Chapter 2464 - 2464: New Sect Leader

To be honest, when he saw Ye Qing going to draw that Dragon-breaking Knife, the Sword Saint Sect Master actually felt a bit opposed to it in his heart. In his view, Ye Qing doing this was purely a waste of time and would delay the Sword Saint Sect's progress on their side.

Besides, just now Knife Saint had already said that they were to protect Helian Tiehua and the others and get them out. At this moment the Sword Saint Sect Master knew the Sword Saint Sect could no longer run, and was just about to send Helian Tiehua away, to fulfill Knife Saint's instructions. But at this time Ye Qing suddenly cut in sideways, insisting on trying to draw this Dragon-breaking Knife—isn't this asking for trouble? If you keep wasting time here, once the Wanyan Family's people come killing their way over, who's going to be able to keep you safe?

"Alliance Leader Ye..." The Sword Saint Sect Master called out softly, about to speak up to stop him. But right at that moment, Ye Qing simply stretched out a hand and grabbed hold of the Dragon-breaking Knife.

The Sword Saint Sect Master's words immediately rolled back into his stomach. The blade had already been grabbed; stopping him now was too late. It seemed Ye Qing was doomed to make a fool of himself this time. They could only wait until he ran out of strength, then have Helian Tiehua and the others carry him out.

The people on the Sword Saint Sect's side were all filled with schadenfreude, wanting to see this Ye Qing who knew neither heaven's height nor earth's depth collapse limp on the ground in a moment. That way their mockery would feel all the more solid.

Helian Tiehua's group, on the other hand, all frowned. This Ye Qing was making trouble far too much. At this time to go draw that Dragon-breaking Knife—wasn't this piling chaos onto chaos? Of course, since Ye Qing had already grabbed hold of the Dragon-breaking Knife, naturally no one could say anything; they could only silently pray in their hearts that Ye Qing wouldn't embarrass himself too badly.

Everyone fixed their gaze on Ye Qing; some wanted Ye Qing to disgrace himself, some hoped Ye Qing wouldn't disgrace himself too much. No matter what was in people's minds, there was one point they were all sure of: Ye Qing definitely couldn't pull out this Dragon-breaking Knife, and he would probably even suffer a loss here.

But the reality was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations. After Ye Qing grabbed the Dragon-breaking Knife's hilt, he did not, like those Peak Masters, instantly collapse to the ground. Instead, he was still standing where he was. This situation shocked everyone greatly. You must know, anyone who could hold out for even a moment had to be Beyond The Pinnacle masters like the several Sect Leaders of the Sword Saint Sect. Why was Ye Qing still able to stand?

While everyone was still stunned, something even more unexpected happened. Ye Qing tightened his grip on that Dragon-breaking Knife, suddenly exerted force, and directly pulled the Dragon-breaking Knife out!

"Ah?"

"Th-this… what's going on?"

"He actually pulled it out?"

"He… he… how is he fine?"

A chorus of shocked exclamations rose all around; everyone was shaken by this move of Ye Qing's. They had all thought Ye Qing would flop to the ground the moment he touched the Dragon-breaking Knife. Who could have imagined Ye Qing would stand there holding the Dragon-breaking Knife. What was going on? Had they seen a ghost?

Surprise was surprise, but the fact stood right in front of them; no one could change it. Ye Qing was standing with the Dragon-breaking Knife in hand, and because the Dragon-breaking Knife was far too long, it wasn't convenient for Ye Qing to just carry it in his hand. So he simply rested the back of the blade on his own shoulder. In this way, it looked like he was shouldering a long saber, which actually looked rather interesting.

After Ye Qing picked up the Dragon-breaking Knife, he glanced at the crowd from the Sword Saint Sect and said, "Alright, I'll help you carry the Dragon-breaking Knife. We can leave now, right?"

No one answered. Everyone just stared fixedly at Ye Qing. A moment ago they were all still crying out in shock, but now it was as if they had been completely stunned into silence; not a single person spoke.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ye Qing asked in puzzlement. "Hey, are we going or not? At least say something!"

Only now did the Sword Saint Sect Master finally come back to his senses. He opened his mouth, about to speak, but suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly knelt down on the ground, saying, "I pay my respects to the new Sect Leader!"

With the Sect Leader's kneel, the other several Sword Saint Sect Masters immediately reacted as well. The Second Sect Leader and the Fourth Sect Master instantly followed suit, kneeling down on the ground and calling out, "We pay our respects to the new Sect Leader!"

The Third Sect Master hesitated somewhat. After all, Ye Qing had previously been rather hostile toward the Sword Saint Sect. Moreover, last time it was he who went out to deal with the matter and had crossed paths with Ye Qing. Now Ye Qing had suddenly become their new Sect Leader—how could he possibly accept that?

However, his inability to accept it did not mean the others in the Sword Saint Sect couldn't accept it. With the several Sect Leaders all kneeling, there was nothing more to be said for the rest. They all dropped to their knees in succession, chanting the three words "new Sect Leader."

Ye Qing himself was dumbfounded, completely at a loss as to what was going on with the Sword Saint Sect crowd. Why had they suddenly all knelt down? And they kept calling "new Sect Leader" over and over—who was this new Sect Leader supposed to be?

Helian Tiehua and the others on this side were the first to react. Helian Tiehua hurriedly ran up next to Ye Qing, staring reverently at the Dragon-breaking Knife while exclaiming, "Ye Zi, you… you can pick up the Dragon-breaking Knife?"

"What? I can't?" Ye Qing was also very surprised; the reaction of the Sword Saint Sect crowd left him totally baffled.

"No... it's not that you can't..." Helian Tiehua stared at the Dragon-breaking Knife in Ye Qing's hand. For a moment he really didn't know how to put it into words; the only emotion in his heart was joy.

Just now over at the Sword Saint Sect's side, Helian Tiehua had personally heard what the Knife Saint said. Whoever obtained the Dragon-breaking Knife would henceforth control all the power of the Sword Saint Sect. At the time he thought there would have to be a fierce struggle for it, and that the Sword Saint Sect had the greatest chance of getting the Dragon-breaking Knife; the Knife Saint was likely looking for a successor. It never crossed his mind that the Dragon-breaking Knife was not something you could easily pick up.

Who knew the Knife Saint had set a mechanism within the Dragon-breaking Knife, and in the end no one from the Sword Saint Sect could lift it. Only when he saw what happened just now did he finally understand. It seemed that becoming the Knife Saint's successor and taking charge of the Sword Saint Sect was not such an easy matter.

But who could have expected that just as Helian Tiehua himself was starting to give up, a sudden twist occurred. Ye Qing picked up the Dragon-breaking Knife—he picked it up easily. This was huge; didn't it mean that from now on, everyone in the Sword Saint Sect would have to obey Ye Qing's commands?

There was no need to mention the current state of the world: the Wanyan Family dominated alone. The once-mighty Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance and Twelve Green Halls were now all but gone. Even if they managed to leave this place alive, the Wanyan Family would never spare them. This battle would still be hard to fight. But now things were different: if Ye Qing took control of the Sword Saint Sect, then with the strength of the Sword Saint Sect, dealing with the Wanyan Family would naturally be no problem. In other words, as long as Ye Qing took charge of the Sword Saint Sect, they would still have a chance to turn the tables!

So this was an extremely crucial matter, an utterly crucial matter. And now, it seemed this crucial matter was no longer a problem. Because the Dragon-breaking Knife was resting on Ye Qing's shoulder. Aside from Ye Qing, who could even lift it?

Ye Qing, of course, had no idea what had happened. Seeing all the people of the Sword Saint Sect kneel down, he was a little dazed. He took a deep breath, made sure he wasn't seeing an illusion, then looked in surprise at the Sword Saint Sect Master and said, "Sect Leader, what are you all doing?"

"From now on you are our new Sect Master!" the Sword Saint Sect Master shouted. "This is the Ancestor's command. Everyone in the Sword Saint Sect, from top to bottom, will strictly obey the Ancestor's order and dare not defy any command of the new Sect Master!"

"When did I ever say I was going to be your new Sect Master?" Ye Qing scratched his head. None of this made any sense to him.

"The moment you picked up the Dragon-breaking Knife, you became our new Sect Master!" the Sect Leader shouted.

"I'm just helping you carry the Dragon-breaking Knife out. I never said I'd be your new Sect Master!" Ye Qing waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Alright, alright, stop talking about that. The people from the Wanyan Family are about to charge in; we'd better hurry up and think of a way to get out of here. I'm holding the Dragon-breaking Knife now, so we can leave, right?"

The people of the Sword Saint Sect looked at one another, then finally turned their eyes to the Sect Master. They truly couldn't figure out why Ye Qing was unwilling to be the new Sect Master of the Sword Saint Sect. You had to know, this was something countless people dreamed of!

The Sect Master was silent for a while, then slowly shook his head and said, "Alliance Leader Ye, if you are unwilling to be our Sect Master, then put down the Dragon-breaking Knife. All of this is the Sword Saint Sect's own affair; I don't wish to drag outsiders into it."

"What kind of nonsense is that!" Ye Qing glared and said, "If I put down the Dragon-breaking Knife, you'll keep fooling around in here. Once the Wanyan Family's people rush in, how are you going to run? Aren't you just waiting to die here?"

"People of the Sword Saint Sect are not afraid of death!" the Sect Master said loudly, and his words immediately drew shouts of agreement from the rest of the Sword Saint Sect. It had to be said, the people of the Sword Saint Sect were indeed rather tough; they truly had a bit of that fearlessness in the face of death.

"You… you people…" Ye Qing was exasperated by them; these Sword Saint Sect folks were really something. From the looks of it, they actually wanted to be buried here along with the Dragon-breaking Knife? To have such a bunch of disciples and grand-disciples, that Knife Saint really was something!

Just as Ye Qing was feeling somewhat depressed, the Sect Master suddenly added, "Of course, if the new Sect Master gives the order, naturally we wouldn't dare disobey."

When these words came out, not only Ye Qing but quite a few members of the Sword Saint Sect all stared in surprise at the Sect Master. What he'd said was obviously forcing Ye Qing into taking the position of Sect Master. What was the meaning of this? The people of the Sword Saint Sect truly couldn't figure out why the Sect Master was so willing to hand over the position of Sword Saint Sect Master to Ye Qing. He was even using this kind of coercive method—what exactly did he intend?

In fact, they didn't know what was going on in the Sect Master's mind. He was no fool. The reason he was doing this was not only because Ye Qing had picked up the Dragon-breaking Knife; more importantly, it was because of how highly the Knife Saint regarded Ye Qing. Everything the Knife Saint had done and said outside just now was etched in his memory; from those things alone one could see how much the Knife Saint valued Ye Qing.

The Sect Master knew very well that the Knife Saint was no simple person, and would never casually favor someone. Anyone who could be held in such esteem by him definitely would not be simple.

What's more, Ye Qing had also picked up this Dragon-breaking Knife that no one else could even lift. That only further proved that Ye Qing was anything but simple!

Given that the world was about to fall into chaos, only by finding such an extraordinary person to serve as the Sword Saint Sect's Sect Master could they truly protect the Sword Saint Sect.