However, after the guards saw Qing Yuan and Hong Luan coming out of Ren Baqian's room, they looked at him as if they were looking at an animal.

Ren Baqian carried a pot of porridge to the rear courtyard and waited for a long time. He ate breakfast with the empress and had Qingyun Sword brought to the hall.

A moment later, Ren Baqian saw Qingyin Sword in the hall. He looked much older and more haggard, and Ren Baqian became worried because he looked like he could die at anytime.

"Well, have you decided yet?" asked Ren Baqian, who was sitting above him.

"What do you want me to do?" Qingyin Sword asked.

Ren Baqian crossed his legs and leisurely said, "The Lingshan Sect isn't too far from here. Go there and persuade them to surrender. Of course, someone will accompany you. It will be best if they surrender. Otherwise, I can't spare them if they are dissidents who stir up trouble in Tianjing Basin. I will seal the mountain, and not even the chickens and dogs in the Lingshan Sect will be spared. Their lives depend on you."

Qingyun Sword looked even more miserable.

His lifelong reputation was at stake.

If he didn't go, Ren Baqian would certainly dispatch other people to make the trip there. However, it would not be hard to make the Lingshan Sect surrender. He might as well make the trip there, warn them of the consequences, and maybe convince them. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to keep his lifelong reputation after all.

"I promise you." Qingyun Sword sighed.

"Those who act according to the circ.u.mstances are wise. A person of your status will presumably not renege on your words, so I will not play any tricks and will make the necessary arrangements for your journey."

"I have one more question!" Qingyun Sword raised his head to stare at Ren Baqian.

"Speak up!"

"What's the background of the woman who accompanied you?" Qingyun Sword stared intently at Ren Baqian. The death of his master had been a thorn in his heart. His master had reached the legendary realm and broken through the Spirit Wheel level, but had still died at that place. Qingyun Sword had not progressed for many years and a stab wound from a sword a few days ago had injured him to the core. He might not be able to reach that level anymore and had no way to personally travel to see what was there was at that place.

To obtain news about that region deep inside the Sixty Thousand Mountains, he could only depend on the Spirit Wheel expert who had accompanied Ren Baqian

"Are you referring to Lin Qiaole? She was adopted by someone when she was a baby. What else do you know?" Ren Baqian's curiosity was piqued. When Qingyun Sword previously mentioned that she wasn't a human, he reckoned that Qingyun Sword knew something.

"She was adopted? Are you lying to me?" Qingyun Sword glared at him coldly and asked in a loud voice.

After all, he was a Spirit Wheel, and his angry outburst gave Ren Baqian a shock. Gong Zheng, who was beside him, took a step forward and stared coldly at Qingyun Sword.

"She was truly adopted from outside the palace by the palace librarian. I don't have many concrete details about her background, and she doesn't know about it either. What is it that you know?"

Qingyun Sword cooled down after hearing Ren Baqian's explanation and didn't say another word.

He only told Ren Baqian about his master's misadventure after he was asked repeatedly, and this made Ren Baqian curious.

This was the second time he had heard about the level beyond the Spirit Wheel level.

The previous time, he heard about the founding emperor, who had attained Longevity Heaven. As for an expert who had attained Cardinal Heaven, he or she was as good as a Spirit Wheel expert. An expert who attained Longevity Heaven was equivalent to the level attained by Qingyun Sword's master. However, the fighting prowess of a Longevity Heaven expert would be slightly greater. The founding emperor and many people who went with him were missing too.

This time, it was about Qingyun Sword's master.

Ren Baqian kept this matter under wraps for now and would send people to investigate when the opportunity arose.

He interrogated the people that were brought in once more. Most of the 40 odd people surrendered as expected, but those few unyielding ones were executed on the spot by Ren Baqian's order. Not long after, someone brought in the decapitated heads.

Ren Baqian waved them away and said, "Do not show me again. Find a place to bury them. I believe in Buddhism now and cannot see killing taking place.

In the afternoon, Ren Baqian requested that the empress issue the order. A Spirit Wheel expert from the Protectorate of the South led 200 winged cavalry warriors and 200 ordinary soldiers to accompany Qingyun Sword to Mount Lingshan.

If they surrendered, they were be taken back as captives. At the same time, all valuables would be plundered to supplement the state treasury as wars were still being waged to the northeast and the southeast.

If they didn't yield, the Lingshan Sect would be wiped out immediately and then the valuable items would be taken back to Dayao.

The biggest sects in Tianjing Basin should have families with a vast amount of acc.u.mulated wealth.

Subsequently, he sent out another 200 winged cavalry warriors, 200 ordinary soldiers, and the disciples of some of the small sects that were located along the way. They went door to door to check. If the sect surrendered, the aboriginals would do some plundering. If not, the sect would be totally exterminated.

200 Earth Wheel experts would almost be able to walk all over Tianjing Basin if they didn't encounter any Spirit Wheel experts with their Heaven-grade weapons.

After arranging for the departure of these two groups, Ren Baqian attended to other matters. The next day, he personally led Lin Qiaole and 200 winged cavalry warriors to the Golden Ring Residence.

…

While Ren Baqian was still on the road, Qingyun Sword and the rest of his group had already reached the base of Mount Lingshan.

The Lingshan Sect was named after this place and its gate, which was a lofty stone gate. It was located at the base of the mountain. The characters "ling shan" were carved at the top and would instantly elicit admiration from a first time viewer.

It was said that these two characters contained a set of sword techniques. Previously, an expert who came to challenge the Lingshan Sect saw these characters at the gate and stood there for three days comprehending the characters before bowing and leaving.

Later on, when the Lingshan Sect encountered a great enemy, this person even showed up to help repel the enemy.

The descendants of that person remained in Tianjing Basin and still lived there, but they had already declined a long time ago.

This matter was recorded in the ancient records of the Lingshan Sect.

From the gate to halfway up the mountain, there were steps made of white stones that were s.h.i.+ny like jade and undamaged over hundreds of years. Probably a few thousands steps long, the staircase wound up the mountain like a white snake.

To build such a mountainous road in this world, the resources and human effort needed was hard to imagine. Every step was made of this valuable stone, and this made it even more precious.

The steps were an eye-popping sight for the winged cavalry. They were told by Ren Baqian to take back valuable things and these steps looked expensive.

The winged cavalry interacted with Ren Baqian quite frequently and knew his place in the empress's heart. Thus, they paid close attention to Ren Baqian's words.

"Wait for me here. Let me go up to persuade them." Qingyun Sword turned to speak to the other Spirit Wheel expert.

The Spirit Wheel expert leading the group was named Qing Ping. As the Vanguard Captain of the Protectorate of the South, a Standard cla.s.s Rank 4 official, he was the very first person ranked below Xi Wanya and the a.s.sistant Protector General.

"Two hours!" Qing Ping said in a deep voice. "After two hours, whether you are successful or not, I will lead my people to give Mount Lingshan a bloodbath."

Qingyun Sword cupped his hands, made a slight move to disappear from their view, and reappeared on the steps. After a few lightning moves, he was nowhere to be seen.

Less than one hour after Qingyun Sword went up, Qing Ping felt the collision of two forces which was caused by two Spirit Wheel experts fighting.

"Sir, do we need to go up?" the captain of the winged cavalry asked.

"Wait!" Qing Ping said sternly.

The battle ended in less time than it took to burn a stick of incense.

After another hour, Qingyun Sword came down from the mountain.

His face was pale, his clothes had wet stains, and it looked like a lot of saliva had been spat on him.

"General, they have surrendered!"

Following his words, more than 300 people came down from the mountain. Everyone wore green tops, including the men, the women, and even the babies in swaddle wraps!

Leading them was an old man who kept his eyes on Qing Ping ever since coming down.

He had fought with Qing Ping before, but he needed the combined power of three people to fight to a draw with him.

"We have surrendered!" this old man said with anguish.

"There are a lot of people! Tie them up,"Qing Ping said sternly.

These few hundred people instantly became agitated.

"Her Majesty has given the order to exterminate everyone if anyone rebels. Even chickens and dogs will not be spared!" Qing Ping said in a murderous tone.

"Keep quiet!" shouted the old man who led them.

Qing Ping ensured that every captive had both hands tied before waving his hand and commanding, "Go up the mountain!"