Shaking Them Down

The mountain wind howled, sweeping across the ravaged battlefield.

The remaining hundred or so cultivators from Wild Lion Valley and Myriad Sword Pavilion trembled like leaves, kneeling on the ground with a thud, not even having the courage to look up at the stone steps.

Behind them, Wang Dafu and dozens of the Fire Crow Tribe warriors rubbed their eyes, staring blankly at everything, before erupting into a deafening, frenzied cheer.

Chen Fan floated down from mid-air, stepping onto the edge of the broken stone steps.

He casually stuck the Broken Saber into the mud less than half an inch from Bai Wuhen's withered head, the blade humming.

Wang Dafu, with a keen eye, moved the Wisteria Rocking Chair over, Chen Fan sat down with an air of nonchalance, rubbing his wrists and looking down with a smile at the two people who couldn't get out of the pit.

"Gentlemen, now we can open the ledger."

Chen Fan held up two fingers and slowly shook them.

"Two lives lost, three pharmacies damaged, and my High Priest's precious heart trembled."

"How much spirit ore and mystic crystals are you planning to use to buy the heads of everyone in your two sects?"

Deep in the mud pit, Shi Meng, with countless broken bones, coughed up blood clots and looked up at the boy swaying in the rocking chair, his eyes filled with boundless terror.

Bai Wuhen's face was ashen, and his body trembled as he pressed himself against the damp, cold earth.

The Broken Saber stuck beside his ear was emanating a suffocating gray aura of death; the slightest movement could easily shred his Sea of Consciousness.

"Chen... Chen Fan, it's a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding!" Bai Wuhen's throat was dry, and he wailed in a trembling voice, "My Myriad Sword Pavilion is willing to compensate! Spirit stones, sword pills, elixirs... as long as this worthless old man's life is spared, we'll give you anything you want!"

"Misunderstand?"

Chen Fan lightly touched the ground with his toes, and the rocking chair came to a stop. He leaned forward slightly, rested his chin on his hand, and had a playful smile on his lips.

"You two families came here aggressively to desecrate my grave and even killed people from my village, and now you're trying to pull a misunderstanding on me? Do you really think the Broken Saber in my hand is just a fire poker?"

Shi Meng shook his head repeatedly in fright, his voice hoarse and strained.

"I'll compensate you, even if it means losing my Wild Lion Valley! Just spare my life, and you can choose any spirit ore you've accumulated in my valley!"

If you had been this sensible earlier, you wouldn't have gotten this beating.

Chen Fan stood up and brushed the bits of grass off his robe.

He didn't even bother to sheathe his sword. He bent down, reached out, and grabbed Shi Meng and Bai Wuhen by the back of their necks, lifting the two Eighth-Order experts into the air like two dead dogs.

"Dafu, keep an eye on the village. I'll be right back."

Before he could finish speaking, the Void beneath Chen Fan's feet suddenly exploded, sending shockwaves scattering fallen leaves everywhere.

A long, gray-red rainbow shot up from the ground, soaring into the sky. Amidst the frenzied shouts of hundreds of Fire Crow warriors, it roared towards the Myriad Sword Pavilion's encampment on the west side of Profound Nether Main City.

Myriad Sword Pavilion, the welcoming platform at the main peak.

Dozens of sword cultivators were exhaling and exhaling the morning Sword Qi in the square when they suddenly felt the light in the entire sky dim.

Boom!

A deafening roar, like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting apart, slammed into the center of the square!

The White Marble Sword Stele on the welcoming platform, which had been passed down for three hundred years, was cleaved in two by a gray-red blade of light in mid-air, collapsing with a crash and sending shards of stone flying everywhere.

Immediately afterwards, a mangled, bloody figure was thrown heavily from mid-air, crashing several feet into the ground—it was Bai Wuhen, his hair disheveled!

"Who dares to trespass into the Myriad Sword Pavilion?!"

Several powerful sword lights shot out from the back mountain. The middle-aged sword cultivator in the lead had a dignified face and was none other than the Pavilion Master of the Myriad Sword Pavilion.

But when he saw Bai Wuhen, who was dying at the bottom of the pit, and the young man standing proudly on the broken monument, his Sword Intent suddenly froze.

Chen Fan stood with one foot on top of the broken stone tablet, arms crossed, looking down at the silent sword cultivators, and spoke with a smile.

"Sect Leader Li, good morning. I've heard that your Myriad Sword Pavilion is a large and powerful organization. Today, I specially brought your elders back, and also... to settle yesterday's accounts."

Li Qianfeng stared intently at Chen Fan, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Eighth-Level Mid Stage!

His thick, almost viscous, grayish-red Qi and Blood was like an abyss, with the faint phantom of a giant Millstone spinning behind him, causing the entire array Light Screen on the main peak to tremble violently.

Half a month ago, news of Chen Fan's death spread from Red Rock City, which is why the Myriad Sword Pavilion dared to seize the territory. Who would have thought that this little monster not only survived but also broke through to the Eighth-Level Mid Stage!

Li Qianfeng's hand gripping the sword bulged with veins. He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to draw his sword, and forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Brother Chen, it is an honor to have you here. I have failed to greet you properly. Elder Bai acted rashly and offended the Fire Crow Tribe. I will certainly punish him severely! I wonder how Chen Feng Master Chen intends to make amends?"

"Happy!"

Chen Fan snapped his fingers and rattled off a list without any hesitation.

"Five hundred catties of top-grade Earth Vein Spirit Marrow, plus ten boxes of Taiyi Sword Pills of Sixth Stage or higher. Don't try to play the poor card with me. I saw everything you're hiding in the back mountains clearly from the sky just now."

Li Qianfeng felt as if a knife had been plunged into his heart, and he felt like his molars were about to shatter.

Earth Vein Spirit Marrow is the foundation of a sect, and ten boxes of sword pills are a century-old stock of the Myriad Sword Pavilion!

Looking at Chen Fan's mischievous expression, which was both smiling and not smiling, and the gray-red sword intent that kept emanating from his fingertips, Li Qianfeng knew very well that if he dared to utter even half a word of dissent, the Myriad Sword Pavilion would probably be stained with blood today.

"Take it!" Li Qianfeng squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, "Go to the treasure vault and bring it out for Chen Feng Master Chen!"

Half an incense stick later, Chen Fan hung the Storage Ring filled with spiritual essence and sword pellets on his waist, and patted Li Qianfeng on the shoulder with a friendly expression.

"Master Li is very generous. I'll invite you for tea another day. My High Priest is timid and has been frightened; he needs these things to recover."

After saying that, he scooped up Shi Meng from the ground and soared into the sky again, leaving behind a group of the Myriad Sword Pavilion cultivators with ashen faces.

Fifteen minutes later, the same violent shockwave descended upon Wild Lion Valley.

Upon seeing the gruesome sight of Shi Meng's collapsed chest, the Wild Lion Valley Lord roared and revealed his true form Primordial Mad Lion.

However, Chen Fan didn't waste any words. The Yin-Yang Life-and-Death Millstone, formed by the intertwining of Water-Fire Totems, suddenly unfolded. The pure physical strength combined with the death energy crushed down, and with one punch, he broke the fangs of the Mad Lion Dharma Form!

Under the shadow of death, the furious Wild Lion Valley Lord of Mad Lion Valley finally collapsed, handing over twenty thousand Fire Fiend Qi Beast Cores and the Land Deeds to two low-grade spirit mines with tears of blood in his eyes, in order to redeem the unconscious Shi Meng.

As the sun rose, Chen Fan descended Fire Crow Stronghold, bathed in the glow of the morning sun.

The fierce and overwhelming aura surrounding him vanished without a trace the moment he landed. The young man, dressed in white, casually tossed two Storage Rings into the arms of Wang Dafu, who was rushing towards him.

"Brother Fan... what... what is this?"

Holding the heavy ring, Wang Dafu scanned it with his Divine Thought and was so startled he almost fell to the ground.

Inside, there were mountains of spiritual marrow, mineral contracts, and high-grade pills, their light so bright it was blinding.