"W…what do have against me, brat?!" he shouted in panic. I stared at him incredulously, and snorted.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I scoffed. "You lead your sect in here to plunder my sect, killed so many of my comrades, and tried to corner us into enslavery or death, and you still have the guts to ask me what I have against you?" I threw up a hand and tapped my head. "Is there something wrong with your brain?"

"B…but everyone else is doing so too!" Yuan Tian Ya was gesturing at Wu Tuo, Shi Jing and Su Bai Xue. "Why single me out? Why aim for only me?"

"Who says I"m singling you out and aiming only for you? They"ll get your turn." I shrugged. "I just picked you because Qin Lie picked you after Liang Yang Zu died. That"s the only reason."

Yuan Tian Ya blanched at that, shock and incredulity filling his face. "Who the h.e.l.l is Qin Lie?!" he roared.

"You don"t need to know," I replied. The guy obviously hadn"t read Spirit Realm, though to be fair, why should he? Honestly, I should stop ripping it off.

"Are you finished with your conversation?" Tian Yu Di asked, trying to maintain what sc.r.a.ps of his patience that he had left. "Can I kill him already?"

"Sure, be my guest." I stepped aside and gestured for my Ancestral Master to do whatever he needed to do.

To be honest, I wasn"t just copying Spirit Realm and mimicking Qin Lie. I had read in history books and the Internet that the Dark Asura Sect had been one of those sects intent on destroying Heaven and Earth Sect. Yuan Tian Ya had led a particularly large contingent of Dark Asura Sect martial artists to hunt down a good number of Heaven and Earth Sect pract.i.tioners, and was one of those orthodox martial artists who ganged up on my master and drove him to his death. He relentlessly hunted my master, and still refused to give up when Master retired and disappeared into a normal life.

Then again, why should he? I wasn"t naïve and hypocritical to claim that Master was innocent. Having read those books and online articles, I was aware of the atrocities that Master had committed in the name of the Heaven and Earth Sect, and the countless numbers of civilians and martial artists he had slain. He might have treated me very well, but he was far from being an innocent saint who was being pursued by vengeful martial artists for no good reason. Unlike this time with Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, Heaven and Earth Sect had caused their own downfall by indulging in criminal activities, slaughter and atrocities, pillaging villages and other sects, and draining martial artists and people for their qi in order to increase their own strength.

That was why I held no grudge against the Martial Arts Alliance at first, believing that they were only doing what they believed was right, just to preserve justice and protect the weak and innocent. I honestly had no plans for revenge.

…until they pulled this stunt. Having revealed their true colors, I inwardly vowed that I wasn"t going to let them get away with it. For all I knew, the books and online articles published on Heaven and Earth Sect were distorted, falsified and whitewashed to paint Heaven and Earth Sect as evil and the Martial Arts Alliance as a paragon of virtue. A one-sided propaganda that deceived the population about the true nature of the Martial Arts Alliance. Obviously, that didn"t justify Heaven and Earth Sect going around ma.s.sacre countless innocents, but I was sure it was far from the simplistic, one-sided portrayal of black and white, good and evil, that the Martial Arts Alliance painted the picture to be.

So I decided to start with the dude who was involved in the cleanup operation against Master. In a way, I would also be giving Tian Yu Di a chance to get revenge. Moreover, Yuan Tian Ya"s name was similar to Tian Yu Di, which was causing confusion among English readers, so the sooner he died off, the less confusion they would suffer when trying to remember all these exotic Chinese names.

Yuan Tian Ya panicked and ran off, channeling his qi into his prized Spirit Artifact, which seemed more like a chainmail hidden under his clothes.

"Oh, come on," I groaned. "Don"t you start growing green-feathered wings and flying away, or we"ll be in trouble with the copyright law. Well, we can always claim that this is fanfiction, so no one will bother us…"

Tian Yu Di had other plans, however. He appeared in front of a stunned Yuan Tian Ya, and then flicked his forehead.

Yuan Tian Ya"s head vanished in a shower of blood and brain matter, shards of his skull raining down on the ground and pelting the shocked Dark Asura Sect martial artists around him. The closest, overwhelmed by Tian Yu Di"s malicious aura, dropped to the ground and stared, their mouths hanging open as blood streamed down their faces and stained their uniforms.

"W…w…w…"

They were muttering, still unable to believe what they saw.

"Who else should I kill?" Tian Yu Di asked as he returned to his original position beside me, flicking the blood off his fingers.

I shrugged and grinned. "Thank you for making it quick, and not creating a blood slave to chase after him. That was just lame. This is much more satisfying."

"I always aim to please," Tian Yu Di replied indifferently. "And why do you seem to think I"m from the Blood Fiend Sect or something? I can"t conjure blood slaves or use blood techniques. I"m your Ancestral Master from the Heaven and Earth Sect! Don"t confuse me with Xue Li! We"re not going to reenact the whole scene from Spirit Realm, otherwise people can go read that instead!"

"Well, maybe they want to read my cynical criticisms of the original Spirit Realm and how it"s so ridiculous, illogical and hypocritical?" I asked. Not that I was in any position to criticize the original story, but it was just so amusing to point out the logical fallacies and complete lack of intelligence in that story, and how it was always obsessed with describing how beautiful the female characters were even in the most inappropriate of circ.u.mstances. Well, I was pretty sure my personal account and experiences suffered from the same thing, but whatever.

Everyone was watching both me and Tian Yu Di warily. They obviously were unsure of his relationship to me, but it was clear that he was obeying my commands. Though why such a very powerful, venerable elder was obeying a young upstart like me, who was relatively weak and inexperienced, they had no idea.

That didn"t stop them from being afraid, though, especially when they heard Tian Yu Di asking me who he should kill next.

Perhaps I should keep them in suspense. It was always fun to see them squirm. However, I knew that was a surefire method of guaranteeing my downfall. Villains always let their enemies live, stupidly choosing to toy around with them instead of eliminating the threat they would pose as quickly as possible, and it always came to bite them in the a.s.ses.

Not being keen on making the same mistake, I raised my head to look at Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue. They were the commanders of this little invasion. As such, if I got rid of them, this whole conquest would fall apart. Just like dealing with a beast, if I cut off its head, the rest of its body would naturally follow it to death.

Before I could issue the order, however, Zi Shou De spoke up.

"Fei Wu…"

I glanced at him curiously, and my sect leader nodded, composing himself. He must have read my intentions, for he gestured calmly toward the three remaining commanders.

"Those three are different from Liang Yang Zu and Yuan Tian Ya. Divine Shadow Sect was the one who antagonized us and attacked us, while Tian Yuan Ya is but one of the three sect leaders in charge of Dark Asura Sect. If he"s dead, it doesn"t matter because the other two leaders will pick up the reins in his place. And Divine Shadow Sect still have Di Shi Jiu."

"a.s.suming he hasn"t already been killed by Lord Lang Xie," I muttered. Zi Shou De smiled at that, but he continued.

"Nonetheless Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue are truly respectable characters of the six Valley Sects, Cloud Sky Mountain and Snow Valley Sect. if they die, then we have no choice but to fight to the death against the Seven Valley Sects and Cloud Sky Mountain."

Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue were incredibly surprised when they heard Zi Shou De speak up for them. Initially they were a.s.sessing Tian Yu Di"s strength and were hesitating, wondering if they should stake everything they had on destroying him.

Truthfully, they were already considering the option of retreat. They wished to report the situation to the higher-ups, so the higher-ups would send someone else to handle this. That was why they were immensely relieved when they heard Zi Shou De"s words. It gave them a lifeline of sorts.

The three of them, as well as their numerous subordinates, anxiously turned to look at me. Right now, they understood that I was the only one who Tian Yu Di would obey. Even though Zi Shou De was the sect leader, it was clear that Tian Yu Di answered only to me, not to him or Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

However, as much as I respected Zi Shou De, I also disagreed with him.

"They were already planning to fight to the death against us," I pointed out blandly. "They have already invaded our sect, pillaged us and plundered our resources, and worse, slaughtered so many of our civilians, members and Blood Blades martial artists. It"s clear that they always intended to destroy our Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Do you think we can just let them waltz in, wreck our sect to such a sorry state, and then just let them go like this?"

"Er…this…" Chief Great Elder Luo Zhi Chang stammered awkwardly.

Clearly he was extremely worried about Nine-Tailed Fox Sect fighting against the entirety of the Martial Arts Alliance. Even with these numbers and their strength, the ten invading sects this time was just a mere fraction of the power the juggernaut that was the Martial Arts Alliance could wield. Unless we could get some guarantee from the royal family that they would reinforce us with the Imperial Guard, to provoke the Martial Arts Alliance would be too reckless.

Furthermore, exterminating the ten sects here was likely to reduce the chance of the royal family stepping in, for it would paint us in a more negative light. Furthermore, in spite of all this, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was still technically a part of the Martial Arts Alliance, even with our autonomy and independence. They were still hoping for a chance at reconciliation.

Naïve. How incredibly naïve.

"Don"t be naïve," I told the old fools. "You think the Martial Arts Alliance will be willing to reconcile with us after all they have done? Now that we"ve driven the ten sects back, what do you think they will do? They attacked us because they were afraid of our strength – of Blood Blades" strength – and coveted our resources and blacksmiths. Now that we succeeded in driving off ten sects by ourselves, what do you think they would do? It would further confirm their belief of our strength and remind them that we remain a ma.s.sive threat to them. They will send stronger forces to eliminate us." I glanced at the three surviving flabbergasted commanders with scorn. "Do you think these guys will just withdraw and leave us alone? No. even now, they are planning to return to inform the higher-ups of their defeat and advise them to send even more powerful martial artists to handle this matter."

I turned to Zi Shou De and bowed.

"With respect, Sect Leader, it doesn"t change anything even if we allow these people to live. We are already locked in a battle to the death with their sects. Whether we let them live or kill them, their sects will still send stronger people after us. Or the Martial Arts Alliance will send more powerful forces after us. On the other hand…"

I glanced at the outer sect, and further beyond, at the burning and blazing Tushan City that had visibly been ransacked and torn apart by the invading forces.

"…if we allow them to just walk out of here after killing so many of our people, after robbing us, what kind of message are we sending not just to the Martial Arts Alliance, but to everyone in the Great Zhou Empire? That we"re a sect that"s easy to bully? That anyone can barge into our city, kill our people, **** our women, steal our resources and Spirit Artifacts, and then walk away without suffering any negative consequences? We"ll be a laughing stock…and more people will attack us, thinking we are weaklings, easy targets who will fold and give in without a fight. If we compromise now, the Martial Arts Alliance will continue to harry us, will take a foot when we give them an inch, until we have nothing left to give them."

I turned to Tian Yu Di, who was nodding in absolute approval.

"Well said, Sect Leader!" he declared, clapping his hands. His eyes shone with glee. "You are right. Your predecessors would have said the same thing!"

Even Zi Shou De looked convinced, and he nodded. "You raise an excellent point," he conceded. "We cannot allow these barbarians to take advantage of us and think that we"re so easy to bully. They must suffer the consequences for attacking us."

"We"ll be destroyed either way." The fourth Great Elder sighed. "If we"re going to die, then we might as well go out with dignity."

"And the royal family might still be persuaded to help." The second Great Elder pursed his lips. "It"ll be more difficult to convince them, but even they understand if we explain that this is self-defense. No to mention…" he spread his hands and spoke sarcastically. "Have you found the weapons of ma.s.s destruction that we"re supposedly hiding?"

None of the enemies spoke. They could only hang their heads in shame and fear.

"Even so, we can"t just kill all of them…" the third Great Elder protested. "The royal family might be put off by that and call it excessive…then we"ll have to forget about asking them for help."

"Even so, they still have to bear the consequences." Zi Shou De glared at Wu Tuo, Shi Jing Yun and Su Bai Xue. "They came here and slaughtered so many of our sect members. I trust that they also have the resolve to face death as well."

"But…" Third Great Elder protested. "Killing all of them…that"s too much…!"

"Sect Leader is correct. They have to bear the consquences. But no one says the consequences have to be their deaths."

"Oh? Sect Leader, what do you want to do?" Tian Yu Di raised an eyebrow. I contemplated for a moment, and then communicated with him mentally through the Golden Dragon Medallion.

"Elder Tian, how confident are you in handling the Martial Arts Alliance?"

"How would I know? It"s been nine hundred years since I was in the outside world. I don"t know how much stronger or weaker the Martial Arts Alliance has become."

"a.s.suming they"re of the same strength."

"Hmm…" Tian Yu Di paused for a moment. "Back then, it took the combined forces of all the major sects just to take me on, and I killed almost all of them." he regarded me, and while outwardly it seemed to the others that we were silent, he was still talking quite a bit through the Golden Dragon Medallion. "But at that time, it included your precious Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s members just to seal me. And they couldn"t even kill me." He scoffed. "If I"m at full strength, and we combine our forces, judging from what I"ve seen of your comrades and the battle puppets they wield, I believe we"ll be able to handle them if they send twenty-five percent of their forces."

That sounded like good odds, but I doubted the Martial Arts Alliance would stop at sending just twenty-five percent of their forces. I also resisted the urge to brag to Tian Yu Di that the battle puppets were actually ama.s.sed by me and sold to the sect.

Well, that was better than nothing, and given the typical arrogance and stupidity of antagonists, I bet they would send drips and draps, continuing to underestimate us and sending below what was required to subdue us. Besides, it was impractical to send more than a quarter of their forces to conquer just one sect, as it would leave them thin on a lot of other areas, especially in the neverending war against demonic sects, and even foreign invaders from the West and North. Nope, most likely they couldn"t afford to send more than twenty percent of their forces.

More importantly, a single statement had caught my attention

"Are you at full strength?" I asked him quietly. Tian Yu Di snorted.

"Of course not. I"m barely at half strength. For me to recover even eighty percent of my strength, I"ll need at least twenty years. I"ve been sealed and imprisoned for too long. Of course, if I obtain high quality Spirit Pills and nourishment, and qi to absorb and purify, then I"ll be able to shorten it to ten years. Maybe."

"I"m sure we"ll find something that works for you," I a.s.sured him. Then I placed the Golden Dragon Medallion back in my pocket and made my decision. In a single motion, I summoned my six Castellax battle-automata.

Everyone went still at my action. I smiled.

"No mercy. No forgiveness. You came here and attacked us, murdered so many of our comrades. You"ll have to pay the price fully, in blood." after issuing the declaration, my smile widened coldly. "Don"t worry. We"ll allow some of you to live."

"That"s right!"

"We can"t forgive them!"

"Show them no mercy!"

The Blood Blades roared their approval. Even Sect Lady Zi Da Ji, who had been quiet the entire time, raised her voice to support me.

"Dear, he"s right. We can"t let them get away with this. We"ll only make ourselves look weak and invite more bullying in future if we give in here. Not to mention, they have no intention of letting us go." Zi Da Ji rose to her feet and signaled for all Blood Blades to commence attack. "Disciple Fei Wu is right! We shall show no mercy and grant no forgiveness to those who bared their fangs at us and draw their swords against us! We are Blood Blades!"

Zi Shou De merely smiled helplessly. "Do whatever you want, my love. I"ll leave our guests to you and the Blood Blades."

The Blood Blades all yelled their approval, their bloodl.u.s.t surging exponentially.

"Who should we kill and who should we let live?" Zi Da Ji asked me, remembering my last remark. I smiled and pushed my gla.s.ses up.

"We should capture the higher-ups and commanders and imprison them all, and get rid of the rest. We will not allow any outsider who set foot into Nine-Tailed Fox Sect to leave. Don"t let them think our sect is a place where they can come in as they wish and leave as they wish, after tearing our home down. Imprison the higher-ups and get rid of the rest!"

"You dare!" Su Bai Xue exclaimed.

"Why wouldn"t we?" I retorted. "How come you can dare to barge in and pillage our sect, but we wouldn"t dare to punish you for your crimes?"

"Kid, you want to imprison all of us?" Wu Tuo chuckled, but his expression was slightly hostile. I turned to look at him and smiled sweetly.

"Would you prefer if we just kill all of you, Master Wu Tuo?"

His face fell, and I savored his stunned speechlessness.

"Kid, we can let Nine-Tailed Fox Sect go for today, but if you dare to act recklessly…" Shi Jing Yun growled coldly. I turned to glare at him icily.

"Let us go for today…so in other words, you"re admitting that you"ll come back to attack us some other day?" my lips curled into a sneer. "Do we look like an idiot who would let you go just so you can attack us again later?"

Shi Jing Yun"s jaw dropped and he struggled to speak, but just like Wu Tuo, he was at a total loss for words.

Hypocrites. Every last one of them. f.u.c.king hypocrites who thought they could barge in and do whatever they like…presumably because they were stronger, and now that they found themselves outmatched, they started resorting to rhetoric to appeal to us to receive mercy and let them go? As if it was going to be that easy!

Maybe I should just order Tian Yu Di to kill every single one of them, after all.

"Since we"re going to die, let"s go all out!" one of Dark Asura Sect"s commanders shouted. "As long as we combine our powers and kill that evil man, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect won"t be able to fight back at all!"

I burst out laughing. "And who are you to go around labeling others as evil?" I snorted, clutching my stomach. "That"s so rich! You were killing so many of us earlier, but when Elder Tian here helped us fight back and slew your sect leader, you start calling him evil. Do you guys need a mirror? b.l.o.o.d.y hypocrites!"

As you would expect from hypocrites, they ignored logic and reason, paying no attention to me and charging at Tian Yu Di. My Ancestral Master glanced at me.

"I suppose I can kill these idiots?"

"Go ahead. Kill everyone who attacks you. Just let those who surrender and beg for mercy live." It was in bad taste to kill someone who had given up and wasn"t fighting back, so I decided to add that condition. I turned to Zi Da Ji. "Sect Lady, will that be all right?"

"Fine by me. I haven"t sunk to such depths as to slaughter people who no longer have the will to fight. Unlike some people." Her gaze swept across the shameless attackers who were hurling themselves at Blood Blades. Following my example, all of them had summoned their battle puppets and were moving them down with fire and bolter. Her lips quirked. "I hope none of them surrenders, though."

"We should keep the higher-ups alive, at least."

Even as we clashed, the commanders of the invading forces stayed their hand, probably because they heard what I said about sparing those who weren"t fighting back. Their subordinates, on the other hand, were throwing themselves forward into a meatgrinder and I was a little taken aback that their leaders had not ordered them to surrender and stop fighting. Perhaps they didn"t value the lives of their subordinates.

"Do you think you can overturn Nine-Tailed Fox Sect"s fate with just a single evil man?" Su Bai Xue frowned.

"There you go again. What right do you have to call other people evil when you"re just as equally evil?" I snapped. Su Bai Xue merely stared at me coldly.

"The plan to subjugate Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was put together by the Martial Arts Alliance, the collusion between countless orthodox sects. Your fate was sealed long ago when they had decided their plans. You cannot change anything!"

"Perhaps if I"m by myself, you might be right." Tian Yu Di chuckled. He gestured toward the Blood Blades, who were tearing into Dark Asura Sect and martial artists from the other sects with gusto. "But I"m not just a single man. Don"t discount the strength of Nine-Tailed Fox Sect too."

"Sect Leader Zi, I implore you to reconsider and stop resisting," Wu Tuo begged.

"And allow my sect members to be killed or enslaved, to be divided among the tyrannical Martial Arts Alliance?" Zi Shou De scoffed. "Do you think I"m going to sacrifice my subordinates just to save my own skin and the skin of the inner sect Elders? If we"re going to die, we"re going to die fighting together to the very last!"

"Hmph!" Shi Jing Yun snarled condescendingly. "You will never be able to resist the overwhelming strength of the Martial Arts Alliance! As a former member, you should know very well how strong we are!"

"Who says Nine-Tailed Fox Sect cannot change their fate?"

Right at that moment, Lang Xie"s voice suddenly floated into the plaza from outside.

"The so-called Martial Arts Alliance was formed together by all these orthodox sects coming together and allying to fight against a common enemy, the demonic sects. But when one of their members start becoming powerful, these other sects all got fearful and decided to get together to attack it. Think about it. I know you"re not stupid. If the Martial Arts Alliance dared to attack one of their major sects out of jealousy and fear, then what makes you think any of you are safe? Don"t you want to know who will be next?"

He set his eyes on Su Bai Xue and Shi Jing Yun as he strode forward, holding a sharp sword while waves of potent qi exuded from him. To everyone"s amazement, he was covered in blood, but sensing the qi in the blood, I knew it wasn"t his blood.

"What makes you think the Seven Valley Sects wouldn"t be next? The seven sects are a formidable force to be reckon with when combined…do you think the Martial Arts Alliance will leave you alone to grow?" he smirked. "No, the very reason why they approached you to a.s.sign you this task was to weaken you when you clashed against us, so that it would be easier to get rid of you later."

"That"s…!"

"You lie!"

Both Su Bai Xue and Shi Jung Yun shouted in denial, but the hesitation and fear in their eyes betrayed their beliefs. They knew there was at least a modic.u.m of truth in Lang Xie"s words, and they couldn"t help but suspect the Martial Arts Alliance"s schemes.

Too bad it was too late.

"Even though Nine-Tailed Fox Sect devoted most of its efforts and resources into blacksmithing and Spirit Engraving, we still became one of the eight major sects. What do you think will happen if we decide to dedicate more attention to martial arts?" Lang Xie was growing bolder and louder as he strode into the plaza. A few martial artists ran toward him, but before they could even reach within a few meters, they simply expoded as Lang Xie"s qi collided with them.

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"So what if the Martial Arts Alliance attacks us? So what if you send a Pure Spirit Stage pract.i.tioner against us?" Lang Xie"s eyes narrowed. "Are they not mortal? Can"t they still not be killed by me?"

He reached into his storage device and pulled out a disembodied head before throwing it at the feet of Shi Jing Yun, Su Bai Xue and Wu Tuo. The trio jumped when the b.l.o.o.d.y head hit the ground and rolled, leaving a thick trail of blood in its wake before eventually stopping at the trembling feet of Su Bai Xue.

The eyes of the head were still wide open in disbelief, and were now staring directly into Su Bai Xue"s eyes.

"Lord…Lord Tu Xi!" Su Bai Xue screamed, losing control and trembling. Even Shi Jing Yun and Wu Tuo cried out in shock and fear when they recognized the features.

Tu Xi, a high-level Pure Spirit Stage pract.i.tioner, had been dispatched by the Martial Arts Alliance to deal with the most problematic person, Lang Xie.

But now he had actually been killed by Lang Xie, and his head was rolling on the ground, his body nowhere to be seen.

"H…how…?!"

Lang Xie"s strength was well known by all throughout the Great Zhou Empire, and even the Martial Arts Alliance deeply respected him, being wary of his power. That was why, when they schemed against Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, one of their first priorities was to eliminate this high-level threat. In order to successfully conquer Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they recognized that they first had to remove Lang Xie, or the chances of failure would skyrocket.

That was why they planned to lure Lang Xie to a trap, where Blood Shadow, Liang Yang Zu, Di Shi Jiu and Yuan Tian Ya would team up to kill him together. Well, Blood Shadow was supposed to deal with Hai Rong, but the other three were still supposed to combined forces and slay him.

However, Lang Xie had broken free from that trap, and now, two of those three had been killed right in front of everyone"s eyes by Tian Yu Di. h.e.l.l, even Blood Shadow had been eliminated by Tian Yu Di, his body taken over by the latter. A more problematic threat than even Lang Xie had shown up to lend Nine-Tailed Fox Sect his strength.

The third guy, Di Shi Jiu, had pursued Lang Xie in order to eliminate him, even joining up with Tu Xi from the Martial Arts Alliance"s upper echelons (apparently he was from the Kun Lun Sect, as I would find out later) to guarantee his death.

However, instead of guaranteeing his death, Lang Xie showed up in front of everyone once more, alive and well – even though he was covered from head to toe in blood. Not only that, he bore the head of Tu Xi, the person they counted on to kill him, and threw it back at them. Tu Xi"s head was rolling at the feet of the conspirators, b.l.o.o.d.y evidence of his failure.

Tu Xi was at a high level of Pure Spirit Stage, yet he had died such a horrific death even with Di Shi Jiu"s a.s.sistance. Just how strong was Lang Xie?

Again, these people were obsessed with realms and stages and levels when it was clear that they were utter bulls.h.i.t. Well, I couldn"t say that with Tian Yu Di obviously being a Nascent Soul Stage pract.i.tioner and dominating everyone else in the battlefield, but clearly stages were far from the only deciding factor in a battle.

The three masterminds, Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue, all looked utterly dismayed and fell silent, at a loss for words.

"Oh…not bad!" Tian Yu Di observed Lang Xie, impressed. "Not bad at all! He is able to cultivate the incomplete Heaven and Earth Formula to such a high degree even though he has only learned Heaven and Earth Absorption! And despite his qi not being pure enough, he still maintains his sanity and doesn"t require to feed off the blood of others! Excellent!"

He then swiveled to stare at me. "I thought you said your master is dead?"

"Lord Lang Xie is one of my teachers, but he"s not my master," I told him truthfully. Tian Yu Di thought for a bit, and then nodded contemplatively.

"True…your techniques are a lot more complete and perfect than his. It"s hard to believe that he"s the one who taught you Heaven and Earth Formula when his qi is not as pure as yours, and his techiques are not complete."

Even so, he still looked very impressed by Lang Xie. He glanced at me.

"You should recruit him into our sect."

"Nine-Tailed Fox Sect might as well be part of Heaven and Earth Sect in future," I muttered. Tian Yu Di grinned.

"Hah! I like that idea! So that"s why you"re saving the sect!"

No, but he didn"t have to know that. I leet Tian Yu Di think whatever he wanted, and watched as Lang Xie approach Zi Shou De. He bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Sect Leader."

"Excellent! As expected, you did not let us down. You"ve returned." Zi Shou De nodded in delight.

"What happened to Di Shi Jiu?" Hai Rong asked.

"Di Shi Jiu was heavily injured and fled," Lang Xie replied. As he did, Blood Blades were withdrawing. Even Zi Da Ji stopped fighting to approach her vice-commander.

"It"s good to see you, Lang Xie."

"Good to see you too, Sect Lady," he responded. He glanced at the pile of corpses belonging to the Dark Asura Sect. "I see you"ve been busy in my absence."

"Oh, you know…we"re just doing our usual jobs," Zi Da Ji said with an indifferent shrug.

Tian Yu Di had also paused when he caught sight of Lang Xie, and now that there was a lull in the battle, and n.o.body was fighting back, it seemed awkward to go back into attacking them. He glanced at me.

"So, should we capture the rest of them now, or continue killing most of them?"

I hesitated for a moment, and then turned to my recently arrived vice-commander. He seemed to have ideas of his own, and I respected him, so I wanted to know what he thought. "Lord Lang Xie, what do you think?"

"Capture the higher-ups alive, and demand an expensive ransom."

Lang Xie didn"t hesitate at all. He glared at the trio, his eyes gleaming murderously. Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue all trembled at the sight, but he ignored their fear and continued mercilessly.

"They have murdered so many of our members, and the Martial Arts Alliance have captured the members of our branches that are spread throughout the Great Zhou Empire and are unable to return to the main sect grounds in time. They are being held hostage and enslaved. I need at least a few people alive to exchange for the safety of our members."

"You heard him," I told Tian Yu Di, who also seemed to admire Lang Xie enough to show no reluctance in obeying. He grinned.

The next thing we knew, nine spiritual chains suddenly burst out of the Spirit Engraved Pillars behind me, whipping out like serpentine dragons zeroing in on their prey. Before they could react, Shi Jing Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue were caught by the chains and tightly bound to the Spirit Engraved Pillars, completely immobilized.

The three of them paled, realizing the enormous difference in strengths between them and Tian Yu Di instantly. They also realized it was futile to resist.

"Very good." Lang Xie turned his dark gaze upon the remaining enemy martial artists still milling around in the plaza. "Leave Shi Jung Yun, Wu Tuo and Su Bai Xue alive, and kill everyone else."

The moment they heard Lang Xie"s death sentence, all the remaining martial artists from the ten invading sects paled from fright and despair.