Drastic Changes

　　It was the third of november, and snow cascaded from heaven, covering the ground. The gusts of wind between the heavens and earth roared and cried loudly.

　　Yet, it was very quiet in the gloomy Great Hall.

　　Zhuge Yuanhong silently sat alone on the seat of the Sovereign. The others had not arrived.

　　The meeting time was after morning training, so it was obvious that Zhuge Yuanhong had come too early.

　　“Qing Hu Island…Qing Hu Island……” Zhuge Yuanhong narrowed his eyes as he said to himself, “These fights happened in the cities of Xuyang County and Tiannan County on the same day. Even the blind could guess that Qing Hu Island was behind these fights. Gu Yong……. Are you reminding me that you are about to make your move?” Among the people of Zhuge Yuanhong’s generation, there were a few that Zhuge Yuanhong approved of.

　　Gu Yong was one of those people!

　　Gu Yong, the Island Lord of Qing Hu Island! He was said to be one of eight people with the greatest power in the entire Nine Prefecture.

　　Gu Yong and Zhuge Yuanhong were almost the same age. When they were young, they were the most famous people in Yangzhou. Now, one of them was the Island Lord of Qing Hu Island and the other was the Sovereign of the Gui Yuan Sect!

　　“However, if you really want to devour my Gui Yuan Sect, I will knock out all your teeth!” Zhuge Yuanhong said as an icy coldness flashed across his eyes.

　　Who didn’t know of the wisdom and intelligence of the Gui Yuan Sect’s Zhuge?

　　Zhuge Yuanhong treated people with humility, but not many people dared to offend Zhuge Yuanhong.

　　……

　　In the midst of the fierce wind, two young disciples finally entered the Great Hall. The two disciples were the servers that specifically served tea and poured water.

　　“This damned weather. It’s snowing heavily, and the gusty wind is blowing fiercely. Why did the snow come so early this year?”

　　“Who knows. Jiangning County City is near the East Sea, and it normally only snows during late winter. It did come early this year, which is weird.” The two young disciples murmured. Because of the heavy snow and fierce wind, this Great Hall became quite gloomy. The two disciples then went to light the six lampholders near the wall.

　　The lampholders were forged with first-class bronze, and each one was crafted magnificently.

　　Normally, the six lampholders would be lit during gatherings in the Great Hall at night or during a gloomy day.

　　“Chi!” One lampholder was lighted.

　　The entire Great Hall became a lot brighter.

　　“Ah.” As a disciple turned and walked towards another lampholder, he saw the figure seated on top of the Great Hall in the distance and was startled.

　　“Sovereign.”

　　“Sovereign.”

　　The two young disciples reacted.

　　“Oh, you two light the lampholders first.” Zhuge Yuanhong said calmly.

　　“Yes.” The two young disciples immediately became restrained and didn’t dare to make any sounds. Soon after the arrival of the two brothers, a Law Enforcing Elder, Protector and others came in one after the other. Everyone was surprised that the Sovereign actually came so early today, and each of them sat down according to the assigned locations.

　　As the six lampholders burned for a while in addition to the great number of people, the Great Hall seemed to have become a lot warmer.

　　The multitude of the Black Armored Army came here together. Teng Qingshan, Pang Shan, Zhang Feng, and Guan Lu naturally sat at the front while the other lieutenants sat behind them.

　　“Master.” Teng Qingshan and the others bowed.

　　“Yes.” Seeing Teng Qingshan, Zhang Feng, and Guan Lu, Zhuge Yuanhong nodded with a smile, “Sit down first. Let’s wait for the two Law Enforcing Elders.”

　　Teng Qingshan was slightly surprised, “Master came early today.”

　　Soon, an old man dressed in simple linen clothes walked in shoulder to shoulder with a cold-looking middle-aged man dressed in white. The Law Enforcing Elders naturally sat at the frontmost of the two left and right rows. The two smiled and noded towards Teng Qingshan while ignoring the others.

　　“Teng Qingshan, you are quite good.” The cold-looking middle-aged man sitting in front of Teng Qingshan said with a smile.

　　……

　　Outside the Great Hall, the sound of the wind was roaring, and the snow was falling heavily. While it was completely silent in the Great Hall, just the “ChiChi” sound came from the lampholders. Everyone was staring at Zhuge Yuanhong and waiting for the Sovereign to speak.

　　“Since the founder established our Gui Yuan Sect, it has been over one thousand years, and we have numerous disciples now. However, since over thousand of years, only less than forty people have reached the innate realm.” Zhuge Yuanhong said loudly, “Among the forty people, the oldest one had reached the innate realm at one hundred thirty-six years old! In addition, the youngest one had reached the innate realm at twenty-eight years old.

　　Many people in the Great Hall clearly knew that the Sovereign, Zhuge Yuanhong, reached the innate realm at the age of thirty.

　　“However, a new innate expert has appeared in my Gui Yuan Sect! And he is only seventeen!” Zhuge Yuanhong said with a clear and loud voice and extremely proud tone, “In all Nine Prefectures and in five hundred years, there has only been one! The only one! Everyone should know his identity by now.”

　　Everyone turned their eyes towards Teng Qingshan. Some looked at him with excitement, admiration, astonishment, and envy……

　　“Qingshan!”

　　Zhuge Yuanhong said loudly, “He reached the innate realm at the age of seventeen. Haha. I only reached it at the age of thirty. If a person started cultivating at the age of five, Qingshan has only cultivated for twelve years. In comparison, I cultivated for twenty- five years to reach the innate realm, which is two times slower than Qingshan! I don’t feel ashamed but proud! Because he is my disciple! Because he is the disciple of the Gui Yuan Sect! He is not of the other eight sects. So what if the other eight sects are powerful; the number one talented person in five hundred years is in the Gui Yuan Sect!”

　　As the people in the Great Hall listened, their hearts swelled with pride.

　　Indeed.

　　The number one talented person in five hundred years belonged to the Gui Yuan Sect!

　　“Qingshan.” Zhuge Yuanhong looked towards Teng Qingshan.

　　Teng Qingshan immediately stood up.

　　“From today onwards, you will be the third Law Enforcing Elder of our Gui Yuan Sect and the youngest one in history! ” Zhuge Yuanhong stared at Teng Qingshan and opened his mouth slowly, “Regarding cultivation, I don’t need to tell you much! I just want to tell you…… I hope a dozen years from now, the disciples of my Gui Yuan Sect will feel proud because of you! The Gui Yuan Sect will be glorious because of you!”

　　As Teng Qingshan listened, he could feel his chest burning hot.

　　“This is the Law Enforcing Elder token. Keep it carefully!” Zhuge Yuanhong said as he handed the token over seriously.

　　Teng Qingshan also accepted it solemnly.

　　“Congratulations, Teng Qingshan.” The white-haired old man opposite Qingshan said with a smile.

　　“Our Gui Yuan Sect has one more Law Enforcing Elder now.” The cold-looking middle-aged man laughed.

　　The ambience of the Great Hall was filled with happiness, and everyone congratulated Teng Qingshan. Even the envious Zhang feng also congratulated Teng Qingshan. This was because everyone knew clearly…….that an awesome, talented person in the Gui Yuan Sect could make the Gui Yuan Sect even more powerful in the future.

　　The Gui Yuan Sect possessing greater power only benefited everybody.

　　At this moment, as everyone was laughing, drinking tea, and chatting in the Great Hall, a figure suddenly dashed in rapidly.

　　“Sovereign.”

　　A loud shout caused the entire hall to become quiet, and many people turned to looked at the door angrily. When everyone saw the figure, they were slightly surprised.

　　The middle-aged man dressed in gray ran into the Great Hall and said hastily, “Sovereign, an urgent secret letter.”

　　Zhuge Yuanhong furrowed and yelled, “Close the door!” Although the disciples guarding at the entrance of the Great Hall were confused, they still closed the door of the Great Hall. The Great Hall darkened slightly with only the six lampholders illuminating the surroundings.

　　“Give me the secret letter.” Zhuge Yuanhong said.

　　That middle-aged man immediately handed the rolled-up paper, and Zhuge Yuanhong lowered his head to start reading.

　　The people in the Great Hall all turned silent. Everyone could sense that the atmosphere was not right.

　　What could cause this secret letter to be sent to the Great Hall? Couldn’t it be given two hours later? Through this, one could see how urgent this thing is.

　　Why did the Sovereign order the door of the Great Hall to be closed before he even read the secret letter?

　　These things caused everyone to feel confused and anxious.

　　“Hmph, as expected.” Zhuge Yuanhong sneered and scanned the multitude in the Great Hall. Everyone looked at the Sovereign as they waited for an answer. Zhuge Yuanhong said with a loud and clear voice, “Yesterday, many fights for power happened in the cities of Xuyang County and Tiannan County. The people who were killing were just some gangs and small sects.

　　Many people in the Great Hall were confused.

　　Tiannan County and Xuyang County have always been chaotic. Was it weird to have fights?

　　However, a keen-minded Teng Qingshan and others had noticed the problem.

　　“Struggles for power on the same day?” Teng Qingshan felt dubious as he thought.

　　At this moment, Zhuge Yuanhong said loudly again, “I guessed last night, the chaos in the cities of Xuyang County and Tiannan County have pacified. And this morning, the cities of Xuyang County and Tiannan County have declared that from today onwards…… Xuyang County and Tiannan County are ruled by Qing Hu Island!”

　　The expression of everyone listening changed dramatically!

　　“Qing Hu Island conquered those two counties?”

　　“How could it be that fast?”

　　Everyone was shocked and terrified. Everyone understood how horrifying the meaning was behind this news!

　　“This news came at the fastest speed!” Zhuge Yuanhong looked at everyone and said with a stern face, “From today onwards, of the thirteen counties of Yangzhou, eleven counties are ruled by Qing Hu Island. They have the greatest advantage. Everyone could see that Qing Hu Island conquered Xuyang County and Tiannan County with an extremely rapid speed!”

　　Teng Qingshan also felt worried.

　　“Why was it so fast? It was obvious that Qing Hu Island had made preparations a long time ago. Many sects and gangs in Xuyang County and Tiannan County belong to Qing Hu Island. They were confident that they could conquer Xuyang County and Tiannan County with one move. However, why didn’t they make their move in the past but only waited until today?” Zhuge Yuanhong’s eyes became fierce as he said.

　　Many of the Elders and Protector broke out in cold sweat.

　　None of them were stupid.

　　That Qing Hu Island possessed extremely powerful ability. They had the power to dominate Xuyang County and Tiannan County a long time ago, so why wait until today? And why even declare it to the public?

　　“I knew Gu Yong was ambitious when I first met him!” The cold-looking middle-aged man roared angrily.

　　“If they have the audacity to come, we won’t let them go easily.” Pang Shan said furiously.

　　Everyone realized……

　　This Qing Hu Island dared to announce that Xuyang County and Tiannan County are ruled by them. The meaning was very clear——Gui Yuan Sect and Tie Yi Clan, you two better wait to be cleaned up by Qing Hu Island!

　　Nobody doubted whether Qing Hu Island had the ability to obliterate the Gui Yuan Sect and the Tie Yi Hall.

　　After all, the roots of Qing Hu Island were too deep, and they had too many people.

　　For example, the Black Armored Army of Gui Yuan Sect had only six thousand people, but the Silver Dragon Army of Qinghu Island had eighty thousand! Although the quality of the entire army was slightly weaker, there wasn’t much difference. The worst thing was that Qing Hu Island had a lot more innate experts than both the innate experts of Gui Yuan Sect and Tie Yi Hall!

　　Qing Hu Island ruled the nine counties and had developed for many years. Its ordinary men, elite experts, and innate experts definitely overpowered their opponents.

　　“Qing Hu Island had never made their move because it was afraid that obliterating the Gui Yuan Sect and the Tie Yi Hall would cause a loss in a huge number of people and would give advantages to other big sects.” Teng Qingshan also felt a pressure that he had never experienced before as he thought to himself. “But now that it had to audacity to do so, it meant that it obviously had confidence! It endured for such a long time. If it did not make its move, it would seemed ordinary, but once it moved……”

　　The facial expression of the other people in the Great Hall became ghastly. Some were even terrified to the point that drops of sweat covered their forehead.

　　Once the battle really began……

　　The Gui Yuan Sect might be razed to the ground!!!