Chapter 625: Lords, Clans, and Laughs
Still half-laughing, Arthur held out his hand and froze the old man in time mid-leap. Then he waved downwards and a powerful force of gravity slammed the old man’s body into the ground, pinning him there.
The earth cracked beneath the pressure, dust rising in the air as the bystanders gasped in shock.
Arthur scratched his head, glancing at Evan and the girls before saying.
"I think we should get out of here before another one shows up."
But before he could even finish his sentence, another figure appeared, rushing onto the scene with frantic speed.
"Young master! I felt your injury through your soul talisman!"
His gaze landed on the old man, now flattened on the ground, and the wounded Peng Clan young master lying a few meters away.
The newcomer’s eyes narrowed as he sensed the gravity energy emanating from Arthur.
"You! You dare injure the Peng Clan’s young master? You and your companions will pay for this!"
Without hesitation, the newcomer charged towards Evan, his sword drawn and glowing with fierce intent.
Evan blinked, completely dumbfounded as he shouted.
"What the hell? I didn’t even touch the guy! Why are you coming after me?"
The man sneered, his eyes flicking toward Arthur.
He believed Arthur, already anticipating an attack, would be thrown off guard by this unexpected target and lose his balance trying to protect the supposedly weaker Evan. It was a calculated move, meant to force Arthur to redirect his efforts at the last second.
"Shut up and accept my strike!"
He lunged, his sword aimed straight at Evan’s chest, but before the blade could land, Evan waved his hand. Tempest Avatar activated, and a massive construct of lightning and flames formed an arm that slapped the man out of the sky and sent him flying across the street, crashing into a building with a thunderous roar.
"I guess anyone can hit a Sovereign if they get them off guard. Still, what was that all about?"
Evan muttered, looking at Arthur, who was doubled over, laughing uncontrollably.
Before anyone could make sense of the madness, a massive aura descended upon the area.
The energy concentration in the air thickened, and everyone in the street stopped in their tracks. Arthur’s laughter immediately died down as he turned his gaze to the sky, eyes narrowing in focus.
From the skies, a group of five figures slowly descended.
They were men and women, all advanced in age, and each was dressed in flowing, elaborate robes, embroidered with different symbols.
At the sight of these figures, the crowd immediately dropped to one knee, bowing low in a display of deep reverence.
But Arthur, Evan, Artemisia, and Beatrix remained standing, entirely unfazed.
Arthur raised an eyebrow and, amid the sudden silence, asked a very important question.
"You guys don’t happen to be affiliated with the Peng Clan, do you?"
Gasps echoed through the street. Some onlookers shot horrified glances at Arthur, while others muttered in fear, their voices barely above a whisper.
"Are you insane? Get on your knees! Don’t get us punished!"
"They’re Cultivator Lords!"
"Drop on your knees immediately!!"
They tried to warn the boys as the five descending figures landed on the ground. It turned out they were Race Lords, known on this planet as Cultivator Lords.
But none of that seemed to faze Arthur or the others. Evan rubbed his neck, half paying attention, while Artemisia and Beatrix exchanged looks, still processing the absurdity of the entire situation where Evan got attacked for seemingly no reason.
Arthur, seemingly unbothered by the gravity of the moment, spoke again, his tone calm. "So...you’re not from the Peng Clan, right?"
"..."
His question hung in the air like an unwelcome cloud and the Cultivator Lords stood in stunned silence for a moment, their gazes shifting between Arthur and the unconscious Peng Clan members littered across the street.
Their expressions were hard to read, concealing their thoughts. Finally, one of them spoke.
"No, we are not affiliated with the Peng Clan. However, we would like to understand exactly what transpired here."
"Well, the Peng Clan’s young master over there..."
Arthur pointed to the unconscious figure sprawled across the ground and continued.
"...decided to hit on my friends. When he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, he tried attacking us. Or... well, tried to attack me, I guess."
He scratched the back of his head, a small smile spreading across his face as if he were recalling something mildly amusing.
"As for his guards, they were blocking my path, and I politely told them to move. They didn’t listen, so I just... gave them a nudge. Honestly, it’s their fault."
The boy told no lies. He did ask politely and they were the ones who struck first.
The Cultivator Lords remained silent, their faces still unreadable. Some of them exchanged glances, as though weighing Arthur’s words.
But before they could speak, a voice rang out from above, clear and commanding.
"Come on, guys, I just told you to fetch a group of kids. Why are you taking so long?"
A spatial portal suddenly opened up and everyone looked to see a figure emerging from it. It was Jamie, his voice carrying an impatient tone as he stepped through the gate.
The moment he appeared, the Cultivator Lords all bowed low, their previous authoritative demeanours vanishing in an instant.
"Your Excellency..."
They greeted him in unison, voices filled with reverence and the bystanders on the street gasped audibly, realizing that this man, who had just appeared from nowhere, held a status far beyond that of the Cultivator Lords.
Race Kings were the only people Lords would address in such a manner, after all.
Jamie looked at the Cultivator Lords, his expression one of mild irritation.
"Forget the formalities. Why are you wasting so much time just to get the kids?"
He gestured toward Arthur, Evan, Beatrix, and Artemisia with an exasperated wave of his hand.
"Those are the kids I told you to get. It’s not that complicated. All you had to do was say I sent you, show them the proof I gave you, and they would’ve followed. What’s with all this mess?"
To Jamie, this situation was simple—a quick errand that should’ve been resolved in seconds.
He had even provided the Cultivator Lords with proof to show Arthur and the others, a token that would confirm Jamie’s involvement.
However, it was clear the Cultivator Lords had complicated the matter, either through hesitation or misunderstanding.
One of the lords, an elderly man with a long, flowing beard, stepped forward, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
"Your Excellency, it appears there was an... incident here. We believed it prudent to assess the situation before proceeding."
The Cultivator Lord gestured toward the unconscious Peng Clan members and the old man still flattened on the ground by Arthur’s gravity spell.
Jamie barely glanced at the unconscious figures. His expression was one of mild disinterest as he waved a hand dismissively.
"Huh? Does that matter? It doesn’t matter."
The Cultivator Lords of Denerth Prime stood stiffly, clearly uneasy. Despite knowing that the Peng clan members had likely started the trouble, they couldn’t afford to publicly side with these foreign outsiders.
The streets were packed with curious onlookers, and losing face in front of their people was not an option. But Jamie? He couldn’t care less about the politics of their planet.
"You do realize, that it doesn’t matter even if someone from your Denerth sect is involved with these kids, right?"
Jamie took a moment to remind the Cultivator Lords exactly who they were dealing with and his words caused them to glance at each other uncomfortably.
Any learned person who heard him also figured out what he meant. As for the Cultivator Lords, they recognized all four of them.
Artemisia and Beatrix were the daughters of the Supreme god King and Queen.
And Arthur? They had seen with their own eyes, the scenes he had created during the war of Toverus just last month. Evan, though not to the level of the two, was someone in the spotlight because of his official position as ’Arthur’s Aide’ and he’d created his own fair share of ridiculous scenes.
Normal people don’t exactly leave entire islands on flames for weeks, do they?
Jamie eyed the Cultivator Lords, making sure they hadn’t forgotten, before turning to the group of teens.
"Hey guys, looks like you’ve been exploring quite a bit, huh?"
"Yeah, we had a little run-in with the Peng Clan’s young master."
Arthur chuckled as he spoke and Jamie, already aware of the inside joke between him, Arthur, and Evan, let out a laugh.
"Haha, of all clans, it had to be the Peng Clan."
Evan nodded in agreement.
"Exactly. That’s why it’s so funny. It was the Peng Clan."
Artemisia and Beatrix exchanged confused glances and finally, they couldn’t hold their curiosity anymore.
"Seriously, what’s with you guys and these jokes?"
Artemisia asked, raising an eyebrow, and in response, Arthur, Evan, and Jamie exchanged knowing looks before they all replied at the same time.
"""Don’t worry, you wouldn’t get it even if we explained it to you."""
Beatrix crossed her arms, her expression skeptical.
"No, you know what? Explain it to me. I want to see if I really won’t understand."
Jamie just laughed, shaking his head as he waved off her request.
"Another time, Beatrix. For now, let’s focus. Do you guys know about the whole Denerth sect stuff?"
"Yeah, we heard about the secret realm and all that."
"Good, It’s the secret realm I wanted you guys to enter.
I came over here and had a long talk with the Cultivator Kings on this planet. The decision we came to is that you all will be going to a different ’secret realm.’ Not just you—everyone is going to a different secret realm, one that I chose."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, but Jamie pressed on.
"We’ve been planning this for the last seven days, which is why it took me a while to contact you. This realm is going to be even better than the original.
More dangerous, sure, but as they say in this world, ’there’s no progress without danger.’"
Hearing this, Evan turned to a random passer-by and asked with genuine curiosity.
"Is that really a saying on your guys’ planet?"
The person, wide-eyed and intimidated by Evan’s presence, just nodded silently.
"Wow, that’s crazy."
Evan muttered, and Jamie flashed him a grin.
"Told you."
The man then clapped his hands, as if wrapping up the conversation.
"Anyway, we’re done now. So, shall we head over?"
"We’ve still got some stuff left in our hotel, though."
To Arthur’s words, Jamie waved his hand in dismissal.
"Hm? Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ll have someone clear it up for you. Unless, of course, there’s something you don’t want people seeing. In which case, feel free to take care of it yourselves."
Artemisia and Beatrix exchanged glances before Artemisia nodded.
"Yeah, there’s definitely some stuff we’d rather others didn’t touch."
Jamie raised his hands in mock surrender and responded.
"Alright then, let’s go clear that up first, and then we’ll head over to the Denerth sect."
With that, they made their way back to the hotel, completely ignoring the unconscious Peng Clan members lying in the street.
The Cultivator Lords, recognizing the futility of the situation, exchanged resigned glances and quietly flew away, deciding it was best to forget the incident altogether.
