Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Give Me Some Face
The Emperor of the Martial Kingdom watched the scene on the training grounds in silence, his face betraying no emotion.
The Seventh Prince and the Eldest Prince also walked over.
The Eldest Prince sighed. "Ninth Princess, are you trying to make Father offend the Celestial City Academy? Do you have any idea who is backing them?"
Before the Ninth Princess could respond, the Eldest Prince shook his head and continued, "They’re backed by a true power among the Immortal Families of the mountains. If our Martial Kingdom wishes to survive in the East Continent and resist being annexed by the surrounding empires, we have no choice but to rely on their support."
"Without the support of this Immortal Family, our Martial Kingdom would have been carved up by the surrounding empires long ago. Why do you think Father has tolerated Celestial City Academy’s lawlessness for so many years?"
As he spoke, the Eldest Prince sighed once more.
"But... but..."
The Ninth Princess, Gu Yawei, had vaguely heard her master mention these things before. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say and could only fret, unable to help.
「In the center of the training grounds.」
"Do you think I, Bai Yi, am afraid just because your Celestial City Academy has greater numbers?"
Bai Yi glanced at the three surrounding elders with disdain. With a stamp of his foot, a dozen streams of Sword Intent erupted with the force of a thunderbolt.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
With a cry of alarm, each of the three elders spat out a Blood Arrow and was sent flying backward.
"Old Man Ma, we’re both in the Earth Profound Realm. Maybe I can’t defeat you! But your academy’s disciples, and everyone else..."
As he spoke, Bai Yi shot a cold glance at the surroundings. "Let’s see if they can withstand my Sword Intent!"
"If your Celestial City Academy goes to war with us today, if you harm even one person from my Sword Institute—if you so much as touch a single hair on one of our disciples’ heads—don’t blame me for fighting dirty. From this day forward, forget about any new disciples joining the Celestial City Academy. If one comes, I’ll kill one. If a pair comes, I’ll kill the pair. I’ll just stand guard at the gates of Celestial City Mountain from now on."
Everyone who heard this was stunned. They never expected that Bai Yi, a renowned Great Sword Cultivator of his generation and one of the Martial Kingdom’s absolute top experts, would be so shameless as to threaten Ma Zheng with the lives of the Celestial City Academy’s junior disciples.
Nearby, Shen Daoxing was dumbstruck. He found it difficult to reconcile the roguish-looking, straw-sandaled man before him with a top-tier master of his generation.
’I like it, though!’
"You dare!"
Ma Zheng’s voice was ice-cold. No longer able to restrain himself, his aura erupted. He thrust out a palm, and a massive golden handprint bore down menacingly on Shen Daoxing and the others.
"Everyone, get behind me."
Bai Yi said to the group. With a flick of his toe, he sent the longsword at his feet spinning into the air and leaped up lightly.
Bai Yi brought two fingers together and drew several golden lines in the air. With a forward point, the longsword traced a circle and multiplied into more than a dozen blades.
"Go!"
With a sharp cry from Bai Yi, the dozen-plus longswords shimmered with a dazzling, colorful light and, with a WHOOSH, crashed into the golden handprint.
"BOOM!"
A tidal wave of Primordial Energy erupted from between the two combatants, surging outward in all directions like ripples.
Even though Shen Daoxing was hiding behind Bai Yi, who blocked most of the force, his inner qi and blood still churned violently.
Under the force of the massive shockwave, the three nearest elders were forced back several steps, their faces pale.
The other disciples of the Celestial City Academy cried out as they were thrown into the air, and many of them passed out on the spot.
"Well, well, well, Old Man Ma! Your disciples from the Celestial City Academy aren’t so tough after all. They can’t even withstand a little aftershock."
Bai Yi raised his gourd, took a swig of wine, and cackled.
"You..."
Ma Zheng’s expression darkened. The Celestial City Academy had too many disciples; even if he wanted to protect them, he couldn’t shield them all.
Meanwhile, the entire Sword Institute consisted of only a few people, all of whom were safe and sound behind Bai Yi.
This put Ma Zheng in a difficult position.
And yet, Shen Daoxing had killed so many of the Celestial City Academy’s disciples. The matter couldn’t simply be dropped.
Ma Zheng’s face was grim. His entire body flared with golden light as an unparalleled aura rose from him. The immense pressure made it difficult for even Ren Changfeng and Chen Guanggu to breathe.
It looked as if the two sides, with tensions at a breaking point, were about to come to blows.
"What... what’s to be done?"
The Ninth Princess stamped her foot anxiously.
The Eldest Prince shook his head and looked up at the sky. "It seems our Imperial City is destined for turmoil today."
But just at that moment.
"Enough!"
A majestic voice suddenly rang out.
The Eldest Prince started, turning his head in surprise. He hadn’t expected his own father, the Emperor, to be the one to speak.
"Sirs, if you two continue fighting like this, the Celestial City Academy will be destroyed, and you will destroy most of Our Imperial City along with it."
The Emperor of the Martial Kingdom slowly descended from the viewing platform and walked between Ma Zheng and Bai Yi. "How about this? As a favor to Us, will you both agree to a truce?"
"Your Majesty!"
Ma Zheng paused, stunned. He stepped forward and bowed to the Emperor of the Martial Kingdom. "This Shen Daoxing has killed so many of our Celestial City Academy’s disciples. How can we simply let him go? Where would that leave the honor of our Celestial City Academy?"
The Emperor of the Martial Kingdom paused. "Since this entire affair was caused by the junior disciples, why don’t we do this? According to the old custom, we’ll let the disciples from both sides have a life-and-death battle. We can resolve this conflict with a duel to the death. What do you say?"
"Your Majesty!"
Bai Yi stepped forward, offered a respectful bow, and smiled faintly. "Resolving irreconcilable conflicts with a duel to the death has always been a tradition in our Martial Kingdom. I have no problem with that. I’m just afraid the Celestial City Academy won’t dare to accept the challenge."
"You..."
Chen Guanggu pointed a finger at Bai Yi, too furious to speak.
But when he turned and saw his disciples, their heads bowed in dejection, not daring to meet his gaze, he realized Bai Yi was right. This only made him even more infuriated.
Ma Zheng frowned. It was obvious that with Shen Daoxing’s current strength, no one among the disciples of the Celestial City Academy was his match.
For the Emperor of the Martial Kingdom to propose resolving the conflict with a duel between disciples at this juncture was a clear sign that he was siding with the Sword Institute.
This came as a great surprise to Ma Zheng.
Vice-Head Bai Bo suddenly thought of something and used a Secret Skill for voice transmission to confer with the others. "Headmaster, I heard Xia Junze is returning from the Celestial Awakening Empire soon! He has even gained the acknowledgment of the Celestial Flame Sword, one of the World Divine Soldiers, and his strength has risen to a new level."
"That’s right!"
Ren Changfeng nodded. Then, he began pinching his fingers together to perform a calculation. "Based on the timing, Xia Junze can be back in fifteen days."
"Excellent!"
Vice-Head Chen Guanggu was overjoyed. "The Celestial Flame Sword is the Divine Soldier ranked twenty-first on the World Divine Soldiers list! It cuts through iron like mud and is unstoppable. With it in hand, Xia Junze will surely be able to slay Shen Daoxing."
The Emperor of the Martial Kingdom spoke again. "Headmaster Ma, it was no easy feat for the Celestial City Academy to stand for a thousand years in the Martial Kingdom. You wouldn’t want to see it all destroyed in a single day, would you? If that happens, you’ll go down in history as its greatest sinner!"
"Furthermore, We have heard that during your recent departure from the Martial Kingdom, Headmaster Ma, you earned the favor of the Celestial Profound Ascendant and now have a chance to enter the Celestial Profound Sacred Land. You wouldn’t want to fight to the death here and miss your opportunity to enter the Sacred Land, would you?"
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