Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 156 Flattery Requires Observance

Having received Chen Ye's reply, Toya Lier finally returned home satisfied, leaving behind only a letter containing the riddle and answer for tomorrow.

After Toya Lier left, Qiqi Gesang couldn't help but clench his fists and said to Chen Ye, "Sect Master, don't trust her. This woman who speaks sweet words is actually poison."

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Aren't you friends?"

“I used to think so too, but I never imagined she had been lying to me all along. The people of the tribe all said that Toya Lier was a wise woman chosen by heaven, who could guide us to avoid disasters, but it turns out that it was all a lie. No wonder she couldn't foresee the two snow disasters before, and many of our Liman tribe's children froze to death!”
"I thought it was divine punishment, an inescapable calamity, but it turns out it was just because this woman was lying!"

Qiqi Gesang became more and more excited as he spoke, and almost couldn't resist transforming into a minotaur to chase after him.

Chen Ye could only comfort her, saying, "The snow disaster is a natural disaster, so it can't be blamed on her. But you're right, we can't completely trust what Toya Lier says."

Although the people of the Northern Frontier had been enslaved by the Nirvana Sect for a long time, the five major sects had been in charge for over a thousand years, so the high priest must have heard of the names of these five major sects.

Since they have the ability to find the Nirvana Sect, why don't they seek help from the Qinghe Sword Sect?
Chen Ye, a newcomer, couldn't possibly be more famous than the Qinghe Sword Sect, could he?
Thinking of this, Chen Ye asked Qiqi Gesang, "Have you ever heard of the five major sects in the Central Plains?"

Qiqi Gesang asked in confusion, "Is it the same as the Yellow Springs Sect?"

Chen Ye quickly said, "No, no, no, the Yellow Springs Sect is far inferior to the Five Great Sects. How come you've never heard of it?"

Qiqigesang said, "Occasionally, people from the Central Plains would come to our tribe to do business, but we've never heard of such things. But according to legend, a thousand years ago, people from the Central Plains came and destroyed our holy city and slaughtered our people..."

Qiqi Gesang's voice trailed off as she spoke, knowing that Chen Ye was from the Central Plains and that continuing the conversation might not be appropriate.

Chen Ye frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Just now, Toya Lier said that you were enslaved by the heavenly beings. You didn't know about this?"

Qiqigesang said, "Slaves have always existed. When the tribes fought, those who lost naturally became slaves. However, the tribal leaders were all of noble blood from that time, so even if they lost, they could still be respectable shepherds."

Chen Ye understood now.

No wonder the people of the northern frontier are not grateful to the five major sects of the Central Plains.

It's likely that most of those who survived were ordinary nobles who lived a life of luxury with the Nirvana Sect. When the Nirvana Sect was purged, they probably suffered heavy losses as well.

In this case, how can the nobles speak well of the people of the Central Plains?
The five major sects liberated the enslaved and slaughtered commoners, but these people may soon become slaves of the nobility.

In order to maintain their rule, they naturally continued the system of slavery and the existing rules.

If you insist on following the old rules, then the previous rule cannot be considered wrong.

Therefore, the holy city remains sacred, and the tribal leaders are still nobles.

The bad guy could only be someone from the Central Plains.

It's just that the five major sects were too ruthless back then, and the Nirvana Sect didn't reappear for a full thousand years. So now, the people of the Northern Frontier think that the Nirvana Sect might not be so bad. And since the people of the Central Plains didn't rule the Northern Frontier, after so many years, they think that the people of the Central Plains were really wicked when they came to the Northern Frontier to kill and destroy cities.

The first high priest was naturally someone who benefited from the Nirvana Sect. However, as the lineage passed down through generations, the current generation had become estranged from the Nirvana Sect. So when the people of the Nirvana Sect killed hundreds of thousands of people, they felt that the people of the Nirvana Sect were really bad, and began to think that Chen Ye was a good person.

The stories that have been repeated throughout history are all pretty much the same.

For example, if Mo Ci took the imperial examination before cultivating, and then his entire family was wiped out, when he returned after achieving success in his cultivation, he might find that someone else had taken the imperial examination and then had their entire family wiped out as well.

People who have lived a long time become indifferent to such things and can't be bothered to care.

Many cultivators look down on mortal dynasties, perhaps because they have seen too many such cases.

If Chen Ye didn't want to establish himself in the northern frontier, he wouldn't care how the people of the northern frontier viewed the Central Plains.

However, since the opportunity had presented itself, Chen Ye decided to go with the flow.

Since it concerned the Nirvana Sect, Chen Ye did not dare to be careless, so he said to Qiqi Gesang, "Go out and inform Fellow Daoist Feng that I need to go into seclusion temporarily and ask him to protect me."

When only Chen Ye was left, he closed his eyes and entered a dream.

"My lord, I have something to discuss with you!"

In his dream, Chen Ye shouted, and the Crimson Serpent appeared. However, this time, Chen Ye's image in the dream was no longer himself, but another Crimson Serpent, which was also emitting flames.

The lord asked in bewilderment, "You brat, you even stole my unique magic?! Your supernatural power is too unreasonable."

Chen Ye laughed, "For a cultivator, learning some spells can't be considered stealing. Besides, as you said, I'm a direct descendant of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect. What's wrong with learning some of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect's secret techniques?" The Venerable Lord was furious at Chen Ye's shamelessness and impatiently said, "Spit it out!"

Chen Ye quickly explained in detail two things: the Incense Burning Sect's focus on Fengdu City and the High Priest's instruction to deal with the Nirvana Sect.

After listening, the Venerable Lord laughed and said, "It was expected that the Incense Burning Sect would target us. You established a sect in the Northern Frontier and made such a big show of things. Even without divination, it's obvious that something is wrong just by looking at it. But it's too late for the Incense Burning Sect to make a move now. I'm not afraid of Lu Xingzhou. The Crimson Serpent Buddha has combined with the earth's veins and become the guardian Buddha of Fengdu. There are also 100,000 Yin souls here. I'm even less afraid of Lu Xingzhou."

Chen Ye said doubtfully, "The Incense Burning Sect doesn't just have Lu Xingzhou. They have so many high-level cultivators from the Three Mountains and Five Halls, including those at the Nascent Soul and Void Return stages."

The Venerable One said, "Yes, but why are these people fighting to the death with the Yellow Springs Sect? Did you dig up the Green Coffin Mountain of the Incense Burning Sect and resurrect the Demon Lord Wujiu? Or did you kill their entire family?"

Chen Ye remained silent, but that was indeed the truth.

The formation of Fengdu City is now taking shape, and with the addition of the Lord's Crimson Serpent Buddha, aside from experts like Zhang Qi who are outside the realm of conventional wisdom, everyone can now contend with those at the Dao Integration Realm. It is precisely because of this confidence that the Lord is considering using the rogue cultivators of Hundred Seas Valley to force Zhang Qi to back down, allowing the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect to become a side sect and re-establish itself.

Who would have thought that, after all the twists and turns, the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect would flourish under Chen Ye's leadership?

Now that the sect has been established, the conflict between the Incense Burning Sect and Chen Ye can only be a matter of pride, not a life-or-death feud. At most, Lu Xingzhou will make things difficult for the Yellow Springs Sect, but he won't directly send his entire sect to attack.

Even if Lu Xingzhou is ruthless enough, the three mountains and five halls of the Burning Incense Sect may not be willing to risk their lives.

Unless the secret of the ginseng fruit is made public, it might really provoke the other four major sects to join forces, and then the Yellow Spring Sect might really be in danger.

The Lord casually said, "Just kill this Pang guy; he's useless to us."

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "If we kill them directly, the Burning Lamp Sect will cause trouble. One trouble after another. You, Venerable Master, can hide, but I, the Sect Master, won't even have time to cultivate."

The lord asked, "Then what do you intend to do?"

Chen Ye said, "I'm thinking, if that high priest can really find traces of the Nirvana Sect, perhaps this Pang Wen will still be of some use."

The Venerable One said doubtfully, "Using someone else to kill someone? It's useless. This person himself has no value. What they want to eat is your ginseng fruit. No matter who this Pang Shenme dies on, they can blame it on you. It's better to kill him cleanly, at least to make an example of him."

Both the Venerable Lord and Chen Ye were well aware that the key to all interests lay in the Ginseng Fruit. This thing could not be exposed. If the Incense Burning Sect could not find out the result, they would test it again and again, even if it meant the complete annihilation of the Burning Lamp Sect.

However, the Lord felt that Chen Ye should handle this matter, and that killing him was no big deal.

Chen Ye, however, did not want to be bothered by such trivial matters every day and only wanted to solve the problem once and for all.

Chen Ye said, "It's hard to say whether Pang Wen's death will serve as a warning to others. If he were still alive, he might buy us some time. Doesn't the Burning Incense Sect want to know the secrets of the Yellow Springs Sect? We can make one up for him and have Pang Wen take it back."

The Venerable One asked, "Make one up? I've never even seen a treasure like the Ginseng Fruit before. How are you going to make up a similar treasure? And it's not enough to just make one up; you also have to make the Incense Burning Sect give up on it and know that they won't covet this treasure anymore. This is so difficult that it's giving me a headache. Do you have a solution?"

Chen Ye quickly replied, "Of course I don't have any. I've only been cultivating for a little over a year. What knowledge could I possibly have? How could I compare to you, Venerable One? You know all sorts of ancient secrets, and you also know all the hidden secrets of the Nirvana Sect. I can't make that up, but you, Venerable One, are so knowledgeable. You certainly can."

"Wow, you little rascal..."

Although he knew Chen Ye was just flattering him, the Lord was actually quite pleased.

In the Lord's eyes, Chen Ye was a talented and virtuous young man, but also incredibly stubborn. Last time, he had merely made a few casual remarks about the living people who were sacrificed, and this kid dared to insult him to his face, almost embarrassing him.

The Lord still remembers Chen Ye's words, "Even though I am an ant, I can still make you suffer." He never expected that even this tough guy would have a moment of weakness.
A figure like the Lord is not immune to flattery; it's just a matter of who's flattering him.

If Zhang Qi were to say a kind word to the Venerable Lord, he could have those words engraved and erected on a monument in the most prominent place in the Yellow Springs Sect, where they would remain for at least a thousand years.

As for Chen Ye, he barely qualifies as someone who flatters him.

"You're giving me a tough challenge, but what you said makes sense. Let me think about it..."

The lord pondered for a while, then excitedly said, "I've got it! I've come up with a way to fool them."

Chen Ye also became curious and quickly asked, "What kind of treasure is it?"

What could possibly replace the news of the ginseng fruit that the Incense Burning Sect wouldn't even care about?

The Venerable Lord laughed and said, "The flesh of the Demon Lord Wujiu is a piece of living flesh that can grow the Soul Cleansing Flower."

(End of this chapter)