My expression didn't change. I simply placed my hands behind my back and asked the next logical question, "Now who wants daddy's belt?"
****
This question triggered everyone, evident by the intensified scowl on their faces.
"Give us all the treasures you found in the inheritance! A country bumpkin like you doesn't deserve it!"
Quon Bao revealed his actual nature and true intentions at this moment as he stared at Long Di with resentment.
He heard what the disciples from the Soaring Cloud Immortal Sect said, hence his label on Long Di earlier, but his true resentment stemmed from the fact that Long Di was able to match someone that he knew he couldn't defeat.
This wasn't good news for him, as this meant that a truly unrivalled was rising up in the human race, one that wasn't him.
First, there were the Seven Heroes, then the Five Nobles, then there was this Long Di!?
"You all surrounded me and tread nigh upon my personal space just so you can tell me to give you the inheritance?" Long Di's brow rose as he asked this question.
"Yes?" Quon Bao was a bit taken aback by the sudden question.
Something about this situation was wrong. Long Di was way too composed in this situation. It made little sense. Sure, he could beat Jiandan Tai, but it seemed like a really close victory.
'Surely he doesn't think he can beat me, Jiandan Tai and all these experts by himself, right?' As Quon Bao thought about this, a very harrowing possibility suddenly came to him.
'Hold on, earlier when he was fighting Jiandan Tai, he was matching him blow for blow in a way with only his physical body! Putting aside the possibility that he is able to match a demon race cultivator from the Iron Body Forge Sect at a younger age, why didn't I feel the slightest bit of somatic essence from him when I could feel it from Jiandan Tai!? Unless!'
His face paled as he stared at Long Di, "No!"
"Ah!"
But it was too late. A cry from the distance cut off his own as one unlucky cultivator who wanted to put an end to everything came too close to Yaomu Shou and the others, prompting her to take action.
With an exquisite purple rapier in hand, she lopped off the arm of a cultivator, who wanted to stand out too much.
"Step forward again, and the next body part I'll relieve you of will be your head! I gift you this life simply because your elder asked young noble Long Di to take care of you all. For this, since you're alive, you can say thank you."
Yaomu Shou's tone was cold and unfettered, placing the injury the young disciple suffered as nothing in her eyes, even requesting a thank you instead for her mercy.
Yes, the ones who stepped forward were the disciples from the Soaring Cloud Immortal Sect. To be more specific, it was their senior brother who talked back to their elder earlier, clearly against Long Di and his group.
All the cultivators that were closer took a step back in front of her domineering demeanour. This was a stark contrast to the playful, giggling person that she was before.
Even Quon Bao and Jiandan Tai were shocked! However, these two were shocked because of a different reason, and that was because of the purple rapier in her hand.
It was embossed with countless exquisite engravings that stretched from the hilt all the way to the blade itself. The purple hue it exuded was an empiric one.
"What the hell!?"
Jiandan Tai was infuriated when he saw this!
"Y-You're from the Yaomu!? What are you doing here!? Are you planning to interfere and side with the human!?" He roared.
"Watch your mouth pig!" Yaomu Shou's already chilling countenance dropped a few degrees more when she heard Jiandan Tai. "Since when could you call my family by its name like that? Are you growing tired of living!? In addition, do you think I have to explain to you where I can or cannot go!? What qualifications do you have!?"
"You…!" Jiandan Tai's expression twisted into an unnatural grimace.
It was normally him acting unreasonable or overbearing. Now, in front of the person before him, he had to rein himself in.
"Act like this while you can. You won't be on top for long!"
"What did you just say?" Reacting to what was supposed to be an offhanded remark, Jiandan Tai realised he said too much.
"I-I…"
"Long Di, I will owe you a favour for this. Kill him for me!"
Long Di's disinterested eye slowly slid to where Yaomu Shou stood. He stared at the sword in her hand, and, after considering a multitude of things, he came to an answer rather quickly.
"Okay." He didn't even look back at Jiandan Tai when he said this.
"All of you shut up!!" Quon Bao long felt suffocated in the midst of this. He was supposed to be one of if not the strongest powerhouses here!
Yet, as if the arrival of a disciple from the Iron Body Forge Sect wasn't enough, out of nowhere a Long Di just sprung up stealing everyone's attention!
To top it all, it seemed as if he had connections with someone from the Yaomu family!
He had to gain control of the situation quickly
You!" he pointed at Long Di. "As of now, you are obviously a traitor of the human race! Your sins can be forgiven if you return with me. My Silver River School will give you a fair trial!"
When he said the name of his sect, everyone's expression turned to one of shock. Only Yaomu Shou and Jiandan Tai remained indifferent to the revelation of his backing.
"Will you fight me?"
"W-What?" Quon Bao's earlier sense that something may have been wrong was crawling its way back to him.
"I asked you…" Long Di turned to face his interlocutor.
Boom!
"Will. You. Fight. Me?"
When Quon Bao felt the force of Long Di's spiritual qi enforced stomp, and how it made everyone unsteady as they struggled to keep their balance. The crawling feeling he felt earlier turned into a rampaging beast that struggled to maul its way into a head.
"Y-You matched Jiandan Tai earlier. T-The only way you c-could have done that i-is…" Quon Bao pointed a quivering finger in Long Di's direction.
"Sighs…"
Long Di didn't give him time to question him further. He turned around and made his way to Jiandan Tai.
The former's stare, though it remained the same, established fear in the latter.
"Take a stance."
"W-What?" Jiandan Tai was naturally confused by Long Di's request.
"Erect your defences." Long Di didn't answer him, but gave him another.
"I…" This only served to elevate his uneasiness under the onslaught of Long Di's encroaching stare.
"Don't die too early on me now."
"Y-You…!" He began sweating buckets because of the little boy before him.
He was sure he was twice as tall and twice as wide as Long Di. So why… why did it feel like he was looking up at him? What was this lofty feeling he experienced?
What was this need to kneel down in front of the high Heavens?
Even though he was surrounded by a sea of people, he felt as if they offered no protection, none. He was going to die here today.
"A-A-Attack him!" Dredging the remnants of willpower within him, he commanded the sea of people around him to attack Long Di all at once.
Some disciples that belonged to the weaker sects and didn't mind creating relationships with someone from the Iron Body Force Sect heeded his command.
This created a chain reaction where disciples that normally wouldn't listen because of their pride and the strength of their own sects got caught up in the hot-bloodedness of an impending slaughter and went with the flow.
Dum!
Long Di's hair fluttered when there was no wind. The band that tied his hair burst apart as his cultivation base exploded out!
The rushing crowd flew back from the power he released!
Many people were injured just from this alone, whilst others were shaken by what just happened. They quickly fixed their gazes back on Long Di when a shocking sight greeted them.
One cauldron, two cauldrons, three cauldrons…
"W-What kind of cauldrons are these!?"
"I-I can't breathe!"
"Ugh! What's happening!?"
"H-He's a-a-a -m-monster!"
Disbelief destroyed their defences as shock took hold without rival.
When the nine cauldrons fully emerged, the pressure magnified!
Boom!
Horror painted the spectator's faces even more than before. The light that shone from the pearls in addition to the lone one that flashed with grey light bade it so!
"A-A-A peak One Star Core Martial Master!?"
Quon Bao didn't dare to believe it, but there it was. Long Di was a Core Flame Evocation expert, an existence that put even the demonic geniuses in those super sects to shame!
"So you all wish to know what it is I received from within the room behind me."
Long Di spoke. His voice was still lazy, but it carried with it an unquestionable prestige!
Even Yaomu Shou was shocked! But it didn't take long until her lips curled up at the end. This was more than what she could have hoped for.
"It was a task… a task and payment for it. I have things to do and people to meet. I have to find an irresponsible goddess, along with Pebbles, Pebbles The Wondercat and I know not where they are. You are, all of you, a hindrance and a stumbling block. So excuse me while I step over you. "
If you want to find a goddess, the girls in the group you came with more than qualify for that title! Pebbles were even easier to find! Just go outside and look on the ground! Why are you taking it out on us!?
These were the thoughts that went through everyone's heads when they saw that Long Di planned to wreck their shit.
…
"Something doesn't feel right." Elder Shen Dai felt worried for some reason as he stood outside the relic.
"Ah, so it was elder Shen Dai from the Immortal Cloud Immortal Sect that I saw."
A voice suddenly freed him of his ruminations.
Elder Shen Dai frowned as he looked in the direction of the voice, only to see an old man hobbling over.
This arrival's body was hunched over as if a long life of mortal burden did a number on it. His face was profuse with wrinkles, but his eyes remained spirited as they continuously flashed with a silver light.
When elder Shen Dai saw who it was, his frown deepened. "So it's teacher Weiyuan Yaochuan of the Silver River School. I didn't expect to see you here."
"If you're here, then why would I be absent? After all, my new disciple needs a bit of tempering, hehehe," his wrinkles squeezed together as he chuckled to himself.
"Why are you here?" Elder Shen Dai asked, his tone bereft of any respect.
It was no secret that the Soaring Cloud Immortal Sect and the Silver River School were always at odds with one another. So Shen Dai didn't bother to spare any respect for the old man before him.
"I saw you were speaking with an interesting young man before. The one who held that riveting conversation before we entered. Were you trying to draw him into your sect?"
Elder Shen Dai's expression darkened when he heard. "And why should I tell you what my intentions—"
Crack!
"What in the heavens!?"
The elders and leaders present could see the portal that was spinning peacefully before showing cracks on its surface before it extended outwards. The cracks travelled to the space above the lone temple that hosted said portal.
Before anyone could react, the cracks that were growing at a frightening pace abruptly stopped, before…
Boom!
The space above the temple that was fractured suddenly blew apart with a terrifying force.
It took a while for the winds to die down, but when they finally did, allowing the elders and leaders to see what happened, the scene that followed was one of horror and disbelief.
There, way beyond where the portal once stood, was Long Di surrounded by disciples, many of who were standing and many of who were… not.
His expression was still impassive while his arm, outstretched, clenched ever so tightly the neck of Jiandan Tai, who had his eyes filled with terror.
One distant elder was shuddering in rage when he saw this. He raised a quivering finger in Long Di's direction.
"R-R-Release him, you beast! How dare you touch him!?"
Long Di's expressionless eyes looked in the direction of the elder, who appeared to be the one who accompanied Jiandan Tai here.
When the elder saw that Long Di paused what it was he was doing after his threat, he regained his confidence before he placed his hands behind himself and continued.
"Release him now and maybe your death will end with just you and not on the level of clan exterminat—"
Crack!
Long Di stared at the elder as he broke Jiandan Tai's neck, crushing it with his strength.
He calmly took out a handkerchief to clean his hand after he dropped the body to the ground, his eyes never leaving the elder as he did so.
"Sorry, I was busy. Hello there, my name is Long Di. How may I help you today?"