Yang Qi looked away from the picture of the chancellor and shifted his gaze to Yun Hailan. Although her face was expressionless, he knew that her heart abounded with all sorts of sinister schemes and plots.
Yang Qi’s cultivation base had reached a profound level in which he was fairly certain he could sense danger. And right now, he knew that Yun Hailan was already completely fed up with him. There was no doubt in his mind that she was already contemplating ways to get rid of him.
Originally, this should have been a very important day for her, a day in which she could bask in her glory, and be cheered by the students from the Crown Prince Society. And yet, her triumphant rise to the elite student level had been completely ruined by Yang Qi.
If it had been some random person who accidentally interfered, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal. But Yang Qi was someone she had personally toyed with in the past.
‘I don’t care how you plot against me. Like the old saying goes: When soldiers come, send a general to stop them. When flood waters come, use earth to block them. I’ll adopt whatever measures are appropriate to the situation. In the end, it will all come down to who is stronger.’ He chuckled coldly in his heart. ‘Chu Tiange is dead, and when the time comes, I’ll make my move, and make sure you end up just like him.’
“Three sets of three kowtows! Bow to the patriarchs!”
Both Yun Hailan and Yang Qi quickly dropped to their knees and offered three sets of three kowtows. After that, they lit incense, and went about the various other formalities.
The audience looked on in complete and utter silence.
This was a formal session of obeisance to the patriarchs, and anyone who dared to disturb the peace would be immediately imprisoned. Although the students from the Crown Prince Society were extremely displeased with Yang Qi, there was no way they would dare to violate the institute's rules to do anything about it right now.
After the kowtows and other formalities were finished, the five elders nodded. Bells rang out twice, drifting far and wide in the institute, announcing that two students had been promoted.
“The ceremony is concluded!” Elder War-Soldier said. “You are now officially elite students of the institute. You will be given your own temple in which to practice your cultivation. You are also free to recruit followers and establish your own societies, all for the sake of serving the institute and promoting peace in heaven and earth. Remember, our institute is devoted to bringing peace, prosperity, and health to the common people. Any time an opportunity presents itself to further that cause, you are expected to drop what you're doing and help. If you do, the institute will take good care of you. All students of the Demi-Immortal Institute have a responsibility to rid the world of devils and demons, to punish those who abuse power, and keep the commoners safe.”
“Yes sir!” Yang Qi replied, struck by the righteous and orthodox nature of the words. The Demi-Immortal Institute was devoted to morality and ethics, as well as peace. It was intended to be a just and righteous organization, the likes other smaller sects and groups couldn’t possibly match up to.
Now that the ceremony was over, Yun Hailan gave a final glance to the five elders and said, “If we're done, I’ll take my leave.”
As she turned away, she looked at Yang Qi, cold laughter in her eyes that seemed to say: Let’s wait and see what happens in the end!
Yang Qi looked back at her, and his unsaid words were just as clear. I’ll be waiting.
Their gazes were only locked for a moment before they parted, and Yun Hailan left, escorted like a celebrity by the members of the Crown Prince Society. Li He and the others hurried over to Yang Qi, who people now looked at very differently than before. The envy and jealousy in their eyes were clear. And the attitude of the young woman in the green garment had completely changed. Walking over awkwardly, she said, “Elder Brother Yang Qi, I know I offended you just now. I hope you’re a believer in the adage a great man does not remember a petty person’s trespasses.”
“Oh?” Yang Qi looked over at her and was suddenly acutely aware of his change in status. “Don't worry about it, I’m not going to cause problems for you. Carry on.”
“Many thanks, Elder Brother, many thanks,” she said happily, before hurrying away.
Nearly bursting with excitement, Li He said, “Yang Qi, now you can go to the College of Elite Students, where you’ll have an energy formation of the dao of monarchs. Your cultivation is going to progress even more quickly than before. And you can also learn about the various daos of spell formations. Soon, you’ll be able to set up grand spell formations of your own.”
“It goes without saying that I’ll figure out how to set up energy formations for you,” Yang Qi replied. “We need to get your cultivation bases stronger as quickly as possible. The sooner you reach the Lifeseizing level the better. I've offended the Crown Prince Society and Yun Hailan, and now I've dragged you all into it. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure all of you stay safe.” Yang Qi knew that Yun Hailan would definitely harm his friends if she felt it would advance her purposes, and in fact, he was also fairly certain it wouldn’t be long before she made a move on the Yang Clan in Yanhaven.
Although the Yang Clan controlled Yanhaven now, they weren’t much when compared to the powerful Yun Hailan and the Crown Prince society. As for what exactly to do about the situation, he needed to put more thought into it.
Right now, the most important task at hand was to get his four brothers into the Lifeseizing level. With them as elite students, and with the backing of their clans, they would be extremely influential, and would be of vital importance in protecting Yanhaven.
“Li He, use your powers within your clan to send word to Yanhaven. Let them know I've reached the Lifeseizing level and am now an elite student.”
“Sure thing!” Li He said. He could already tell what Yang Qi was thinking. Although Yanhaven was currently impregnable to most of its current enemies, there were plenty of powerful individuals who could still cause trouble for them. At the very most, the Yang Clan was experiencing a temporary respite from danger.
“Come on,” Yang Qi said with the wave of his hand. “I’ll take you into the College of Elite Students to look around.”
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
The incident between Yang Qi and the Crown Prince Society was the talk of the institute. Everyone assumed that the Crown Prince Society would start causing problems for Yang Qi, and yet, before long, the waves died down, and nothing happened. However, people in the know were aware that it was only the calm before the storm.
Yang Qi now had a castle-like temple in the College of Elite Students, just like Yang Susu. It was his own official permanent residence, complete with an energy formation of the dao of monarchs.
During the ten days that passed, he focused heavily on cultivation, both on coming to a deeper understanding of his abilities as a Lifeseizer, and also on his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.
Every few days, he would go help Li He and the others fortify their spell formations to further their cultivation. He also spent time attending classes in the institute. The elders and professors spoke on a variety of topics such as astronomy, geography, medicinal pills, vital energy, morality, history, meridians, acupoints, magical treasures, equipment forging, and more.
Being an elite student came with a lot of privileges, such as being able to attend class for free. Freshman students, outer campus students, and even inner campus students all had to spend merit points to do so.
Elite students were also provided with an abundance of resources.
For example, his temple came complete with giant servants who came in regularly to tidy and clean the place. Not only was he able to live like a prince, he was also able to focus more fully on cultivation.
Because of all that, he simply focused on getting stronger, and waiting for Yun Hailan and the Crown Prince Society to make their move.
At the same time, he kept an ear out for news about his Aunt Susu.
After acquiring the Sage Devil Painting, she had sought out her master, and then went into a session of secluded cultivation, with her goal being to achieve Secondary or perhaps even Tertiary Lifeseizing. However, after months with no news, Yang Qi was starting to get nervous about the situation.
Yang Qi was now no less powerful than Yang Susu, and in fact, he had surpassed her. That meant that he could definitely be of help to her, except for the fact that he had no idea where she was.
Meanwhile, far, far away from the Demi-Immortal Institute in Yanhaven, Yang Zhan was contemplating how to manage clan affairs, and push the clan to further glory. Now that Yanhaven belonged to the Yang Clan, he was the new city magistrate.
The Yang Clan had occupied the city magistrate’s mansion that had once belonged to Yan Gufeng, and had earned the allegiance of the millions of residents of the city, as well as the support of the other rich and powerful clans.
Yang Zhan was at the peak of the Master of Energy level, and Yang Yunchong and Yang Hualong were now both Masters of Energy.
Yang Qi had acquired all sorts of miraculous medicinal pills from the vampire brigands, such as the Golden Nine Transformations Pills. All of them were astronomically valuable, but he had sent them to his father and brothers, which had pushed their cultivation forward rapidly.
They were now the top figures in the Yang Clan.
Yang Zhan had the power of his airmastery plant, the Four Seasons Swordplay, and the Chiliocosm Mirror. With all of that, it seemed very likely that he would reach the Lifeseizing level soon. He wasn’t just the top expert in the Yang Clan, he was the most powerful individual in Yanhaven.
Not even four or five Masters of Energy working together would be a match for him.
Deep in the city magistrate’s mansion, in a large meeting hall, he was currently holding an important meeting.
Present were the clan lords from countless clans that existed within the five-hundred-kilometer jurisdiction of Yanhaven.
The Chen Clan had been exterminated, and the Yan Clan had been driven out. But there were still the Xu Clan, Wang Clan, Kang Clan, Chuan Clan, and more, dozens of rich and powerful clans.
“Greetings, gentlemen!” Yang Zhan said, causing profound silence to fall over the hall. No one knew how Yang Zhan had pulled it off, but he had acquired the assistance of thirty Masters of Energy, and hundreds of eighth phase experts. It was with that force that he had defeated the Yan Clan and became the new city magistrate. The spectacular battle which had been fought was still vivid in the minds of everyone present.
Yan Gufeng had been in the possession of an incredible thumb-ring that doubled his reserve of true energy, and yet despite that, had still been defeated by Yang Zhan.
That moment ensured that Yang Zhan would henceforth be the most respected person in the city.
Looking around at the assembled clan lords, Yang Zhan nodded and said, “We are in a bit of a strange situation. The time has come for all the aristocratic clans in Yanhaven to unite and work together. We can no longer be constantly bickering and at odds. Therefore, I have decided to establish a formal royal court. I will be the king, and you aristocratic clans will be appointed as vassals and government ministers. We need to discuss exactly how to administer affairs in the five-hundred-kilometer region surrounding Yanhaven. Gentlemen, do any of you have any good suggestions?”
His words broke the silence like a boulder dropping onto the surface of a placid lake.
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