The Sword Dynasty

Chapter Forty-Three: Returning

The Twelve Shamans represented the strongest methods of that powerful sect master. He once had twelve disciples who mastered these twelve methods to the extreme. Yet there had been a split between the two disciples, causing their heads to be separated and lost.

The authenticity of the Twelve Shamans had been tested, and placed back on the twelve bodies. The true meaning of those powerful methods which had been lost would appear on the surfaces.

Yet the entire ancestral hall's formation was one, and the repositioning of the Twelve Shamans required adjustment from the formation. Otherwise, the surge in energy would destroy the Twelve Shamans and cause them to be lost forever.

The change in the formation meant that the ancestral hall would temporarily have some opening which others may sneak into, but this was not what the Qi emperor was worried about the most.

The passageway into the ancestral hall was filled with unusually thick yin system energy. Only the Qi cultivators who practiced the methods related to the hall would not be harmed. If normal cultivators entered, their energies would be constantly corroded. Even those powerful realm seven cultivators would grow weaker the longer they stayed in. They could also not absorb in the primal energies from the outside, so the methods they could use were no different from low level cultivators.

This time, for the ceremony, all the young cultivators he had selected were from backgrounds related to the ancestral hall. Even if they had just received scant teaching from cadet branches, at least they would not be harmed by the yin energy inside. If they were truly harmed, it meant that these young people did not qualify to cultivate these twelve methods. He would not care about their death at all.

What he was worried about the most would be some grandmaster within the dynasty who could not accept these arrangements and would steal the Twelve Shamans. So even until now, he still used the excuse of worship at the ancestral hall to conduct this event, and had not announced the news of the Twelve Shamans.

He had to wait until the Twelve Shamans were back in their positions, and the formation of the ancestral hall had finished adjusting so it was as perfect as it was now. After this was enough to stop the Qi grandmasters from entering, would he feel at ease to announce to the world. Everything had been calculated precisely. There was just half a day left.

The black night was the best time for the cultivators who practiced yin methods, no matter if it had been back in the former Jin Dynasty or the present Qi Dynasty. Their most important ceremonies were held during the night.

At night, the adjustment of the formation of the ancestral hall would be completed, the Twelve Shamans would start their return, and the two Nether Floats would arrive.

The Nether Floats carried large numbers of cultivators from the Qi Dynasty who had been sent to the Chu capital. These experts were the Qi emperor's faithful. Their return would cause this ceremony to become more safe. There were great numbers of grandmasters among these cultivators. Their collective return was one of the reasons that the Qi army had been unable to stop the Chu troops with their full power.

Waiting, to any person, was a hardship. But as time flowed, when the golden flames outside the mountain started to sway, and the mountain body shook, the black energies flowing from the hall started to form manifestations of totems in the air, everyone started to breathe irregularly.

The cultivators were now sure that something in the ancestral hall was changing. The worship today was not just merely to remind everyone who cultivated yin energies they came from the same source.

There were multiple important grandmasters who delivered messages to the Qi emperor, expressing intent that contained threats. While they did not know what the Qi emperor wanted to do, no matter what, he could not damage the ancestral hall.

"I will not allow anyone to damage the ancestral hall."

The Qi emperor responded. Then he kept his silence. Only when the last ray of sunlight disappeared from the horizon, when the golden flames flickering outside the mountain turned black and shot into the air, seeming like the shadow of the mountain leaving the ground and projecting up did he announce, "It is just the Twelve Shamans returning here."

Gasps and energy vibrations roared in this area of water. Many grandmasters could not control the vibrations of their energies. The surging energies and the gathering primal energies formed an enormous shadow in the air which swayed.

At the same time, the water in the river started to shake, and formed rising waves. The two Nether Floats had arrived on time, passing through the river like small moving mountains.

The Qi emperor looked up at the swaying black shadow in the air which seemed like it would pierce through the sky. He had a joy and pride hard to describe. He repeated again, "The Twelve Shamans are returning today."

His voice was not loud among the gasps and energy vibrations occurring right now, but when his voice sounded, the Nether Floats behind him roared, creating enormous afterimages, and even the grandmasters who found it heart to control their emotions did not restrain themselves, looking up into the the their and venting their energies recklessly.

The sky roared. The black shadow grew again, jumping and colliding, like countless demons were howling, venting in joy.

Looking at such a release, the Qi emperor pressed his lips together and no longer spoke, but he was certain within what he had done was correct.

Unlike the cultivators of other dynasties, the Qi Dynasty's cultivators were always in a state of depression. Because for many years in the past, all of the cultivators outside feared the Qi Dynasty's cultivators, but they feared the word "strange". All the cultivators of the Qi Dynasty wanted to regain their former glory.

For a grand ceremony, the resonance of countless grandmasters was the best symphony. Hundreds of young Qi cultivators walked out from the cabin behind the Qi emperor, accepting this baptism. At this time, they finally understood what the strict selection and competition had been for. Looking at the emperor ahead of them who had a conflicted reputation, they shook with excitement and bowed.

At this time, a black wind blew out from the mountain ahead. The formation of the ancestral hall had finished adjusting.

This black wind did not appear cold at all. The mist on the river did not form, and there was no frost. But when the black wind blew past the crowd, it froze the blood of dozens of palace attendants and hundreds of guards.

These palace attendants and guards turned to black statues, falling among the other guards and attendants. They had not cultivated yin methods. The palace attendants and guards around them who had cultivated yin methods rather felt their blood flow faster than usual and their hearts beat harder.