Chapter 51: Conversation

Chen Xuan’s expression turned grave. A sudden change had occurred.

"What is this person trying to do?"

Not only Chen Xuan, but many people at that moment wore expressions of astonishment, gazing toward the black-robed, phoenix-eyed young man holding the letter.

Some of the Qi practitioners who were about to leave also halted in their tracks.

"You descendant of a later era, pushing your luck and ignoring the rules?"

Liu Jiao stared at the phoenix-eyed youth, his expression turning cold. Instead of reaching out to take the letter, he asked in an icy tone, "Who is your elder? Do you think he has enough weight to try and extort me?"

Without even needing to take the letter, he could guess what was written inside. Over the long, endless years, he had experienced this all too often... Some he would compromise with, but most he didn't need to.

The ancient people standing behind Liu Jiao tightened their grip on their weapons, the atmosphere instantly taut and bristling as they cast gloomy glares at the phoenix-eyed youth.

"Fellow Daoist, your actions are like wanting an entire empire after taking a province; isn't this going a bit too far?" A cultivator with a righteous disposition spoke up, his tone laced with displeasure.

They had just received gifts from Liu Jiao and had barely set foot out the door before someone started trouble. Such behavior was simply too ugly to witness.

Having received a bestowal, he was still not satisfied and wanted even more?

Could it be that he was aiming to acquire a near-immortal artifact, or perhaps even the legacy treasure of an ancient sage?

"You are ungrateful and devoid of shame!" A crimson-Qi cultivator with a fiery temper blurted out curses.

"Indeed, exactly."

Chen Xuan echoed the sentiment from within the crowd, feeling that the phoenix-eyed youth had gone too far—though, had the phoenix-eyed youth not made the first move, he himself was on the verge of doing something very similar.

"Hmph! What do you people know? Barking dogs! I act on behalf of the Cui family of Qinghe City; what qualifications do you have to pass judgment? If you don't want to court disaster, shut your mouths!"

The phoenix-eyed youth swept a look of utter contempt across the assembled cultivators and rebuked them coldly.

The aristocratic youths of Chiya City turned pale with shock upon hearing this: "The ancient Cui family."

"He actually belongs to the Cui family. No wonder he possesses a pair of phoenix eyes, faint with the aura of an ancient divine bird." Someone muttered under their breath, staring at the slender, slanted eyes of the black-robed youth.

Qinghe City was a renowned and formidable metropolis, ranking high across the entire ancient State of Chu, its status vastly superior to the remote and isolated Chiya City.

A jolt ran through Chen Xuan’s heart because, even with his limited knowledge, he had heard the name of this ancient aristocratic family mentioned numerous times over the past month or more.

The Cui family of Qinghe was one of the most prominent ancient clans in the State of Chu, for generations intermarrying with the princes and noble daughters of the imperial court of Chu, which was why their descendants inherited a pair of phoenix eyes resembling those of ancient divine birds.

The phoenix-eyed youth, accustomed to grand occasions, said to Liu Jiao, "Perhaps Senior Liu would prefer to read the letter before speaking?"

Liu Jiao shook his head in refusal. "I will not read it. My family has never had any dealings with yours."

Though the ancient Cui family possessed a profound foundation and indeed had the capability to force a compromise from him, he was not about to grovel the moment he heard their name. Moreover, by continually scattering wealth outward over the years, he had accumulated a reservoir of favorable karma and goodwill.

"Starting today, we will have dealings."

A smile touched the lips of the phoenix-eyed youth as he continued, "I imagine Senior Liu has been wondering in his heart why some of your old acquaintances and descendants did not make an appearance today."

Liu Jiao’s expression shifted, clearly struck where it hurt.

"To my knowledge, that great figure towering above the mortal dust upon whom you relied in the outside world has been faring rather poorly of late. Some say he has fallen and perished, true or false, but the Dao domain he established has indeed been breached by his enemies." The phoenix-eyed youth delivered this explosive piece of news in an indifferent tone.

*Towering above the mortal dust.*

This was a realm that tens of millions of cultivators could only look up to with reverence. Across a radius of several thousand miles around Chiya City, not a single towering entity of this caliber existed.

Not just in the present age, but even throughout the three thousand six hundred-odd years since the founding of the State of Chu, Chiya City had never produced a figure of the mortal-dust-transcending tier.

As formidable as Qing Yazishi was—one of the most dazzling and prominent figures in Chiya City over the past few centuries—he was still bitterly striving for the realm above the mortal dust, running into walls everywhere and unable to attain it.

Yet at this moment, a towering figure of the mortal dust in the State of Chu had supposedly fallen? The news was staggering, startling everyone present.

***

"Liu Jiao’s situation is going to become troublesome now."

Chen Xuan muttered to himself inwardly. Liu Jiao, this longevity-bound creature, had spent his entire life living as a parasite attached to others. If he lost the protection of a powerful figure in the outside world, his days ahead would become extraordinarily difficult.

After all, if someone were truly ruthless enough to deal with him, there were numerous ways to do it. For instance, conscripting tens of thousands of peak-Emergence cultivators all at once could flatten the ancient peach blossom village in a single day, plundering everything Liu Jiao possessed.

Whether the connections Liu Jiao had painstakingly cultivated would be willing to step in or possess the ability to help when confronted with such a major faction remained an unknown variable.

Just like right now, the moment the Cui family revealed their identity, the aristocratic clans of Chiya City fell into a terrified silence, not daring to utter another word.

Yet for Chen Xuan, this development was quite favorable.

Because.

He, too, was here to extort Liu Jiao on behalf of the great spirits of the Southern Wilderness!

Everyone was watching Liu Jiao’s reaction.

"Hah! Half of the great cultivators in this world are my friends; how do you know I have no other friends in the realm above the mortal dust?"

Liu Jiao let out a cold snort, his expression deeply unimpressed, but in the end, he still reached out to take the letter from the phoenix-eyed youth and lowered his head to read:

"I’d like to see what your Cui family expects to extort from me. The legacy treasures of the ancient sages here were almost all given away in my early years..."

He shouldn't have taken it. It showed weakness.

Chen Xuan thought to himself... When the Peach Blossom Source descended this time, the descendant of the mortal-dust-transcending figure whom Liu Jiao knew had failed to appear. He must be burning with anxiety inside, realizing that the situation had turned troublesome.

He was being forced to compromise downward once again.

Chen Xuan felt that Liu Jiao was truly pitiful—even more pitiful than destined ones like Yan Yushu and Wang Chan whose entire lives were plotted against. At least they still had a chance to break free from their cages, but Liu Jiao did not. His fate had been grasped in the hands of others from beginning to end.

"Plundering and seizing by force—which Qi practitioner hasn't done it? If our Cui family doesn't do it, there are plenty of others who will."

Seeing this, the phoenix-eyed youth pressed his advantage. "Senior Liu, you understand it yourself: longevity does not mean one cannot die... But as long as Senior Liu agrees to this matter, the Cui family will be your steadfast ally from this day forward."

A Qi practitioner muttered softly under their breath, "To commit such a shameless act of coercion and then speak so grandly of becoming an ally afterward? He certainly knows how to manipulate people..."

Yet they only dared to whisper among companions. After all, that was the Cui clan of Qinghe—a major power they could not afford to offend, far more terrifying even than Green Deer Mountain.

Chen Xuan thought to himself... He could never bring himself to say such words. If it were him, he would certainly say: *Right, I am extorting you. I commit all kinds of evil. If you have any resentment, feel free to call your friends to come find me!*

"Hah! Your family's appetite is too vast, daring to demand even the very last trump-card legacy treasure of the ancient sage I have left."

Liu Jiao sneered coldly, then swept his gaze across the crowd and proclaimed loudly, "Are there any other families that wish to extort me? You might as well speak up together so that I may witness the warmth and coldness of human relationships, and the ever-changing nature of the world!"

He knew he could not cultivate, and he could not hold onto the legacy treasures of the ancient immortals and sages, which was why he had given away almost all of them. But those great figures who had once received his bestowals were now aging one by one.

With the passing of the very last mortal-dust-transcending figure, even this final item could no longer be kept.

Still, it mattered little to him. Keeping those things was useless anyway. However, having his face trampled and being subjected to such oppression and humiliation naturally left him in a foul mood.

Chen Xuan stepped forward alongside a white-robed youth holding a sword, each of them producing a letter. The ancient scholar collected the letters and handed them over to Liu Jiao.

Liu Jiao flipped through both letters, his complexion turning completely livid.

In his heart, Chen Xuan recalled the warning given by the elderly white-haired tortoise: *If Liu Jiao refuses to give it, kill him and take the treasures yourself.*

He glanced around, mentally calculating the time required to hijack Liu Jiao, interrogate him on the whereabouts of the ancient sage's legacy treasures (killing him wasn't strictly necessary), seize the items, and escape... and furthermore, he needed to find an opportunity to investigate the secret of the longevity-bound creature, which was even more vital.

However, this village was crowded with hundreds or thousands of ancient people whose physical strength exceeded that of tertiary-Emergence Qi practitioners.

Even within this ancestral hall right now, there were thirty or forty of the most elite ancient people...

Killing someone was simple, but achieving his strategic objective was far too difficult... It didn't seem like a task a human could accomplish.

The great spirits of the Southern Wilderness had truly overestimated him.

Chen Xuan looked at the fierce and imposing back-bladed tiger demon in the distance. If this group of Southern Wilderness spirits were willing to cooperate with him, coupled with Yan Yushu's assistance, then perhaps something could be done...

***

Meanwhile, the sword-bearing white-robed youth wore an expression of absolute confidence.

Liu Jiao pointed at the white-robed youth and said, "Your appetite is small in comparison, but I agree to this matter. I will give you the item, but if it gets snatched away by others halfway, it has nothing to do with me."

Departing from the ancient village of Peach Blossom Source required traveling several dozen miles before finally entering the sea of thick white mist at the fringe to find the path out.

Afterward, Liu Jiao raised the letters, looked toward Chen Xuan and the phoenix-eyed youth, and spoke with a playful glint in his eyes:

"As for the two of you, there is currently a rather troublesome problem."

Chen Xuan and the phoenix-eyed youth exchanged glances, then looked inquiringly at Liu Jiao.

Wearing an expression of absolute difficulty, Liu Jiao said, "There is only one legacy treasure of the ancient sage, yet both of your factions wish to extort it from me. What is to be done about this? If I give it to either faction, I will offend the other..."

Upon hearing this, the phoenix-eyed youth's pupils instantly constricted, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.

Someone was actually competing with him for this final ancient sage legacy treasure? Why did it have to be this time, and what faction did the other person belong to?

While many factions were still hesitating and watching from the sidelines, the Cui family had shouldered enormous risks and decisively made their move in advance. Yet a faction had emerged that, just like the Cui family, was attempting to pluck chestnuts from the fire!

*'Fortunately, my family made thorough preparations and brought along plenty of helpers. It's just a pity they are too old to enter the village and can only wait at the foot of the mountain...'*

Thoughts raced through the phoenix-eyed youth's mind like lightning. As he turned his head to look at the young man attempting to compete with him, he issued a stern warning and opened his mouth: "I don't care who you are, the Cui family is not someone you can afford to—"

"BOOM!"

The next instant, a roaring sound like rolling thunder exploded into the air. A blinding, crystalline fist-mark radiating a golden-white brilliance smashed straight through the air toward him.

The phoenix-eyed youth's pupils shrank to pinpricks. A strand of crimson immortal Qi instinctively surged over his face, only to be blasted into a shower of sparks by the fist-mark, shattering upon contact. Immediately afterward, the lower half of his handsome face deformed, and several teeth mixed with blood flew out into the air.

"BANG!"

The phoenix-eyed youth was sent flying through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground. His head tilted to the side as he slumped like a pile of mud, knocked completely unconscious.

Following a tertiary Emergence, a punch carried over twenty thousand pounds of force. Even a cultivator like the phoenix-eyed youth—whose peak-Emergence physique had been tempered to the extreme—could not withstand a direct blow to the face. The best-case scenario was a concussion and unconsciousness; the worst-case was having his skull directly pulverized.

"SWISH!"

Chen Xuan flicked his fist, several droplets of blood splashing off the half-jade bracelet adorning his hand. To say the least, this item was rather useful; it could double as a knuckle-duster weapon, and its toughness was by no means inferior to a jade hairpin.

Everyone present stared in utter astonishment as this sudden turn of events unfolded... Liu Jiao, Yan Yushu, Ye Kui, the tiger demon, the crimson fox... every single Qi practitioner and ancient person stood there slack-jawed.

He had simply attacked without warning.

His decisiveness was staggering enough to leave people speechless.

The moment he realized the two of them were competitors, Chen Xuan showed not an ounce of hesitation. Right before everyone's eyes, he struck directly at his rival, entirely bypassing any notion of negotiation and clearing away obstacles with thunderous swiftness.

The most crucial part was that this competitor belonged to the renowned Cui family of Qinghe. To act in such a manner without giving anyone an ounce of face—how was he going to conduct himself once he stepped out of this Peach Blossom Source?

"BANG!"

Chen Xuan grabbed the phoenix-eyed youth by one leg, dragging him along like a sack of grain before casually tossing him out the doorway.

"Now there is only one faction left."

Chen Xuan dusted off his hands, walked back before the dumbfounded Liu Jiao, wore a gentle smile, and said, "Shall we continue our discussion? I can offer you terms you simply cannot refuse."

To take someone's benefits and immediately turn around to cause trouble—

A practitioner of martial arts could never bring forth such base behavior, nor was he someone addicted to slaughter. Chen Xuan decided to resolve the problem through alternative means.