Chapter 683 - 682: Going Back on Their Word

"Just what I'd expect from a young punk from the Mortal Realm. Do you have any idea what kind of power you're facing? Your foolish ignorance is proof that Cultivators from the Mortal Realm are nothing special!"

Elder Mei stared at him coldly, her eyes filled with contempt and disdain. She looked at Yi Tianyun as if he were an idiot—a country boy who had just arrived in the big city, completely oblivious to the power it contained.

"You should take a good look at yourself and see how you measure up to my son! He possesses the Ice Elemental Body. His union with Xueyun is guaranteed to produce an even more powerful heir! And you? A mere human, with no discernible Bloodline whatsoever. What gives you the right to take her? This so-called 'love'? What a joke. How childish!"

"I'll give you one chance—a chance to get out of here. For Xueyun's sake, I will drop everything you've said, but only on the condition that she obediently becomes my son's dao companion. I will also give you two Sacred Artifacts, ten million Spirit Stones, and another ten Grade Five Elixir Pills. Take this payment, and you can get the hell back to the Mortal Realm."

"I doubt most of the factions in the Mortal Realm could put together a reward like this. It'll be enough to last you a very long time."

Elder Mei was furious, but she was also being rational. If she had Yi Tianyun killed, Shi Xueyun would be devastated. It would be a disaster if she then tried to kill herself.

The best solution was to make Yi Tianyun take the reward and leave, forcing Shi Xueyun to give up all hope. That was the only way. Only after her hope was crushed would she be willing to accept them—to accept Mei Yiming.

"Two Sacred Artifacts, ten million Spirit Stones, ten Grade Five Elixir Pills?" Yi Tianyun sneered. 'To me, that's just a pile of garbage!'

'Never mind two Sacred Artifacts; even ten Divine Artifacts would be garbage compared to Shi Xueyun.'

"What, still not enough?" Elder Mei said with a faint smile. "I'll add a Heaven-rank Martial Arts manual and a Grade Six Elixir Pill. How does that sound?"

She eagerly hoped that Yi Tianyun would take these things and leave. 'No one can resist such a temptation, especially not someone from the Mortal Realm.' In her eyes, Cultivators from the Mortal Realm were simply inferior. 'Who wouldn't be green with envy when offered such a generous reward?'

'Give up so many treasures for a woman? You'd have to have been kicked in the head. Anyone else would know which to choose.'

Mei Yiming, standing to the side, was also sneering. He was certain Yi Tianyun would choose the rewards and leave. To him, a Cultivator from the Mortal Realm was no different from a pauper; they weren't even on the same plane of existence.

"How about this? I'll give you five Sacred Artifacts, fifty million Spirit Stones, fifty Grade Five Elixir Pills, and five Heaven-rank Martial Arts manuals. Can you get out of my sight now? Don't use this trash to measure Xueyun's value. It isn't worthy!" Yi Tianyun said calmly. "Considering you haven't mistreated Xueyun, what I just offered can be your compensation!"

Elder Wan's eyes widened. 'Can Yi Tianyun really produce all that?' Even a typical Empire couldn't offer such a fortune; only a Divine Kingdom would have that many resources. She couldn't tell if he was bluffing or telling the truth.

"Bragging again? Someone as shabby-looking as you can produce that many Treasures?" Mei Yiming jeered. "Don't tell me you're about to add that you'll need a few decades to gather them all? If a guy like you can produce them right now, I'll walk backward for the rest of my life. Idiot!"

VMMMM!

He plunged five Sacred Artifacts into the ground, their blades sinking in with ease. Everyone stared in stunned silence. 'Those… those really are five Sacred Artifacts!'

"Five Sacred Artifacts… actually, that's not quite enough. I'll add some Sacred Artifact armor to make up for the rest." Yi Tianyun then tossed out a pile of armor, all of it Sacred Artifact-grade. These were all Sacred Artifacts he had obtained from his previous kills, yet he now threw them on the ground as if they were scrap metal. He said calmly, "You can start walking backward now!"

Everyone was dumbstruck. They had assumed Yi Tianyun was all talk, but who could have guessed he would actually throw out a whole pile of Sacred Artifacts? All told, there were more than a dozen pieces. Their value absolutely made up for the promised Spirit Stones and Elixir Pills—it was more than enough.

'They wanted to humiliate me with wealth? Fine, I'll humiliate them right back with even more.' His actions made it clear: 'Your five Sacred Artifacts? A pile of trash. I've got plenty more where that came from!'

"Th-that's impossible! Y-you… where did you get so many Sacred Artifacts? You must have stolen them!" When Mei Yiming finally snapped out of his shock, his embarrassment turned to fury. He pointed at Yi Tianyun, utterly refusing to acknowledge the promise he had just made.

"Going back on his word already. Just like you," Yi Tianyun said, turning his cold gaze to Elder Wan. "People who go back on their word… I despise them more than anything." He had heard their earlier conversation.

Elder Wan remained silent, offering no rebuttal. What Yi Tianyun said was the truth. Their plan had been to trick her into coming here, then slowly manipulate her.

"I don't know where you got so many Sacred Artifacts, but I'll say this: either take your things and leave, or die here. Make your choice!" Elder Mei said icily. "Xueyun is staying here. No matter who comes for her, they will not take her away!"

Elder Mei hadn't expected Yi Tianyun to actually produce so many Treasures. It was a heavy slap in the face.

"Oh, it seems you're all a bit too blindly arrogant," Yi Tianyun said calmly. "You may have been glorious in the past, but do you think this is still your era? I'm afraid you don't even rank in the top ten anymore. Holing yourselves up here with such delusions of grandeur only makes you look more ignorant!"

"You!"

Elder Mei looked like she was about to explode with rage, and Elder Wan was even more shocked. She couldn't believe Yi Tianyun would dare say such a thing. Words like that were a death sentence—he had just offended the dignity of the entire Celestial Plum Divine Clan.

The last thing the Celestial Plum Divine Clan wanted to hear was that they were weak and had lost their former glory.

"It seems you've chosen to die here. There are some things you should not have said, yet you said them! Today, no matter what, your life ends here!" Elder Mei's Spirit King Stage aura instantly erupted, and a terrifying power suppressed the entire area, placing everyone under immense pressure.

"Tianyun, their power is…" Shi Xueyun started to say, but Yi Tianyun just shook his head.

"Don't worry. Just stay behind me. I'll protect you." Yi Tianyun's faint smile put Shi Xueyun completely at ease. She felt that even if the world were to collapse, he would be there to hold it up for her.

He then turned to face the enraged Elder Mei, his voice just as bone-chilling as her own. "I will say this one last time: anyone who stands in my way dies! You have completely exhausted my patience. You planned to keep her here from the very beginning, yet you spouted all that nonsense to make things difficult for me. Let me tell you something. That son of yours wants to marry my aunt? A man like him? He isn't worthy of a single strand of her hair, and you think he has the right to marry her?"

His tone dripped with contempt. 'Trash like them thinks they can have Shi Xueyun? I'll kill anyone who stands in my way!'