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Zhang Yuntao had no idea who had just attempted to assassinate Su Yi, so he wasn’t overly surprised to see Su Yi return alive.
Although he was still brooding over the way Su Yi defeated him in just two attacks, he couldn’t help but admit that Su Yi was an extremely terrifying young man.
Someone far more tyrannical than even a monster of the ancient era like the Nirvanic Winds Holy Son.
How could it possibly be so easy to assassinate someone like that?
Wen Xinzhao’s eyes lit up. Su Yi’s safe return made her sigh in relief.
Yuan Heng and Bai Wenqing instantly perked up. Su Yi’s return made them feel as if they’d relocated their pillar of support.
“Young Friend Su, please, forgive us!” As soon as Su Yi re-entered the hall, Zuo Xinghe shot to his feet and welcomed him with a bow, looking tense and ashamed.
When she saw this, Su Yi’s allies’ expressions frosted over.
It was just as they thought: the Zuo Family really were involved in this assassination attempt!
“Forgive you? Tell me, what have you done wrong?” Su Yi asked coldly.
Zuo Xinghe’s expression turned rigid as he said, “Fellow Daoist, earlier, I imagine you could tell that we really didn’t want to become your enemy. As for what happened earlier
 We were forced to cooperate!”
He then explained the whole series of events.
It turned out that last night, although Zuo Xinghe agreed to Su Yi’s requests, he was extremely bitter about it. Thus, he visited Huo Yunsheng late at night to inquire about Su Yi in further detail.
Upon learning of Si Yi’s monstrous record of accomplishments, he jumped in fright and realized that reneging on his word would most likely provoke Su Yi’s wrath.
However, just as he steeled himself to hold his nose and endure, a mysterious assassin paid him a late-night visit, appearing in his room seemingly out of nowhere.
The assassin said he could help the Zuo Family kill Su Yi, but that he needed their cooperation. He told Zuo Xinghe that if he refused, he’d kill him. In the face of a threat to his life, Zuo Xinghe had no choice but to agree.
As he finished his tale, Zuo Xinghe’s face filled with bitterness.
“Brother Zuo, who was that assassin? Wasn’t he a bit too gutsy?” Zhang Yuntao furrowed his brow.
“That was the Ferryman, one of the Sea of Bitterness’s top Gathering Stars Realm assassins,” said Zuo Xinghe gravely. “Had the assassin been less terrifying, I
 I wouldn’t have changed my mind.”
The Ferryman!
Gasps filled the room.
Who among them didn’t know of the mysterious assassin who successfully killed the Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator Daoist Mu?
When they realized that Su Yi had actually returned alive even after the Ferryman made an attempt on his life, the way they looked at him changed.
“How can you call that ‘being threatened?’” roared Yuan Heng. “Way I see it, the Ferryman’s appearance was just what your Zuo Family was hoping for. After all, killing my master would let you renege on your agreement and effortlessly seize the Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis for yourselves!”
He would never have guessed that the top clan in the Jade Bottle Province would go back and forth like this, or that they’d do something so shameless and despicable.
Zuo Xinghe said with a mix of shame and unease, “Fellow Daoist, please, calm your fury. We know we’ve made an enormous mistake. As compensation, we won’t just agree to the conditions Fellow Daoist Su proposed last night; we’ll offer a generous gift as well. All we ask is that Fellow Daoist Su stays his hand and buries the hatchet.”
In the Jade Bottle Province, the Zuo Family was the strongest around, and they had countless properties under their command. Their authority was vast and far-reaching.
As the head of the family, Zuo Xinghe’s position was incomparably illustrious.
Yet now, he lowered himself, humble as could be. He looked terrified and frantic, without any of a family head’s typical arrogance or prestige.
When they saw this, the Cloudsky Divine Palace disciples’ hearts churned.
In the face of absolute strength, what did status and authority amount to? Both were empty; they couldn’t block so much as a single attack!
“Oh?” said Su Yi slowly. “You want to buy your lives. Alright. I’ve never liked indiscriminate slaughter. Tell me, then, how much are the lives of those present worth?”
When he heard this, Zuo Xinghe and the family higher-ups felt ashamed, as if their dignity had been trampled on. This was an enormous humiliation.
But they had to endure.
Zuo Xinghe calmed himself down, gnashed his teeth, and said, “We’ll take what we agreed to last night, then pay you double!”
The Zuo Family higher-ups’ expressions changed. Combined, Su Yi’s demands were worth over ten thousand tier-six spirit stones!
If they had to pay double, that was at least twenty thousand tier-six spirit stones. That was an unquestionably enormous price.
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Even if they were the wealthiest family around and in possession of multiple spirit jade veins, it would take years to recover from such an expenditure!
And this was the Zuo Family; were they any other faction of the Jade Bottle Province, it simply wouldn’t have been possible for them to gather so much money!
Just looking at their changes in expression, the others present couldn’t possibly fail to realize that this time, the Zuo Family was paying through the nose.
But Su Yi merely laughed. “Zuo Xinghe, in your eyes, are the lives of every member of your clan added together only worth
 a single Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis?”
Zuo Xinghe and the other higher-ups flushed red. Their expressions were unsightly to the extreme.
Su Yi’s words were full of unconcealed intent to humiliate!
Even Wen Xinzhao, Yuan Heng, and the others couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for them. Still, they’d brought this about themselves. Who else could they blame?
“Five times.” Su Yi stopped mocking him and got straight to the point. “That will buy back your lives. Any less, and today, this meeting hall will flow with rivers of blood!”
Zuo Xinghe gasped, and his expression changed dramatically. “Fellow Daoist Su, even if we emptied out our coffers, I’m afraid we couldn’t assemble so much wealth!”
The other higher-ups were practically struck dumb, and they felt as if they’d been stabbed in the heart. Too ruthless! This is no different from demanding our lives!
“Fellow Daoist Su, we’ve already admitted defeat, yet you’ve repeatedly humiliated us, and now you’re making such excessive demands? Do you really think our Zuo Family is nothing but a fish on the chopping block for you to carve up as you please?” Third Elder Zuo Yunchao couldn’t help but laugh coldly. “Let me tell you; our second elder is a Spiritual Manifestation expert of Maha Temple. If we really cast aside all pretenses of cordiality, I’m afraid the likes of you won’t be able to bear the consequences!”
Zuo Xinghe’s heart thudded in his chest. This is bad!
However, just as he was about to say something, Su Yi glanced coldly at Zuo Yunhe, raised his hand, and tapped the air.
Splurt!
A streak of sword qi carved a hole right through Zuo Yunchao’s throat.
“You
” Zuo Yunchao clutched his throat, and his eyes bulged in apparent disbelief.
Then, he toppled over backward with a resounding thud.
His cultivation was only in the Origin Palace Realm. How could he possibly block Su Yi’s attack?
This bloody scene startled the rest of the Zuo Family higher-ups. Rage and anger alternated on their faces, but they were as silent as cicadas in winter.
Zhang Yuntao and the Cloudsky Divine Palace disciples’ hearts shook. That straightforward, crisp killing technique shocked them.
“I’m actually rather curious to see whether or not the Zuo Family dares cast aside all pretenses of cordiality.” Su Yi stood there with his hands behind his back and swept his gaze across the Zuo Family higher-ups.
Zuo Xinghe felt so stifled that he was on the verge of going mad, but he could only endure. He said in a low voice, “Fellow Daoist Su, we can agree to your conditions, but we truly cannot offer that much treasure on short notice. Might you
 give us a little time to prepare?”
It was then that Huo Yunsheng couldn’t help but interject, “Su Yi, the Zuo Family has already acknowledged their mistakes. Pushing for more and more won’t do you any good.”
Su Yi glanced at Huo Yunsheng, who immediately tensed up. Su Yi’s calm, indifferent gaze visibly terrified him.
He steeled himself and said sharply, “What, don’t tell me you think I’m wrong?”
Su Yi paid him no further heed. He returned his gaze to Zuo Xinghe and said, “I cannot wait that long, but I won’t intentionally make this harder on you than necessary. If you can’t offer the specific treasures I requested, you can offer others in exchange.”
Zuo Xinghe fell silent. He realized that he had no room left to maneuver.
Suddenly, something occurred to him. He recalled a certain treasure, then said thoughtfully, “Fellow Daoist Su, I just recalled a certain miraculous object. Please wait a moment.”
He then hurriedly dispatched an elderly servant.
Before long, the servant returned carrying a black wooden box.
“Fellow Daoist Su, please look at this,” said Zuo Xinghe as he opened the box.
Inside the box was just a single dusty gray object about the size of a goose egg.
“This is a mysterious jade. Three years ago, we discovered it deep within a massive spirit vein. When it first emerged from the earth, it produced strange and unbelievable phenomena. They say a sound like heavenly music or immortal song filled the air, and auspicious clouds drifted down like flower petals
”
Zuo Xinghe paused here and sighed. “At the time, I thought we’d obtained a matchless treasure, but even after extensive research, we cannot discern this mysterious jade’s miraculous applications. All we know is that it is invulnerable to fire and water and that it’s incredibly firm; even a Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator’s full-force attack can’t so much as scratch it.”
Zhang Yuntao and the others couldn’t help but look over curiously.
The jade was dusty gray, with no trace of spirituality. It wasn’t at all eye-catching, and it was hard to believe an object like this could produce strange phenomena of that level.
Su Yi was examining it too, a subtle, wondrous look in his eyes. A trace of irrepressible surprise appeared on his face.
Despite his external calm, waves swept through the deepest recesses of his heart!
When he saw Su Yi sink into silence, and when he saw the strange look on his face, Zuo Xinghe couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
He said, “Fellow Daoist Su, we’re unsure of this treasure’s origins, but we can be sure it’s absolutely no ordinary item, and we cannot gauge its value. If not for our inability to offer you sufficient treasure, we couldn’t bear to part with it
.”
Su Yi nodded, a strange look in his eyes. “I wouldn’t have guessed it, but your Zuo Family is actually quite lucky.”
Why did he say they were lucky? Because he feared that no one on the modern Azure Continent knew how rare and precious the item in the wooden box was better than him! Even in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, it was the type of treasure you might not see once in tens of thousands of years!
The Zuo Family had actually excavated it from one of their spirit veins. Of course Su Yi was emotional!
If we were so lucky, we would never have encountered this calamity in the first place! Zuo Xinghe griped to himself.
“I want that. Give it to me, and all the Zuo Family has to do is pay for the Jadeseed Spirit Chrysalis.” Su Yi immediately made up his mind.
Zuo Xinghe immediately sighed in relief and bowed. “Fellow Daoist, many thanks for sparing our lives!”
Trading a jade of mysterious origins and unknown purpose for Su Yi’s forgiveness meant that they wouldn’t have to pay five times the previously-agreed price. When he heard this, Zuo Xinghe even felt a hint of secret glee.