disciplinary Master, Gong Ze! Gong Ze beamed as he looked at Kong Yan, and Li Guanqi's voice soon transmitted through the jade slip. "Kill him." *Boom!* Before Gong Ze could even lift a finger, a woman in a blue gown beside him—still carrying a graceful, lingering charm—drew her sword in a flash! A slight tremor ran through the scabbard on the table, and the blade slashed across in an instant. With a subtle flick of her wrist, the immaculate edge returned to its sheath without a single drop of blood clinging to the steel. Nangong Qianyan's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she raised her teacup from the table and took a sip. A head rolled to the floor. Kong Yan had not even realized how he died; though the wound on his neck was as wide as a bowl, not a drop of blood spilled forth. The woman's voice drifted out softly. "I couldn't stand the sight of that old bastard for a long time now. "Back when I was Disciplinary Master, he was nothing more than a chore disciple who had barely entered the outer sect. "And now he dares spout such nonsense right here in the Sword Sect's grand hall." Sitting across from her, Tantai Yiting dared not even breathe too loudly. He took a sip of tea to steady his nerves, then reached up to touch his neck, only to come away with a palm slick with cold sweat. He had little choice; the woman had glanced right at him as she spoke. Wu Bing cupped his fists toward the woman, then turned back toward the hall, saying coldly, "Someone come drag the corpse out." *** Putting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi contacted Xi Yunhuai and inquired, "Kong Yan is dead. Did you find out why he was captured back then?" Xi Yunhuai answered softly, "I just uncovered it. He truly was captured over a spiritual herb, but... the truth is rather different from what he claimed... "Kong Yan's close friend was actually a member of the Luo family. After the two discovered a spiritual herb, many things happened. In the end, when the two departed with the herb, Kong Yan wanted to keep it for himself. He plotted treacherously, murdered the Luo family cultivator, and pocketed the herb. Only then was he discovered and captured by the Luo family." Li Guanqi froze slightly. No wonder Kong Yan had been enslaved after his capture—there had been such hidden treachery behind it all along. Li Guanqi stood in silence for quite a while. *This...* *In the end, does this mean I was the one being unreasonable???* Scratching his head, light flashed in his hand. He looked down at the pitch-black saber resting in his grip. For a moment, he genuinely did not know whether he should return it to Luo Changqing. Stowing the saber away, Li Guanqi pushed aside his thoughts, intent on returning quickly to the sect. Now that the clash between Guanyun Pavilion and Tianji Pavilion had officially begun, he needed to preside over his pavilion in person. Meanwhile, within the Great Xia Sword Sect, five patrolling disciples suddenly had their vision plunge into total darkness! A breath later, the five disciples resumed their patrol as if nothing had happened, returning toward the Great Xia Sword Sect once their rounds were complete. Only... These five people were heading straight for Tianlei Peak!