Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The crowd watched as another flash appeared and a figure manifested next to Lu Xuan.
The figure was around 3 meters tall and clad from head to toe in heavy armor. He emitted the strong aura of one who was a powerful victor of countless battles.
The mere presence of the figure exerted an immense pressure, its weight akin to Mount Tai, over the crowd. Everyone watched him with bated breath.
Everyone in the crowd knew that the figure before their eyes was none other than one of the Five Consolidations of the Four Great Holy Lands. He was the president of the Steel Knight Association: Yang Zhuxin.
Alongside the ghastly armor, his body emitted a black glow, which added to his majestic appearance.
As a powerful user of the Consolidation Realm, he just was a single step away from achieving the Late-stage of the Consolidation Realm.
“You’re here to take me on?” Lu Xuan glanced at the president with a sneer as if he were watching a circus clown.
“Of course not, I have no such intention,” the Steel Knights Association President Yang Zhuxin replied in a tone that was rude and even mocking, “Dear sectmasters, hear me out. How about we close an eye to this, and in exchange, you proclaim defeat. In that case, we maintain the reputation of Sectmaster Lin as well.”
Yang Zhuxin wore his smile proudly. From his perspective, he had already dealt with both sides as well as the reactions of the crowd, and most importantly, he managed to help Lin Ziyi avoid embarrassment.
It was clear Lu Xuan held no significance to him, whether alive or dead.
After all, to his knowledge, Lu Xuan was only a user of the Three Flower Realm. Even if Lu Xuan were an outstanding individual who had slain many other powerful individuals of the Three Flower Realm, it was nothing in Yang Zhu’s eyes.
Anyone beneath the Consolidation Realm was like an ant, and he believed this wholeheartedly.
Therefore the fate of Lu Xuan was incomparable to helping Lin Ziyi.
Lu Xuan replied coldly, “And if I say no?”
“Then don’t blame me for what I will do,” Yang Zhuxin changed his tone immediately. “As much as I admire your courage to be here today, I can’t have you testing my patience,” he retorted curtly.
“Looks like this isn’t going to end well.” Lu Xuan spoke with the same iciness in his voice.
“There is nothing personal between us, why are you getting in my way?”
Yang Zhuxin replied, “Disposing of you will bring resolution to the conflict. Mankind is already weak, we cannot continue to be divisive, so why wouldn’t I get rid of you?”
“What benevolent words. All for the sake of mankind? You almost had me there,” Lu Xuan erupted into laughter. “I really would have believed you if I didn’t know you had been adopted by the Great Demonic Deity Of The North since you were a child!”
These words from Lu Xuan sent ripples of shock through the crowd.
There had been a prolonged war between humans and the monsters of the Northern Demonic Sect, and the Steel Knights Associations were founded by the human soldiers who heroically stood up and fought valiantly in the border battle against the monsters.
Each year, many would sign up to become members of the Steel Knights Association, aiming to play their part in the protection of humans at the northern border.
The Steel Knights Association could be safely described as the guardians of humans in the Tempest Ocean Realm.
But now Lu Xuan was claiming that Yang Zhuxin had been adopted by the Great Demonic Deity of the North when he was a child! It was preposterous that someone like that could become the President of the Steel Knights Association, the guardian of the northern border.
If it were true, Yang Zhuxin could easily destroy the protective border the human realm had painstakingly built over years, through a simple leak of information during the most crucial times.
The thought of this sent chills and sweat down their backs.
Although it was simply a few words from Lu Xuan, which truth had yet to be verified, they were enough to evoke a great sense of fear.
Among the four great powers, the Xuanhuo Sect was a powerful yet unpredictable presence, Cloud City was neutral, and the Holy Nun Gate was indifferent. Only the Steel Knights Association would continue to push in battle on the frontlines.
In the event where the Steel Knights Association slipped up, humans would be left defenseless against attacks from the monsters of the Northern Demonic Sect. This was a possibility many were afraid to even imagine.
Moreover, it was common knowledge that there were more Consolidation Realm monsters within the Northern Demonic Sect than Consolidation Realm humans in the human world.
Therefore, mankind would not hold up if any of the Five Consolidations of the Four Great Holy Lands were not on their side.
There was another thing the people did not know, which was that one of the Five Consolidations had long been slain by Lu Xuan.
“What lies! This is slander!”
The calm appearance of Steel Knights Association President Yang Zhuxin immediately crumbled as his eyes filled with fright.
This was a secret he had buried deep. Even after he had attained his powers he had fought against the monsters on the frontline. Furthermore, he only ever had a handful of interactions with the Demonic Deity; no one could have known that he was a pawn the Great Demonic Deity of the North had hidden amongst mankind.
If even his own subordinates were not aware of this, how did the man before him gain this information? Monstrous killing intent flickered in his eyes.
“I’m lying?” Lu Xuan laughed again, “Everything leaves a trail, Yang Zhuxin. Do you really think that no one knows your secret?”
Lu Xuan had his past life to thank for this knowledge. Back then, the Great Demonic Deity of the North had seen the invasion of the human world by the Jiao Dragon Palace and witnessed the slaughter of innocent citizens. The Great Demonic Deity of the North could not hold back any longer and moved the army of monsters to the South.
The defense line that the humans had banked all their hopes and expectations on had collapsed into rubble overnight.
That was the moment when Yang Zhuxin’s deepest secret was revealed. No one had previously known that he was a chess piece the monsters had concealed amongst humans.
Since he had been placed by the Great Demonic Deity of the North, Yang Zhuxin had not been used even once. Moreover, he had risen to become the president of the Steel Knight Association and had slain many demons of the Consolidation Realm. All these made it impossible for the others to second-guess Yang Zhuxin.
The Great Demonic Deity of the North has a shocking amount of patience.
Yang Zhuxin was filled with white-hot rage. “Bold of you to spew such nonsense about me! Do you have a death wish?” he exclaimed.
However, this reaction from Yang Zhuxin further planted the seed of doubt among the crowd. His display of fuming rage seemed rather overboard.
If it were true that the Steel Knights Association was a chess piece for the demons, it would be much more damaging to mankind than any other of the four great powers.
The reputation of the Steel Knight Association as the frontline between humans and demons meant that a majority of their disciples would have originated from many different sects. These disciples left for the North and joined partly because of their admiration for the Steel Knights Association’s mission. Many sects would send their future sectmasters to train under the Association as part of their development.
The Steel Knights Association was more like an allied coalition of sectmasters than a sect of its own.
Only after years of development and growth, the Steel Knight Association soon had disciples exclusive to the Association.
The gazes of suspicion were wearing Yang Zhuxin down. He had realized in that second when the words left Lu Xuan’s lips, he was already cornered.
