Chapter 158: Zhou Yi Maintaining Order

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Zhou Yi Maintaining Order

"The rules said to stop once a point is scored and that no one was to be harmed. Did you not see the strike he just used? He didn’t even know my Cultivation level, yet without a single probing move, he came at me with a killing blow. As referees, you couldn’t see that? Did you try to stop him? No! If my Cultivation were even a few stages lower than his, wouldn’t that last strike have left me dead, or at least severely wounded? You are all Elders of your respective Sects, esteemed seniors. You’re telling me you truly couldn’t see what he was doing?"

Chu Fan retorted loudly.

"Or is it that you from the Six Sects and Eight Gates have always covered for each other, and we from the second and third-class Sects are just here for show? Are we just here to let the disciples of the Six Sects and Eight Gates build up their confidence and feel superior at our expense?"

With just a few words, Chu Fan had shifted the conflict, framing it as a clash between the Six Sects and Eight Gates and the lesser second and third-class Sects.

The Elder from the Fiery Fire Sect was rendered speechless by Chu Fan’s accusations.

An Elder from the Xuanming Sect standing nearby tried to smooth things over. "There’s no need to argue further. You’ve won this match."

"’I’ve won this match’?"

Chu Fan shot them a look of utter disbelief, let out a few short laughs, and walked off the dueling ring.

For a moment, the crowd below erupted in a flurry of discussion.

The disciples of the Celestial Sect helped Wan Jiaxing back to his seat, each one glaring daggers at Chu Fan.

The two Elders from the Fiery Fire Sect and the Xuanming Sect were also fuming.

What Chu Fan hadn’t expected was that the Celestial Sect Elder—the one who had been sitting with their disciples waiting for their matches—would storm over to the chief judges’ panel before the main hall to lodge a furious complaint.

The chief judges already knew the whole story. Operating under the principle of ’the less trouble, the better’, they hadn’t planned to pursue the matter.

But with him causing such a scene, it was now impossible to pretend nothing had happened.

The old men conferred among themselves and immediately issued a warning: if any contestant intentionally injured another, both the attacker and the victim would be disqualified.

As for the prior incident, it was now closed. No one was to stir up any more trouble over it.

The Celestial Sect Elder had been thoroughly rebuffed. But the old judges felt helpless; after all, this was the first Tengxing Grand Assembly where, in addition to the Six Sects and Eight Gates, the second and third-class Sects were also participating.

The competition itself was a minor affair. The fundamental reason for holding this grand assembly was to discuss how to form a united front against the Red Blood Mansion.

How could they allow anything to undermine that unity?

The competition continued.

A full day passed, and only the first round was completed, with two hundred people eliminated.

As for Celestial Heart Hall, two people advanced and six were eliminated. The two who advanced were Chu Fan and Yun Xi.

Such a result couldn’t be called good or bad. In this first round, luck still played a significant role.

While the first day of competition raged on at the Martial Arts Arena, in a rear hall of the Cyan Cloud Sect, forty Sect Leaders were locked in a similarly endless dispute.

Their fundamental purpose for gathering was to deal with the Red Blood Mansion, but unexpectedly, Cheng Shimo had first brought up the current state of the Eastern Domain.

Upon hearing this, some nodded in deep agreement.

Others, however, were disdainfully dismissive. ’What the hell does the plight of the Eastern Domain’s common folk have to do with us?’

"Sect Leader Cheng, we are Cultivators, fundamentally detached from the mortal world. Whether those commoners are starving or freezing is the business of their Sovereigns and officials. If we were to interfere, wouldn’t we be overstepping our bounds?" For Shui Zebo, the Sect Leader of the Celestial Derivation Sect, this was a relatively polite way of putting it.

Zou Yuting, the Sect Leader of the Chenqing Sect, was even more sarcastic. "Since when did you become such a bleeding heart, Sect Leader Cheng? I must have missed the memo."

Lan Bing sneered. "Sect Leader Zou, Sect Leader Cheng speaks the truth. In recent years, there has been no shortage of incidents where Cultivators have brought disaster upon the common folk in the mortal world! As the most established Cultivation Sects in the Eastern Domain, the Six Sects and Eight Gates should be paragons of virtue. I’m not saying you need to bless the land, but you should at least refrain from harming its people, shouldn’t you? If my memory serves, didn’t the Six Sects and Eight Gates once abide by a pact? Where is that pact now?"

"And who are you to question me?" Zou Yuting shot Lan Bing a glare.

"What? Is Sect Leader Zou implying that we from minor Sects aren’t qualified to discuss the affairs of the Eastern Domain? Or are you saying that the decisions of the Six Sects and Eight Gates are all that matter in the Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm? If so, why don’t we minor Sects, who aren’t part of your esteemed club, just leave right now?" Lan Bing said, making a tactical retreat.

Li Qingyuan slammed his hand on the table. "Yuting, that’s enough out of you. There’s some truth to what Shimo is saying. Especially in recent years, with Cultivators entering the mortal world, they have indeed committed many heaven-enraging, people-resenting atrocities. That pact now exists in name only. To use Shimo’s words, it’s akin to draining the pond to fish."

"Shimo, since you brought this up, you must have a solution in mind, right?" Li Qingyuan looked toward Cheng Shimo.

"Support the Great Xia!" Cheng Shimo said, dropping a bombshell.

Sure enough, as those four words left his lips, most of the people present stared at him in utter disbelief.

"Cheng Shimo, have you lost your mind?" Shui Zebo cursed outright.

Wu Guanghai, the Sect Leader of the Fiery Fire Sect, asked with a cold sneer, "Cheng Shimo, support the Great Xia? What’s in it for your Profound Celestial Sect? Or is it that bitch, Jin Chuhong, is your mistress?"

Several of the Sect Leaders burst out laughing.

Jing’an stood up, pointed a finger at Wu Guanghai, and said in a cold voice, "Slap yourself across the face, and I’ll pretend you didn’t just slander my wife."

"Well, well, I seem to have forgotten we had the Empress’s boy toy in our midst!" Seeing Jing’an, Wu Guanghai grew even more provocative.

"SHIIING—"

With the ring of a sword, before anyone could even react, a blade materialized from thin air, its tip instantly pressing against the point between Wu Guanghai’s eyebrows.

A pale hand appeared on the sword’s hilt, followed by black fabric. Slowly, a man clad in black Night Clothes coalesced into solid form.

"How audacious!" Most of them stood up in anger, their gazes fixed on the man in black.

"My lord has given an order. You are all gathered here to discuss matters of great importance to the future of the Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm. If anyone feels they are above it all, and decides to slander or insult their fellow Cultivators, disregarding all camaraderie, they are welcome to test the sword in my hand first. Allow me to introduce myself. In the Eastern Domain, those who know of me call me Zhou Yi."

The man in black spoke softly, his tone utterly indifferent.

"Insolence! You’re just an assassin, yet you dare barge in here?" Shui Zebo snapped.

Ying Xiao paid Shui Zebo no mind. Instead, his sharp gaze fell upon Wu Guanghai as he said coldly, "Apologize to Sect Leader Jing."

"And if I refuse? You think you have the guts to kill me?" How could Wu Guanghai possibly back down in front of so many other Sect Leaders?

"Sect Leader Jing, my lord instructed me to await your command here. Tell me, what should I do?" Ying Xiao turned his head to ask Jing’an.

The instant Ying Xiao turned his head, Wu Guanghai shot backward, his hand lashing out in an attack.

Yet Ying Xiao’s body didn’t seem to move an inch. His sword, however, followed Wu Guanghai like a shadow, and in an instant, it had pierced the skin between his eyebrows. A few drops of blood trickled down the tip of the blade.

"Don’t move. Next time, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to control my strength."

Li Qingyuan walked over, his gaze shifting from Wu Guanghai to Ying Xiao, and finally settling on Jing’an.

"Sect Leader Jing, perhaps you owe the rest of us a reasonable explanation?"

Jing’an said, "Sect Leader Li, our lord is deeply concerned for all the people of the Eastern Domain. He knows we have gathered here to decide the future of the region, a cause he strongly supports. However, the human heart has always been difficult to read. While most of you here possess a righteous spirit, we cannot rule out the presence of selfish, sanctimonious individuals—or even spies from the Red Blood Mansion who may have infiltrated our ranks. That is why he sent Zhou Yi to maintain order. After all, this matter is simply too important. Disagreements are normal, but if someone were to intentionally provoke others, to spoil this precious opportunity we have created by gathering together, and it all devolved into a brawl... wouldn’t that defeat the entire purpose of this meeting?"

"As for who our lord is, he will naturally reveal himself once we have reached a conclusion. Of course, he has no intention of interfering with the outcome."