234 Chapter 234 (1/2)

He eyed the golden-haired girl with a side glance. She looked rather young and was looking at him as if he was some kind of alien. It would have been good if she followed his lead and acted like his family member in this situation. She didn't look like the scheming type though and probably didn't realize that he was trying to help her. That or she didn't trust him enough to go along with it.

Her grandfather on the other hand had been freed from the massive pressure as Zhang Dong had aided him with his own aura. He was also now looking in his direction with brows furrowed. He looked confused but luckily he had more sense than his granddaughter and went for it.

”Y-yes…, you should pay respect to your senior uncle!”

Fang Heng was now grasping at straws. He had no idea what this man called Zhang Dong was thinking. He had heard about his fight but knew nothing more than that. By the way, he was holding back the Yggdrasil Sect's Patriarch and his ally at bay it looked like he was a strong master.

He was claiming to be a family member of theirs from his granddaughter's side. If this was true or some kind of ploy he had no idea. At this juncture, he was willing to gamble his life. His favorite grandchild had almost died and he couldn't even lift a finger. It was this man that had saved her, maybe he was just interested in her for a different reason but he had to risk it. Otherwise, she would be dead for sure, he had to somehow help him.

Fang Meili looked at the handsome white-haired man that was looking to the side. He was currently in a spiritual battle with the two other Patriarchs. He still managed to look to the side and smile slightly.

Before the girl could act though she felt some of that nascent soul energy leaking out. Her whole body trembled from fright and she fell down to her knees while panting. She felt as if someone was holding her throat tightly and squeezing with all might.

”This is absurd! Why should we even let you go on with this farce, you've broken the rules!”

”That man never showed any respect for others, he needs to be taught a lesson!”

Zhan Jie from the Limitless Sword Society stepped forward. While his ally backed him up, it didn't look like this would be ending without a fight.

That is if he didn't use one of his techniques. His Embodiment of the Thunder God technique had been upgraded and he could now use it even better. He took one step forward and a golden hue surrounded his body.

The other cultivators in the area could feel powerful fluctuations of Qi in the surroundings. Zhang Dong's lightning elemental Qi was of the utmost purity and everyone here could sense that.

The two people that were going against him felt their auras getting shoved back as their opponent walked forward. His energy had the telltale signs of someone at the middle stage but his power was even above theirs.

”Respect has to be earned! You forced my niece to take part in the competition, do you really think I didn't see that? She was never included in the roster, do you think I wouldn't notice?”

He had seen some people pushing the blond girl around and forcing her into the labyrinth. During that time he had luckily eavesdropped on them with one of his techniques. He noticed them talk it out with the judges standing guard, they were clearly bribed.

There was a rule in place to register the contestants a day before the competition. The sects that came first could even do it two days sooner. Zhang Dong knew that the people from the Divine Fist Sect did no such thing. They were clearly forced to participate and everyone here knew it. They all kept quiet as it wasn't their business and they had nothing to gain from alienating the Yggdrasil Sect's Patriarch.

The two sides began glaring at each other. Fang Heng even made his way over behind Zhang Dong and grabbed his granddaughter. The girl was clearly not powerful enough to take part in this and was barely conscious at this time. She was lucky enough that Zhang Dong had protected her from most of the aura that was seeping out.

”Stop lying, how could that girl be related to you. You are clearly just trying to slander our good names, what gall! Who do you think even allowed your sect to exist for so long? Did you finally lose it? Are you rebelling against the Limitless Sword Society!?”

Zhan Jie retorted while sweating. He could feel that this white-haired man was a lot stronger than he previously had thought. He had the other Patriarch next to him so he had some help, otherwise, he would feel as confident. He wasn't yet out of his reach, in the sword master's mind he felt like he could win a one on one fight even though it would be a hard-fought battle.

”Rebelling?”

Zhang Dong started feeling apprehensive about this. He didn't quite want to start a fight with this sect or the other two. It was slowly becoming apparent that he might not have another choice.

”I and my sect have never and never will belong to you, how can we rebel? Do you think that little sum that we pay you gives you the right to our lands? Fine, from this day forth the United Element sect will cut ties with the Limitless Sword Society!”

Some of the people gasped, they didn't know what this was going but they all felt threatened. Even though this was the Yinglong Pavilion if a fight between two top fighters broke out there could be some casualties.

”Y-you…”

Zhan Jie's face contorted and he looked like a demon. The man was clearly angered to the fullest extent. Before he could act though another powerful aura filled the area. This aura came crashing down and just evaporated the spiritual energy that these three nascent soul masters were giving out.

”That's more than enough of you three. There will be no fighting here…”

The man that spoke out was the leader of the merchant faction. He had remained silent and watched on from the sidelines. He had no stakes in either side but he couldn't let these people just do anything they wanted. This was his city and there were rules that he made.

”If you two wish to continue then you can clash in the arena, not here.”

Zhang Dong and the two other elders started backing off and quieted down. Both parties were actually glad that the leader from the Yinglong Pavilion intervened as none of them were actually willing to fight.

”If what the Patriarch from the United Element sect says is true then I'll be lenient, first we must check if his claims are true.”