Chapter 36: Making an Example

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Making an Example

About a quarter of an hour after the audience had dispersed, Gongsun Jie and the others, who had chased after Murong Kaixin with the ball, returned. Every single one of them looked utterly dejected.

Wenren Chuan and the rest hurried over to ask about the battle, only to be told that they had lost track of their target.

It made sense when they thought about it. Even gravely injured, Murong Kaixin was still a Grandmaster—far beyond the leagues of Innate Masters like them. The mere fact that they dared to hunt down a Grandmaster was proof enough of their courage.

What truly astonished Wenren Chuan’s group, however, was the state of their injuries.

When they had chased him out of the valley, they were missing arms and legs, hobbling and stumbling in every direction. Yet, in less than an hour, all their wounds seemed completely healed.

It was nothing short of a miracle. The sight left Wenren Chuan and the others burning with envy.

Wenren Chuan tried to press them about their Skill Levels and what exactly had transpired on the field, but no one bothered to answer him.

Shi Xiang and the others had long become loyal die-hard fans of Li Ye. With Lord Li having been carried off by Murong Kaixin and his fate unknown, they were in no mood to discuss anything else.

Helpless, Wenren Chuan and his companions had no choice but to wait alongside them at the entrance of the valley for Li Ye’s return.

Another hour passed. Suddenly, a small black dot appeared on the distant official road, hurtling toward them at breakneck speed. In the blink of an eye, it stopped right in front of them.

Who else could it be but Li Ye?

He looked rather miserable. His face was covered in bruises, and his hair and eyebrows were stained crimson with blood. One of his arms was twisted and deformed, hanging loosely by his side. His torn, tattered clothes clung to his body, completely soaked in blood.

He looked like a demon that had just crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Only his eyes remained bright, lively, and brimming with vitality.

The crowd only glanced at him for a second before their attention was drawn to the person he was dragging. Judging by the clothes, it was Murong Kaixin.

While Li Ye at least still resembled a human, Murong Kaixin was practically unrecognizable.

His once elegant hair had been nearly plucked bald, with patches of his scalp oozing blood. Both of his eyes were swollen shut and puffed up grotesquely. His nose was caved in, a chunk of skin was missing from his face, and his upper lip was split wide open. He was missing three front teeth. His arms and legs were twisted at bizarre angles, clearly all broken...

If it weren’t for the faint rise and fall of his chest, Wenren Chuan and the others wouldn’t have even believed such a mangled mess of a person could still be alive.

They all sucked in a breath of cold air, utterly dumbfounded. Had a dignified Grandmaster, the Celestial Master of Chu Country, truly been defeated just like this? Defeated by an unknown, twenty-something young man?

Though they didn’t want to believe it, it was the undeniable truth.

Wenren Chuan, the Protectors of the Red Flame Sect, and the Elders of the Celestial Dao Alliance exchanged glances and simultaneously gulped. When they looked at Li Ye again, their eyes were filled with nothing but sheer terror.

"Lord Li has returned safely. A heavy stone has finally been lifted from my heart," Wenren Chuan said, reacting the fastest. He piled on a sycophantic smile. "That old scoundrel Murong is truly despicable, foolishly trying to block our path to becoming Immortals. If I hadn’t been afraid of breaking your rules, Lord Li, I would have loved to jump onto the field and fight him myself. By the time I wanted to chase after him, it was already too late. Thank goodness you won, Lord Li."

Zhong Wenhao shot his master a bewildered glance. He thought, "That’s not what you said earlier!"

"Lord Li, I have top-tier Healing Holy Medicine here. It works wonders on both external and internal injuries. Please accept it, Lord Li," Xu Chuan of the Red Flame Sect said, unwilling to fall behind. He pulled a porcelain bottle from his robes and offered it with both hands.

"Li Ye, I am quite well-versed in the art of Bone Setting. If you don’t mind, why don’t you let me set your bones for you, Lord Li, lest they heal crookedly," the Third Elder of the Celestial Dao Alliance offered with an overly eager expression.

The National Guardian Celestial Master of Chu Country was finished, and now both the orthodox and unorthodox factions were fawning over Li Ye. Witnessing this scene, Wei Mingze felt a bitter ache in his heart. He looked at Li Ye and opened his mouth, yet didn’t know what to say.

Because of Murong Kaixin’s stunt, anything he said now would seem inappropriate. Without a Grandmaster holding the fort, if Li Ye were to issue a rallying cry, it wouldn’t even be impossible for him to change the Emperor of Chu Country...

"I’ll keep the medicine, but there’s no need for the Bone Setting," Li Ye said. Taking in everyone’s expressions, he was highly satisfied with their reactions. Still dragging Murong Kaixin’s broken leg with one hand, he continued walking into the valley. "I trust you have all seen the wondrous uses of Spiritual Power by now. It’s time to promote the league on a wider scale."

The crowd hurriedly followed. Watching Murong Kaixin being dragged along like a dead dog by Li Ye, their scalps tingled with fear. Only one thought remained in their minds: they must absolutely, under no circumstances, offend the young man before them.

Young people knew no restraint. Offending other Grandmasters might leave a slim chance of survival, but offending this guy? He would literally torture you to death!

Looking at Murong Kaixin’s miserable state, Wei Mingze couldn’t bear it. "Lord Li, Murong Kaixin is a Grandmaster of his generation after all. Shouldn’t we..."

"Shouldn’t we what?" Li Ye glanced back at him and sneered. "Shouldn’t we give him the respect he deserves? If I respect him, who respects me? An old dog bared its fangs at me, so am I supposed to put it on a pedestal and worship it?

"The best way to deal with a dog that bares its fangs at me is to hang it up, skin it, pull its tendons, and toss it into a stew pot. Then, I’ll hang its skin outside as a warning, so all the other dogs can see what happens when they cross me."

With a cold snort, he dropped Murong Kaixin onto the ground. "Wang Zhenghui, come here."

The former Vice Valley Master of Sirius Valley, now the current Security Captain of Sirius Valley, Wang Zhenghui, came jogging over eagerly. "Lord Li, what are your orders?"

Li Ye casually tossed him the Elixir Pills he had received from Xu Chuan. "Keep Murong Kaixin barely alive with one last breath. Stuff him in a cage and hang him at the entrance of Sirius Valley. Let the world see what happens when someone offends me. If they can bear the consequences, they are more than welcome to provoke me."

"Yes," Wang Zhenghui replied. He stared at Murong Kaixin and blanked out for a moment, but didn’t dare defy Li Ye’s orders. He quickly grabbed two disciples to carry the man away.

"Wait," Xu Chuan interjected suddenly.

"Do you have a problem with it too?" Li Ye shot Xu Chuan an icy glare.

He had only managed to wear Murong Kaixin down by relying on the restorative abilities of his Demon Qi. It had been an incredibly arduous victory. If it hadn’t been for the Derived Skills that had suddenly popped up, he might have actually been beaten to death by Murong Kaixin.

Even if he hadn’t been killed, the best-case scenario would have been getting captured, sliced into pieces for research, and tortured into giving up the Cultivation Methods of Spiritual Power, suffering a fate worse than death.

The mutants in X-Men were powerful enough, yet they were still captured, tortured, and experimented on by Striker. Wasn’t Alice also subjected to experiments by the Umbrella Corporation?

With so many examples right before his eyes, Li Ye was entirely unwilling to gamble on human nature. He only had one life, and he fully intended to live it well. Therefore, he would show no mercy whatsoever to anyone who wanted him dead. Showing mercy to an enemy was simply being cruel to oneself.

There were still three other Grandmasters in this world. If they found out he had a mild temper and that offending him carried no consequences, who knew what they might pull? What if they colluded with the other two strands of Demon Qi?

If a man wasn’t ruthless, he couldn’t stand firm. He was only staying in this world for a year; he had to ensure his absolute safety. Absolute safety meant eliminating every single hidden danger that could possibly threaten him.

Therefore, rather than earning their respect, it was far better to instill fear into them. Every single one of his words and actions had to match the profile of a Galactic Federation wanted criminal who had destroyed six civilizations.

One year. He just needed to survive for one year...

Xu Chuan was startled and hurriedly explained, "Lord Li, Murong Kaixin deserves what he got! I have no intention of pleading on his behalf. I merely wanted to tell you, Lord Li, that I know a Sealing Technique that can seal away his Inner Strength. After all, he is a Grandmaster. In the event he escapes or gets rescued, it could be disadvantageous to you, Lord Li..."

"Not bad. Give me that Sealing Technique later," Li Ye nodded with a smile. "I will personally seal his cultivation base."

The corners of Wei Mingze’s eyes twitched. "Lord Li, Murong Kaixin is a Grandmaster of his generation, after all. He has countless disciples and holds considerable prestige in the Martial World..."

"Lord Wei, there’s no need to remind me. That is precisely why I am keeping him breathing," Li Ye chuckled. "I want to see exactly who comes to rescue him. Frankly, I just don’t have the time right now. Once I’ve settled everything, I will flatten the Celestial Master’s Mansion. After all, pulling up the weeds by their roots is what I excel at the most."

Wei Mingze’s eyebrows twitched violently. He thought, "Was I trying to remind you?" When he looked at Murong Kaixin again, he sighed inwardly. A profound sense of powerlessness welled up inside him, along with a tinge of disgust toward the man.

He thought, "Look at the incredibly stupid thing you’ve done! Even if you really wanted to strike a fatal blow, you should have figured out his background first! Now look what’s happened. The entirety of Chu Country is going to be dragged down by you."

The most crucial point was that Li Ye wasn’t a person of this world, meaning Wei Mingze couldn’t even use loyalty to the nation to persuade him.

Now, Wei Mingze could only hope that Wan Peng would deliver the letter to the Capital City as quickly as possible, and that the Holy Emperor would take the correct countermeasures...