Guo Ranâs smile practically glowed as he took out an iron bead. He randomly tossed it into the passageway.
A miserable scream rang out. That fellow had only gotten halfway down when Guo Ranâs bead struck the wall.
Countless pikes had instantly pierced countless holes into that personâs body. He had died immediately after screaming.
âBastard!â
Both the Righteous and Corrupt disciples were infuriated. Guo Ran had actually followed their example, using the same method they had used against Long Chen on them. Now it was their turn to suffer.
âGo fuck yourselves! You caused my boss to die! Donât even think about getting any of the treasures that are here!â Guo Ran sneered.
Long Chen had already consumed a healing pill and was currently recovering from his injury. It was an injury that looked frightening, but in truth, it was just an outer wound that would quickly recover.
âLittle brat, even if we canât obtain it, do you think you can keep those treasures? Weâll just guard here. Ask yourself, how do you plan on ever leaving?â said one of them disdainfully.
âHehe, who cares if I canât leave? If you have the ability, then go ahead and waste time with grandpa Guo here! At most youâll only have to wait a year without searching for any other opportunities!â mocked Guo Ran.
That immediately caused a chill in their hearts. If Guo Ran really did plan on being obstinate, then with these terrifying mechanisms, there was no way for them to pass through.
This tomb had been preserved extremely perfectly. Some disciples had already found some precious ores.
Those precious ores seemed to have been treated as just trash by the tombâs owner. They had just been randomly left lying around. In other words, there was definitely an even greater treasure beyond this passageway.
But with Guo Ran guarding it, even Chosen would probably die. None of them were willing to risk it.
Furthermore, the people present were split into two parties, each harboring their own ulterior motives. There was no way they could work together to handle Guo Ran.
âLittle fellow, letâs discuss this. Long Chen raped and killed an innocent woman, and is despised by the entire Righteous path. Now that heâs already dead, the punishment for all his crimes has solely landed on his shoulders. I, Zhao Mingshan, will use the seventeenth monasteryâs name to swear that as long as you let us pass, we will testify that you are innocent so that you donât receive any injustice.â
The person speaking was a Chosen from the seventeenth monastery. His status was quite high, so his words did have weight.
â⊠Really?â Guo Ranâs voice was clearly trembling.
âOf course. I, Zhao Mingshan, swear not to investigate any of your previous crimes, and will also help you testify that everything was done only by Long Chen. Everything you personally did was all because Long Chen forced you to do.â Zhao Mingshanâs voice clearly held some excitement now.
Guo Ran sneered inside, âEven now, you want to play these word games with me? You wonât investigate âmy crimesâ at that time, but you can just throw me to the Corrupt disciples to kill me instead.â
âThen Iâm relieved.â Guo Ran hesitated before saying this. He looked at Long Chen. Seeing the wound was quickly healing, he purposely stalled for some time.
He didnât dare mess around as Long Chen focused on healing. He decided to stall for as long as he could. In any case, playing around with them was more fun than just waiting around.
âAre you looking down on me? How could, Zhao Mingshan, a grand Chosen, possibly try to trick an ordinary disciple?â Zhao Mingshanâs voice contained some offended anger.
Guo Ran was silent in response to that, seeming to hesitate. Zhao Mingshan looked at one of the core disciples.
That core disciple nodded and jumped into the passageway.
Suddenly, a scream rang out. That Righteous disciple had been stabbed to death by the flying pikes.
Guo Ran was stunned. He had yet to even throw out a bead. How had he died?
âYou⊠what are you doing?!â
Zhao Mingshan was furious. He was glaring at the Corrupt disciplesâ Chosen.
It had been one of the Corrupt disciples that had shot out an attack to activate the mechanisms, killing that core disciple.
âWhat do you think?â the Corrupt Chosen indifferently replied. âIf your disciples pass, then all the benefits will be taken by you. What about us?â
The Righteous disciples were infuriated. At the same time, they also understood they had run into a thorny problem. Obviously the Corrupt disciples wouldnât let them do as they wished.
âWhat do you want? Do you think Iâll let your disciples go down first?â raged Zhao Mingshan.
âHow about this: weâll send our disciples in one by one. Weâll also make sure their cultivation bases are similar, so that neither party suffers,â suggested the Corrupt Chosen.
âKeep dreaming! It was us Righteous disciples who discovered this passageway and who found the way to enter! Why should we have to split it evenly with you?!â a Favored from the Righteous path cursed back.
âLong Chen is a Righteous disciple? Hehe, how come I canât tell? So Righteous disciples died to the hands of Righteous disciples? It seems the Righteous path really doesnât care about face anymore,â sneered the Corrupt Chosen.
That personâs words immediately caused the Righteous disciplesâ faces to burn as if they had been slapped in the face. Their enemies were now laughing at them for the internal strife within the Righteous path.
âLong Chen is a traitor of our Righteous path. Our killing of him was just cleaning up our path. But no matter what, Long Chen is still a disciple of our Righteous path, and so his accomplishments are the Righteous pathâs accomplishments,â quibbled Zhao Mingshan.
âHaha, I really have to admire you Righteous disciples. Youâre clearly being contemptible and shameless, and yet you still try to act devoted to righteousness.
âEven if us Corrupt disciples tried for ten thousand years, we still wouldnât be able to do something like that. Of course, itâs always beneath our dignity to learn such garbage.
âRight now, I wonât talk reason with you. Let me just say this: if you donât consent, then letâs start fighting. The one alive at the end will decide who gets the treasure.â
The Corrupt Chosenâs expression was icy, and the disciples behind him all took out their weapons and released their auras. They seemed like hungry, bloodthirsty wolves as they stared tightly at the Righteous disciples.
âDo you think us Righteous disciples fear you? All youâre doing right now is causing both parties to be injured. Thereâs no meaning behind that,â raged the Chosen beside Zhao Mingshan.
Those Righteous disciples were filled with fury, but at the same time, it was impossible for them to conceal their panic.
The Corrupt disciples were different from Righteous disciples. Being savage was their nature, and they were not afraid of death. If they really fought, it would be an extremely bitter fight.
Everyone had gone into the Jiuli secret realm in search of opportunities. They all knew that if they could find a heaven-defying opportunity in the secret realm, they would immediately be able to soar to the heavens, their radiance lighting up the world.
So they didnât want to fight here. Even though one of their comrades had died, as long as they werenât closely related, they would still choose to ignore it.
And that was why the Righteous path was just like a pack of loose sand. Although there were many of them, they rarely fought back, causing them to be suppressed by the Corrupt path.
Furthermore, in Zhao Mingshanâs eyes, this kind of fight had no meaning. No matter who won, they would still have to pass through this terrifying passageway in the end. Guo Ran was still blocking them.
But the Corrupt Chosen didnât care the slightest bit about this reasoning. His attitude was simple. Either listen to him, or have a decisive fight.
âSenior apprentice-brother Zhao, fighting here isnât smart. Itâd be better to do what they say. It wonât be too late to fight once we find the real treasure,â advised someone quietly.
Zhao Mingshan had a stomach full of anger. Their side had two Chosen, so they definitely suppressed their opponents in terms of total strength. But they all knew how vicious Corrupt disciples were. Even if the two of them were able to kill the Corrupt Chosen in the end, he would likely leave them with heavy injuries in his final moments, and perhaps even drag them down with him.
That was also why the Corrupt disciples were so unbridled. The Righteous disciples had always had to endure everything since their two Chosen didnât want to fight.
âFine, weâll take a step back. Both of us will send one disciple down at a time. But you have to swear that before we see the true treasure, none of you will start a fight.â Zhao Mingshan finally compromised.
âNo problem.â
The Corrupt Chosen was smiling indifferently. But his eyes were filled with ridicule.
Zhao Mingshan was furious, but before seeing the true treasure, he didnât want to go all-out. Who knew whether that treasure would be worth suffering losses?
The monastery had instilled a certain ideology in his head: as a Chosen, he was a pillar of their monastery, and his life was more important than othersâ. He couldnât fight for no reason.
In the eyes of the two Chosen, the others were just plebeians, unable to compare to grand existences like them. For them to fight with others was like using precious porcelain to smash rats.
The two sides quickly chose two ordinary disciples. With a wave of their hands, two Favored sent them dropping into the passageway.
âHey! Wait a sec!â
Suddenly, Guo Ran voice rang out, followed by the sound of an iron bead. Then, the sounds of the mechanisms activating rang out, followed by the now familiar-sounding screams.
âBastard, what are you doing?!â both Zhao Mingshan and the Corrupt Chosen raged at the same time.
âUh⊠youâre too hurried⊠I⊠feel itâs not proper.â Guo Ranâs apprehensive voice rang out from below.
âWhatâs not proper?!â
Zhao Mingshanâs eyes were about to spit flames. If Guo Ran was in front of him, he definitely would have slapped him to death.
âWhat are you afraid of?â Zhao Mingshan did his best to restrain his temper.
âIâm afraid youâll break your word. If you end up reneging, wouldnât I instantly die?â
All the Chosen were infuriated, and a merciless light shined in their eyes. Guo Ran was definitely try to anger them to death.
âWhat do you want?â Zhao Mingshan suppressed his fury.
âYou have to swear,â said Guo Ran.
âFine, we swear.â
The Chosen were all helpless. They could only swear an extremely poisonous oath so they could hurry this along.
But the two of them were extremely smart. They swore that the two of them definitely wouldnât investigate what crimes Guo Ran had done, and that they also wouldnât take their anger out on him.
âFine, Iâll believe you then.â
Guo Ranâs reply finally caused the Chosen to sigh with relief. Both Zhao Mingshan and the Corrupt Chosen purposely glanced at one of their people.