Cultivators were unreachable entities in the eyes of all ordinary mortals, believed to be capable of single-handedly sweeping through the world in an unstoppable manner.
With a cultivator as his backer, it was no wonder that Hui Shajing felt so confident about his current situation.
Who would dare to go against him if it meant offending a powerful cultivator?
In fact, he was not the only one feeling this way.
The members of his entourage similarly pushed out their chests and smirked, fully confident that the token would be more than enough to scare off the party.
And they were not entirely wrong either.
Zhao Yunxiao and the rest of the party members instantly frowned upon hearing this.
Hui Shajing was not lying.
Even without him telling them, the party members could sense that the token contained a cultivator’s aura.
This aura truly made them feel a lot more apprehensive about taking action.
After all, taking care of ordinary mortals like Hui Shajing and his entire entourage was a simple matter, but making enemies out of cultivators was an entirely different matter altogether.
Who knew where these cultivators hailed from, and how strong they truly were?
A single wrong step here could very well end up with them getting swept up in an issue that was way out of their hands.
Even a serious conflict between factions would not entirely be out of the question.
Worse came to worst, the situation might just flip on its head, resulting in them becoming the ones to get wiped out here!
“Scarlet Leaf Sect...” Chu Han whispered.
He suppressed his volume to the point where only the party members could hear him, but it was still more than enough to draw everyone’s attention.
Scarlet Leaf Sect – this was a name that all of them were familiar with.
In fact, all of them had come across this emblem in the past, and would have been able to recognise its origin as well, should they be given enough time.
After all, the Scarlet Leaf Sect was quite a famous faction in the cultivator’s world.
Or rather, it might be more accurate to call them infamous instead.
Not only were they an unorthodox faction, members of the Scarlet Leaf Sect were also notorious for doing whatever they wanted without any regard for things like morality and honour.
To a certain extent, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they were the common enemy of all orthodox factions!
Of course, that did not mean that the party members were willing to simply rush into a conflict with someone from the Scarlet Leaf Sect.
In fact, now that they knew they were dealing with the Scarlet Leaf Sect, it was all the more reason to tread with caution. This was especially true because despite their nature, there were still some extremely powerful cultivators among its members.
If they were to end up messing with the wrong person and unintentionally summoning a high ranked member of the Scarlet Leaf Sect, they might just die without even knowing what hit them!
However, what they heard next instantly eased their concerns.
“This token is not from a high ranked member,” Zhao Yunxiao remarked in a similar low volume, making sure that only the party members could hear him.
“Do you recognise the emblem, Junior Martial Brother Zhao?” Chu Han asked in surprise.
“Yes, I have looked into the Scarlet Leaf Sect in the past,” Zhao Yunxiao answered without hesitation.
The Scarlet Leaf Sect used the symbol of a leaf as its emblem.
However, the shape, size, and orientation of the leaf varied slightly according to the rank of the owner of the emblem.
If low ranked members were found to be using an emblem belonging to higher ranked members, they would instantly be labelled as traitors of the sect. This would result in them being persecuted by members of their own faction!
Therefore, even the usually unhinged members of the Scarlet Leaf Sect would adhere strictly to the emblem that corresponded to their rank.
Judging from the emblem engraved on Hui Shajing’s token, it had to be given to him by a low ranked member of the Scarlet Leaf Sect.
As for how Zhao Yunxiao knew this, that was because he had always believed that ample preparation was the key to success.
If he had not even looked into a threat as obvious as the notorious Scarlet Leaf Sect, that would be gross negligence on his part, almost equivalent to failing his own beliefs!
“That makes things simpler,” Mo Mian scoffed.
Since the token was not from a high ranked member of the Scarlet Leaf Sect, they no longer had anything to worry about.
As members of the mighty Black Tortoise Sect, it would be a shameful matter if they were to back down just because they dared not risk offending some junior members of an unorthodox sect!
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“Why are you just whispering among yourselves all of a sudden? What happened to all that bravado from earlier?” Hui Shajing asked with a smirk.
He could not feel better now that he saw how careful the party members had become.
As he thought, the mere mention of a cultivator was enough to turn the situation in his favour!
“Where is the person who gave that to you?” Mo Mian asked.
“Hahaha, you don’t have to know that. All you have to know is that only death awaits you if you dare do anything to us!” Hui Shajing laughed. “When that happens, I can’t guarantee that your corpse will be left in one piece!”
Hui Shajing was having the time of his life.
It truly felt good to confront someone who dared to challenge him, only to directly rob them of their confidence and watch them run away with their tails tucked between their legs!
“Is that so? Well then, I would like to see how that will happen to us,” Mo Mian smiled and took a step forward.
“What are you doing?” Hui Shajing immediately furrowed his brows. “Do you not understand the situation that you are in right now? You will die if you dare to touch us!”
“I believe you are the one who doesn’t understand the situation here,” Chu Han answered this time, clearly losing patience. “If you have not realised by now, we are not afraid of this token in your hands.”
“Seems to me like you have nothing more to say to justify your sins?” Mo Mian said.
“Justify our sins? Hah! So what if we did all that? What do you intend to do about it? No, what can you do about it?” Hui Shajing’s expression was turning uglier by the second. “Do you not know the terrors that a cultivator can bring upon you? You might think you are all that, but it is nothing in the face of a cultivator!”
“Is that so?” Mo Mian took another step forward.
“Ready!” Uncle Hei shouted.
The loud clanks of metal could be heard as the soldiers stood up in unison, drawing their sabres as they did.
They hurried forward and positioned themselves between the party members and Hui Shajing, pointing their sabres towards the party members to form a wall of blades.
This was a formidable formation that would strike fear into their enemies and intimidate them into contemplating retreat... if they were facing ordinary mortals, that was.
“I do agree with you on one thing you said...” Mo Mian chuckled. “You might think you are all that, but it is nothing in the face of a cultivator.”
“What do you mean?” Hui Shajing had a bad feeling as his gaze matched the cold stare coming from Mo Mian.
“This is what he means,” Gui Longcan answered in his stead.
With a flick of his wrist, a treasure fan appeared in Gui Longcan’s hands.
A single wave of the treasure fan sent two lightning bolts flying past Mo Mian’s shoulder, headed straight for the soldiers standing in his way.
This wall of sabre-wielding soldiers might as well be made of strawmen in the face of such raw power.
Bang-!
The loud explosion sent the soldiers flying in all directions, instantly clearing the way for Mo Mian.
Only Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai remained standing between him and Hui Shajing, but the two of them were definitely not in a state to resist at this point.
They might have been standing further behind and thus had not been struck by the lightning bolts from earlier, but just the shock of witnessing this horrifying scene was enough to turn them into human statues – frozen in fear and unable to think of what to do next.
“Argh!” the soldiers’ groans filled the inn, accompanied by the smell of charred flesh.
Unlike the monkey and ape demons that the party had to deal with back in the forest near East Stream Village, these soldiers were ordinary mortals with ordinary flesh and bones that offered no additional defence.
Their light armour did little to help either.
The lightning from Gui Longcan pierced right through their feeble armour, directly cooking their skin and leaving them with severe burns that would eventually claim their lives if left untreated!
Even then, Uncle Hei and Uncle Bai seemed to be oblivious to the soldiers’ sorry plight.
They remained frozen in place, incapable of anything apart from just staring at Gui Longcan in genuine fear.
It was only when Mo Mian took another step forward that they finally snapped out of their stupor.
“D-Don’t come closer!” Uncle Hei shouted nervously.
At the same time, he instinctively punched out with a fist that was armed with metal knuckles.
Mo Mian did not even attempt to dodge.
Instead, Pu Feixiang quickly stepped forward from behind Mo Mian and casually raised his hand, directly grabbing the oncoming fist and stopping it dead in its tracks.
“You sure talked a lot of shit earlier. Let’s see if you have what it takes to back it up!” Pu Feixiang scoffed.
The next moment, Uncle Hei found his well-built body flying through the air, flung straight into the wall in a corner of the inn.
Bang-!
He never got up after colliding headfirst against the wall.
“You dare?!” the enraged Uncle Bai charged at Pu Feixiang, sending out a punch of his own.
But how could there be a different outcome when he was not all that much stronger than Uncle Hei in the first place?
Bang-!
Before he knew it, Uncle Bai was sent flying through the air as well, similarly smashing headfirst into the wall in another corner of the inn.
There was no need for any special moves or flashy techniques.
From start to finish, Pu Feixiang merely grabbed them by the hand and flung them one after another, and he did that with relative ease as well.
Just a simple move like that was already more than enough to neutralise the two martial artists – individuals who, just a week ago, had managed to take down the Great Bandit Redblade in quick fashion.
This was the difference between cultivators and ordinary martial artists.
The latter might be able to challenge the former to a certain extent, but that was only true up to a certain point.
Once the cultivator passed a certain level in terms of cultivation level, most martial artists would not stand a chance in a direct confrontation!
With the two aides out of the way, Mo Mian stepped forward once more and came before the now-standing Hui Shajing.
“You people.... you are...!” Hui Shajing staggered back in shock.
“It seems that you have finally understood the situation,” Mo Mian answered coldly. “That’s right. We are cultivators.”
“E-Even then! I am protected by a cultivator as well!” Hui Shajing cautioned, albeit with much less confidence as compared to before. “It is an extremely powerful cultivator as well! Are you sure you want to do this? If you leave right now, I can still pretend that nothing happened and let this matter go!”
“You will let this matter go? How nice of you,” Mo Mian replied with a smile. “Unfortunately, the decision now lies with us. We are no longer willing to let this matter go.”
“What do you want? The loot? You can have it all!” Hui Shajing hurriedly offered. “I can even add to it! How much do you want? Just name the price, and I will definitely get my family to come up with the money!”
“What I want is to see those who commit evil receive their just deserts,” Mo Mian answered indifferently.
“D-Don’t be hasty!” Hui Shajing hurriedly responded. “Let’s slowly talk things out. Do you want treasures? Land? Or women? Everything can be negotiated as long as you spare my lif-”
Hui Shajing never had the chance to finish his sentence.
Mo Mian was tired of listening to him and decisively struck him on the neck, instantly knocking him unconscious.
But as Hui Shajing fell limply to the floor, the token in his hand started to emit faint rays of red light...