Chapter 89: Ao Tianjiao
"These damn Shaolin baldies really don't give any face to Huashan at all. To think that they would openly threaten our disciples!"
"Hmph, they are truly detestable!"
"There's plenty of other occurrences where the Shaolin baldies have been extremely high-handed as well! How many people in Jianghu are infuriated but do not dare to speak out? Junior Brother Lin is truly brave to not fear the might of Shaolin and their chief disciple Monk Juexing.
"That's right, the top heavenly talent of Shaolin Monk Juexing has reached the peak of second-rate experts and is well-known for his power. Many people in Jianghu cower in fear at hearing his name, not to mention a direct confrontation with him!"
"Junior Brother Lin Yi is truly worthy to be on par with Senior Brother Linghu. With such magnanimity and guts, I respect him!"
Many Huashan disciples expressed their satisfaction and admiration for Lin Yi.
Liang Rulu was instantly displeased by what she saw and she coldly snorted: "He has indeed stolen the limelight, but it is at the cost of creating a rift between Huashan and Shaolin! Do all of you know how much trouble he has brought to Huashan by doing this?"
Once she opened her mouth, all the Huashan disciples shut their mouth.
However, resentment and disgust could be seen in their eyes as they looked at Liang Rulu. Although Liang Rulu was a great beauty, her words were irksome and discomforting.
For the sake of preventing trouble, Huashan disciples have to bow down to Shaolin?
Then what face would Huashan still have?
Truly a narrow-minded woman with little foresight and backbone!
Even though they were filled with resentment, they did not dare to talk back as she was the little junior sister of Linghu Feng. Unless one did not want to stay in Huashan anymore, no one would dare to offend her.
By comparing the behavior of Liang Rulu and Lin Yi, they were now even more friendly towards Lin Yi.
"Junior Sister, shut up and stop talking nonsense! Junior Brother Lin has done well in this matter by preserving the reputation of Huashan. If Huashan disciples have to bow down to Shaolin simply for the sake of avoiding trouble, how would others in Jianghu view Huashan? We are also a major sect, for what reason do we have to bow down to Shaolin? Are we going to abandon our backbone and spirit?" Linghu Feng scolded her loudly with a solemn expression.
"Eldest Senior Brother!" Liang Rulu was displeased and tried to explain herself: "Junior Sister is simply saying this out of consideration for Huashan. It isn't worth causing a rift with Shaolin for the sake of one disciple!"
"Shut up! You are not allowed to speak unless you are told to!" Seeing the resentful looks on the Huashan disciples towards Liang Rulu, Linghu Feng continued to berate her harshly. "If you speak again, don't call me Eldest Senior Brother anymore!"
Liang Rulu was opened her mouth and was about to speak, but she saw the serious expression on Linghu Feng and decided to shut her mouth. Her face was full of grievance and she threw a hateful glance at Lin Yi. Her enmity towards Lin Yi had only grown even deeper.
Lin Yi had now offended a woman for no reason.
Linghu Feng looked towards Lin Yi and praised him: "Junior Brother Lin has done well and preserved Huashan's reputation and dignity!"
With a humble look, Lin Yi replied: "This is something that Junior Brother should do. However, Senior Sister Liang is right, I did cause some trouble for Huashan by creating a rift between our sect and Shaolin. I admit my mistake, please hand out punishment, Senior Brother Linghu!"
With that being said, Lin Yi carefully scrutinized Linghu Feng's expression.
"What mistake has Junior Brother Lin made? You did not make any mistake, instead, you have done a great deed! So what if we offend Shaolin? The reputation of Huashan is more important!" Linghu Feng waved his hand in indifference.
Lin Yi was relieved at his reply.
Linghu Feng was still someone with integrity. If he was really going to punish Lin Yi, he would be disappointed in him. Fortunately, even though Linghu Feng wasn't a talent for management, being a person with integrity meant that Lin Yi would still treat him as one of Huashan's people. When the time comes, he would have no need to get rid of him.
Of course, this was merely a preliminary observation. If he ever realized that Linghu Feng was similar to Liang Rulu, he would deal with him as needed and not hold back.
News of what happened in Liushanmen was quickly spread by people who were angered by Shaolin's actions.
Many people of Jianghu were displeased and infuriated by Shaolin's high-handedness, and they all expressed support for Lin Yi.
For a time, this matter raised a great commotion in Lanzhou City.
……
Outside Lanzhou City, demonic faction camp.
Ao Wufa was agitated and nervous as he walked along a long corridor before entering a large and spacious hall. Then he raised his head and looked at the man sitting on the chief seat with caution and respect.
It was a young man wearing a black robe with flashy golden decorations, and he exuded an air of nobility.
His face was devilishly handsome, his eyes resembled stars, and his eyebrows resembled swords, extending towards the sides. Overall, he had an imposing and majestic appearance.
Sitting on the seat unmoving, he possessed an aura of one who looked down on everything under the heavens from high above.
This man was Ao Wufa's elder brother, Ming Cult's young master and the number one heavenly talent in the entire demonic faction: Ao Tianjiao.
"Elder Brother…" Ao Wufa cautiously called out.
Ao Tianjiao raised his head to look at him.
An overwhelming pressure assaulted Ao Wufa, causing him to kneel involuntarily before finally dissipating. Heaving a breath of relief, Ao Wufa lowered his head and did not dare to look into Ao Tianjiao's eyes.
"Have the heavenly talents from the various righteous major sects arrived?" Ao Tianjiao's voice was emotionless.
Ao Wufa nodded his head and replied: "Shaolin's Monk Juexing, Wudang's Priest Qiankun, Emei's Zhou Qian, Qingcheng's Li Donglin, and Huashan's Linghu Feng. These five heavenly talents have arrived in Lanzhou City. Besides them, no other heavenly talents have come."
"Five heavenly talents? That's more than enough! It isn't an easy feat to gather them in one place, and I have spent great efforts to get them here. Since they have finally arrived, I shall not punish you for failing your task!" Ao Tianjiao said coldly.
Ao Wufa wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and felt relieved.
He was secretly astounded at the lengths his elder brother went to just to gather the righteous heavenly talents together. First, he sent countless demonic cult members to various territories held by the righteous faction to cause trouble and attract the attention of the righteous faction experts. Then he started a great battle between both factions in Lanzhou City and sent Old Demon Xu to slaughter hundreds of talents from the righteous faction.
All these had been carried out under Ao Tianjiao's orders.
His aim was to attract the heavenly talents from the righteous faction to gather in Lanzhou City.
Ao Wufa could never be capable of devising such grand schemes. Shaking his head in his heart, he wondered why he was so vastly inferior to his elder brother.
"Give the orders, we shall set off for Lanzhou City immediately!" Ao Tianjiao waved his hand and commanded. With his eyes shining in delight, he laughed: "It is finally my turn to appear!"
"Five heavenly talents from major sects? Hmph, today I shall see, who is the number one heavenly talent in both factions!" Ao Tianjiao was filled with excitement and eagerness to battle.
He had been waiting for this moment for too long!
"Understood!" Ao Wufa accepted the orders and retreated.
In just a short while, the demonic faction army consisting of tens of thousands of people started heading towards Lanzhou City.
This scene greatly frightened all the people from the righteous faction who were outside Lanzhou City, and they quickly fled.
Very soon, news of the impending invasion by the demonic cults reached Lanzhou City.
The people in the city hurriedly shut the gates and passed the news to Liushanmen.
Receiving the news, Linghu Feng held his sword and stood up as he muttered: "They are finally coming!"
Looking at the Huashan disciples, he commanded loudly: "The demonic cults are coming, follow me to prepare for battle!"
"Yes!" Three hundred Huashan disciples drew their swords at the same time and replied.
Running towards the city gates, although Lin Yi had not recovered fully yet, he also followed behind with excitement. His four companions from the Five Mountain Sword Sects tagged along.
Similar scenes could be seen among the other major sects who had sent reinforcements.
Emei's chief disciple Zhou Qian drew her sword and shouted with a murderous expression: "Junior sisters, follow me to exterminate evil!"
"We shall follow Eldest Senior Sister's orders!" All the Emei female disciples replied and surged towards the gates. Wearing pink dresses, the Emei disciples resembled pretty flowers.
Wudang's chief disciple Priest Qiankun made a gesture with his hands and said: "Dear junior brothers, let us go as well."
"Great Heavenly One, exterminating evil is the duty of Wudang!" The Wudang disciples nodded and made their way to the gates in an orderly fashion.
Qingcheng's chief disciple Li Donglin waved his hand and said: "Everyone, follow me and let's slay some devils!"
"Kill!" Qingcheng disciples drew their swords and responded loudly before following closely behind their chief disciple.
Shaolin's Monk Juexing had his palms closed together and he said with a fierce expression: "Amitabha, the demonic faction is invading, junior brothers, for the sake of protecting the peace and order in Jianghu, the rule of the righteous faction, and the reputation of Shaolin, follow me to vanquish evil!"
"We shall follow your orders!" Numerous Shaolin disciples nodded and closed their palms together before running off for the gates.
The disciples from the five major sects arrived at the gates and ascended the city walls. Then they looked towards the approaching demonic cult members in the distance with various expressions.
On the other hand, the five heavenly talents looked extremely relaxed and unbothered by the great demonic faction army.