The entire mountain range knew about the king’s presence. It was no longer a secret.
New disciples, ordinary cultivators, and ancestors have all heard about the king.
His coronation was a great event, announced to the entire world. Later on, his fall was also heavily publicized. With that, the old and young of Nine Secrets all heard about the king.
Of course, their impression of him was unanimous – that he was a perverted fool! That’s the reason why he lost his kingdom.
After controlling the capital, the various legions of War Saint, the Bingchi, and Myriad Formation Kingdom purposely proliferated this propaganda.
The world heard that when Li Qiye was on the throne, he committed all kind of debaucherous deeds – raping, taking others’ wives, even his subjects’ wives and palace maids weren’t spared.
They even said that he even ordered the death of an entire clan for a woman. Imperious, lecherous, unreasonable, no merits to speak of…
In short, the alliance painted the picture of a horrible tyrant. Just hearing about his tales would make others hate him to the bones, thinking that a rebellion should be in order. They obviously did this in order to hide one thing – their betrayal!
They wanted to justify and garnish their betrayal, that they were in the right to overthrow the king, not a usurping attempt.
Numerous older cultivators naturally understood this, but the young ones – especially those that have only recently joined sects – believed these rumors.
Because of this, the young ones were very curious to see the lecherous tyrant after finding out that he was staying in Nine-linked.
In the next few days, young cultivators popped up around Great Desolate Mountain. Though they didn’t climb up this peak, they stood in the areas nearby or float in the sky.
They saw Li Qiye absorbing murderous energy early in the morning. This attracted everyone’s attention.
“That’s the new king.” One youth pointed and murmured.
“And here I thought the legendary tyrant would look quite fierce with three heads and six arms. He just looks like an ordinary person.” A female cultivator wanted to satisfy her curiosity but became disappointed instead at Li Qiye’s appearance.
When they heard about his sexual crimes, they thought that he would look quite wretched and lowly. Who would have thought that his appearance couldn’t be more common and ordinary?
“A guy like that can become the king? How strange.” A new cultivator wondered.
Someone who can become the king of War Saint Dynasty should be a supreme person, not someone like Li Qiye.
“It’s because he has a good daddy.” Someone couldn’t help but mock: “He’s the previous king’s illegitimate son, that’s more than enough for someone like him to become king, but keeping that position is an entirely different story. Didn’t you see, the guy didn’t even sit straight on his throne before losing his kingdom. Hmph, an idiot can’t rule the world.”
“That’s true.” A relatively older disciple nodded: “Given the current circumstances of our system, I don’t think there’s a more suitable and qualified person to be king other than Eight Formation True Emperor. He has two palaces right now and could become a progenitor in the future.”
“I agree. He’s a brilliant talent, it’s appropriate for him to be our king, unlike a certain person with a good daddy.” Another sneered: “But that’s all in the past now, Eight Formation True Emperor will be our ruler and Princess Hanyu will be a great match.”
“A great match indeed, you can’t find a better pairing.” His friend stared at Li Qiye in the distant and sneered: “It’s fortunate that Princess Hanyu didn’t marry that fool or it would be such a waste.”
The youths nearby nodded in agreement.
“Is he cultivating?” Someone else changed the subject.
“Yes, he does this every day.” A different disciple has been watching him early on so he had a good grasp on Li Qiye: “He’s very diligent too, always on time.”
“Maybe losing the kingdom was a great blow to him.” A sentimental commenter stated: “Perhaps he wants to change completely and start all over again, that’s why he’s here at Nine-linked Mountains to train hard in order to rise up after becoming a master.”
“In his dream.” A supporter of Eight Formation scoffed: “With his pitiful cultivation, he could cultivate for another thousand years and wouldn’t be as strong as one finger from Eight Formation True Emperor. The emperor will easily crush him.”
No one bothered to respond because the situation was very delicate right now in Nine Secrets. Who knows if Eight Formation True Emperor can become the next king?
However, most did admit that he made sense. At the very least, the new king wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything regardless of his change.
Everyone could see how weak he was, not comparable to Eight Formation True Emperor and the others at all. Seizing the throne again was simply impossible.
As for Li Qiye, he ignored all of these gossipers. They didn’t affect his daily ritual at all.
Despite the crowd building around Li Qiye, they only wanted to satisfy their curiosity and didn’t do anything to him.
After all, there was no conflict an enmity between them and the new king. Even if he was a lecherous tyrant during his reign, they were too far away to be affected. Plus, they weren’t qualified to meet him back then either.
Furthermore, he might not have a kingdom anymore but some remnant vestiges and authority remained. No one wanted to mess with this matter because it might bring about a calamity.
This isn't to say that all the youths felt the same way. Some had ulterior motives and reasons.
Today, one youth climbed up the peak with a dozen of tough-looking men. Each had a ferocious presence, clearly part of the army.
The youth had an expensive robe but due to his impressive physique, he seemed to be a warrior as well.
“Zeng Yibin is coming for the new king.” This news came out while the group was climbing up the peak.
“What does he want to do?” A curious spectator wondered.
“Probably to pick a fight.” A cultivator from the capital quietly said: “Don’t forget, Yibin is a cousin of Young Lord Ma.”
“The Ma Clan? The military one of Central Legion Commander Ma Mingchun?” People shuddered after hearing this.
“That’s the one.” The person answered.
The crowd glanced at each other and took a deep breath.
The Central Legion was one of the strongest legions of Nine Secrets. Even back in Lucidity King’s reign, this legion was one of his strongest fighting force. Ma Mingchun was a powerful Eternal, beloved by his men. His words carried a lot of weight.
Everyone knew that he was the mastermind behind the betrayal of the six legions. Meanwhile, Zeng Yibin was his grandchild on the maternal side, once a part of the Central Legion.
This clearly wasn’t a case of a subject looking for his king. All eyes were on him now.