First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 2468 – Proof of Loyalty

The pavilion floor was strewn with rubble.

Qi Jingxiao and the others’ expressions were decidedly unsightly, especially when they saw Shang Yun blatantly ignore them.

But in the end, Qi Jingxiao suppressed his fury. No matter who was right and who was wrong, this was no time for a falling out.

“Third Elder, get Qi Lingjia out of here. He’s not to take so much as half a step out of his cultivation grounds without permission,” Qi Jingxiao said gravely.

“Got it!” The third elder stepped forward and was just about to lead Qi Lingjia away when…

“Wait,” Shang Yun said suddenly, his gaze cold and indifferent. “He must die. Either I kill him, or you kill him. Decide for yourselves.”

Qi Jingxiao and the others frowned. The fury building on their chests was on the verge of erupting.

This was just a Divine Son of the Great Yin Divine Race. Bad enough that he’d hurt one of their clansmen in their territories. Now, he was insisting on killing Qi Lingjia right in front of them!

This was taking things way too far. He was trying to walk all over them!

“Stay calm, everyone.” Qi Jingxiao glanced at his companions, urging them not to do anything reckless.

Only then did he look at Qi Wei, a complicated look on his face. “Wei’er, what exactly is going on here?”

As her father, he had a guilty conscience about this marriage alliance, and now this had happened on top of everything else. His heart ached, but more than that, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for his daughter.

Qi Wei pursed her lips and concisely explained everything that had just happened. She didn’t leave anything out, either, including the part about how Shang Yun had said that the Qilin would soon serve the Great Yin Divine Race.

The Qilin experts almost lost their tempers. What’s going on here? A mere divine son dares treat us like prey?

How could this be?

As shrewd as Qi Jingxiao was, he had to take a deep breath before he could suppress his fury.

Shang Yun, meanwhile, looked as calm as ever, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

“Father, if we don’t punish him now, everyone in the Qilin Race will be oppressed and enslaved!” said Qi Lingjia, eyes red. “Can’t you see how this is going to end?”

The higher-ups expressions shifted erratically.

“Silence!” The third elder bellowed. “This is no place for you to speak!”

Qi Jingxiao looked at Shang Yun. “My young friend, please give the Qilin Race face and take a step back. Let him go just this once, alright?”

He didn’t lose his temper, nor did he interrogate Shang Yun. Instead, he spoke as if this were a negotiation.

He was the leader of the Qilin, but instead of asking what he wanted, he asked for mercy on behalf of the Qilin Race as a whole.

When the others saw this, their hearts filled with grief.

Shang Yun said calmly, “In my pursuit of the Grand Dao, I’ve never once made any concessions. I won’t do so in my personal affairs, either.”

He’d refused! He wasn’t even giving Sect Leader Qi Jingshan face! Or the Qilin Race as a whole!

Everyone bristled with fury. This wasn’t as simple as killing or sparing QI Lingjia. If they backed down this time, what would happen the next time a similar incident arose?

What would they do if the Great Yin Divine Race took an inch and demanded a mile?

Were they just supposed to hold their noses and endure?

“That kid is so fearless because he thinks we wouldn’t dare to defy our ancestral precept, but if things go on like this, I’m afraid we’ll have to go against the Ancient’s decisions!” said the third elder, eyes red. He was utterly enraged.

“You’re mistaken,” corrected Shang Yun. “Do that, and you won’t just be violating an ancestral precept. You’ll be breaking your Vow to the Heavens, too. That will bring about the ruin of the entire Qilin Race!”

Everyone’s expression shifted. Their faces filled with uncertainty.

“Are you going to kill him or not? Give me a direct answer,” Shang Yun said calmly.

The atmosphere was incomparably stifled. When had any of them ever been so furious before?

But for all their anger, they couldn’t let it out. All they could do was force it back down, but they were on the verge of losing control.

Qi Jingxiao stood there in silence, his expression as dark as could be.

Suddenly, a cold, clear voice rang out. “If you ‘never make any concessions’ in your pursuit of the Grand Dao, why rely on your status to bully other people?”

A slender figure walked into the room, dressed in plain white, beautiful and ethereal.

This was none other than Xi Ning!

After the battle on Skybright Mountain, she and her clansmen had moved into the Qilin Race’s territories. She’d cultivated here ever since.

She’d recently learned of Qi Wei’s marriage, and she’d started visiting Qi Wei frequently to chat. She knew of the bitterness and frustration in Qi Wei’s heart, and she knew how troublesome the difficulties facing the Qilin Race were.

But she’d nonetheless chosen to step forth. She couldn’t remain a bystander.

“You say I’m abusing my position to bully other people?” Shang Yun furrowed his brow.

XI Ning said coldly, “Someone who really never made concessions in his pursuit of the Grand Dao would disdain to act like this.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but picture Su Yi. Su Yi would never have used his position to bully other people like this!

By comparison, although Shang Yun’s words sounded nice, he was effectively just using his status as a bludgeon!

“Who are you, anyway?” Shang Yun frowned, his gaze icy and imposing.

Qi We’s expression shifted.

Qi Jingxiao said gravely, “Miss Xi Ning is our honored guest, and she’s given voice to exactly what I wanted to say.”

He was trying to protect her!

Shang Yun snorted coldly. “What is power and influence? I am a divine son of the Great Yin Divine Race. That position is part of my strength. If I use my position to oppress others, it’s because I have the foundations and qualifications to do so. Why should I refuse that strength?”

He swept his gaze across the hall. “You’re welcome to use your positions to suppress me, too. But… can you?”

His voice was full of blatantly unconcealed disdain.

Everyone’s expression darkened. All of them fell silent.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t argue, but that all of them knew it would be useless. Words alone wouldn’t change anything.

“And you.” Shang Yun turned his attention to Xi Ning. “You know you’re no one of importance, yet you dared get mixed up in this. That’s what they call ‘not knowing your place.’ You deserve to be severely punished!

He spoke with incontrovertible force, his words echoing throughout the pavilion.

Next, he looked at Qi Jingxiao. “Family Head Qi, I’ll leave punishing that woman to you. I have but one request: force her to her knees, make her kowtow nine times, and cut out her tongue to silence her!”

Everyone looked stricken. It was true that Xi Ning was “just” a member of the Xi Family, but everyone knew that Su Yi had fought that battle at Skybright Mountain to save her.

Yet now, Shang Yun was ordering them to attack Xi Ning. If they did, they’d irrevocably offend Su Yi!

“What? I just want that nobody to pay a bit of a price. Surely you won’t refuse?” When Shang Yun saw that none of them were moving, his gaze grew even icier. “Or are the Great Yin Divine Race’s orders not enough to move you?”

The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.

Suddenly, an aged voice rang out.

“Shang Yun, in three days, you and the daughter of Clan Leader Qi will get married. All of you will be family going forward. Don’t take this too far.”

A gray-robed, gray-eyed, gray-haired elder strode into the room.

This was Shang Wushe, an old monster of the Great Yin Divine Race. He was also their emissary, and the one who’d arranged this marriage alliance.

When they saw him, Qi Jingxiao and the other higher-ups’ expressions mellowed considerably.

Shang Yun was a junior, and he wasn’t easy to talk to. Shang Wushe was different. He was quite domineering too, but they could at least talk things over with him.

“How about this?” Shang Wushe looked around the room and laughed. “Family Head Qi, punish that girl for her failure to know her place, and this will end here.”

It looked like his suggestion gave the Qilin a way out, but in truth, this was still quite the domineering request. He clearly had no intention of letting this end here.

But this suggestion was doomed to be useless, as there was no way Qi Jingxiao and the others could agree to that!

“No?” Shang Wushe’s smile faded, and his brow silently furrowed. “It seems you really are quite averse to we of the Great Yin Divine Race.”

Qi Jingxiao let out a deep sigh. “Had you asked for something else, I’d surely have agreed, but I cannot agree to this request!”

“Then there’s nothing to discuss!” Shang Yun said coldly.

Shang Wushe said expressionlessly, “Clan Leader QI, don’t forget your ancestral precepts and Vow to the Heavens. Violate them, and you won’t just hurt yourself. You’ll hurt the entire Qilin Race!”

He made no attempt to disguise the implicit threat.

Inside the pavilion, everything was deathly silent, and the very air itself seemed to freeze. Everyone could barely breathe.

Shang Wushe said calmly, “Besides, I never said you had to go fight Su Yi. I just want you to punish a woman he’s attached to. You can’t even do something so trivial?”

Qi Jingxiao and the others instantly understood. So, he knows who Xi Ning is! In other words, he’s deliberately making trouble. He’s using Xi Ning to see whether or not we’ll follow his orders!

Everyone was both surprised and furious.

This was turning into real trouble!

“If you want to join someone’s cause, you have to first prove your loyalty. Punish her, and you’ll prove your respect for your ancestral precept. Refuse, and you’ll prove the opposite,” said Shang Wushe.

He continued, “Three days from now, your daughter will marry our divine son. I trust that there’s no better way to congratulate the soon-to-be newlyweds than to prove your loyalty.

“Refuse, and don’t blame us for changing our minds!”

He was pushing harder and harder. Shang Wushe hadn’t come to play peacemaker, but rather, to seize this opportunity to force them to attack Xi Ning, and thus, to prove their loyalty!

Xi Ning’s beautiful face paled. She would never have guessed that her arrival would cause such an enormous disaster.

Qi Jingxiao and the others had no way out. When she looked at them, she couldn’t help but sigh to herself.

Then, she stepped forth, her gaze cold and clear. “Don’t punish a man for another’s crimes. If you want to target me, go right ahead. Why make this hard on the Qilin?”

Shang Wushe pondered briefly, “Killing you to their faces here in their territory would work quite well too.”

He looked at Shang Yun. “You do it. With me here, I’ll be interested to see who dares stand in your way!”

“Got it!” said Shang Yun.

Qi Jingxiao completely lost his cool; he absolutely couldn’t let anything happen to Xi Ning.

But just as he was about to step forth, a calm voice rang out.

“See that, Li Sanjiu? Those are the consequences I spoke of. No matter how many concessions you make, you’ll just invite disaster.”

Two figures walked into the hall accompanying this voice.