The disciples from Sea Emperor Sword Kingdom surrounded Li Qiye’s carriage and attracted the attention of the crowd.

“Who is in charge here? I am Liu Qi of Sea Emperor. Come out and talk now!” A young male came out and shouted with vigor.

He was at the yin yang realm - a high cultivation realm for many cultivators, especially the smaller sects. The sect masters there were most likely in this realm too.

However, this realm was nothing to a lineage like Sea Emperor. It had millions of disciples. One could pick a random member and find them to be in the yin yang realm.

Some believed that only those in the Myriad-form realm and above mattered in Sea Emperor. A yin-yang disciple was only average at best. From this notion, one gained a better idea of Sea Emperor’s power.

No one in the crowd had a clue on who Liu Qi was. If he was from any other sect, he would have a title and a high position, perhaps an elder if not the sect master.

Alas, he was just a nobody in Sea Emperor. Nonetheless, others didn’t view him in this way. An ordinary disciple from Sea Emperor was still a big deal to the rest of the world.

The old driver didn’t bother reacting while Lu Qi frowned slightly. Li Qiye got out of the carriage and lazily stretched: “What is it?”

No one thought that Li Qiye was a big deal due to his appearance.

“Brat, you hit our ship and injured our disciples. Do you realize what you have done?” Liu Qi aggressively shouted after seeing Li Qiye.

This caused the crowd to clamor. They thought that the ordinary guy was quite bold, to actually hit a ship from Sea Emperor? This was akin to taking food from a tiger’s jaws.

“I suppose something like that did happen. And?” Li Qiye shrugged with a smile on his face.

His attitude left Liu Qi and his peers furious. They glared angrily at him.

“Such impudence!” One of them roared.

Others couldn’t believe it. This guy dared to blatantly disrespect Sea Emperor? He must be tired of living.

“I don’t think the brat knows how frightening Sea Emperor is. A yin yang cultivator means nothing to them.” One expert murmured.

They could see Li Qiye’s cultivation realm. He was similar to Liu Qi but the latter was from Sea Emperor. This meant that he should be far stronger than those in the same realm.

Liu Qi’s face turned red. He took a deep breath and tried to maintain a style befitting that of a disciple from a prestigious sect. He coldly uttered: “There are two options for you…”

“Oh?” Li Qiye interjected and appeared to be bored of this conversation already.

His inattentiveness infuriated Liu Qi. Nothing would feel better than stomping on Li Qiye’s face. He took a deep breath and said: “First, compensate for our losses and apologize by prostrating…”

The crowd exchanged glances. Some believed in pride and honor over life. An apology and compensation weren’t out of line. However, demanding prostration was too extreme. Nonetheless, this was indeed the style of Sea Emperor.

“And if I refuse?” Li Qiye waved his hand and interrupted Liu Qi.

“Then you’re a dead man. The prestige of Sea Emperor cannot be questioned or violated. It doesn’t matter how far you run.” Liu Qi’s eyes became murderous: “But we’re not unreasonable. Since you broke one of our ships, just your life alone will be enough. We’ll spare the others.”

Others didn’t think he was being arrogant. Sea Emperor did have this power and authority. If they wanted someone dead in Sword Continent, escaping would be impossible especially for a nobody like Li Qiye.

“Taking his life is too much. Let’s turn this hostility into friendship.” A smooth yet serious voice answered before Li Qiye.

Everyone followed its direction and saw a youth walking over slowly. Despite the seemingly slow pace, he was actually moving quite fast and appeared before everyone in the next moment.

He wore a black robe with an old sword tied to the back. He possessed a pure and refreshing aura as if he came from a pristine wilderness.

Handsome wouldn’t be the word to describe him but he exuded an aura of open-mindedness, amicability, and trustworthiness.

“Qingcheng Zi!” Many recognized him right away. [1]

“One of the ten sword prodigies…” Most have heard of him before.

“Brother Qingcheng.” Liu Qi lowered his head to greet this newcomer; his peers did the same.

Of course, they weren’t afraid of Qingcheng Zi. There was another reason.

“Conflicts are inevitable once outside.” Qingcheng Zi stared at the two and spoke: “Since the brothers from the sword kingdom haven’t suffered any personal injuries, why not drop this issue?”

Liu Qi hesitated for a moment and unwillingly said: “Hmph! Brat, I’ll drop this out of consideration for Brother Qingcheng!”

The young audience found this surprising.

“The sword prodigies have plenty of clout. Even members of Sea Emperor have to give them face.” One youth murmured.

“I thought Mount Qingcheng has been declining for a long time now. Plus, it’s under the jurisdiction of Sea Emperor too. Why would Liu Qi be so polite towards him?” Another became perplexed.

One prodigy was far from enough to affect Sea Emperor. This sect had young geniuses at the same level as well.

“The reason is that the ancestor of Mount Qingcheng was kind to Sea Emperor’s progenitor. That’s why Sea Emperor has always respected Mount Qingcheng.” An older cultivator explained.

The progenitor of Sea Emperor was Sword Sea Dao Lord, rumored to be a sea demon who eventually obtained the heavenly sword named Vastsea. This allowed him to become a dao lord.

He always personally protected Mount Qingcheng. After creating Sea Emperor, he ordered for his sect to keep the same sentiment.

According to the legend, his ancestor was a powerful sea demon who was saved by an ancestor from Mount Qingcheng. Thus, the dao lord did all of this to repay the kindness shown to his ancestor.

As Sea Emperor grew stronger while Mount Qingcheng declined, no one dared to ever offend the latter. The members of Sea Emperor also showed respect towards Mount Qingcheng since this was a rule in their sect.

1. This is a daoist title but it serves more as a name than an actual title