The Holy Region had resources which far surpassed those of other regions. However, the competition within the Holy Region was also crueler and fiercer. Many times, a single error would lead to death.
Although the Heaven Dao Pavilion had yet to actually attack Fang Zhengzhi, Second Elder of the Heaven Dao Pavilion never expected today's matter to be resolved just like this.
Resolving their past misunderstandings?
They had to stop immediately and find a way to save Yan Xiu. Then, they had to send Fang Zhengzhi out grandly.
Looking at his relationship with Chi Guyan, this was possible.
However, if they did this, what would become of Fang Zhengzhi's destruction of the Divine Rain Pond? How could they answer to the disciples of the Heaven Dao Pavilion? What about their face?
Even if they took ten thousand steps back, disregarding their own dignity and the unhappiness of their disciples, how much misunderstanding could truly be forgiven?
No one could be sure.
This was because no one knew how Fang Zhengzhi would be like if he continued to grow. When that moment came, they were in control of even fewer things. By then, Fang Zhengzhi would possess the initiative in everything. Even their lives would be in his hands.
By progressing this far, Second Senior naturally did not believe naïvely that forgiveness would erase all past wrongs.
Since he had already made mistake, he had to cover it up with more mistakes!
"Shi Fan, die!" Just when Second Senior had made up his mind in his heart, Fang Zhengzhi's voice rang out once more. Then, the Traceless Sword in his hand moved.
The sword pierced forward like a dragon and it was aimed straight at Shi Fan's heart.
"How dare you!" Shi Fan finally reacted. When he looked at Third Elder of the Black Moon Island, his once-dazed eyes became even colder and more murderous.
As an elder of the Yin Yang Hall, Shi Fan was calmer than most people. However, the impact of Fang Zhengzhi's mastery of the Hell Dao was too great…
This distracted him temporarily.
However, he got over it and instantly, Shi Fan's body became enveloped by a layer of black flames. At the same time, he grabbed the corpse of Third Elder and jabbed at Fang Zhengzhi with his sword.
"Stop!" Yuan Rong's voice rang out. He stared intently at Shi Fan's corpse and his heart felt like bleeding.
While the three Sages of the Black Moon Island were not real brothers, they had spent many years guarding the island together and they had been living together all this while. They were indeed as close as brothers.
However, right now…
Yuan Rong's third brother was dead. He died trying to save Shi Fan. This pained him immensely. How could he bear to see his third brother's corpse being used as a shield?
Fang Zhengzhi's sword stopped.
He did not do so because he heard Yuan Rong's voice but instead, it was because he saw Yuan Rong's hand wrapped around Yan Xiu's throat.
"Go to hell!" Fang Zhengzhi stopped but Shi Fan did not. When he saw Fang Zhengzhi's sword stopped right in front of him, he kicked at him.
"Boom!" His leg, which also blazed with black flames, connected with Fang Zhengzhi's chest. Then, Fang Zhengzhi's body was sent flying back before he crashed onto the ground.
Second Elder of the Heaven Dao Pavilion, who was just about to strike, fell silent. He already knew what was going to happen next.
"Fang Zhengzhi, can you watch as Yan Xiu die?" Yuan Rong's voice rang out. At the same time, he pressed down on Yan Xiu's shoulder with his other hand.
"Crrack!" Something cracked.
One could see that Yan Xiu's expression changed instantly. He appeared to be in extreme pain. However, he gritted his teeth and said nothing.
This made Fourth Elder shake his head slightly as he sighed and said, "Yan Xiu… he's indeed a descendant of the Yan Family of Western Liang. This amount of endurance is indeed worthy of a soldier!"
"Right," said Second Elder. He knew what Fourth Elder was thinking but the situation at hand forced him to keep silent. While he knew that this method was less than ideal, he had no choice but to admit that it was his best bet.
The Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples around all frowned. To them, while they did not like Fang Zhengzhi, they did not want to see this scene too.
This method was too immoral.
Five Sages ganging up on a Rebirth State cultivator was already unfair. In the end, the five Sages had to threaten their enemy with a hostage. How could they like it?
"Despicable!"
"Shameful!"
"What kind of Sage is he? What a despicable person!"
The Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples all criticized him but none of them dared to intervene. After all, Second Elder and Fourth Elder remained quiet.
More importantly, they knew that they were in the Holy Region.
"Shut up! Fang Zhengzhi, today, only one of you will make it out alive. Choose!" Yuan Rong's voice was extremely cold. As a Sage, how could he not know how despicable this act was?
However, the situation right not was that among the five Sages present, two of them were dead. Even Shi Fan was injured. Furthermore, they were surrounded by a bunch of hungry-looking Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples.
How could he care about all these now?
Taking revenge personally for his third brother?
Of course, he wanted to do it!
However, Shi Fan was not a trustworthy person. If he allowed his second brother to kill Fang Zhengzhi with Shi Fan, heaven knew what would Shi Fan do when the situation turned dangerous?
However, if he attacked with his second brother and Shi Fan, he would have lost control over Yan Xiu. By then, no knew what would be the result of that.
He had no choice and in this situation, he could only make this choice.
"Fourth brother… do you think we should…," said Second Elder before stopping. He wanted to speak but he did not know to continue.
"Second brother, I understand. If we can't endure this little humiliation, it'll be disastrous for us in the long run. If we can get Yuan Rong to kill Fang Zhengzhi, it's a good thing for us," said Fourth Elder. He knew what Second Elder wanted to remind him of.
"Sixth brother?"
"Aye… I understand. Don't worry, Second Brother, I know what to do…" When Sixth Elder heard Second Elder's voice, he sighed and turned his head to the side.
"Okay," said Second Elder as he nodded his head slightly. He did not say anything else.
As they spoke, Shi Fan stood up once more. He was walking, step-by-step, to where Fang Zhengzhi was.
He did not speak.
When he arrived next to Fang Zhengzhi, he kicked him, sending him flying into the air.
"Boom!" A huge sound.
Fang Zhengzhi's body hit a tree, instantly splitting the tree in half. Then, he was engulfed by black flames.
"Ke…ke…" Fang Zhengzhi coughed twice. At the same time, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. However, like Yan Xiu, he did not say a single word.
"I want to see how much pain can he take!" Shi Fan's eyes turned even colder. He brimmed with hate and he could not accept it. However, because of these two exact reasons, he became even crueler.
He wanted to avenge his humiliation at Fang Zhengzhi's hands. He wanted Fang Zhengzhi to know that even though he had mastered the Hell Dao, he would still die!
"Shi Fan, kill him now, stop playing with fire!" Yuan Rong looked at Shi Fan, who raised his leg once more, and his heart brimmed with hatred. However, his hatred was different from Shi Fan's.
He hated Shi Fan's arrogance. Under the present situation, he was still controlled by hatred and anger and had not killed Fang Zhengzhi straightaway.
"Do you think a mere disciple like you is fit to call me by my name?" Shi Fan's leg was suspended in mid-air. He looked at Yuan Rong and his faced turned murderously cold.
"You…" Yuan Rong's expression changed and his face turned visibly red. However, he endured this humiliation and said, "I was in a rush, Elder Shi. What I really wanted was…"
"No need to explain, just do your thing!" Shi Fan waved his hand at Yuan Rong and then, he kicked Fang Zhengzhi with his raised leg.
"Thud!" A dull sound.
Shi Fan's leg hit Fang Zhengzhi's body. However, Fang Zhengzhi unexpectedly did not fly into the air like before. Instead, he curled his entire body up and he hugged Shi Fan's right leg tightly with his arms. His entire body curled around Shi Fan's leg.
"Eh?" Shi Fan was shocked. He did not expect Fang Zhengzhi to resist. Of course, this action was less like resisting and more like self-preservation.
Shi Fan was evidently displeased.
As an elder of the Yin Yang Hall, he was definitely not as 'childish' as what Yuan Rong had thought. He did not need to gain satisfaction from torturing Fang Zhengzhi.
What he had to do was to solidify the alliance between the Yin Yang Hall and the Nine Pinnacles Mountain.
Right now, the Nine Pinnacles Mountain was allied with the Yin Yang Hall.
However, this was an equal alliance. To be precise, it was a temporary one borne out of necessity. It was not something the Yin Yang Hall wanted.
The Yin Yang Hall wanted a tributary. However, how could the Nine Pinnacles Mountain be willing to submit to its authority?
Indeed, the Nine Pinnacles Mountain was in difficulty.
Tian Xing's death dealt a huge blow to the Nine Pinnacles Mountain. However, the nine elders of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain were still alive, along with its disciples.
If the Nine Pinnacles Mountain was given some time to resolve their internal conflict over who would become its next leader, it would soon reclaim its former glory.
When that happened…
The alliance between the Yin Yang Hall and the Nine Pinnacles Mountain was just a temporary resort by the Nine Pinnacles Mountain to protect itself. It had no significant meaning.
If the Nine Pinnacles Mountain was dealt a blow it could not recover from…
It would be a separate matter.
The longer the Nine Pinnacles Mountain stayed weak, the longer it would have to remain dominated by the Yin Yang Hall. After a while, the lands controlled by the Nine Pinnacles Mountain would slowly be controlled by the Yin Yang Hall.
Shi Fan understood this.
Hence, what he needed to do was to torture Fang Zhengzhi and then cripple him permanently. Afterward, he would kill Yan Xiu in front of Fang Zhengzhi before letting him die in regret.
After he killed Yan Xiu, Yuan Rong and the rest would…
That would be their problem!
If possible, Shi Fan would like to help the Heaven Dao Pavilion kill Yuan Rong and Second Elder of the Black Moon Island, this would deepen the enmity between the Heaven Dao Pavilion and the Nine Pinnacles Mountain.
"Scram!" Shi Fan had to pretend to be angry as he continued to torture him. He did not want to see Fang Zhengzhi grabbing his leg as if he was on a swing and hence, when that happened, his 'anger' intensified.
However, no matter what Shi Fan did, Fang Zhengzhi continued to hold onto his leg tightly. He refused to let go.
Furthermore, as Fang Zhengzhi grabbed his leg, the black armor on his back turned solid and the black flames continued to burn. This forced Shi Fan to use a portion of his Origin Energy to quell the flames of hell on Fang Zhengzhi.
"Elder Shi, quickly kill him!" When Yuan Rong saw this scene, his heart burned with hatred and panic. However, with his status, how could he order Shi Fan around?
"Shut up, do your own thing!" Shi Fan did not even look at Yuan Rong as he struck Fang Zhengzhi's back with a punch.
When Yuan Rong saw this, he gritted his teeth even tighter. He could not help but look at Second Elder of the Black Moon Island.
When Second Elder saw Yuan Rong's gaze, he quickly understood what he wanted. He nodded his head and slowly walked toward Shi Fan and Fang Zhengzhi.
His movements were light.
However, when he was five steps away from Shi Fan and Fang Zhengzhi, Shi Fan turned around and looked at him coldly before saying, "Scram!"
"Elder Shi, I want to help you get him off…" Second Elder of the Black Moon Island explained.
"I said, scram!" Shi Fan shouted.
"Shi Fan, don't take it too far. Even though you are an elder of the Yin Yang Hall, you could not have accomplished this without the three of us. Even though the Yin Yang Hall had suffered one loss, my third brother too is… eh?!" Yuan Rong could not bear it anymore as he berated Shi Fan.
However, he did not get to finish his sentence because just when the bulk of his attention was focused on Fang Zhengzhi and Shi Fan, he felt a chill coming from his back.
Furthermore, importantly…
This chill was fewer than two footsteps away.
An ambush?!
Who would dare to ambush!
For someone to creep so close to him, the ambusher must be strong. However, other than Yan Xiu, Fang Zhengzhi's other friend was Chi Guyan, who remained in the Heaven Dao Pavilion. So who could it be?