Li Jiankun and the others naturally became red, not expecting the referee to be so biased towards Zhou Ziqing.

They learned a lesson about the cruelness of this world. When one wasn’t strong enough, they wouldn’t get help from others either.

“We defeated her so we have the right to decide her fate.” Jiankun retorted.

The sword saint turned cold: “If I say this ends here, it ends here. It is my authority as a referee.”

“Hahaha…” Zhou Ziqing couldn’t help but sneer at them: “So what if you won, you still can’t do anything to me! Remember well, my sect will turn Mountguard into ashes. You will regret ever opposing me.”

She was embarra.s.sed and resentful for losing to the group. Alas, their inability to kill her prompted the gloating.

The sword saint frowned after hearing this. He risked his reputation saving her in order to curry favor from the two behemoths. Who would have thought that she would still act so foolishly?

Everyone knew that she would go on a crazy mission for revenge after this and destroy Mountguard. However, keep that implicit instead of declaring it right now. What an unwise decision.

Alas, he was riding the tiger and couldn’t get down now. He had no choice but to maintain this course.

“Then we’ll kill you first!” The furious Ruoxi thrust her sword forward.

“Stop. Like I said, spilling blood here is shaming the sacred ground. No one can be disrespectful towards the progenitor.” The sword saint used a finger flick to stop the sword and uttered coldly.

He a.s.sumed the moral high ground of protecting the progenitor’s prestige in order to stop the seven from killing Ziqing.

In reality, this was a planned fight from the start and wouldn’t have stained the sacred ground at all.

“That’s unfair, this was decided to be a fight to the death from the beginning. We should be able to kill her now.” Zhao Zhiting disagreed.

The spectators were satisfied with just watching. Some were unhappy with the biased sword saint but this wasn’t the time to say anything.

“This is my final judgment. I treat everyone equally and would have done the same if your group had lost earlier.” The sword saint said.

The group didn’t believe him at all; their lips pursed into a disdainful sneer.

“Hmph, I highly doubt it, everyone can see your bias.” The young w.a.n.g Xuehong couldn’t help himself.

The sword saint didn’t like this blatant comment about his bias, even though it was as clear as day. It made his face turn red with both anger and awkwardness.

“Fool! A referee has the right to make decisions. If you don’t respect my authority, I will teach you a lesson in your senior’s stead!” He threatened and took one step forward, showing some aggression.

“He’s ruining his own reputation.” One ancestor shook his head after seeing the sword saint’s conduct.

He clearly threw away his face in order to save Zhou Ziqing. Unfortunately, the situation would be worse for him if he were to let her die. That’s the same as offending both Central Sacred Ground and Eight Trigrams Kingdom. He weighed his options and made his decision.

“An idiot like you isn’t qualified to teach them anything.” A casual voice sounded.

Everyone looked over and saw that the speaker was Li Qiye.

He opened his eyes and watched everything, seemingly nonchalant at the unfair treatment of his disciples.

The seven became excited because everything was going to be fine with their ancestor backing them up.

“You!” The sword saint didn’t like being called an “idiot” in front of the crowd.

Moreover, deep in his mind, he didn’t give a d.a.m.n about Mountguard or this so-called “ancestor”.

This sentiment was shared by many in the crowd. This ancestor from Mountguard couldn’t be that strong. He could only be an Ascender at best, and a low-level one at that.

On the other hand, the sword saint was a mighty Ascender. He wouldn’t give this cripple a second look.

“The referee’s decisions are final since that’s the rules! Challenging this is the same as ignoring the laws of Reincarnation Mountain and the teachings of the progenitor…” He took a deep breath and coldly said.

“Alright, stop a.s.suming an unwarranted role of authority or frame them of disrespect the progenitor. From henceforth, I cancel your status as a referee, scram to the side.” Li Qiye waved his hand and interrupted.

“You!” How could the sword saint allow something like this to happen? His reputation would be ruined.

He took a deep breath and said: “Before the battle, both the Central Sacred Ground and your sect have agreed to my proposal on top of accepting the rules of Reincarnation Mountain City. To renege will incite the contempt of others…”

Weizheng turned red after hearing this. He didn’t ask the guy to be the referee, it was just that there was no other candidate. Who would have thought that such a famous character could act so shamelessly?

“Is that so? Then let the heroes here decide whether you were impartial or not. I’m a believer of fairness, as long as more than half believe so, then your judgment will be upheld.” Li Qiye was unmoved.

The sword saint turned towards the crowd. They exchanged glances and no one wanted to step up. Even a fool could see his bias for Zhou Ziqing.

They were certainly afraid of offending the two behemoths and didn’t step up for the seven, but this didn’t mean they agreed with his reputation-destroying act either.

The sword saint became red after seeing the lack of support and stood there awkwardly.

“Scram already, stop embarra.s.sing yourself.”  Li Qiye said flatly.

The guy’s color kept on changing; his expression became very unsightly. He destroyed his own reputation in order to save Ziqing. Who would have thought that it was all for naught?

“Fine, then I have nothing to do with what happens today.” He left the stage.

“Senior!” Ziqing shouted after seeing the sword saint being forced out.

Alas, the sword saint’s face wasn’t thick enough to continue defending her.

“Put her down.” Li Qiye ordered.

“Sacred Lord, save me!” She screamed in horror as death approaches.

“Who dares to kill a disciple from Flame Banner Altar?!” A thunderous scowl p.r.i.c.ked everyone’s ears.

A middle-aged man slowly walked onto the stage. He had a lofty stature with a stern pair of eyes.

Behind him were numerous fiery banners causing him to be engulfed in a red glow. One could feel the heat coming from him even when far away.

“Flame Banner Sacred Lord.” Someone immediately recognized him.