Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qin Yunran knew the principal of beating the iron while it was still hot. Revealing a beaming expression, he soliloquized, Your highness, the Heavenly Emperor Gate has always been the role model for many of the powerhouses at the Xuan Yuan Mound. Regardless of which powerhouse sits in this position, it would all be the same. Therefore, your highness only needs to speak what he finds just. Even if you ask the Qin Clan to return the Supreme Dao weapons,even if Wushuang possesses them, I, Madman Ran will return them with both hands. Please make your adjudication.”
His words seemed to be showing respect to Xin Wuji, the heir of the Heavenly Emperor Gate. In fact, he had thrown the hot subject to Xin Wuji to make the final judgement.
If Xin Wuji favored the Heavenly Punishing Villa and the Sound of Thunder Sect, it would inevitably cause a dispute. In the future, if they were take care of any major matters at the Heavenly Emperor Mountain, their reputation would surely be affected.
Therefore, Qin Yunran was sure of the fact that it was impossible for Xin Wuji to go against his word. Even if he favored the Heavenly Punishing Villa and the Sound of Thunder Sect completely, he would definitely not throw away the reputation of the Heavenly Emperor Gate.
Indeed, after muttering to himself irresolutely for a moment, he opened his mouth to speak despite having clear inner struggling, “If there was a rule discussed in the first place, of course you would have to return the Supreme Dao weapons. On the contrary, since there were no rules on this matter, per the tradition of the Tian Xuan Land, there is no need for him to return it. Regarding the exact procedure, you three are all elite warriors of the Supreme Dao, you can conjure up a solution privately. It’s not in good taste to dispute these matters at the Floating Snow House now.”
Qin Yunran laughed, as if demonstrating a protest, as he asked, “Did you two hear that? His highness has spoken. There is no way we will give your things back. Privately, besides fighting to death, there will be no leeway to this discussion. Since you gave Supreme Dao weapons to young people to perpetrate outrages, you should be prepared to lose them.”
Despite feeling angry, Yan Guinan knew that since Xin Wuji had spoke, it would be impossible to demand them back in front of everyone else at this moment.
Lei Ming, however, was unwilling to give up. After all, although they were a powerhouse among the Heavenly Emperor Eight Gates, the number of Supreme Dao weapons they own could be counted with one hand.
Now after having lost one piece, of course he felt a tremendous pain. It would not have mattered as much if it had been truly lost; however, it falling into the hands of the Qin Clan was like putting salt on a fresh wound. Having lost one of their well-known young warriors, losing a rare weapon to their enemy was the most depressing part.
Most importantly, Lei Jiao still refused to believe that Qin Wushuang had truly killed Lei Jiao and Yan Zhuiyang.
Seeing is believing. If he could not see it with his own eyes, it was difficult for him to believe this point.
“Your highness, I don’t trust the actions or words of this kid! I would like to go down the Black Dead Sea and investigate it thoroughly. Even if I have lost, I need to accept it wholeheartedly,” Lei Ming said stubbornly.
Inwardly, Xin Wuji disapproved of him. After all, this suzerain of the Sound of Thunder Sect was a leader to a major sect, how was he unable to remain calm when doing business?
Before Xin Wuji made his stance, the siblings of Mu Rong Qianji shook their heads at the same time to disapprove.
Mu Rong Qianji said, “Your highness, this Black Dead Sea is the forbidden zone for a few millenniums to my Floating Snow House. Besides the thirty-year training of my sect, there is no way for us to open it to the public. Due to this time’s special circumstance, we had allowed the youngsters to enter. If I had known there would be such results in the end, I would never have suggested this idea. If Brother Lei Ming trusts me, I will go down myself. Besides myself, anyone else who is not part of the Floating Snow House is forbidden to trespass into the forbidden zone.”
Although Lei Ming had restrained his fear towards Xin Wuji to some extent, but it did not mean he was restraining his fear to the Floating Snow House. In fact, regardless the Sound of Thunder Sect or the Heavenly Punishing Villa, they were absolutely unrestrained to the Floating Snow House. Normally they would have never sent any young people from their sect to offer a marriage proposal. To speak bluntly, they were only here to play tricks on the Floating Snow House.
They had calculated the fact that the strength of the Floating Snow House was much less than that of the Heavenly Emperor Eight Gates. Because of this, they had not disguised their tricky actions with much caution.
Upon seeing Lei Ming step out, it was exactly what Yan Guinan had wanted. He walked over and spoke in support of him, “Lord Mu Rong, regardless of the rules, they have encountered a great tragedy in your territory, tragedy caused by the Floating Snow House. Since Suzerain Lei has offered to go look, he is not doing something to disadvantage the Floating Snow House. Why not let him search himself?”
Mu Rong Qianji’s standpoint was firm. He only shook his head, saying, “Lord Yan, this was the rule left by my ancestors. I would not dare to break it. Please do not mention it again.”
Seeing Mu Rong Qianji showing off in front of him, Lei Ming could not but help to feel irritated. The matters of how their most prized disciple went missing, losing the Supreme Dao weapon, and on top of this, how the Qin Clan appeared immensely pleased with themselves had deeply enraged Lei Ming’s nerve. Now, when this Mu Rong Qianji could not recognize his anguish, he could barely hold himself together.
He opened his eyes widely and said with a ruthless tone, “Lord Mu Rong, if I insist to go down, what would you do about it?”
This time, the siblings of Mu Rong Qianji had shared exactly the same standpoint. All of them shouted, “Suzerain Lei, please conduct yourself with dignity. With his highness here, he has witnessed this matter from beginning to end. If you were to break the rule on your own and charge into the Floating Snow House’s forbidden zone, it cannot be justified, right?”
Lei Ming said with a cold sneer, ‘Mu Rong Qianji, it would have been fine if you did not mention this matter. When you are talking about it, how come I can’t help but feel it’s a scheme arranged by the Floating Snow House and the Qin Clan? You are scheming against the Sound of Thunder Sect and the Heavenly Punishing Villa together, right? Or else, how could those four not win against a kid from the human countries? This Black Dead Sea surely has some strange traits. If you forbid me to investigate, then it’s evident that you are having a guilty conscience.”
He had directly tagged a huge label to them.
Suddenly, Qin Yunran mocked at him, “Lei Ming, finally you are willing to admit that the four of your houses had colluded beforehand? What is the meaning of how four cannot win against one? You have revealed the cloven foot, right? You cannot hide your fox’s tail? Four against one, ha ha, would you dare to say that you villains colluded together in advance?”
For now, Lei Ming would not bother to quarrel with Qin Yunran. He said with a cold sneer, “Madman Ran, don’t be so pleased with yourself. Even if the four of us had talked beforehand, your Qin Clan and the Floating Snow House are not clean either. Or else, how come the daughter, nurtured by old man Mu Rong, went out to take a lover by deceiving her fiancé? The adultery inside this matter has certainly been relative!”
When Lei Ming spoke these words, even Xin Wuji was shocked as he heard him. Was this Lei Ming still a leader of a sect? How was he showing such hoodlum features? He was simply no different than those fishwives shouting slander in the streets. In fact, he was even more malicious!
Initially, Mu Rong Xu’s mood had calmed down due to Qin Wushuang’s safe return. Now, upon hearing his words, her heart had instantly sunk to the bottom. Revealing a drastic change to her expression, she felt incredibly wronged. Yet, she only bit her lips lightly and did not allow herself to cry.
Qin Wushuang looked at Lei Ming coldly, “Old man Lei Ming, you are after a figure of the grandmaster level. Do you not wash your mouth? Why does it stink so much?”
Although Mu Rong Qianji was enraged to the extreme, in the end he did not dare to become hostile with the Sound of Thunder Sect publicly; however, a grudge was still formed.
Mu Rong Qianji argued strongly for what was right, “Suzerain Lei, you said the two of our powerhouses colluded to scheme against the other four… Don’t you find this logic to be incredibly ridiculous? Could I, Mu Rong Qianji be a god? I would know that these four people would come to the Floating Snow House to issue a marriage proposal beforehand? If we didn’t know of their visit, how could it be called as a conspiracy? If you wished to take your anger out on the Floating Snow House, you can just say so, why would you try to make-up unreal matters?”
After he had finished speaking, Mu Rong Qianji bowed deeply to Xin Wuji and said, “Please give justice to the Floating Snow House, your highness.”
The Floating Snow House had invited people of the Heavenly Emperor Gate to come to act as a witness and to exclude the powerhouse. If this Sound of Thunder Sect had hopelessly muddled the matter, then they would be challenging the power and prestige of the Heavenly Emperor Gate.
Naturally, Xin Wuji understood this point. He shot a glance at Lei Ming and said with an indifferent tone, “Suzerain Lei, since this is the forbidden zone of the Floating Snow House, of course you are not allowed to enter without permission. It’s also not according to the rules.”
Lei Ming still said with a resentful tone, “I am only worried that this Floating Snow House colluded with the Qin Clan to scheme against the Sound of Thunder Sect and the Heavenly Punishing Villa.”
Clearly, these words were groundless.
Qin Yunran mocked him, “Lei Ming, before talking about how the Qin Clan may be somewhat related to the Floating Snow House, even if we did communicate beforehand, it’s all because you guys were idiots to send yourself to our door. The disciple of the Qin Clan went to seek marriage, yet your disciples came to join the show. Didn’t you guys just come to embarrass people? In the end, you did not make the others embarrassed, but lost your own little lives. What is this called? This is called shooting yourself in the foot. You thought that you were being clever.”
Angered by Qin Yunran’s words, it was useless for Lei Ming to blow his nose and open his eyes widely. The other party had spoke the truth. They were the ones that had sent themselves into this situation.
Despite feeling frustrated, Yan Guinan did not act impulsively as Lei Ming. Inwardly, he calculated and knew that today’s matters had already ended in defeat. If they continued to nag, besides making a show of themselves, it would be impossible for any major turn of events. All he could feel was loss and helplessness.
They could only take a step back for now.
Immediately he said to Xin Wuji, “Your highness, this time, my Heavenly Punishing Villa admits defeat; however, regarding the Supreme Dao weapon, we will not give up. Your highness, please give your approval, for the Heavenly Punishing Villa is looking to compete with the Qin clan again!”
Qin Yunran said with a cold sneer, “What’s the use of competing one more time? Even if we agree, Junior Brother Mu Rong will not agree.”
Yan Guinan said coldly, “The next match will not be related to the Floating Snow House! Qin Wushuang, do you have the courage to take up this challenge?”
Qin Wushuang thought of how this Yan Guinan had no sense of shame as they challenged him again.
“Lord Yan, if it’s the young generation of disciples from your sect, of course I will accompany them. However, if you are the one that is stepping onto the battlefield, I think it’s more appropriate for the Second Chief to serve you.”
Qin Yunran laughed heartily. “That’s right, Yan Guinan, the youngsters have already fought. Should us two old people grab this rare opportunity to train our skills?”
Yan Guinan rolled his eyes. “Madman Ran, it seems that you wanted to provoke this battle from the beginning, right?”
The Qin Clan, Heavenly Punishing Villa, and the Sound of Thunder Sect knew clearly that sooner or later, there would be a life and death war between them.
The result of this major war would for sure lead to the destruction of one party and the rise of another.
Regardless which sides were victorious, they had fully recognized this situation. Therefore, regarding Yan Guinan’s threats, Qin Yunran did not display any extreme reactions. On the contrary, Qin Yunran could only help but shiver.
If conflicting views had been aroused beforehand due to matters related to Qin Wushuang, it would not be something he wished to see.
