The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 155 The Flying Leaves and Flowers and the White Silk

Chapter 155 The Flying Leaves and Flowers and the White Silk

They went out of Qing Prefecture and entered the territory of Lai Prefecture.

Cui Keli opened the curtain and poked his head out of the carriage. Pointing to a fork in the road not far ahead, he said to Li Ye and the others, “Along this branch road for about ten kilometers, we will arrive at the Jimo Villa. I will drop in on an old friend and take him to Penglai.”

Li Ye slowed down the speed of his horse, parallel with the carriage. He turned his head and said to Cui Keli, “Is your old friend also a Confucian scholar?”

Cui Keli smiled. “My old friend is the owner of the Jimo Villa, and indeed, he is from the same sect of me. But he is much more powerful than me. He is a Confucian scholar and a good writer, but he succeeds in business and becomes very rich. Confucius has said we should provide education for all people without discrimination, while he learns everything without discrimination. He also learned carpentry in his early years.”

“There’re all kinds of flowers in the Jimo Villa, and now, it is the season when peonies are in full bloom, so we will have great fun. He likes to make friends with Jianghu cultivators as well as literati and poets, therefore, there are a lot of people all the year round in the villa and he attracts visitors coming in an endless stream. His villa is big. There’re many masters and gifted scholars living there at ordinary times, which is very bustling.”

Li Ye and Su Emei looked at each other and felt curious. “It will be a pity if we don’t go to see such a person and such a place.”

Cui Keli smiled. “But my old friend is very stubborn and he always hates Taoist sect because he thinks that the Taoist sect has great force but little responsibility. It enjoys people’s sacrifice but never does anything good to the people. The Convention of Immortals and Taoism in Penglai also sent him an invitation, but he wrote to me that he kicked out the messenger from Penglai and the invitation on that day.”

Turning into the path, they felt surprised after the five-kilometer way. On both sides of the road, there were good fields and farmers were picking up the crops. There were cows mooing from time to time. What a harmonious scene of peaceful times!

Seeing this scene, Cui Keli sighed. “My old friend’s name is Liu Junlai. After he became rich in business, he not only built the villa but also benefited the people nearby. He built canals, diverted water for irrigation, and gave away cattle, and so on. He has said in his letters that people’s farming skills needed to be improved and he listed many suggestions, which inspired me. The people near the Jimo Villa live a better life than the people in Qing Prefecture. I feel ashamed compared with him.”

Indeed, Li Ye could smell the meat in the basket of the little woman who brought dishes to the farmer in the field. It wasn’t easy for a farmer to have meat to eat.

“He’s another talent and a great talent.” Li Ye thought secretly and had more expectation in his heart. If he could invite Liu Junlai under his command, it would undoubtedly be of great benefit to his governance of Qing Prefecture.

They came to the foot of the mountain and went up to the mountain along the mountain road. The road was so smooth that a carriage could pass. Cui Keli was in a good mood. “It’s only 1.5 kilometers away from there. By that time...”

Before he could finish his words, he stood stunned.

Besides him, Li Ye and the others all looked up in surprise to the mountainside.

Just now, a loud sound exploded in the mountainside, just like the great shock caused by the full strike of a cultivator in Level 9 of Qi-refining. The shock was so great that the earth and the mountain were shaking.

Cui Keli’s expression changed. “The sound seems to come from the direction of the villa...”

Li Ye, Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang immediately jumped from the horseback and flew to the mountainside.

Cui Keli quickly went out of the carriage and rushed up along the mountain road, surrounded by the guards of the Cui family.

Li Ye was very anxious. Liu Junlai was the talent that he wanted, so he used all his skills with no reservations to fly over the branches like a wind, instantly going more than 100 meters away.

Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang looked at each other in surprise. They both knew Li Ye was very powerful, but they didn’t expect that he would be powerful to this point. Even the cultivators in Level 7 of Qi-refining were unable to fly away more than 100 meters in an instant.

Li Ye went forward with the wind, and after a little while, a group of buildings appeared in front of him. There were characters of “Jimo Villa” on the plaque of the gate. He jumped to the top of the gate wall and looked inside the villa. He immediately became furious.

Most of the houses had been destroyed. The current main house split into two halves and the gap extended to more than 60 meters. An unknown number of buildings were destroyed along the way. In these courtyards, there were countless servants, maids and guards lying in pools of blood, their eyes still full of horror. At least half of them had only a cut in their throats, so they were apparently killed by a sword.

Along his way inside the villa, Li Ye’s gaze gradually became gloomy. As he went deeper, he saw more dead people. Intellectuals dressed as scholars and cultivators in splendid clothes fell everywhere in all directions. Some of them were hit in the chest and some of them even had broken limbs!

“Who had so powerful cultivation that all the cultivators in Jimo Villa died with no room to resist?”

Li Ye became serious.

A parterre suddenly appeared in front of Li Ye’s eyes. The parterre took up several hectares and peonies were planted all over it. The peonies were in full bloom and turned to the sun. Originally, this was people’s favorite scenery in Tang Empire, but now, the parterre was beyond recognition. There were a few one more meters deep gaps in the middle, and withered flowers and leaves shattered on the ground. In addition, there were more than ten bodies lying inside it and crushing many peonies. The petals drifted along with the blood, making people feel chill.

In the middle of the flowers, there was a big rockery with stone steps around. On the rockery, there was a pavilion which could accommodate more than ten people and was convenient to enjoy the scenery.

At this time, a woman, who had an elegant figure and looked like a girl, was standing on a cone at the top of the pavilion with one foot, her clothes fluttering.

That was a woman with a veil and her purple hair flying. She was petite and wore a white and purple robe. Her small waist was tightened by a purple and golden jade belt which separated the skirt that reached to the knees. The calves below the knees were straight and slender, covered by the white socks to the knees. She wore a pair of purple embroidered shoes.

Because she was wearing a veil, Li Ye couldn’t see clearly the face of the woman who looked like a girl. But her deep and quiet eyes were brighter than any star in the sky, clear and innocent, which made her temperament seem particularly quiet. She stood on a cone at the top of the pavilion with one leg and her other leg curved slightly. Her waist was like a bamboo leaf, and she kept her chest out looking up at the boundless clouds. The fresh breeze blew gently. It was a beautiful scenery.

For a moment, Li Ye had an illusion that this girl was not a mortal but a fairy in heaven. Li Ye wasn’t an ordinary person, so he knew there were immortals in heaven and he also had the hope to become an immortal. The girl had an illusory, clear and quiet temperament, which was the same as Li Ye’s fancy of a fairy.

But at this moment, Li Ye had no time to look at this girl who was definitely not a girl because there was a middle-aged man lying on the empty place in front of the pavilion and there was another woman in front of him.

Blocked by the white jade railing, Li Ye couldn’t see the man’s face clearly, but he could see that woman clearly at a glance.

The woman was extremely tall and taller than most men. She wore a purple and black robe. The long skirt wrapped her rounded buttocks. Her two long legs were more than 1.3 meters long, which was breathtaking. Her long black hair pinned by a purple hairpin fell on her back with a perfect curve.

When Li Ye was looking at her, she also turned her head and looked at Li Ye with her cold eyes.

This was a woman with beautiful features. Although she wasn’t extremely beautiful, she was enchanting. Her lips were so red that they turned slightly purple, and her temperament was particularly evil and seductive. Her hands were red. In her hands, there was a long red and white silk with the shape of the shark’s teeth around the neck of the man in front of her, like a snake and a dragon.

In contact with her gaze, Li Ye was shocked as if he had seen a beautiful viper.

If the woman standing on the top of the pavilion was as clear as a gardenia, then the woman in front of the pavilion was like a ripe red rose with thorns.

Li Ye immediately felt tricky as the two women with different temperament stood there together.

He knew about the Penglai Taoist sect and also heard some secrets of the Cui family in these two days when he stayed in the Cui family.

There were two women in the Penglai Taoist sect who were called the Senior Priestess and the Junior Priestess. They were outstanding masters trained secretly by the Penglai Taoist sect!

Standing on the top of the pavilion, the petite girl was the Junior Priestess, while standing in front of the pavilion, the woman about to take a man’s life was the Senior Priestess.

“Let go of him!”

The man tilted his head and his eyes turned white. With blood in his mouth, he was obviously badly hurt and his life was in danger. He was the first living person whom Li Ye had seen since he arrived at the Jimo Villa. Moreover, he fell among the flowers, so he was probably Liu Junlai. Li Ye immediately shouted at the Senior Priestess loudly.

The Senior Priestess ignored Li Ye with no expression on her face. She turned her head and said to Liu Junlai, “Those who do not obey Penglai’s orders will be killed without forgiveness.”

While saying this, she took back her right hand so that the long red and white silk with the shape of the shark’s teeth cut off Liu Junlai’s head, causing his blood to spring up immediately.

Li Ye was furious and took out his Luke Sword without hesitation. He was going to chop Sword Qi in the air, but suddenly he felt something.

On the top of the pavilion, the Junior Priestess bent her soft right arm and gently raised her delicate index finger. A stream of green light, like a flame, appeared at her fingertip.

At the feet of Li Ye, countless flowers and leaves flew up abruptly in the messy parterre!

The flowers and leaves were connected to each other in a line shooting straight to Li Ye fiercely, like a sharp sword!

Level 9 of Qi-refining!

Li Ye narrowed his eyes. The strong waves of Spiritual Qi made him unable to ignore the sharp sword of flowers and leaves.

With a loud cry, Li Ye swept forward his Luke Sword. With the elastic force of the Spiritual Qi, Li Ye did a backward somersault in the air.

The sword of leaves came very fast and flew up against his chest. A fierce and cold wind swept before him, letting Li Ye clearly feel the power of the sword of leaves.

Li Ye fell back on the courtyard wall and bent his knees slightly. At this time, the Junior Priestess standing on the top of the pavilion looked at Li Ye quietly and she didn’t stop the movement of her index finger. She drew lines in the air with the green fire at her fingertip as a pen.

Several long chains of flowers and leaves rose from the parterre in front of Li Ye. Under the control of the Junior Priestess, they swam as if they had souls. They seemed slow, but in fact, they moved very fast, fantastic, poetic and picturesque. All of sudden, they abruptly shot towards Li Ye fiercely from different directions!

Li Ye snorted and wielded his Luke Sword in the air, cyan light shooting out!

The long chains of flowers and leaves crumbled in the air, turning into countless pieces, and suddenly burst out. Pink and red petals and green leaves fluttered and fell, gorgeous.

The Junior Priestess’ expression didn’t change, but a hint of surprise flashed in her clear eyes. She seemed to be surprised that there was someone else who could resist her technique except the headmaster of Penglai in Pinglu.

Stepping on the leaves, Li Ye went forward. He jumped in the air and lifted his Luke Sword over his head. The cyan light of 30 meters long chopped down towards the pavilion suddenly!

The Junior Priestess was still calm, but she made a seal in front of her chest quickly with her hands. Her delicate white fingers moved flexibly and swiftly, dazzling.

Several long chains of flowers and leaves rose again from the parterre with the thickness of the long sword, but the waves of Spiritual Qi were more intense. The long chains of flowers and leaves suddenly twisted together in front of the pavilion to form a large net of flowers and leaves protruding in the middle!

The cyan light fell on the large net of flowers and leaves, straight down, causing the net to bend backward!

Its radian was large enough to approach a right angle, forming a deep pit, but it didn’t crack!

And in the gap of the net of leaves, a stream of light shot up and arrived in front of Li Ye in an instant!

That was the white silk in the hand of the Senior Priestess.

As the white silk was approaching his face, Li Ye had to retrieve his sword to defend. The Luke Sword hit the white silk, the sword trembling slightly. Li Ye narrowed his eyes and thought she was also in Level 9 of Qi-refining!

The large net composed of the long chains of flowers and leaves wasn’t damaged, but the Sword Qi had dissipated. The Junior Priestess crossed her ten fingers to make a seal. There was a wisp of green Spiritual Qi on each of her delicate fingertips flying up and down as her movement.

The net of leaves burst out suddenly. Numerous flowers and leaves turned into sharp arrows in the sky, as dense as locusts, shooting towards Li Ye’s head rapidly!

While Li Ye hit away the white silk, he retreated immediately, holding his Luke Sword tightly. He wielded his sword, his posture like a swallow, circles of scale-like sword light appearing in front of him.

The sword light continued like waves of ripples and collided with the flying flowers and leaves, causing countless explosive sounds.

Sword Qi, flowers and leaves burst out in the air like fireworks in full bloom and fell like rain.

The Senior Priestess was standing behind the stone fence, while her white silk was flying around Li Ye like a maggot on the bone. With constant flying flowers and leaves, her each strike was flexible and tricky, putting Li Ye in great danger.

In her hand, the white silk seemed to be alive!

“Pfft.” The white silk skimmed Li Ye’s shoulder, making him bleed. He paused slightly, but the flowers and leaves kept falling thickly. Immediately, Li Ye was injured and covered with blood. His gaze became chill. “Cloud-walking Boots!”

With the Cloud-walking Boots, Li Ye retreated and retrieved his Luke Sword. He made the Acalanatha Seal in front of him with his hands and pushed it towards the flying sword of flowers and leaves which was falling from the sky. “Zhe!”

The flowers and leaves all over the sky stopped suddenly!

A hint of surprise flashed in the Junior Priestess’ eyes again.

At the same time, Li Ye suddenly disappeared in the place. “Step-by-step Lotus!”

The expression of the Senior and Junior Priestesses changed at the same time, and they both looked solemn for the first time. They made seals before their chests with their hands rapidly. In an instant, flowers and leaves kept dancing around the Junior Priestess like butterflies flying around the flowers and surrounded her tightly.

While the Senior Priestess’ white silk with unknown length twisted together like a cocoon and wrapped her inside completely!

The green lotus first bloomed in front of the Senior Priestess. Suddenly, the white silk was a little bit sunken like being struck by lightning. The depression kept expending so that the cocoon was forced to move a few steps backward!

But the depression recovered soon.

The second green lotus bloomed in front of the Junior Priestess. The flowers and leaves, which were spinning like tops, deformed suddenly and crushed in the blink of an eye, countless flowers and leaves flying wildly!

Sword Qi arrived at her face, but it had been exhausted. The Junior Priestess bent backward, so the Sword Qi flitted from her robe like a wave of light before her eyes!

Li Ye appeared on the top of trees not far away.

He became solemn as he looked back. The Step-by-step Lotus couldn’t stay at one spot for long, so if it couldn’t succeed in one strike, then it would be useless. In addition, each spot could only be passed through once. He used the sword method of the Step-by-step Lotus to fight against the Senior and Junior Priestesses this time, but it was the first time that he didn’t achieve the expected effect.

The cocoon composed of the white silk fell. A little blood spilled from the Senior Priestess’ mouth and she looked at Li Ye murderously. Obviously, it wasn’t easy for her to block Li Ye’s sword method.

However, the Junior Priestess standing on the pavilion was still graceful. She was wearing a veil, so no one could see her expression and tell if her mouth was bleeding.

The light wind blew away her purple hair and her dress belt. She was looking at Li Ye.

Diamond cut diamond.

Li Ye didn’t make a strike rashly again.

The two of them were in Level 9 of Qi-refining and they weren’t in common Level 9 of Qi-refining. With the strength of Level 7 Qi-refining, Li Ye had no confidence in defeating one of them separately, let alone two of them together.

“Who are you?” the Senior Priestess asked in a low voice, which added a bit of depth to her voice in addition to the woman’s delicacy.

“It doesn’t matter who I am.” Holding his sword, Li Ye was standing on the top of a tree. The branch at his feet moved up and down according to his breath. “The important thing is why did Penglai fight against the Jimo Villa? Just because Liu Junlai was unwilling to go to the Convention of Immortals and Taoism?”

The Senior Priestess narrowed her eyes slightly. The white silk was moving around her like clouds. Her red hands moving slightly, apparently, she was ready to attack again.

The Junior Priestess standing on the top of the pavilion didn’t make a sound from beginning to end.

She just stood there but seeming far away.

At this moment, Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang arrived. Upon seeing the scene in the garden, they knew what had happened. Su Emei pulled out her sword first and stepped forward to Li Ye’s side. Wei Xiaozhuang was stunned for a while, and then he became serious. He took the peach wood sword off his back and moved carefully step by step.

Seeing Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang, the Senior Priestess snorted. There was contempt in her eyes, probably, because she looked down on Su Emei’s and Wei Xiaozhuang’s cultivation.

However, the Senior Priestess’ gaze slightly changed as she saw the peach wood sword in Wei Xiaozhuang’s hand. She looked back at the Junior Priestess, and both of them could see the surprise in each other’s eyes.

“Mr. Cui and the others are coming up, too. They’ll arrive soon!” Perhaps Wei Xiaozhuang thought that they had low cultivation. Li Ye had spent a lot of time, but he didn’t win and they couldn’t help, so he shouted to enhance the momentum.

The Senior Priestess glanced deeply at the peach wood sword in Wei Xiaozhuang’s hand and finally said to Li Ye, “We will meet again.”

While speaking, she retrieved the white silk into her sleeve and it disappeared. Then she swung her sleeves and flew away.

The Junior Priestess standing on the pavilion followed to leave.

When she left, Li Ye noticed a white flower on the back of her hand.

It was like a gardenia.

Li Ye didn’t try to stop them.

With their strength, if they wanted to fight against Su Emei, Cui Keli and the others, he wasn’t sure that he could stop them, so he had no reason to stop their leaving.

“Who are they?” Su Emei looked up under the tree and asked Li Ye.

Li Ye fell from the top of the tree. Finally, he took a glance at the Senior and Junior Priestesses’ leaving direction. He said in a complicated tone, “The Senior and Junior Priestesses of Penglai Taoist sect.”

The Senior and Junior Priestesses...

Before Li Ye’s transmigration, he also met a pair of Senior and Junior Priestesses.

Same as the two people in the front, they were talented and had outstanding cultivation with unparalleled appearances.

The Senior and Junior Priestesses were inheritances in Cultivation World. The origin was unknown, and it was said that they existed from the Qin Dynasty.

From then on, the people who could inherit these two identities were not easy to deal with.

In Cultivation World, there had always been a sentence for the Senior and Junior Priestesses.

The flying leaves and flowers as well as the white silk could kill a person or a demon; the Senior and Junior Priestesses were exceedingly beautiful.

Li Ye smiled bitterly and thought, “Is this fate?”

Before his transmigration, he had a lot of unsolved entanglements with the Senior and Junior Priestesses at that age, but there was no need to tell others the details. He didn’t expect that he would also encounter them when he transmigrated to this world.

“Brother Liu, brother Liu...”

Cui Keli lost his wits and stumbled over. What he saw along the way had made him lose his mind. He screamed as he came in and saw the completely ruined parterre. Finally, when he ran up the rockery and saw Liu Junlai who was beheaded, he knelt on the ground and cried sorrowfully, holding Liu Junlai’s body.

Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang were deeply touched by this scene.