The Peerless Emperor was an independent cultivator too. He understood this type of person all too well. With people like this, unless you crushed them with overwhelming force, there was virtually no other way to persuade them.
Emotional appeals, trying to build rapport, reasoning with them, appealing to virtue — none of it worked on people like this whatsoever.
They were nothing more than stubborn rocks. Talking sense to them was like playing a lute for a cow. The best approach was to suppress them with power and buy them off with benefits.
Any method beyond that was a waste of time.
The Peerless Emperor naturally wasn't about to buy anyone off with benefits. He chose the path of force.
"Old He," the Peerless Emperor said mildly. "You were just explaining the rules around here. Why don't you tell me — what are the rules? I'm quite curious."
He Fenghui's face was a mask of bitter resignation as he begged repeatedly for mercy. "Senior, please stop teasing this junior. Rules are all empty talk — power is king. Right now, whatever you say goes around here!"
The Peerless Emperor pointed at Gu Xintang. "Captain Gu is my friend. He comes here, and you lot want to teach him the rules? Want to teach him how to spell the word 'death'?"
"We wouldn't dare! How were we supposed to know Captain Gu had such an unshakable backer? We were wrong — truly wrong." He Fenghui wore a look of self-mockery. "Senior, we promise that from now on, whenever Captain Gu visits, we'll treat him as an honored guest. We'll never be remiss!"
Gu Xintang felt a deep sense of satisfaction hearing this. After all, this was his chance to hold his head high again. Watching these feral maniacs of the Ten Extremes Zone regard him with nothing but wariness in their eyes, he felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest. At the same time, his mind was filled with emotion.
"Having someone above you really does make a difference," Gu Xintang sighed.
The one-eyed brute sidled over with a woeful expression, approaching Gu Xintang. "Captain Gu, I, Old Zhao, really am blind, just like you said. Hit me, curse me — I'll take it all. I only ask that Captain Gu be magnanimous and forgive me this once."
Gu Xintang gave a cold snort. "Zhao One-Eye, if you'd been civil from the start, I wouldn't have stooped to your level. You were just riding on the coattails of the strongmen here in the Ten Extremes Zone, barking at me like a dog. You know — a dog baring its fangs behind its master's power. You don't understand that?"
"Yes, yes — I got a bit full of myself. Captain Gu is absolutely right to scold me. This watchdog's head got swollen, and today's lesson is just the wake-up call I needed." The one-eyed man named Zhao bowed and scraped with an obsequious grin.
Clearly, Gu Xintang scolding him only made him happier.
If Gu Xintang had refused to scold him, refused to hit him, or even refused to acknowledge him at all, that was when he should have worried. Because that sort of thing more than likely meant the other party was holding a grudge.
Once someone held a grudge against him, Zhao One-Eye could very well vanish from the Black Prison Area one day without anyone knowing why.
Gu Xintang might not be able to do anything to the true powerhouses of the Ten Extremes Zone, but getting rid of a nobody like Zhao One-Eye? That was well within his reach.
What's more, Gu Xintang had been hiding his depths all along — he actually had a friend in the Emperor realm. This Captain Gu was truly devious, playing the pig to eat the tiger!
He Fenghui asked obsequiously, "Senior, what brings you to the Ten Extremes Zone? Is there anything we can help with?"
"Looking for someone," the Peerless Emperor said flatly. Then he suddenly remembered Jiang Chen, and his expression changed. "Old He, you have two more companions — you'd better recall them immediately. If anything has happened to my friend, I guarantee there won't be a single living thing left in your Ten Extremes Zone."
He Fenghui's face went pale at those words. He could tell instantly that this senior was absolutely not joking.
He hurriedly ordered several men nearby, "Go — now! Get Situ Ling and Wu Xutao back here immediately. Don't let them make an irreversible mistake."
The others' expressions changed sharply. Just as they were about to set off, they spotted those two men running toward them in a fury.
As they ran, they were shouting, "Send two more people! That kid is fast — his movement technique is bizarre, hard to corral. We need at least four to have any chance of boxing him in. But it seems like the kid is looking for someone…"
Situ Ling shouted as he waved others over to help.
But the strange atmosphere at the scene made Situ Ling vaguely realize something was off. He complained, "What's wrong with you people? Are you deaf or mute?"
Wu Xutao chimed in, "If we don't cut that kid off soon, he's going to turn the entire Ten Extremes Zone upside down."
When the two drew closer, they too sensed the wrongness in the air.
"Hey, what's with all of you—" Situ Ling stopped mid-sentence the moment he noticed everyone's expressions.
It seemed that every single one of them was being far too deferential toward the enemy.
What was going on?
Neither of these men was stupid. Seeing the atmosphere, their hearts lurched, and an immediate sense of wrongness flooded over them.
He Fenghui said with a bitter smile, "Situ, Old Wu — come quickly and pay your respects to His Majesty the Emperor."
His Majesty the Emperor?!
The two men were dumbfounded, frozen in stunned silence, utterly unable to speak. A long moment passed before they finally recovered, staring at the Peerless Emperor.
"His Majesty the Emperor?"
Seeing the reverence on He Fenghui and the others' faces, the two men could no longer doubt it. Otherwise, given how fierce and savage those people normally were, they would never have been this courteous.
"Your Majesty," Situ Ling and Wu Xutao said with embarrassed expressions, stepping forward to bow.
"Where is my companion?" the Peerless Emperor asked in an indifferent tone.