Careless words from the senior defender were met swiftly with rebuttals from dissatisfied sects and kingdoms.

Of course, they had a reason to speak up right now. In recent generations, Vajra has been growing stronger and more prosperous on top of stretching its authority.

In the last few years, Vajra carried out expeditions and unified many sects. This caused plenty of war and backlashes.

The other four divisions naturally didn’t appreciate this since Vajra was coming close to infringing on their interests.

Moreover, the dynasty was only acting as a surrogate for Sacred Mountain to deal with administration. It wasn’t qualified to unite the holy ground. Nonetheless, its ambition to overstep its boundary was as clear as day.

Sir Shang spent his entire life working for Vajra. In his mind, Vajra was the ruler of Buddha Holy Ground.

He was smarter than to actually express this thought since it would lead to attacks from all sides.

No disciple from Sacred Mountain has shown up for a while, the same with a successor and the supreme. No one knew if the supreme was still around.

Nonetheless, Sacred Mountain was still the lord of the region. Its reputation and prestige didn’t diminish in the slightest. After all, the supreme there was a being comparable to a dao lord.

The four divisions would never agree for Vajra to replace Sacred Mountain. However, Sir Shang’s words implied so, hence the instant backlash.

Not to mention a senior defender like him, even the current king of Vajra couldn’t utter this treacherous sentence towards Sacred Mountain. The rest of the region would go against them.

For millions of years now, the governing power required the permission of Sacred Mountain. In this particular case, Vajra. Therefore, it was trying to bite the hand that feeds it.

“Ah, gentlemen, Sir Shang didn’t mean it like that. He only wanted our little friend here to contribute, that’s all.” South Peak Marquis had no choice but to mediate again.

He knew to tread carefully lest they wanted to suffer the wrath of everyone here. It was a shame that he was on the same boat as this senior defender. In his head, he cursed the guy for being an idiot.

Sir Shang’s expression wasn’t pretty to look at. He couldn’t say anything right now under these unfavorable circumstances. In fact, if this escalated, Vajra would be the first to eliminate him.

Meanwhile, Li Qiye had an idle expression, seemingly enjoying the development.

Eventually, Sir Shang coughed and told him: “I am a senior defender of Vajra. Today, I wish to ask you to contribute to the dynasty.”

Earlier, he acted as if Li Qiye was doing something punishable by not following his order. Now, his tone suddenly shifted into something softer.

“This Vajra Dynasty or whatever has nothing to do with me.” Li Qiye replied.

“You!” The senior defender had commanded 100,000 troops before on the battlefield. People cowered after hearing his name. Not to mention a lowly woodchopper, even top experts would keep their mouth shut in front of him.

Now, the former actually insulted the dynasty as well. Normally, he would have killed the transgressor already but the current situation didn’t permit it.

Every sect present wanted to recruit Li Qiye. This was especially true for Duality Academy.

He, unfortunately, didn’t have anything to hold over Li Qiye. The guy wasn’t from Archaic Sun nor was he an official for Vajra.

“Young friend.” The marquis joined in with a smile: “Sir Shang has no ill wills towards you. He only wants to give you a chance to make something of yourself. If you’re interested, we can recommend you for a spot in the court, at least the fifth rank. This is enough to rule a region with plenty of treasures and beauties…”

“If you have no more fart to let out, stop wasting my time. I’m very busy with unfinished wood to chop.” Li Qiye said.

“Fool!” Sir Shang trembled from rage for a while before finally uttering.

The experts in the other sect laughed. They felt quite good watching the senior defender not being able to do a thing to Li Qiye after his haughty act earlier.

“The brat is very funny.” Even the teachers from Duality became amused.

Meanwhile, the students still found Li Qiye’s choice to be inscrutable. They have thought about becoming officials for Vajra in the future, perhaps a role like the senior defender.

“Where are you going to start gathering more?” The marquis remained friendly and asked, wanting to get closer to Li Qiye.

“Over there.” Li Qiye pointed at the valley and smiled: “There are old trees that have grown quite big, it’s time to chop them down.”

Everyone became astonished. There were indeed some trees in that valley. The problem was - that place was a forbidden zone right now.

“Know your limits.” Zhui Xueyun who has been quiet finally snorted: “Do you know the seal around this valley? A woodchopper like you can’t enter.”

Li Qiye didn’t mind at all, treating the guy as air. This made Xueyun feel as if he had just missed a punch in an awkward manner.

“You can enter the valley, Young Friend?” The marquis stared at Li Qiye in disbelief. The others felt the same way.

“Why not?” Li Qiye answered: “You can’t?”

“Well, yes.” The marquis replied: “There is a power blocking us.”

“Really? I don’t notice it.” Li Qiye shrugged.

“So there’s a shortcut?” The crowd became excited after seeing Li Qiye’s nonchalant answer. They took it as confidence.

“Hmph, no way, the beasts might spare him but he can’t make it past the steps.” Zhang Changyu snorted.

“Remember, Young Noble Li grew up here, he might know another way.” Yang Ling gave him the side-eye.

Both the teachers and the students were paying full attention at this point.

“How do you get in?” Sir Shang’s eyes lit up as he shouted.

Ears seemed to be growing as everyone tried to listen to Li Qiye, wanting to know the alternative entrance.