Chapter 422 - 209: Chen Xuan’s Plan

Chapter 422: Chapter 209: Chen Xuan’s Plan

"If you don’t send your strongest successors to compete, then I’m sorry, but I’ll deal with you immediately. I’ll wipe every single one of you out. Your entire families will be slaughtered. We’ll see how scared you are then."

"But if, by some stroke of luck, you do manage to defeat Feng Wuji’s successor, I’ll honor the outcome."

"I’ll immediately appoint you the new City Lord."

And so, under this combination of threats and incentives, the various factions were forced into a corner, complaining endlessly.

Yet they didn’t dare to truly defy him.

After all, they were no match for that old freak.

And so it went, one competition after another. In nearly every contest for City Lord, they suffered disastrous casualties.

Is there any major faction now that *doesn’t* have a grudge against Feng Wuji?

They all wish they could tear Feng Wuji limb from limb.

They hated Feng Wuji’s master too, of course, but that hate was useless. They were utterly powerless against him.

And while Feng Wuji was strong, his power wasn’t as outrageously absurd as his master’s.

So, naturally, Feng Wuji became the primary target of all the factions’ hatred.

This was why Feng Wuji was desperate enough to seek help from an outsider like Chen Xuan.

He had already won four competitions in a row.

The past four were all pyrrhic victories.

But the scales of fortune couldn’t possibly tip in his favor forever...

This time, his challengers for the City Lord’s seat were powerful, long-standing families.

The Jiang family!

The Wu family!

The Lu family!

The threat posed by these three colossal families was immense.

If Feng Wuji lost this competition, he couldn’t even bear to imagine what the other factions would do to him.

While they might not dare to kill him, out of deference to his master, they would absolutely dare to humiliate him mercilessly.

All manner of vile humiliations would be heaped upon him.

For Feng Wuji, it would be a fate worse than death.

He would never dare to show his face in these lands again, forever nailed to a pillar of shame.

And reality was unfolding just as he’d feared...

Right now, these three great families were plotting how to seize the City Lord’s seat this time around and, once successful, how they would viciously humiliate Feng Wuji.

"Gentlemen, this is a sure thing for us. That bunch of rabble Feng Wuji scraped together won’t be able to stop our people. You’ve all seen the intelligence on them. The strongest among them are merely Zhao Qianjun, Ye Jianwei, and Han Litian. They’re only at the Outer Saint Third Layer. Feng Wuji has made too many enemies; now, no one dares to help him. His comeuppance is finally here!"

An elder from the Jiang family said with a smile.

"That’s right! This time, Feng Wuji is a dead man!"

"Heh, I hear Lu Linyuan of your Lu family is already at the Outer Saint Fourth Layer. He alone could probably hold off those three—Zhao Qianjun, Ye Jianwei, and Han Litian. If we add Jiang Shouzhuo from my Jiang family, we can kill those three for good. Once they’re dead, not a single one of the remaining rabble will be left alive!"

"It’s in the bag! This is a sure victory!"

"We can’t let Feng Wuji escape! I want to humiliate him with everything I’ve got!"

"Exactly! A hundred years ago, when our Black Wind Castle competed for the City Lord position, he slaughtered our people! This is a blood feud. I will humiliate Feng Wuji mercilessly!"

A clamor of voices erupted as everyone started talking at once.

"Gentlemen, don’t be so confident just yet!"

Suddenly, the Jiang family Patriarch, Jiang Yunfeng, spoke in a measured tone. "This Feng Wuji is insidious and cunning, with a mind as deep and calculating as his master’s. I strongly suspect this is all just for show. He almost certainly has another trick up his sleeve."

"’Another trick?’"

"’What kind of trick?’"

Murmurs of doubt spread through the crowd.

"Don’t forget, in the past four competitions, all the participants thought victory was assured. And what was the result?"

Jiang Yunfeng snorted coldly. "Weren’t they all wiped out in the end? We absolutely cannot let our guard down. To ensure our victory, I have taken the liberty of inviting an exceptional master from an ancient village. Brother Qin, you may enter!"

He clapped his hands.

The door opened.

A slender man in a black robe with delicate, almost feminine features walked in. He carried a long, narrow saber. His eyes were the shape of a phoenix’s, and his lips were exceptionally thin.

At a glance, he could have been mistaken for a woman.

"Patriarch Jiang."

Qin Zhan’s voice was calm as he clasped his hands in a formal greeting.

The room immediately broke into discussion once more.

"’From an ancient village?’"

"’His surname is Qin? Could he be from the Qin family Village?’"

"’The Qin family Village?’" Someone gasped.

...

"’Please, have a seat.’"

Jiang Yunfeng smiled and looked around at the others. "His name is Qin Zhan, and just as you’ve guessed, he is indeed from the Qin family Village. With him on our side, victory is truly guaranteed this time."

"’May I ask, Patriarch Jiang, what is his Cultivation level?’"

someone asked curiously.

"’You’ll find out when the time comes.’"

Jiang Yunfeng said with a mysterious smile, "Saying any more now would be pointless!"

His gaze fell upon Qin Zhan again as he said with a smile, "Brother Qin, I have only one requirement: complete annihilation!"

"’Rest assured. When I make my move, I leave no one alive.’"

Qin Zhan stated calmly.

"’Excellent!’"

Jiang Yunfeng smiled as he looked at the other two families. "Then we’ll proceed according to plan. First, we slaughter all of Feng Wuji’s people. Then, you will all endorse me as the new City Lord. As for what to do with Feng Wuji himself... we can take our time with that."

"’Agreed!’"

"’Of course!’"

The other two families nodded in agreement.

「In another location.」

The figures of a Buddhist monk and a Daoist priest appeared. They looked up toward the City Lord’s Mansion, smiling.

"’How pitiful. Looks like all the major factions are going to get wiped out again.’"

"’Indeed. They’ve made so many preparations, but it’s a shame... they have no idea who they’re really up against.’"

"’Damn it, that old bastard Gu Yuntian. He won’t scout for information himself, so he makes us come. He’s finally feeling the heat from the mess he made all those years ago. If not for an anomaly like Chen Xuan, his apprentice would have been a dead man for sure this time!’"

"’Killed? Probably not. But he’d definitely lose the City Lord’s seat. That old bastard has been bored for too long; he’ll play games with anything and anyone.’"

"’So what do we do? Stick around to watch Chen Xuan’s show, or leave now?’"

"’Watch my ass! The ending is already a foregone conclusion. Let’s hurry back and report to that old bastard Gu Yuntian! A monster has appeared on his turf!’"

"’Sounds good.’"

Limping, the monk and the Daoist priest walked off into the depths of the darkness.

...

「Time passed.」

All of Qianling City was in an uproar.

News and rumors of every kind spread like wildfire.

The once-in-a-century competition for City Lord was finally about to begin, and it was the talk of the entire city.

Bets were being placed, wagers were being made—the atmosphere was electric.

Betting odds for all the contenders were being set.

Amid the city’s clamor, streaks of light shot through the sky from all directions, converging on the City Lord’s Mansion.

Without a doubt, they were all powerful experts.

Each streak of light pulsed with a formidable aura, a sign of immense power.

"’They’re here! The experts are arriving!’"

"’The fight’s about to begin!’"

the crowd roared in anticipation.