Chapter 295: Schemers
"Why is this happening? Isn't this supposed to be a tournament?"
Ding Yuan's face darkened as he watched how Hua Xiong's men and Lu Fengxian's allies fought each other in the arena. Fortunately, none of the troublemakers had attacked the spectators yet.
The crowd was taken aback and were panicked at first. But when they had realized that Miaomiao's party only attacked Hua Xiong's people, they began cheering.
"KILL! KILL! KILL!"
"KILL THEM ALL!"
"THAT'S RIGHT! KILL!!"
No one but Ding Yuan had realized that the crisis would soon extend to them once Miaomiao and Lu Fengxian were done with the soldiers.
"This won't do."
Ding Yuan took out his phone to inform Dong Zhongying about the uprising and the chaos.
…
Hua Xiong glared at Miaomiao and Lu Fengxian inside the pillar barrier in resentment. He spread his Qi sense to check his subordinates and soldiers.
The men didn't perform well even though they outnumbered this party. They had a few 6th-stage and several 5th-stage cultivators, but none of them mastered an advanced element Qi. Facing Ju Shoufen's poison flame and the fox's mysterious summoned spirits, they faltered and were pushed back.
Yet, the most dangerous fighter was not the two 6th-stage experts.
"HE'S OVER THERE!"
"NO!! HE DISAPPEARS AGAIN!"
An invisible assassin had been maiming the royal guards. Whenever he appeared, one or two of the 5th-stage soldiers fell. Even three 6th-stage commanders were helpless against the invisible man.
Even Lu Fengxian didn't kill many soldiers! The highest score belonged to Ma Moxi!
"Ma Chao, Cao Mao, Ding Bu! I'll remember this!" Hua Xiong swallowed a healing pill and bellowed, "RETREAT! STOP FIGHTING!"
The soldiers also glared at Miaomiao's party before they turned tail and ran away, exiting the stadium in order.
Ju Shoufen, Ku'er, and Ma Moxi didn't pursue. They gathered around Lu Fengxian and Miaomiao, protecting them from the crowd.
Lu Fengxian raised his eyebrows and looked at the people around him. He didn't expect anyone to help him since they had nothing to gain from offending the imperial clan and the Dong Clan.
"Do you even realize what you've done?"
The light pillar barrier disappeared, and Miaomiao turned around to look at the troublesome protagonist, "As a junior, I can't allow those hypocrites to bully a weakened senior, especially if that senior is my grandfather-in-law's mentor."
"… Bootlicking and flattering will only corrupt your nature. Do you want to become a politician or a cultivator?"
"Is it wrong that we protected our colleagues and our families?"
"Colleagues and families? I haven't heard those words for a long time," The corner of Lu Fengxian's mouth slightly curved up, "I owe you one. I'll be sure to return this favor a hundredfold in the future."
Ma Moxi, Ju Shoufen, and Ku'er ignored Lu Fengxian's words since they didn't expect anything from an unknown insane youth, who had claimed to be Ma Ping's old friend.
Little did they knew, Lu Fengxian meant exactly what he said. Only Miaomiao was aware of the underlying promise.
'Hook, Line, and Sinker! I won't fail like the last time when I scammed Xie Tian!'
Miaomiao planned to let Lu Fengxian grow, so the latter could become a domesticated plot armor to protect him from future protagonists, including Liu Bian and the Yuan Clan.
Using what he had learned from the past, Miaomiao was determined that his scheme would be flawless this time around.
As Miaomiao's party and Luo Cheng's group were awkwardly loitering and chatting on the stage, the corpses of royal guards and Li Wenyou suddenly sunk into the ground.
Sensing an evil art's power, Lu Fengxian shoved Miaomiao to the side and rushed toward the nearest corpse, which had not been stolen yet.
But he was too late, the corpse sank into the ground as if it was a stone sinking into an ocean.
Lu Fengxian squinted his eyes and looked around, searching for the culprit.
"WHO WAS IT!?"
Miaomiao, his gang, and Luo Cheng's group didn't know why this protagonist was alarmed, "What's wrong, senior?"
"The corpses," Lu Fengxian pointed at the bloodstain on the stage, but all corpses had disappeared.
"Corpse…?" Miaomiao looked around for a moment. Then, he realized the anomaly.
All dead bodies had disappeared!
Miaomiao asked himself – Who would want all these dead bodies? What abilities required corpses as a medium or an ingredient?
Could it be necromancy?
Miaomiao turned toward the spectators in shock. His bounty target might be somewhere among the crowd.
'Is Liu Bian here, too!? There's only one necromancer in this world, right!?'
Lu Fengxian also stared at the crowd, who was booing and throwing objects at them. Then, he muttered to himself, "Either another heretic or a necromancer is on the loose. This won't do…"
…
Wang Diaochan, aka Liu Bian, couldn't stop smiling as he managed to secure a few dozen corpses of 5th-stage and 6th-stage cultivators. Although they were weak and didn't possess advanced element crystals in their dantians, the corpses were still valuable ingredients for his skill and system.
Ding
[You have collected enough corpses of core pillar cultivator to create a death knight.]
[Will you exchanged 10 core pillar cultivator corpses into a death knight?]
This was Liu Bian's system perk. As long as he had obtained enough fresh corpses of a certain tier, he could exchange it into a strong undead soldier instead of using his necromancy to awaken one. However, he could only use this perk once a year.
'Finally, I can get a brand new death knight. If I can have three or four more, I should be able to assassinate those pesky nascent soul cultivators and get their element crystals and dead bodies.'
Miaomiao wasn't the only hunter on this continent. Liu Bian also planned to rebuild his army and hunt all experts to get more resources.
Still, Liu Bian's underdeveloped body hindered his advancement. He needed to wait years before his physique could handle yin and yang essence, so he could break through to the 4th-stage.
'That one blunder costs me everything… Welp, it's better than letting those eunuchs manipulate my life. Now, I'm a free man. But Wang Yun…'
Liu Bian didn't know if he should trust this mercenary. He had recruited him by chance since the system identified him as a "Hero". Still, there was no telling if he would be faithful or loyal to him.
The ex-prince's eyes gleamed as he looked down on Lu Fengxian, Miaomiao, and Ma Moxi on the stage. He sneered.
'It doesn't matter. In the end, as long as I can get back to my pylon tower, I can either detonate it or store it in my system inventory. But since three nascent soul cultivators are gathered at one place, I should use this opportunity to kill them all!'
Liu Bian's Pylon Tower had been upgraded more than once. Thus, he could use its features, such as forcing it to self-destruct and destroy the entire city without harming the user.
It might be a costly bomb, but it might be worth trying since he might be able to secure three 7th-stage cultivators' bodies at once.
…
Dong Zhongying, Ma Ping, Wang Yun, and Jia Shan returned in a hurry. As for Xu Xiuying, Ma Ping knocked her unconscious and carried her on his back.
One of Dong Zhongying's phone calls had informed them that Ding Bu and Miaomiao's gang had murdered the referees and staff. In shock, these powerful experts returned to end the conflict before it escalated.
When they arrived, the battle had ended. Hua Xiong already brought his men out, but Li Wenyou and the stadium staff had been missing.
Three nascent soul cultivators and Dong Zhongying landed on the stage. They confronted Miaomiao and his men.
"What happened here?"
Miaomiao had a wry smile on his face, but he didn't answer.
Jia Shan and Ma Ping frowned and stared into Miaomiao's eyes. The latter's reaction was different than when they had interrogated him about his growth secrets and his sponsor.
Miaomiao always refuted, distracted, or changed the subject when he didn't want to answer their questions. However, Miaomiao just looked back at them and kept quiet as if he wasn't in charge of this mess.
His eyes were telling them, "That's not my fault."
Then, the elders' eyes met with Lu Fengxian's eyes.
"It was me," Lu Fengxian snickered. "That annoying referee chief forced me and that little dwarf girl to kill each other. I killed him instead, and we ended up fighting the stadium staff."
Dong Zhongying looked around. He could see bloodstains on the stage, but he couldn't find a dead body.
"What about the dead bodies?"
"Gone."
"What?"
Lu Fengxian turned toward the crowd on the spectator stands, who were boldly hanging around, waiting for new development.
"One of those people either practiced necromancy or shadow element. They stole the corpses of your men."
Wang Yun squinted his eyes and paid attention to the youth. Then, he noticed that Lu Fengxian's cultivation base had increased by a big realm.
Moreover, Lu Fengxian knew about Liu Bian's power and shadow element power, which was their secret. This young man was too abnormal to be treated as a common essence gathering realm cultivator.
"Ho?"
Instead of being intimidated, Wang Yun was impressed by Lu Fengxian's talent. He planned to add him in his future chess piece after he stole the pylon tower.
On the other hand, Dong Zhongying's face paled. He pleaded at Jia Shan and Ma Ping, hugging their legs.
Dong Zhongying thought that Lu Fengxian and everybody here killed and looted the corpses, taking advantage of his weaknesses and the tournament event.
"Sir, senior, you can't do this. You've disgraced me by ruining my organized event. How am I going to operate my city after these losses? How could you use your status and power to bully us weaklings!? Is this how a sword saint and a war hero usually do these days!?"
Dong Zhongying played victim, shaming Jia Shan and Ma Ping for bullying the royal clan with their superior strength. As the prestigious war hero and the sword saint, they should be protecting the laws and order, not abusing them for their personal gain.
It was effective. Ma Ping and Jia Shan were not as shameless as Miaomiao or Lu Fengxian, so they felt guilty. Then, they turned their anger toward the kids.
Lu Fengxian only smirked and shrugged, "It was self-defense."
Miaomiao squinted his eyes and frowned at Dong Zhongying. He wanted to encourage the elders to kill Dong Zhongying and take over Red Sun City, but no word came out of his mouth.
It was not the time to let loose and slaughter innocent people here. After all, too many protagonists were around. Although Ma Moxi might approve it, Lu Fengxian might not, judging how he spared Xu Xiuying.
"You want to say something, Miaomiao?"
Jia Shan could read Miaomiao's expression and pointed out the latter's thoughts.
Miaomiao bitterly smiled. Then, he turned toward Dong Zhongying and bowed, "I shall withdraw myself from the tournament. Also, I will reimburse you with 1,000 essence cores for your losses."
Ma Moxi followed suit. He copied Miaomiao's action and bowed toward Dong Zhongying, "I shall also forfeit from the tournament. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused."
"…"
Dong Zhongying didn't expect the youths to back down easily. Still, he was relieved.
"Good! Good! And… what about you?" Dong Zhongying turned to Ding Bu, wanting him to withdraw from the tournament as well.
Unfortunately, Lu Fengxian was not someone who understood the meaning of the word, [Compromise].
"What about me? I had nothing to do with it. Your men assaulted me first, and I defended myself."
"YOU!!"
Enraged, Dong Zhongying pointed his finger at Lu Fengxian's face. His mind thought of a thousand ways to kill this young man as slowly as possible, but he couldn't turn his imagination into reality when all nascent soul cultivators were around.
Miaomiao glanced at Lu Fengxian. Then, he forked more essence cores to bribe the minister, "Please calm down. How about this, I'll contribute a total of 3,000 essence cores as a restoration fund for the tournament. You can hire better 5th-stage and 6th-stage cultivators with this, right? Let's forgive and forget, okay?"
"…"
Dong Zhongying received a dummy spatial ring, filled with 3,000 essence cores inside. He gave Miaomiao a meaningful look for a moment. Then, his red angry face turned into a bright smile.
"Of course! We are adults! We can forgive and forget! Hahahahaha!"
Dong Zhongying laughed and took out a voice transmitter orb, which worked like a microphone and a loudspeaker. Then, he made an announcement.
"The tournament continues tomorrow! Due to the trespassing aggression and the interference of a match, Cao Mao and Ma Chao are disqualified from the tournament! As for the current match…"
Dong Zhongying's eyes met with Ding Yuan. The former grinned and nodded at the latter, "Ding Bu continues to the next round!"
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