Chapter 1323: Yang Lie (Three)

“Who cares if you’re Changyang Zu Yunkong or Yang Lie? The Emperor Armament in your hands is the ancestral weapon of our protector clan regardless of all that. Although I don’t know what secret technique you’re using to control the Emperor Armament without suffering a backlash, you need to return the ancestral weapon to us no matter what,” Changyang Qing Yunfeng said heavily. His face was extremely sunken. He had not treated Changyang Zu Yunkong’s breakthrough with any importance since he would only be at the First Heavenly Layer, but now that the ancestral weapon was in his hands, his strength was indescribable. Even Changyang Qing Yun, who was at Great Perfection, was not his opponent, having been injured without being able to resist at all. This caused the people of the Yuan and Qing branches to become fl.u.s.tered.

However, Changyang Qing Yunfeng tried to recall where he had heard the name Yang Lie. For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but he could not recall where at the moment.

Changyang Yuan Zhenghua’s face slightly changed. His gaze toward Changyang Zu Yunkong became extremely sharp as he cried out in a low voice, “Yang Lie is the founding ancestor of our Changyang clan. How dare you, Changyang Zu Yunkong! How dare you use the name of our ancestor to do such treacherous things!”

Immediately, everyone present became startled before coming to an understanding. Changyang Qing Yunfeng was not the only one who had sensed a feeling of familiarity from the name, but Changyang Zu Xiao and the others also could not recall where they had heard the name before.

Changyang Qing Jueri laughed out of anger, “Okay! Good! Good! Your Zu branch really wants to revolt now! First you break free from the protector clan. Now you want to blaspheme our founding ancestor, Yang Lie, while holding the ancestral weapon. People of the Zu branch, do you really think that you can replace the protector clan just because you have Jian Chen and a secret technique that can control the Emperor Armament from who knows where?” Hmph, your wild ambitions will never come true.”

“We will definitely call on the world for this matter and get everyone to understand exactly what you, the people of the Zu branch, have done. The Zu branch is fated to be cursed by all the people of the world,” Changyang Yuan Zhenghua yelled. He was extremely furious. The people of the Zu branch were becoming bolder and bolder and more reckless.

Changyang Zu Xiao and Changyang Zu Yunxiao looked at each other and frowned. The development of the matter had completely exceeded anything they could have antic.i.p.ated. They did not know what had happened to Changyang Zu Yunkong. They felt like he had turned into a completely different person.

Changyang Zu Yunkong warmly smiled as he gently rubbed the Emperor Armament. He said, “The founding ancestor you speak of is me. I was the one who founded the Changyang clan in the past and left my Righteous Yang Sword there. At the same time, I cast down the formation with the eighteen divine halls and the Origin Formation so that the clan would never decline. You really have lived up to my hopes. After so many years, the Changyang clan has not declined at all. It is just as glorious as back then; except this generation is just far too greedy, to have ended up fighting with one another just for a Saints’ Fruit.”

“Changyang Zu Yunkong, y- y- y-” The Saint Kings of the Yuan and Qing branches became utterly speechless from anger as they pointed at Changyang Zu Yunkong. In terms of seniority, they had the right to be Changyang Zu Yunkong’s great-grandfather or even great-great-grandfather. Right now, the youngest descendent in their eyes was actually called himself the founding ancestor. That would mean that they, people who had lived for thousands of years, were his descendents of countless generations.

Changyang Zu Xiao and Changyang Zu Yunkong displayed rather ugly expressions, but they said nothing because they could clearly sense that Changyang Zu Yunkong no longer seemed like the Changyang Zu Yunkong of the past. Although he looked the same, his presence and charm were completely off.

Changyang Zu Yunkong had just reached Saint King, but he happened to give off an unfathomable feeling.

Changyang Qing Yun slowly dragged his injured body over from afar. He said nothing, only staring at Changyang Zu Yunkong in shock. Disbelief was plastered across his face. He understood that he had just been injured by the Emperor Armament and not Changyang Zu Yunkong himself. He struggled to believe that Changyang Zu Yunkong could control the Emperor Armament in such an easy fas.h.i.+on. Not only could he use its power at will, he did not suffer a backlash from it at all.

A s.p.a.ce Gate ripped open and a middle-aged man in tight robes emerged. He carried a s.h.i.+ny silver blade. Strands of powerful energy would pulse from the blade from time to time, surprising the Saint Kings of the Changyang clan.

The Saint Kings all looked at the man who had suddenly appeared. Their eyes all narrowed because they were unable to see through the man at all. The blade he carried in particular even made them violently jerk away. No matter how they looked at it, the blade seemed like the Emperor Armament from the Tyrant’s Blade School, except it had shrunken by a lot.

The man was Guihai Yidao. He did not even look at the Saint Kings from the Changyang clan. His eyes were only fixated on Changyang Zu Yunkong. He happily smiled and said, “Yang Lie, you’ve finally returned!”

Yang Lie stared at Guihai Yidao for a while before a gleam of light flashed through his eyes, and he said, “Guihai Yidao, I never thought that you would have awakened already, and you’ve even recovered your strength to the level of a Saint Emperor.”

The Saint Kings were immediately surprised by what they had just heard. They all stared at Guihai Yidao with wide eyes while shock was plastered across their face. The middle-aged man before them was actually a Saint Emperor? They did not recognize him at all, nor did they know when the middle-aged man had become a Saint Emperor. The nine-colored rainbow clouds did not accompany his breakthrough.

Guihai Yidao laughed aloud. He was overjoyed after seeing an old friend. He said, “Yang Lie, I only came a few years earlier than you. The energy gathered in your Righteous Yang Sword is not lesser than my Wave-breaking blade. If you use the energy in it to cultivate, you’ll reach the peak of Saint Emperor very soon. However, returning to our level of cultivation will be rather difficult.”

“We’re unable to reach the Origin realm? Why not?” Yang Lie asked.

Guihai Yidao stopped smiling and became rather stern. He gently sighed. “Yang Lie, your clan doesn’t seem to be very peaceful. Deal with that first. I’ll wait for you in the northern sea.”

“Sir, may I ask who you are? Why have I never heard of an expert like you on the Tian Yuan Continent?” Changyang Qing Jueri used this opportunity to ask Guihai Yidao a question.

If it was any other day, Guihai Yidao would have never paid any attention to what his juniors asked him. However, an old friend of his had just returned today, so he was in an extremely good mood. He chuckled, “I founded the Tyrant’s Blade School. I believe my disciples and grand disciples have told you about it already.” With that, Guihai Yidao directly departed through a s.p.a.ce Gate.

The Saint Kings of the Changyang clan became stunned. Back when Mercenary City had asked to borrow the Tyrant’s Blade School’s Emperor Armament, the great elders of the Tyrant’s Blade School had mentioned that their founding ancestor had returned. Although the five great elders had still been trapped in their miniature world back then, they had overheard the news from the conversations of a few other Saint Kings. They all believed that it was just an excuse the Tyrant’s Blade School had used to decline lending out their Emperor Armament. None of them had thought that their ancestor had actually returned.

It was unrealistic that someone who had been dead for a million years could return. It was just unbelievable.

“Changyang Qing Yun, Changyang Qing Yunfeng, Changyang Qing Jueri, Changyang Yuan Zhenghua, and Changyang Yuan Wuji. The five of you turned on your own clansmen over a Saints’ Fruit. Do you understand your crimes?” Yang Lie looked at the five great elders as his tone gradually grew cold. A domineering aura appeared. Even Changyang Qing Yun and the others found it difficult to not heed his commands.

“A- are you really the founding ancestor of our Changyang clan, Yang Lie?” Changyang Qing Yun asked in shock. He could already vaguely sense the answer to his question. Their Emperor Armament came from their founding ancestor in the first place, and only the true owner of the weapon would be able to use it so easily.

“How can that be false? The Righteous Yang Sword in my hand is the best evidence there is. Back then, all of you thought I was dead, but the truth is different. Back then, the nine other founders and I were all heavily injured. Our cultivation levels had fallen and our strength had decreased. Our souls had suffered from an unrecoverable injury. In the end, the ten of us made up our minds to leave behind a legacy and seal our memories into the saint artifacts. We used a secret technique to cast our souls into samsara, undergoing countless rebirths as we slowly cured the wounds of our souls. It’s just that I’ve only just recovered and returned; that’s all,” said Yang Lie.