Settling the Matter

The meaning behind his words was already quite clear. Mi Ruquan had been blinded by desperation, immediately realized what was happening and angrily said, "Guan Zhongkai, you want to use us two brothers. Let me tell you, if anything happens to my elder brother, no matter how powerful your Tianxia Chamber of Commerce Association is, you won't be leaving the Great Yang Kingdom."

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, nothing of the sort," Guan Zhongkai said with a forced smile. But his mouth tasted even more bitter than if he had eaten bitter melon.

Mi Ruhai stared at the gradually receding, flickering blue sea of fire, his eyes still filled with shock. Although cultivators were used to seeing strange and unusual things, this scene was indeed quite spectacular.

Mi Ruhai turned around, his eyes like those of a hawk, and stared at Guan Zhongkai. He said in a deep voice, "Brother Guan, these thousands of people are cursing non-stop. Hiding here isn't a solution! We have to resolve this! Judging from the cursing, there's no way to stop them if you don't step in. My elder brother can't be harmed!" The last sentence already carried a hint of aggressiveness.

Guan Zhongkai narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Mi Ruhai, are you threatening me?"

As soon as he said that, Mi Ruquan appeared behind him in a flash, with the two brothers sandwiching him between them. It seemed that they were about to start fighting at any moment.

"Brother Guan, you're overthinking it." Mi Ruhai said leisurely, "The fact that Yue Qianchou could force you to hide here and not go over shows that the power of this sea of fire is extraordinary. To put it bluntly, if you go there, you'll most likely be doomed anyway. Am I right?"

Seeing Guan Zhongkai remain silent with a somber face, he continued expressionlessly, "But if you just run away like this, and something happens to Xin Lao San, and Lu Yanqing goes after Yin Baikang, I'm afraid your grandmaster won't let you off the hook either. If you ask me, sometimes life is more important than face, and admitting defeat might not be a bad way out. Brother Guan! Don't hesitate any longer, make a decisive move!"

Guan Zhongkai glanced back at Mi Rushan behind him, knowing that Mi Ruhai's words were a prelude to force; if he didn't agree, Mi Ruhai would likely take action. He wouldn't be killed, but at the very least, Mi Rushan wouldn't let him leave.

Having used teleportation more than ten times in a row, his True Essence was greatly depleted, and his Law Treasure flying sword was also destroyed. He estimated that his chances of escaping from the two of them were slim. After some consideration, Guan Zhongkai said in a deep voice, "Thank you for your advice, Brother Mi. I will remember your kindness and repay you in the future."

The meaning behind his words was intriguing. Mi Ruhai smiled faintly, stepped aside, and gestured for the sea of fire to proceed.

Guan Zhongkai's chest heaved; he was truly forced into this situation! He gritted his teeth and roared, "Yue Qianchou, for the sake of three thousand fellow Cultivation World, I admit defeat. Put away the fire and release them!"

The sounds from beneath the flames ceased. Although everyone was hoarse from cursing, their faces lit up with joy, eagerly awaiting Yue Qianchou's release.

Yue Qianchou, who stood on his sword above the sea of fire, was stunned when he heard this. He did not expect Guan Zhongkai to admit defeat. How could that be? He had not yet avenged the injury he had suffered.

On the other side of the sea of fire, Yu Landu also somewhat incredulous, but Guan Zhongkai's voice was unmistakable. He breathed a sigh of relief. Guan Zhongkai had already admitted defeat, so what else could he say? If word got out, Guan Zhongkai would be even more humiliated than him. He immediately shouted, "For the sake of my Cultivation World, I, Yu Landu, also admit defeat."

Yue Qianchou sneered. You think you can just get away with hitting me like this? He roared, "Don't drag your three thousand fellow Cultivation World out here to embellish yourselves. You know your place. Besides, I don't understand what admitting defeat means!"

These words immediately caused chaos below, with everyone assuming Yue Qianchou was going to back out. Xin Lao San, standing in the crowd, glared and roared, "Guan Zhongkai, Yu Landu! Would it kill you to explain yourselves clearly?!"

Yu Landu somewhat better off, since she was just echoing what was said. Guan Zhongkai, however, was so angry that he gritted his teeth and roared, "Xin Lao San, I've already said what I wanted to say. It was that kid who broke the rules. Xin Lao San, don't push your luck. Do you really think my Tianxia Chamber of Commerce is afraid of your Lingfang Valley?"

Xin Lao San immediately shouted back, "Stop talking nonsense! If you're going to admit defeat, admit it openly and honestly, stop with all this beating around the bush. If you two admit defeat and Yue Qianchou still dares to hold on, my brothers will be the first to not let him off the hook. It has nothing to do with you two."

Guan Zhongkai always considered himself clever, but he never expected that everyone he encountered today would be tough on him, leaving him no room to maneuver. He was so angry that he trembled all over.

Mi Ruhai smiled faintly and said, "Brother Mi, what Xin Lao San said is right. Since things have come to this point, why bother with a little more talk? There's nothing wrong with making things clear."

"Mi Ruhai..." Guan Zhongkai glared at him angrily, then laughed in a fit of rage and said "Good!" several times before roaring, "I admit defeat!" He then immediately turned around and flew away.

Mi Ruquan turned around and frowned, saying, "Second Brother, are we just going to let him go like this? He seems to harbor resentment towards us. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to..."

Mi Ruhai waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "Don't worry about him. Those last three words have already made the Tianxia Chamber of Commerce lose face. We don't need to do anything; someone will take care of him."

"I surrender!" Yu Landu's voice also faintly drifted over.

A tense silence fell over everyone under the flames, as they waited for Yue Qianchou's next move. If he offered another excuse, it would mean he intended to kill them all.

Damn it! Cowards! Yue Qianchou spat, not expecting them to swallow their anger despite such aggressive behavior. The other party directly shouted, "I surrender!" If he continued to press the matter, he could forget about ever showing his face in any country again; no one would let him off the hook.

"I'll settle the score with you two bastards later!" Yue Qianchou calmed his anger slightly, floated in the air, and opened his arms. The blue flames rapidly receded from him, returning to their original positions in an instant. Only then did Yue Qianchou realize that the mountains and fields below were ablaze, and the fire was still spreading outwards.

Finally seeing the light of day again, the group below finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Yue Qianchou in the air, after extinguishing the azure flames, he swiftly swooped down on his sword, then with a swift glide, charged towards the raging fire burning in the mountains.

A miraculous scene unfolded: wherever Yue Qianchou went, flames stretched out tentacles and coiled towards him, instantly absorbing all the flames beneath him, leaving not a single spark in sight.

Within a radius of several miles, Yue Qianchou's figure could be seen Sword Flight. At this moment, everyone finally understood what Yue Qianchou was doing—he was putting out a fire. The crowd murmured among themselves, "This guy was acting like a madman just now, using so many lives as leverage. Now he's doing this. It seems that he was just threatening Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu earlier, and he won't really do anything. It was just a false alarm."

This was merely wishful thinking on their part. Yue Qianchou wasn't so kind-hearted; he had already resolved to kill all those who had insulted him. If it weren't for Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu's concessions, the group would probably be crying and wailing by now.

In truth, Yue Qianchou himself didn't know why he was doing this thankless task, but he did it anyway. It took him nearly half an hour to completely extinguish all the wildfires. Looking back, the surrounding area was charred black.

He returned on his sword. Upon landing, he coldly swept his gaze over the crowd, causing them to instinctively back away, all somewhat afraid of him. They had witnessed him kill over a dozen people, even those at the late Tribulation Transcendence stage Realm, and especially his fierce fight with Chu Dingfang —no wonder they were terrified. Now, no one dared to speak out; the thousands of people remained silent, watching him pick up the Storage Bag from the ground.

Of course, there were also people who were not afraid of him, and Xin Lao San was one of them. As he approached, he first bowed to Nong Zhu Wen Rui, and then shouted at Yue Qianchou, "Kid, you've got some nerve! You actually dare to treat the lives of thousands of people as a joke."

Yue Qianchou glanced at him; he looked exactly like a robust farmer, dressed similarly, and even bore a resemblance to the Ancestor Nanming. He asked indifferently, "Are you Xin Lao San?"

Xin Lao San paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right, I am Xin Lao San. What, is there a problem?"

Without a word, Yue Qianchou pulled out a Storage Bag, threw it on the ground, and said, "Begin!" Xin Lao San was taken aback and asked, "What for?"

"Judging from your expression, you seem Qi Ingestion. The matter is not yet settled, and I am ready to accept any challenge," Yue Qianchou said.

"Uh..." Xin Lao San paused, waved his hand and said with a wry smile, "Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not much better than Guan Zhongkai. I can't withstand your raging fire."

"Then what do you mean?" Yue Qianchou asked. On the surface, he remained indifferent, but in his heart, he admired Xin Lao San rather; at least this man wasn't so hypocritical.

"I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to have a couple of drinks with you. I don't know if you'll give me Xin Lao San, that kind of face," Xin Lao San laughed.

"Let me finish this first." Yue Qianchou looked around and said in a deep voice, "Anyone else who's not Qi Ingestion, come on, I, Yue Qianchou, am ready to take you on anytime."

"I think that's enough for today! Anyone who wants to fight, let's wait until we leave the Great Yang Kingdom. We don't welcome you here," Mi Rushan said expressionlessly. The three brothers reunited. Standing together, their gazes swept over the crowd.

On the surface, his words seemed to express his disapproval of the continued disturbances in the Great Yang Kingdom, but weren't they also a way of preserving a last shred of dignity for the various nations? Who among those present was truly confident of defeating Yue Qianchou? Did they really want to be utterly defeated, leaving no one left to even participate? How humiliating that would be!

"Those of you who came with me earlier, if you still wish to return to the Great Central Imperial Palace, you might as well come back with me. This will avoid some unnecessary trouble." Mi Rushan said this again, and the three brothers flew away together. The hundreds of people who had come out earlier also followed, including Yue Qianchou and the others.

As for the remaining people, including those who had been rescued after being rendered unconscious by the intense heat, they all left. In the blink of an eye, the place was deserted...

The group returned to the main hall of the Great Central Imperial Palace, where things were much quieter. Yue Qianchou noticed that Xin Lao San, who hadn't been part of the group initially, was also there and had been following him the whole time.

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