Chapter 107: The Clown
Unfortunately, Ning Fengzhi seemed to have morally bound the wrong person.
If one were to speak of the entire Spirit City, or even the entire continent, the one person least afraid of moral kidnapping was Jingni. Even Qin Xuan was somewhat inferior in this regard. After all, facing the original goddesses of the story, Qin Xuan, under normal circumstances, couldn't bring himself to kill them.
But Jingni was different. Besides Qin Xuan and A Yan, her entire world was empty. Even if it were the emperors of the Two Great Empires, she could kill them right in front of you without a change in expression.
[Inorin's Note: As per instructions, the crossover character 'Jing Ni' (惊鲵) is standardized to 'Jingni' for consistency.]
Her cold, indifferent gaze, which had not once acknowledged Ning Fengzhi, slowly looked down at the man trapped beneath her foot.
"You know what you've done," Jingni's voice was as cold as her Slaughter God Domain, cutting through the stunned silence of the competition grounds. "Answer me. What were you and your Sect Master just plotting against my husband and my daughter?"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar. The thousands of Spirit Masters gathered in the stands erupted in a wave of shocked murmurs. Now everyone finally understood why Spirit Hall's new Guardian, who was usually elusive, had suddenly descended to confront Bone Douluo.
It turned out they harbored ill intentions. They were plotting the assassination of someone's husband and daughter. Not only that, they hadn't even spared a child. This was simply worse than beasts.
Although everyone hunted geniuses, and assassinating rising stars was a dark, unspoken rule of the continent, no one ever dared to do it openly. Now, for them to be caught openly plotting, and on Spirit Hall's territory no less... to be secretly scheming to kill Qin Xuan, and even running right into Jingni Douluo's hands...
Tsk tsk. Let's see how the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School will get out of this.
This was the unified sentiment of all the other, smaller forces and the lone Spirit Masters present.
As for the Upper Three Sects, who were hostile to Spirit Hall, their expressions were complicated.
On Spirit Hall's side, Yue Guan's effeminate face was twisted in a mask of theatrical fury. The moment Jingni's words fell, he and Gui Mei had already signaled the surrounding Spirit Hall troops, who began to form a tight, menacing circle around the entire Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School delegation.
Yue Guan stepped forward, his voice sharp and stern, "How dare you, Ning Fengzhi! Our Supreme Pontiff sincerely invited your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School to participate in the Sect Competition, yet you intended to harm our Spirit Hall's Second Majesty, as well as the daughter of the Second Majesty and the Second Guardian! What crime should you be charged with?"
"There's no need to invent charges to accuse someone. I, Ning Fengzhi, don't understand what Senior Chrysanthemum Douluo is talking about." Ning Fengzhi, despite the cold sweat on his brow, naturally couldn't admit it. If he did, his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School would truly be finished.
[Inorin's Note: 'Fengzhi' is the given name of 'Ning Fengzhi', the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. Both names are used, just as 'Gu Rong' is used for 'Bone Douluo'.]
The only thing he could do now was to create an appearance of being framed by Spirit Hall. He had to rely on public opinion, on the inherent distrust of Spirit Hall, to make them hesitant.
It must be said that Ning Fengzhi's move was quite effective.
Leaving others aside for now, the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, who originally had no good feelings towards Spirit Hall, all looked at the Spirit Hall contingent with changed eyes.
Besides their apprehension and unconscious fear of Jingni, there was more anger.
Even Yu Yuanzhen, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's Sect Master, who was always at odds with Ning Fengzhi in the original work, was somewhat unable to control his angry emotions. He stood up from his seat and shouted sternly, "Jingni Douluo, your Spirit Hall's actions are simply too overbearing!"
It wasn't that he genuinely wanted to stand up for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. It was just that this scene—Spirit Hall using overwhelming power to suppress a rival—was the perfect opportunity for him to vent his anger over "Spirit Hall framing his Xiao Gang."
Yes. In Yu Yuanzhen's view, his son publishing "Ten Core Competitiveness of Martial Souls" was a frame-up by Spirit Hall.
The purpose was to use this to attack his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, making them the target of public scorn and causing them to lose face.
"I don't care how Spirit Hall acts," Jingni's voice cut through his roar. "But one thing is certain: anyone who dares to harm my husband and my daughter, I will hunt them down to the ends of the earth. If you don't believe me, you can try."
Jingni turned her head. Her beautiful, ice-cold eyes glared at Yu Yuanzhen. She simultaneously released the full, unadulterated pressure of her sword qi and her Slaughter God Domain, covering him from a hundred meters away.
Yu Yuanzhen's gaze changed instantly from its original anger to pure, unadulterated fear.
His face went pale, his pupils gradually dilated. He began trembling slightly, not daring to breathe.
At this moment, Yu Yuanzhen seemed to have forgotten to breathe.
Before him was no longer Jingni, but a fiend that had emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
Invincible. Unchallengeable. Unbeatable. Not on the same level... This was Yu Yuanzhen's inner thought at this moment. For the first time in his life, he was intimidated before the fight even began.
At this time, Xue Ye, the Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, who had not yet ascended to the throne, stepped forward from the imperial delegation. He had a gentle, mediating smile on his face.
"Majesty Jingni, this might all be a misunderstanding. How about we let this matter go, for the sake of my Heaven Dou Empire? Afterward, my Heaven Dou Empire will surely offer a generous reward."
As an ally of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and a supporter of Xue Ye, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's help was indispensable for him to ascend to the throne. He couldn't stand by and watch the School be defeated here.
"What if I say no?" Jingni said.
She didn't even look at him. She simply stepped down harder on Bone Douluo's face.
Crack!
A sickening sound of cracking bone and a muffled scream rang out almost simultaneously. Bone Douluo's left cheekbone and orbital bone were crushed.
"Uncle Bone!" Ning Fengzhi cried out in shock. He was desperate now. He didn't forget to morally kidnap the other sects. "Senior Tang Tian! Senior Yu Yuanzhen! The Upper Three Sects are of the same breath and branch! Are the two Sect Masters just going to stand by and watch my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School be humiliated?"
"Aren't you afraid that today's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School will be tomorrow's Clear Sky Sect, and the day after tomorrow's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?"
Ning Fengzhi didn't call Sword Douluo's name because he knew that Chen Xin was not a coward. If he didn't act, there was definitely a reason for it. The only way now was to involve the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to have even a glimmer of hope.
In addition, no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't figure out how Jingni Douluo knew about his and Bone Douluo's Spirit Power transmission.
Could it be... that her cultivation was already so profound that she could hear their private Spirit Power transmissions?
"This..." On the stage, Yu Yuanzhen and Tang Tian looked at each other, their faces grim.
Ning Fengzhi's words reminded them of the night they first arrived in Spirit City, when Ning Fengzhi had privately sought them out and proposed, 'The Upper Three Sects are of the same breath and branch, jointly resisting Spirit Hall.'
Although they didn't agree, they also didn't refuse.
Spirit Hall was simply too powerful. Not only were there endless strong individuals, but geniuses were also emerging like mushrooms after a rain.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
Just as the two were debating whether to stand up for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, a round of slow, mocking applause attracted everyone's attention.
When they looked back, they saw Qin Xuan had already put the child in his arms and the girl beside him into the Qiankun Bag at his waist, which could store living things. He was walking down from the Elder Hall's viewing platform, his expression one of calm amusement.
"Sect Master Ning truly has good methods. With one mouth, you can turn black into white. An uninformed person would even think your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was truly wronged, and that my Spirit Hall framed you."
"Hmph, justice resides in the hearts of the people," Ning Fengzhi frowned, still stubbornly refusing to admit anything. He firmly believed that as long as he didn't admit it, with so many Spirit Masters from the Spirit Master's world present, Spirit Hall wouldn't dare to do anything to him.
"You're quite confident," Qin Xuan said, his voice light as he stopped a few paces away. "But there's something you seem to have misunderstood."
Ning Fengzhi was stunned. "What?"
Qin Xuan didn't answer again. He slowly raised his right hand.
Immediately, a golden-red light condensed in his palm, forming the golden Changming Sword.
At the same time, a total of seven spirit rings quietly appeared on his body: two yellow, two purple, two black... and one blinding, soul-shaking red. He had, of course, disguised the true colors of his second and fourth spirit rings.
"A 100,000-year 7th ring!" The onlookers, who were still reeling from Jingni's power, erupted in an uproar of pure terror.
The next second, Qin Xuan's figure flickered, instantly disappearing from his original spot.
Almost at the moment of disappearance, he had already arrived directly beside Ning Fengzhi. With a swing of his sword, its tip resting a millimeter from the Sect Master's throat, he whispered:
"When a person's ambition does not match their strength, what awaits them in the end is only destruction."
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