Chapter 701 - 701: The Treacherous Jianghu

"Hmph. Everything in the Blood Sect ruins is ownerless. It's only natural that whoever finds something has a claim to it."

The level-seven Martial King clearly had no intention of handing over the Array Platform.

Just then, five more auras appeared within Chu Qingyun's perception. He couldn't gauge their true strength—they were all powerful Earth King Realm experts.

Soon after, five more people appeared in his line of sight.

As expected, it was the other five members of the level-seven Martial King's team, including Deng Xuan.

They must have been drawn by the commotion from earlier—Chu Qingyun luring away the Blood Corpses, Zhou Jianxiong's group battling them, and Chu Qingyun himself bombarding the Array Platform.

The level-seven Martial King, Ban Xing'an, was the fastest, so he had naturally been the first to arrive.

"Ban, what's going on?"

After Deng Xuan arrived, she glanced at Chu Qingyun in surprise before turning to the level-seven Martial King to ask.

Ban Xing'an smiled warmly, the cold disdain on his face gone. "Heh, Junior Sister Deng, it looks like our luck is in. We've found a great Treasure."

"But Chu Qingyun... what's he doing here?"

Deng Xuan asked. Looking between the two of them, she seemed to understand what was happening.

"This junior brother? Heh, I imagine he's just passing through..."

"Junior brother, you're just passing through, aren't you?"

Ban Xing'an turned to Chu Qingyun. Though his face was all smiles, the threat in his eyes was completely undisguised.

Clearly, he intended to use his superior strength to bully Chu Qingyun into admitting that the Array Platform had nothing to do with him.

That way, even if Deng Xuan wanted to help, she would have no grounds to interfere.

The situation was obvious. Deng Xuan and the other four disciples all figured it out.

Chu Qingyun must have found this Array Platform by a stroke of luck. Unfortunately for him, that luck ran out when Ban Xing'an discovered him.

Aside from Deng Xuan, the other four disciples watched Chu Qingyun with mocking expressions.

In their eyes, Chu Qingyun had no choice but to bow to Ban Xing'an.

Deng Xuan also turned her gaze to Chu Qingyun, her beautiful eyes filled with curiosity about what he would do.

The last time he faced Wu Jiancheng, Chu Qingyun had been unyielding.

But that was only because his strength had far surpassed Wu Jiancheng's. This time, however, Ban Xing'an was a Celestial King Realm expert who held the absolute advantage.

Moreover, they were in the Blood-soaked Land, tens of thousands of miles from the sect.

"Ah, so it's Ban. Greetings."

"However, I was the one who discovered this Array Platform. There were also many Martial King Realm Blood Corpses here originally, which I lured away."

"I was just about to retrieve the Array Platform when you cut in, Ban. Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?"

Unexpectedly, Chu Qingyun didn't play along with Ban Xing'an. His attitude was neither servile nor arrogant, and his words were both reasonable and firm.

Deng Xuan and the other four disciples looked on in surprise.

Ban Xing'an's expression, however, turned grim.

"Chu Qingyun, you'd better watch your mouth. What do you mean, 'cut in'?"

"Besides, this is the Blood Sect ruins, a Land of Trial. Everything here is ownerless. You haven't secured the Array Platform, so what right do you have to call it yours?"

Ban Xing'an said coldly, his gaze filled with malice and threat.

'A mere level-one Martial King who just entered the Inner Sect dares to fight me for a Treasure? He dares to make me lose face in front of Deng Xuan?' Ban Xing'an was furious.

At that moment, however, Deng Xuan frowned. "Ban, we're all disciples of the Saint Extreme Sect. Since Chu Qingyun found the Array Platform first and even dealt with the Blood Corpses, it seems wrong for us to just swoop in and take it."

Her meaning was clear.

If Chu Qingyun had been from another sect, or a native of the Blood-soaked Land, finding an excuse to seize the Array Platform would have been one thing.

But they were all members of the Saint Extreme Sect's Inner Sect. To take it from him by force or trickery would be hard to justify and would create a powerful enemy.

Chu Qingyun was already a level-one Martial King at such a young age, and he had even comprehended true Sword Intent back when he was in the Martial Spirit Realm.

As long as a genius like that didn't die young, he was guaranteed to become a top-tier expert in the Inner Sect. It wasn't even out of the question for him to break through to the Martial Emperor Realm and become an Elder.

Therefore, Deng Xuan definitely didn't want to make an enemy of Chu Qingyun. In fact, her thinking was similar to Qi Hao's—she wanted to befriend him.

No one present was a fool.

The others naturally understood Deng Xuan's meaning. The other four Earth King Realm experts nodded slightly in agreement.

'The Array Platform was valuable, but it didn't seem worth it to make an enemy of a fellow disciple with such immense potential.'

After all, even if they got their hands on the Array Platform, the lion's share would undoubtedly go to Ban Xing'an. They would only get the scraps.

However, upon hearing Deng Xuan speak up for him, Chu Qingyun sighed inwardly.

'This just got more complicated…'

Even a blind man could see how Ban Xing'an felt about Deng Xuan.

If one of the other four Earth King Realm experts had been the one to reason with him, Ban Xing'an might have backed down and dropped the matter.

But with those words coming from Deng Xuan, it was only likely to have the opposite effect.

Sure enough, Ban Xing'an's expression darkened even further.

'Deng Xuan had already invited Chu Qingyun to join their team. Now she was speaking up for him, even at the expense of her own gains.'

'Could she have fallen for Chu Qingyun?'

The more Ban Xing'an thought about it, the more he despised the sight of Chu Qingyun.

"Hmph. Even blood brothers must keep clear accounts, let alone mere fellow disciples."

"Besides, a little setback isn't a bad thing. At least it can teach Chu what a dangerous world this is, and that a wise man knows when to yield!"

"Losing an Array Platform to one of his own is better than losing his life to an outsider!"

Ban Xing'an's face turned completely cold. He was clearly done showing deference to anyone.

The moment Ban Xing'an finished speaking, Chu Qingyun's expression shifted slightly as he whipped his head around to the left.

A moment later, Ban Xing'an's expression also changed, and he too looked in that direction.

Only then did Deng Xuan and the others notice, and they also turned to look.

Six more Martial King Realm auras had appeared within their range of perception.

The order of their reactions made one thing clear: the first person to sense the newcomers wasn't the strongest expert present, the level-seven Martial King Ban Xing'an, but Chu Qingyun, who was only a level-one Martial King.

This showed that although Chu Qingyun's Realm was the lowest among them, his perception range was by far the greatest.