<b>Chapter 417: Declaration of War</b>
“So you hope that I would flee from the Thousand Carp River overnight?” Li Qiye smiled and said while looking at the angry Lan Yunzhu.
“It is best if you start running now.” Lan Yunzhu thought that Li Qiye had changed his mind and happily continued: “If you run right now, then you still have a chance to escape the Thousand Carp River. Once you are out of the sect, leave the Distant Cloud as well; go to the Nether Border or the Green River. It is best to avoid the areas with a lot of ghost tribes. Regardless of what you do, you will not be safe if you stay in the Distant Cloud region.”
Li Qiye looked at her and smiled: “Girl, are you trying to work together with the enemy?”
“Are you running away or not!” Lan Yunzhu snapped and glared at him.
“You have seen it yourself.” Li Qiye waved his hand and said: “At this moment, the island is completely surrounded. There are no gaps and countless eyes are on me. Telling me to escape from your Thousand Carp River is not such an easy task.”
Lan Yunzhu took a deep breath and said in a serious manner: “I'll cover for you, no one will notice with me leading you. Once you get out of here, escaping would not be difficult.”
“Is that so?” Li Qiye stroked his chin and revealed a pose of contemplation: “But I don't want to leave you. If I run away now, we won't see each other again.”
“What are you talking about at a time like this!” Lan Yunzhu angrily stomped her foot and exclaimed.
Li Qiye looked at her with a passionate gaze and said: “Girl, how about we escape together? We will leave the Thousand Carp River and become inseparable from then on. After that, we will be as free as the birds in the sky or the fishes in the ocean.”
“Yuck, who would want to run off with you!” The embarrassed Lan Yunzhu quipped and continued on: “You can keep on dreaming! So? Are you running or not? If you want to, then I will take you outside of the sect, but if not, then I'm just going to ignore you.”
This was quite admirable of her. This was a crime of treason. Once caught, she would be heavily punished despite being the prime descendant.
Li Qiye examined her serious expression and smiled while gently patting her on the cheek to say: “Girl, how could I involve you in this mess? Don't worry, I won't run. If such a small matter forces me to run, then I am not Li Qiye.
“Out of respect for your feelings, I won't make it difficult for the Thousand Carp River this time. I also won't take away the Golden Divine Willow so that the sect can continue to prosper. However, as for the blind fools… I shall not hesitate to massacre them.”
“Do you really think you can beat the entire sect by yourself?” Lan Yunzhu angrily spoke.
Li Qiye nodded his head in a serious fashion and declared: “Yes! I can defeat your entire sect because I am Li Qiye!”
Lan Yunzhu was completely stupefied. Because I am Li Qiye — this was the most domineering phrase she had ever heard. It was as if, amongst the nine heavens and ten earths across the ages, nothing would ever be able to match this remark of domination.
The moment her mind returned, she angrily exclaimed: “Forget it, you can do as you please! Don't blame me when you die a miserable death here!” Having said that, she quickly stormed out.
Li Qiye chuckled at the sight of her exasperation. A while later, he looked up at the night curtain and gently sighed.
He then murmured to himself: “Qian Li, you can't blame me for this, blame your descendants instead for not knowing when to stop. I have given a lot to the Thousand Carp River by leaving behind the divine tree and the treasures. If there are those who do not listen, then maybe it is time for someone else who is more tractable to rule over this land.”
The next morning, Lu Baiqiu hastily rushed in and said: “Young Noble, it's not looking so good!”
Li Qiye opened his eyes and calmly asked: “What's wrong? Is the sky falling down?”
The breathless Lu Baiqiu said: “The sky is not falling down, but Senior Brother Yan Long is leading a large group here to capture Young Noble.”
Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: “Capture me? Let us go, we can let those ignorant fools have a taste of blood. Today is the day when the Thousand Carp River will change.” [1. Raw here is change blood. This just means for it to have a change in personnel; for different people to be in control, or to wash away some of the older groups.]
Li Qiye went outside with Lu Baiqiu and saw Yan Long leading a group of experts towards them; they all had a ferocious aura.
Yan Long's eyes became bloodshot the moment he saw Li Qiye. A few days ago, he was incapacitated by Li Qiye, and his master had to use a lot of precious elixirs to heal his wounds. How could he not be reddened with rage now that his enemy was before his very eyes?
He then surrounded Li Qiye with the numerous experts, not leaving behind a single gap for the possibility of escape.
Many disciples saw this scene from afar, but none of them dared to say anything nor did they come and join the fun.
In the last two days, the atmosphere at the sect had been quite tense since the elders gave the order to seal off the lake, preventing others from entering and leaving.
Even the most oblivious disciple knew that something had happened in the sect, and it was a very big deal. However, ordinary disciples wouldn't dare to ask about it.
Yan Long's appearance was quite fierce; it was as if he wanted to strip Li Qiye of his flesh and remove his bones. Eventually, he said: “Li, will you peacefully accept your arrest, or do we have to force you to submit?”
“So your Thousand Carp River likes to go back on your words? An actual emperor's lineage choosing to act so dishonorably… This is truly disappointing.” Li Qiye replied without batting an eye as he stood with both hands gallantly posed behind his back.
“Our words? We only act honorable towards gentlemen. As for ignoble wretches like you, there is no point in doing so. You spied on our sect to steal our secrets and even our Heaven's Will Secret Law; any of these crimes is worthy of decapitation.”
“Spying on the Thousand Carp River?” After hearing the charges, Lu Baiqiu, who was right behind Li Qiye, felt indignation.
Everyone knew that Li Qiye came for the marriage arrangement, even the sect itself acknowledged and agreed to this. Accusing him of coming to the sect to spy on them — this was clearly a false allegation.
Contrary to Lu Baiqiu's anger, Li Qiye remained unaffected and answered with a smile: “Not a bad list of crimes. Of course, since you aim to falsely accuse me, any reason would work just as well.”
“Stop wasting time. Be smart and let us capture you, or else you will only bring more trouble upon yourself.” Yan Long said with a deep voice: “If you choose to resist, then we will take your arms and legs, turning you into a cripple. At that point, don't blame our sect for not giving you a chance at the beginning.” At this point, he revealed a cruel smile of pleasure.
Yan Long had been waiting long enough for his chance to get back at Li Qiye. A fate worse than death awaited Li Qiye if he should fall into Yan Long's hands, a fate deserving of someone who tried to steal his woman.
“Is that so?” Li Qiye smirked: “Is this the decision made by the sect, or is this your personal decision?”
Yan Long didn't answer directly and coldly declared instead: “All Thousand Carp disciples have the responsibility to kill someone who spies on our sect and stole our Heaven's Will Secret Law!”
Li Qiye smiled and nodded his head: “I understand, so it is a personal vendetta. But you alone are not enough to catch me.”
Yan Long's face became ashen because Li Qiye struck his sore spot. He then cried out: “Go, show no mercy if he resists!”
Having said that, his blood energy rushed forth as he took out a Virtuous Paragon Life Treasure.
“Boom!” After a loud explosion, the experts who came with him created an inescapable net. The sky started to shake as all four directions were locked down.
The group came prepared and were determined to capture Li Qiye at all costs.
Once this net entrapped the entire area, Yan Long's Virtuous Paragon weapon slashed down with the suppressive might of a Virtuous Paragon.
While being on the verge of life and death, Li Qiye slightly shifted his body. At that moment, it seemed as if time itself shivered from him seemingly flapping his wings.
“Bang—bang—bang!” A series of impacts resounded along with shrill cries. The experts that wanted to trap Li Qiye were all instantly blown away as their blood painted the blue sky red.
“Boom!” Li Qiye's body was the most powerful weapon. Each of his attacks carried the force of a divine mountain, so even a Virtuous Paragon weapon was knocked away.
“Boom!” Before Yan Long knew what was going on, he had already been blown away, spewing out blood as his bones broke. Before he got the chance to realize what was going on, his neck felt a grip that pushed him up high. Li Qiye had Yan Long by the throat in midair.
“Someone like you wants to capture me?” Li Qiye smirked at Yan Long and demanded: “Tell the ones who are ordering you to come out, or else I'll crush you!”
“Little Beast, let him go!” Elder Lin roared and unleashed a sky-shattering fist towards Li Qiye, one without any mercy.
[spoiler title='417 Teaser']“So you hope that I would flee from the Thousand Carp River overnight?” Li Qiye smiled and said while looking at the angry Lan Yunzhu.
“It is best if you start running now.” Lan Yunzhu thought that Li Qiye had changed his mind and happily continued: “If you run right now, then you still have a chance to escape the Thousand Carp River. Once you are out of the sect, leave the Distant Cloud as well; go to the Nether Border or the Green River. It is best to avoid the areas with a lot of ghost tribes. Regardless of what you do, you will not be safe if you stay in the Distant Cloud region.”
Li Qiye looked at her and smiled: “Girl, are you trying to work together with the enemy?”[/spoiler]