Chapter 937: It's Good to Be Young

At this point, Taishu Xiong could not help sighing as well. "Perhaps things won't turn out like last time, when the Tiandu Secret Realm affair froze the wars. But what if they do? Last time, even the lists of people the various sects recommended for the Tiandu Secret Realm were frozen because the wars interfered. This time the matter concerns Sacred Realm itself, something even Misty Pavilion does not dare treat carelessly. It is entirely possible the wars will be frozen again. The campaign against Wei cannot withstand an accident like that! If something goes wrong, Jin will suffer enormous losses, and Wei and Qi will never give us such a good opportunity again."

So that was the reason. What else could Shao Pingbo say? Helplessness filled his heart. "This minister understands. Your Majesty is wise, and Qiyun Sect has taken the long view. This minister failed to consider matters thoroughly. But how long will this suspension last? Xuan Chengtian has always been fond of pleasure. He isn't a man of firm resolve. This minister fears that once his present impulse cools, we may miss the opportunity."

Taishu Xiong said, "I have discussed it with Qiyun Sect. We wait. Not long, and it won't take long either. Once the list of those entering Sacred Realm is finalized, and once the relevant people have all entered Sacred Realm, that will be the time for you to show what you can do."

Once they entered Sacred Realm... Shao Pingbo calculated inwardly. It truly would be soon. It truly would not take long. The stone weighing on his heart finally settled. He cupped his hands. "This minister obeys! As for Xuan Chengtian in Wei, this minister will do everything possible to keep him steady and drag matters out, so the plan does not stray from its course."

Taishu Xiong pointed at him. "If this succeeds, I will credit you with the foremost merit. When the time comes, rewarding you according to your achievements will be perfectly justified."

He knew what Shao Pingbo wanted and used that to spur him on...

The matter of tempering in Sacred Realm had considerable impact within the great sects beneath Heaven. Many people were guessing at the true purpose behind this so-called tempering, but no one could make sense of it. Even Niu Youdao could not fathom what those nine people standing high above everyone else actually intended to do.

As for the rest of the world, people mostly continued doing whatever they had been doing. On the surface, there seemed to be no effect at all.

Zijin Cave's scheme had come to nothing. Tianhuo Sect had simply abandoned Kunlin Shu. Zijin Cave took the initiative to contact Tianhuo Sect, intending to lower its price and negotiate again, but Tianhuo Sect ignored them, leaving Zijin Cave helpless. They tried to make Kunlin Shu surrender Tianhuo Sect's supreme secret art, but Kunlin Shu would rather die than comply. As for killing him, Zijin Cave would not do that either. Wouldn't that merely make things easier for Tianhuo Sect? Keeping husband and wife around to disgust Tianhuo Sect was not a bad outcome. Since you refuse to spend money to buy them back, then we'll keep them here to disgust you.

On the other hand, Tianhuo Sect took the initiative to send someone to contact Niu Youdao. The pretext was to coordinate Kunlin Shu's trip to Sacred Realm, but in practice they left behind a Goldenwing for direct communication, establishing a direct line of contact with Niu Youdao.

Leaving a messenger Goldenwing behind merely for this so-called coordination made Niu Youdao ponder for a long time. He felt there was probably more to it, yet could not figure out what Yuwen Yan intended.

The State of Qin had only just been established and needed enormous amounts of money. Xiaoyue Pavilion finally began brewing liquor for profit.

The moment that happened, it caused Niu Youdao another round of trouble. The people from Zijin Cave summoned him and demanded an explanation, forcing him to spend quite some effort talking his way through it.

Inside the council hall, Niu Youdao noticed that Yan Li's attitude had changed somewhat. While everyone questioned him, Yan Li repeatedly made things difficult for him.

In any case, Niu Youdao washed his hands of the matter completely and insisted it had nothing to do with him. He himself no longer dared brew liquor. If Zijin Cave wanted answers, they could go ask Xiaoyue Pavilion and Sha Rulai.

He knew Zijin Cave did not dare ask Sha Rulai about accepting gifts. As for Xiaoyue Pavilion, since they wanted the exclusive business, they would naturally cooperate with him. Without evidence, Zijin Cave could do nothing to him over a matter like this.

As Niu Youdao left the council hall, Yan Li caught up and nearly smashed a letter into his face.

Niu Youdao caught the falling letter between two fingers and glanced over it. There was nothing complicated inside. A disciple from Yan Li's faction had reported that the officials they had arranged to send to Beizhou had been killed again. Beizhou had suddenly acted, wiping out every last person Yan Li had placed there.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Niu Youdao tossed the letter straight back at Yan Li's face.

Yan Li snatched it out of the air and angrily rebuked him. "You still have the face to ask me what it means? What did you promise me? You said you wouldn't touch my people and even had me give you the list. Then you went down that list and killed every last one of them. What are you trying to do?"

Niu Youdao said without warmth, "I ordered it. So what?"

"So what? You owe me an explanation today!"

"Explain what? I treat you as a friend, as my Senior Brother, as a friend despite the difference in our ages, while you guard against me like I'm a thief. Every day you suspect me of this and suspect me of that, always thinking about how to undermine me. Has a dog eaten your conscience, and you still want an explanation from me?"

Yan Li froze slightly, then defended himself. "I... When have I ever undermined you?" Even he lacked confidence as he said it.

Niu Youdao erupted. "Go on. Keep pretending. I've met bastards before, but never one as shameless as you. One hand reaches toward me for benefits while the other stabs me in the back. Do you take me for an idiot? Explain my ass! Yes, I gave the order, because I don't like the sight of you. If you've got the nerve, complain to the sect! If you've got the nerve, complain to the imperial court! If you've got the nerve, eat from inside while helping outsiders and collude with Xiaoyao Palace and Lingjian Mountain against me, an Elder of Zijin Cave. Go ahead. I'll be waiting! And I'll tell you something else: from now on, Beizhou's interests have nothing to do with you. Send one man there and I'll kill one man!"

Yan Li flew into a rage. "Niu Youdao, don't get too arrogant. Don't forget where you are. This is Zijin Cave, not your Maolu Villa. You still have to make your living here in the future. Being too arrogant will do you no good. This old man isn't made of clay for you to knead as you please."

"Oh? So you've got a temper now!" Niu Youdao planted his sword in the ground and rolled up both sleeves. "Come on, then. No more arguing. Let's settle it with our hands. One-on-one. Whoever wins gets to decide who's made of clay."

"I don't have time to play with you!" Yan Li flung out his sleeve and turned to leave. What sort of joke was this? Two dignified Elders brawling inside the sect over a little profit? Niu Youdao might be willing to throw away his face, but Yan Li still had to consider sect rules.

"Don't run!" Niu Youdao hurried after him and grabbed his sleeve. "Fine, we don't have to fight. But today we're going to settle exactly who's right and who's wrong. Come on. We'll go to Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion and argue it out in front of my master. If you've got the nerve, repeat what you just said to my master." With that, he tried to drag Yan Li away directly.

"Let go!" Yan Li grabbed at his own sleeve with his other hand, terrified the bastard would rip it off.

The two wrestled there without getting anywhere, drawing quite a few disciples to watch from near and far. Elder Yan clearly wanted to leave, but Elder Niu had latched on and refused to let go. No one knew what had made the two men argue until their faces were red and their necks thick.

Guan Fangyi, who had been waiting not far away, saw what was happening and hurried over in a flash. "Master Dao, what are you two doing?"

Niu Youdao shouted, "Help me restrain him. We're dragging him to Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion."

"This..." Guan Fangyi hesitated and looked around. Was that really appropriate?

"What are you two doing?" Gong Lince, having heard the news, flashed over and landed on the edge of the slope above them, barking out the question.

He found it strange too. Hadn't these two been getting along perfectly well before? How had they suddenly fallen out, to the point of throwing away all dignity and grappling in full view of everyone?

The instant the Sect Leader appeared, the disciples watching nearby scattered and hid. Yan Li and Niu Youdao both stopped as well, while Yan Li hurriedly straightened his wrinkled sleeves and the clothes that had been pulled crooked.

Gong Lince flashed down again and came over, furious. "Two dignified Elders, pulling and shoving in front of a crowd of disciples like street hooligans and rogues. What kind of disgraceful spectacle is this?"

Yan Li said, "Sect Leader, he was the one being unreasonable, not me..."

Niu Youdao immediately cut him off. "Sect Leader, this old bastard is no damn good. He came demanding benefits from me, and when I wouldn't give them to him, he actually threatened me. He said this was Zijin Cave, not Maolu Villa. He said that if I still wanted to make my way here in the future, I'd better stop being so arrogant, because it wouldn't end well for me. He said he'd deal with me. I wanted to drag him to Tortoise-Slumber Pavilion and settle the matter face-to-face, but he refuses to go!"

Gong Lince immediately swept a cold gaze toward Yan Li.

Yan Li hurriedly defended himself. "Senior Brother, nothing like that happened. He's talking nonsense."

"I'm talking nonsense?" Niu Youdao reached out and grabbed his sleeve again. "The letter. Take it out and let the Sect Leader see it. No wonder you kept targeting me in the council hall just now. Sect Leader, look at the evidence. That letter proves he's using public business to settle a private grudge. Under sect rules, how should that be punished?"

Ever since becoming an Elder, Yan Li had never encountered anything like this. Niu Youdao had thrown him into complete confusion. In a moment of panic, Yan Li actually circulated his power and shattered the letter into fine powder, destroying the evidence on the spot.

Gong Lince stared coldly at Yan Li. Earlier he had doubted whether Yan Li could really have done what Niu Youdao claimed. Now that he had witnessed this with his own eyes, he believed it a little more.

"Sect Leader, look! A guilty conscience. He's destroying the evidence!" Niu Youdao immediately pointed at the drifting white powder and bit down on the accusation without letting go.

"Enough nonsense. Both of you, get the hell back!" Gong Lince rebuked them. As the person who held the power of judgment within the sect, saying this actually meant he was still siding with Yan Li.

Niu Youdao pointed at Yan Li again and was about to say something, but Gong Lince glared at him. "Do my words as Sect Leader mean nothing to you?"

Niu Youdao froze. Then, fuming, he turned away, yanked his sword from the ground, and strode off.

Gong Lince turned back toward Yan Li, who was still straightening his clothes, and cursed him outright. "Have you gone senile? In front of so many disciples, do you still want to retain even a scrap of an Elder's dignity?"

"Sect Leader, it wasn't what he said. That letter came from Beizhou. That bastard killed the people I arranged to send there again, and his reason was actually that I keep suspecting him and trying to undermine him..." Yan Li explained the general situation. There were no outsiders now, so he did not hide anything. He had always belonged to the Sect Leader's faction.

Gong Lince raised a brow. "And because of that, you retaliated against him in the council hall just now?"

"I..." Yan Li had nothing to say. After Niu Youdao's performance, he discovered that even though he had originally been the one with reason on his side, somehow he was now the one in the wrong.

Gong Lince said, "How old is he, and how old are you? By age, you're old enough to be his grandfather. After pulling and shoving like this, making a public spectacle of yourselves, whose face looks worse?"

Elsewhere, Niu Youdao had barely started down the mountain before he was acting as though nothing had happened.

Guan Fangyi asked uncertainly, "Master Dao, how did you end up getting physical with Yan Li? What happened?"

"Nothing. I killed his people in Beizhou, and that old dog Yan wasn't happy about it." Niu Youdao chuckled, then sighed with feeling. "It's good to be young!"

Guan Fangyi stared at him, baffled.

[End of Chapter 937]