“You want this herb?”
Dangling the herb in Shui Ruohua’s face, Zhuo Fan smiled, “With how hard you fought for it, you must’ve wanted it.”
Shui Ruohua stared at him, on high alert, “What do you want?”
“Clever, there’s no free lunch in the world. You always have to pay something when you want something.” Zhuo Fan roamed his eyes over her, “Truly alike.”
Eyes going red, Shui Ruohua faltered back. Her mouth was bloody, her cheeks pale, but her eyes still glared, “Demonic cultivator scum, keep dreaming! Don’t think you can just have your way with me!”
Mystical Heaven Sect stared at Zhuo Fan as well.
“Ha-ha-ha, even your temper is the same, just as stubborn.” Zhuo Fan ignored everything and only smiled, “Miss, I have no intention to dual cultivate with you, nor bear any ill will. I only have some questions. I hope you’ll be honest in exchange for the herb.”
Shui Ruohua gave him a long look. Zhuo Fan’s courteous manner was unlike any demonic cultivator she knew, earning some brownie points but also suspicion.
[Is he even a demonic cultivator?]
Zhuo Fan smiled, “I’ll take miss’ silence as agreement… “
“Who said…”
Zhuo Fan’s question cut her off, “Pardon me, miss, but does your sect have someone called Chu Qingcheng, hailing from Tianyu’s Drifting Flowers Edifices?”
Shui Ruohua nodded, “Junior sister Qingcheng is master’s new disciple and she does come from Tianyu. Do you know her?”
“Ha-ha-ha, so she really is in Mystical Heaven Sect!”
Zhuo Fan beamed, “Then, how is she?”
Zhuo Fan’s heart tensed at the question, hanging on Shui Ruohua’s reply. He hid his impatience well, but not from a woman’s intuition.
Shui Ruohua was troubled.
Nodding, Shui Ruohua said, “Junior sister is master’s last disciple and is always taken care of. She is very well…”
“Great!”
Zhuo Fan eased a breath, feeling a weight off his shoulders. If Chu Qingcheng was having a bad time in Mystical Heaven Sect, he’d be feeling guilty.
He finally calmed down.
Handing over the herb, Zhuo Fan smiled, “Thank you. This is for you.”
Shui Ruohua couldn’t believe her eyes. He was serious about wanting only answers in exchange for the 9th grade herb.
To say nothing about how common knowledge the information he asked was. He only wanted to know about her junior sister…
Shui Ruohua asked, “Who are you? What is your relation to junior sister Chu?”
“That is not your concern, miss. You don’t need to know about me and you’d best keep silent about our talk around her as well. The deal is done, so take the herb and go.” Zhuo Fan shooed her, his expression flat.
[What’s with him changing tunes so fast?]
He was so polite a second ago yet is so indifferent now. [Just over some questions?]
Shui Ruohua was puzzled, even as she got it right.
Zhuo Fan got what he wanted and had shirked all pretenses.
Han Sanshao laughed, “What are you two whispering about over there? In the end, strength is all that matters. Who’s going to stop me from getting what I want anyway?”
Shui Ruohua tensed up, her mood heavy.
[Right!] They only got the herb because Han Sanshao never interfered. Now that he would, she could kiss the herb goodbye.
But he’d have another thing coming if he thought she’d just hand it over.
Everyone looked at each other in hesitation.
Sighing, Zhuo Fan scratched his nose, “One should know his limits and not jump all over the place without power.”
Zhuo Fan now walked towards Han Sanshao, same old prancing, causing Han Sanshao to turn solemn.
For some odd reason, he felt put off by a 6th layer of Profound Heaven cultivator.
“Kid, you took the words right out of my mouth. Without strength, you’d better stop bouncing around. It’s more apt in your case than theirs!” Han Sanshao probed.
Zhuo Fan mocked, “You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not for them but you!”
“Cocky prick!”
Han Sanshao unleashed his soul power at Zhuo Fan while shouting, “What could a puny Profound Heaven cultivator possibly teach me?”
Zhuo Fan’s mouth perked up into a smirk, releasing a soul attack.
Bam!
The air around the clash shimmered, with Han Sanshao faltering five steps and looking at Zhuo Fan like he was a monster.
Zhuo Fan never even budged from his place, bearing the same obnoxious attitude.
“There’s no way a mere Profound Heaven cultivator’s soul is stronger than a 7th layer Radiant Stage expert like me! It makes no sense!” Han Sanshao was dumbstruck.
As were the rest. [Who the hell is this kid?]
A Profound Heaven expert using his soul like a Radiant Stage expert was rare enough, but for him to even punch above his weight…
Ignoring the weird looks he always seemed to get, Zhuo Fan got to the trapped Scheming Demons and smiled, “Soul Spider Net, made of a spiritual beast’s soul to target souls. These shits were bound to be caught, ha-ha-ha…”
“Steward Zhuo, save us, please!” The pygmies whined.
Han Sanshao gnashed his teeth, “That’s a 7th grade demonic treasure only I can control!”
“Ha-ha-ha, arrogant, narcissistic and shameless to boot!”
Zhuo Fan threw in there, “Once you know it’s made of souls to capture souls, removing it is easy even without knowing the signs.”
Zhuo Fan’s fingertip released an azure flame.
He flicked and the azure flame fell on the net.
With a beastly cry, wails and crackling of fire, the net snapped apart.
The Four Scheming Demons cackled at their newfound freedom.
“Hi-hi-hi, ignorant little gnat, told you so! No one can match our Steward Zhuo!” Violent Demon skipped around.
The other three joined the mockery.
Han Sanshao was bug eyed. His dear 7th grade demonic treasure had snapped like a twig.
Not that he had any clue about azure flame’s soul supremacy. As his demonic treasure was made from a beast soul, the flame had no trouble ruining it.
Han Sanshao squinted, glaring at Zhuo Fan, “Damn brat, faking weakness. I underestimated you. But now I will show you my true power, what it means when they say that the world will always have someone better than you!”
“Is that so?”
Zhuo Fan patronized, lifting his right arm as it glowed in a ghastly red, “I have no interest in fighting you, but you better remember this and never step out of line!”
Zhuo Fan flicked his hand.
A red light flashed in everyone’s eyes, followed by a kaboom as the world shook.
Rocks were flying, dust was picking up, just like the end of days.
As the earth swayed under their feet, the audience had to focus to stay steady yet failed miserably, collapsing in tears.
[What. The. Hell?]
It was the unanimous thought, scrambling all over the place for cover.
As the earth settled at long last and the dust cleared, the scene had their eyes pop out of their sockets, their frail hearts stuck in their throats.
The tiny gorge they were in now sported a thousand meter long scar.
While the center was a black abyss and its edges, worlds apart.
Han Sanshao, on one side of the abyss, felt weak in the knees, looking at Zhuo Fan as if he was a monster.
[Where the hell did he come from? He’s not human!]
He was lucky that Zhuo Fan didn’t attack, or he’d be insta killed.
Recalling his previous taunt, Han Sanshao was seething with regret.
He realized Zhuo Fan was talking about him when he spoke of not having strength. Yet he still challenged the guy, only to have a brush with death himself in the end.
Zhuo Fan said flatly, “Yours truly is not Xie Wuyue’s son. I am cocky enough because I am strong enough. Cross this line and your head will roll!”
Han Sanshao cried inside, panicking, “You’d dare kill to Demon Soul Sect’s young leader, inviting a sect war?”
Han Sanshao wanted to use his sect to threaten Zhuo Fan in a futile attempt to preserve a modicum of self-respect.
But Zhuo Fan wasn’t buying it.
“Dead men can’t snitch.” With Zhuo Fan’s trademark evil smile back on his face, he scared the living daylights out of Han Sanshao.
His meaning was crystal clear. [If I wanted to kill you, you’d all be dead. How would you snitch to your sect, when a flick from me will have you all pulverized, with Demon Soul Sect none the wiser.]
Han Sanshao was soaked with sweat and he felt horror like no other.
[This is a demon among demons!]
[Not showing off, just using simple words to plunge others into hell…]
