The Nine Cauldrons

"Hmph," said Li Jun coldly.

"Don’t bother with these trivial matters." Teng Qingshan waved his hand, gesturing the manager of Qingshan Enterprise to leave.

As of now, Teng Qingshan just wanted to find the identity of the mastermind and punish him harshly. As for the disciples of Gui Yuan Sect who held a prejudicial attitude towards him, Teng Qingshan was too lazy to care about them. After all, it was impossible for any human being to win the praises of everyone in the world. There will always be people who will demean and insult you.

In the mansion of the Ni Family located in Yong’an County:

The Ni Family was one of the more superior families in Yong’an County. In fact, the Ni Family in Gui Yuan Sect was as old as the Zhuge Family. And now, the leader of the Ni Family was Elder Ni, one of the two Law Enforcing Elders who has achieved the Golden Dan of the Innate Realm.

It was currently noon and the sun hung high up in the sky.

However, the mansion of the Ni Family retained a depressing ambiance, causing even the maids to tiptoe in the mansion for fear of making noises. White strips of clothes were hung all over the mansion and many in the mansion were wearing mourning garments. As one approach the hall in the mansion, crying noises could be heard.

Two children, dressed in mourning garments with red silk cloth around the waist, could be seen kneeling on the ground and burning papers.

"Old Master, how can you leave us..."

"Old Master."

Several women were bawling their eyes out. The Ni Family was a big family. The Law Enforcing Elder, Elder Ni, had three sons and two daughters. However, Elder Ni Hanshan only had one son and two daughters. The death of his only son was obviously a huge psychological blow to him, causing him to spit blood and die out of anger.

On a chair beside the coffin in the memorial hall sat an indifferent-looking elder with the appearance of a middle-aged man. At this moment, the elder was staring deeply at the coffin.

The indifferent-looking middle-aged man was the eldest Law Enforcing Elder in the Ni Family.

"Martial Uncle Ni, my condolences."

Some elders said to the indifferent-looking middle-aged man. Many people, who heard of the tragic news, had come to pay their respects.

The indifferent-looking middle-aged man nodded his head slightly without saying a word.

...

In Gui Yuan Sect, some disciples, who had just eaten lunch, were walking in groups of three or five.

"Martial Brother, Lord Teng is too unreasonable. We have to suffer because Gui Yuan Sect owes Lord Teng a great favor..."

Two disciples could be seen walking on the road and the shorter disciple grumbled and complained, "Unreasonable? Yes, even if Lord Teng had done a great favor for us, he should not act so arrogantly. He had already taken the Fiery Gilt Battle Armor and the Fiery Feather Battle Armor, which belongs to the Gui Yuan Sect. Look at what is happening now! Ni Mengzhong, the eldest grandson of the Ni Family died, but no one dared to stick out for the Ni Family. Teng Qingshan even forced us to give him an explanation. Hmph... we can’t do anything. He is the Grandmaster of the Century and he is powerful. Gui Yuan Sect can only ignore his crimes."

"Forget about it. What can junior disciples like us do," said the other disciple, shaking his head helplessly.

Suddenly, a young man, carrying a sword on his back, approached. When he saw the two disciples, he cried out hastily, "Sixth Martial Brother, Seventh Martial Brother. Something extremely unfortunate happened! Elder Ni Hanshan of the Ni Family, who has been injured and bedridden, spat blood out because of the anger and died today."

"What!" The two junior disciples were extremely astonished.

"Sigh." The young man, who was carrying a sword, couldn’t help but shake his head, "Elder Ni Hanshan has only one son. His son died but nobody stood up for him. On the day his son died, he was deeply wounded by Teng Qingshan and he went back home furious. With the mixed emotions of rage and sadness as well as the injuries, I am honestly not surprised that he died after spitting blood out.

"This, this..." The shorter disciple couldn’t help but show expressions of anger as he shouted, "What a bully! He is a tyrant! Teng Qingshan’s son is precious, but the son of Elder Ni of Gui Yuan Sect is not? Tyrant!"

"What can we do? He is the sovereign of Xing Yi Sect. Gui Yuan Sect depends on him. Gui Yuan Sect has to respect him." The young man with the sword said with a helpless expression.

"Hmph."

The shorter disciple said angrily, "We must be bold! It’s better to die standing than to live kneeling. So what if he is Teng Qingshan? Gui Yuan Sect has ten thousand soldiers of the Longgang Army and thirty thousand soldiers of the Black Armored Army. We have millions of disciples and millions of ordinary soldiers. Even if Teng Qingshan is not on our side, Gui Yuan Sect can still create its own world!"

"If we have to feel such frustration to gain his protection, I would rather Gui Yuan Sect fight for a world of its own! I would rather have a smaller territory than to suffer such frustrations!" The shorter disciple grumbled angrily.

"Yes, Sixth Martial Brother is right," The other disciple said passionately. "Why should we be bullied and why should we experience such frustration! The greatness of Teng Qingshan’s strength and the greatness of the power possessed by Xing Yi Sect has nothing to do with Gui Yuan Sect. Teng Qingshan was a disciple of Gui Yuan Sect, but since he betrayed the sect, he was no longer considered a member of our sect."

"Guys, lower down your voice," The young man with the sword advised as he quickly looked around.

"Don’t be scared! If we didn’t do anything wrong, we shouldn’t be afraid!" The shorter disciple said as he glared, "Even if the Sovereign and the Elders are in front of me, I will still say the same thing! Elder Ni Hanshan died out of anger! Yet, no one who stood up for him! The Sovereign even ordered the mansion of Ni Family to be sealed off and demanded a thorough investigation of every member of the Ni Family. It was so disappointing... No matter what, we want Teng Qingshan to give us an explanation."

"Yes, it does make sense."

In the Land of the Nine Prefectures, the cultivators were generally impulsive people. Their irrational anger could make them attack and kill! Previously, many members of Gui Yuan Sect had been enduring and tolerating. However, when they heard that Elder Ni Hanshan had spat out blood and died and found out that the mansion of Ni Family had been sealed off and all the members of Ni Family were being investigated, they got even angrier."

Maybe it was the impulsiveness or maybe it was because there were people secretly stirring up trouble.. In the end, many disciples of Gui Yuan Sect, who had always been proud of their identity as members of Gui Yuan Sect, became extremely furious. All of them gathered in groups of three or five and assembled in front of the great hall of Gui Yuan Sect.

"Sovereign, we would rather live standing than die kneeling!"

"Sovereign, Gui Yuan Sect mustn’t yield to Xing Yi Sect!"

Moving like outbursts of waves, around ten thousand disciples gathered at the public square in front of the great hall. Many of them began shouting and screaming.

"What’s the point of shouting here? I think we should shout outside the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise and force Teng Qingshan to give us an explanation. We demand justice." A disciple in the crowd said.

"Hmph, are you stupid? Shout in front of the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise? That will only make the situation worse."

Although the disciples of Gui Yuan Sect were impulsive and angry, they knew not to cross the line. Their aggression and agitation could compel Gui Yuan Sect to give an explanation. However, if too many people tried to stir up trouble at the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise, the situation would be beyond repairable. Therefore, not many people were persuaded to protest outside the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise.

...

However, not everyone was calm. Moreover, the disciples of Gui Yuan Sect were too great in number. Also, there were some treacherous disciples secretly instigating disharmony. Indeed, even though not many people were convinced, over a hundred people still showed up in front of the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise.

"Lord Teng, please give Gui Yuan Sect an explanation."

"Lord Teng, your son is precious, but Elder Ni Hanshan’s son is also precious. Even after the death of Elder Ni Hanshan’s son, you continued to torment the Ni Family. Your actions are too unreasonable! I can’t believe I used to see you as the great hero."

"Teng Qingshan, do not forget that you used to be a disciple of Gui Yuan Sect. I know you are independent now, but don’t be too arrogant. You are a tyrant and a bully!"

"Bully!"

However, the hundreds of people were only able to gather for a short while before loud clashes of metal sounded.

"Clang! Clash! Crash!"

A great number of Black Armored Soldiers gathered and surrounded the protesting group. The person leading the Black Armored Soldiers was actually Zhuge Yun, one of the Law Enforcing Elders. Zhuge Yun, dressed fully in armor, commanded with a menacing expression, "Seize these people and throw them into the dungeon!"

"Yes, Lord!"

A great number of Black Armored Soldiers rushed over and began carrying out Zhuge Yun’s order. Most of the protestors did not resist at all, but there were some people who shouted, "Black Armored Soldiers! Brothers! Are you serving Xing Yi Sect now? Are you locking up your brothers?"

"Brothers of the Black Armoured Army, we are all part of Gui Yuan Sect. It breaks my heart to see you do this."

The mournful and angry noises of some disciples instigated the disciples who had no intention of resisting initially. Gradually, all of them became agitated and began shouted angrily.

However, the protesting disciples were not strong enough. Soon, the group of disciples was taken away.

...

At the public square in front of the great hall of Gui Yuan Sect, about 10,000 disciples gathered. At first sight, there seemed to be an endless amount of people protesting at the public square. The protesting 10,000 disciples filled up every space on the public square and many people had to stand on the grass and even on the trees.

"Sovereign is here."

"Sovereign came out."

The noisy crowd soon became quiet. Within only a few seconds, 10,000 disciples stopped making any sound. A dead silence descended upon the multitudes of disciples.

Zhuge Yuanhong, dressed in a white loose cloak, could be seen standing in front of the great hall of Gui Yuan Sect. Behind him stood three Law Enforcing Elders.

"Disciples of Gui Yuan Sect, listen up," Zhuge Yuanhong’s voice transmitted far away. Every disciple could hear his voice clearly.

"This case involves too many people and it is part of a great scheme. Disciples of Gui Yuan Sect, you mustn’t let yourselves be tricked by the enemies." Zhuge Yuanhong’s volume suddenly amplified. "I, Zhuge Yuanhong, promise you all that I will reveal everything on the day after tomorrow. I will tell you the truth by sunrise on the 9th of December."

This promise was very effective.

Once the angrily protesting disciples heard that they would know the truth on the day after tomorrow, they all went separate ways obediently. After all, they were loyal to Gui Yuan Sect.

...

Immediately after he calmed the crowd, Zhuge Yuanhong hurried off to the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise.

"People actually tried to disturb Qingshan Enterprise..."Zhuge Yuanhong was very worried. He was scared that their relationship with Teng Qingshan would become worse.

In the living room of the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise:

"Qingshan," Zhuge Yuanhong stepped into the living room.

"Haha, teacher, you look bewildered," laughed Teng Qingshan.

Hearing Teng Qingshan’s laughter, Zhuge Yuanhong let out a sigh of relief. He then smiled helplessly and said as he shook his head, "I am bewildered."

"Teacher, I did not expect that so many spies and enemies were hiding within Gui Yuan Sect." Teng Qingshan smiled and said as he shook his head, "They stirred up such a big commotion. So many people gathered before the great hall and there were even people in front of the headquarters of Qingshan Enterprise."

Zhuge Yuanhong nodded, "If there were no spies, this would have never happened. It’s my fault...I desired power, growth, and progress. There was nothing I could do. Within only twenty years, Gui Yuan Sect transformed from a sect that only governed the land of one county to a supreme sect. We had to recruit disciples from different places in Yangzhou and the enemies seized this opportunity and planted spies in my sect. The result was inevitable.