Chapter 219: Old Friend

“You are not qualified!”

Tong Jihua’s words caused Xie Jingxuan, Tu Z,e and Zhuo Qian to freeze up, and they surprised the entire group of people from the five forces outside the city as well.

He wasn’t wrong in terms of status.

Armament Sect’s status was extraordinary among the five forces. Be it wealth or the combat strength of Blood Spear, they were number one among the five forces.

If it was a one-on-one clash, then none among the five forces would dare to take on Armament Sect. They wouldn’t even been a match.

Not only did Armament Sect have a long standing history, it also had accumulated resources and potential that caused even Eight Extreme Temple and Profound Heaven Alliance to be wary of!

As the new sect master of Armament Sect, in terms of status and identity, Qin Lie was the equal of the leaders of the five forces.

Only Purple Mist Sea’s master, Cloud Sky Mountain’s mountain master, and Dark Asura Hall’s grand hall master would have the qualifications to speak with Qin Lie.

Xie Jingxuan was not qualified.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian were even less qualified.

“Please notify him. Whether or not he wants to meet me is his decision. If he refuses to see me, then I will definitely not force the issue either.” Underneath the city entrance, Xie Jingxuan frowned slightly with a cool face. “If I enter the city, you may capture me. I will not be a threat to you.”

“Miss!” Liang Zhong exclaimed.

Xie Jingxuan lifted her head and looked at Tong Jihua. She ignored Liang Zhong, and her eyes were firm.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian looked awkward. They too looked expectantly at Tong Jihua, hoping that he could accommodate them.

After a while, Tong Jihua nodded slightly and said in a cold voice, “Considering your past relationship with Sect Master Qin, I will arrange some men to report this matter. Whether or not he’s willing to see you all is still his decision.”

Xie Jingxuan returned a thanks and waited indifferently at the city entrance.

“Why do you want to see Qin Lie?” Tu Mo, the former pavilion master of Nebula Pavilion, said with a dark face, “The current Qin Lie is no longer the insignificant Nebula Pavilion martial practitioner of the past. He is an overlord who rules over Armament Sect now. The fact that Armament Sect could… kill Tu Xi and capture Xie Zhizhang means that their powers are immeasurable, not to mention that Dark Asura Hall and Armament Sect have always opposed each other. What can you do even if you go there?”

Second Hall Master Cao Xuanrui had also turned around to look at the two of them. His eyes were a little strange.

“W-we don’t really have any special thoughts. We just want to know if it’s really him…” Zhuo Qian muttered.

“I just want to see him and know how he’s doing right now,” Tu Ze exclaimed.

Dark Asura Hall’s second hall master, Cao Xuanrui, suddenly smiled and arrived beside Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian. After looking at them, he lowered his voice and said, “If you can convince Qin Lie to surrender, have him disclose how deep Armament Sect’s power and resources run, and surrender to Profound Heaven Alliance…”

Cao Xuanrui’s voice grew lower and lower, “Then not only will Qin Lie be able to live, I can even guarantee that he can enter Dark Asura Hall and acquire a pretty good position.”

“Little Ze, Little Qian, you both know that it is Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple’s intentions to eliminate Armament Sect. Armament Sect is fated not to survive this danger. If you truly wish him well, then it will be best if you can convince him to surrender,” Zhuo Duo also supported.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian wore bitter expressions on their faces. They neither expressed anything nor promised them.

This was because they knew Qin Lie. They knew that he would never surrender and that he wasn’t someone who could betray his own sect just for his own safety. They knew very well that there was some kind of berserk blood inside Qin Lie, and the moment he turned crazy, he would be extremely terrifying and fearsome.

They could believe that it was him no matter how recklessly he acted. The one thing they wouldn’t believe was that he would betray Armament Sect.

Therefore, they knew that they didn’t even need to bother attempting to persuade him.

……

Hot sunlight shone down on Flame Volcano.

Halfway up the mountain, the shut cave was opened once more as Qin Lie appeared at the entrance looking quite tired.

“How is it? How much have you completed in one night’s time?” Lian Rou asked curiously.

Qin Lie pointed behind him.

At the back of the cave, six Terminator Profound Bombs lay quietly on the jade table. Each one of these Terminator Profound Bombs carried incredibly obvious thunder and lightning energy, and a lightning-like pattern graced its surface.

“Have they all been inscribed?” Tang Siqi’s eyes were bright.

“Yes. I used an entire night to inscribe all of the spirit diagrams inside.” Qin Lie moved his neck and rolled his rigid limbs, slowly relaxing his tense body.

The six Terminator Profound Bombs were powerful enough to eliminate a Netherpassage martial practitioner and damage a Fulfillment Realm martial practitioner. But this alone wasn’t enough to completely overturn Armament Sect’s situation.

When daylight had been about to break, he had even forged a new Terminator Profound Bomb and attempted to merged a small Rank Four Dark Moon Thunder Snake beast core into the new artifact.

According to Xue Li, if he could use a Rank Four spirit beast core as its primary material, then the power of the Terminator Profound Bomb could destroy a Rank Five spirit beast and take down a Fragmentation Realm martial practitioner.

That was why he wanted to give it a test.

However, not long after the beast core was placed inside the furnace, all the supplementary materials could not endure the rampaging thunder and lightning energy and exploded into smithereens before they could complete the merging.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Armament Sect’s furnace was tough, that he hadn’t used just a small piece of beast core for the experiment, and that he hadn’t suppressed the thunder and lightning energy inside, it was likely that even the furnace would completely explode.

Xue Li wasn’t wrong. With his current attainment in artifact forging, the best he could forge was a Terminator Profound Bomb with a Rank Three beast core as the primary material. He would only be making life difficult for himself if he tried to forcefully attempt a high grade Terminator Profound Bomb.

The enhancement of the main material had to be matched with an enhancement of supplementary materials, a better control of spirit energy, better skill in artifact forging, a higher realm, and must even be matched with a better compound spirit diagram!

He was lacking in all areas.

“Can I see the spirit diagram inside the Terminator Profound Bomb?” Tang Siqi stared eagerly at him.

Lian Rou’s expression moved as she too suddenly chuckled and asked, “Qin Lie, can I see it as well? The compound spirit diagram you’ve made?”

Qin Lie frowned slightly.

The spirit diagram he inscribed inside the Terminator Profound Bomb was formed with basic spirit diagrams. However, the four basic spirit diagrams he mastered were different from the commonly used basic diagrams these days.

According to Ying Xingran and Mo Hai, the basic diagram inside the Spirit Gathering Board was an ancient diagram!

Tang Siqi had also seen the Spirit Gathering Board Xie Jingxuan had sent over as well and of course had seen the spirit diagram inside as well. So, she would immediately realize that the person who forged the Spirit Gathering Board wasn’t Li Mu but him the moment she slipped a wisp of mind consciousness into the Terminator Profound Bomb.

The four ancient basic diagrams came from inside the Soul Suppressing Orb. His grandfather had once instructed him to let as few people as possible know that he owned the Soul Suppressing Orb.

That was why he hesitated.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’m sorry. The spirit diagram inside the Terminator Profound Bomb was taught to me by a senior. He isn’t too willing to show it to other people.”

“It’s Li Mu, right? The Li Mu who forged the Spirit Gathering Board?” Tang Siqi wore an understanding look. “The spirit diagram inside the Terminator Profound Bomb is an ancient diagram, right? We actually guessed that a long time ago…”

After being dumbfounded for a moment, Qin Lie nodded.

“I knew it.” Tang Siqi appeared a little regretful but did not force the issue. She even reminded him in good will, “If you want to keep the arrangements of the spirit diagrams inside your spirit artifact a secret, you can package it. There should be a lot of packaging methods inside the secret scriptures you hold. To put it bluntly, this so-called packaging method is to lock your spirit diagrams so that other people’s consciousness would not be able to peep at the interior spirit diagram and its unique frame.”

“Packaging!” Qin Lie’s eyes lit up.

He had heard about packaging spirit diagrams. He also knew that there were a lot of real master artificers who disliked other people attempting to discern the wondrous assemble of their spirit diagram. That was why the spirit artifacts they forged had interior spirit diagrams that were packaged to “lock” them.

A packaged spirit diagram would neither prevent the user from using it nor affect the spirit artifact’s power. But it could prevent other people from slipping their consciousness inside the artifact and seeing the core components of the spirit diagram.

In the world of artifact forging, this was the way the great artificers protect their own secrets. It was a very common practice.

“Sect… Sect Master Qin, Elder Tong has requested me to inform you that there are three people outside Fire District who wish to see you. They say they know you. They are called Xie Jingxuan, Tu Ze, and Zhuo Qian.” An outer sect disciple walked in with a humble look and bowed head, while informing him in an odd tone.

“Xie Jingxuan, Tu Ze, Zhuo Qian…” Qin Lie was shocked. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Has my identity been exposed?”

“Yes. Now everyone knows that you are the one in control of Armament Sect.” The person still did not lift his head as he answered quietly.

Qin Lie looked at him in surprise, and after a moment’s hesitation asked suddenly, “Are you… Tian Jianhao?”

The man who had bowed his head all this time finally looked up with a bitter smile. It was Tian Jianhao.

More than a year ago, he, Yi Yuan, Liang Shaoyang, and Ouyang Jingjing had joined the exam and cut in front of Qin Lie. He was then kicked down onto the ground by Qin Lie.

After that, Tian Jianhao had wanted to take revenge on Qin Lie several times, but realized that Qin Lie was chosen by Tang Siqi, then ascended into an inner sect disciple, and after a while, he then killed Liang Shaoyang in front of the entrance before causing all twelve spirit pattern pillars to react…

Qin Lie had risen in position all this way, and now he had become the current sect master of Armament Sect. Meanwhile, Tian Jianhao was still Tian Jianhao. He was still that outer sect disciple.

“I was blind in the past. I hope that Sect Master will forgive my petty sins,” Tian Jianhao smiled bitterly and saluted.

“You came from Dark Asura Hall previously. Why did Elder Tong… trust you?” Qin Lie asked.

“I am neither Liang Shaoyang nor Ouyang Jingjing. I do not have any backing in Dark Asura Hall, and there is no one who gave me special attention. In Dark Asura Hall, I am but an insignificant martial practitioner who has suffered quite a bit of anger. In fact, I have been doing quite well during my time in Armament Sect,” Tian Jianhao explained.

Qin Lie gained an understanding and nodded. He said, “Tell Elder Tong to invite them to the sect. Say that I wish to see them as well. Remember, they must be treated with respect. Do not put shackles on them!”

“Understood.” Tian Jianhao bowed again before finally leaving.

An hour later.

At the entrance of the Fire District, “Tong Jihua said coldly, “Sect Master Qin invites you to Armament Sect. Moreover, he has specifically instructed me not to shackle you and to treat you with respect.”

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian matched each other’s eyes before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Qin Lie is still Qin Lie,” they both thought.

Xie Jingxuan simply nodded slightly before walking straight at the open city gate. Under Tian Jianhao’s guidance, they walked to Armament Sect’s entrance.