At that, Listening Rain Pavilion fell utterly silent.
Dai Tianfeng leaned back in his chair, his eyes flickering.
He understood too well how those in power weighed their options. Gratitude was empty talk; only peerless precious techniques in their hands were real.
"The Celestial Race's higher-ups dropped their mask of hypocrisy."
"They gave Shi Hao no chance to defend himself."
"Those lofty Heavenly Gods directly moved to suppress Shi Hao."
The scene seemed to shift to a dark, damp dungeon.
"They stripped Shi Hao of his freedom and sealed his cultivation."
"They locked this great benefactor—the man who had bled all the way there and risked his life to escort their clan's precious jewel—inside the Celestial Race's darkest, most lightless prison."
"They demanded that Shi Hao hand over the Kunpeng Precious Technique and the Thunder Emperor Precious Technique. Otherwise, they would make him wish he were dead."
As soon as he finished speaking, the listeners in the hall all clenched their fists.
"To repay kindness with treachery! They couldn't be more shameless!"
A hot-tempered rogue cultivator sprang to his feet and cursed furiously toward the front.
"He fought a hundred-thousand-li blood-soaked battle and risked his life to bring someone back, only to be repaid with treachery, locked in a dungeon, and plundered like prey?"
"So this is the so-called royal clan of the Upper Realm? Are all these people black-hearted?"
An elder from the Clear Sky Sect was trembling with rage, his beard quivering.
"This is too much. Even if they coveted his techniques, they shouldn't have treated their savior this way."
Ning Fengzhi closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.
An innocent man could be guilty simply for possessing a treasure.
He understood that principle, but the Celestial Race's actions had trampled every last boundary of decency.