Inside the Treasure Tree Sect, upon learning the news that Tie Dazhi and Zhou Yi had been captured at the Jiang residence, Tie Can nearly leapt out of his skin.
This time, it had been him who had caught wind of Ye Chonglou's arrival at the Treasure Tree Sect and had secretly ordered Tie Dazhi and the others to march to the Tiangui Kingdom to eliminate Jiang Chen.
Who could have expected that they would fail?
And moreover, without any help from Ye Chonglou—a team of eighteen, led by two Spirit Realm powerhouses, had been completely captured!
This news left Tie Can stunned into stone. He knew Tie Dazhi's strength all too well.
His nephew possessed talent on the path of martial cultivation that surpassed his own by a vast margin. To put it bluntly, in another three years, Tie Dazhi's cultivation would very likely overtake his own.
So, when Tie Dazhi had set out personally, Tie Can had been brimming with confidence.
Yet once again, reality slapped him across the face. Tie Dazhi had been captured and was being held prisoner by Jiang Chen!
Worse still, a message had been delivered: they had six hours to pay the ransom, or else no deal.
After six hours, every quarter of an hour, Jiang Chen would execute one hostage. He would continue until they were all dead.
Upon hearing this, Tie Can nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He could not remember—how many years had it been? When had anyone dared to speak to him, Tie Can, in such a manner? Who had ever dared to openly oppose his Tie family?
Forget the mundane kingdoms—even within the sect, it had never happened before.
But today, he, Tie Can, had been made to suffer just that.
"Jiang Chen!" Tie Can's eyes blazed with murderous intent, his teeth grinding together so hard they clicked. He wanted nothing more than to lead an army and charge straight to the Royal Capital, raze the Jiang residence to the ground, and slaughter every last man, woman, and child.
But reason told him this idea, however appealing, was absolutely unworkable.
Setting aside the fact that Ye Chonglou was almost certainly backing Jiang Chen right now, there was the matter of the sect itself. Sect Master Xie Tianshu had surely received word as well.
There was no justification whatsoever for sect disciples to march into a mundane kingdom, harass its nobility, and besiege their residence.
Even for sect disciples, such behavior was impermissible.
Sect disciples flaunting their power and running roughshod was one thing, but there were still basic rules to be observed.
Of course, there were plenty of cases where those rules were broken.
But that only happened when no one chose to pursue the matter.
Now, setting aside the fact that Sect Master Xie Tianshu might seize upon this opportunity at any moment to act against them, even that old man Ye Chonglou was someone Tie Can knew he could do nothing about.
This time, Ye Chonglou held the moral high ground. If things blew up, it would be more than enough to leave the Tie family humiliated and defeated.
If the matter were brought before the Sect Master, Xie Tianshu would certainly have no objections to kicking the Tie family while they were down, punishing them severely.
The most devastating part was that his secret order for Tie Dazhi to go to the Royal Capital had also involved the unauthorized mobilization of sixteen law enforcement disciples.
This had originally been a private operation. If no one pressed the issue, it would have been trivial.
But once the matter came to light, it would become a colossal problem.
Setting aside the fact that Tie Can had no authority whatsoever to command the Law Enforcement Hall's disciples, even if he did have such authority, without an official warrant, they could not be deployed so freely.
Now, not only had he mobilized them without authorization, but all sixteen law enforcement disciples had been lost at the Jiang residence.
If he failed to get them back, the Law Enforcement Hall's Grand Elder would never forgive him. He would have thoroughly offended the Grand Elder beyond any hope of reconciliation.
The Law Enforcement Hall symbolized the sect's judicial authority. It represented discipline, it represented order.
His unauthorized mobilization of law enforcement disciples was a violation of the rules.
Violating the rules of the Law Enforcement Hall meant violating the rules of the sect itself.
If this matter blew up, it would be more than enough to cause him serious trouble.
Tie Can's mind was in complete disarray, his thoughts a tangled mess.
Not only had he failed to anticipate that Tie Dazhi and Zhou Yi would be captured at the Jiang residence, he absolutely had not expected that Jiang Chen would dare to publicly extort him.
Refuse to pay the ransom, and the prisoners would be executed.
That was the ultimatum Jiang Chen had delivered.
Tie Can harbored no doubt that Jiang Chen would follow through. Whenever Jiang Chen said he would kill someone, he had never once flinched.
Lü Wuji, Yang Zhao—even Liu Chengfeng of the Qianlan Northern Palace—Tie Can no longer questioned it. All of them must have been Jiang Chen's doing.
Time was limited to six hours. Despite his inner turmoil, Tie Can knew he could not afford to hesitate any longer.
Gritting his teeth, he swallowed his pride and went to seek out his father, Tie Long, the First Seat of the Supreme Elders.
Tie Long had clearly just returned from a high-level closed-door meeting, traces of fatigue still visible on his face. The moment he saw his son's dejected, miserable expression, he knew that the boy had gone and caused trouble once again.