Be a Good Palace Master

The atmosphere in the entire Blazing Heaven Hall changed in an instant!

Lie Tianxiong’s overwhelming saintly might still permeated the air, but it seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall. It could no longer dominate everything as it once had. Instead, it appeared isolated and jarringly out of place.

He had become a lone man trapped in the center of his own main hall!

“You… you people…”

The fury on Lie Tianxiong’s face froze. In its place came a bone-chilling coldness that slowly spread through him, along with disbelief and bewilderment.

He looked around at those familiar yet unfamiliar faces.

The Second Elder, the First Elder, the Third Elder, the Fourth Elder…

Even several of the direct disciples he had personally promoted!

They were all here.

And they were all looking at him in exactly the same way!

Only now did the ambition- and rage-addled mind of Lie Tianxiong finally feel as though a basin of ice water had been dumped over his head.

A terrifying thought, one that made his very soul tremble, surfaced uncontrollably in his mind—

It wasn’t just a few people defying his orders!

It was everyone!

The entire upper echelon and core members of the Blazing Heaven Palace!

They had all betrayed him?!

But how was that possible?!

The Blazing Heaven Palace was his foundation! It was the legacy the Lie Clan had built over thousands of years!

These people had followed him for many years. Some had even served the Blazing Heaven Palace faithfully for generations!

What reason could they possibly have to betray him? When had they turned? What benefits had the Second Elder offered them?

The Second Elder watched as the expression on Lie Tianxiong’s face shifted from rage to shock, then to incomprehension and finally a trace of fear. He sighed softly once more.

He did not answer Lie Tianxiong. Instead, he calmly asked, word by word, “Palace Master, even now, do you still not understand?”

Understand? What was there to understand?

Lie Tianxiong forced himself to calm down as his thoughts raced, desperately trying to make sense of this absurd situation.

Had the Second Elder seized control of everyone and reduced him to a figurehead? Or had some other faction intervened?

If another faction had interfered, who could possess such heaven-defying means as to silently turn the Second Elder, the First Elder, and even the entire core leadership against him?

The Azure Mystic Sect? Xuanyangzi?

No, impossible! The Azure Mystic Sect’s strength and foundation were limited. There was no way it could quietly control the entire upper echelon of the Blazing Heaven Palace!

The Myriad Laws Pavilion? Yun Canghai?

Did he really possess such capabilities?

The names of the Azure Mystic Sect, the Myriad Laws Pavilion, and even several reclusive powers flashed through his mind, only to be rejected one by one.

The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. In the end, violence replaced reason. Since he couldn’t figure it out, there was no point in trying.

Once he subdued them, he could interrogate them at his leisure.

Driven to the brink of fury, Lie Tianxiong unleashed his saintly might once more. This time, however, his target was clear: murderous intent locked firmly onto the Second Elder.

“I’ll kill you first, you old cur who dares defy your superior! Then this Saint will interrogate the rest of you at his leisure!”

His body shot forward, transforming into a streak of crimson-gold light. His palm contained the entirety of his lifelong cultivation as it struck directly toward the crown of the Second Elder’s head!

He had launched this attack in a fit of rage, determined to kill in a single blow and eliminate the traitor!

Yet in the face of this lightning-fast, deadly strike capable of shattering mountains and splitting boulders, the Second Elder merely lifted his eyelids slightly.

At the instant Lie Tianxiong’s palm was about to strike his head, the Second Elder casually raised his withered hand and met the attack with effortless ease.

Bang!

A dull impact rang out. There was no earth-shaking explosion of energy, nor any phenomenon of space shattering.

Lie Tianxiong’s violent, unparalleled saintly power vanished into the Second Elder’s seemingly casual palm like a mud ox entering the sea. It was completely absorbed and dispersed without a trace!

At the same time, an even more condensed and profound force surged into him like invisible shackles, instantly sealing the meridians and acupoints throughout his body.

His entire body went numb. The saintly power he had gathered instantly collapsed, and he stood rigidly in place, unable to move!

How was this possible?!

Lie Tianxiong’s pupils shrank. His full-powered strike had been neutralized and countered so effortlessly by the Second Elder?

The Second Elder’s strength was far beyond the peak of the King realm!

He had been hiding his true power all along!

“Palace Master,” the Second Elder said blandly as he slowly withdrew his hand.

“Stop making wild guesses, and stop wasting your strength. There are some things that will do you no good if you learn too much.”

He walked over to Lie Tianxiong and looked at the uncertainty in his eyes before speaking calmly.

“Continue being your Palace Master. The Blazing Heaven Palace will remain the Blazing Heaven Palace, and you, Lie Tianxiong, will remain its Saint Palace Master.

“As long as you do not seek your own death, no one will touch you.

“Conduct yourself accordingly.”

After taking one last look at him, the Second Elder said nothing more. He turned around and calmly instructed everyone in the hall, “The Palace Master needs to enter secluded cultivation. Everyone, disperse and return to your duties.”

“Yes!”

Everyone answered in unison and withdrew in an orderly fashion, as though the confrontation that had just taken place had been nothing more than a minor interruption.

The Second Elder left with the others, his footsteps unhurried. From beginning to end, he did not look back at Lie Tianxiong even once.

However, at the instant he turned and stepped across the threshold of the main hall, no one noticed that his fingertip twitched almost imperceptibly inside his sleeve.

A thread of shadowy runes, thinner than a strand of hair, slipped silently into Lie Tianxiong’s body, who was still immobilized in place.

It was like a drop of water blending into the sea. It caused not the slightest disturbance, and even Lie Tianxiong himself remained completely unaware.

From that moment on, every major move Lie Tianxiong made in the future, along with any intense fluctuations in his emotions, would be monitored invisibly.

A long while later, the force restraining Lie Tianxiong finally faded away.

His body trembled, and he regained the ability to move.

He stood where he was, his face terrifyingly grim, like ten-thousand-year-old ice.

He carefully examined his entire body from within. His saintly power circulated without obstruction, and the terrifying force that had sealed him earlier had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

“No matter who you are, don’t even dream of treating me, Lie Tianxiong, like a puppet!”

Rage churned in his heart, while humiliation and resentment burned in his eyes.

But after the anger came the cruel reality he had to face.

The Second Elder had displayed unfathomable strength. There had to be an even more terrifying existence standing behind him.

The entire upper echelon of the Blazing Heaven Palace was no longer on his side. A head-on confrontation would undoubtedly lead to death.

I must not panic. I must not lose control!

Lie Tianxiong forced himself to calm down, and the mind of a ruthless warlord began calculating at high speed.

The most important thing now was patience—to discover the truth behind this situation!

“First, I’ll pretend to cooperate and feign obedience while secretly investigating the Second Elder and the forces behind him.

“At the same time, I’ll covertly contact the peripheral factions and loyal members of the Lie Clan who may not have been completely brought under their control!

“I’ve spent years building the Blazing Heaven Palace. How could I not have a few hidden cards? There may still be a chance to turn the tables!”

A clear, step-by-step plan gradually took shape in his mind.

He would endure for now, secretly accumulate strength, and wait for an opportunity to strike back!

Yet a rational voice also warned him that the faction behind the Second Elder had silently seized control of the entire upper echelon of the Blazing Heaven Palace. Its strength was likely far beyond his imagination.

The odds of his plan succeeding might be negligible.

He had to prepare for the worst!

Just then, a name surfaced in his mind like the final escape route prepared in the darkness.

The Azure Mystic Sect! Shi Wanshan!

Back in the secret realm, Shi Wanshan had acted with great loyalty and rendered him tremendous assistance. He was someone worth cultivating a deep friendship with.

“If things truly become impossible, there will be no place left for me in the Burning Heaven Palace…”

A trace of resolve flashed through Lie Tianxiong’s eyes. “Then I’ll seek refuge with the Azure Mystic Sect and find a temporary place to settle down. With my Saint Realm cultivation, I’ll surely be treated with courtesy.”

“Perhaps I can even seize control of the Azure Mystic Sect from the shadows and bide my time. When the opportunity comes, I may yet have a chance to rise again!”

“That’s it!”

He drew a deep breath. The madness in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a profound, abyss-like calm and restraint.

He did not linger. Turning around, he strode toward the secluded cultivation chamber in the rear hall.

He needed time. He needed composure. More importantly, he needed to begin his perilous covert struggle.