The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 54 The Pythons

Chapter 54 The Pythons

White Deer Sect.

While hearing these three words, Li Ye easily remembered Li Xian who was also a disciple of the White Deer Sect.

The Taoist Sect had a long history, which could be traced back to the legendary period when the Goddess Nuwa repaired the sky and Fu Shi created the Eight Diagrams.

The first Emperor, of the whole world, arrived while the Taoist method was flourishing. Huang Emperor was the first of the Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns who went out of the Central Plains and defeated the first Master of War, Chiyou.

The first heyday of the Taoist sect was during the period of Jiang Ziya and Zhou Gong. At that time, all the feudal princes of the world respected the Taoist sect as orthodox. The Book of Changes, which was still regarded as the first ancient record by the Taoist sect, was dated from that period.

Then, after the first real contention during the Spring and Autumn period, which lasted for about three hundred years, the hundred schools of thought sprang up one after another. Many feudal princes abandoned the Taoist sect and ruled their countries with more radical and new ideas. The status of the Taoist sect which advocated for the ‘governing of others by doing nothing that goes against nature’ and ‘all people should cultivate” was challenged for the first time.

It was also during that period that countless wise men, from all schools, successively became immortals because of their extremely high cultivation or their great merits and virtues of helping the whole country or people, creating a magnificent period of the Immortal Court.

At that time, the feudal princes struggled for the hegemony of the human world and its heroes stood in the Immortal Court in great numbers.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, all of the schools of thought learned from each other and merged together until the whole world was unified. In the Immortal Court, all schools also learned from each other and merged, like all rivers converge into the ocean. Only later did Confucianism, Taoism, and Militarism become the most powerful. Then Buddhism came from the East, its force grew very fast and competed with the other three sects for supremacy. So in the Cultivation World, ultimately a confrontation between Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Militarism transpired.

Among them, Taoism had a long history and profound connotation. Even the emperors of the human world had respected Confucianism since the Han Dynasty and ruled their countries with Confucianism. However, the cultivation system of Confucianism was complicated and less clear than that of Taoism, so Taoism was still the dominant one.

To this day, the Taoist sect no longer advocated cultivation while doing nothing against nature. In order to conform to the general trend of the world, the Taoist sect had to constantly adapt itself in order to flourish. Most importantly, it also strived for the hegemony of the world.

Currently, there are countless Immortal’s sects in the world, a majority of which are Taoist sects. Therefore, Taoist temples are spread all over the world.

Among these Taoist sects, the Penglai in the east, Shushan in the west, Xuelu in the north, Dongting in the south and Zhongnan in the middle were the five most famous and powerful Taoist sects.

Few of the other Immortal sects would enjoy equal popularity with the five Taoist sects, the Taihang of Buddhism, Chongyang of Militarism, and the Stone City of Confucianism were the exceptions.

In addition, it was the White Deer Sect that would become equally famous.

The White Deer Sect had a long history. It dated from the Spring and Autumn Period and had existed for hundreds of generations.

There were few Immortal sects in the world that had lasted for hundreds of generations.

Each Host from the White Deer Sect only accepted seven disciples.

With permission from the Imperial Court, the world’s Immortal’s sects were able to start accepting more disciples for the better.

Therefore, this is where the two legends, from the White Deer Sects, people were fond of talking about.

The two legends had surpassed a vast majority of the Immortal’s sects in the world.

But when compared to the third legend, these two legends were hardly worth mentioning.

The disciples of the White Deer Sect only studied in peaceful times and engaged in worldwide affairs in troubled times. Every disciple from the White Deer Sect, who engaged in a worldwide affair, either achieved great things and went down in history, or they caused trouble and made themselves a name of infamy. Those disciples of the White Deer Sect who were unknown were very rare.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the White Deer Sect was forever remembered. It had gained global attention because its four disciples had become famous around the whole world.

The disciples were Zhang Yi, Su Qin, Pang Juan, and Sun Bin.

After that, countless outstanding people claimed to be the disciples of the White Deer Sect: Jia Yi from the early Han Dynasty, Feng Chu of the late Han Dynasty, Chen Qingzhi from the Southern Dynasty, Liu Jinu of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Li Jing, the general of the current dynasty.

However, no one would be able to define the White Deer Sect. No one could tell whether it belonged to Taoism, or Confucianism, or Militarism.

There was a praise of the White Deer Sect. Although it was extreme, it was widely spread for thousands of years.

The world knows nothing about the White Deer Sect and has no understanding of where these masters come from!

That is why, when Li Guanshu said these words his voice was trembling a little. “If you haven’t experienced the Coldness of Yi River, you can’t know its coldness. The sound of jade Xiao will make a hundred ghosts return! You are one of the seven disciples of the White Deer Sect, Song Jiao!”

He was afraid of Song Jiao, not only because she was a disciple of the White Deer Sect, but also because of her already being famous in Jiangghu.

After Li Xian’s death, she had become the most famous disciple of the White Deer Sect from this generation.

The jade in her hand was called Cold Xiao, and her cultivation method was called Coldness of Yi River.

The desolate gale freezes Yi River, and the doomed hero will not return.

Supposedly ghosts could be frozen and die from the Coldness of Yi River, let alone people?

As moonlight fell on the peach tree a purple-robed woman who perched there, didn’t respond to Li Guanshu’s words. Only the gentle and melodious sounds of Xiao had turned to a new height.

Those cultivators of Qi-refining who had followed Wei Tianhe and surrounded Li Ye had their faces covered by frost and snow in an instant. They had become stiff and their teeth chattered from the sudden cold. Every time they breathed, it looked like they had spit a handful of snow and their eyes widened in fear.

Some of them knew of the Coldness of Yi River and some didn’t. But at this moment, the stagnant Spiritual Qi and the inactive body made them realize the power of this disciple from the White Deer Sect.

Li Ye naturally would not let go of such an opportunity.

His face became serious and his figure quickly disappeared, leaving a trail of disturbed soil indicating the effort that his hind feet had put forth.

“Step-by-step lotus!”

Li Ye shouted in a low voice.

In front of the waterfall that was beginning to solidify, a purple Qi rose as the clouds drifted, giving the illusion of a fairyland.

Seven green lotuses were born.

“Pftt!” The sound repeated for seven times.

As seven cultivators’ throats cracked and they fell down one after another. However, there were no gushes of blood since their blood had already solidified in their veins.

After just seven steps, Li Ye appeared in front of Wei Tianhe.

His Luke Sword pierced Wei Tianhe’s throat.

The Luke Sword made a sound.

Wei Tianhe’s eyes widened, making them resemble copper bells, as every muscle of his snow-covered face shook, and his soul seemed to scream, driven crazy by fear.

The master of Level 5 Qi-refining clearly felt the approach of death at that moment. Among the purple smoke, he seemed to be attracted by an open door to the netherworld.

He was sure he would kill Li Ye and yet he trembled in fear of Li Ye.

Because his seven companions had fallen and the siege in Wei Tianhe’s hope no longer existed, he felt lonely and there was a weakness in loneliness, which made him afraid of Li Ye.

He had never looked at Li Ye with a correct attitude and he had thought that he lived a life of privilege. But now he believed that Li Ye would kill him easily and without doubt.

“Ah!” During this critical moment, Wei Tianhe shouted loudly. His Spiritual Qi finally broke through the prison and burst out in the Ocean of Qi. His whole body shook as the ice and snow on his robe crumbled!

After all, he was an experienced battle master. As a proud man of Li Guanshu, he had dealt with many dark and unseen opponents these past years. He had become a killer and fighting was his instinct!

He accumulated his fighting skills through many battles and his persistence and endurance had been much better than that of Xu Fengzhu who only practiced deep in the mountains and simply wanted to improve through cultivation!

“The Chop of Tide!” Wei Tianhe held his knife with both hands as he took a step forward and launched a chop towards Li Ye!

A flash of light radiated in all directions as the nine decimeter knife transformed into a Knife Qi of more than 15meters in length!

At the moment when the Knife Qi condensed, it kept falling down. The previous Wave-like Chop brought a Knife Qi that came one after another like waves, now the waves directly changed to the tides and the power increased obviously!

The Knife Qis fell one after another, like tides, each of them 15 meters long. They were so powerful it was as if they were going to destroy the whole city! Under the Knife Qi, Li Ye, who was only about two meters tall, looked very small!

However, the young Prince An didn’t show any fear and had no desire to retreat. The Luke Sword gave off a green light and looked like a lone sail against the tide, as it went straight ahead!

...

While Li Ye and Wei Tianhe were fighting, Li Guanshu hadn’t been idle.

Li Guanshu, who hadn’t been idle, didn’t attack Li Ye but rather stared at the woman in purple in the peach tree beside the hut.

Then he took a step.

Song Jiao was more dangerous than Li Ye according to Li Guanshu’s judgment.

This was an easy judgment to make.

If he didn’t kill Song Jiao, he would die when all his men died.

So he rushed at Song Jiao.

Every time he stepped forward, the ice and snow on his legs would break apart, inch by inch. However, the following moment new snow and ice would cover his legs, solidifying his trousers and slowing his steps. He would grit his teeth and take another step repeating the arduous process over and over.

Li Guanshu’s face grew whiter.

He felt uneasy.

The power of Coldness of Yi River was beyond his previous expectations.

Suddenly, Li Guanshu raised his head and stared at Song Jiao, the enchanting woman who looked dim as she put her Xiao in front of her lips.

“The Coldness of Yi River deserves its reputation. Song Jiao of the White Deer Sect lives up to her reputation!” Li Guanshu gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. Every time he uttered a word, he exhaled a breath of ice and snow. He spoke every word heavily as if he had a great hatred!

All of a sudden, Li Guanshu’s eyes turned red as he swung his sleeves violently and suddenly took a big step!

Instantly, the Spiritual Qi lingered around him, constantly agitated. His long hair and robe fluttered around, creating an endless sound. He looked like a ghost!

“But if you think that I have no power to fight back, then you underestimated the officials of the Imperial Court and the Imperial Clan of the Tang Empire!” Li Guanshu, with scarlet eyes, raised his right hand and grabbed something hard under the night sky as if there was a weapon hiding in mid-air.

His weapon had been there in mid-air.

And it was a long spear.

A long spear made up of Spiritual Qi.

He held the long spear in his hand.

As he jumped up.

The long spear moved like a dragon.

And it went straight to Song Jiao.

“Today, I’ll let you know why I am the Duke of the Tang Empire!” He shouted loudly, “The one who moves between the clouds, mountains, and seas. Pythons shake the Ninth Heaven one day. Nine-roar Rousing Pythons!”

Both Li Guanshu and Li Yao cultivated the Nine-roar Rousing Pythons.

But Li Guanshu’s Nine-roar Rousing Pythons had been different from Li Yao’s.

Stories said that the most powerful method of the Nine-roar Rousing Pythons had an unparalleled power that could break mountains and rivers!

Li Guanshu took one step and in a flash, he reached the top of the peach tree. This had been the void step of Li Guanshu which transcended the void and clearly showed his ability.

He could cross mountains, seas, and get atop clouds with only one step. That’s the so-called ‘One move between clouds, mountains, and seas’!

Suddenly, the loud roar of pythons came from the night sky. Li Guanshu’s long spear radiated light in all directions, covering the sky making it so the people could not look at it directly!

At the same time, the night sky changed color and white pythons appeared around Li Guanshu’s. Each of them thirty meters in length. They made threatening gestures and they were majestic and powerful. There were nine pythons in all.

The nine white pythons appeared out of nowhere as Li Guanshu stood there with his long spear made up of Spiritual Qi. With his clothes flying his imposing demeanor was unparalleled.

“The White Deer Sect and the Coldness of Yi River, can all go to hell!”

Li Guanshu chopped down with his long spear and the nine pythons roared in the night sky, revealing their bloody mouths and grisly tongues. They rushed at Song Jiao who had been standing in the peach tree!

The Pythons could shake the Ninth Heaven one day. So, if the pythons could shake the Ninth Heaven, they definitely could shake a peach tree and a slender woman.

The pressure had been too terrible. How could a mortal bear it?

At this moment, the nine pythons were the moon and Song Jiao was a firefly.

However, the woman in purple on the top of the peach tree didn’t move herself or her Xiao. Only her mouth moved slightly.

And what her mouth showed was a sneer.