Indeed, as Ye Feng had anticipated, now that he had won the championship, his prestige had skyrocketed like never before. The first part of the cultivation technique of the Emperor’s Dao from the Divine Path Heavenly Edict indeed required prestige to cultivate. This Xuanhuang-colored Qi Essence was surging more powerfully than at any time before.
"This is fantastic, if I can fully absorb this Xuanhuang Luck, my Qi Force could probably be converted into Qi Essence by about half, and it’s likely that I’ll be able to open up around four hundred and fifty acupoints. I estimate that my combat power could increase by double!" Ye Feng felt immensely satisfied within.
Of course, at this very moment, although the nation was celebrating, the mood at the Nine Great Sects of Ancient Martial Arts was gloomy, with many looking incredibly indignant. Some hadn’t even waited for Zhao Gongming, the host, to announce the end of the contest before storming off in a fury.
In addition, there were foreign guests from other countries, particularly those from Snow Wolf Country and Fusang Kingdom, as well as the Western Nations that were in opposition to Xuanyuan Nation. These countries were more interested in watching the spectacle, with some showing mocking expressions, which seemed to suggest they were harboring some kind of scheming intent.
On the high platform, an old man from the Holy Mansion of Confucian Sect stood up and said, "Gentlemen, although the Martial Dao conference has concluded, our Holy Mansion of Confucian Sect will be hosting a martial exchange meeting next. Would you honor us with your presence and jointly discuss our next move and strategy?"
The Underworld Sect and the Flora Sect were the first to answer, and two elderly men said, "Since it concerns the future direction of our situation, we naturally will not be absent. Additionally, we should discuss in detail how to punish this so-called Northern King Ye Feng!"
"Since it’s about punishing the kid, Dao Sect certainly won’t be absent!" An elder from Dao Sect responded.
Seeing the other sects responding, those like Mount Shu and the Buddhist Sect naturally wouldn’t stand aside; they all expressed their participation.
"In that case, three days from now, our Holy Mansion of Confucian Sect will host the Martial Dao exchange conference and invite heroes from all over the Martial Forest to participate!" The elder of the Sacred Mansion declared, bowed, and left with a sweep of his sleeve. The other Sect elders did not stay to bid farewell to Tang Bai or Zhuge Wuming but left one after the other.
Tang Bai’s expression was not pleasant; he sat there with a sullen face. Of course, Zhuge Wuming was quite happy. The strength of the Northern King Ye Feng had been beyond his expectations, and given the circumstances, it seemed likely that Bu Tianyun of the Bu Family would be too ashamed to enter the Utility Pavilion again.
Consequently, the influence of the Bu Family Ancient Clan would naturally fail to penetrate further into the Utility Pavilion.
"What’s this? Shouldn’t you be happy since our Utility Pavilion has won? You seem quite unhappy," Zhuge Wuming taunted, reveling in the rare opportunity to deride the other person. Over the years, Tang Bai had always used the support of the Bu Family Ancient Clan to suppress him, and now he was nearly suffocated by it.
But now, he finally got some relief, so he was rare in taking this chance to mock his counterpart.
Tang Bai slowly stood up and said coldly, "You’ve also seen the attitude of the Nine Great Sects of Ancient Martial Arts just now; they’re all talking about punishing Ye Feng. The kid probably won’t have good days ahead and not to mention the prospect of him taking over as the head of the Martial Academy!"
Zhuge Wuming couldn’t help but laugh and said, "Whether they want to punish Ye Feng is none of my concern. But I have already made my stance clear—if they dare to use any despicable means, they can’t blame me for turning against them!"
Tang Bai scoffed and said, "To punish someone, does one need to resort to dirty tricks? Without going far, just look at the Martial Dao Academy. If it weren’t for the collaboration of the Nine Great Sects of Ancient Martial Arts, could it work? Relying solely on Ye Feng, could he hold it together?"
Zhuge Wuming immediately retorted, "Why couldn’t it? Didn’t you see that the Martial Alliance was also propped up by a single person? The Martial Academy is just an expansion built on the foundation of the Martial Alliance. It’s being promoted under official auspices—that shouldn’t take much effort, right? Even if the Nine Great Sects are not involved, it’s not a big deal."
Still unconvinced, Tang Bai argued, "Haven’t you forgotten? Once the Martial Academy is promoted nationwide, it will inevitably be of a national nature, meaning that more martial arts educational resources will be needed, including instructors, masters, and cultivation techniques, among others. Can our Utility Pavilion handle that on our own?"
Zhuge Wuming met him head-on, "Regarding educational resources, including coaches, masters and cultivation techniques, didn’t we sign an agreement with the Nine Great Sects before? They promised to provide masters and techniques, right?"
"But what if they renege because Ye Feng becomes the headmaster? What can you do about them?" Tang Bai snorted coldly.
In the end, it came down to the fact that old man Tang Bai simply didn’t want Ye Feng to become the head of the Martial Academy. He would prefer Bu Tianyun for the role, and the suppression from the Nine Great Sects was just his excuse.
His true intention was to hope that the Bu Family Ancient Clan could slowly infiltrate and eventually completely control the Utility Pavilion, allowing the Bu Family to ultimately take full control of Xuanyuan Nation.
Zhuge Wuming laughed, "All of this can wait until after Ye Feng becomes the headmaster. If in the future he can’t handle these matters as the headmaster, then we can consider replacing him. But right now, since Northern King Ye Feng has won the championship, he is the headmaster, and that is something no one can change. Besides, that’s my stand on this matter!"
It had to be said that at this moment, Zhuge Wuming was very assertive. He was always easy to talk to, but he didn’t relent on this matter, and he knew he couldn’t afford to—if he did, the situation would be completely reversed going forward.
Tang Bai probably knew he was in the wrong; after all, he had managed to clearly identify the people from the Bu Family Ancient Clan, but in the end, he still had not achieved victory. Thus, his arguments had no leg to stand on. He glared at Zhuge Wuming for several seconds before finally saying coldly, "Fine, we’ll just wait and see how the Nine Great Sects of Ancient Martial Arts punish Ye Feng.
If that kid can’t smoothly operate the Martial Academy, I’ll make sure his position as the Academy’s Chief is revoked, no matter what!"
Having said that, Tang Bai turned around and left with a sweep of his sleeve. Zhuge Wuming silently turned to look in Ye Feng’s direction, sighing deeply and thinking, "Kid, there’s not much time left for you. You need to grow up quickly. Otherwise, even I might not be able to protect you from the storm that’s coming."
In fact, what people did not realize was that Tang Bai did not have the true background of a commoner; he came from a little mountain village in the Northwest, a village that had inherited from the Personal Guard Leader of an emperor over two thousand years ago.
Back in the day, the Personal Guard Leader, disapproving of that emperor’s autocratic and domineering ways, had even agreed to collude with the Sects of Ancient Martial Arts. What was most fatal was that he had secretly opened the gates of the Great Wall of Heaven, allowing alien races from a different space-time to invade, which led to widespread desolation across the lands of Xuanyuan Nation.
Eventually, the Personal Guard Leader realized his mistake, recognizing himself as a criminal of Xuanyuan Nation. That was why he personally vowed that his descendants would forever guard the Great Wall of Heaven. They did this because they were criminals—criminals for two thousand years.
It was because of this that when the One Eternal Emperor died over two thousand years ago, the Personal Guard Leader managed to preserve most of the Emperor’s legacy so it wouldn’t be taken by the alien space-time race. Indeed, the small village in the Northwest had been searching for a suitable successor for over two thousand years without success, until the emergence of Ye Feng.
As for why the old man with the Big Smoking Pipe from the Northwest little mountain village chose Ye Feng as the suitable candidate, Zhuge Wuming had no idea. Although he had asked many times, the old man with the Big Smoking Pipe always managed to evade the question.
And at this very moment, Ye Feng was oblivious to the so-called sanctions that the Nine Great Sects of Ancient Martial Arts might impose as well as the disputes between the two elders of the Utility Pavilion. Of course, he wasn’t concerned; some things were still too far away for him. All he needed to do was to take care of the matters at hand, step by step.
Of course, when he returned to his own place, the first person to rush over and greet his victory wasn’t Hong Qingyan, because Hong had a reserved nature and wasn’t accustomed to expressing her emotions so openly in front of so many people. The first person to rush over was Boss Cao Yi, who hugged Ye Feng the moment he arrived.
If Ye Feng hadn’t dodged, that guy would probably have kissed him on the face.
No doubt, Boss Cao Yi was probably the happiest person in the place. Now that Ye Feng had won, he would have more silver than he could spend for the rest of his life, and the key point was that he had also won the Family Heirloom of Great General Duan Tian, which couldn’t have made him any happier.
After Cao Yi and Shi Yehong finished speaking and left, Hong Qingyan finally whispered, "Big Brother Ye, I don’t know why, but there’s something strange about that Bu Tianyun."
Ye Feng raised an eyebrow and asked, "What’s strange about him?"
Hong Qingyan pondered and said, "I can’t quite put my finger on it, but when I saw him, I always felt a special kind of feeling."
Realizing that she might have used the wrong words, she quickly smiled and explained, "Of course, this special feeling doesn’t mean I’m interested in him, but it’s related to a feeling about bloodlines."
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"A feeling about bloodlines?" Ye Feng’s expression suddenly turned serious. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Speaking of which, Qingyan, has your grandfather ever mentioned anything about your origins?"
Hong Qingyan was also momentarily taken aback before replying, "You mean that Bu Tianyun might be related to my background?"
Ye Feng nodded and said, "It’s possible. As you know, when we reach our level of cultivation realm, especially when stepping on the path of the Golden Core Great Dao, our divine sense can produce certain intuitions. These are not unfounded nor without reason."
Hong Qingyan nodded and said, "That’s what I was thinking, but since I can remember, grandfather has never talked about my origins. He said that he adopted me from an orphanage because my adoptive parents didn’t have children."
Ye Feng nodded slightly and said, "It looks like Grandfather might not be very clear himself, but there’s no need to be anxious about it right now. When the time comes, I will personally ask Bu Tianyun, and if there’s a chance, I will take you to visit the Bu Family Ancient Clan. Then everything should become clear."
"Okay!" Hong nodded obediently, and the two left the venue together.
As for Sima Zhantian, Xiao Chuanqi, and others, they escorted a small troop alongside Ye Feng. After all, at this point, Ye Feng’s fame and prestige were so great that wherever he went, he attracted countless onlookers, necessitating someone to clear the path. Find adventures at freewebnovel