Chapter 947: Arcane Guru
Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed after hearing the princess’ threat. He smiled in response: “Oh? Playing nice didn’t work so it’s time for force?”
The princess coldly responded: “If you already know the Blood-devil Tribe, then you should know how powerful we are, especially my Half-moon branch!”
The Blood-devil Tribe was one of the strongest branches of the Blood Race. Its influence was great in the Barren Earth. It had thirty-five lineages and fourteen countries. Moreover, it had produced three Immortal Emperors!
The Half-moon Blood Tribe was one of the thirty-five lineages. They had a decent grasp in the southern region as well.
“So what?” Li Qiye wasn’t interested and didn’t bother to glance back at her.
The princess retorted: “If I wanted to make things difficult for you, there wouldn’t be a need for me to personally do so. With just a single word, there would be no peace for you in the Barren Earth — a fate worse than death!”
“Okay, I got your message and heard your nonsense.” Li Qiye drank his wine and lazily spoke: “, Now scram before I have the urge to kill.”
“You!” The princess immediately stood up with a murderous glint in her eyes. However, Li Qiye still didn’t bother looking at her.
He continued to slowly savor his wine as if the princess didn’t exist in his eyes.
In the end, the princess didn’t make a move. She took another deep breath and stated: “You better think it over then find me once you change your mind. If you want to marry Ye Chuyun, my Half-moon Blood Tribe can help you.” With that, she turned around and quickly disappeared.
Li Qiye only smiled after seeing her leave and murmured: “Not too foolish after all.” He continued to drink and snack afterward.
A while later when the bottle was half empty, Li Qiye slowly spoke: “Okay, you can come up now. Stop hiding down there.”
With thumping steps, someone came up. It was the mysterious old man wearing the paper hat from earlier. He didn’t leave and instead continued to stay downstairs since he didn’t dare to linger without Li Qiye’s permission.
He stood before Li Qiye with a very nervous expression. He didn’t know where to position his hands. The old fella was very powerful. Back in his era, his stomp could cause the clouds and winds to disperse, but now, he was very docile before Li Qiye.
Li Qiye stared at him and spoke: “I must say, you really are courageous, following in my footsteps everywhere and even digging up quite a few of my items.”
“My Lord, this lowly one only picked up the leftovers you left behind, please do not be angry.” The old man quickly prostrated.
Li Qiye gently waved his sleeve in response: “Okay, stand up. If I really wanted to punish you, I wouldn’t have spared a little mouse like you back at the All Heaven Grotto, I would have killed you back in the Ancient Sky Street.”
“Thank you for showing mercy, My Lord.” The old man bowed again: “This old one committed the offense of being unable to recognize My Lord back in the Ancient Street, please punish me.”
“Can’t fault the unaware.” Li Qiye said: “However, you are quite capable, to be able to uncover my identity in such a short amount of time.”
The mysterious old man coughed and quickly said: “This lowly one has admired My Lord since childhood, especially when you spared me back at the All Heaven Grotto; your benevolence is unforgettable. I was still skeptical after the Ancient Street, so I tried to go back to find more information. I was thinking that this was the case, but I didn’t dare to offend My Lord and verify my findings.”
“Okay, I don’t blame you. It was a type of fate for you to be able to slip into my All Heaven Grotto.” Li Qiye waved his sleeve: “Your continual search for my tales did not go unnoticed. It would have been simple for me to destroy you.”
The old man became a bit embarrassed as he smiled wryly: “My Lord is unbeatable across the eons, this lowly one only wanted to look for your old relics, that’s all. Back then, My Lord and the Black Dragon King loomed over the nine heavens while I could only gaze from afar.”
“Since you know who I am, you should know of my taboo creed.” Li Qiye leisurely drank his wine.
The old man quickly replied: “This lowly one understands. I will definitely not tell a third soul about My Lord’s matters. I can swear with my true fate!”
The old man’s words were not just for show. He actually swore with his true fate.
Li Qiye patted the table, allowing him to sit down. The old man sat down immediately after. Li Qiye looked at him and spoke: “If my memory serves me right, you were called the Arcane Young Emperor back then…”
The mysterious old man coughed in response: “My Lord, I was young and foolish back then. Because I came from a place called the Arcane Mountains, I took the title Arcane Young Emperor. During my youth, I tried to compete for the Immortal Emperor’s throne against Gu Zun, but after realizing that Immortal Emperor Yin Tian was the person chosen by you, I knew better than to compete against My Lord and changed my name to Arcane Guru.” 1
Immortal Emperor Yin Tian was the emperor before Immortal Emperor Ta Kong. He came from the Mysterious Bamboo Mountain!
“Gu Zun? Eligible to become emperor?” Li Qiye smiled and said: “He should be thanking the heaven and earth that I didn’t imprison him in the Blue Abyss, let alone try to obtain the Heaven’s Will!”
Arcane Guru laughed dryly. Although he knew a thing or two about this feud, he didn’t dare to comment on it since it was also one of the taboo subjects surrounding the Dark Crow!
“It seems that you have been running to many places in these last few years. Are you trying to excavate every location that I have been to?” Li Qiye asked.
The guru nervously touched his clothing and answered: “Ah, this lowly one does not intend on challenging My Lord’s prestige. I just have a bad habit and couldn’t help but follow in your footsteps.”
It turned out that Arcane Guru was a demonic mouse. Before he truly became strong, he was lucky enough to run into Li Qiye’s All Heaven Grotto and was captured by the Dark Crow.
That event frightened him completely. However, Li Qiye didn’t kill him back then and only threw him out.
Later on, the guru grew extremely interested in the mythical Dark Crow and tried to find all the remnants left behind by him. This greatly benefited the guru since he was able to find items thrown away by Li Qiye.
This only further fueled his desire for the search. Any legends relating to the Dark Crow were quickly verified by him.
“So, is that why you are here?” Li Qiye looked at the guru.
The guru’s expression quickly changed as he responded: “My Lord, this lowly one has no malicious intentions. I only came here by following a clue and have no desire to hurt anyone in this place. I can swear with my true fate!”
He was still afraid that Li Qiye might have misunderstood and continued on: “My Lord, although I have been following your footsteps, I never dared to break anything relating to you or the descendants of your followers. My Lord left behind many items; if they had an owner, I wouldn’t dare to touch them…”
Li Qiye gazed at him for a while before nodding his head approvingly: “Very good, you know where I draw my bottom line.”
The guru heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this and had to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead. Even though he was very powerful with the title of Young Emperor during his youth, he knew full well that this was an existence who could kill even Immortal Emperors. A guy like him was nothing in comparison.
“It seems like your tracking ability is not bad since you were able to chase me all the way to the Xu Clan.” Li Qiye looked at him: “How did you come to this result?”
“My Lord, this lowly one found some clues in the Hidden-dragon Mountains. I’ve read through many ancient books and know a little about the Xu Clan’s past, so I immediately came here to see.” The guru answered.
“Brilliant, to be able to find some clues from the Hidden-dragon Mountains.” Li Qiye continued: “What did you find?” Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed after asking.
The guru’s heart jolted. He immediately stood up and bowed again: “My Lord, I never had any ideas or thoughts about touching the Xu Clan. If you don’t believe me, I am willing to let you search through my sea of memories!”
The sea of memories was a cultivator’s biggest secret. Anyone would prefer losing their life over letting someone else see the depths of their mind.
However, Arcane Guru was willing. His achievements today were due to Li Qiye since he obtained many things by tracing Li Qiye’s footsteps, including merit laws, treasures, and his knowledge…
In a certain sense, he was given everything by Li Qiye!
Li Qiye gently nodded: “Very well, it is good that you understand. If you came here following my footsteps, you should be aware of the Holy City’s significance as well as the Xu Clan’s past! For anyone who touches the Xu Clan, I will exterminate their nine clans or even ten clans!”
“This little one understands.” Arcane Guru solemnly replied. He knew that these were not empty words! As long as Li Qiye was willing, exterminating the nine clans of someone only required a single command!
Li Qiye gently tapped on the table and spoke: “Okay, sit back down. You must have found something in the mountains to be able to trace me to this place.”
1. Raw translation is Heavenly Mysterious Old Man. Old Man here is a common daoist title, but it sounds funky as Old Man. Elder is taken, Sage is taken, and Guru seems to be an okay option here.