Chapter 62: Li Ya of the Celestial Master Mansion

Lin Qiaosheng reacted extremely quickly. The moment Li Huan exploded, he swung his wide sleeve, sending out a surge of immortal magic to shield his entire body.

The surrounding crowd, however, was not so fortunate. Li Huan’s sudden self-detonation caught them completely off guard.

Those whose reactions were a bit slower were splattered from head to toe with blood, gore, and flesh, causing each of them to retch continuously in sheer disgust.

After a bout of chaos, Lin Qiaosheng said with an ugly expression, "A restrictive seal had been planted within Li Huan’s spiritual consciousness. Once someone searched his soul and touched upon crucial memories, it would trigger the seal and force him to self-destruct!"

The expressions of the others were naturally grim as well. Zhan Wutian spoke with a heavy tone, "Has anyone among you ever heard of this Heavenly Emperor Society?"

As soon as the question was asked, the crowd shook their heads one after another, indicating they had never heard of such an organization.

This plunged the scene back into disorder. From the results of Li Huan's soul-searching just moments ago, it was not difficult to see that the Heavenly Emperor Society was an extraordinarily massive organization.

For such a gigantic organization to be hidden away within the cultivation world while the leaders of various sects remained completely oblivious—how could they not be shocked?

Moreover, it was evident from Li Huan's memories that believers of the Heavenly Emperor Society likely had already infiltrated various sects. What exactly they were plotting remained completely unknown to everyone.

Filled with a terrifying depth of realization, representatives of the various sects lost their composure and hurriedly retrieved their sound-transmission talismans to contact their respective sect masters.

Standing outside the crowd, Wan Yi was even more shocked than any of them.

Through the scenes just witnessed, these fellows could only deduce that the Heavenly Emperor Society was vast in scale, but unlike Wan Yi, they could not discern that the vast majority of people within the Heavenly Emperor Society were Emperor-realm cultivators.

Wan Yi originally wanted to share this situation with everyone, but he immediately dismissed the thought. First of all, he could not explain how he had managed to see that the members of the Heavenly Emperor Society were Emperor-realm cultivators.

Furthermore, this news was simply too explosive. Once these fellows learned the truth, the situation might spiral entirely out of control under extreme panic!

At this moment, Wan Yi’s expression shifted repeatedly. Although the images concerning the Heavenly Emperor Society had flashed by in an instant during the soul-searching of Li Huan,

it was not hard to glean from that tip of the iceberg that this organization possessed a very distinct hierarchy.

Those wearing golden robes were the leaders, those in red robes were the protectors, those in purple robes were the attendants, while those clad in white robes were ordinary members.

These people should be the formal members of the Heavenly Emperor Society, and all of their cultivation bases had crossed into the Emperor realm.

Leaving aside the more than a hundred Emperor-realm cultivators who were protectors and attendants, the number of ordinary members wearing white robes alone was immeasurably vast.

What could an organization of such magnitude, composed entirely of Emperor-realm cultivators, possibly want to achieve?

As for those wearing black robes like Li Huan, they were likely believers of the Heavenly Emperor Society.

These individuals varied wildly in cultivation and served as the eyes and ears for the Heavenly Emperor Society, lurking amongst various factions.

Quickly sorting out his thoughts in his mind, Wan Yi sent a voice transmission to Moying and asked, "You've stayed in the Underworld for so long, have you ever heard anything about the Heavenly Emperor Society?"

Hearing this, Moying replied, "Never heard of it."

Then she asked in return, "Master, is there something wrong with this Heavenly Emperor Society?"

Wan Yi’s tone was solemn. "Of course there is something wrong! If I am not mistaken, apart from the believers, every single formal member in that Heavenly Emperor Society is an Emperor-realm cultivator.

Just within that single scene revealed during the soul-searching earlier, the number of Emperor-realm cultivators already exceeded three hundred!"

As soon as these words left his mouth, Moying in his embrace was so startled that she gave a violent shudder, nearly dropping right off the skin of his chest.

On the other side, after the bigwigs of various sects sent messages back to their own sects, the replies they received varied wildly, plunging the scene into a noisy, chaotic uproar.

Realizing that continuing to linger here was pointless, Wan Yi said to Zhou Tong beside him, " Lass, help me back to rest. Staying here any longer won't help with anything anyway."

Beside the septic tank, inside the thatched cottage, Wan Yi used all sorts of coaxing to send Zhou Tong away, then flipped out the Underworld Arrest Token and vanished from the spot with a thought.

Inside the Soul-Reaper Department, upon hearing Wan Yi's account, Yan Wuji froze completely on the spot.

It took him a long time to snap out of it, and he sighed with emotion, "Good heavens, such an organization actually exists! What on earth are they trying to do?"

Wan Yi shook his head with a bitter smile on his face, "You're asking me, but who am I supposed to ask?!"

The next second, his tone shifted as he said with a serious expression, "No matter what they want to do, I believe it won't be anything good!

An organization founded entirely by Emperor-realm cultivators must be brewing a massive conspiracy behind the scenes.

Otherwise, they must be out of their minds. For dignified Emperor-realm powerhouses to be willing to bow their heads and pledge allegiance to others—that is simply a joke."

Yan Wuji understood the implication in Wan Yi's words. As Emperor-realm powerhouses, each and every one of them was unruly and proud. With their formidable cultivation bases, they were fully capable of carving out their own territories and founding major sects.

For such people to willingly join the Heavenly Emperor Society and bow in submission to the so-called Grand Master—the plot behind this was definitely no trivial matter!

Pondering for a long time, Yan Wuji tentatively asked, "Brother, what do you plan to do?"

A look of helplessness appeared on Wan Yi’s face as he said, "What can I do all by myself and lacking influence? Rely on those sects in the mortal world?

They each harbor their own selfish motives and care only for profits. If I rely on them, I'm as good as dead!"

Hearing the underlying meaning in Wan Yi's words, Yan Wuji let out a "heh heh" chuckle. "Does my brother want me to investigate?"

Wan Yi pointed at his own nose. "Damn it! You expect me to investigate?"

Early the next morning marked the birthday of Zhou Shou. Although the entire Dan Peak was adorned with festive lanterns and colorful streamers, the atmosphere felt extremely bizarre.

Following the commotion of yesterday's events, even more people arrived at the Vast Expanse Sect today to offer birthday greetings, yet each of these fellows harbored their own hidden agendas.

Having received the messages transmitted back by their respective representatives yesterday, the masters and sect leaders of many factions had personally come to the Vast Expanse Sect today.

Their purpose was singular: to wait for Li Ya, the sect master of the Heavenly Master Mansion.

Presently, Li Xun was the breakthrough point for the entire affair; everyone wanted to glean news regarding the Heavenly Emperor Society from him. Yet without the arrival of Li Ya and Ji Baichuan, no one dared to rashly interrogate Li Xun.

The disciples of Dan Peak wore looks of utter helplessness. Originally, they had simply wanted to celebrate a proper birthday for their master, never expecting things to turn out like this.

Zhou Zihao glanced at the chaotic crowd and asked Leng Yanbing beside him, "Boss, what do we do now?

Our original schedule was to start the banquet at noon. Look at the time, it's almost here. Do we start this birthday banquet or not?"

Leng Yanbing also wore a face full of sorrow, shaking his head with a bitter smile, "His Elder Master hasn't even spoken yet, how would I know what to do!"

The twin sisters Wu Tong and Wu Shuang looked at Zhou Tong in the distance. Exchanging a glance, they said to Zhou Zihao, "Second Senior Brother, why don't you have Junior Sixth go ask Tong Tong to consult the Master?"

Zhou Zihao slapped his chubby head and chuckled with a "heh heh", "You two sisters always have the sharpest brains. I'll go find Junior Sixth right now!"

Just as he was about to move, a loud shout echoed from afar: "Alliance Master Ji Baichuan and Heavenly Master Mansion Sect Master Li Ya have arrived to offer birthday greetings!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zihao's face twisted in bitterness, "It's over. Looks like this banquet isn't going to happen!"

To be continued......