Chapter 707: The Tragedy Caused by a Single Sword
Elder Hao’s sudden command caused Gong Wuji to arch an eyebrow. He said with an obviously displeased tone, “What do you want now, Elder Hao?”
Elder Hao ignored Gong Wuji completely. He stared closely at the sword Gong Wuji was holding, “Holy King Gong, did you say that this sword is yours?”
Gong Wuji’s patience had already reached its limit. Elder Hao’s impolite question only added fuel to his rage. “What the hell does it have to do with you?!”
He didn’t expect Elder Hao’s anger to be worse than his, “So you mean this sword is really yours?!”
Gong Wuji was so furious that he had started to smile, “What, is it yours then? Is your name on the sword or something?”
Elder Hao stared closely at Gong Wuji, “So, you’re saying that you really are the one who left this sword in the Great Scarlet Mid Region?”
“So. What. If. I. Was?” Gong Wuji still thought that Elder Hao was purposely picking a quarrel with him. “You’re not going to say that this sword is yours, are you? If I remember correctly, you don’t even use a sword, Hao!”
Elder Hao nodded with an extremely ugly look on his face. He said, “Good, very good! So you admit that this is your sword. How very good of you to take responsibility of your actions! Dare you to tell me where you got this sword?!”
Gong Wuji had lived as a tyrant all his life. He had always been the interrogator, never the recipient. Therefore, his anger soared when he heard this tone, “Where, you say? Do I have to report to you where I’ve gotten this sword? Let’s just say I killed someone and took his property. What are you going to do about it!?”
The moment he said that, a look of enlightenment immediately sprung to Elder Hao’s face. It was quickly overwhelmed by a look of terrible grief and indignation. He abruptly unsheathed a cruel looking warblade with both hands and cried out, “Heed my order, disciples of the Ninesuns Sky Sect! Gong Wuji is the murderer of our Ninesuns Sky Sect true disciple, Cao Jin! The Eternal Celestial Capital is now the Ninesuns Sky Sect’s sworn enemy!”
Even before his words had the chance to ring through the air, Elder Hao slashed fiercely at Gong Wuji.
The momentum behind his blade and the aura of a powerful emperor realm cultivator immediately enveloped everyone within a thousand meters around him. All of them were instantly shoved several hundred meters away from Elder Hao.
Gong Wuji himself hadn’t expected that Elder Hao would start a fight just like that. Rage clouded his mind as he swung his own weapon, a golden short axe, with both hands. A sharp blade beam with a rainbow like tail met his axe’s fierce upswing.
Two middle level emperor realm cultivators had actually thrown aside any pretense of talk and started a fight in the most crowded area of Tai-ah City! Naturally, the disciples of both sects were triggered when they saw their best experts clashing against each other. They all joined the fray with a roar.
For a while, the cries of battle shook even heaven itself.
The two great sects hadn’t seen eye to eye to begin with. The Eternal Celestial Capital felt that the Ninesuns Sky Sect was undermining them on purpose, and the Ninesuns Sky Sect was naturally filled with hatred towards the Eternal Celestial Capital when they heard that Gong Wuji had killed Cao Jin. They were all from first rank sects, so no one was inclined to try and bow to the other. The battle spun out of control the second it began. Even some wandering cultivators who were standing a little too close were dragged into it.
The battle became crazier the moment blood was shed. Cultivators fell left and right as the fighting grew madder. As their fellow disciples fell, the eyes of the survivors only grew more bloodshot. They fought ever more recklessly as the situation started to take on the uncontrolled atmosphere of a true battlefield.
The wandering cultivators had taken shelter far, far away, but they weren’t willing to leave just like this. A battle between sects was something they would normally never have the chance to witness. Now that they finally had the chance, they weren’t going to give it up just because they hadn’t the slightest clue what was going on. In fact, they even hoped that the battle could grow even more intense.
After all, the wandering cultivators had always held a kind of enmity towards sect disciples. This enmity was born out of envy, even jealousy. They had always been incomparable to sect disciples in every way. The sects laid claim to most of the resources for themselves, standing right at the top of the status quo. They could order the wandering cultivators around however they liked. The power imbalance that was brought about by the monopolization of resources and training caused no small amount of resentment to build within the wandering cultivators. As a result, it was only natural for them to find joy in the fierce battle between the sects. They were extremely happy to see sects tearing each other apart. They would only hope that things would become more desperate and bloodier.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chen had changed back to his original clothing and was calmly watching the battle unfold as part of the rapt audience. He only felt boundless elation as Eternal Celestial Capital and the Ninesuns Sky Sect disciples fell one after another. More and more people started to join the fray. Although the Eternal Celestial Capital had the advantage of numbers, it was obvious that the Ninesuns Sky Sect had sent out their elites this time. No matter how desperate the battle got, the deadlock continued.
Jiang Chen cast Huang’er a glance. The duo didn’t tarry any longer and made their way to the city gates.
Many cautious wandering cultivators were also heading towards the city gates. It was obvious that these people had realized that Tai-ah City was so chaotic right now that it was better to leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before wandering cultivators like them were dragged into the mess. There was no way these two great first rank sects had erupted into battle over something as simple as a sword. Something bigger lay underneath all this. Therefore, the wise ones weren’t willing to be turned into cannon fodder for a cause they didn’t even know about.
Tai-ah City was hosting at least two hundred thousand wandering cultivators, and at least a couple of thousand of them were heading towards the city gates. While there were plenty of Eternal Celestial Capital disciples guarding the gates, they had dispatched their elites to join the battle against the Ninesuns Sky Sect. The remaining disciples were obviously incapable of stopping several thousands of cultivators on their own.
While Tai-ah City’s forces had provided the Eternal Celestial Capital the leeway to go about their business, the city weren’t willing to deal with these wandering cultivators itself. This was the city’s territory after all. If they offended these wandering cultivators too much, Tai-ah City would be the one to suffer when they exacted their revenge. Therefore, Tai-ah City officials turned a blind eye and allowed the wandering cultivators to dash outside.
It didn’t take long before the Eternal Celestial Capital’s blockade was swept away. Several thousand wandering cultivators broke through the gates in an instant. Jiang Chen and Huang’er were easily able to dash away from the city as well, hiding amidst the crowd.
Ling Su had also seized the opportunity to exit the city with Ling Hui’er. Jiang Chen didn’t meet up with them. He simply bid them goodbye with his consciousness and made a promise to meet up at Veluriyam Capital. Their journey was already ripe with danger. Jiang Chen knew very well that he would only be putting the Ling duo in danger if they were to follow him.
After they had left Tai-ah City, Jiang Chen mentally revisited the battle between the Eternal Celestial Capital and the Ninesuns Sky Sect and finally couldn’t restrain his laughter any longer. He began to laugh loudly. Even Huang’er couldn’t help but smile, “That was truly an amazing ploy, Sir Jiang. I suppose the Ninesuns Sky Sect true disciple who was causing trouble at the Regal Pill Palace has already been eliminated by Sir Jiang?”
Jiang Chen knew that he couldn’t hide this from Huang’er, and nodded, “That person was called Cao Jin, and it was true that he was almost unparalleled at the level he was at. If it wasn’t thanks to various coincidences, it would’ve been infinitely difficult to kill him.”
Cao Jin’s death was the result of many factors that had come together at precisely the right moment. It wouldn’t have happened if any single factor had been absent. Yet, ultimately, it had been Cao Jin’s own fault for entering Mt. Rippling Mirage and trespassing on Jiang Chen’s domain. It would’ve been quite difficult for Jiang Chen to kill him if he hadn’t presented himself so.
“These two sects plotted and schemed, but they were all danced to Sir Jiang’s tune with a casual trick. That was quite the display of intelligence!” Huang’er smiled. She was rather impressed by Jiang Chen’s ability to think on his feet.
Jiang Chen didn’t think that highly of himself. It was just a sudden inspiration, and while it had both sects fighting each other, it hadn’t actually solved his problem. In fact there was a flaw in this ploy, and that was that he had just exposed the fact that he’d killed Cao Jin.
The two sects might be embroiled in a costly battle right now, but it would not take much to calm them down. Once they analyzed the situation, they would soon come to a realization that they’d been tricked. Resolving the misunderstanding would only take a matter of moments once that happened. When that happened, these two first rank sects would join forces and come after him together. That being said, the two sects were likely to target him even if he hadn’t driven a wedge between them. So in that case, he might as well plot against them a little. This terrible battle must have been a very expensive misunderstanding. On a certain level, the casualties from this battle would more or less relieve the pressure on him as well.
“Sir Jiang, the two sects may put more effort into hunting you after this incident is over. We should quicken our pace. Veluriyam Capital is still some distance away.”
Jiang Chen nodded slightly, but revealed the hint of an eerie smile as he answered, “Miss Huang’er, the journey must go on, but I would like to wait a little longer before we continue.”
“We’re waiting some more?” Huang’er was slightly surprised by his decision, but she smiled and asked nothing about his plans. She knew that Jiang Chen must have something else up his sleeves if he was choosing to wait in this situation.
After being in his company for a couple of years, Huang’er had to admit that even she couldn’t see through this young man. He always managed to pleasantly surprise her.
……
Two hours of battle had passed before most of Tai-ah City’s reputable experts made their way to the scene. This also included some top experts native to Swordland Region who happened to be nearby. The two first rank sects finally stopped fighting after a good amount of persuasion.
Tai-ah City was a local hegemon that possessed many experts, some were even stronger than Gong Wuji and Elder Hao, but it was ultimately just a mid region faction. They were still a long way from competing with a first rank sect in the Upper Eight Regions. Although city leaders were enraged by the chaos, they could only wear a smile and do their best to mollify the two participants. They didn’t dare to put on a tough front in front of these two first rank sects.
Once the two sects were done calculating their casualties, they realized that this had been a far more expensive battle than they’d first thought. The Eternal Celestial Capital had lost at least a hundred people, whereas the Ninesuns Sky Sect had also lost dozens of men. In fact, two emperor realm experts had driven each other to death due to the ferocity of their battle.
The losses could only be described as horrific. But although the battle was ultimately halted, neither Gong Wuji nor Elder Hao looked like they truly wanted a cease fire. They were still glaring and snorting at each other. They looked like they would restart the fight at any moment. It was obvious that both parties had completely fallen out with each other.
“Please, please, listen to this old man for a bit,” The one who spoke up was the city lord of Tai-ah City, a seventh level emperor realm cultivator.
Tai-ah City was one of the five great cities of the Swordland Region. Naturally, its city head possessed a powerful cultivation. Gong Wuji and Elder Hao had no choice but to give the city head of Tai-ah City some face since he had come out to meet them personally. Moreover, he was a high level emperor realm cultivator to boot.