Patrick's words resounded in the hall as the space trembled from the mere frequency of his words, almost shattering the void in the hall. The ground shook and caused a tumbling that affected the entire broken world. With this incident, the powerhouses in the feasting hall retained complex expressions as they gazed at this unknown being.
"Since you are so determined to expose me, answer me this; what will you do if your suspicions were true?"
As every cultivator thought about Patrick's question, they slowly realized the most important factors to anything, strength and intellect. Yes, the most important components of any problem are strength and intellect, and this question utilizes both components.
A King may sentence a peasant to death, but all claims and sentences mean nothing if the peasant is smarter and stronger than the king's soldiers.
The same thought was going around in everyone's head; for one to accuse, one must also have the strength to carry out judgment. Or else any accusations will be pointless because there is no strength to back it up.
To better summarize it, if you are strong enough to beat anyone or dodge bullets, what does the law mean to you? Nothing.
Kang Mo stood speechless in front of the crowd; Alex's statement made a realistic sense. He didn't account for every factor; even if he exposes Alex, does he have the strength to restrict him? If he claims Alex is using an illusion technique that can even affect immortals, doesn't that mean they might be in an illusion at this moment?.
Kang Mo finally understood what Alex meant. Indeed, what can anyone do even if they revealed his true identity? How can they even tell if they are in an illusion or not? Is this Alex so powerful that he uses techniques that can affect immortals?
Kang Mo thought; he had an ugly and panicked expression. He slowly looked at his standing spot to see if anything unordinary had happened. But nothing was there; he also looked at the other standing cultivators and saw them looking at him with an expression of 'you know you already lost.'
Kang Mo is acknowledged for his wisdom; his knowledge is one of the key determinants for the Kang family being slightly below the Ju Imperial family. He has never lost an intellectual battle; not even the guardians underestimate him. But realizing that his wisdom and intellectual talent meant nothing before absolute strength, he became spiritually devasted as his mind slowly drifted into a mindless state.
Patrick's words brought every cultivator in the room to think deeply; just like Kang Mo, some cultivators also slowly comprehended the meaning of Alex's words. But just when the hall became extremely quiet, a person stood and steadily walked to the front as he stood next to the mind devasted Kang Mo.
Lu Fan listened to Patrick's last statement as he gulped his wine in a go. He stood up as he slowly and calmly walked next to Kang Mo; he laid his hand on Kang Mo's shoulders as Kang Mo slowly began regaining his conscious self. Everyone saw Lu Fan use his dark purple energy to absorb something from Kand Mo.
"I must admit, I have never met someone who has such wisdom in the lower realms, but yours is truly an eye-opener. I have lived in this broken realm long enough to know it's every living being. But you are one anomaly even I couldn't decipher.
Why don't we stop with the stupid proving stuff and get to real action? It is also stated that young master Alex is also an alchemist; why don't you refine a heaven-grade pill to show how unworthy we are?"
Patrick looked at Lu Fan with a dull expression while relaxed on his chair. Whenever anything is in Patrick's sight, Grace will automatically give systematic information about it. When Lu Fan stood before Patrick, Grace screened his information.
[Name: Lu Fan]
[Title: Dark Saint God (Previous Life). Indestructible chaos Puppet master]
[Age: 500,000 (Previous Life). 32 (current Life)]
[Power: Saint God (Previous Life). 99.98% Half-Immortal realm (Current Life)]
[Ability: Indestructible Chaos Dark Puppet Art: Uses the dark energy of any world to create unlimited puppets with the supplement of dark Qi. The more dark energy provided, the stronger the puppets.]
[History: Lu Fan was a Saint God who guarded the Western saint domain of the vast universe of Toa but later acquired the title of Dark Saint God after inheriting the legacy of a Heavenly Venerate; After mastering 10% of the Indestructible Chaos Dark Puppet Art; he ruled the lesser domains of the universe of Toa until killed by the Immortal executioner. Lu Fan has been searching for...]
"You are displaying information so those reading could discern who I am facing, quite generous of you, Grace," Patrick said to Grace as he waved away the screen. He knew why Grace still displayed the information even though it was irrelevant to him.
Lu Fan awaited Patrick's response as he stood calmly, but what happened next shocked him and everyone. Everyone saw Alex rose from his seat as he stood calmly, facing the crowd and Lu Fan, who were on the lower stand with a smirk; he spread his arms and spoke with authoritativeness.
"What part of 'You are all unworthy' did you not get?"
The crowd of cultivators heard Patrick as the next moment. Loud booms echoed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Kneels slammed on the ground as the walls of the feasting hall cracked, breaking after a few seconds due to excessive earthquake frequencies.
This caused alert in the entire imperial city as many guards rushed towards the feasting hall. While every cultivator in the hall knelt, one person didn't even feel a thing: Thalia. As she is an onmivastance being and one of Patrick's wives, she doesn't feel anything.
The cultivators knelt as some slowly raised their heads and looked at Alex, who stood with arms behind him as he gazed upon them like ants. They showed fearful expressions as they now believe that the accusation of Alex being a fake was false.
Lu Fan was kneeling closest to Patrick; he felt pressure coming not from Patrick but from the will of the broken world itself. As a half-immortal realm cultivator, he could faintly sense the will of the broken world, and the will of the broken was obeying this person as it released dominating pressure on its natives for offending this Alex. This realization surprised him as he looked towards Patrick. But something began swirling inside him after realizing his situation.
Unlike Lu Fan, Ju Fan was already immortal. He is suppressing his cultivation base to escape heavenly tribulation as it is a divine judgment that may cause instant death. Both guardians could sense the will of the broken world, pressuring them as if punishing them for going against Alex.
Lou Yan, Kang Mo, and Li Qui from the Li family all had scary faces; they were the most powerful families in the Ju empire after the Shi family declined, only below the Ju imperial family and the imperial guardians. But now, they are kneeling towards a person whose origins are unknown and who was at the sixth stage of the Qi condensation realm hours ago.
The other strong cultivators were confused; although some were emperor realm cultivators and sages like Jiang Shi, they still felt the domineering suppression. The old man with the grey beard and unknown origin felt pressured and restricted; he knelt just like the others.
"I plead for young master Alex to show mercy; it is my fault to allow such disrespect to befall upon your reputation."
Ju Fan loudly spoke as he knelt on the ground. He didn't have a panic expression or fear as he cultivates a 'Destiny prediction Art' technique, which allows him to predict his death and causes. He just used it before talking to Patrick; he knew he wouldn't die even if matters escalated.
"I don't care about reputation; just stop bothering me with unnecessary trouble," Patrick said. He still had his smirky expression as he viewed everything as irrelevant.
Everyone heard Patrick's words. But the next moment, a murderous aura burst out as it shattered the surrounding tables and seats and even threw some powerful cultivators away. The energy was devastating and dark, but it was different from the normal pure white Qi of the broken world; this energy was dark purple, and it felt suffocating to be around it.
"Of all my years of existence, no one or nothing has ever made me kneel, not even the immortal executioner himself; what made you, a puny kid with some mediocre cultivation skills, think you can make me kneel?"
Lu Fan spoke as he faced Patrick. He had a calm expression; his robes radiated dark purple energy, and his hair fluttered as if it had a mind of its own. Dark Qi exuded from his body as he turned his head to the left and ordered his men. "You take care of the old man; I will deal with this brat."
With the command, the four black-robed guards of Lu Fan began walking to a certain person; the old man with the grey beard an unknown origin. The old man from Lu Fan's group remained at his spot with eyes closed as he nodded regarding his master's orders.
Lu Fan turned his attention to Patrick as he evilly smiled and spoke.
"I don't know your true origins, but I can assume you're from some higher domain of this inferior, insignificant world; from your words earlier, your wisdom of worlds seems higher than anyone in this lower realm.
I originally intended to be patient, but your arrogance and belittling behavior leaves me no room for tolerance. Now, if you tell me everything you know about worlds, I would consider leaving your corpse intact."
"The reason you are standing is that the will of the world is broken and incomplete. And as someone with high spiritual mind energy and experience, you can escape from the pressure by releasing your dark energy, countering the pressure, and giving you a zero state of suppression. Not bad."
Patrick said as he slowly lost his smirky expression. He stood his usual posture, hands behind him and eyes relaxed as if bored. He stopped the absolute pressure with a thought as the cultivators, who were all kneeling and struggling not to faint, returned to the previous states while being cautious of Alex this time around.
Distance away from Patrick and Lu Fan's position, the old man noticed the worldly pressure gone with the walking stick. But immediately after, he sensed four black robe men approaching him with walking speed. He noticed the four men as he had a flashback.
(Hours Ago before the news of the emergency meeting was sent by the Ju empire)
Thousands of kilometers away from the Ju empire; At a stream located between two valleys, an old man with a grey beard was hovering over a stone platform in the middle of the streamflow; the old man sat at a lotus position with a walking stick floating behind him. But suddenly, an object flew at him at a fast speed.
The old man didn't react as he held his index finger to stop the incoming object; the object stopped at the fingertip of the old man; moments later, a voice came from a treetop.
"Well, at least you are not a boring opponent."
The voice was from a skinny man in purple robes; he stood on the treetop with folded arms on his chest as he gazed at the old man who still had his eyes closed even after an enemy was above him. Behind the skinny man, five men in black robes appeared and stood on higher branches of the tree as they all had dark energy circulating their bodies.
Among the five black robe men, one who had the looks of an old man had his eyes closed as he wore a black gown where he tucked his arms; he was the closest to the skinny man. He spoke to the skinny man.
"Master, this is the man who holds the secret about the legacy realm of the previous saints from ten thousand years ago."
"Hmm, bring me his head." The skinny man ordered as the four black-robed men behind flashed and attacked the old man quickly. They drew their double swords from their backs as they attacked in unison.
"Sigh, another man seeking the truth about the legacy tomb. Don't you guys have nothing else to do other than to dig up old bones of the saviors of this planet? what ungrateful people."
The old man spoke while he still maintained his posture. He didn't flinch even though four powerful dark energy beings were attacking him. He raised the same index finger as he uttered softly.
"Space reflection art"
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The four attacks landed on the old man, but instead of damaging the old man, a mirror formed from the space as it reflected the attacks on the four black-robed men; the men were thrown back due to the damage they endured.
But instead of blood, dark energy dispersed from their bodies, and they didn't even make a sound of pain or suffering; they had cold and expressionless faces as they stood surrounding the old man.
"Earth breaking technique," The old man spoke as the ground below the men opened and swallowed them whole. Moments later, dark Qi emerged from the ground as it dispersed. The old man then proceeded to speak calmly.
"If you wish to get my head, you need more than just four men."
"That right, you are too strong to be attacked by four mere puppets; why don't we make that one hundred?"
The skinny man spoke as dark energy flowed from his body and began forming the same looking black-robed men who had just died. The one hundred men created from dark energy surrounded the old man and drew their swords. Dark energy radiated from their bodies as they launched at the old man at speed faster than the last group.
The old man maintained his position as the group of dark-energy-created men attacked him ceaselessly. The attacks lasted for more than three minutes as moments later, the space mirror began having a crack. The old man finally opened his eyes as he recognized the technique used.
"Puppets? you must be Lu Fan, the annoying puppet master." The old man spoke while still being attacked by the dark puppets. He knew of the rumors of the annoying puppet master who always wins his battles.
The technique owner is Lu Fan, who has an unknown origin but somehow got famous due to his cultivation art; rumors call his technique the 'Annoying endless puppet art.' It is still unknown how he got this technique and how he can create endless puppets. But the mysterious thing about Lu Fan is that no one knows his looks because most who do are already dead.
Only certain powerful masters escaped from his endless waves of attacks and lived to tell the tale of the annoying puppet master.
"I don't have time to entertain you, kid."
"Space door."
The old man, realizing the attacker's identity, quickly formed a space door and vanished the next instant. He wasn't afraid because his expression was the same the entire fight; he just wasn't ready for an endless fight with puppets while their master enjoyed the show.
Moments after the old man vanished, the skinny man remained at his spot with his folded arms as he spoke to the old man behind him.
"I thought cultivators of the lower realms have pride?"
"Master, that old man is also a powerful cultivator in his rights; him killing a few puppets is not a proud victory for him; I think that's one of the reasons he left." The black-robed old man spoke in a deep voice.
"Doesn't matter; I left a trail on him anyways. Huh?" The skinny man was talking when a group of messenger beasts caught his attention. Moments later, a messenger beast dropped a note; on the note was an emergency meeting from the Ju empire hosting a banquet of an imperial guest.
"Well, let's not keep them wanting, shall we?" The man spoke as the hundred black-robed puppets fused until there were four left; the skinny man vanished from his spot as the old man was next, followed by the four black-robed puppets.