146 Chapter 145: How troublesome (2/2)

”What? Is that true?!”

They turned to Ling Qing Zhu, who nodded.

While she conversed with her fellow sect disciples and filled them in on what had happened, I breathed a sigh of relief.

”You absorbed the Nascent Soul Heart?!”

There were gasps from the Incendiary Ifrit Sect, and they were staring at their senior in amazement. Ling Qing Zhu winced and nodded.

”But I got careless…if it weren't for Sir Fei Wu, I would have died from the excessive yin qi freezing my body from the inside.”

”I see…” Lei Yong Chun nodded as he glanced around the empty stone hall, and chuckled. ”Indeed, from the looks of it, the Nascent Soul Heart has certainly already been taken.”

”You were all too late,” Ling Qing Zhu replied softly, trying to sound modest. ”And maybe it would be a good thing too, or you would end up like me.”

The elite disciples took note of Ling Qing Zhu's current predicament and nodded in understanding, their expressions grave.

”You almost got burned from playing with fire,” Sui Sha Yu remarked. ”You should have been more patient, my dear.”

”I will take the lesson to heart,” Ling Qing Zhu promised indifferently. ”But for now I'll have to approach Master to ask her for assistance regarding suppressing the rampaging pure yin qi. If Sir Fei Wu did not siphon some of it away, I'm afraid my life would be in great danger.”

”Your life is still in danger,” Lei Yong Chun pointed out as he studied her, his expression serious. ”You ought to hurry.”

”Still, you benefited from it quite a bit,” Jiang Jun Hao added with a smile. ”Your qi has certainly increased.”

Ling Qing Zhu did not deny that, and Jiang Jun Hao smiled. Even though he was putting on a magnanimous appearance, I could detect a trace of bitterness barely concealed beneath his cheerful surface.

”The fact that Miss Ling Qing Zhu was able to obtain the Nascent Soul Heart is evidence that she is extremely competent. Although the Nascent Soul Heart will offer us a chance to potentially attain the Nascent Soul Stage, the three of us do not mind if you have taken it. After all, even without it, our advancement to the Nasecnt Soul Stage is only a matter of time.”

Wow, pretty confident, aren't you?

”Then I'll express my tremendous gratitude to Sir Jiang Jun Hao for your generosity,” Ling Qing Zhu responded graciously. Jiang Jun Hao swallowed as he watched her beautiful face, the desire in his eyes burning brighter than before.

”I guess we can leave now,” I muttered. Tang Qi Hong and the others nodded, and we made to leave, with Zhu Jiao and the White Tiger Sect following closely.

Unfortunately, our troubles were far from over.

”Wait a moment!”

My heart sank when I heard Jiang Jun Hao shout out. I gritted my teeth and spun around irritably, along with Zhu Jiao and the rest.

”Now what?” I couldn't help but snap.

”You've snatched my Heavenly Way Sect's Spirit Treasure Weapon. Do you really think you can just walk away like that?”

”Uh, what?” Zhu Jiao sneered. ”What the hell are you blabbering about? Since when does the Spirit Treasure Weapon in this tomb belong to the Heavenly Way Sect? If that's the case, are you saying everyone has to hand over the treasures they obtained over to your sect?”

”Brat, don't try to argue! I obtained that Spirit Treasure Weapon first, but you launched a sneak attack on me to snatch it away!” Jiang Jun Hao growled.

”We've been through this already,” Bai Ning Xue replied coldly, her eyes as glacial as the Arctic Circle. ”We can testify that you're lying. You're the one who tried to snatch the Spirit Treasure Weapon from him after he obtained it.”

The Heavenly Way Sect faced off against the White Tiger Sect as the two groups clashed, sparks flying between them. It still hadn't erupted into a full-blown fight yet, but the atmosphere was so tense that even a single word would be able to drown the burial chamber in an inferno of conflict.

”If I may…”

Liang Shao Yang cleared his throat. This was the first time he actually spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him curiously.

”There is on way to resolve this peacefully.” He turned to me, his gaze hard and unyielding. ”By my authority as the head disciple of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, I order you to hand over the Spirit Treasure Weapon, apologize to Jiang Jun Hao and the rest, and we'll drop the matter.”

”Since when did you become the head disciple?!” Tang Qi Hong snapped. ”And you have no right to tell Fei Wu what to do!”

”Oh? Are you challenging my authority?”

Liang Shao Yang met Tang Qi Hong's glare evenly, a cold, towering iceberg withstanding the superheated rage of an inferno. For a few tense seconds, it seemed that the conflict might erupt between members of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect instead.

”Um…” Jiang Jun Hao sounded almost embarrassed when he raised his hand, probably because he was the root of the misunderstanding. ”The person who stole my Spirit Treasure Weapon isn't Fei Wu. It's Zhu Jiao.”

The astonished expression on Liang Shao Yang was so hilarious that I actually burst out laughing. Zhu Jiao joined in, and then everyone else as well. Zi Xiao Ji dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach, while Tong Xue was literally rolling on the ground as he howled in laughter. The hysterics spread over to the other sects, and other than the embarrassed Liang Shao Yang, the sheepish-looking Heavenly Way Sect and the dignified Ling Qing Zhu, everyone was roaring with laughter. Even Lei Yong Chun cracked a smile and chuckled uncontrollably. Beside him, Hu Mei Er guiltily covered her face as she turned around and giggled.

”By the way,” Zhu Jiao told Liang Shao Yang. ”I'm not from your sect, so you don't have the authority to order me to do anything, if that's what you're planning.”

Liang Shao Yang's face stiffened. ”I never intended to do that.”

”Besides,” Zi Xiao Ji added. ”If you really are the head disciple, what are you doing, siding with outsiders over people from your own sect? Aren't you being a disgrace to our sect?”

”I was just trying to be fair and impartial,” Liang Shao Yang muttered, but he ended up digging a deeper grave for himself.

”Fair and impartial? Even though my sect and I, and many others have provided testimony to the contrary?” Bai Ning Xue had turned her icy glare on Liang Shao Yang now, and the latter shrank back. ”Are you questioning our integrity?”

”I dare not offend Miss Bai Ning Xue and the White Tiger Sect,” Liang Shao Yang hastily replied. ”I apologize if I have. I clearly have not thought things through before I spoke.”

That sly bastard…even if he was a scheming antagonist who tried to plot my downfall, he had quite the glib tongue and was tactful enough to worm his way out of the mess he sank himself into. The guy was quick-witted, I had to give him that.

At least the guy didn't do something as cliché as try to oppress us with his overwhelming qi aura or something. It was one hell of a contrived way to create antagonists and enemies…that said, Liang Shao Yang was already an antagonist, so whatever.

”Well, if there's nothing then, we will leave first.”

Shooting a look of scorn at the Heavenly Way Sect, Zhu Jiao then turned to leave. The White Tiger Sect made sure to stand between him and them until he was out of the exit, and then they followed him out as well.

”Since there's nothing left in the burial chamber, we might as well go too,” Zi Xiao Ji suggested. Tang Qi Hong nodded.

”That makes sense.”

The Nine-Tailed Fox sect took their leave as well, with Liang Shao Yang and Hu Mei Er lingering behind to do their own thing…I doubted they were shameless enough to collude with the other sects behind the backs of their fellow sect disciples.

But you would never know.

”Hey, bro!” Tong Xue threw an arm around my shoulders as we walked out of the burial chamber and into the empty space where the illusionary Sea of Fire used to be. ”Sorry for coming late, but I'm a little behind. What's going on? What Spirit Treasure Weapon did Zhu Jiao obtain, to make that Jiang Jun Hao bastard so salty?”

”The Heavenly Golden Draconic Gauntlets,” I replied. Tong Xue's eyes widened when he heard that.

”What?! No wonder that Jiang Jun Hao idiot was so desperate, to the point where he was making up lies and contriving any excuse to attack Zhu Jiao and snatch it away from him. Amazing…to think Jiao got his hands on that…”

”What about you guys?” I asked. ”Why were you so late? When Zhu Jiao and I arrived, I couldn't find you anywhere.”

”Oh, we had things to do before we came here,' Zi Xiao Ji replied. Da Ge nodded genially and continued for her.

”We had a mission before this, so we went and accomplish that before we came. It was sort of related, anyway…since the rewards were exploration gear.”

”They turned out to be pretty useful, especially when it came to analyzing Spirit Engravings and spirit formations,” Zhao Shi added.

I nodded in understanding. To see the Spirit Engravings and mystical patterns of the spirit formations, I had relied on my glasses to spot and analyze the patterns, and even record them like I did for the Nine Thousand Yin Ice Hell Formation. Otherwise I would never have been able to replicate a miniature version to use against Ling Qing Zhu.

”I hope we aren't too late, though,” Lian Rou said worriedly. ”By the time we arrived, most of the vaults have been emptied out and the treasures taken.”

”I'm sure we'll find more treasures lying around,” Tong Xue assured her. ”The ancient tomb is pretty big, after all. I doubt the whole thing has been explored within such a short time.”

”Yeah! Don't give up hope!” Tang Qi Hong punched the air. Then she turned toward me. ”Who was that beautiful girl back then? She seems familiar, but I don't think I have ever met her before.”

There was a wariness in her voice that I wasn't comfortable with, so I moved quickly to placate her. ”She's Ling Qing Zhu, from the Incendiary Ifrit Sect. It was as you heard. She recklessly absorbed the Nascent Soul Heart and was almost overwhelmed by the pure yin qi. I had to freeze her and absorb some of the qi to prevent her from dying.”

”That's all you did?”

”That's all,” I confirmed. Tang Qi Hong stared at me suspiciously for a moment, and then she nodded, as if to say she trusted me.

”Hmph, don't worry. Most people call Fei Wu a beta male or a pussy. He doesn't have the guts to **** a girl or have sex with her even if she throws herself at him.”

Tong Xue chuckled, evidently having read the comments of readers, particularly self-styled alpha males who only thought with their lower halves instead of using their brains and considering the moral and emotional consequences of such perverse actions.

”That's not what I'm worried about!” Tang Qi Hong snapped. Then she hesitated and reached out with a hand.

I stared at her hand for a few seconds, not comprehending.

”Your glasses!” Tang Qi Hong hissed impatiently. ”They're broken! And you've done quite a messy job of repairing them. Hand them over. I'll fix them for you.”

”Oh.” Sighing in relief, I took my glasses off and passed them to Tang Qi Hong, who, true to her reputation as a prodigy in smithing and Spirit Engraving, began repairing my broken glasses skillfully while walking at the same time.

Man, she really was amazing, wasn't she? That's why I refuse to betray her.