After Lin Feng ran until he was finally outside the Qingyun Sect's boundaries, his exhausted and injured body could no longer hold up. He collapsed in front of a mud puddle, gazing up at the sky, gasping for breath as if savoring the fortune of being alive.
As they say, misfortune always befalls the unfortunate.
Before Lin Feng could even appreciate the value of life, new trouble descended once more.
Just as Lin Feng, supporting his injured body, was about to find a place to recover, He Yishou and Feng Xiunian, along with a group of people, slowly surrounded him.
"You? Who are you?"
At this moment, Lin Feng's body was unsteady, and his speech was also intermittent. He only felt that the Evil Blade, broken in half, made him wary of these people approaching.
Feng Xiunian spat and strode forward, saying, "Kid, I advise you to hand over anything valuable you have, or I'll snap your twig and berries."
Lin Feng instinctively felt a tightening in his groin and tried to circulate his spiritual energy.
But upon trying, he found that the spiritual energy in his body was already completely depleted, with only half a percent barely maintaining the operation of his qi sea.
Moreover, he was covered in injuries, especially from being struck by the dao rhythm of an Emperor-grade spiritual artifact. The meridians throughout his body were covered with serious internal injuries, giving him almost no chance of winning against these two bandits at the fifth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm.
Therefore, he cupped his hands and said, "Big brothers, I was in a hurry today and didn't bring any money with me. How about you tell me your names and where you are, and I'll deliver it with both hands one day."
Feng Xiunian laughed upon hearing this: "Kid, are you kidding me? Hand it over one day? Why don't we just hand over your hands right now? I advise you to stop scheming. You don't want me to tell my brothers to pour cream puffs into your eyes, do you?"
"Hehehe~~"
The surrounding gang members also laughed along, their gazes towards Lin Feng as if they were looking at a dead man.
Lin Feng's eyes were cold. He instinctively reached for the last Spirit Enhancement Talisman in his pocket, ready to make a run for it.
But Feng Xiunian saw this action and immediately shouted, "What are you hiding? Hand it over!"
Lin Feng's body trembled. He decisively prepared to crush the Spirit Enhancement Talisman with his spiritual energy.
However, the previous high-intensity battles had already exhausted his stamina and spiritual energy. Now, he couldn't even muster the spiritual energy to activate the talisman.
Seeing this, Feng Xiunian strode forward resolutely and roared, "Are you going to hand it over or not? Don't make me do it myself!"
"Get lost!"
Lin Feng roared, decisively swinging his blade to kill Feng Xiunian.
But Feng Xiunian, facing the faltering blade, easily dodged it. Then, he raised his fist, the size of a sandbag, and delivered a "thud" to Lin Feng's handsome face, sending him spinning in place for two rounds.
Before he hit the ground, there was another "crack" of a knee strike, followed by a Thomas spin that brought him back to his original position.
Then, in Lin Feng's shocked and disbelieving eyes, Feng Xiunian unleashed a combo. Accompanied by the rhythmic sounds of "kacha" and "crack," Lin Feng was immediately beaten into a daze.
"Kid, you refuse a drink but want a penalty? I'm asking you, are you going to submit? Do you believe I can strip your pants off right now and cut off your little thing to serve as an appetizer for He Yishou?"
A bright, cold light flashed before his eyes. Lin Feng remained silent, but his eyes were filled with hatred.
Feng Xiunian looked at Lin Feng's eyes, filled with resentment, and without a word, punched him in the face, causing his nose to bleed.
"What are you looking at? Do you believe I'll gouge out your eyes?"
Just as Feng Xiunian was about to dig out his eyes as a souvenir, He Yishou stopped him.
"Alright, Old Feng, stop playing around. Quickly finish him off."
Hearing those words, Lin Feng's eyes were filled with both resentment and fear.
Was he really going to end his life in such a ridiculous way?
Just as several hooligans pulled out daggers, intending to give him a quick death, Shen Zhao's voice rang out in everyone's ears.
"What's going on? Get out of here!"
Feng Xiunian, He Yishou, and the other thugs around immediately scattered, clearing a path for Shen Zhao.
Shen Zhao strolled over to Lin Feng, squatted down in front of him, and grabbed his face, carefully examining it.
Looking at the handsome face of the man before him and those deep, bottomless pupils, Lin Feng's body couldn't help but tremble.
After a long while, Shen Zhao sneered, released his grip on Lin Feng's cheek, and wiped his hands, saying, "Indeed, it's an unparalleled face. It's bound to drive countless women wild. Hehe, I'll just ask you one thing: do you want to live?"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up when he heard that, and he opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he swallowed his words.
"Don't worry, I'm a man of my word. Since I said I'd let you live, I naturally won't harm you. But if you want to live, you'll have to do as I say. Your life or death is in my hands."
Lin Feng hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What are the conditions?"
As expected of a nemesis who had entangled with him for nine lifetimes, even though his eyes were filled with a strong desire to live, he still maintained a sliver of unyielding character.
Shen Zhao's lips curled into a smile, "It's very simple. I want something from you."
"What is it?"
Shen Zhao pointed at the Soul-Nurturing Ring on Lin Feng's index finger, "That ring in exchange for your life. How about this deal?"
Lin Feng flew into a rage when he heard this, "Impossible, anything but this!"
Shen Zhao asked meaningfully, "Unwilling? Then tell me, what else can you give me besides that? Those lousy talismans? I won't lie, I can draw a thousand or eight hundred of those low-level things in a day; I'm really not interested."
Lin Feng's reaction was within Shen Zhao's expectations.
He knew that Lin Feng's biggest trump card in the early stages was the Soul-Nurturing Ring. The remnant soul within the Soul-Nurturing Ring possessed near-Emperor realm strength, and it was by relying on this Soul-Nurturing Ring that Lin Feng could quickly accumulate cultivation and strength in the early stages.
Shen Zhao could have killed Lin Feng directly, but the resentment of nine lifetimes didn't want him to die so easily.
In this life, he wanted Lin Feng to always live in his shadow, like a humble ant, suffering torment and humiliation in despair and unwillingness before dying.
In addition, everyone who had hurt him, including Yu Xiyan, must pay the price they deserved. Not one of them would escape; not a single one would be spared.
Lin Feng said, "This is a family heirloom; I can't give it to you!"
Shen Zhao, upon hearing this, could only shrug his shoulders, "Then there's no other way. You guys, clean things up quickly. Notify our brothers; there's good stuff today. Let them come and appraise it."
"Don't worry, we've done this kind of thing before."
Feng Xiunian and He Yishou turned to Lin Feng, a sinister grin spreading across their faces.
"Wait!"
Lin Feng's eyes darted around, and he ultimately chose to concede.
"Alright, I agree! I hope you keep your word."
He slowly took off the Soul-Nurturing Ring, then bit his index finger, squeezing out a drop of blood onto the ring.
Following that, a red seal gradually formed around the Soul-Nurturing Ring, about the size of a fist.
As the seal expanded, it finally shattered, meaning Lin Feng's contract with the Soul-Nurturing Ring was completely terminated.
Shen Zhao took the Soul-Nurturing Ring and nodded at Lin Feng, saying, "Get lost before I change my mind."
Lin Feng glared at Shen Zhao, then stood up and slowly walked away from everyone's sight.
At this moment, Shen Zhao asked He Yishou, "Everything arranged along his path?"
He Yishou chuckled, "Don't worry, Brother Shen. I've arranged over a dozen groups of bandits near his route. They're all willing to accept this Young Master Lin's precise poverty alleviation program."
"Heh heh heh~"
"Hahahaha~"
The three old foxes immediately laughed like a few hundred-ton fat guys.
Inside the Qingyun Sect, the heads of the seven major sects stared at each other, not a word spoken, the atmosphere oppressively suffocating.
A Qingyun Sect disciple cautiously offered tea, and seeing the strange atmosphere in the hall, didn't dare to raise his head, placing the tea cups and immediately making a hasty exit.
After a long while, Liang Hao spoke, "Regarding everything that happened today in the Qingyun Sect, the Public Arbitration Council is very dissatisfied, so what do you plan to do?"
He Lixian sneered, "What else can we do? The Qingyun Sect harbored an evil cultivator as a disciple, who nearly became the sect leader of the Mysterious Sect. If this matter isn't handled cleanly, the face of our seven major sects in the Eastern Continent will be completely lost."
His words naturally had a target, which was the Purple Pine Real Person, who sat in the leading seat without a word.
The Purple Pine Real Person was still in a daze. If he had known that Lin Feng was a cruel evil cultivator, he wouldn't have dared to take him as a disciple, even with the bearing of an emperor, for fear of disgracing the immortal sects.
Seeing that the Purple Pine Real Person hadn't spoken, the atmosphere once again turned cold.
At this moment, Shen Zhao strode into the hall, and seeing the gloomy atmosphere, spoke directly, "Oh, why isn't anyone talking? Don't bottle up your thoughts, speak them out so we can solve them together."
Purple Pine Real Person asked hurriedly, "Young Hero Shen, what about Lin Feng?"
Shen Zhao sighed, feigning sorrow. "I didn't expect Lin Feng to have so many tricks up his sleeve. In the end, I couldn't keep him. But he's in a bad state now, and won't be a threat for a while."
Upon hearing this, Purple Pine Real Person immediately knelt before Shen Zhao. "Young Hero Shen, it was I, Purple Pine, who was blinded and mistakenly took a heretic into the sect. I am willing to bear all the consequences. I will accept whatever the Public Arbitration Council decides!"
Shen Zhao ignored him and sat down in the leading position.
"How to deal with this isn't up to me alone. Now, I just want to know how you plan to handle such a major incident. Have you reached any conclusions?"
The heads of the seven sects fell silent, none of them willing to speak up first.
Seeing no one answered, Shen Zhao said, "Since none of you know how to handle this, how about letting the Public Arbitration Council take charge?"
He Lixian immediately stood up. "Naturally, the Public Arbitration Council is the guardian of order on the Immortal Martial Continent. It is only right that it has the authority to handle such important matters."
"Purple Pine Real Person misjudged character and mistakenly accepted an evil cultivator into the sect. Fortunately, a major mistake wasn't made, and the behavior was corrected in time. Therefore, a demerit is recorded. I hope everyone takes this as a warning."
"As for Lin Feng, his evil cultivator identity will be announced throughout the nine realms of the Immortal Martial Continent. Anyone who dares to harbor him will be considered an enemy of the Public Arbitration Council and the entire Mysterious Sect."
"Do you all agree with this handling?"
After hearing Shen Zhao's words, everyone present had no objections, and even breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, with this matter, not only the Qingyun Sect, but the entire Eastern Continent's Mysterious Sect had lost face. This handling was considered a unified stance.
However, Shen Zhao's next words caused a very big reaction.
"Given that this malicious behavior seriously affected the reputation of the Mysterious Sect among the people, corresponding compensation and punishment are still necessary.
I announce that the seven sects of the Eastern Continent will each hand over a sum of spirit stones to the Public Arbitration Council, totaling one million spirit stones to benefit the people. The Qingyun Sect, as the main offender, will bear sixty percent, and the remaining forty percent will be borne by the other six sects."
As soon as this was said, the other six sects all widened their eyes.
He Lixian even slammed the table and stood up: "What does this have to do with us? It's clearly Qingyun Sect's problem, why should we be punished too? I don't accept this!"
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition:
" The God-Honour System: Starting from the Campus "
" The Goddess's Radiance Illuminates America "
" Tokyo: My Family Shrine is Very Big "
" The Testament of Sister New Devil and High School DxD (18+) "
" The Marquis Household's Vicious Matriarch, I Backhand Slap the Heir Awake 18+ "
" So It Turns Out, They Are the Protagonists 18+ "
" Age of Gods: I have a chat group "
" After Becoming the Richest Man's Vicious Ex-Wife, I Lay Flat and Win 18+ "
" The Worst Torture!kidnapped by an Arrogant Woman 18+ "
" Akiyuki Raren Doesn't Want to Be Worked to Death 18+ "
" After the Protagonist Ascended, I Set My Sights on His Women 18+ "
" Virtual World: Conquering the World "
" Hidden Demon Lord, the Empress Brings a Child to My Door Demanding Responsibility 18+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/RoyalStories
(End of Chapter)