Hell Emperor.

Chapter 473 Ye Jie - Nine Sheddings of the Spiritual Snake
Tiancheng stood there in a daze, with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Even after the battle was over, he still couldn't believe what he had just seen.

The strength of the Master of Tuntian Pavilion had increased dramatically, and he was even stronger than his father, the Grand Elder. However, he couldn't even withstand a single attack from the Master of Ziwei Palace and died just like that?
The news would probably cause a violent shock to the nearby sects. The Heaven-Swallowing Pavilion Master, who was feared by everyone, died so quietly. This scene made Tiancheng feel like the world was about to collapse.

"Are you OK?"

Ye Jie's question awakened Tian Cheng's consciousness, and he quickly replied: "Thank you for your concern, Master Ziwei. I'm fine."

Looking at the Nanmu King in front of him, Tiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, but said with lingering fear: "If the Palace Master had come a step later, I'm afraid that the sacred object of the Tianji Sect, the Golden Nanmu King, would have been chopped down, and I almost became a sinner in the sect..."

Ye Jie shook his head and corrected him, "Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank Tian Ming. It was he who asked me to save you before King Nanmu was chopped down."

"Tian Ming..."

As he silently recited the name, Tian Cheng's face also showed a bit of complexity, with both unwillingness and jealousy: "Why do all of you care so much about Tian Ming? Whether it's you or my father, every time you see me, you always mention Tian Ming's name and never care what I think."

Ye Jie seemed to have discovered something and asked, "You mean, the Great Elder cares about Tian Ming a lot? Didn't he just impeach Tian Ming's position as the leader of the sect and hope to help you take this position? Doesn't he care about you more?"

Tian Cheng sighed and told Ye Jie the unknown situation:
"He is the kind of person who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. Do you really think that he is willing to help me become the sect leader? If I become the sect leader, he will be the first to disagree. The reason why he does this is just to use me to stimulate Tian Ming and stimulate his potential."

"What?" Hearing this, even Ye Jie was a little surprised, "Could it be that you made a mistake?"

Tian Cheng looked depressed. "When he was a kid, he always talked about what mechanical beast Tian Ming had created and what progress Tian Ming had made. I have obviously worked very hard, but compared to Tian Ming, the mechanical beasts I created are like children's toys... It is really sad to be born in the same era as the reincarnation of Tianji Immortal Venerable."

Ye Jie remained silent, listening to the comments of other elders in the Tianji Sect. They said Tian Cheng was unlearned, indulged in pleasure, and neglected his skills. It seemed that his disheartened mood was not accidental.

Since the Great Elder's impeachment was not intended to support Tiancheng's ascension to the throne, who is the traitor among the elders?
While Ye Jie was thinking, Tian Cheng also came to the dead Master of the Heaven-Swallowing Pavilion and took out a book from his robe. His eyes lit up immediately and he took the book and presented it to Ye Jie:

"Palace Master Ziwei, this is the book of the Immortal Spirit Snake Nine Transformations. Even if you don't need it, you can sell it for a good price in the Qinglian Chamber of Commerce."

Ye Jie took the book and added it to his own file.

[Bookkeeping of life and death:]

[Ye Jie spent one thousand Yin De to modify the martial arts file. ]

[Nine Transmutations of the Spiritual Snake (Beginner) has been added to the column of learned skills. 】

Ye Jie possessed the Bodhi Heart Method, the temple-guarding technique of the old Bodhi Temple. With the blessing of the Bodhi Heart Method, any technique he learned would not be lower than the three levels of the Bodhi Heart Method.

With enough good karma, Ye Jie had already upgraded his Bodhi Heart Technique to the limit of the Eight-Sided Suture Page, which is the Hongmeng level.

With the blessing of the Hongmeng-level Bodhicitta Dharma, the level of the Nine Transformations of the Spirit Snake rose rapidly, and in a blink of an eye it reached the Wanhua level.

There are nine metamorphosis in the Nine Metamorphosis of the Spirit Snake. The power of each metamorphosis is more than three times stronger than the previous one. It is a genuine immortal technique.

At Ye Jie's current level, he can at best exert the power of the fourth metamorphosis. With overdrawn strength, he can barely unleash the fifth metamorphosis, which is comparable to the previous Master of the Tuntian Pavilion.

If the Master of the Tuntian Pavilion knew that he had painstakingly practiced the Nine Transmutations of the Spirit Snake for hundreds of years and had paid an unknown price for it, and that Ye Jie had just learned it and was able to compete with him, he would probably be so angry that he would crawl out of his grave.

"This Nine Sheddings of the Spirit Snake is quite miraculous. Throughout the ages, snake monsters shed their skins and were reborn, only to transform into dragons, such as Chi and Hu. But the final form of the Nine Sheddings of the Spirit Snake is a half-human, half-snake with a human body and a snake tail..."

Ye Jie originally planned to incorporate the snake shedding method into the Divine Dragon Transformation to enhance the power of the Divine Dragon Transformation, but the principles of the two were different, and could even be described as worlds apart, so he had to give up in the end.

As the technique was put into practice, Ye Jie tried to use the power of the Nine Sheddings of the Spirit Snake. A cold light flashed in his eyes. His pupils were not as golden as the dragon's, but rather as dark green and deep as the python's.

"Huh? That's..."

At this moment, Ye Jie's enhanced eyesight discovered something, and his gaze fell on the towering golden nanmu king in front of him.

He walked forward and saw tiny knife marks on the bark of the Nanmu King, which was easily overlooked.

"Tian Zhou...Qing Yi?"

What caught Ye Jie's attention were the two names carved on the bark. The exquisite knife skills contained a bit of Taoist power. Even though many years had passed and the bark had not healed, the names were still deeply engraved in the wood and clearly visible.

Just as Ye Jie was impressed by the exquisite sword skills and thought that the one who left the mark here must be an immortal who was famous for his sword skills, Tian Cheng seemed to have heard something and asked in surprise: "Tian Zhou? Are you talking about the Third Elder?"

"Is this the mark left by the Third Elder?" Ye Jie understood, and his eyes fell on the name behind. If Tian Zhou was the Third Elder, then who was Qing Yi? The two names were so close, so they must have a very close relationship.

Ye Jie looked at Tian Cheng. After all, as the son of the Great Elder, he obviously knew a lot of information, so he asked, "Do you know who Qing Yi is?"

Tian Cheng sighed, "She is the wife of the Third Elder. I met her when I was a child. She was a very kind person and often made delicious food for the disciples. Unfortunately, she died in the battle with the Demon Sect. Since then, the Third Elder has been devastated and it took many years for him to recover."

After a pause, Tiancheng's gaze also fell on the Nanmu King in front of him:
"In Tianji Sect, many disciples who are in love will carve their names on the Nanmu King. The Nanmu King is full of vitality. The names carved today may disappear tomorrow as the bark heals. Only those with true love stronger than gold can leave marks that will last for many years."

"I see……"

After understanding the marks on the Nanmu King, Ye Jie pondered silently in his heart. Not long after, the elders and disciples of Tianji Sect also rushed here. Tiancheng stepped forward quickly and reported the matter to the three inner sect elders who came.

Upon hearing that many elders of the Tuntian Pavilion, and even the Pavilion Master, had died at the hands of Ye Jie, the elders were at first in disbelief, and then they were filled with lingering ecstasy.

"You mean... the Heaven-Swallowing Pavilion was destroyed?"

“Without the powerful enemy of Tiantian Pavilion, Tianji Sect can finally be at peace. Not only that, even Tiantian Pavilion’s blessed land will be taken over by Tianji Sect… With this vast blessed land, Tianji Sect will surely prosper for a long time in the future!”

"It is a blessing for Tianji Sect to have the help of Ziwei Palace Master! If it weren't for Ziwei Palace Master's help, let alone occupying the blessed land of Tiantian Pavilion, I'm afraid that the entire Tianji Sect would be desolate because of the felling of Nanmu King."

After hearing the news, the elders and disciples had different expressions; some were surprised, some were happy, and some looked serious.

The Great Elder slapped Tian Cheng to the ground and angrily shouted, "Are you saying that you almost chopped down the Golden Silk Phoebe King in order to save your life, causing the sect to fall?"

Tiancheng covered his red face and quietly defended himself, but Ye Jie couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to persuade him, "Grand Elder, don't be angry. Tiancheng's move is just a delaying tactic to buy time for me to arrive."

The Great Elder was furious. Even though the danger was resolved, the anger in his eyes remained. "How could I have a son like you? If Tian Ming was here, do you think he would cut down the sacred tree in the sect to save his life?"

Ye Jie saw this scene and became more certain of his judgment. At this moment, Tian Ming came over and said to Ye Jie gratefully, "Palace Master Ziwei, this time it's all thanks to you. You saved Tianji Sect again."

Ye Jie waved his hand: "This is what I should do."

He glanced at everyone and finally landed on the second elder. He spoke slowly, "I have found the traitor among the elders. Now that all the elders and important disciples are here, I will take this opportunity to inform you of the situation."

After hearing Ye Jie's words, everyone looked confused:
"What did Palace Master Ziwei just say? An insider? What does that mean?"

"What? There's a traitor in the sect? What should we do now?"

Knowing that the traitor was right next to them, many disciples of the Tianji Sect were unable to remain calm. An atmosphere of suspicion and distrust spread. Everyone looked at each other, and no matter how they looked at it, they felt that the traitor was right next to them.

"Don't worry. From what Palace Master Ziwei said, he must have found the traitor. Let's hear what he says."

"That's right. The Lord of Ziwei Palace has saved Tianji Sect from danger many times. If he wanted to harm us, there would be no need to go through so much trouble. Whoever he says is the traitor is definitely the traitor, even the Great Elder!"

Ye Jie's previous actions won him a lot of favor from his disciples, and his words carried a lot of weight.

Seeing this, even the Great Elder could not keep calm and asked, "Palace Master Ziwei, where did this internal traitor come from? How come I didn't know that there was an internal traitor in Tianji Sect?"

Ye Jie opened his mouth slowly and explained the situation:
"The story starts with Devil Lord Wangchen. It was not just a coincidence that Devil Lord Wangchen was able to penetrate deep into the sect and steal the Moon Meteorite accurately. He was helped by an insider in the sect. Moreover, the identity of that insider was not low. The person who was able to obtain the information about the Moon Meteor must be at least at the level of an inner sect elder."

"What……"

"So... Tianming was betrayed by an insider, and that's why he lost the Moon Iron?"

Everyone was talking about it, with different expressions. After learning the information about the traitor, they immediately felt a sense of anger and were determined to find the traitor.

The Great Elder frowned, and there was a questioning look in his deep eyes: "Palace Master Ziwei, your accusation is quite serious and may have unpredictable effects on Tianji Sect. May I ask if what you said is true?"

Ye Jie nodded: "Every word is true. The second elder testified to this matter. He and I found the problem together. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, we did not tell others. Now that I have found the traitor, there is no need to hide it."

Tian Ming was also surprised. Although he had known for a long time that Ye Jie was looking for the traitor, he did not expect that he would find out the result in such a short time. He immediately asked:
"Which elder is the traitor hiding in Tianji Sect?"

Ye Jie slowly turned his gaze and fixed it on an inconspicuous man: "The traitor is... the Third Elder."

"what?"

After learning the identity of the traitor, many disciples of Tianji Sect were surprised at the result. How could the third elder, who usually kept a low profile, be the traitor?
The third elder, who was dressed like a scholar, also showed a surprised expression: "Master Ziwei, you must have made a mistake. How could I betray Tianji Sect?"

Even Tian Ming was puzzled by this: "Yes, Lord Ziwei, weren't you still suspicious of the Great Elder before? What does this have to do with the Third Elder?"

Ye Jie looked calm and spoke slowly:
"The traitor who was able to obtain Yuetie's intelligence must be in a high position in Tianji Sect. The Second Elder and I discovered the news of the traitor together. If he was the traitor, his methods would not be so despicable. According to my investigation, the First Elder did not impeach the Sect Master in order to support his descendants to take the position, but to use this as an excuse to temper Tianming and make him a better Sect Master. After eliminating them, the only traitor left is the Third Elder."

The third elder disagreed and said indignantly: "What nonsense! I think this is clearly slander. I have done so much for Tianji Sect, and my contribution is seen by the disciples. How could it be a traitor? It is you, Master Ziwei, who came to Tianji Sect at such a coincidence. You are there in every crisis. You are the one who is endangering Tianji Sect!"

The Great Elder frowned, his eyes flashed with some thought, and then said to Ye Jie: "Palace Master Ziwei, the matter of the internal ghost is no trivial matter. If there is no substantial evidence, it is not enough to just exclude people. Please withdraw your accusation against the Third Elder."

"Evidence?" Ye Jie slowly turned around and looked back, "The evidence is on the Golden Silk Phoebe King."

"What……"

Following Ye Jie's pointing, everyone looked at the carvings on the surface of the Nanmu King, where the name of the third elder was so conspicuous.

The third elder's eyes trembled: "That was the name I carved thirty years ago. All the disciples in the sect know about it. What does it have to do with the inner ghost?"

Ye Jie looked calm. What he had seen along the way allowed him to piece together the complete picture. He spoke slowly:
"Thirty years ago, you and your wife carved these two names here. You thought you could be with her forever, but the good times didn't last long. Your wife died at the hands of an enemy sect. Since then, you were so grief-stricken that you indulged yourself in making mechanical men to ease your pain. You made the most exquisite mechanical man, and regarded it as a spiritual sustenance. You even named it after your wife. But the good times didn't last long. The Tianji Sect does not allow naming mechanical creations privately. You were punished, and even the mechanical man was thrown into the sect's forbidden area, never to see the light of day again. This is your motivation for becoming a ghost."

(End of this chapter)