Ren II’s face was stiff with shock because he had never expected Zhou Bao to be so straightforward. However, as the master of the School of Five Virtues and the Eldest Master of Mingyi School, he would naturally not fall out with Zhou Bao simply because of his words. And soon enough, his stiff face returned to normal.
“Your Royal Highness has misunderstood us. I’m not in charge of the secular slaughters. It’s just that Your Royal Highness’ action has already caused a great impact on the world’s stability. Both, the matter about the prescriptions of the elixirs and the matter about Mountain City of the Qin Family, show that you are no longer suitable for interfering in worldly affairs!”
“Haha, interesting. As far as I know, only those who have become listed immortals will be restricted. And I’m just at Level Nine expert—nothing more. Isn’t Your Excellency overstepping the boundaries?”
“It’s because you’re a Level Nine expert and not an Individual Immortal that we several big sects came here together!” Ren II smiled again. His smile gave others a pleasant feeling as if they were bathing in the spring wind. He added, “Having it talked through, we’re here to show you the attitude of our sects. It’ll be nice if you can step into the Mysterious Realm a little earlier. But if it’s not possible, everything will be all right as long as you promise us you will not meddle in the worldly affairs!”
“So, why don’t you just say it a little bit earlier? Why bother pretending to be mysterious? I thought that you really came here to visit me!” Zhou Bao’s eyes emanated some strange light. “Since the emissaries of all sects are here, I guess you should be the one representing your sect, right?” Zhou Bao’s gaze swept across all these people and finally fixated on White Tiger. “White Tiger, you should be the one representing the Immortal Palace, right?”
“Of course!” White Tiger nodded at Zhou Bao and added, “However, I have nothing to do with you today. I’m just here with some others to bear witness!”
“To bear witness? Does that mean you will not voice your opinions?”
“Of course we won’t. Do you think we are that stupid?” White Tiger laughed coldly and glanced at Ren II, saying, “Therefore, this matter mainly involves you, Ren II, in addition to the School of Five Virtues, and the Divine Wind Palace. You don’t have to care about us!”
White Tiger’s words made Ren II’s eyes surge with Evil Qi. But they instantly returned to normal, and he said, “Brother White Tiger, you’ve really gone too far. We, the five biggest sects, have already negotiated this matter with each other earlier, so it does not just involve my sect!”
White Tiger just ignored him. He turned his head and looked like a rascal, which left Ren II in a desire to kick his ass.
“All right you two. Stop provoking an internal strife. Since you don’t want me to meddle in the worldly affairs, you must show me some sincerity. Even if I show you some respect and agree with your suggestion, once this matter is revealed, other people may say that the five biggest sects openly violated the Law of Heaven and pushed me into doing so. In that case, everyone will feel imperiled. That’s definitely not what you want!”
“Pff… !” Upon hearing that, White Tiger could not help laughing. He pointed at Zhou Bao and nodded repeatedly, saying, “You’re right. You’ve got a good point. The five biggest sects are quite reasonable, especially the Divine Wind Palace. It has deep pockets and will meet all your requirements if you have any. There’s nothing that the Divine Wind Palace can’t do in this world!”
“Brother White Tiger, this matter does not just involve the Divine Wind Palace. Don’t forget that King Wuyang is in the Central Mainland Region. Even if he turns the Central Mainland Region upside down, it has little to do with the Divine Wind Palace!”
“Mr. Ren II, your words mean more than you say!” White Tiger tilted his head and glanced at Ren II, saying, “Do you mean that we shall make the stake clear to everyone here?”
“White Tiger, don’t go too far!”
“I haven’t. But your Divine Wind Palace has gone too far!” Not yielding an inch, White Tiger retorted and smiled coldly. However, Zhou Bao, who was supposed to be the main character, sat on a chair while drinking tea and watched the drama.
“We’ll talk about it later!” Ren II took a deep look at White Tiger and then turned to the coldly smiling Zhou Bao as he said awkwardly, “What King Wuyang said just now makes sense. We, the five biggest sects, are by no means unreasonable. We would never let you suffer any losses!”
“Oh, is that so? I’d be interested in hearing how you would like to compensate me!”
“If you promise us you’ll never meddle in worldly affairs, we eight well-known families will acknowledge the Zhou Family in the Northwest of Jin to be the ninth well-known family. Your family will be on par with ours, and this title will be handed down from generation to generation!” Before Ren II could reply, a voice came from the chair beside Zhou Bao.
“Hahahaha… !” Zhou Bao burst out roars of laughter, lasting about the time taken to drink half a cup of tea.
“The ninth well-known family in this world? What a joke! I can crush your Wang Family into dust with a single foot! So why is your Wang Family on par with mine?!” Zhou Bao pointed at the guy who was speaking just now and asked him with a harsh voice, “Now that I have the Anyuan Store in addition to the Bone-Forging Pill’s and the Pulse-Setting Pill’s prescriptions in possession, I can train a lot of experts whose power will not be inferior to that of your family members at any time if I want to. With myself being included, why is your family qualified to be on par with mine?”
“This…!” Just like Yan Yucheng, the emissary of the Wang Family flushed due to Zhou Bao’s reproaches. He pointed at Zhou Bao but could not say a word.
Without looking at him even once, Zhou Bao turned his head to Ren II and said, “I don’t think it’s a good condition. It’s not sincere enough!”
“So, what does Your Royal Highness think is sincere enough?”
“It’s pretty simple. I guess you know that I recently left the Wuyang Region and then it was attacked by Kunlun Mountain and Palace of Destruction Demon. At that time, something bad nearly happened to my family. Since I’m alone, I cannot attend to so many things. Therefore, I need the five biggest sects to promise me that you can ensure my family’s safety no matter when, where, and why!”
“This… !” Zhou Bao’s condition was too rich in content. It sounded simple, but once you thought about it carefully, you may find that the five biggest sects were almost like free bodyguards to Zhou Bao’s family if they agreed to this condition. Furthermore, the word “family” covered a wide perspective. They could be his parents, his wife, and even his descendants. To put it simply, whoever was related to Zhou Bao by blood would be his family. If they would really agree with him on this matter, then there would certainly be too much trouble in the future.
At the thought of this, Ren II looked somewhat embarrassed. He said, “Your Royal Highness, I know you’re worried about your family. But there’s no such limit in the Law of Heaven, which is used to prevent any Individual Immortal and even Genuine Immortal from interfering in the worldly affairs because of one’s family. Once one’s family is threatened, even if one has become an Individual Immortal, no one will stop it. Instead, they would even help in it!”
“The problem is that I’m not an Individual Immortal!” Zhou Bao waved his hand and continued, “Well, I know it’s hard for you because I haven’t voiced it specifically. I’ll set a time limit of 100 years. From the next 100 years, you shall take care of my family and spare me any future worries. If you agree on this condition, I will not meddle in the worldly affairs. How about it?”
“I have no problems with that!” White Tiger was the first one to take his stand. He added, “In the end, both you and the Immortal Palace’s base are at the Central Mainland Region. If you make a mess in the Central Mainland Region, it’s also the trouble of the Immortal Palace and the other three families. Therefore, I agree with that. How about other people?”
“Agreed!” Yukun Buddha, who was from Snow Mountain Great Wheel Temple, thought for a while and nodded his head in agreement, saying, “I have no objection to this proposal!”
The emissaries of the Dragon Thunder Palace and Jade Pool nodded their heads in agreement successively. For them, to secure the Zhou’s from dangers for 100 years was just a piece of cake. Their hard work would be worthwhile if Zhou Bao no longer caused any trouble for them. Moreover, if they thought about it carefully, they would find that it was nothing. Given Zhou Bao’s prestige, and coupled with the power of the Wuyang Region, no one would be that stupid to cause trouble for the Zhou Family directly. As for the little troubles behind the scenes, the five biggest sects would certainly handle them. Even if there were some people who didn’t take orders from the five biggest sects and would like to threaten the Zhou Family, judging by the information channel and influence of the five biggest sects, their tricks would be easily discovered before they could even take action. So it was very easy to nip their actions in the bud. Furthermore, time was fleeting and 100 years would pass in a flash. Otherwise, if they failed to reach an agreement on this matter, the “shit-stirrer” Zhou Bao would definitely keep being a Level Nine expert for more than 100 years because that was quite simple for him. In that case, they would suffer great losses by then.
“How about you, Mr. Ren II?” Zhou Bao turned his head and asked. It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the other four sects’ attitudes.
“Since everyone has no objection, surely, I have no objection as well!” said Ren II. Of course, he would not object to it at this moment. “But should we have a nice chat with you about the details?”
“That’s for sure!” Zhou Bao continued, “We’d better make everything clear!”
Wearing a satisfied smile, the emissaries of the five biggest sects and eight well-known families left there six hours later. However, Yan Yucheng left grim-faced. Obviously, he was still furious about being humiliated by Zhou Bao in public.
“Your Royal Highness, for what reason did they come here?”
In the entire Wuyang Region, only Zhou Bao knew what the five biggest sects and the eight well-known families came here for. It was because he had driven all his subordinates away before they started to conduct the conversation.
After those people left, Jiang Xiao and the others discovered that Zhou Bao did not look well, so they asked Zhou Bao the question cautiously.
“For what?! For pushing me to make a decision!” Zhou Bao waved his sleeves angrily and continued, “They came here for pushing me into staying out of worldly affairs. In other words, you guys can’t come to me for anything in the future!”
“Eh? Why? Your Excellency, how about us…!”
“You guys can rest assured. I’ve made a deal with them. Do everything the same as you did before. It’s no big deal. I’ve suffered a big loss this time, but I shall regain it in the end. Humph, no one can easily profit at my expense!” Zhou Bao’s tone got grimmer and grimmer.