Sect Leader Xuanâs brow shook. He looked with gnashed teeth at Zhuo Fan but said nothing. Despite that, the humiliation was so great he clenched his fists.
Zhuo Fan ignored it all and leaned over him, reaching with his venomous claw and hoisting Xuan Shaoyu by the neck, âIn that case, thereâs nothing more to talk about!â
âWait, what are you doing? Let him go!â Sect Leader Xuan cried out. He wanted to move but he only coughed more blood.
Zhuo Fan snickered as he shouted, âDo you want to live or die?â
âIâŚâ
Sect Leader Xuanâs eyes shook, but the words were stuck in his throat, because speaking meant surrendering.
As they say, âIt is better to die on your feet than live on your kneesâ. Many of the secular cultivators could do it, so why couldnât the great Sect Leader of Mystical Heaven Sect?
But looking at his son, turning red from the grip on his neck, Sect Leader Xuan sighed and shook his head, âWhen even an ant clings to life, what moreâs there to say about manâs desire to live? What do you want, Zhuo Fan?â
âSect Leader Xuan, thatâs an attitude more befitting of moving with the times, ha-ha-haâŚâ
Grinning, Zhuo Fan relaxed his hand and Xuan Shaoyu slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. He looked at Zhuo Fan in fear, having lost his cocky attitude.
Ignoring the useless son, Zhuo Fan gave Venerable Qi a look and he threw an empty jade slip over to Sect Leader Xuan.
Taking it, Sect Leader Xuan asked, âWhatâs this?â
âHa-ha-ha, nothing much, just hoping Sect Leader Xuan can help me write something down.â Zhuo Fan beamed.
Sect Leader Xuanâs hand tightened at his words and his brow furrowed, âZhuo Fan, you canât possibly be thinking of twisting facts and making my Mystical Heaven Sect be the culprit here!â
Sect Leader Xuan knew the minute he put any word on the jade slip, his soul signature would be imprinted on it. Then no matter how much he begged Double Dragon Manor for justice, no one would believe him.
They would have no choice but to live with this stain.
His hands shook and his teeth clenched together. All while the Demon Scheming Sect team was looking at him with mockery.
[Yeah, thatâs right. We bet you and now weâre robbing you of any means of fighting back. What are you gonna do about it? Itâs not our fault you turned out to be so weak, ha-ha-haâŚ]
Looking at the piles of rubble around him that were once his sect, at the dead experts and few survivors, they had no other fate than to be under someoneâs thumb.
Sect Leader Xuan sighed, his hand twitched as it held the jade slip.
âSect Leader Xuan, if you donât do this, weâll leave no survivors!â Zhuo Fan snickered, âWe might even turn this place into a wastelandâŚâ
âYouâd dare?â
âWhy the hell not?â
Zhuo Fan shouted back, âThe central area is getting ready for war with the other lands. Mystical Heaven Sectâs demise can be written off with hundreds of excuses. Moreover, the girls were your disciples and with a few words to Double Dragon Manor, your case will be put aside. Who would want to test the relations because of a lower-three sect only to give room for the enemy to strike?â
Shaking all over, Sect Leader Xuanâs face fell.
âAt the end of the day, rules are gimmicks used in times of peace. When the enemy comes knocking, even Double Dragon Manor would focus on the good of western lands. Whoâd have the time to waste on rules?â
Zhuo Fan grinned, âSect Leader Xuan has been around for so long and should know this better than anyone.â
Sect Leader Xuanâs clenched fist finally eased and sighed, âIf the central area is indeed attacking, ha-ha, the Mystical Heaven Sectâs matter will be forgottenâŚâ
âI talk, you write!â
Ignoring him and his last probe, Zhuo Fan spoke in a cold tone, as if he already knew the central area would come. When he was just being full of it. But because he was acting like this, Sect Leader Xuan bought it.
âFirstly, the matter with Qingcheng. You came to her for Double Dragon Gathering. Now thatâs over, the deal is also over. But you still forced her to stay. As her husband, I came to take her but you started pushing me around which led to war.â
Zhuo Fan narrated while Sect Leader Xuan wrote down like a machine.
âNext, Mystical Heaven Sectâs elders picked on me with their superior numbers and then Demon Scheming Sectâs elders came to the rescue, leading to both sides entering a bitter fight.â
Sect Leader Xuanâs eyes shook, but he stayed silent.
[Picked on you? You were the one who got the whole sect to come in hiding and you dare say picked on you? You did it knowing fully where it led! This Zhuo Fan is so sinister, planning it all from the start and I fell right for it.]
Sect Leader Xuan gnashed his teeth in hatred, writing down as Zhuo Fan said it.
âFinally, after a hard battle, the Demon Scheming Sect came out victorious, being lenient on you seeing how both were sects from western lands. But the casualties were too great and not what we hoped for. Your clan also knew this matter couldâve been done without bloodshed and sincerely apologized, promising to leave this matter as that. To prove it, you leave this jade slip.â
Finishing, Zhuo Fan nodded, âThatâs about it. Did you get it all, Sect Leader Xuan?â
[For godâs sake, this is clearly kicking us while weâre down! Iâm so mad yet I canât even fight back!]
Sect Leader Xuanâs hands shook, his breath ragged as he finished writing. Looking at the green jade slip, he wanted to crush it so badly.
He knew that the instant he handed it over, his loss today would be left with his sect suffering in silence.
Double Dragon Manor would see that he was in the wrong and would not take his side. They wouldnât even look into it, now with how ruined his sect was.
âAre these reasons enough?â
Seeing Sect Leader Xuan shaking as he offered the jade slip, Zhuo Fan did not take it but looked to the others, âYou guys have been around western lands for longer and understand the rules better. What am I missing here?â
Pff!
Sect Leader Xuan spurted blood on the spot.
[For crying out loud, isnât this disgrace enough? You want more? Are you trying to peel us one strip at a time?]
Venerable Qi smiled and shook his head, âSteward Zhuo, these are enough. Steward Zhuo saving his wife after being trapped is reasonable. Our later help to Steward Zhuo is only natural. Itâs all reasonable. Even if you argue it with Double Dragon Manor, it still wonât matter, ha-ha-haâŚâ
âHold it!â
Kui Lang shouted, bowing to Venerable Qi and saying, âSteward Zhuo, I find these reasons adequate, but not enough to stir sympathy. Theyâre too plain. Shouldnât we flourish it a bit?â
Pa!
Zhuo Fan clapped and praised, âGood man, you sure have improved after sticking with me for so long. We might be demonic cultivators, but this fight was fought for justice. Sect Leader Xuan, make sure you write down your endless greed, trying to extort me out of my two thousand sacred stones, and also wanting to suck womenâs yin to cure your son. It seems that in this battle, we took heavenâs place in purging the demons, and setting an example for everyone!â
âWhat?!â
Sect Leader Xuanâs face twitched and cried out, âYou, demonic cultivators dare use heaven as your excuse?â
âI told you to write, not yap!â Zhuo Fanâs face expression steeled. He stepped on Xuan Shaoyuâs leg, âLife or death, choose.â
Sect Leader Xuanâs fists shook and sighed, writing down as he said it.
This was no longer just a scuffle between sects, but a question of Mystical Heaven Sectâs morals. A righteous sect actually wanted to use womenâs yin to cure someone and even tried stealing another sect discipleâs sacred stones.
Although Sect Leader Xuan did not want to admit it, Zhuo Fan truly did purge demons in this case.
Once he handed this to the Demon Scheming Sect, it was the same as handing blackmail evidence for them to threaten him with. They would not only be left with no means of rebuking them, but even obeying them.
Or when the jade slip got out, the Mystical Heaven Sect would never rise again.
If it had happened in peace times, Sect Leader Xuan wouldnât have done it even killed. But his son was in their hands and he had no choice but to fold. The future looked bleak, with generations being threatened by the Demon Scheming Sect. He truly suffered more than he could have imagined this time.