Chapter 89: Rewards and Punishments

The sky held its breath, and the earth stood in awe as, under the encouraging claps of Xinzi, Chun Xu and Dong Ling faced off. Though the Sword Fairy would rather not entertain her sworn sister's wrathful impulses, she couldn't show weakness and enable the snakegirl any further—or so she thought. Meanwhile, Dong Ling's Lesser Spirit Snake Sword coiled incessantly, as if eager to drink Chun Xu's blood and drive the competition out of the way. 

Hand tightening around the pommel of her whip sword, Dong Ling's lavender eyes narrowed at Chun Xu, her 1,500 Spiritual Drops kicked into gear, activating alongside the Extreme Yin Transformation.

"Hateful Chun Xu! This time, I will finish you off!" 

"As far as I can recall. I was the one in the process of finishing you off. Careful, young mistress. Here, we have no safety nets to keep your unruly little neck on your unruly little head. Would be a shame if your daddy had to collect his prized daughter's mangled corpse. But don't worry, I will go easy on you—as I always do." Chun Xu clapped back and arched her head back. Blue lightning cracked around her form, and a white longsword appeared in her right hand. 

"Humph! We will see about that!" Dong Ling lifted her whip sword for a berserk strike. At that time, the temperature across the Soaring Crane mountain rose to abnormal levels. The sky turned red, with tongues of fire racing back and forth. "Oooh! Is that me? Wow, I'm so powerful." For a second, Dong Ling felt self-satisfied. Then she saw Xinzi bolt, Chun Xu roll out of the way, Xiao Hu vanish as well, and remembered that she didn't cultivate any fire skill. In fact, throughout the Dongli state, only one man cultivated fire to this level: her old man. 

Alarmed, Dong Ling tried to run as well. But irresistible suction force dropped from above, first taking her mobility away before yanking her towards the sky. There, one furious voice boomed out. "Unrepentant felon! Who gave you the audacity to join a murderous expedition led by that impious bastard of a monk? First it was the Ice-Fire cave, now it is the Soaring Crane mountain! I've had enough of your antics! Today, if I don't discipline you, you're doomed to get yourself killed!" As his rant went off, Guang Fanghu grabbed Dong Ling by the back of her collar and flew into the distance.

"Nooo! Dad, your daughter is fighting for her husband! You can't do this to me now! You're stealing my thunder and giving that hateful Chun Xu the opportunity to play her hussy tricks!" With wild, almost theatrical gestures, Dong Ling threw her fists left and right, attempting to shake off Guang Fanghu's hold—in vain, of course. 

"What husband? With whose authorization? After all of those that you've sent flying, I've yet to settle on an adequate bachelor for you, and you're talking about a monk husband? Damn you! You're an unmarried maiden, and I will hear none of that nonsense!" 

"I'm not a maiden! The rice has been cooked, the seed planted, and the knot tied across an entire month of bliss! I have recording mirrors to prove the deed and will flaunt them in the face of any fool you send my way!" Dong Ling's last word had not even properly left her lips that Guang Fanghu wobbled in the sky, clutched at his chest, and spurted blood. Burning flames leaked from his eyes, and he turned heels, spreading his Spiritual Sense to the Soaring Crane mountain to pinpoint our monk's location. 

"Bastard monk, I will kill you!"

"A'Xin, save me!" Father and daughter's screams filled the sky. Alas, when even Guang Fanghu failed to locate the runaway monk, Dong Ling's cries would naturally find no ears to settle into. Or maybe they did, but said ears' owner just refused to react. 

"Never mind. With your looks, curves and background, even with five brats and baby daddies, I will still find you an honorable scholar to wed! Xinzi, you better not come back to the White Immortal sect, or This Seat will burn you to death! As for you, young lady, you're grounded!"

"What does that mean?"

"You'll find out soon!" Guang Fanghu made boisterous threats and flew back from whence he came. For a while, the impetuous snakegirl raged against parental oppression—demanding Chun Xu's head on a pike. Alas, her words and rant had no impact on her old man who, with an irresistible stance, and no care for consent, dragged his unruly daughter back to the White Immortal sect.

"Hateful Chun Xu! I won't let you off!" Minutes after she left, one could still hear Dong Ling's voice boom across the sky. An uneventful day followed—or well, almost.

Afterward, Xinzi had the Soaring Crane mountain's heads sent to Burning Spear supercity as well as a recording of Shui Haoyang's demonization process dispatched to the Dark Moon cult—with a promissory note attached to make his demands clear. 

Burning Spear supercity had posted a bounty of their own volition, and naturally didn't hesitate to pay Xinzi's dues. The Dark Moon cult leaders, however, had a harsher time accepting the consequences of their actions, and as they faced Xinzi's promissory note, the Grand Priestesses' eyes went bloodshot.

"30 kg of Marrow Cleansing Paste, 100 million spirit stones, 40 profound-grade treasures, and the list goes on! Too far! He's going too far and leaving us no way out! How dare a measly Qi Refinement brat blackmail us to this extent?! Damn! Had I known that things would get to this point, I would have never used that accursed Shui Haoyang!" The most senior of the grand priestesses, and chief advocate for this attack, banged her fist against the recording mirror—shattering it instantly. Needless to say, Xinzi had made multiple copies already, and wouldn't see his demands for loot foiled because of a cult priestess' tantrum.

"It is too late to make such remarks. No matter how bad the blackmailing gets, we can't afford to let our ties to Shui Haoyang and his demonization spread. Otherwise...all the spirit stones of the Great Desolation world won't be able to preserve us from the Demon Slaying hall's cleansing squads." A more rational grand priestess chimed in, reminding the bellicose one that it was the entirety of the Dark Moon cult at stake here—not mere wealth. Forced to see the rationale in her sister's words, the senior grand priestess sighed, and fell back into her seat. 

"Gather the items and send them to that devious monk! We will see to it that he doesn't have the life to enjoy this haul!" The senior grand priestess said, prompting her servants to fulfill the requirements of Xinzi's promissory note, and send heaps of storage bags to the Liberation Temple.

Meanwhile, unfortunately for Shui Haoyang, it was unlikely that his contributions to Xinzi's cause would allow him to preserve his life. 

"Sect master, Haoyang has already been reduced to a vegetable, and has nothing to look forward to! I beg you, please give him a way out!" The Dongli King, Shui Jiankang, banged his head against the floor, imploring Guang Fanghu to spare his son from death. Alas, his pleas fell on deaf ears.

"I can forgive many things, overlook countless misdeeds, but Haoyang dared to sneak the Sacrificial Knives into the White Immortal sect, nearly leading us into a calamity. If only for that, he has to die. But the vice goes further, because the fool enabled his Heart Demon to consume him to the point of self-demonization—all in the eyes of thousands. If the Demon Slaying hall gets wind of this, can you shoulder the consequences?" Guang Fanghu asked in a serious tone, making the pleading king tremble in silence. 

A force with close ties to the Central Domain, the Demon Slaying hall had branches on all five continents, and an information network spanning the Great Desolation world. Wherever news of potential demonism spread, the Demon Slaying hall would appear, bringing "divine justice" to eradicate the scourge. Shui Jiankang was only a Golden Core level expert and didn't dare to challenge a force that had the authority to execute Spirit Emperors, should they fall into demonism. 

"Let me answer this. Should things reach that point, I don't know what will happen to us, but your Shui clan will vanish undoubtedly. When Hanxing will not even spare his wife. Do you think he will take risks for your Shui clan and spare your son? Jiankang, if you don't shut up soon, one year from now on will be the Shui clan's death anniversary." Guang Fanghu didn't mince his words, for in certain cases, the brutal honest truth was the only way to make people see reality. 

In this scenario, even Shui Jiankang had to admit that nothing could protect his son from death. Instantly, the Dongli King despaired. His hatred for the Dong clan and the White Immortal sect grew as well, reaching such heights that the traces of resentment, a resentment he always kept suppressed, leaked from his twisting face. In that instant, Guang Fanghu noticed Shui Jiankang's malice, but for reasons known only to him, pretended not to. 

At that time, a voice echoed in Guang Fanghu's study. "I've taken care of the news and will welcome Shui Haoyang into the Clear Heart monastery. Hanxing has been warned as well. At the end of the day, the boy's deterioration and subsequent events are tied to my disciple's actions. I cannot fix it all, but preserving his life isn't a problem," Abbot Qingxin said, making both Guang Fanghu and Shui Jiankang's faces light up. 

"Thank you Abbot for this life-saving grace!" Shui Jiankang didn't care to know how and why Qingxin could accomplish such things. In that instant, the monarch only wanted to bow and give his heartfelt thanks.