Chapter 2528: Severing an Arm
Although he discovered that a Primordial realm expert had entered the territory of the Heavenly Moon Empire, the old general did nothing, as this was beyond his powers.
Experts of the same level from the empire would obviously come to deal with the intruding Primordial realm expert. The matter had nothing to do with him.
“I wonder why this Primordial realm expert has intruded on our Heavenly Moon Empire. However, it doesn’t seem like he has come with good intentions.” The old general stared in the direction that the Primordial realm expert had vanished in as he became worried.
In recent years, the Heavenly Moon Empire was not as peaceful as it seemed on the surface. Ever since it was expelled by the Four Symbols Alliance, the Heavenly Moon Empire became completely independent. They were eyed by their neighbouring forces, which made them feel like a candle flame in the wind, where they could be extinguished at any time.
“However, our Heavenly Moon Empire has already pledged its loyalty to the Tian Yuan clan. We’ve become a subsidiary of the Tian Yuan clan. We no longer fear any organisations now,” the old general murmured to himself, and he relaxed a lot.
It was as if the Tian Yuan clan had become his greatest source of comfort.
At this moment, a streak of light shot through the territory of the Heavenly Moon Empire, moving with unbelievable speed.
Two blurry figures could be vaguely seen within the light. They rapidly covered ground.
The two of them were naturally Jian Chen and Hei Ya.
However, Jian Chen had grabbed Hei Ya by the shoulder and was pulling him along.
“This should be the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds.”
A while later, Jian Chen and Hei Ya arrived before a towering mountain. The light dispersed, revealing the two of them.
The towering mountain was abundant with energy. It was beautiful, and the peak of the mountain would be obscured by mist from time to time. It really did seem like an otherworldly place.
Moreover, powerful energy pulsed in the depths of the mountain. It was a formation in operation, isolating the entire place from the senses of souls.
“It really is an honour for our Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds to welcome the patriarch of the Tian Yuan clan. I am Sheng Ping, and I have brought all the elders of the sect to welcome the patriarch.” At this moment, the formation around the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds opened up, and a blue-robed old man flew out. A large group of people followed behind him.
The blue-robed old man was the Primordial realm ancestor of the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds. His name was Sheng Ping.
Sheng Ping led everyone to welcome Jian Chen. He was extremely submissive, almost to the point of seeming like he was grovelling. He was filled with respect.
He had already guessed the reason for Jian Chen’s visit. He was filled with fear and unease.
Now that the entire Heavenly Moon Empire had yielded to the Tian Yuan clan, the leader of the Tian Yuan clan only needed to utter a word to determine the fate of the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds. How could they not show him respect?
Almost twenty Godking elders held their heads low behind Sheng Ming. They all experienced mixed feelings.
They could not help but think about how the patriarch of the Tian Yuan clan was only an Overgod a few decades ago, yet he had undergone a complete transformation now. He had become a powerful figure that even their ancestor had to lower his head to, someone that even the imperial clan of the Heavenly Moon Empire bowed down to.
While they were amazed, they also felt very jealous and troubled.
They had cultivated for tens of thousands of years, over a hundred thousand years or even longer, but they were only Godkings right now. Meanwhile, Jian Chen had become a powerful Primordial realm expert in just a few decades. All of them felt some envious because of this, calling the world unfair.
Jian Chen was politely invited into the main hall by the ancestor of the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds. All the Godking elders accompanied him quietly, standing towards the back with their heads lowered. None of them dared to say anything.
The Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds was located in the Heavenly Moon Empire. Due to their huge disparity in strength in comparison to the imperial family, they would follow some of the arrangements of the imperial family from time to time. However, the imperial family now followed Jian Chen.
As a result, Jian Chen was now like the master of the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds.
Jian Chen sat down in the main seat without holding back at all while Hei Ya stood behind Jian Chen silently like a loyal bodyguard. He glanced past everyone present in the main hall indifferently.
“Sheng Ping, you seem to be very nervous. What’s wrong? Why have you become so afraid just because I’ve come? And why do your elders have such ugly expressions? You’re all Godking experts, so why do your legs shake? Can’t you even stand still as Godkings?” Jian Chen sat in the main seat casually as he glanced past everyone. He seemed to be making fun of them.
However, Sheng Ping and the elders could clearly sense a hint of coldness in Jian Chen’s smile.
“The patriarch holds great authority now. A simple flick of your hand can produce rain and clouds. Our Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds is just too puny in the eyes of the patriarch. Naturally, we would be alarmed by the patriarch’s personal visit.” Sheng Ming smiled along with him as he broke into a sweat. He understood very well that it would be completely up to the patriarch’s mood whether the Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds could continue existing.
“The ancestor is right. The patriarch has come to visit this tiny daoist temple of ours, which alarms us. How can we remain composed over such a matter?” A few Godkings added in a hurry out of respect.
Jian Chen broke into laughter from that. “I never thought that I, Jian Chen, would actually frighten you so much. Am I really that scary? Or should I say that your conscience is tormenting you?”
Sheng Ping’s expression changed. This was directly related to the survival of his Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds, so he dared not be careless. Although he had permitted the attack on Jian Chen in the past, he could not admit to it.
Sheng Ping opened his mouth to explain, but Jian Chen waved his hand rather impatiently. “Enough, I don’t have enough time to waste it here. Sheng Ping, don’t you dare tell me you don’t know about what happened in the past. The behaviour of you and your elders has already betrayed you.”
“I’ll give you a choice right now. The first one would be that everyone involved severs one of their arms and do not regrow it for a century. The second would be for me to take personal action and handle your Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds like you are enemies. What you choose is up to you.”
Jian Chen had already said that, so Sheng Ping knew that if tried to argue or deny it, he might displease Jian Chen instead, leading to an even more painful fate.
He immediately made his decision. He gritted his teeth and said, “Thank you for sparing our lives, patriarch! Our entire Daoist Sect of Calm Clouds will only listen to the patriarch from now on!” With that, Sheng Ping drew a sword and cut off his left arm without any hesitation at all.
Spurt! Blood spurted, and his left arm was separated from his body. He had severed his own arm.
“Ancestor!” The expressions of some of the Godkings who were clueless about the whole matter changed drastically. They were both frightened and at a loss. They did not know what was going on.
After Sheng Ping, a few other elders there drew weapons and severed their own arms without any hesitation as well. Blood sprayed out and dyed the ground red.
Immediately, the clueless elders were left stunned. No matter how dim-witted they were, they could guess that these people probably had an unknown grievance with the patriarch of the Tian Yuan clan in the past. This made the elders pale in fright as they became badly shaken.