All 24 floors of the Demon Subduing Tower were shining brightly.
The light from the tower drew out the shadows of the people down in the plaza below.
The tremors in the plaza began to weaken. However, everyone was in a bad mood.
“Hua Anxiang, why aren’t you acting? If you miss this opportunity, our journey here will be wasted!” roared Little Jupiter Zhang Ye angrily.
He had initially come fully prepared and full of conviction.
In order to do so, he even delayed the coalescing of his Golden Core, and thus delayed his arrival at the Golden Core Plane.
He had paid such a huge price. In the end, he only obtained a few items at the outskirts of the cave residence.
Was he actually going to allow outsiders to get their hands on the truly good stuff?
That was the last straw!
After being chidded by Little Jupiter Zhang Ye, Hua Anxiang’s expression became somewhat ugly.
Jealousy made him lose all reason.
He initially was not interested in Chen Jingzhai. However, Chen Jingzhai’s party had a Golden Core Sage cultivation partner.
He was also the Little Master-Uncle of a sect. Even his master showed Chen Jingzhai respect.
On top of that, why should an outsider reap the most benefits from the True Venerable Spirit Plane cave residence of the Eastern Ocean?
“Junior Brothers, please forgive my offense!” said Hua Anxiang as he instantly attacked.
“I was cautious of you,” said Jiang Lin with a cold and calm expression. 18 flying swords shot out from his calabash.
In an instant, the swords spread out and immediately blocked off the approaching crowd.
Chu Jingsong took the opportunity to send out a punch, sending Hua Anxiang flying off.
“Trash of the Mingyuan Dao Sect, I have been in the tower longer than you have. I can easily fight 10 of you!” Chu Jingsong roared angrily. Behind him, a whale phantom began to appear.
Hua Anxiang was angry and shocked. He did not hold back anymore as murderous intent welled up in his eyes.
He immediately joined forces with Little Jupiter Zhang Ye and charged towards Jiang Lin and Chu Jingsong.
However, just then, a beam of light descended.
Before the two of them could get close to Jiang Lin and Chu Jingsong, they were attacked.
The light instantly pierced through Hua Anxiang’s body, causing him to explode immediately.
It all happened too quickly. Hua Anxiang did not even get the chance to beg for mercy.
He perished before he could even discover where the light had come from.
Little Jupiter Zhang Ye was also struck by the light. Even though his magic treasure had automatically defended him, it did not manage to block the attack.
His body was pierced and an astonishing pressure surfaced from his figure.
“Who dares to harm my son?” said an irritated voice that came from the former’s body.
A faint phantom appeared before Little Jupiter Zhang Ye.
The pressure was that of the True Venerable Spirit Plane. It swept across the battlefield and caused everyone to reveal astonished looks.
However, their looks of astonishment very quickly froze on their faces.
A second beam of light descended and immediately pierced through the True Venerable Spirit clone.
Even the clone could not block the attack. It did not even have time to open its mouth.
Little Jupiter Zhang Ye instantly exploded. His magic treasure shattered to pieces.
A powerful shockwave caused half of the plaza to collapse instantly. Part of the walls around the plaza were also in ruins.
“Run!” shouted Lu Chang’an in terror as he retreated swiftly with Shao Hongxia.
Yet, as he was doing so, a third beam of light descended and came flying towards him.
Their expressions changed drastically. Two white bands of silk flew out of Shao Hongxia’s sleeves, wrapping around the nearby cultivators.
Three dynasty cultivators were instantly pulled towards her, blocking her and Lu Chang’an.
Boom!
The dynasty cultivators instantly evaporated. With them as a shield, Shao Hongxia and Lu Chang’an evaded the attack.
In the blink of an eye, aside from Jiang Lin and Chu Jingsong who did not move, everyone else had scattered in all directions. Even though they could not escape this place, they kept flying around in the sky, afraid that they would be killed off.
However, the light from the tower did not shoot out anymore. Instead, a power was pushing them away.
Next, the tower began to tremble. In everyone’s eyes, it became a body of light and disappeared.
Chen Jingzhai appeared in midair and looked down at the crowd with a cold look in his eyes.
“Little Master-Uncle!” Jiang Lin and Chu Jingsong called out excitedly.
“Hmm.” With a wave of his hand, Chen Jingzhai sent the two of them out of the cave residence. He commanded, “Elders from every sect need to be responsible for what their members did in this cave residence. I am sending one representative from each sect out of here. Go and report what has happened to your elders.”
After he finished saying this, without waiting for the crowd to speak, he waved his hands and caused the crowd to freeze to their spots in the air.
In the cave outside the cave residence, Chen Jingzhai released some celestial clan disciples.
He released Xiao Changming from the Mystic Sound Pavilion.
Two members from the Elixir Twilight Clan were released.
No one from the Emerald Wave Island was allowed to leave.
Everyone from the Mingyuan Dao Sect was sent out.
He let one member of the Mystic Evil Clan go.
He also released all of the rogue cultivators who were wandering around the outskirts.
After he released them, Chen Jingzhai disappeared without a trace.
He went outside the cave. After taking in a deep breath, he unleashed the Grotto-heavens divine light.
Ever since the Primordial Essence Grotto-heavens leveled up to become the Primordial Essence World, the Grotto-heavens divine light became more powerful.
Although it had not yet reached the level of the divine light of the world, its powerful might was apparent when it absorbed a Grade 4 spiritual leyline.
Chen Jingzhai had already begun processing the cave residence. Absorbing it now was naturally not difficult.
At the southern region of the Eastern Ocean, the people were gathered above the three magic treasures. All of them had their gazes fixed on the cave residence.
When the cave residence shook, they were aware that it had been claimed by someone.
Therefore, their eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Not long after, Jiang Lin and Chu Jingsong appeared outside of the cave residence.
They were immediately taken onto the banana leaf by Lord Dong.
Before they could speak, a large number of disciples from various sects emerged.
Xiao Changming reported directly to Lord Yu, informing him about everything that had occurred without skipping over any details.
He included the deaths of Little Jupiter Zhang Ye and Hua Anxiang.
The Nascent Zhenjuns remained expressionless while they listened to the report from their sect members. On the other hand, Sage Yuan Lie’s facial expression turned drastically upon receiving the report.
However, right then, the cave residence began to tremble even more violently.
Like an erupting volcano, the gap began to crack open.
It was followed by a huge explosion that occurred where the cave residence was located.
The ensuing waves sent the three magic treasures flying out thousands of feet.
When the churning water calmed down, the crowd saw Chen Jingzhai appearing at the spot where the cave residence used to be.
The cave residence had vanished.
It looked as though someone had dug out the entire cave residence and left behind a gigantic hole.
A few beams of light shot out from the magic treasure. Sage Meng, Sage Zhang, along with Jiang Lin, Chu Jingsong and Su Qinghuang, rushed to where Chen Jingzhai was.
Awkward silence loomed over the area. Everyone remained silent.
“Yuan Lie, Hua Anxiang’s heart of the path was blinded. He attacked two disciples of my Luo Sheng Sword School,” said Chen Jingzhai as he looked at the banana leaf. “He deserved to die. Do you bear a grudge?”
“The Mingyuan Dao Sect and the Luo Sheng Sword School have been on friendly terms for thousands of years. Neither side would wish for such an incident to occur,” said Sage Yuan Lie as he looked at Chen Jingzhai. “If you surrender the spiritual treasure to Lord Dong, we will let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, even if I forgave you, you will not be able to leave this place today.”
“That’s not up to you to decide,” Chen Jingzhai said calmly. “As the Little Master-Uncle of the Luo Sheng Sword School, I am on the same rank as Headmaster Fuyunzi and all the Nascent Zhenjuns present here. If I perish here today, all of you will have to die.”
The facial expressions of the crowd turned ugly upon hearing Chen Jingzhai’s threat.
Was he being too presumptuous by saying so? Not in the slightest.
The cultivators at the Golden Core Plane and above were well aware that Chen Jingzhai was merely stating the truth.
No one, not even the Nascent Zhenjuns, dared to kill him.
If they recklessly killed Chen Jingzhai, they would have to face the wrath of the Luanyun Sword Celestials. Even cultivators at the Spirit Plane were no match for them.
“The Mingyuan Dao Sect is not interested in the spiritual treasures,” Lord Dong declared begrudgingly. “Let our disciples go.”
“Letting them go is not a problem, but they must first pay the price for what they have done,” Chen Jingzhai reasoned. “No one can attack my sect members thinking that there will not be any repercussions. Moreover, I am worried that some of you might attack me with the intention of snatching the spiritual treasures from me. I am holding your disciples hostages in order to guarantee my own safety.”
“The Emerald Wave Island is willing to use Grade 3 spiritual herbs to exchange for the disciples of our sect as well as the Elixir Twilight Clan,” said Lord Nangong. “Junior Brother Chen, will you agree to this exchange?”
“Very well!” answered Chen Jingzhai calmly. “I will accept one Grade 3 spiritual herb per person. Seeds will do as well.”
After he finished saying this, he delivered Lu Chang’an, Shao Hongxia as well as the disciples of the Elixir Twilight Clan to Lord Nangong with a wave of his hand.
“Aren’t you going overboard to ask for one herb per person? They are not worth a Grade 3 herb,” asked a youth standing on the Ocean Taming Drum. He saluted Chen Jingzhai with his fists and said, “I am from the Eight Kings Clan.”
“Say no more,” interrupted Chen Jingzhai. “The cultivators from your clan have been wiped out by the members of the Emerald Wave Island. Oh, and Little Jupiter Zhang Ye attacked the disciples from my sect too. That fellow was a mere rogue cultivator but he actually dared to lay a finger on my men. I killed him and the True Venerable Spirit clone he had.”