Chapter 404: I’m A Hostage!
Although the words uttered by Li Yuansheng were spoken in a moment of panic, they were clearly a powerful threat. As far as he was concerned, most cultivators who managed to make it into the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect would view being driven out of it as a fate worse than death.
The Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect was the riversource sect in the eastern Heavenspan River. Anyone expelled from a sect like that would not be welcome in any other sect in the eastern cultivation world, be that in the Lower Reaches or the Middle Reaches. Any such person would have no choice but to become a rogue cultivator.
In the Heavenspan Realm, rogue cultivators occupied an extremely low position. They were not allowed to practiced cultivation close to the Heavenspan River itself, and if they were caught secretly attempting to do so, they would immediately be driven away by the sects that controlled those areas.
Rogue cultivators who managed to reach the Nascent Soul stage had it a bit better off, but anyone beneath that level lived a very bitter existence.
And thus, Li Yuansheng did not hesitate to resort to such a threat. After all, according to the rules of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, the fact that Boss Azure Dragon was a disciple of the sect meant that if Li Yuansheng wanted to see him dead, it would be either very, very difficult, or outright impossible. However, considering his position in the clan, having him expelled would be very easy.
Then, once he was on the outside, and no longer had the protection of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, killing him could be accomplished with little more than a thought!
Although he didn’t actually know who Bai Xiaochun had backing him, he didn’t seem to care, nor did he care that this area was personal property. After all, on Sky Quarter Rainbow, any one of the hallmasters of the Ten Halls had the right to bestow personal property in Sky City. Although many in Sky City itself viewed personal property as something completely mindboggling, Li Yuansheng didn’t think very much of it at all, considering that he came from a deva clan.
As soon as the words left Li Yuansheng’s mouth, a tremor ran through Bai Xiaochun, and his eyes widened. Without any hesitation, he pulled his hand back, and at the same time, caused the countless shards of ice stabbing toward Li Yuansheng to vanish.
“What did you just say!?” he said, sounding somewhat nervous as he looked at Li Yuansheng.
This response caused all of the surrounding silkpants to stare in shock, as well as all of the other surrounding cultivators. Considering how shocked they had all been because of the fight which had just been playing out, this sudden reversal left them completely taken aback.
The abrupt change in Bai Xiaochun’s actions seemed completely incomprehensible. Moments ago, he had been bursting with seemingly unstoppable momentum, but then, a mere threat uttered by Li Yuansheng seemed to make him weak in the knees.
Even Li Yuansheng was surprised, and in fact, his heart was still pounding in fear. He had uttered that threat in the heat of the moment, fearing he had no other options. Unexpectedly, it seemed to have worked, and as such, delight rose up in his heart, and the fierceness is his eyes grew more intense.
“Hmph. So, now you know what it means to be afraid, do you? Well it’s too late. I don’t care who you have backing you, in three days or less, you will no longer be a member of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect, and will have no choice other than to get the hell off this land!” Li Yuansheng clasped his hands behind his back, sending his words echoing out and his energy surging. Overall, he seemed very mighty and impressive.
He could well imagine how, within a single breath of time, this Boss Azure Dragon would be stricken by profound panic. Either he would explode into a rage, or he would bitterly bow his head in acquiescence. Li Yuansheng very much wanted to know which of those two reactions he would see.
“That’s the difference between our statuses in the sect,” he thought. “Hmph! Let’s see whether or not this guy has what it takes to submit to fate.” As a cold, sinister smile spread out on Li Yuansheng’s face, the surrounding silkpants exchanged glances. The turn of events had been quite sudden, and it didn’t seem quite right that the vicious person from moments ago had suddenly become so nervous.
What happened next went beyond the powers of imagination or prediction of Li Yuansheng or anyone else present. As soon as Bai Xiaochun heard Li Yuansheng’s words, his face lit up with excitement, and even joy.
“Are you serious? Hahaha! Great! Wonderful! You’re Brother Li, right? Wow, I can’t believe I just offended you the way I did. Well, it wasn’t on purpose. Why didn’t you say earlier that you could get me out of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect within three days!? If you had spoken up in the beginning, I would never have moved a muscle against you and your friends!” At this point, though, he still seemed concerned about the situation. Seemingly hesitant, he continued, “Brother Li, let me just make sure I understood you correctly. We need to make things very clear. You said that you would get me out of the sect within three days, right?”
The silkpants in the area were completely flummoxed, and Li Yuansheng didn’t seem to know what to make of the situation. The people in the audience were exchanging awkward glances, completely unsure of what was going on, and unable to comprehend why Bai Xiaochun seemed so excited.
“You….” Li Yuansheng suddenly felt lost, and began to wonder if he and this Boss Azure Dragon were even talking about the same thing. Finally, he couldn’t hold back from saying, “Did you hear what I just said? I told you that in three days or less, I would have you kicked the hell out of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect! Kicked out, you hear? That means you won’t be a disciple here anymore! Driven away! Expelled!”
Bai Xiaochun nodded eagerly, and seemed to be in higher spirits than ever. “Yeah, as long as you’re sure you can pull it off, Brother Li. Wow, you truly are my greatest benefactor!”
With that, he turned toward Xu Baocai and the other Dao protectors.
“Xu Baocai!” he shouted. “Eldest Brother. Master Snortsnort! Hurry up and express your thanks to Fellow Daoist Li! He can get me out of the Starry Sky Dao Polarity Sect! I don’t have to be a hostage here anymore. We can all go home!”
Master God-Diviner, Xu Baocai, and Big Fatty Zhang all looked up sympathetically at Li Yuansheng.
As for Li Yuansheng, the blank look on his face changed as soon as he heard the word ‘hostage’. His eyes went as wide as if he had just seen a ghost. Pointing at Bai Xiaochun with a trembling finger, he said, “You’re a hostage?!”
“Yeah!” Bai Xiaochun said loudly, swishing his sleeve. “I’m an important political hostage!”
Most other hostages would be very embarrassed or even angry to have their status revealed publicly, and as a result, they usually ran around with their tails between their legs. Bai Xiaochun, on the other hand, loudly announced it in grandiose fashion.
Most of the time, he felt quite depressed when he thought about the fact that he was a hostage. But at the moment, the look on Li Yuansheng’s face left him feeling wonderful, and in fact, he couldn’t help but muse that being a hostage wasn’t that bad after all….
When the crowd heard Bai Xiaochun’s words, they immediately erupted into chaos. The boss of the Celestial Sky Society looked like he had been struck by lightning, and his jaw was hanging open.
At long last he realized why he had never been able to dig up any information about the background of Boss Azure Dragon….
“Dammit! I can’t believe he’s a hostage! And even more unbelievable is how brazen he is! Hostages are supposed to go around filled with grief and indignation!!” The tears that filled the Celestial Sky Society’s boss were enough to form a new Heavenspan River….
“Y-you… you….” Li Yuansheng’s mind was reeling so hard he couldn’t even talk. He had the power to drive out any ordinary disciple, no matter what their background was. However, even if he were more powerful than he was, there was no way he could do anything to a hostage, who was an important connection between two sects. Not even Nascent Soul cultivators could do such a thing. Only a Deva Realm expert would have the authority to weigh in on the matter, and the clan deva would definitely not do so for such a trivial matter.
Clearly, his threat from moments ago had been nothing more than lunacy, and to have it thrown back at him in this way made it feel like had just been slapped across the face. Not only did rage build up in his heart, but his face flushed bright red, and he then coughed up a mouthful of blood. Howling with rage, he spun and shot back toward the rainbow district, not pausing for even a moment along the way.
Waving his hand, Bai Xiaochun called, “Ai, what are you leaving for!? Hey, Brother Li! Don’t go! You promised to get me out of the sect within three days!”
When his words reached Li Yuansheng’s ears, Li Yuansheng coughed up another mouthful of blood and then howled, “Intolerable bully!!”
At the same time, he pushed forward with greater speed than before.
He wasn’t the only one. The remaining silkpants in the area looked over at Bai Xiaochun with fear and awe at his incisive methods. Bowing their heads, they quickly fled, the more able ones supporting the injured ones on their shoulders.
Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat as they made their way off. Then, he flicked his sleeve proudly and sighed in disappointment.
“I really hate it when people pretend to be threatening and awesome, only to turn out to be fakers. If you can’t get me out of the sect, don’t pretend you can! There’s nothing funny about practical jokes!” Sighing, he looked down at the tavern, and his Dao protectors, who didn’t seem to know whether to laugh or cry. Finally, he headed back into his room to continue his cultivation.
Before long, word about Bai Xiaochun being a hostage began to spread through Sky City. It was a momentous development, and cleared up a lot of suspicions people had harbored. Soon, word even spread to the other three cities in the sect, leaving everyone there completely astonished.
That was especially true of the hostages in the cities belonging to the Starry River Court, Polarity River Court, and Dao River Court. All of them were left completely flabbergasted.
“I never realized you could be so domineering as a hostage….”
“I really need to go pay a visit to this Bai Xiaochun!”
Virtually all of them decided to go meet Bai Xiaochun and chat about their experiences as hostages, and perhaps get some advice about how to improve their situation in the sect.
As for the Celestial Sky Society, their repeated setbacks left them with no other choice than to bow their heads. They knew that there was nothing they could do to fight Bai Xiaochun directly. After more meetings, the Celestial Sky Society boss finally gritted his teeth and said, “Since we can’t provoke him, let’s just get him out of Sky City!!”