Chapter 90 Temporary Truce

"You?" Yang Tze snorted. "I admit, you are no normal Flowing Qi realm maggot… but you are still but a maggot nonetheless. Your companion there is quite strong, but you could barely handle my family's guards. What makes you think you are worthy of being my opponent?"

It was true, Xuan had 'struggled' to defeat those small fry. However, what Yang Tze failed to notice was that he'd been purposely holding back. This was precisely his goal—to get Yang Tze to underestimate him, then take him by surprise. After all, the Yang family young master wasn't going to be an easy opponent. As weak as the Eight Great Families were compared to his old self Zero, right now, they were still an enemy to be careful of.

Yang Tze in particular was a formidable opponent by all regards, a peak Origin Monarch realm who was often praised for his talents in cultivation. Most young masters had monstrous cultivation speeds due to the bountiful resources they had access to, but Yang Tze had both that and natural talent. This made him a true dragon amongst men, and a person that Xuan couldn't be sure of whether or not he'd be able to defeat.

However… violence wasn't the only way to beat someone. It was the most effective, surefire method, but it was not the only one. In this case, Xuan had another card up his sleeve—a card that he knew the man standing before him could not ignore.

"You really believe yourself to be invincible… but the line between confidence and arrogance is quite thin," Xuan said with a devious smile, twirling around his sword in his hand. "After all, what you see in this world… may not be the whole truth."

Yang Tze narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Smell carefully. Surely the young master of the Yang family would be able to feel it, no?"

At this, Yang Tze's eyes widened. "This is… the energy signature of Brother Bai?! Bastard, what did you do to him?!"

"Don't worry, he's safe," Xuan said, slowly pulling a bottle out of his Space Ring—something he had Fu Mei give to him before entering this cave. "But I can't promise things will stay that way if you don't stop this fight right now."

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"Tch…"

Yang Tze could feel that the soul of Bai Zhutian was inside that bottle. Someone as powerful as an Origin Monarch stage would give off quite the conspicuous aura if he didn't intentionally try to hide it, and as much of an idiot as Bai Zhutian was, he still had a decent cultivation base—albeit with horrible foundations, much like Li Yiren. His Qi was practically leaking out of the bottle, as if he was trying to get Yang Tze to notice him—a savior, at long last.

Little did he know… he could never escape Xuan's grasp—or rather, Fu Mei's. A curse had already been placed on him, and there was no way to break free unless Fu Mei herself let it go.

"… Everyone, stop!"

At this order, the remaining cultivators who were attacking Zi Xiruo and had just crawled up to their feet to join the fray once more against Xuan and Fu Mei all froze, wondering what the order meant. Fu Mei, on the other hand, realized Xuan finally pulled out the trump card, and let out a soft chuckle.

"… Fufu."

Peng Gong, blood still trailing from his mouth, let out a growl. "What are you trying to do, Yang Tze?! Help me kill this bitch! And the rest of you too! As young masters of the Eight Great Families, why are you all just standing there and doing nothing?!"

"That's enough, Peng Gong," another man dressed in refined robes and aesthetic glasses, spoke quietly yet sternly. "You cannot best her. She is an Origin Emperor stage at the very least. Even if all of us came at her together, it is unknown whether we would be able to win."

"Shut up, Shi Bi! What about the old geezer, huh?!" Peng Gong whipped his head around at the High Elf hidden in disguise as an old man. "Isn't he supposed to be on our side?! Why isn't he using his powers?!"

But in response, the old man simply smiled. "I have no intention of interfering in your personal troubles. We share a collaborative relationship, nothing more. Someone else could just as easily replace you, after all—and in fact, I would prefer someone stronger anyway."

"Damn you…!"

"Aiya~ so loud," Fu Mei sighed, spinning her scythe around in her hand. "It's hurting my ears… just a little bit."

And then, without any warning, her scythe flew out of her fingertips, cleanly lopping off Peng Gong's head and slamming into the other end of the cavern.

"Ah… there we go. Much better."

For an instant, everyone was stunned silent—even Xuan. He expressed his shock with only a glance towards Fu Mei, but the next instant, everything blew apart.

"Don't go too far!" Yang Tze roared, drawing his sword, but Xuan was there to remind him of the horrible fact that he was left without a choice.

"If you want to lose another, go ahead and try," Xuan said, tightening his grip on the bottle containing Bai Zhutian's soul.

"Damn you…!"

By this point, the old senior finally felt it was time to step in and break this stand-still. Neither party were exactly willing to concede, but neither could push any further either.

​ "Alright… that's enough. The seal ahead of us has been broken, it seems. Shall we continue where we left off?"

At this, everyone turned to where the seal once was, blocking the way forward. Sure enough, it was no longer there, having dissipated due to a trigger of some sort. Xuan narrowed his gaze.

'… Was the trigger someone's death?'

What an ominous barrier.

After sending another cold glance at Fu Mei, signaling that he wasn't exactly pleased with her unnecessary actions, he stowed away his weapon. The conflict here had ended… for now. The problem was that with everyone here, he couldn't exactly walk over to Peng Gong's body to Devour his soul and steal his techniques.

Fu Mei, noticing her father's gaze, flinched a bit and quickly averted her eyes. She knew she was going to be spoken to later—but for now, Xuan had other things to worry about.

Namely, what lay beyond the barrier.