Xiao Chen continued to hold up the golden feather. He did not change his principles just because the Purple-Clad Marquis “compromised.” Instead, he prepared to use the golden feather, not hesitating to fall together if needed.
How hateful!
The Purple-Clad Marquis roared furiously in his heart as rage built endlessly. Never had he ever felt so conflicted and sullen. It was not just because of fear of that golden feather in Xiao Chen’s hand; Xiao Chen’s persistence made him very fearful as well.
Since ancient times, there had been countless outstanding talents. Perhaps they might have been more outstanding than Xiao Chen. However, his pride and persistence were unprecedented—unique.
“Good! Good! Good!”
The Purple-Clad Marquis said good three times in a row after making a decision. He was no longer willing to waste time here with Xiao Chen. He said coldly, “Hand over my son’s body, and today, this Marquis will let you off for now!”
The golden yellow feather spun around Xiao Chen and absorbed the pillar of fire soaring into the sky back into itself. The darkness disappeared, and sunlight shone once more.
Everyone on Heavenly Star Island showed a smile. They won!
“Shaobai, hand the corpse over to the Purple-Clad Marquis,” Xiao Chen said as he put away the golden plume feather.
“Wait up! Purple-Clad Marquis, since you know that you are in the wrong, you can’t just take this corpse away for nothing.”
Just as Lan Shaobai was about to take out the corpse, two people suddenly appeared from nowhere in the damaged hall—one old man and one youth. Even the Purple-Clad Marquis had not noticed the existence of these two beforehand.
Everyone immediately focused on the old man who spoke and got startled. He was actually another Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor.
Among the onlookers, Lan Shaobai and Xiao Yu revealed expressions of extreme surprise when they saw the faces of this old man and youth.
The youth was none other than Lan Tianji, who had gone to the Asura Race. He finally returned after a long time.
Furthermore, Lan Tianji also brought back a Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor of the Asura Race. On further contemplation, the situation made sense. Within the same cultivation, who else, aside from the Asura Race with their spatial talents, could silently appear before the Purple-Clad Marquis?
When the Purple-Clad Marquis saw the old man’s appearance, his expression changed; he recognized this person. “You are the Flying Snow Manor’s Lan Chaofeng, the Lan Chaofeng who was once the top rank of the Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sin Ranking!”
The Flying Snow Manor was a mysterious a.s.sa.s.sin organization in the Kunlun Realm. Any cultivator could register to be an a.s.sa.s.sin there. One could choose to let their ident.i.ty be public or hide it. Most people feared getting into trouble, so they used pseudonyms.
Only the few people who either did not share that fear or were already famous in the first place directly used their true ident.i.ty. Such people were normally loose cultivators.
By completing difficult a.s.sa.s.sination missions, one would earn points and raise one’s grade.
The Heaven Series was the highest grade of the Flying Snow Manor. If one became a Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sin, every time one completed a job, they would receive a sky-high reward.
However, the most basic requirement to become a Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sin was to be a Martial Emperor. After that, one would have to undergo rigorous testing before one could be conferred a Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sin.
One of the tests was to kill five Martial Emperors. Just the thought of it seemed extremely difficult.
After one cultivated the Heart of an Emperor and advanced to Martial Emperor, one would be extremely difficult to kill. It was not rare for Martial Emperors to be defeated, but it would be incredibly difficult to kill a Martial Emperor.
As of now, the number of Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sins in the entire Flying Snow Manor could be counted on two hands. All of them possessed unfathomable strength, making people tremble in fear at the sound of their names.
Ordinary people would not understand the status of these Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sins, never having heard of them before. However, once a Martial Emperor’s strength reached a certain level, these a.s.sa.s.sins’ status would no longer be a secret.
Due to the innate spatial talents of the Asura Race, they held an advantage in a.s.sa.s.sinations. In reality, many of the famous experts of the Flying Snow Manor were Asura Race cultivators.
This unprepossessing old man had actually been the top rank of the Heaven Series a.s.sa.s.sin Ranking. This status inspired a certain automatic fear.
This seemingly unprepossessing Lan Chaofeng smiled faintly and said, “I have not made a move for many years already. Unexpectedly, the Purple-Clad Marquis from the distant Heavenly Starry Ocean has heard of me before. How surprising!”
The Purple-Clad Marquis smiled coldly to himself. This old man had killed at least ten Martial Emperors. In the circle of Martial Emperors, this fellow’s name was even more terrifying than that of many Sovereign Martial Emperors.
This person was known as the Life Requisitor Asura. He had not taken on any missions for the past several hundred years already, and his name slowly faded away in their circle.
Unexpectedly, this person whom Martial Emperors were the most unwilling to run into appeared in this run-down place. Despite there being no news of this person for several hundred years, this fellow was actually still alive and had even advanced to Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor. Furthermore, his cultivation was even deeper than the Purple-Clad Marquis’s.
When the Life Requisitor Asura was still a Minor Heavenly Martial Emperor, he already posed a threat to Greater Heavenly Martial Emperors. Now that he had advanced to Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor, the Purple-Clad Marquis would, all the more, not be his match, especially when his cultivation was higher than the Purple-Clad Marquis’s.
The Purple-Clad Marquis felt very depressed. He had initially been very confident of success. However, first, there had been Xiao Chen’s unyielding pride, which kept forcing him to back down.
Now, there was Lan Chaofeng, making it uncertain whether he could get his son’s corpse back.
The Purple-Clad Marquis raged in his heart. He looked at Lan Chaofeng and asked, “What exactly do you want? This has nothing to do with you, right?!”
Lan Chaofeng replied indifferently, “It is very simple. Since you already admit that you were in the wrong, apologize to my disciple in place of your son and then apologize to this young brother. If you do not want to apologize, that’s fine as well. Just leave behind ten million Black Astral Coins, or you can forget about getting your son’s corpse back.”
All the cultivators on Heavenly Star Island, as well as those old men outside, could not help thinking, Tyrannical!
The Purple-Clad Marquis came to seek trouble in retaliation for his son’s death. However, not only did he fail to do that, but he also had to give Heavenly Star Island an apology. This mysterious old man that suddenly appeared was truly tyrannical.
“Lan Chaofeng, don’t go overboard!”
The Purple-Clad Marquis immediately became angry. He did not care for the ten million Black Astral Coins. However, he did not want to lose face like that.
“Haha! Indeed, after one thousand years of idleness, the nickname Life Requisitor Asura has become merely a nickname to some people.”
Lan Chaofeng smiled faintly, and an ancient black coin appeared in his hand. This ancient coin looked like it was alive, dancing around his five fingers. This was just a simple movement, but it was so dazzling that it made everyone dizzy.
Only then did everyone notice that this unprepossessing old man had a perfect pair of hands.
This was because as the ancient coin danced around, no one could feel any energy fluctuation. This incredible movement was purely due to the old man’s nimble fingers.
As the Purple-Clad Marquis watched the mysterious ancient coin dance around, his heart sank. Rumor said that when that coin stopped moving, that would be when Lan Chaofeng made his move.
Even more exaggerated rumors said that when one saw Lan Chaofeng’s ancient coin, one could forget about fleeing because it would be impossible. When the Black Astral Coin stopped moving, one could forget about making a counterattack, as there would no longer be any opportunity. One should just quietly wait for death.
In Lan Chaofeng’s long, bloodthirsty career, countless famous people had used their lives to verify the authenticity of this rumor. It was the origin of the nickname Life Requisitor Asura.
The Purple-Clad Marquis’s thoughts raced as he considered thousands of measures in mere moments. However, none of them gave him the confidence to escape Lan Chaofeng unscathed.
“Bang!”
With a wave of the Purple-Clad Marquis’s hand, a pile of Black Astral Coins appeared in the ruined hall. He said sullenly, “Give me my son’s corpse.”
Lan Shaobai, who had long since been prepared to do so, waved his hand, and a coffin came out of his spatial ring.
The Purple-Clad Marquis put the coffin away without even looking at it. Then, he turned, tore s.p.a.ce apart, and quickly left the place.
Lan Chaofeng, who used only one coin to drive off the Purple-Clad Marquis, smiled faintly. No one saw him do anything, but that mysterious ancient coin vanished.
When everyone saw the Purple-Clad Marquis leave, cries of joy resounded all over Heavenly Star Island. Someone as strong as the Purple-Clad Marquis suffered such a disadvantage on Heavenly Star Island and did not dare to have any other thoughts.
This made all the cultivators who stood out for Xiao Chen incredibly proud. A glorious feeling spread in their hearts.
“Azure Dragon King, I forgot to mention something earlier. I said that I was here to visit Heavenly Star Island, but I came empty-handed. That is simply inappropriate. Please do accept these five million Black Astral Coins.”
“My memory has really grown poor at my old age. Azure Dragon King, please do not mind. My five million Black Astral Coins can barely be used as a gift. In the future, this old man will make up for it when I come for a formal visit.”
The eight old men, who had initially been prepared to leave, quickly ran forward. Smiles filled their faces as they dumped piles of five million Black Astral Coins and insisted that Xiao Chen keep the money.
These old men did not even give Xiao Chen a chance to refuse. They simply tossed out the Black Astral Coins and left hastily.
Time after time, Xiao Chen only inspired fear in them, deterring them from offending Heavenly Star Island in the future.
When these old men saw the scene of the many cultivators on Heavenly Star Island united in heart against a Martial Emperor threatening Xiao Chen, all daring to step forward and oppose a Martial Emperor, and saw the mysterious Martial Emperor of the Asura Race, they were convinced that Heavenly Star Island’s rise would come soon. It would be a good idea to establish good relations.h.i.+ps early.
Xiao Chen’s expression remained calm; he did not really care about those Black Astral Coins. Together with Lan Shaobai, he swiftly approached that tyrannical Asura Race Martial Emperor.
If this old man had not appeared this time, even if the Purple-Clad Marquis was forced away, the Purple-Clad Marquis would not feel satisfied and would have returned sooner or later.
However, now that the Purple-Clad Marquis was frightened away, even if invited, he would not dare to return.
“How come I never heard you mention your master?” Xiao Chen asked Lan Shaobai, who was beside him.
Lan Shaobai’s smile slowly faded. It seemed like he had recalled some bad news. Then, he replied, “Five years ago, my master said he was going to break through to Sovereign Martial Emperor. Since then, there had been no news of him. Based on today, it seems like he failed in his breakthrough.”
Breaking through to Sovereign Martial Emperor not only came with extreme danger, but there would also be only one chance. If one missed this chance, there would not be a second chance to advance to Sovereign Martial Emperor. There were no precedents of a second chance since ancient times.
Xiao Chen consoled Lan Shaobai, “It’s alright. At least, he is fine.”