History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474
Page 154
After a time, Elder Liu spoke, “Senior apprentice-brother Yuan…I haven’t addressed you this way for a long time, always calling you Chief ever since you succeeded the position.”
Yuan Zhengfeng’s expression didn’t change, but his gaze was also a little emotional.
Placed in the outside world, every descendant of Broad Creed Mountain was a Heaven’s favoured child. Likewise, for Elder Liu of Broad Creed Mountain, even if he wasn’t one of the strongest experts of Broad Creed Mountain, placed in the outside world, he would immediately be a behemoth-like figure.
Outside of the six great Sacred Grounds, Essence Talisman Martial Grandmasters were extremely few.
Able to cultivate to become an Essence Talisman Martial Grandmaster, Elder Liu’s accomplishments already presided over that of countless people.
It was only that there was always a higher mountain. Even while they were all geniuses, there were also divisions of power amongst them, like how Yuan Zhengfeng and Xin Dongping had been the strongest elites of their generation.
And while compared to others, Elder Wang and Elder Liu could already be considered geniuses amongst geniuses, they dimmed greatly when placed alongside Yuan Zhengfeng.
Elder Wang had entered the clan earlier than Yuan Zhengfeng, while Elder Liu had entered later.
Looking at that white-haired old man before him, that elegant youth who had consulted him on difficult problems on the martial dao in the past seemed to appear before Yuan Zhengfeng’s eyes once more.
However, he heard Elder Liu continue speaking in a strange tone, “…senior apprentice-brother Yuan, I have always felt it to be strange. Don’t you feel in a hurry at all?”
Yuan Zhengfeng’s gaze hardened as he looked at Elder Liu, who looked back at him, “Not speaking of the power and position that becoming a Martial Saint would bring, and also the pressure that it would give to the Sacred Sun Clan’s Huang Guanglie, the main thing is-with your old injuries, senior apprentice-brother Yuan, your longevity should already be nearly up?”
Elder Liu laughed, “While you are a Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmaster, your longevity is shorter than other Transcending Mortality Martial Grandmasters. How many years do you have left? Ten? If more than ten, what about twenty?”
Yuan Zhengfeng’s gaze did not sway whatsoever as he looked calmly at Elder Liu, saying candidly, “By my calculations, if I do not step into the Martial Saint realm, it should be about ten to fifteen years.”
Elder Liu had a slightly sorrowful look on his face, “Right, I only have around ten more years at most.”
“Bringing it up with senior apprentice-brother Wang a few years ago, he mentioned that he didn’t even have ten years left.”
“It is true that his cultivation base is higher than mine, but he is also much older than me, not having much time left now.”
Elder Liu looked at Yuan Zhengfeng, “Senior apprentice-brother Yuan, looking at yourself slowly walk to the end of your life like this-how do you feel?”
Yuan Zhengfeng asked mildly, “That’s your reason?”
Elder Liu said, “Asking me to face sabres and swords directly, engaging with other martial practitioners in battle, I wouldn’t shrink back in the least. Even if the enemy is stronger than me, however small the chance, I also have a chance against them. While defeating the strong as the weak is tough and rare, it is still something that does happen.”
“Before the final second, who the victory goes to is still an unknown!”
Elder Liu’s expression turned severe, “But now, my opponent is the heavens!”
“Having cultivated painstakingly for so long, I can clearly see that under normal circumstances, there is already no longer any hope of making any further breakthroughs in my cultivation base.”
“This battle of longevity against the heavens, I cannot win it. I have already lost, having no chances of victory whatsoever!”
Looking at Yuan Zhengfeng, Elder Liu laughed tragically, “Senior apprentice-brother Yuan, your old injuries make it such that you are not sufficiently confident in breaking through to the Martial Saint realm. Yet, it is because you are the current Chief as well as strongest expert of Broad Creed Mountain, with strong enemies abound in the outside world, that you do not dare to lightly take the risk. Because so long as you fail, the heavens of Broad Creed Mountain may collapse.”
“But at least you still have hope. You still can give it your all, having a chance of victory. Just like in a battle against powerful enemies, you could be killed, but you could also obtain victory.”
“What about me and senior apprentice-brother Wang? We can only silently wait to die!”
Elder Liu hissed, “Dying was originally not scary, but with no single bit of hope at all, seeing it drawing near bit by bit, yet whatever I do being helpless, what was originally not scary gradually turned into boundless fear, enveloping the heart.”
Yuan Zhengfeng looked straight at him, “Therefore, joining the Nine Underworlds solves your difficult problem?”
Elder Liu chuckled strangely, “Even Martial Saints have limited longevities, while the true Nine Underworld Evil Devils are existences that forever cannot be extinguished!”
Yan Di said mildly, “In the Earth Domain, I occasionally slew Nine Underworld Evil Devils that emerged.”
Elder Liu’s smile turned very mocking, “I do not know if what you killed were truly pure Nine Underworld Evil Devils, but if they really were those, do you think you truly killed them?”
“Even if they are killed, true Nine Underworld Evil Devils will also be reborn in the deepest depths of the Nine Underworlds, being inextinguishable existences.”
Pointing at his heart, Elder Liu smiled strangely, “As long as the stubbornness, evilness and desires of the human heart are not extinguished, devils will never die out. Not only humans, as long as there are lifeforms in this world who hold desires and stubbornness within their hearts, even if they are temporarily killed, devils will also be reborn.”
Having been listening silently by the side, not interrupting, Yan Zhaoge now suddenly laughed, “Then do you know that having been reborn, devils are actually equivalent to whole new existences? If you place your hopes in this, having gained eternity, do you think you would still be you?”
Glancing at Yan Zhaoge somewhat venomously, Elder Liu let out a cold snort, “You are not an Evil Devil, also never having been to the Nine Underworlds. What position are you in to speak of them?”
Yan Zhaoge spread out his hands, “Right, let’s first not speak of something so complicated. Let’s first talk about something simple and crude.”
“Elder Liu, since you know that devils are reborn upon death, you should also know that this does not apply for all devils. So-called true Nine Underworlds Evil Devils are related to their levels of strength.”
Looking at Elder Liu, Yan Zhaoge said neither hurriedly nor slowly, “With your current cultivation base, having fallen to the dark side, you would not reach the benchmark for being reborn.”
Flames of fury arose in Elder Liu’s eyes as he glared hatefully at Yan Zhaoge, his breathing rough, “Falling will give me a boost in strength, allowing me to break through that bottleneck that has long hindered me, my strength successfully increasing by another level, obtaining greater longevity, rising towards even higher levels!”
“Very quickly, I will gain the chance to attain eternal life, while all of you-even if you become Martial Saints, so what?”
Yan Zhaoge said mildly, “Oh, too bad then. Now, you no longer have a chance.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 260: The old Chief entering seclusion
HSSB260: The old Chief entering seclusion
Seeing Yan Zhaoge’s casual look, Elder Liu felt angered.
It was precisely this youth before him who had wrecked the plans of him and the Decimating Abyss, also extinguishing his final hope.
Once, this youth had made him compliment a tiger father not begetting a dog of a son, being a compl
iment of the highest order for him.
But today, this youth had decided his fate.
Yan Zhaoge said calmly, “You want to use the lives and safety of countless people as the price for your own advancement. I will not evaluate that here. After all, it is your own freedom to feel that tens of thousands of lives do not match up to yours alone.”
“However, the other way around, with your plan having failed, you must naturally bear a corresponding price. Elder Liu, you should long have been prepared for this?”
“However much you underline your pain and helplessness as well as unresigned struggles, it does not change this fact.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled mildly, “Could it be that you want to tell us that you feel gaining what you want upon your success would only be natural, while there would be no consequences at all if you failed?”
Breathing roughly, Elder Liu stared straight at Yan Zhaoge.
Yan Zhaoge met his gaze calmly, his expression unruffled, filled with humour.
Yuan Zhengfeng waved his hands lightly, “Zhaoge.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled slightly, nodding to Yuan Zhengfeng before he retreated, no longer speaking.
Staring at Yan Zhaoge, his vision sweeping past the devilish mark on the back of his left hand, Elder Liu was taken aback for a moment, understanding the gist of the situation following a moment’s consideration.
No longer emotional, his gaze was instead even colder as he looked at Yan Zhaoge, “You, don’t be so pleased too early.”
Yan Zhaoge raised his brows lightly, an expression that seemed as though he was smiling whilst also not revealed at the corners of his mouth as he looked at Elder Liu, not speaking.
Yuan Zhengfeng sighed, saying to Elder Liu, “Junior apprentice-brother Liu, things having come to this stage, words are already useless. Like senior apprentice-brother Wang, do tell whatever you know about the Nine Underworlds and the Decimating Abyss. If Shi Tie has to move, it would not be nice for everyone.”
Elder Liu snorted.
Some gains were obtained from the questioning of Elder Liu, with Broad Creed Mountain gaining a deeper understanding of the Decimating Abyss.
However, what the entire Broad Creed Mountain was concerned about now was whether there were still others who had been corrupted by the Decimating Abyss and the Nine Underworlds amongst Broad Creed Mountain’s higher echelon experts.
Sadly, they weren’t able to obtain an answer for this from Elder Liu.
Like Elder Wang, at their level, their recruitments into the Decimating Abyss were all carried out individually.
Unless there were major incidents like that at Clear Concealed Lake before, requiring many experts to work together in concert, they were also unable to identify one another as Decimating Abyss operatives.
However, because Elder Liu was exposed, the carrot was pulled out of the ground, with the lower and middle-tier experts below him whom he had corrupted all exposed alongside him.
Leaving the Disciplinary Hall, Yan Zhaoge followed behind Yuan Zhengfeng and the others, the atmosphere amongst the group slightly heavy.
Fang Zhun said softly, “It’s my fault. Elder Liu has recently left the mountain a few times, also moving some resources of the clan, and those were all approved by me. After the incident of Clear Concealed Lake, I am still not vigilant enough.”
Yuan Zhengfeng waved his hands, “None of us know what is required for the setting up of Devilish Domain Grand Formations; you cannot be blamed for this. In approving the use of those resources, they were all what junior apprentice-brother Liu could normally move within his own authority.”
Walking forward, he swivelled his head to look back at Yan Zhaoge and Shi Tie, smiling, “You have done very well this time; it was all thanks to you. Otherwise, the Nine Underworlds would have descended in the defenceless core lands of the South Heaven Region, and the consequences of that would have been unimaginably disastrous.”
Shi Tie said, “It was Zhaoge’s plan.”
Yuan Zhengfeng nodded, smiling, “Right, Zhaoge has performed a huge merit once again. But my Broad Creed Mountain’s foundations have all long since run dry in rewarding you-what should I reward you with now?”
Yan Zhaoge chortled, “Grand Master, it’s fine as long as your intentions are there.”
They were not offended by that, instead all smiling at his words.
Entering the main hall of the clan, after taking his place at the main position, Yuan Zhengfeng spoke, “Other than the problem of the Nine Underworlds and the Decimating Abyss, something else has also happened recently.”
The old man’s expression turned slightly solemn, “There have been definite news that during this period of time, while our clan was dealing with those of the Decimating Abyss, the Sacred Sun Clan obtained a Purple Essence Containing Jade in the southern wilderness.”
Yan Di and Fang Zhun had already known of this, but it was the first time Yan Zhaoge and Shi Tie had heard the news.
Yan Zhaoge knit his brows. The Purple Essence Containing Jade was an extremely rare treasure, being even rarer than the Imitation Killing Jade. At the same time, it was already an object of legend, not having surfaced in this world for many years, usually thought of by all as completely extinct.
In terms of preciousness, it was much more precious than the Imitation Killing Jade, because it was extremely beneficial towards the cultivation of Martial Saints.
Having obtained the Purple Essence Containing Jade held great significance for the Sacred Sun Clan, because it signified that the possibility of the East Coming Martial Saint Huang Guanglie improving would be greater.
“A pity that the Extreme Yin Crown is currently not ours, and our attention is also continually being drawn by the Decimating Abyss,” Yan Zhaoge shook his head rather regretfully.
After Infinite Boundless Mountain, Broad Creed Mountain and Jade Sea City had formed an alliance, if any one of the three possessed the Extreme Yin Crown, as they kept the Heavenly Thunder Hall busy, they could send their troops to bear down on the Sacred Sun Clan’s World Illuminating Peak, at the very least also prematurely forcing Huang Guanglie out of seclusion.
However, with the Extreme Yin Crown now in the hands of Turbid Wave Pavilion and the Sacred Sun Clan having shrunk their defence perimeter around the World Illuminating Peak, their hopes of achieving this were very low.
Yuan Zhengfeng said, “Amidst our diligence, our opponents have also not been sitting around doing nothing.”
They all nodded.
Now, Yuan Zhengfeng’s sound transmission suddenly resounded by Yan Zhaoge’s ears, “Speaking of which, you still have another great merit. Yan Di mentioned to this old man that you also contributed to that Heaven Returning Divine Pill.”
Yan Zhaoge controlled himself not to look at Yuan Zhengfeng, retaining a look like everything was perfectly normal.
Of the entire Broad Creed Mountain, those who clearly knew of this secret were a mere few. Even by Yan Zhaoge, only Ah Hu knew of it.
Of those in the great hall now, Shi Tie and Fang Zhun didn’t know about it as well.
This could be said as the current greatest secret of Broad Creed Mountain. Other than those who were personally involved, only the old Chief Yuan Zhengfeng knew about it.
Yan Zhaoge glanced at Yan Di, warmth welling up within his heart. According to their prior agreement, the main credit would be given to Yan Di as much as possible.
However, looking at this now, his father still thought very much for him.
Yan Di’s expression was as per usual just like Yan Zhaoge, the father and son not revealing any abnormalities whatsoever.
Now, an old man and an old woman entered the great hall, precisely the two Grand Elders of Broad Creed Mountain. Another old man also entered, actually Xin Dongping who usually never ever left the Martial Repository.
At this moment, the highest echelons of Broad Creed Mountain currently situated in the clan, other than the longtime Elder of theirs sitting over the Heaven Sealing Gorge, we
re all congregated here.
Looking at them all, Yuan Zhengfeng slowly said, “You all already know of the matter of the Sacred Sun Clan having obtained the Purple Essence Containing Jade. Time is already not on our side at this moment.”
“Therefore, this old man has decided to soon officially enter secluded cultivation, attempting to break through into the Martial Saint realm!”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 261: The position of Chief
HSSB261: The position of Chief
Hearing Yuan Zhengfeng’s determination to enter seclusion in a bid to achieve his breakthrough into the Martial Saint realm, most here had heavy hearts.
The number one female expert of Broad Creed Mountain, the Grand Elder, Elder He, of the same generation as Yuan Zhengfeng, said in a heavy tone as she looked at him, “Chief, your old injuries…”
Yuan Zhengfeng’s expression was tranquil, “It has already dragged on for a long time. If I don’t give it my all now, I might not have a chance in the future.”
“All along, the outside situation has been too tense. Even if this old man wanted to try, he also didn’t have the time to lightly enter seclusion.”
“The current global situation is the best we’ve had these past years. If I still don’t dare to move now, there would be no further need to do so.”
“Of course, more critical is that if this old man does not succeed and Old Man Huang of the Sacred Sun Clan does, the situation that only took a turn for the better with so much difficulty would immediately rapidly go all the way downhill, leading to an unprecedented winter. We can only hope that Turbid Wave Pavilion stands on our side as well. Otherwise, even whether we can continue standing here and conversing in safety would be an unknown.”
Yuan Zhengfeng sighed lightly, “Now, Master is no longer around to shelter us from the winds and the rain.”
As the only younger generation disciple here, Yan Zhaoge listened quietly to their conversation.
Yuan Zhengfeng’s Master, Yan Di’s Grand Master, and also Yan Zhaoge’s Great Grand Master, was precisely the Chief of Broad Creed Mountain following the exalted Heaven Shaker Zhan Dongge, the Heaven Diviner Zhan Xilou.