The Prodigies War

When any common aeth material was piled up into a mountain, their value would become big enough to tempt any cultivator.

On that note, treasures like dao crystals were not only used as precious currency, but also functioned as a cultivation resource for those at the Saint Stage and above.

This made the value of dao crystals far exceed that of ordinary aeth stones and aeth essences.

For the average Saint expert, possessing millions of dao crystals would make them a wealthy individual.

In fact, even quasi-Emperors who owned tens of millions of dao crystals would consider themselves astonishingly rich.

As for a hundred million dao crystals...

Such an astronomical figure would absolutely make even Emperors salivate in envy!

At present, Xing Lianqi and Shan Yong were asking for a hundred million dao crystals. This was no longer collecting tribute but practically asking Ji Leng to die!

Ji Leng was stunned for a while before he said in a low voice, "Lords, a hundred million dao crystals...is not a small sum. I...I..."

Before he could finish, Shan Yong slapped Ji Leng in the face again, sending him flying. As a result, his cheek swelled even more and blood gushed from his nose and mouth.

The many cultivators who had been watching from the city couldn’t help but gasp. The two quasi-Emperors under Region Lord Heikong were simply overbearing!

It made everyone suspect if they were purely here to cause trouble for Ji Leng instead.

"I'll give you two options. One, hand over a hundred million dao crystals and we can let bygones be bygones."

Shan Yong’s expression was arrogant and his eyes were ice-cold. "Two, die!"

His simple words were full of murderous intent.

Next to him, Xing Lianqi sighed and said, "Ji Leng, we’re just following Lord Heikong’s orders, so please don't make things too difficult for us. You should know that even if you die, there will be a new city lord tomorrow to help us manage the four cities."

With a deep breath, Ji Leng suppressed his anger. He got up from the ground and said in a low voice, "Lords, could you please give me some time to prepare? After all...it is really not a small amount."

Xing Lianqi immediately smiled, displaying a kindly appearance. "Sure, go ahead. We'll be leaving after one stick of incense. I hope you won't disappoint us when we leave."

Shan Yong frostily said, "One more thing. I heard that there’s someone called Sword Demon Daoyuan in Nightmare City and he’s been quite the talk of the town recently. Why didn't he come out with you to greet us? Is he looking down on the two of us?"

Ji Leng was startled but hurriedly smiled and said, "Please don’t get worked up, Lords. Elder Daoyuan is currently in secluded cultivation and can’t be in two places at once..."

"Two places at once?"

Shan Yong's eyes turned cold. "How arrogant. If that is the case, why don't we go and meet him instead?"

There was a strong sense of dissatisfaction in his threatening voice.

"That..."

Ji Leng's expression was uncertain.

He could endure the humiliation of being slapped twice in public. After all, to survive in the Ancient Nebula Underworld, he could bow his head and throw away his dignity and backbone whenever it was required.

However, Ji Leng didn’t dare to disturb Lin Xun over such a small matter!

"Hmph!”

Ji Leng's hesitant attitude made Shan Yong's face darken. "Ji Leng, it seems to me that you don't wish to live any longer!"

He raised his hand, preparing to slap Ji Leng again.

At this moment, a calm voice suddenly sounded, "Kneel."

One simple word.

Ji Leng immediately identified Lin Xun's voice, and he couldn't help but inwardly tremble. In the end...he had still disturbed the Elder...

At the same time, he felt a wave of confusion and nearly couldn’t bring himself to believe his ears.

Kneel?

Those were two quasi-Emperors working for Region Lord Heikong. Their high status and strong combat power were more than enough to scare any tough guy who was trying to make a living here.

Yet, Elder Daoyuan was commanding them to kneel!

Ji Leng couldn't help but break out in cold sweat.

However, the ensuing scene left him dumbfounded.

As the word ‘kneel’ rang out, Shan Yong and Xing Lianqi were struck down from the air by a terrifying pressure and crashed into the ground below.

They tried to resist but their knees immediately shattered amidst a burst of blood, causing them to fall to their knees!

Thud! Thud!

Two dull thuds sounded as their knees smashed into the ground, causing it to slightly cave in.

The previously arrogant Shan Yong and Xing Lianqi were now kneeling outside the gates of Nightmare City.

All of this was due to the power of a single dao imbued word.

When asked to kneel, you will kneel!

It was akin to a divine word from a god!

A deathly silence hung in the air as Ji Leng’s eyes widened. An uncontrollable roar emerged from deep in his heart. Elder Daoyuan isn’t a Saint; he’s most likely a quasi-Emperor!

Moreover...he was incomparable to an ordinary quasi-Emperors!

In the city, the experts who saw this were also utterly flabbergasted.

Amidst the silence, Lin Xun appeared atop the city wall. His clothes and black hair fluttered in the wind, making him appear nonchalant and otherworldly like an immortal of legend.

He looked down at the two kneeling quasi-Emperors. "No matter how much the tribute is, I will definitely not be short a single crystal nor will I give a single crystal more. You two have broken the rules."

On the ground, a mix of anger and fear were plastered on Shan Yong’s and Xing Lianqi’s faces.

From how the power generated by a single word had effortlessly suppressed them, they knew that they had encountered a tough guy this time.

Shan Yong gritted his teeth and said, "Cut the bullshit, kill us if you have the balls!"

Although he was afraid, he was confident that the other party wouldn’t dare to kill them in Region Lord Heikong’s territory.

Unfortunately, while his source of confidence might be able to intimidate someone else, it didn’t work on Lin Xun.

Thump!

Shan Yong crumpled to the ground as his spirit disintegrated. His eyes were still round with disbelief even in his final moment.

"Death is easy to grant."

Lin Xun's expression remained unchanged as if he had merely crushed an insignificant ant instead of a quasi-Emperor.

His nonchalance triggered Xing Lianqi, causing him to shriek, "Elder, please calm down, Elder, please calm down. This lowly one understands his mistake!"

Overwhelmed with terror, he frantically kowtowed.

This was the first time in thousands of years that he had seen someone so unafraid of Region Lord Heikong in his territory.

It was undoubtedly a terrifying experience.

"You have to pay for your mistake." Lin Xun said, "Speak, who asked you to cause trouble here? You’d best not tell me that an Emperor like Region Lord Heikong would consider avenging a dead man like Daoist Croc."

Xing Lianqi's expression fluctuated indeterminately. After some time, he dejectedly answered, "I was blinded by greed and allowed myself to be enticed by others, so I came here with Shan Yong to deliberately make things difficult for you guys. My goal wasn’t to avenge Daoist Croc, but bring you guys down a notch..."

It turned out that Xing Lianqi and Shan Yong had accepted some ‘benefits’ from other city lords who were hoping to use the duo to pressure Lin Xun and Ji Leng.

Lin Xun and Ji Leng had simply risen to power too quickly and expanded their territory too rapidly. It made them become a serious threat to the lords of other cities.

While Lin Xun wasn’t surprised by this, Ji Leng was furious and said, "As expected, I knew this matter wasn’t so simple! In other words, Region Lord Heikong...doesn't know what you two are up to?"

Xing Lianqi only lowered his head. His silence spoke for itself.

What else could he say at this point? They had indeed received money from others to make things difficult for Ji Leng and Lin Xun.

Xing Lianqi pleaded in a trembling voice, "I hope Elder will forgive me. I promise that this will never happen again!"

Lin Xun nonchalantly said, "I can forgive you this once, I just don't know if Region Lord Heikong will forgive you when you return."

He then turned to Ji Leng and instructed, "Give him the tribute and let him go."

"But..."

Before Ji Leng could say anything else, Lin Xun had already disappeared from the city walls.

"Lucky you!"

Ji Leng resentfully glared at Xing Lianqi.

Soon after, Xing Lianqi hurriedly left with the tribute, still feeling the remnant terror of barely surviving a disaster.

"Shan Yong was one of Region Lord Heikong’s capable generals, but he has been killed by you guys...just wait, Region Lord Heikong will never let you off!"

Only when he could no longer see Nightmare City did Xing Lianqi feel certain that he had actually survived.

……

On that same day, the news that Shan Yong was killed and Xing Lianqi fled spread, setting off an uproar in Nightmare City.

The news also spread to other nearby cities, causing quite a commotion for a time.

"Is Sword Demon Daoyuan crazy? How dare he kill Region Lord Heikong’s subordinate?!"

"He's finished. This is bound to end in disaster. Over the years, no one has ever dared to kill Region Lord Heikong’s subordinate!"

"Hurry up and leave. We can't stay in Nightmare City any longer. Who knows when Region Lord Heikong’s anger will arrive and burn down the entire city."

On that same day, many residents of Nightmare City, Flame Sin City, Beituo City, and Water Cantrope City, left in a hurry.

The reason for this was very simple: Lin Xun had killed Region Lord Heikong’s subordinate!

Upon hearing the news, the lords of other nearby cities were overjoyed.

Never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that Sword Demon Daoyuan would be so bold as to poke such a big hornet's nest. This was simply courting his own destruction!

"Just wait, Region Lord Heikong will definitely not let this go. If Sword Demon Daoyuan is smart, he will immediately leave Nightmare City. Otherwise, he is doomed to meet with a catastrophe!"

Many city lords were excited at this prospect.

The situation was now completely reversed. The originally favored Nightmare City suddenly became a dangerous hotspot that no one wanted to stay in.

No one believed that Sword Demon Daoyuan would be able to withstand Region Lord Heikong’s wrath.

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