Chapter 98: Have You Heard of Cultivators?
"Peak of the Earth Profound Stage, huh..." Fang Zhentian couldn't help letting out a sigh after hearing that. "A warrior of such caliber can no longer be considered ordinary, can they?"
"Indeed." Ji Lengyue chuckled. "My family’s ancestor might as well be considered a god in the eyes of the Frost Water Empire’s citizens." He paused briefly, then continued, "I came here because Fang Chen, of your Fang Family, killed Zhou Xiu, someone who possesses the bloodline of my Ji Family!”
"We didn’t know his identity beforehand. We shouldn't be held accountable,” explained Fang Zhentian lightly. "This was a conflict between two empires. Fang Chen couldn't have known that the viscount carried Ji family blood. At the end of the day, both empires are vassal states of the Frost Water Empire. I hope that you can treat this matter fairly.”
Ji Lengyue couldn't help but sneer at those words. "Not being held responsible because he didn’t know?” he jeered. "There is no such thing as ‘did not know’ in the eyes of the Frost Water Empire. Since Fang Chen had ultimately killed someone who bears the blood of the Ji Family, then he ought to be killed; a debt of blood must be repaid with blood!”
The Fang Family members’ expressions changed drastically. They were really here for Fang Chen’s life!
Fang Zhentian's eyes flickered, and he turned his attention to the emperor. "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"I’ve been discussing with Young Master Ji, and after much thought, he’s willing to spare all the members of your Fang Family. However... Fang Chen must pay with his life." The emperor spoke slowly.
"This is the greatest concession my Ji Family can make." Ji Lengyue smiled faintly, "If you are unwilling to accept this, then all you have left is follow Fang Chen to the afterlife.”
It was then that a group of people entered the hall. They were the Valiant Saber Guards, and with them were the scholars of the Longdu Empire who had been imprisoned. There was a skeletal corpse among them.
These Longdu scholars had already received news of what was happening, and upon seeing Ji Lengyue, they immediately fell to their knees as they cried and accused Fang Chen of his brutality, and lamented Zhou Xiu's tragic fate.
The hall fell silent for a brief period, and all that filled the hall was the cries of the scholars.
Ji Lengyue glanced at the corpse they had brought and indifferently said, "Regardless of anything, he was still my cousin.” Ji Lengyue looked at Tao Mingsheng. “What say you? For him to have treated a member of my Ji Family like this; have I not been merciful enough to be willing to execute only Fang Chen, sparing his family?”
“Of course!" Tao Mingsheng yelled at the side. The civil officials of his factions echoed their agreement. The officials behind Li Guozhu glanced at each other before a few of them joined in. They had no choice but to; the pressure an empire like the Frost Water exerted was too much for them to bear.
They only hoped to resolve the situation as soon as possible and send Ji Lengyue away. The Nightmare Knights were like a guillotine hanging over their necks, ready to fall and separate their heads from their spines.
Only the military officials remained silent.
Facing Fang Zhentian, they had nothing but respect in their eyes. For them to yell and shout at Fang Zhentian’s grandson was something they couldn’t bring themselves to do at all right now.
"My lord! We can’t just let the matter rest after killing Fang Chen alone! There are several experts who assisted him in doing his sins!" shouted a scholar from the Longdu Empire.
Ji Lengyue's expression changed slightly, and he coolly ordered, "Point them out."
"Him, him, him and him!"
Immediately, some scholars from Longdu pointed out Xu Ge, Tie Ma, Huang Sihai, and Li Daoye.
Li Daoye was dumbfounded. When the hell did they set their sights on me too?!
Ji Lengyue smile was flippant. "Then let's behead these guys as well.”
"How dare you!" roared Li Daoye in a fit of rage. "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you order for me to be beheaded?! What the fuck is this? You’re a mere commoner of an eighth-tier empire. You really think you’re some hot shit?”
The Hall of Supreme Harmony fell into a weird silence, and everyone stared at Li Daoye in shock; cold sweat had already started to form on their foreheads. Do Fang Chen’s subordinates have a problem with their brains or something?
Who the hell is this guy?! The balls on him! He actually had the guts to call Ji Lengyue ‘a mere commoner of an eighth-tier empire.’ Was he actually insane?!
“What did you just say?!” Ji Lengyue glared at Li Daoye as the Nightmare Knights behind him drew their weapons, and sudden, dense killing intent filled the hall.
The emperor's expression changed slightly and his gaze landed on Li Daoye.
"You heard me; I said that you’re a mere commoner of an eighth-tier empire. Am I wrong?” Li Daoye snorted, shoving the Valiant Saber Guard beside him away and sauntering over to Ji Lengyue. He pointed at his nose before continuing his rant. “Your grandaddy here comes from the Flame Empire. Have you heard of the sixth-tier Flame Empire before?! You really wish to behead me? Do you know how many lives your Frost Water Empire will need to give up in compensation?”
Everyone was befuddled to hear that, and they gasped in unison.
"A sixth-tier empire, Flame Empire?!"
Although they hadn't heard of the Flame Empire before, the words "sixth-tier" carried a weight that pressed on their hearts, it was as if a heavy mountain was suddenly placed on everyone's chest, and their breaths became a little stifled.
Fang Zhentian was surprised and subconsciously glanced at Fang Cangyou.
Seeing Fang Zhentian looking at him, Fang Cangyou confirmed with a whisper. "Father, he might really be from the Flame Empire.... But I still do believe his brain isn't working all too well."
When the surprise washed-off, Fang Zhentian nodded slightly. "It seems Chen'er has made quite an extraordinary friend. Even if he isn’t all that impressive in the brain department, his identity sure is. This should be enough to make the Frost Water Empire fear him."
Ji Lengyue's expression changed, and he muttered to himself, "Flame Empire?"
He had heard of that empire before, but... how could that be possible? How could someone from the Flame Empire appear in the Grand Xia Empire? The Flame Empire was an empire one tier higher than the empire that controlled the Frost Water Empire itself!
The Frost Water Empire was an eighth-tier empire, and the empire they served was a seventh-tier empire. Going higher, they would finally reach a sixth-tier empire. Moreover, it was said that the gap between the sixth and seventh-tier couldn’t be described as a mere rift. It was actually an insurmountable chasm!
It was said that even though there were many martial artists in a sixth-tier empire, martial arts were no longer the scale on which strength was based. That was because they had something even more terrifying. The true measure of strength was if someone was a “cultivator”!
Those were horrifying existences who had immortal-like skills!
Even if Ji Lengyue was someone from the Ji Family, he had no chance of coming into contact with existences of that level. He would never be able to possess such strength in his lifetime.
Li Daoye sneered after seeing Ji Lengyue too scared to speak. “Hehe, finally afraid, huh?” he jeered, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes. “Why don’t you fuck off from here if you’re afraid then?”
Snapping out of his reverie, Ji Lengyu snorted, not buying Li Daoye’s words. “I don’t know where you’ve heard of the Flame Empire, but you sure are daring to threaten me with it. How dare trash like you call yourself a citizen from the Flame Empire?” Ji Lengyue sneered and ordered his men, “crush him! Turn him into meat paste!”
“Yes!” More than a hundred Nightmare Knights in the hall roared as they prepared to kill Li Daoye. However, all of them froze the next second.
Li Daoye’s palms were stretched out before him, and a Fireball burned brightly on it. It emitted a frightening aura as it danced and swayed on his palm. It seemed as though it could incinerate anything standing in its way.
Ji Lengyue’s expression changed abruptly.
Cultivator!
The emperor, empress, consorts, officials, princes, and everyone else who was watching what happened fell into utter silence.
“Do you see this? This is the power of a magical technique,” Li Daoye explained, a proud snort escaping him. “This kind of power is beyond the grasp of ninth, eighth, and even seventh-tier empires!” He stared at Ji Lengyue dead in the eye. “Ji Lengyue, right? You ought to have heard of cultivators, since you’re from an eighth-tier empire and all, right?”
Ji Lengyue face had since turned pale, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of cold sweat.
Strange looks remained on the faces of Xu Ge and the others. They didn’t think that the mere identity of being a cultivator would scare Ji Lengyue so much. Then again, all of them possessed the strength of a cultivator even though they weren’t exactly one...
Not to mention the fact that their lord, Fang Chen, was a cultivator stronger than Li Daoye by many times!
Suddenly, an announcement from an eunuch stationed outside the hall emanated into it. "Fang Chen has arrived!”
Shortly after, two figures slowly walked into the Hall of Supreme Harmony briskly.
Fang Chen and Abbess Qing He had arrived, and the moment they did, strange gazes from all around the hall landed on Fang Chen.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel