The five Divine Dragons of the imperial family, the strongest in Tianyu.
And yet, the highly placed members of the seven houses had limited knowledge about them, limited to Jade Flute Divine Sword Fang Qiubai and Monochrome Chess Sage Sima Hui. The house lords were the only ones entitled to the matters pertaining three centuries ago, that the Invincible Scamp Gu, the devil who pushed Tianyu on the brink of collapse, was now a Divine Dragon.
But this resolution only brought more problems than solved.
Zhuo Fan squinted at the four demons, "Since the imperial family is rearing this behemoth, what is it doing getting scared of the seven houses?"
"He-he-he, Steward Zhuo, you clearly know nothing. That last Immemorial Sage was the strongest in Tianyu, on the brink of breaking out of the Radiant Stage's shackles and reaching the Void Consciousness and becoming undying! A pity he met Gu Santong, that little monster. Regardless of how strong he was, he couldn't stand the kid's ten punches. But even so, thanks to his consciousness on the brink of becoming void, he endured the kid's onslaught for a full hour before having his soul scattered.
"Gu Santong admired his dedication, who was willing to stake his soul in winning the bet. This was how the man protected Tianyu's imperial family and forced the kid to stick to his promise. But Gu Santong was no fool either. He resigned to only protecting the imperial family and nothing more. Thus, he was the imperial family's strongest shield, but not their spear, ignoring any orders. Even so, the imperial family still won. Would anyone dare disobey them, when they had him on their side?
"Of course, his existence was never accepted by the seven houses. If he went berserk again, what would become of the seven houses? So, they went to the emperor again and again for a resolution or they would be leaving the empire! For lack of a better choice, the imperial family could only ask for the kid to make a vow as a Divine Dragon to not attack the seven houses unless provoked. Also, the imperial family will have him under strict supervision. He is not to step one foot outside the Imperial Capital without the Emperor's explicit approval.
"With how Tianyu lost its backbone in that war, if the seven houses withdrew, the empire was open to foreign invasions. And the kid had no choice but to agree to this and protect the imperial family through the oath! The seven houses begrudgingly compromised as well, and the imperial family changed his title into Invincible Scamp. As if to mean all that happened was just a kid throwing a tantrum. But now, the Invincible Scamp who's been locked away for three centuries by the imperial family was set free by the Emperor!"
Violent Demon and the three demons wore their brows in a frown.
Zhuo Fan and Li Jingtian nodded and sighed. Gu Santong was indeed savage, but also honorable, far more than these little shits.
Zhuo Fan squinted at the four, and snickered, "Is that all?"
"Uh, pretty much. Now then, Steward Zhuo, you have the boundless honor of listening to the legends of the much greater, much more heroic four demons than even the likes of Invincible Scamp Gu Santong! Correct, those four are without a doubt yours truly, the demonic heroes, Four Scheming…"
"Not interested!"
With a sneer and a sign, the four demons started wailing in torment as they tousled the ground.
Among the screams of pain they voiced their doubts, "Steward Zhuo, what did we do this time? Is this how you repay us?"
"Nothing bad, in fact you did exemplary work. I'm only dishing out premeditated punishment…" Zhuo Fan snickered and cackled.
The four's hearts were in grief as they shouted, "Steward Zhuo, you're breaking your promise. You said you'll forget about everything if we told you about Gu Santong!"
"Tch tch tch…" Zhuo Fan mocked, "We're all demon cultivators here, right? Since when can you believe anything we say? You're morons to have trusted me in the first place!"
Pff!
Li Jingtian almost burst out laughing.
It was the four little shits who duped Zhuo Fan in the first place, and now he was paying them back in spades. [Steward Zhuo isn't one to take a loss, regardless how small.] The Four Scheming Demons were on the verge of tears.
Zhuo Fan returned their mocking words right back at them, leaving them speechless.
Being tricked made them feel anger, sorrow, pain, the works. [My head hurts, my face hurts, my whole body hurts!]
They could only resort to begging now. But Zhuo Fan turned a deaf ear to their pleading, speaking to Li Jingtian with a smile, "Elder Li, do you know what I'm thinking?"
"He-he-he, Steward Zhuo wants Gu Santong?" Li Jingtian's eyes lit up.
Nodding, Zhuo Fan's eyes shined with exceptional greed, "I've never wanted a subordinate as much as I want him!"
"But if the imperial family finds out you've stolen their cornerstone from under their feet…" Li Jingtian was worried.
Grinning, Zhuo Fan mocked, "With Gu Santong in the bag, what good will it do to them if they know? They couldn't handle his power three centuries ago, but can they now?"
Li Jingtian laughed!
Zhuo Fan launched into the air, flying for Gu Santong's mountain, "Elder Li, look after them. I'm going to probe the devil. I am going to confirm some suspicions of mine."
"Steward Zhuo, don't worry. Leave this to me, ha-ha-ha…" Cupping his hands, Li Jingtian turned to four, their wailing music to his ears…
Whoosh!
Zhuo Fan landed on the peak. He saw Gu Santong sitting on the edge of a cliff with his dainty feet dangling and enjoying the sunset.
Seeing him approach, the kid's eyes lit up, "Oh, you're back so fast. Did you already get an ingredient?"
"Ha-ha-ha, yep!" Zhuo Fan nodded.
Gu Santong was caught by surprise and cheered as he jumped to Zhuo Fan, "How are you so fast? Take it out and let me see."
Zhuo Fan's hand shined and revealed a purple leaf.
"Another 5th-grade ingredient!" Gu Santong was overjoyed, eager to dig in since the smell was intoxicating.
Without preamble, he bit into it as he praised Zhuo Fan, "You're not bad at all. Far better than the others. Those four couldn't get one in three days, but you found one in an instant! Ha-ha-ha, you did well. I won't forget it!"
"Oh, and how will you repay me?" Zhuo Fan smiled.
Gu Santong hesitated, his eyes darting all over before holding out two fingers in all seriousness, "I'll give you two more attempts. You just have to defeat me once and I'll let you all go. With the old guy using one, you are left with eleven!"
"Ha-ha-ha, so this is your reward!"
Zhuo Fan chuckled and shook his head as he cursed the brat in his head.
[This punk was corrupted by the strongest Immemorial Sage alright, giving fake rewards. Blast it, if I could beat you, what need do I have of you to let me go? We'd be leaving anyway!]
[But since we can't, more attempts only means getting beaten by you even more. Are you taking us for fools?]
[You'll get yours, oh don't you worry. In a jiffy, I will put your cheeky ass in place. I'll show you how it's really done!]
Zhuo Fan snickered, "Then I'll be going to get more and more attempts!"
"Go, go! Work hard now!" Gu Santong waved him off, as if Zhuo Fan was nothing to him but a precious ingredient dispenser.
Zhuo Fan left with a smile and returned fifteen minutes later to Li Jingtian. The Four Scheming Demons rushed to beg for mercy, but Zhuo Fan didn't even spare them a glance, "Elder Li, the kid's only redeeming feature is his brawn. Easy to handle!"
"Eh, what do you mean?" Li Jingtian's asked eager.
Zhuo Fan showed two items. One was the Bloodworm gourd, the other, a glowing ingredient more precious than a mere 5th grade.
Zhuo Fan took a Bloodworm from the gourd and placed it on the ingredient. The worm then disappeared deep inside it.
Li Jingtian still didn't understand, but Zhuo Fan explained, "In your fight with the kid, I noticed how he never used Discerning Field despite being in the Radiant Stage. So I tested him again with a 5th grade ingredient. Seeing him gobble it up like candy, we'll give him this Bloodworm spiked ingredient and then…"
The two shared a look and sank into a choreographed evil snicker.
In the middle of the four's cries Wimp Demon was about to say something but Violent Demon's glare cut him short.
The other two demons along with Violent Demon snickered. But their mockery of the pair didn't sound much different from their wails making it fall under Zhuo Fan and Li Jingtian's radar…
Whoosh!
Zhuo Fan went to Gu Santong again.
Gu Santong was suspicious now, "How are you so fast? Did you get another one?"
"Yep!" Zhuo Fan nodded.
Gu Santong was overjoyed, "You're the very definition of an expert, not like those four snails. Give it here and I'll give you… ten attempts!"
"Ha-ha-ha, much obliged!"
Smirking, Zhuo Fan presented the ingredient and Gu Santong cried in joy, "It's a 6th-grade ingredient. You're incredible!"
Zhuo Fan only smiled, but he mocked him inside.
[To make you take the bait and drop your guard, I'm even giving you a 6th-grade ingredient! Curses, I didn't even get that many off of Drifting Flowers Edifice!]
[But it's fine. Using it in exchange for such a powerful expert is bloody worth it!]
His eyes shining, Zhuo Fan licked his lips, staring closely at Gu Santong. As long as the brat ate it, then he would have the strongest in Tianyu at his fingertips.
Even Zhuo Fan couldn't control his excitement as his heart hammered in his chest.
But Gu Santong didn't eat it and frowned, "Eh, there's something off about this ingredient!"
Bam!
Zhuo Fan's heart hit rock bottom, watching on nervously. [Did the brat find out…]