Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 923 - 923 0557 As Ugly As It Gets_2

Chapter 923: Chapter 0557: As Ugly As It Gets_2 Chapter 923: Chapter 0557: As Ugly As It Gets_2 The female cultivator’s eyes flashed with a ruthless glint upon hearing this. Her grandmother was a princess of a certain emperor, and according to the royal rules, once she married, her children would no longer be eligible to wear the jade pendants of royal kin. However, speaking just of her own generation, the royal pendant she wore still brought her many conveniences. At the very least, when she traveled outside, no one had ever dared to foolishly target her possessions.

The Imperial Family Secret Territory was neither particularly large nor small. The Great Zhao royal family wielded supreme authority here, and no one dared to easily challenge the royal family’s authority.

“You have quite the nerve. Do you know who you’re talking to? Kneel down this instant!” the female cultivator demanded fiercely with a glare.

Qi Tian chuckled and said, “Are you sure that’s how you want to speak to me?”

“Impudent servant, have you grown tired of living? Do you believe that with just one letter from me, I could call upon thousands of troops to uproot you, your family, and your sect completely? To leave none of your kin, not even the dogs or chickens?” she raged.

Upon hearing this, Qi Tian burst into laughter and said, “You really aren’t afraid of biting your tongue in the wind, are you? If you really have that kind of power, then go ahead and use it. I certainly won’t stop you.”

After observing, Qi Tian was nearly certain that the female cultivator was bluffing—based on a simple reason. Neither Zhang Ting nor Xiang Bo showed genuine fear towards this female cultivator or her companions. They might have been wary, or even afraid of their greater numbers, but to say they actually feared the female cultivator was an exaggeration. Otherwise, Xiang Bo wouldn’t have fought so fiercely with his guest officials and guards against Long Yangyang, nor would Zhang Ting have demanded the female cultivator’s spirit crow. The imperial household might give some preferential treatment to those with royal blood, but it’s utterly impossible to mobilize a massive army just by writing a letter; otherwise, the royal family would have to worry about who really held sway over the Imperial Family Secret Territory.

The female cultivator’s face changed rapidly. She had previously bluffed many people with the same method, and even if someone didn’t believe her, they’d avoid offending her out of caution. Today was the first time she encountered someone who directly challenged her in such a way.

For a moment, she didn’t know what to do—she had never anticipated this scenario and lacked a contingency plan. So much so that when the moment came, she was at a loss, unsure of how to react.

Qi Tian had no intention of showing mercy or cherishing the female cultivator—especially since she wasn’t particularly attractive, Qi Tian wouldn’t even know where to start even if he wanted to be merciful.

Qi Tian snatched the spirit crow from the female cultivator and tossed her a low-grade spirit stone, saying, “I am a fair person. I won’t resort to taking things by force like you do. I believe in honest trade, fair and square, regardless of the person’s age or stature.”

The female cultivator watched with rage as the low-grade spirit stone rolled to her feet. In the Imperial Family Secret Territory, spirit crows might not be the most difficult spirit birds to encounter and tame, but they did draw the most attention. Possessing a spirit crow almost guaranteed attention from the royal family, suggesting she had the potential to revive her family’s glory, like during her grandmother’s era. Now, Qi Tian had taken her spirit crow, effectively snatching away all her chances of restoring her family’s fortune. How could she not hate Qi Tian at this moment?

“Boy, I, Shi Xiaojue, will remember this. I swear upon the heavens that one day, I will repay the humiliation you’ve inflicted upon me a thousandfold, ten thousandfold!” Shi Xiaojue shouted at Qi Tian’s retreating figure.

Qi Tian didn’t even care to glance back at her. Such a small fry was destined to be a passerby in his life, and he felt no psychological burden for today’s events. If it wasn’t for Long Yangyang and Shi Xiaojue creating trouble without cause, setting their sights on Zhang Ting and her spirit crow, if it wasn’t for Long Yangyang’s attempt to forcefully take away the Spirit Pig that Xia Xiaoming had fought for, none of this would have happened. Long Yangyang and Shi Xiaojue were certainly not kind-hearted individuals. Against such wicked people, one must use a wicked person’s means to grind them down.

After Qi Tian purchased Shi Xiaojue’s spirit crow, he set his sights on Long Yangyang’s spirit crow. At this point, Xiang Bo and his group, with the help of Xia Xiaoming who was disguised as a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage but was actually a Gold Core Realm powerhouse, had already taken a decisive advantage. Long Yangyang was battered and bruised, with his clothes torn and bloodstained. Gone was any semblance of his rich young master’s manner and momentum. He looked as wretched as one could possibly be.

Long Yangyang and his few companions stood back to back, shoulder to shoulder, their swollen eyes reducing their vision to mere slits. They squinted painfully, looking at Xiang Bo and his somewhat disheveled group. They would never have believed they could lose, not by numbers, nor by individual combat strength which were far superior to Xiang Bo’s group. How could they end up losing, and so badly at that, from a fight like this?

Qi Tian walked over, glanced at the pitiful Long Yangyang, and then at Xiang Bo’s group. He shook his head inwardly. This fight was unimpressive. Even though it was a battle between cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage, Qi Tian felt that the fight between Long Yangyang and Xiang Bo lacked originality, especially compared to those in Wanjie City. Was it due to a lack of inheritance techniques in the Imperial Family Secret Territory, or was someone deliberately controlling all of this?

Seeing Qi Tian approach, Xiang Bo asked somewhat boastfully, “Qi Tian, how did I perform today, young master?”

“Of course, you did well. I should give you a thumbs up,” replied Qi Tian as he gave Xiang Bo a thumbs up.

Though Xiang Bo didn’t understand what “thumbs up” meant exactly, he knew that a raised thumb was a gesture of praise, and he immediately broke into a smile.

Qi Tian said, “Young master, now that we are the victors, what do you plan to do with these people?”

Xiang Bo was fretting over this very question. To him, Long Yangyang and Shi Xiaojue’s group were quite annoying, but as much as he disliked them, they weren’t people he could just kill. Beating them up was one thing; he could still make up excuses later, but once someone was killed, the nature of the problem would change completely.

Qi Tian suggested, “Young master, since you find it so troubling, I have an idea. They are our captives now. Since we don’t want to kill them, we can have them pay to ransom themselves. Didn’t we just get robbed? Why not recover our losses from them?”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Bo’s eyes lit up. Qi Tian’s idea struck right at his heart. If he could really extort cultivation resources from Long Yangyang, it would be like killing two birds with one stone for him. On one hand, he could make up for his losses and replenish his cultivation resources; on the other, he could cause Long Yangyang to suffer a significant loss. It was the epitome of harming others to benefit oneself.

Slapping his thigh, Xiang Bo said, “That’s a good plan. Let’s do it your way. Oh, and since it was your idea, Qi Tian, you go and negotiate with them first.”

Qi Tian shook his head and pointed at Xia Xiaoming, saying, “Young master, you’re wrong. It’s not appropriate for me to go up. Let Master Xia do it. His words carry more weight than mine right now. Isn’t that right, Xia?”

Xia Xiaoming, without a word, stepped forward and walked up to Long Yangyang and the others.

During the recent fight with Xiang Bo and his group, Long Yangyang and his companions hadn’t held back at all, using all kinds of tactics. From this confrontation, they unanimously agreed that the most powerful and ruthless of Xiang Bo’s group was Xia Xiaoming. Half of the injuries they had were inflicted by Xia, especially the critical ones that affected their fighting capabilities, which were all inflicted by Xia without exception.