“Everyone, I trust that you’ve been in good health?” After threatening Zhou Wu, Great Emperor Chao Feng turned to Xuan Ji and the others and cupped his fist in greeting.
His smile was as warm and bright as a spring breeze, and had a certain purity to it. He seemed like a scholar more than anything. Looking at him now, it was hard to imagine he’d say anything so vicious as what he’d just said to the God Emperor.
“Great Emperor Chao Feng.” The other experts greeted him too, while Bi’an rushed right up to him and pulled him into a hug.
“What are you doing here?” he asked his brother. “If you were coming, you should have said something.”
“When you told me your plans, we didn’t plan on coming. We only mobilized later on,” said Chao Feng with a laugh.
“Chao Feng, have you finally decided to b.a.r.e your fangs?” Zhou Wu gnashed his teeth.
“What do you mean? Have I ever hidden them from you?” Chao Feng whipped his head around, his eyes filled with blatant, endless misdain.
“Hmph, on the surface, you act detached and unambitious, but in your heart, you’re filled with l.u.s.t for power.”
“I’m afraid you’ve really misunderstood me,” said Great Emperor Chao Feng, his gaze and tone flat as can be. “Even now, I have no interest in vying for supremacy. It’s just, although you might not know it, Five Elements and I were sworn brothers!”
After a stunned pause, the God Emperor roared, “What a joke. Five Elements and I were close friends, practically brothers. If he’d had any sworn brothers, I would have known about it!”
The other Great Emperors, including Bi’an, were all visibly stunned. Only Su Qingyan retained her usual calm.
“Third Bro, why didn’t I….”
“Five Elements knows I’m not interested in fame or attention, and never advertised our friendship. I’m not particularly sociable, either, so it’s natural that you didn’t know. However, Qingyan is my sister-in-law, so she knew about this,” said Great Emperor Chao Feng.
“There’s no need for you to get involved in this!”
“Then who should get involved?” said Chao Feng, still just as cold and aloof as before. “Ye Rong, do it!”
“I’d like to see who dares!” Zhou Wu took a fierce step forward, his vicious aura stirring up waves. However, to his surprise, several imperial-level auras slammed into him before he could attack.
“Zhou Wu, this is already beyond your control,” snorted Xue Yang.
Xuan Ji, the Zhao Sisters, Bi’an, Xue Yang, and Chao Feng unleashed their divine might all at once. In the face of so many powerful experts’ combined auras, even Zhou Wu felt stifled.
His face went ashen, and he took in the faces before him….
“Great, that’s just great.” He let out a burst of wanton laughter, then nodded forcefully. “But did you really think I’d fight you myself? I’ve long since prepared for this.”
As he spoke, several ripples formed in the sky.
The group felt the incoming waves carrying a trace of the Laws. When they looked up, they saw a youth overhead. He sat astride a unicorn, a symbol of purity, and golden stars flashed around him as he descended.
If they weren’t mistaken, this youth was none other than a Master of the Laws.
“I humbly request the Master of the Laws to intervene.” When he saw the youth, Zhou Wu cupped his fist and adopted a humble posture. “We are all nobles of the God Realm, and the Third Era is nearing its end. We ought to join forces in the face of a common enemy, wait peacefully for the end, and prepare to face the impending calamity. To date, none of us have transcended. Every cultivator is a precious treasure in our quest to ward off impending doom as the era reaches its close. I humbly request that everyone stay their hand. Fighting amongst ourselves will only weaken the God Race’s foundations.”
The youth said nothing as Zhou Wu’s words resounded in all directions.
The other top experts knit their brows, while Zhou Wu’s face filled with wanton, arrogant laughter.
“Zhou Wu, surely you didn’t think that we’d back down just because a Master of the Laws is here, right?” Shockingly, even after the Master of the Laws appeared on scene, Chao Feng maintained his playful smile. He didn’t even spare the Master of the Laws a serious glance.
“Ye Rong!” Chao Feng called out!
“Masters of the Star Altar’s countless stars!” Ye Rong soon called out as well.
“Hu Bazi!” shouted Xuan Ji, looking equally grave.
“Soldiers of the Profound Pavilion!” Hu Bazi gave out his orders.
“Chao Feng, what do you mean by this?” asked the youth.
“Can’t you tell?” Chao Feng laughed indifferently, then his gaze sharpened. “I never would have guessed that even the always-impartial Masters of the Laws had become Zhou Wu’s lackeys. Out of respect for your status as a Master of the Laws, I’ll give you a chance to scram. You’d best take it. Got it?”
“You…. Are you planning to go against the Master of the Laws?”
“Go against you?” a wicked smile spread across Chao Feng’s face, and his eyes glinted. “I wouldn’t put it like that. If you, little boy, don’t know when to back down, I won’t just ‘go against you,’ I’ll kill you and seize your dao, too.”
Killing a Master of the Laws! Amongst the gods, there were actually quite a few people who’d done so, but as soon as you did, you were blacklisted, not by society, but by the Laws themselves. From that moment on, both increasing your cultivation and condensing the dao would become far more difficult. And yet, people kept doing it. Why? SImply because killing a Master of the Laws was the fastest, simplest shortcut towards condensing a dao heart.
Furthermore, so long as you did it sufficiently quickly and cleanly, the Laws might not discover just who had killed their representative.
As for why the Laws, which had formed both heaven and earth, could fail to discover the perpetrator, there was no way to so for sure. However, some of the gods had a conjecture that….
In truth, the Masters of the Laws existed to be slaughtered. Once you killed them, so long as your methods weren’t too overly vile, the Laws would overlook it.
Killing Masters of the Law had been common practice for a long time, but it was very rare for someone to announce their intent to do so so openly.
“You’re truly impudent!” the youth berated him.
“So what if I am? All you need to do is tell me whether you plan to scram or not. If you do, be quick about it. Roll on out of here, and don’t show your face in front of me again. If you plan to stick around, that’s fine too! Leave your dao heart behind!”
“Go ahead and try it!”
“Don’t mind if I do.” With that, Chao Feng reached for the youth, who hurriedly called upon the Laws of heaven and earth. However, to his surprise, the Laws around him were so badly suppressed, they collapsed uselessly around him.
At that moment, a low murmur brushed past everyone’s ears. “Time reversal.”
The next moment, the young Master of the Laws slipped uncontrollably from Chao Feng’s grasp and reappeared back in his original position.
“My apologies. Please allow me to apologize for any trouble he caused on his behalf.” The group looked up and saw that a young woman had appeared beside the youth. She bowed deeply in apology, but from the looks of things, she was far more proficient in wielding the Laws than the youth was.
“Big Sister Ru, why are you here?” The youth scratched his head.
“I ought to be asking you that. What are you doing here? You haven’t even mastered the most basic power of the Laws. Are you trying to throw your life away?” The young woman glared at him.
But from the look of things, the Masters of the Laws were actually a group.
No wonder that, after killing one of them, a new Master of the Laws would soon take the deceased’s place.
But that wasn’t important. What really mattered was….. What the young female Master of the Laws had come here for!
