Xie Tianshu — defeated!
Gu Xiong held his blade at rest, quite different from Wu Chen's aggressive pursuit. He didn't seem to care at all about chasing down Xie Tianshu, letting the man slink back in defeat.
"Weak. Far too weak. If even a sect master is this pathetic, who among you is worth fighting?"
Gu Xiong's wild nature blazed through his words, his domineering aura pressing down so hard that none of the peak Spirit Realm experts from the three great sects dared meet his gaze head-on.
"Who else?"
Zuo Lan smiled faintly and began to applaud. "The nine-duel agreement — only three bouts have been completed. Don't say I'm bullying you. Send out anyone else you've got. I want you to lose so thoroughly that you submit willingly and work for my Heavenly Sect."
The words carried no sarcasm and no mockery, yet they brimmed with the superiority of a man in power, completely unmasked. For the three great sects, it was the deepest humiliation imaginable.
"Submit willingly? Like hell!" Old Freak Jiu Shi was the first to explode. "I don't care who you are or how strong you think you are. All I know is that the Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance is our turf, and if you think you can run wild on our ground, you can go straight to hell!"
"You won't submit?" Zuo Lan's expression turned cold, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Then send someone to fight me. I'll beat every last one of you into submission. You're Old Freak Jiu Shi from the Myriad Spirit Sect? You think being a Yuan Realm venerable makes you something special?"
"Think working for my Heavenly Sect is beneath your dignity?" Zuo Lan sneered again and again. "I hate to break it to you, but you're overthinking it. Scum like you are a dime a dozen in our Heavenly Sect. That laughable little pride of yours is nothing but a joke beneath the majesty of the Heavenly Sect. Countless people inside the Sect could crush you with a single finger."
"You think I want to subjugate you because of your strength? Because you're useful?" Zuo Lan's tone dripped with contempt. "The only reason I'm letting you live is because even a desolate wasteland, once it falls under the Heavenly Sect's territory, still needs watchdogs. And you — you're simply the watchdogs I've chosen. It's not that you're strong. It's that the strong ones in the Heavenly Sect wouldn't deign to come to this backwater!"
Watchdogs!
The word cut deep into the hearts of every member of the three great sects.
Even the Purple Sun Sect's people looked uncomfortable. But they understood better than anyone that they were indeed nothing more than watchdogs for the Heavenly Sect.
And that was only because the Heavenly Sect still valued them. If the Heavenly Sect so much as got angry and sent a single expert, that would be enough to crush the entire Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance.
"Enough talk. Six duels remain in the nine-duel agreement. Either keep fighting, or submit!"
Zuo Lan's tone shifted abruptly. He released a burst of pressure, and the aura of the Earth Yuan Realm spread across the entire field. In an instant, every member of the three great sects felt a wave of nausea and dread.
Even the several sect patriarchs felt dizzy and on the verge of vomiting.
Those at the Spirit Realm broke out in cold sweat, retching uncontrollably.
The Earth Yuan Realm — only marginally stronger than Grand Patriarch Qianye and the others. But the power and pressure Zuo Lan displayed seemed vastly different from what they understood the Earth Yuan Realm to be.
"This is bad. Although Zuo Lan is only at the fourth level of the Yuan Realm, his cultivation is at least two or three times stronger than what we'd expect from the Earth Yuan Realm. Alone, he could take on four of our Yuan Realm cultivators. And with that traitor Old Freak Zhuiyang added in, even a fight to the death would only end with the three great sects being crushed!"
Ye Chonglou's mind raced. In a flash, countless thoughts surged through his head, and a spark of inspiration burst forth.
"Wait!"
Ye Chonglou raised his hand and called out in a loud voice.
Zuo Lan regarded him with indifference. "What? Planning to be the first to surrender? Good. As they say, the wise adapt to the times. The Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance — a speck of land, a barren wasteland. The people here are born to be second-class, destined to serve others. Joining the Heavenly Sect is the fortune of your lifetimes. If you prove willing to fight, who knows — you might carve out a name and glory for yourselves. Wouldn't that be more honorable than squatting here in the countryside like frogs at the bottom of a well?"
Ye Chonglou's face went cold. "Envoy Zuo, you're overthinking this. Surrender? I, Ye, have lived half a lifetime, and I never planned to sell out my ancestors just to survive."
Zuo Lan's brow furrowed, his pupils contracting as killing intent surged. "So you're playing me for a fool?"
The weight of Zuo Lan's pressure struck Ye Chonglou's chest, making it heave violently, but he forced himself to hold steady. "You said it was a nine-duel agreement. Only three bouts have been completed, and you're already unilaterally declaring victory?"
Zuo Lan blinked, his gaze sweeping the crowd with disdainful mockery. "What? Don't tell me you think someone among your three great sects still dares to fight?"
"There is!"
The moment Ye Chonglou spoke that word, an even sharper, even more resolute voice rang out from the void, merging with a rush of air into a single character.
Two voices, one far and one near, as if by some prearranged agreement, spoke in perfect unison.
Ye Chonglou's eyebrows shot up, a look of wild joy spreading across his face. "Jiang Chen — you've finally come out?"
A low whistle rang out. In an instant, the air rippled with a tidal wave of sound that swept across the field. Jiang Chen, the nameless blade strapped to his back, rode the wind and alighted in the center of the arena.
The Jiang Chen who appeared now had sharp brows slanting toward his temples, eyes bright as stars. His twenty-year-old body was more proportionate, more upright — no matter the angle, he looked absolutely perfect.
The moment Jiang Chen appeared, every gaze from the three great sects locked onto him. Where before all eyes had been dim and heavy with despair, seeing Jiang Chen was like a sliver of light piercing endless darkness. Hope blazed in their eyes as though, in the depths of ruin, they had found something to cling to. Every one of them straightened with renewed vigor.
Even Zuo Lan hadn't expected someone to suddenly crash onto the scene from out of nowhere.