Chapter 817: The Tombskull Sect
In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye’s figure shifted; he instantly rushed out of the Tie Clan. He appeared in the ruins and saw more than a dozen cultivators there. Some of them were excavating the ruins.
Their looks were quite varied. Some had a stronger blood energy than others, and some resembled corpses that had just climbed out from a grave. However, they all had the same uniform, so it was clear that they came from the same sect.
Tie Lan was captured by a middle-aged cultivator that looked like a ghost that had been hanged. His eyes were completely white and he had a really long neck; a sizable blood energy emanated from his body, revealing that he was an Ancient Saint.
“Can I help you?” Li Qiye smiled after seeing these cultivators.
All the cultivators shifted their eyes to Li Qiye. The cultivator who caught Tie Lan cupped his hands and said: “You must be Young Noble Li.”
Li Qiye dismissively said: “If you know who I am, then you should know what I have said before.”
The cultivator quickly responded: “Young Noble Li, we’re here for a different matter. I am an elder of the Tombskull Sect. A Corpse Monarch from our sect disappeared, and while we were giving chase, it hid in these ruins.”
“And then?” Li Qiye chuckled upon hearing this. He cultivated the Death Scripture that was capable of controlling all undead. How could he not know if there was a Corpse Monarch hiding underground in these ruins?
The elder hastily said: “We have spent a lot of effort to groom this Corpse Monarch. Right now, we want to excavate these ruins in order to find it.” He cleared his throat before continuing: “This young miss misunderstood us and didn’t allow for us to dig here, so I had no choice but to calm her down a bit. I hope that Young Noble Li can sympathize with our problem. In the end, this Corpse Monarch costed us a lot and we wouldn’t be able to answer our seniors if we were to lose it! So please, be generous and let us dig through these ruins. We will compensate for any losses.”
This was Sheng Fei’s plan. Let the Tombskull Sect come with an excuse for excavating the ruins. Nothing would be better if Li Qiye gave permission. Then, they would be able to see if there were treasures here.
If there were actually treasures, then they would use all kinds of excuses to seize them. Moreover, if the hidden grove actually came out, their ravine would send a great army here. At that time, even if Li Qiye didn’t agree, it would no longer be up to him.
On the other hand, a rejection from Li Qiye would be fine as well. Then they could accuse Li Qiye of the crime of stealing a Corpse Monarch from the Tombskull Sect. With that, they would have the moral high ground!
Li Qiye was quite amused. This kind of scheme, to him, was only child’s play. Although he wasn’t certain who the true mastermind was, he immediately knew what the Tombskull Sect wanted after hearing their words.
“Excavate these ruins?” Li Qiye raised his brows. If some people wanted to die, then he would be more than willing to please them. He leisurely said: “I trust that your sect has heard that the Tie Clan is under my protection.”
The elder replied: “We have heard of this before, but we hope that you can understand. Losing a Corpse Monarch is a grave matter, so we have to excavate these ruins. Please forgive any inconvenience that this might cause. Rest assured, Young Noble, we will take responsibility for any damages to both you and the Tie Clan.”
Li Qiye smirked before slowly responding: “Such pleasing words, but I only have one thing to say. Either scram now or leave your heads here. It is that simple.”
“Young Noble is being too aggressive.” The elder’s expression sank: “Our Corpse Monarch is a priceless treasure. Don’t tell me that you wish to seize it?”
The elder finally latched onto the chance to accuse Li Qiye of this crime. If successful, then they would have a reason to launch an offensive.
Li Qiye didn’t even bat an eye as he declared: “One last warning, either you leave intact, or leave behind your heads.”
“Li Qiye, don’t be so presumptuous!” The elder had reached his goal and was ready to retreat. He coldly said: “Don’t think that our Tombskull Sect is so easily bullied! If you steal our Corpse Monarch, then don’t blame us for what’s to come!”
With that, the elder winked towards the other disciples. They held a small dao platform while chanting a mysterious and devious incantation.
“Clack, clack, clack...” From their summoning, countless skeletons came out from their platform. Their eyes were flashing with red lights. Moreover, they all emitted a powerful evil energy! They were swift and some were flying as well; this was quite a formidable force.
“Boom!” The elder summoned an even more powerful skeleton. It was a skeletal knight with a terrifying aura that rode a draconic corpse.
Although the sect considered themselves demons, many other lineages didn’t think so. Rumor has it that the patriarch of the sect was a corpse that turned into a demon, allowing him to summon the dead.
It could be said that this sect was the only lineage in the Stone Medicine World that could summon corpses. From the first day of cultivation, its new disciples would train corpses that belonged to them alone. These corpses, more often than not, were even more powerful than their controllers!
“Li Qiye, we will not let this thievery go unpunished!” The elder shouted as they commanded their skeletons to attack Li Qiye.
At the same time, they began to retreat since they didn’t wish to fight directly with Li Qiye. Their goal was to frame Li Qiye, and it had been accomplished, so retreating was the next course of action.
Meanwhile, the elder had also captured Tie Lan. When necessary, he would use her as a hostage to threaten Li Qiye.
“Rumble!” The earth shook from the stampede. Under the control of the Tombskull disciples, this skeletal army maneuvered towards Li Qiye with an aggressive momentum. This was especially true for the skeletal knight. It appeared to be the general of the battlefield as it took the vanguard with an unstoppable might capable of stamping the earth.
“Damn!” The old turtle was shocked to see such a terrorizing scene. He paled from fear and immediately shrunk his head back into his hard shell.
Li Qiye only smiled against the oncoming skeletal onslaught. He stood still without moving. The moment these skeletons got close, death energy emerged from Li Qiye’s body along with the Death Chapter. With a buzz, the Death Chapter created by countless intertwining laws shot out rays of light.
These laws instantly pierced the powerful bodies of these skeletons, causing them to stand still on the spot as if petrified.
“Go!” The elder and the other disciples were startled after seeing this unfold. They immediately unleashed more chants to regain control of their skeletons. However, the skeletons didn’t have the slightest reaction.
Their minds almost shattered from this. Although they had heard that Li Qiye could summon undead, their sect was very confident that no one could compare to them in this regard. Their patriarch was the tyrant of myriad corpses!
What they didn’t know was that the Death Scripture was one of the nine greats. Compared to its art, their corpse controlling technique was simply insignificant and unable to reach the apex!
After locking and taking over these skeletons by using the Death Chapter, they were completely under Li Qiye’s control.
The Tombskull crowd wanted to run from fear, but Li Qiye smiled: “You still want to run away after coming here?”
In a split second, the Death Chapter created a loud blast as it activated the maximum potential of these skeletons; they were now even stronger than they used to be when they were controlled by their original masters!
“Boom!” These undead went forth with killing intent towards the other cultivators.
“Get back!” The group tried to use their laws to control the skeletons, but these undead simply didn’t listen to their commands!
“Ah!” In the shortest time, a disciple had been killed by his own skeleton.
The elder wanted to grab Tie Lan and escape. However, he couldn’t even take two steps forward before Li Qiye appeared in front of him and blocked his path.
The elder quickly turned pale. However, his reaction was still quite fast. He immediately grabbed Tie Lan by the neck and shouted: “You, don’t come over here or I’ll kill her first!”
Li Qiye looked at him and smiled: “You should know that no one has ever been able to threaten me.”
“Ah...” The moment Li Qiye’s words came out, blood spurted everywhere. The two hands that were holding Tie Lan were instantly torn apart; she was already in Li Qiye’s embrace.
“You’re only at this level yet you still dare to come and threaten me?” Li Qiye threw the elder’s hands to the ground and smirked.