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"Hmph! What? You don't want to attack me anymore?"
That cold snort plunged the entire hall into silence. No one dared make another sound. In the middle of the hall, three white-robed elders knelt with their bodies bent low, repeatedly kowtowing and admitting their wrongs.
At those words, the pupils of the Six-star Dou Zun expert leading them abruptly contracted. His whole body trembled uncontrollably, and only after a long moment did he manage to speak, each word trembling on his lips:
"S... senior... you jest. How... how would the three of us juniors dare... dare entertain... s... such a... reckless thought? Senior... your strength reaches the heavens. How... how could the three of us... dare... touch you?"
The Six-star Dou Zun swallowed. He spoke with difficulty, his breathing tense yet extremely slow, as though he were terrified of angering this senior expert.
The man gave a cold laugh when he heard this, shaking the entire hall three times. The trembling brought down years of accumulated dust from the beams. As it drifted down, the hall looked for an instant as though immortal dust and clouds had descended into the mortal world.
But to everyone's astonishment, every speck of falling dust landed on the three Qingyun Manor experts, making those watching raise their eyebrows.
Once the dust had settled, the hall was clear. A breath revealed no dust floating in the air; it felt exceptionally fresh.
The hall's carpet looked spotless as well, without a trace of dust. A closer look would have revealed something else.
Not only had the carpet failed to get dirty, it was considerably cleaner than before. The whole carpet looked bright and fresh, as though it were new.
Everyone's gaze swept around. In the end, apart from Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng, everyone's eyes reddened, and glistening tears lingered in them, needing only the slightest trigger to spill over.
Even Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng showed little change in their expressions, but a careful look would have clearly revealed their bulging cheeks, telling everyone what the two were feeling.
The only ones who could not laugh were the three men from Qingyun Manor, kneeling in the middle of the hall and trembling all over for some unknown reason.
Judging by appearances alone, the three were utterly comical. Kneeling in the hall, their robes had long since lost any discernible color.
A layer of dust as thick as accumulated snow covered their backs. All three had dust-caked faces and looked thoroughly disheveled.
Had anyone looked down on them from directly overhead, they would not have seen any people at all, only three piles of dirt spread across the hall.
Their faces were livid, their jaws clenched tight, and the grinding of their teeth came in creaking bursts. They knelt on the ground, faces full of anger and eyes full of unwillingness.
"Boom!"
A fierce gust suddenly shot toward them from the front. The three were horrified and hurriedly rose to meet it, circulating the Dou Qi in their bodies as they struck.
"Bang!"
A muffled impact sounded, and all three were blasted out of the hall together. They rolled several times across the ground in a sorry state before finally managing to stop.
Once they had stopped, the three got to their feet. The Six-star Dou Zun at their head stared into the dust-shrouded hall with bloodshot eyes and roared:
"Senior, what is the meaning of this? You've already toyed with the three of us, and now you're trying to kill us? You truly are unworthy of being called a senior!"
"Heh! Boy, you've grown bold. I was only trying to be kind and help blow the dust off you, but unexpectedly, the three of you got up and struck back."
At those words, everyone curled their lips. Judging by the force of that gust, he had plainly meant to kill the three of them.
Yet now he was blaming them for defending themselves. With life and death at stake, how could they not defend themselves? Who could have known he was not trying to kill them?
If he had really meant to kill them and they had not fought back, wouldn't they have thrown their lives away for nothing? Who would do something so stupid?
Even Liu Huabai and Liu Xincheng curled their lips slightly and exchanged a glance without speaking.
The corners of the three Qingyun Manor elders' eyes twitched slightly as well. After all that, he was pinning the blame on them.
Before the three could react, the mysterious senior spoke again:
"Sigh... but you could have just blocked it. Instead, you even slandered a good man, saying I wasn't worthy of being called a senior and had no sense of benevolence or righteousness. Now tell me, am I worthy or not? Hmm?"
As his voice fell, the entire gathering fell silent. The three Dou Zun experts from Qingyun Manor instantly felt an inexplicable pressure surging toward them.
In the blink of an eye, it enveloped all three, sending an incomparably terrifying pressure bearing down on their hearts and leaving them utterly shocked.
The pupils of the Six-star Dou Zun at their head abruptly contracted to pinpoints. Paying no heed to the expressions of the two beside him, he hurriedly said:
"Senior, you live up to your great reputation. You eliminated those who broke the rules for Qingyun Manor, upheld righteousness, and aided the poor and weak. You are naturally worthy of being called a senior."
His words were full of lofty righteousness and had the air of a benevolent man, but everyone who heard them curled their lips and sighed, turning their heads away and looking at him no longer.
The Six-star Dou Zun's old face reddened and grew slightly hot, but he merely shifted his gaze and said nothing more.
Only after a long moment did the senior speak again with a laugh:
"Hahahaha... in that case, I'll let it go. Just give me a little something as compensation for insulting me earlier. All right?"
The three hurriedly smiled and nodded their agreement. Seeing this, the senior immediately laughed and said:
"Then I won't ask for much. I imagine you can't produce anything good anyway, so I'll be merciful. Just hand me fifty thousand Spirit Coins."
He spoke with utter indifference, but when those present heard him, their faces twitched wildly.
Fifty thousand Spirit Coins, and he said to just hand them over? What did he take Spirit Coins for? Were they really worth so little? Everyone was speechless.
Even more speechless were the three Dou Zun experts from Qingyun Manor. They looked at one another and shook their heads.
Fifty thousand Spirit Coins was an astronomical sum for any one of them. Even if all three pooled their resources, it would still be a considerable burden.
The three exchanged a few words, but in the end, they still frowned deeply, helplessness written all over their faces.
After quite a while, the Six-star Dou Zun bit his lip lightly and slowly said:
"Senior, th... this fif... fifty thousand Sp... Spirit Coins really is... a little too much..."
"Hmm? You think that's too much? Looks to me like you're unwilling! It's only fifty thousand for the three of you altogether. Compared to your lives, I'm being very merciful."