“Don’t try scaring me. Everyone exaggerated to me and said that this place is purgatory after I came to the Human Branch. They told me there were all kinds of people here, murderers and whatnot. You think I’m here for charity?” Tianming refuted.
“Stop right there! Everyone stop!” Fang Hongxuan had beads of sweat on his forehead. He immediately admitted defeat, seeing that Tianming was about to continue. His yell made the disciples of the Azureriver Faction realize that this was trouble. All of them stopped as they looked at this scene, dumbstruck.
“The faction lord and deputy faction lord have been captured by him.…”
“Who is he?”
“I think he’s Li Tianming from the Swordking Faction. He was previously a deacon in the Dragonmight Faction, but they expelled him.”
“A deacon with that strength? He just took down our faction lord and deputy faction lord while surrounded by an army of tens of thousands!”
“Isn’t he a little too powerful?” Despite the Azureriver Faction having the advantage in quantity, they had no idea what to do with their leaders captured. Their five hall lords were still fighting in the Silverriver Valley.
“Tianming, I can get them to leave you alone and let you leave here unharmed. Our Azureriver Faction can even withdraw our troops as long as you let us go!” Fang Hongxuan guessed what was going through Tianming’s mind. Two of his fingers were broken, and it had a significant impact on his future.
“Withdraw?” Tianming smiled. “Your sister’s hand is severed, but she can still reconnect it. Although it might affect her in the future, at least her hands are still intact. But if I crush all your fingers, you can only fight with your mouth in the future.”
“What do you want?! Isn’t it enough for us to withdraw? The Swordking Faction didn’t suffer any losses. Don’t take it too far!” Fang Bihan raged. Everyone from the Azureriver Faction surrounded Tianming, and there were thousands of them with their lifebound beasts.
“I’m not taking it too far. I want you guys to keep your promises!” Tianming said.
“What do you mean?”
“Command the forty thousand from the Azureriver Faction to head south and attack the Dragonmight Faction with the Swordking Faction,” Tianming said, his voice filled with oppression.
“Dream on! Do you think you can get the entire Azureriver Faction to die for you by capturing the two of us? The Azureriver Faction doesn’t belong to us exclusively! We’d be in trouble in the future if we attacked the Dragonmight Faction. So do you think that everyone's a fool?” Fang Bihan stretched her neck and looked at Tianming ferociously.
“Dream on! I won’t sacrifice the prospects of my brothers in the Azureriver Faction even if you crush all my fingers!” Fang Hongxuan refuted.
“Big Brother, you’re right!” Fang Bihan said. “Li Tianming, we’re geniuses from the Sterling House of Fang, and you’ll die if you dare to touch us! We’re not from the Human Branch, but Earth Branch!”
“You guys are pretty tough, aren’t you?” Tianming smiled.
The Fang siblings sneered when they saw that their threat was effective.
“Li Tianming, the disciples of my Sterling House of Fang will kill you for breaking my big brother’s fingers. You have no roots here, so who do you think you are? People like you will disappear and die without anyone knowing!” Fang Bihan continued.
“That’s something to talk about after we’re out. But don’t blame me for being ruthless, since you guys are being disobedient now.” Tianming’s face sank, and he said, “Ying Huo, castrate the man and strip the woman. Let disciples of the Azureriver Faction enjoy the body of their gorgeous deputy faction lord.”
His words immediately made Fang Hongxuan and Fang Bihan’s countenances change. Their faces turned purple and they began trembling. Fang Bihan screamed, “Li Tianming, You’re Despicable!!”
“Thank you for the compliment,” Tianming smiled. “But your body will only be enjoyed by disciples of the Azureriver Faction. I have no interest in it, because I don’t want to have sore eyes.”
“I like that! It’s exciting!” Ying Huo’s eyes lit up and it flew three inches below Fang Hongxuan’s navel. “I’ll burn your little ding dong off. In the future, you’ll be known as Eunuch Fang. Life is long, but you’ll only be able to look at beautiful women with tears streaming down your cheeks from now on. How pitiful…” it said with a smile.
Fang Hongxuan was dumbfounded.
“Chicken Bro, strip her first! My friend wants to see it!” Meow Meow pointed at Fang Bihan.
“Your friend? You’re just saying that for yourself!” Ying Huo let out a lecherous smile that sent a chill down Fang Bihan’s spine.
“Hurry up. Stop wasting time,” Tianming urged.
“Alrighty!”
But just when the greatest show of the year was about to unfold, Fang Hongxuan finally cried, “I admit defeat! I surrender! Please don’t do this. Li Tianming, I beg you!”
Even Fang Bihan shrank back. She knew it would feel worse than death if she was stripped here for tens of thousands to see.
“Haha, wouldn’t it be fine if you’d said that earlier? I was still under the impression that you would rather die than yield.” Tianming smiled, and his words made the Fang siblings lower their heads in shame.
“That thing is more important than your fingers?” Tianming asked, looking at Fang Hongxuan.
“I’m the only male in three generations of my lineage!” Fang Hongxuan said with his face blushed.
“Alright, that’s enough. You’re sensible today, and I pray that you’ll have plenty of kids in the future.” Tianming wasn’t thinking of humiliating them, he just wanted to scare them a little. He continued, “It’s up to you now.”
Fang Hongxuan was so humiliated that he could die, but for the sake of having his lineage passed down, he still put up with it. The so-called ‘prospects’ of his brothers were all rubbish. After he submitted, he immediately gave an order, “Brothers of the Azureriver Faction, withdraw from the Silverriver Valley!”
“Withdraw!” Fang Bihan yelled as well. Their voices were easily recognizable, not to mention that there were also two phoenixes passing the orders through their abilities as well. In the end, the Azureriver Faction’s disciples, who were ferociously fighting in the Silverriver Valley, had no choice but to withdraw.
“What’s going on?”
“Who knows.”
“Let me ask around.”
“What?! The faction lord and deputy faction lord were captured?”
“By who?!”
“Swordking Faction’s Li Tianming!”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Beats me!”
“You can tell it’s an idiot from the name.”
But just when they withdrew, another order came. Fang Hongxuan’s voice echoed out, “Disciples of the Azureriver Faction, the plan has changed. The Swordking Faction is our real ally, and the time has come to take down the Dragonmight Faction in one swoop! Kill!”
“Does the faction lord have a screw loose somewhere? He first told us to work with the Swordking Faction, then the Dragonmight Faction. Now we’re going to work with the Swordking Faction again? Just who the hell am I supposed to fight?”
“Carry out the order. How can you guess the faction lord’s wisdom with your intelligence? How would it be a strategy if you’ve guessed it?”
“But why’d I hear that the faction lord was captured?”
“No idea, but don’t believe these false rumors on the battlefield. Maybe it came from an enemy to affect our morale!”
Fang Hongxuan and Fang Bihan first got the Azureriver Faction to pull out, then turned around and attacked the Dragonmight Faction in the south.
Everyone carried out the order despite being confused. They were, after all, a well-trained army. The transmission of orders was purely relying on the faction lord’s yell, and the disciples could only roughly hear it. But that didn’t matter, because they just had to listen to orders.
“Brothers! It’s time for us to take down the Dragonmight Faction!”
“Brothers and sisters of the Azureriver Faction! Topple history together with me and win glory for our Azureriver Faction! Let the entire sect look upon us with admiration!” Fang Hongxuan’s voice echoed out on the battlefield once more.
“You’re proficient in boosting morale?” Tianming asked.
“It’s a skill that every faction lord has to possess,” Fang Hongxuan declared.
“Alright, alright. Good job, and I can tell that you’ll have plenty of kids in the future,” Tianming smiled.
Just like that, everyone from the Azureriver Faction was confused as they went around the surrounding peaks under Fang Hongxuan’s orders and charged at the Dragonmight Faction.
……
It was a defensive battle for the Swordking Faction, and their disciples were fighting with their blood boiling. They were still young and ignorant, and they didn’t have to care about death or their prospects. Everything would be fine as long as they could fight with their companions. People would always pursue something beyond life and prospects.
The Swordking disciples brandished their swords. This battle today taught them perseverance and bravery. It was a precious life experience, and would affect their entire life.
“Hold! Don’t admit defeat!”
“Let them take a look at who we are!”
“Even if the Dragonmight Faction is a dragon today, we’ll still pry their teeth out!”
“Killing one is plenty, killing two is a profit!”
This was the southern battlefield, and the disciples still had no idea that the northern battlefield had been emptied.
“What’s going on?” Jian Xueyi was fighting in the southern battlefield, and Zhao Yijue joined up with them along with the troops from the northern battlefield right at that moment.
“Faction lord, there’s been a change in the situation,” Zhao Yijue said with an odd expression. There was a mixture of joy, sorrow, relief, and depression on his face.
“What is it?” Jian Xueyi immediately pulled out from the battlefield.
“The Azureriver Faction suddenly retreated!” said Zhao Yijue.
“You’re not joking with me, are you?” Jian Xueyi’s eyes lit up.
“I’m not,” replied Zhao Yijue.
They still had several hall lords and ten-odd chiefs. The situation was so much better now, and it would be easier for them.
“The Azureriver Faction isn’t afraid that the Dragonmight Faction will cause trouble for them after the faction battle is over? The two of them are so timid, so how can they possibly make such a bold decision?” Jian Xueyi couldn’t believe it.
“I heard from the informants that there’s actually a reason why they retreated.” Zhao Yijue lowered his head.
“What’s the reason?” Everyone came up and surrounded him.
“They said that the Swordking Faction’s Li Tianming defeated the Fang siblings and captured them, using them as hostages to force them to withdraw.”