My disciples are all villains.

The voice was piercing and loud; it resounded through the 12 peaks with unusual clarity. Only an elite from the inner palace would be able to pull off such a powerful sound technique.

The elders and disciples of the Twelve Sects of Cloud Mountain assembled swiftly.

Nie Qingyun hurried out from the hall and scanned his surroundings before he said, "Go and fetch Senior Lu, quick!"

"Senior Lu has already been notified. He'll arrive shortly."

"Good." Nie Qingyun tidied his clothes and said sternly, "Come with me to welcome the emperor."

The elders and the core disciples bowed in unison. "Understood."

They flew toward the cloud platform. After they descended on the platform, they spread out.

The huge chariot was still hovering above the cloud platform.

At this moment, Nie Qingyun led the others and greeted loudly, "Nie Qingyun welcomes His Majesty."

Nie Qingyun did not expect the emperor to personally visit. In truth, he did not like to deal with the palace. Over the years, the palace had tried to extend its hand to Cloud Mountain through the Flying Star House. Recently, they had almost annihilated Cloud Mountain.

In the chariot, the young emperor dressed in dragon robes sauntered to the edge of the flying chariot with his hands on his back and looked down on Cloud Mountain.

"Is this Cloud Mountain?"

A middle-aged man behind the young emperor said with a smile, "Your Majesty, this is Cloud Mountain."

The young emperor, Li Yunzheng, nodded and said, "If you didn't tell me, I wouldn't have dared to believe that this is a part of my land."

The person who accompanied Li Yunzheng was Wang Shizhong from the Wang Family, one of Great Tang's Great Families.

Wang Shizhong held a high position and had many cronies in the royal court. He also possessed an unfathomable cultivation base. Over the past millennium, the Wang Family became one of the Great Families in Great Tang. Even the former emperor did not dare to act rashly against the Wang Family, let alone Li Yunzheng who had no supporters. For someone like him, how could he miss the implications of Li Yunzheng's words? He waved his hand said, "Every land under the heavens belongs to you, Your Majesty. There is no need to be modest… Your Majesty, Nie Qingyun awaits."

Several men appeared. They were capable subordinates of the Wang Family.

The several thousand cultivators at the sides of the huge chariot. Half of them were from the Sky Martial Court and the other half were from the palace.

It was a grand lineup.

Li Yunzheng glanced at Nie Qingyun who was bowing on the cloud platform and said, "Rise."

Nie Qingyun and the others straightened their backs and looked at the sky.

At this moment, Eunuch Gao who was next to Li Yunzheng said, "Your Majesty, I'll escort you." He supported Li Yunzheng's arms and brought him down in a slow descent.

Wang Shizhong turned to look back.

A girl poked her head out. "Father, this is fun!"

"Shu'er, behave yourself." The girl who was dressed up as a man was Wang Shu, Wang Shizong's daughter.

"I get it. It's just Cloud Mountain anyway. You'll be able to deal with everything easily," Wang Shu said dismissively.

"These are some extraordinary circumstances. That old fiend, Yu Chenshu, doesn't want to come and wants me to deal with this. In my opinion, nothing good is going to come out of this. When we're down there, you better not cause any trouble for me!" Wang Shizhong sternly said.

"Don't worry, don't worry… I won't…"

Neigh!

At this moment, a horse's neigh rang from the distance.

Wang Shu who was standing in the flying chariot turned to look in the direction of the sound and immediately saw a handsome horse flying here from one of the peaks. The horse was too eye-catching with its white coat, red mane, and golden eyes. She said excitedly, "Father… My horse! That's my horse!"

The huge chariot provided a wonderful vantage point. They could see the entirety of the 12 mountain peaks.

Wang Shizhong had a profound cultivation base so it was easy for him to see the unique horse. He said in confusion, "Your horse?"

Wang Shu said, "Father, you don't know this, but Wang Tuo and the others went to the beach and found a wild horse. They went through many troubles before they finally captured it and gave it to me…"

"Why is it here then?" Wang Shizhong frowned.

Wang Shu lowered her head and said sheepishly, "I wanted to bring it out for a ride… but, who knew that this livestock… this livestock wasn't completely tamed, and it ran away!"

"You!" Wang Shizhong tapped her head lightly.

"Father, it's a rare breed! You must help me get it back! Father…" Wang Shu stepped forward and pulled on Wang Shizhong's arm as she spoke coquettishly.

"I've spoiled you too much. Behave yourself. We're in His Majesty's presence today. Otherwise, I'll ground you for three months."

"I know, I know."

Then, Wang Shizhong brought his daughter, whom he trusted the most in the Wang Family, to the cloud platform. They landed behind Li Yunzheng.

Soon after, roughly 300 cultivators descended on the cloud platform as well.

Li Yunzheng looked at Nie Qingyun and politely asked, "Are you the Sect Master of Cloud Mountain, Nie Qingyun?"

Nie Qingyun replied, "Yes, I'm Nie Qingyun, the master of the Twelve Sects of Cloud Mountain."

Next to Li Yunzheng, Eunuch Gai chuckled and said, "Nie Qingyun, are you the only one who's here to welcome His Majesty?"

Nie Qingyun turned to look and discovered the members of the Ninth Temple were not here. Meanwhile, the members of the Thousand Willow Monastery were late and had just arrived.

When Xia Changqiu and Tian Buji arrived on the cloud platform, they did not greet the emperor. Instead, they looked at the peak where Lu Zhou was at.

Eunuch Gao said sternly in a tone laden with criticism, "Well? Aren't you going to greet His Majesty?"

Xia Changqiu, Tian Buji, Wuwu, and Ji Fengxing were taken aback.

However, Li Yunzheng frowned and said, "You don't have to get so worked up about such a trivial matter." He had always hated how Eunuch Gao took matters into his own hands, especially on an occasion such as this. Eunuch Gao had gradually become a thorn in his flesh over the years. However, he was powerless to free himself from the fate of being a puppet.

Wang Shizhong stepped forward and said loudly, "I disagree, Your Majesty. The rulers and the common folk have their own places. We can't do away with etiquette."

Li Yunzheng looked at Wang Shizhong and remained silent.

Upon hearing these words, Nie Qingyun said, "Senior Lu will be here soon. Monastery Master Xia is waiting for Senior Lu. They'll offer their greetings later. Please forgive us, Your Majesty."

Li Yunzhng nodded. "There's no need to make mountains out of molehills. I'm not that petty."

Wang Shizhong looked at Xia Changqiu and the others as he said, "Aren't you going to thank His Majesty?"

Li Yunzheng. "…"

Nie Qingyun understood the emperor's predicament. He hastily changed the subject. "What brings you here, Your Majesty?"

However, before Li Yunzheng could reply, Wang Shizhong said, "You know why, Sect Master Nie. Why would you ask when you already know the answer to the question?"

Nie Qingyun did not beat around the bush. He said, "For the Sky Martial Court disciples?"

"Precisely."

Eunuch Gao narrowed his eyes and said, "Sect Master Nie, I heard that the Sky Martial Court's Mo Buyan visited you, but he was chased away. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to revolt?"

Nie Qingyun knew that it would come to this. He hastily said, "Kindly have a seat. Since everyone's here, let's make things clear on the cloud platform. Although I'm the master of Cloud Mountain, I don't call the shots."

"You don't call the shots here?" Eunuch Gao frowned.

Nie Qingyun would have loved to call the shots. The funny thing was even a Ten-leaf cultivator had to bend their knees to Ye Zhen. If this were in the past, he would be flexible and adjust his attitude according to the people he spoke to. However, recent events had changed his mind. There were too many uncertainties in the world.

When the Flying Star House's Ye Zhen tried to annihilate Cloud Mountain, the path Nie Qingyun had already been set. At this point, he no longer had a choice but to continue on the path that had been set before him.

With this thought in mind, Nie Qingyun said, "Forgive me for being blunt, but I'm not from the royal court. I won't assume another person's responsibilities. This isn't about etiquette or revolting. Senior Lu has said that Yu Chenshu should personally visit if he wants to free the Sky Martial Court disciples."