Chapter 1922: Has He Always Been This Brave?
Zu An raised his brows. He gave the forty-five rogue cultivators around him a look before remarking, “This is all you're relying on to defeat me?”
It seems King Dai and the Meng clan really don’t know much about me. No wonder they keep trying to step all over me.
When he saw so many cultivators come to his aid, King Dai immediately felt his confidence soar. He retorted, “Heh, there’s enough of them to drown you with their spit alone! If you want to kowtow to me and admit your mistakes and change sides to follow this king I might be able to forgive your ignorance.”
“Brat, you’re quite arrogant, aren’t you? In my opinion, there’s no need at all to trouble so many people. I alone am enough!” a large, rotund baldy said with a sinister laugh.
The other rogue cultivators were a bit upset when they heard what he said, but they didn’t dare to show it. The fat baldy was quite well known in the world of warriors for being vicious. His cultivation at the peak of the ninth rank was the highest among the group of rogue cultivators. It was rumored that in the past, he had even managed to survive fighting against a master rank. From then on, his reputation had only grown, and he'd stopped treating cultivators on the same level with any respect. After he arrived in King Dai Manor, his fiery temper had often started conflicts with the other followers. There were even instances in which he had stolen the cultivation resources of other people. However, his cultivation was high, so King Dai Manor had turned a blind eye to it all. The other rogue cultivators hadn’t dared to voice their resentment either.
The reason he had stepped out today was precisely because of that. He had sensed that he was about to break into master rank himself. The amount of resources needed to go from the peak of ninth rank to master rank wasn't a cost he could take on by himself. That was why he needed to prove himself in front of King Dai. If he could seize this achievement for himself, in their happiness, King Dai and Madam Dai could very well just give him enough benefits to make the breakthrough. If he became a master rank, his treatment and prospects would be completely different from those of a ninth rank cultivator.
“You alone?” Zu An repeated in surprise. With a casual grabbing motion, a black vortex appeared in his hand.
The fat baldy felt himself being pulled by an irresistible force that instantly dragged him right in front of Zu An. He wanted to resist, but all of his ki surged out of his body uncontrollably. Even the simplest action of raising his blade was now seemingly as hard as scaling the heavens. His entire body was sore as well. He couldn't help but kneel on the ground.
Zu An pressed his hand against the baldy's forehead and used the Heaven Devouring Sutra. All of the man’s cultivation was sucked out in almost the blink of an eye. Zu An checked his own experience bar and saw that it had only grown a tiny bit, though; without looking at it carefully, it almost seemed unchanged. He retracted his hand in disdain. He wiped his hands and looked at the baldy who was lying at his feet like a dead dog, then looked at the other cultivators. He asked with a bit of surprise, “Has he always been this brave?”
He'd thought that this guy had some ridiculously high cultivation. However, it was just a trifling ninth rank! He really wondered where this guy had gotten so much confidence from.
Wherever his gaze passed, all the rogue cultivators couldn't help but take a step back. There was fear in all of their expressions. The sight before them had simply brought them too much of a shock. The most formidable among them, that fat baldy, had been killed in an instant! More importantly, they couldn't even figure out how Zu An had done it. What kind of skill could drag over someone at the peak of the ninth rank?
A hint of alarm appeared on King Dai’s face as well. He took a step back and hid behind his guards, crying out, “Everyone, go at him together! No matter how strong he is, he's just a single person!”
He suddenly remembered that previously in King Jin Manor, even his protector Elder Chen seemed to have been pulled over by the Embroidered Envoy Chief Commander in the same way. The two skills seemed a bit similar. However, he didn’t have time to think about that in detail at all. He was scared that Zu An would pull him over too, so he took a few more steps back. Only when there were layers and layers of guards around him did he feel a bit more at ease.
When he saw that the rogue cultivators didn’t move, King Dai panicked. He said loudly, “If you can kill this brute, all of you will be awarded ten thousand ki stones! Also, the king manor will take care of an entire year of cultivation resources! Whomever works the hardest, the king manor will take care of with ten, no, twenty years of cultivation resources!”
When they heard what he said, the rogue cultivators’ eyes all turned red. After all, the reason why glorious cultivators like them had come all the way to the king manor to become followers and be pushed around was because they had no authority and power themselves. They had no clan background and could only obtain cultivation resources this way. If they could obtain cultivation resources for the next twenty years, they would be completely free! With a sea of resources, they could reach a higher cultivation realm, and they would no longer need to serve as dogs for someone else. Even if they only got a year of cultivation resources and those ten thousand ki stones, that was a tremendous amount of wealth! It was enough for many of them to rise in cultivation rank.
The world never lacked for bold individuals. With the motivation of such exaggerated rewards, there were bound to be some people who couldn't resist the temptation.
“Like hell we’d be scared of him! He'd just one person. If we all attack together, even a master rank would have to die here!”
In this world, a numbers advantage was still quite significant. If an army moved in a formation, they could face even top-tier cultivators. Meanwhile, the cultivation of these rogue cultivators far exceeded that of regular soldiers. The king manor had even taught them some coordinated formations; even though they weren’t as formidable as the great formations in the armies, they were still quite impressive. With so many people working together, their attacks were already enough to blast this person to ashes.
“Don’t give him the chance to attack!”
It was clear that Zu An’s earlier instant kill on the fat baldy had left many of them with a great deal of trauma. As such, all of them tacitly chose to attack with their strongest skills. Even if a few of them remained hesitant, when they saw that, they still gritted their teeth and joined the fray. In that instant, countless rays of light slammed into the man at the very center.
When he saw that, a smile finally appeared on King Dai’s face.
There probably wouldn’t even be ashes left over if you were hit by that many powerful attacks, right?
This Zu An actually came knocking on my door, and so many people saw it. So even if I kill him right here, not even the crown princess should be able to say a thing!
Then, after experiencing such a thing, the Eastern Palace will definitely suffer a huge blow to their prestige.
Together with that Zhao Ruizhi being an idiot, my succession to the throne will practically be guaranteed.
Once I become the emperor, the first thing I’m going to do is take Madam Jin into the harem.
Hm, the crown princess actually isn't bad either. She’s prettier, and considering how she always looks down on me with her haughtiness, subduing her will definitely be really interesting.
Even so, there's an issue of status and identity here…
I’ll force her out of her clan first, and once she's forced to take shelter in the wilderness, I’ll have a chance to obtain her then…
In that instant, all sorts of beautiful scenes appeared in his mind. The corners of his grin practically reached his ears.
Just then, however, several voices cried out in surprise, leaving King Dai stunned. When he looked up, he was completely stupefied, and his smile froze on his face.
Zu An was standing in place, completely unharmed. He hadn’t even raised a hand, and just let those skills do what they wished. Despite that, the multicolored lights containing all sorts of different elements had all stopped a few feet away from his body. It was as if there were an invisible black hole that sucked away everything, causing the light to vanish without a trace.
Those present were all stupefied. All of this really was outside of their realm of understanding. The smarter ones among them couldn't help but start to back up.
Zu An sighed and said, “Cultivation, in its essence, is to defy the heavens. All means of obtaining cultivation resources are understandable. However, some people do their best to carry out a fair exchange, but you all chose to become dogs for another. You’ve already lost your ambition and aspirations, so what dao is there left to cultivate?!”
He had met rogue cultivators before, such as Cash Warrior Ding Run. Even though he was an assassin, he had never become the subordinate of a noble like these people. Rather, he had accepted missions and negotiated on equal terms. His character and ambition had thus remained intact. Many of these people in front of Zu An actually had cultivation ranks that were a bit higher than Ding Run’s; however, they definitely wouldn’t be able to reach as far as he could in the future.
When they heard what he said, many of them had contemplative looks on their faces. However, they quickly realized something and turned to run.
What kind of joke is this? Even if King Dai’s reward is abundant, it’s not worth as much as our lives!
Zu An didn’t actually trouble them. Strictly speaking, he was also a rogue cultivator himself. What need was there to trouble these pitiful people struggling to make a living in this mundane world?
When he saw Zu An approach step by step, King Dai really started to panic, crying out, “Sir Xu, Sir Xu, save me!”
Zu An sensed something. He looked to the left and saw a black-robed person slowly walk out from a room. The light around his body seemed to warp under his aura, becoming hazy and unclear. His cultivation seemed to be at the peak of the master rank. He was an expert at the air mortal soul stage.
“Do not be alarmed, king. Even though this brat seems frightening, I have already seen through him. He is not all that formidable,” the black robed man consoled King Dai.
“Then hurry and kill him already!” King Dai exclaimed; he was practically about to cry. His subordinates had all boasted about how strong they were, and yet when a real fight happened, either they were instantly wiped out, or they ran for their lives! The whole time, he hadn't even seen how Zu An fought. Meanwhile, his own followers had practically all scattered.
This Sir Xu better not follow in their footsteps!
However, when he thought about Sir Xu's background, King Dai gradually calmed down. Strictly speaking, Sir Xu was the manor’s most powerful rogue cultivator. That fat baldy was only the strongest on the surface. After all, Sir Xu had a special identity. In the past, he had committed a tremendous crime in the world of warriors. The court had sent many experts after him before finally bringing him to justice. He had been on the verge of being executed in the imperial prison when King Dai thought of a way to save him. In order to repay his debt of gratitude, have a place to seek asylum, and even obtain the king manor’s cultivation resources, Sir Xu had decided to help them deal with some tricky targets.
When Sir Xu first came to the manor, even King Dai's own guardian Elder Chen had been eager to spar with him. Even so, the competition had ended in a draw. After the fact, Elder Chen had told King Dai and Chan’er that he was far from being Sir Xu’s match. Sir Xu had merely had misgivings toward the fact that he was a guardian the emperor had assigned King Dai and had a special identity, and thus, he had held back. Elder Chen suspected that Sir Xu had only used about fifty percent of his real strength.
King Dai and Madam Dai had been really curious, and secretly asked Sir Xu about that after. Then, he had actually said proudly that he'd only used thirty percent of his strength in the competition. In a real battle of life and death, he could definitely kill Elder Chen within three moves. In an ambush, a single strike would be enough.
At the time, King Dai and Madam Dai had been shocked and overjoyed. They hadn’t expected to have roped in such a powerful expert.
“Please do not fret, my king,” Sir Xu said as he looked at Zu An. “Kid, that move of yours might scare others, but it will do nothing against me. I have been observing all this time and can tell that it is nothing more than an absorption-type technique. That was why you were able to dispatch that fat baldy so quickly, then swallow up those rogue cultivators’ attacks. Even so, unfortunately for you, I also know the same kind of secret method. I believe that your skill is similar to mine and that our skills are of a similar origin.” Sir Xu grinned and continued, “That is where your sorrow will lie. For this kind of skill, the strong devous the weak. Against a stronger skill, the weaker one will not be able to resist in the slightest. That is why before this old one, there is no difference between you and a child. It is to the extent that the threat you pose against me is even less than that of those rogue cultivators.”
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