After Su Ying finished speaking, he started blowing his reed again, producing layer upon layer of overlapping sound waves. Mountains would collapse when he hit the low notes and cool breeze would sweep the summit when he hit the high ones. The dozen of envoys in the Apotheosis Realm was unable to resist his power. Even the three stewards in the Grand Completion Realm were becoming lightheaded.
Xiao Chen and his friends were about to hop on their swords and flee. The Left Steward knew that if he escaped, hunting him down would be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. He yelled, “Stop him!”
His fellow steward didn’t think twice before decisively chasing after Xiao Chen and his friends. “Cosmos Palm!” he shouted. Then, a thousand-foot-wide golden palm abruptly appeared in the air and fell on Xiao Chen and the rest with the weight of the Mount Five Fingers.
This time, it was truly a demonstration of a Grand Completion Realm cultivator’s supernatural power. The faraway spectators held their breath as they watched the golden palm descended like a mountain, with such force that the world shuddered. Xiao Chen felt a bad premonition the moment he detected a frightening pressure behind him. He turned around and shot out two Cyan Dragon Roars attacks.
Unfortunately, it was futile trying to fend off a Grand Completion Realm cultivator’s Cosmos Palm with his Cyan Dragon Roars attacks. Just as the mountain-like palm was about to fall on them all, Gui Feng cried, “Watch out, my Lord!” Before anyone knew it, he had already put himself in front of Xiao Chen.
A green light was also bursting out of the spiritual wooden puppet. It raised its hand to stop the golden palm in the sky. The others didn’t have time to think about running either. All of them tried their best to counter the palm.
Their combined efforts eventually, albeit with difficulty, stopped the famous palm attack of the Immortals’ League, the Cosmos Palm. It was only then that Xiao Chen noticed that Huangfu Xin’er had joined his side. He asked in surprise, “Xin’er, why are you here? It’s me that they want. You should leave!”
Huangfu Xin’er looked as icy as ever. She kept quiet for a short while before replying emotionlessly, “Did you think they’d let me off?”
“What do you mean?” Xiao Chen was stunned, not quite understanding her words. However, now wasn’t the time to ponder over them. In the blink of an eye, the cyan-robed steward who launched the Cosmos Palm had caught up to them. He said coldly, “Xiao Chen, I suggest that you stop your futile resistance and surrender!”
“Bullsh*t!” Xiao Chen said through gritted teeth. “I don’t belong to cultivation sects. What gives the Immortals’ League the right to capture me?”
“On the basis of your murder of a senior of the cultivation sects with Devil’s Sects followers!” A red-robed old man showed up with tens of people in tow. It was Qi Heng from the Order of the Divine Fire.
“B*stard Qi…” When Xiao Chen saw this man, all he wanted was to tear his flesh to shreds and drink his blood.
Qi Heng came closer and saluted the stewards before looking at Xiao Chen with a sneer. “I’d like to see how you escape this time!” The tens of disciples of the Order of the Divine Fire immediately blocked Xiao Chen and his friends’ way out.
Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and looked at the cyan-robed steward. He pointed to Qi Heng and asked, “What about the Order of the Divine Fire? They went to the Human World and massacred ordinary humans. Why didn’t you arrest them for their crime?”
Qi Heng sneered. “Wan Gufeng made a grave mistake that day. We have already dealt with him. Everyone saw how I shattered his soul at Tianyuan City. We have also removed his name forever from our records.”
Xiao Chen let out a humorless laugh. “If you hadn’t pulled the strings behind the scenes, Wan Gufeng wouldn’t have dared to do so. You sure pushed all the blame to him cleanly!”
Qi Heng smiled and said serenely, “You can’t just say whatever you want without proof.”
The death of Wan Gufeng meant that there were no more witnesses around. Even if the Immortals’ League realized that there was a conspiracy, they wouldn’t go too far in penalizing the Order of the Divine Fire. Gui Xian was right. No matter which era they were in, the Immortals’ League would never punish a sect severely. A sect that made a mistake would, at most, surrender a scapegoat to take on the blame. This was the same for both the Cultivation World and the Human World.
“Enough!” the cyan-robed steward shouted. He looked at Xiao Chen and said sternly, “Every nation has its laws just as every family has its own rules. The Violet Manor has our own as well. Regardless of where you are from or whether you belong to the Violet Manor, you would do well to stop your resistance now!”
“Dream on! We won’t let you take him even if we die in battle today!” Four ladies of the Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon appeared next to Xiao Chen, protecting him.
Xiao Chen suddenly let out a drawn-out sneer. His expression was frighteningly dark. How could he not know that leaving with them meant undergoing an unfair trial? It was akin to digging his own grave. Even if he somehow lived, they would abolish his cultivation and imprison him for a hundred years at the very minimum. It was a pity that he wouldn’t be able to protect the people behind him today. He didn’t even know how much longer the Immolation Spell of the Three Elements could last.
The cold wind whizzed. Many had their attention focused on Xiao Chen. All they could see was a stern face. He spat out, in a solemn voice, “You harp on your great cause of upholding the Great Dao of the world, yet all you do is make trouble for me. Since you can’t tolerate the existence of any Devil’s Sect followers, why aren’t you going to Dark Shadow Hall to make trouble for Nether Emperor? Why aren’t you going to Fort Raksasa to make trouble for Empress Raksasa? Why aren’t you going to the Bloodied Fiend Sect to make trouble for the Venerable Bloodied Devil? Are you all trash?”
“You! You! You! And you!” Xiao Chen was looking a little deranged as his finger moved from Qi Heng to the stewards. Finally, his finger landed on the cyan-robed steward. “Especially you! Which one of you here has shed less blood than I have? Huh?”
The spectators fell silent. Who among them had clean hands? They were the so-called Orthodox Path, but the only thing that differentiated them from the followers of the Devil’s Sects was their cultivation methods.
“Hahaha.” Xiao Chen threw his back in laughter, but his gaze soon turned sharp and cold. He shouted, “Look at yourselves! The Cultivation Path thousands of years ago was such a glorious one, but look at what it became in your era! Look at yourselves, each and every one of you!”
He then pointed to Qi Heng and the rest. “I have no qualms about dying here today! But look at yourselves! The Cultivation Path thousands of years ago was such a glorious one, but look at what it became in your era! Look at how much it has declined! It wasn’t because the ancient cultivation methods were lost to the times! It was because all of you have become hypocritical, despicable, greedy, cunning, sinister, and shameless!”
Toward the end, he was close to howling. “The filthiness of every last one of you! The darkness! The Soul-consuming Evil Flower should devour your greedy souls!”
The spectators lowered their heads in silence, pondering Xiao Chen’s words. The Cultivation Path had been declining year after year, while the Devil Path had been going on the rise. Was it really because they had lost ancient cultivation methods? Or was it because cultivators these days had lost the purity of their Dao pursuit…
The cyan-robed steward frowned. He must not allow Xiao Chen to go on with his nonsense in front of so many members of the Orthodox Path. Just as he was about to berate Xiao Chen, the latter turned around and pointed to him. “Shut your mouth! Especially you people! You, the Immortals’ League, harp on about the people and the Orthodox Path! Yet as the leaders of the current Immortal’s Practice, you turn a blind eye to evil, forsaking the innocent, and even commit trickery! What right do you have to punish me?”
His fervent speech made everyone gasp. He must be the first person in a hundred years to dare criticize a Grand Completion Realm steward of the Immortals’ League in such a manner.
“Silence!” The cyan-robed steward looked like Xiao Chen had nailed his weakness. His humiliation fanned the flames of his anger. He launched a palm attack and instantly, the weather around transformed. He was hell-bent on destroying Xiao Chen this time.
“Be careful, my Lord!” Guifeng rushed to Xiao Chen’s side. A loud rumble resounded when a massive saber blocked the palm attack. The summit shook from the force of the collision. The spiritual wooden puppet had also joined Guifeng in stopping the attack.
Xiao Chen clenched his fingers and said with hatred, “Very well. Since you intend to kill me, then feel free to do so. I’m still of the same opinion: If I kill one, I’ll consider it breaking even. If I kill two or three, I’ll consider it my profit!” He swung his bloody saber and a hundred-foot-long blood-red saber radiance exploded. Caught off guard, one of the envoys was cut in half.
The battle was finally on! The spectators were alarmed. None-flower Dust and Yi Tong exchanged a look. The two of them were the only ones who could hold off the Grand Completion Realm cultivators, even if barely. Then, they moved. Yi Tong launched a series of purple lights at the cyan-robed steward while None-flower Dust waved his feathered fan, producing two doppelgangers of himself to keep the steward occupied.
The Hidden Fragrance Wafting Under the Moon ladies were also taking action. Xiao Chen pinpointed Qi Heng’s location and yelled, “Old b*stard Qi, hand over your life!” He swung his saber and Qi Heng promptly raised his sword to block it. A loud explosion shattered the air. To his horror, Qi Heng found himself taking steps backward. He cried, “Heaven-binding Fire Formation! Kill this man!”
Over on the summit platform, the ten or so swordsmen surrounded by the envoys from the Immortals’ League exchanged glances. They knew that if they were taken back to the League, they would either be executed or imprisoned for tens of years. They might as well put their lives on the line and fight a way out! The swordsmen then started attacking the four Nirvana Realm envoys.
The summit once again became embroiled in chaos. Su Ying was holding up two Grand Completion Realm stewards, and he told Su Yue through secret voice transmission, “Yue’er, take him and leave! Now!”
Su Yue didn’t think twice. He leaped into the air and arrived near Xiao Chen like a bolt of purple lightning. When the cyan-robed steward saw that she was going to take him, he attacked her with his palm. “The Su family better not stand on the wrong side!”
Su Yue nimbly moved aside, dodging the attack. She said coldly, “The mistake of one is the mistake of all. He’s just a child. You’ve already cornered him to this state. Why do you continue to force him?”
She swiftly moved on her feet with the grace of a lotus and reappeared next to Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen’s eyes were twisted with the fervor of murder. He had taken three or four slashes on his body. Blood was gushing from his wounds. Su Yue couldn’t help but frown. This was her sister’s child after all; she couldn’t bear seeing him in such a state. She tugged onto Xiao Chen’s arm. “Let’s go!”
To her surprise, Xiao Chen pushed her aside. “This is the Xiao family’s business! The Su family should stay out of this! Leave!” That said, he once again swung his saber and the blood-red light once again filled the sky, bringing with it an intense smell of hatred as he turned two disciples from the Order of the Divine Fire into blood mist.
Xiao Chen pushed Su Yue so hard that she took a few steps backward. She saw nothing but hatred in his eyes, dyed from his incomparable hatred for the Orthodox Path. Her heart sank. She feared that this child was so deeply entrenched in his resentment that he would one day turn to the Devil Path completely and be consigned to eternal damnation.
The thought made her shiver. She whispered to herself, “Elder Sister, why is your child such an extremist…”
Suddenly, tens of golden sword radiances came flying over. Su Yue’s expression sank. “Oh no!”