CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40: KILL ORDER!

The crowd hastily looked up and saw, to their surprise, sets of armor!

"Put this thing on?"

Hong Man wiped his big mouth and reached out to grab one.

He was born with divine power and had now reached Half-Step Spirit Sea, able to easily lift a giant rock weighing thousands of pounds. Yet, now he was just holding a helmet and his face turned red.

Ye Qingchen saw Hong Man’s appearance and picked up a set of armor himself, immediately his expression changed: "So heavy!"

He quickly looked towards Qin Wentian, "Elder Qin, are you sure we all have to wear this? Let alone training, we can’t even move freely!"

Ye Qingchen could imagine.

Wearing this armor would feel like a mountain pressing down on him.

"Indeed!" Qin Wentian nodded, "This is the way Taotian Palace trains its disciples. The world only knows to condense True Qi, rarely do they train their physical bodies. They fail to realize, the body is like a barrel. Without a strong physique, how can one contain more True Qi?"

"Moreover..."

Qin Wentian’s gaze swept over everyone and finally landed on Ye Qingchen.

"Especially you! As the Newcomer King of this generation, not joining the Eight Great Sects will surely make them hold grudges. They’ll want to prove that you didn’t join them because you lack the fortune. They might even increase efforts to train people like Lei Qianjue!"

"Once they surpass you, you will become the laugherstock of the world! Do you want that to happen?"

Ye Qingchen’s eyes flashed.

Of course, he didn’t want that!

"Good that you don’t want it!" Qin Wentian grinned and flipped his right hand, dropping another set of armor at Ye Qingchen’s feet. "The previous set was for those in the Qi Cultivation Realm, this one is for those in the Spiritual Sea Realm..."

This set of armor appeared and instantly cracked the stone slabs on the ground, even embedding itself several inches into the floor.

"These armors are crafted from special materials, incredibly heavy. If you get used to this weight, fighting others in the future without this armor... your strength will surely amaze everyone!"

...

Xingluo Sect.

In a spacious great hall, stood two figures.

One was Lei Qianjue, the other was the Sect Leader of Xingluo Sect!

"You must know, with your current strength and aptitude, you have no right to receive my personal guidance!" The Sect Leader said in a deep voice, "You should know the reason!"

"I know, it’s all because of Ye Qingchen!"

Lei Qianjue clenched his fists.

Ye Qingchen’s decision not to join the Eight Great Sects is a disgrace to them!

To wash away this disgrace, the Eight Great Sects must cultivate this generation’s disciples to be more outstanding than Ye Qingchen. This is utterly humiliating for him.

He only received this treatment because of Ye Qingchen!

"As long as you understand!" The Sect Leader nodded slowly, "I already know that your qualifications and potential are not inferior to Ye Qingchen. Before he reached the Spirit Sea Realm, you had already achieved the Spiritual Sea Second Heaven!"

"The reason he was able to win the Newcomer King title and even slay Hong Qitian was because he learned a fragment of a Profound Tier Top-Grade Martial Technique and had comprehended Sword Intent!"

"But, so what?"

The Sect Leader of Xingluo Sect snorted coldly, "We have plenty of such things in our Xingluo Sect! If you need anything, just ask... What I need is for you to openly defeat Ye Qingchen, preferably kill him!"

The Sect Leader’s gaze turned cold.

"Yes!"

Lei Qianjue suddenly lifted his head.

His eyes filled with boundless resentment.

"Ye Qingchen, just wait! I’ve said before, I will reclaim all the glory that belongs to me!"

...

Meanwhile.

The same thing was happening in other major sects.

The affair of Ye Qingchen caused the authority of the Eight Great Sects to be questioned. Many believed they were blind, mistaking the Newcomer King for a waste, causing this farce.

For the Eight Great Sects, they naturally could not tolerate such questioning.

Therefore.

They needed to cultivate Lei Qianjue and others to be more outstanding. Only by surpassing Ye Qingchen could they completely cleanse this shame!

And they have the capital, as well as the confidence to do so!

Of course, besides the Eight Great Sects, others were not willing to let it go either.

They were the Hong Family, Chu Family, and Yuan Family.

Imperial Capital.

Inside a restaurant.

The Great Elder of the Hong Family, the Clan Leader of the Chu Family, and the Clan Leader of the Yuan Family sat together, discussing intensely.

These three families were powerful clans occupying one side of Celestial Peak Country. With the death of the Hong Family’s Clan Leader and Young Clan Leader, the fall of the Chu Family’s Chu Minghui and Chu Mingyang brothers, and Yuan Family’s Yuan Cong being killed with a single stomp, how could they swallow this insult?

When Ye Qingchen won the Newcomer King title, they felt the world turned gray, knowing there was no chance to avenge Ye Qingchen. But who would have thought Ye Qingchen refused the Eight Great Sects and joined the already declining Taotian Palace?

This gave them hope again.

"What’s there to discuss, our three families should unite and head straight to Taotian Palace!" The Hong Family’s Great Elder Hong Chen banged the table, with Hong Qitian’s death making him the acting Clan Leader, he urgently needed to kill Ye Qingchen to establish his position!

"But the elder that day at the plaza was a remnant of Taotian Palace, aren’t you afraid of implicating the family?" Yuan Family’s Clan Leader Yuan Yun squinted and said.

"Yuan Yun, don’t forget, your son was killed by Ye Qingchen with a stomp, are you willing to let that go?" Hong Chen snorted coldly.

Beside him, the Clan Leader of the Chu Family, Chu Jiuyuan, said in a deep voice, "Hong Chen, don’t be rash! Yuan Yun is right, Ye Qingchen has already refused the Eight Great Sects, he is like fish on the chopping board, unable to escape our grasp. There’s no need to risk the entire family!"

"Then what do you suggest?" Hong Chen asked in confusion.

"It’s simple, we’ll mobilize assassins!" Chu Jiuyuan smirked coldly, "In the name of our three families, we’ll issue an assassination order with a bounty of a million gold to kill Ye Qingchen! We won’t even need to act, Ye Qingchen will be drowned by those assassins!"

Yuan Cong burst into laughter hearing this: "Indeed, let’s see how he dies then!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"If Ye Qingchen knows what’s good for him, he’d come and apologize. Otherwise, he’ll surely be crushed by us!" Hong Chen’s eyes were filled with mockery.

This is their confidence.

To kill someone is so very simple.

Overnight.

A bounty of a million gold for an assassination order alarmed the Assassin Realm of Celestial Peak Country.

Such an amount of gold!

They’d willingly go assassinate an emperor for it. Let alone a Newcomer King who refused the Eight Great Sects and had no support?

Countless assassins sprang into action immediately.