Nearly a hundred Half-Emperor aura waves, like invisible tides, pressed inward from every direction — and every last one of them was aimed squarely at La Jiao.
*Tap, tap, tap…*
Strong as La Jiao was, she was still only a Martial King. Faced with the combined pressure of nearly a hundred Half-Emperors, her delicate face went pale in an instant. She swayed left and right like a lone leaf adrift on a vast sea, swept along by the current and utterly pitiful.
Hum—
Yet the ordeal had barely begun when, from within the crowd, another wave of nearly a hundred Half-Emperor auras erupted, crashing head-on against the pressure from the Heavenly Dao Residence and forming a direct confrontation — buying La Jiao her freedom.
"Your Heavenly Dao Residence has people? Does that mean the Hell Residence has none?"
The moment that pressure appeared, nearly a hundred figures strode through the air and landed in front of La Jiao.
These nearly one hundred Half-Emperor powerhouses — men and women alike — ranged in age from their thirties to their nineties. The weakest were First-rank Half-Emperors; the strongest, Third-rank. But they all shared one thing in common: every last one of them belonged to the Hell Residence.
At the same time, nearly a thousand disciples from the Heavenly Dao Residence and a thousand from the Hell Residence materialized, lining up behind their respective Half-Emperor elders.
In that instant, the two most powerful human factions — the Heavenly Dao Residence and the Hell Residence — stood locked in a tense standoff.
Many of the onlookers scrambled to put distance between themselves and the scene. They retreated, yes, but their hearts were racing with excitement. It was common knowledge that the Heavenly Dao Residence and the Hell Residence were at odds, yet very few people had ever witnessed the two actually clash.
Today, of all days, they had the chance to see the Heavenly Dao Residence and the Hell Residence go head to head. This was a once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck — how could they not be thrilled?
"The Three Residences really are different."
The crowd was here for the spectacle, but Chu Feng saw the underlying principle. In his eyes, compared to the Nine Powers, the disciples of the Three Residences were far more united. At the very least, when a fellow disciple was in trouble, they stepped forward without hesitation to back them up — and that was something the Nine Powers sorely lacked.
No wonder the Three Residences had stood tall in the Martial Holy Land for tens of thousands of years without ever declining, remaining the most formidable existence among the human race. People needed unity; only through unity could strength multiply.
Yet in this world of cultivation — a world rife with treachery and dominated by self-interest — that spirit of solidarity grew rarer by the day.
"What's this? Is the Hell Residence looking to start a war?" A man in the Heavenly Dao Residence's ranks spoke up — an elder whose cultivation sat at the Third-rank Half-Emperor level.
Though the man was under a hundred years of age, his attire was markedly different from the other Heavenly Dao Residence disciples. Clearly he was no ordinary member; he was an elder of sorts.
"First of all, even if war did break out, the Hell Residence would not be afraid of your Heavenly Dao Residence for a single second. Second, a clash between you and me does not constitute a war. After all, we are merely disciples of the Hell Residence — we cannot speak for the entire Hell Residence, and neither can you." A Hell Residence elder — also a Third-rank Half-Emperor — smiled coolly. "And lastly, nearly a hundred of your Heavenly Dao Residence Half-Emperors ganging up to suppress a single Martial King disciple from the Hell Residence — and a female disciple at that — even if blows were exchanged, you would be the ones in the wrong."
"What a joke. Why did we suppress her? Because she injured our Heavenly Dao Residence disciples," the leading Heavenly Dao Residence elder shot back, his voice frigid.
"What a joke indeed. And why did she injure your disciples? Because they attacked her first. If your skills are inferior, don't humiliate yourselves by asking for it." The Hell Residence elder's words dripped with sarcasm.
"Nonsense! Without provocation, why would our Heavenly Dao Residence disciples lay a hand on a mere girl? It was because she insulted our disciples!" the Heavenly Dao Residence elder retorted.
"I insulted him because he spewed lies and slandered Chu Feng."
"How dare he slander Chu Feng — he should have asked himself whether he was even worthy of it." La Jiao couldn't hold back.
"There — even she admits it. That Chu Feng is a villain through and through, a traitor to the human race. What's wrong with our Heavenly Dao Residence disciples saying so?"