Chapter 223 - Extortion
Chapter 223: Extortion
With a smile on his face, Yunxiao said, “I haven’t seen you for days, but you still look as elegant as I remember, Young Sect Leader!”
“Bast*rd! How dare you mock me! You are dead meat, and so is Dhyana Sect!” Xiao Jian roared madly.
The disciples around them were in confusion, but when they heard that the enemies were from the Dhyana Sect, which was a lowly sect, they became excited and full of fighting spirits.
“Release our Young Sect Leader, and we will spare you a whole body!”
“If you are wise, kneel to one side and wait for our Young Sect Leader to decide your fate.”
“What are you waiting for? Kneel now!”
The disciples of the Hundred Swords Sect were in high spirits, gesticulating and shouting. But, no one walked up, because they discovered that the strength of the man beside Yunxiao was unfathomable. Their divine senses returned nothing when they tried to probe his cultivation base.
“Kneel?”
Yunxiao’s pupils constricted. A cold breeze emanated from his body, and a spiritual attack burst from his eyes, shooting out in all directions.
Plop! Plop!
Everyone was taken aback. A bitter chill made them gasp, and they suddenly felt a sharp pain in their heads, as if they were being stabbed by thousands of needles. They shrieked as strength left their legs, and they all fell to their knees around Yunxiao in the next instant.
Yunxiao sneered, “Oh, so when you said ‘kneel’, you meant to kneel before me. The way the Hundred Swords Sect greets your guests is really special. You all may rise now.”
Duan Yue looked at Yunxiao in horror as he sensed the spiritual attack as well. Even with his current cultivation base of a seven-stars Martial Grandmaster, he felt as if his head was hacked by a knife, which made him break out in a cold sweat.
Each of the top ten Martial Sovereigns in the Heaven and Earth Power Chart had not only cultivated martial arts to the peak, but also mastered peerless techniques that shook the world. And what Yunxiao relied on to become one of the top ten Martial Sovereigns was this eye technique, which attacked the mind and was extremely difficult to defend against.
As long as the soul power of his foe was weaker than his, he could rely on his soul power to launch a wanton attack through his eyes. As a ninth-tier Alchemy Sovereign in his previous life, few people in the world could match his soul power.
With his soul power gradually improving after becoming a fourth-tier alchemist, the power of his eye technique began to finally show up.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy? Quickly take him down for me!”
Xian was pinned under the chariot, so he was not attacked. He roared at the group of disciples in shock and fury.
“Boy, you’ll regret causing trouble at the Hundred Swords Sect! The Sect Leader and the Elders are discussing in the great hall, and when they come out, you will be dead!” A disciple threatened as he covered his head with both hands, his forehead sweating.
“You keep saying this is the Hundred Swords Sect,” Yunxiao said with a smile, “but I thought this is the Supreme Palace? Even if all their people are gone, you’ve no right to occupy it, do you?”
“Exactly!” A voice rang out of the Supreme Palace’s great hall as a man garbed in white walked out and said, “What this little brother said is very reasonable! The Supreme Palace’s spirit vein is actually my Darksun Sect’s earth vein, which I had lent to them. Now that they are gone, it is only natural for me to take back this place.”
“Yuanyuan Wei, can you be more shameless? Is this Supreme Palace closer to your Darksun Sect or my Formless Temple?” An old man followed closely behind the first man with a fierce look on his face.
After that, a purple figure walked out and sneered, “Talking about distance, eh? What a joke! The whole Supreme Palace is within the territory of my Innate Palace. If you are wise, get out of here as soon as possible!”
“Who are you, boy? How dare you hurt my son!” A furious roar came out from the mouth of an old man in luxurious clothes. His hands were surrounded by swirling energy and flickering with electric arcs, and he seemed ready to explode.
“Dad, save me, save me!” Xiao Jian cried out in wild joy at the sight of the old man.
From their words, Yunxiao understood at once what was going on. He smiled somewhat speechlessly and said, “Oh, what a lively gathering the four of you have! Does a spirit mountain or a treasured land belong to the one who stays closer to it?”
“Of course!” The four men spoke almost in unison.
They thought nothing of Yunxiao’s strength, but the faint aura leaking from Duan Yue’s body made all four of them dare not to underestimate him. It was also because he was uncertain of Duan Yue’s strength that the sect leader of the Hundred Swords Sect, Xiao Guang, held back his attack. Otherwise, he would have killed Yunxiao.
Yunxiao’s eyes were cold, and he said with a mocking smile, “Well, in my opinion, the spirit mountains and treasured lands of the Hundred Swords Sect, Darksun Sect, Formless Temple, and Innate Palace are all very close to my Yanwu!”
“What nonsense are you talking about, boy? Where are your parents?”
“Considering that you are young and ignorant, I’ll forgive you this time. Now get out of my sight!”
“Those who are greedy for ill-gotten gains will bring himself trouble!”
“What? You are from the city of Yanwu!” Xiao Guang’s expression changed drastically, and he cried out, “The City Lord of Yanwu who wiped out the Xingyang family, Li Yunxiao!”
“What!” The other three men, too, were taken aback.
Recently, the incident of Yanwu had swept through almost the entire Firecrow Empire, reaching even other places in the South. The City Lord of Yanwu, Li Yunxiao, was one of the hot topics being discussed by common people in the streets.
“Yanwu is thousands of miles from here. Does City Lord Li want to dig out the whole spirit mountain and bring it back?” asked the sect leader of the Darksun Sect in a deep voice.
“Indeed! Yanwu is backed by the Myriad Treasures Store, the number one trading company in the world, so why do you still want to fight for this tiny amount of resources with us?” The abbot of the Formless Temple thought that Yanwu was a branch of Myriad Treasures Store.
The palace lord of the Innate Palace, however, said, “City Lord Li is an amazing youth, so he naturally doesn’t care about this cheap place. Why don’t you give me a hand? You will be my Innate Palace’s friend forever.”
He simply wooed Yunxiao on the spot, which made the other three look unsightly, especially Xiao Guang. Looking at his son, who was still struggling under the chariot, he said in a deep voice, “City Lord Li, please release my son first. We can talk after that.”
Yunxiao glanced at Xiao Jian. He had no animosity toward the man, but was just upset by his arrogance. With a faint smile, he threw out a palm and put away the chariot instantly. Then, he laughed and said, “I didn’t think the four of you are so poor that you are fighting each other for this cheap place. Well, why don’t you join Yanwu? I can give you all a good life.”
That gave the four men a pause, while the palace lord of the Innate Palace smiled awkwardly and said, “City Lord Li is really good at joking.”
Yunxiao’s eyes turned cold, and he said in a cold voice, “I’m not joking with you. Since the four of you are here, you can join Yanwu together. In doing this, there will be no more arguing, and a deadly battle can be avoided. Don’t you think so?”
With his face flickering, the abbot of the Formless Temple said, “Since City Lord Li is here to mediate, I’ll not argue with the three of them for your sake.” He cupped his fist and said, “I’ll take my leave now!”
“Yes, now that City Lord Li has come forward to mediate, we naturally have to show him respect. Gentlemen, I still have some business to handle in my sect, so I’ll take my leave as well,” said the sect leader of the Darksun Sect with a cupped fist.
“Hold on!” Yunxiao said coldly, “Since you’re not interested in joining Yanwu, I can’t force it. But, as you all know, I’ve been in a few battles with the Xingyang family lately, and it’s been pretty draining. Fate has brought us here together, so I’d like to borrow some Primordial Stones from you.”
“Haha! City Lord Li must be joking! Your city is backed by the Myriad Treasures Store, the number one trading company in the world. You may need other things, but you will never run short of Primordial Stones.” The palace lord of the Innate Palace laughed, but there was a reluctant look on his face.
“Hoho! I hate telling jokes the most! If you regard me as your friend, each of you will lend me fifty thousand medial-grade Primordial Stones. Otherwise, you are not considering me as your friend. As for those who don’t regard me as a friend… Hmph!”
Yunxiao’s eyes grew cold as he said that, and when he snorted, an invisible spiritual power rippled out of him, but Duan Yue spread out his aura timely. The four men were all one-star Martial Grandmasters, so after they were shaken by Yunxiao’s soul power and sensed Duan Yue’s suppressing power, their faces turned pale, and they kept stepping backward.
“Do you want to join Yanwu or lend me fifty thousand medial-grade Primordial Stones? If you think the friendship between us isn’t worth fifty thousand medial-grade Primordial Stones, I don’t mind severing our relationship!”
The four men looked extremely unsightly. They read from Yunxiao’s eyes that their lives would most likely end together if they chose to sever the friendship. All four of them were drenched in a cold sweat. It was the first time in their lives that they had met such blatant extortion. Those who were strong enough to extort them were all figures with a great reputation, and they would never do such a thing to them.
“Even if City Lord Li is in urgent need, there’s no way we could bring so many Primordial Stones with us!” said the abbot of the Formless Temple with a livid face.
“Don’t worry!” Yunxiao waved as he took out a paper and pen and wrote down four identical promissory notes. Then, he held them before the four men and said smilingly, “You just have to put your thumbprints on the notes.”
The four men nearly fainted: they had never seen such a shameless man.
But, the aura exuded from Duan Yue forced the four of them to bow their heads. Gritting their teeth, they bit their thumbs and each put a print on a different note.
With a big smile on his face, Yunxiao put away the promissory notes and said kindly, “The Supreme Palace and I are somewhat connected, so I’ll borrow their old site for a while. You may leave now. Pardon me for not seeing you off.”
The four men were fuming, but their hearts filled with fear as well. Without saying another word, they threw out their chariots and left with their disciples.
They came out to take advantage of others. Yet, they not only suffered humiliation in the end, but also owed someone fifty thousand medial-grade Primordial Stones. For small sects like them, it was considered a great loss.
“Are we going to be ripped off like this and do nothing?”
After flying for several miles, Xiao Guang stopped the others with a voice transmission. His face was extremely dark as he said, “You are all prominent figures as well. If we let him bully us like this without doing anything, how are we going to lift our heads in Firecrow Empire in the future? What would other sects think of us?”
The abbot of the Formless Temple snorted coldly and said, “What do you want to do then? Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. Your son was hurt by him, and you want revenge. Count us out! I don’t believe you don’t know about Yanwu’s strength!”