"Old Pang, stay here and look after them." Zhuo Fan spoke behind him to Captain Pang and the young guards before walking on stage alone.
The crowd wondered, [Alone against Wan clan's 20 strongest?] But then recalled that he had a title akin to the Six Dragons and One Phoenix and got excited at the prospect.
This was what everyone wanted to see. The extent of power one man possessed to make the seven houses pay so much attention to.
"Brother Zhuo, fingers crossed!" Xue Ningxiang cheered with an adorable face.
Staggering for a second there, Zhuo Fan waved back slightly with a smile.
Dong Xiaowan waved as well, but found him not even noticing her and was peeved, "Ning'er, are you and brother Zhuo close?"
"He saved my clan's lives!" Xue Ningxiang nodded, but then found Dong Xiaowan gloomy and mumbled, "Uh, sister Wan'er, sorry…"
"It's fine. He never even looked at me anyway." Dong Xiaowan shook her head sullen.
Dong Clan Head gleaned something out of all of this and asked Dong Tianba, "Is that youth who I think it is?"
Dong Tianba nodded and sighed.
His sister had been lovestruck since back in Drifting Flowers City. Her crush never spared her a glance, while she pined for him every moment.
[I can't tell if she is foolish or silly.]
"Darling, good luck! Crush them all!" A cute voice came from Drifting Flowers Edifices' side and slammed into the ears of the audience. Xiao Dandan was practically jumping in her seat, gesticulating wildly to make sure he saw her.
Zhuo Fan held his head, [What's this idiot doing here? Is Drifting Flowers Edifices so understaffed? How is she fit to join the seven houses' final battle with her cultivation? Cannon fodder is more like it!]
Pulling Xiao Dandan back down, Peony Overseer cursed, "Why can't you act proper instead of some lovesick maiden?"
"Humph, me and darling have already tied the knot. He'll come around!" Xiao Dandan pouted, still clinging to her hope.
Sighing, Peony Overseer said. "This girl has lost it."
On the other hand, Xie Tianyang was laughing his head off, using this chance to gossip with Xue Ningxiang, "Ning'er, see that? This punk is a womanizer. He got another one just like that! And I can attest to having seen them kissing in public myself… "
Xie Tianyang laughed inside, [Time to cash in on the scheme I cooked back in Drifting Flowers Edifices.]
Xue Ningxiang's eyes were fixed on Zhuo Fan, having a sinking and uncomfortable feeling in her heart.
The looks Zhuo Fan got from the audience were odd, to say the least.
[This kid's the bomb. He goes around the seven houses, spreading chaos and destruction, while not forgetting to sow the seeds of love!]
[Lady Killer Demonic Dragon is far more appropriate!]
"Steward Zhuo, you are a true man of mercy, to show such restraint in your travels!" Luo Yunchang towered behind Zhuo Fan with a sweet smile. And yet the killing intent in her eyes made her close to a demon.
Zhuo Fan shrugged it off, "I only did what I had to. The rest was a force of circumstance, out of my control."
"Force of circumstance you say?" Luo Yunchang teased and held his face.
Zhuo Fan was caught off guard, "What are you doing?"
"Force of circumstance." Grinning, Luo Yunchang looked at him longingly and smooched him.
Zhuo Fan felt her soft lips but didn't get to relish in the sensation as Luo Yunchang swished her head away blushing. But the look in her eyes, was that of a blissful maiden.
"Steward Zhuo, good luck!" Luo Yunchang batted her eyes at him then shot a glance towards Drifting Flowers Edifices.
Chu Qingcheng's eyes were spitting fire right about now. Her teeth crunching so hard even Grandmother could hear.
Xiao Dandan was having a hard time swallowing down her anger. She was ready to jump at that hussy's throat. Fortunately, Peony Overseer was there to rein her in.
"Who is she? How dare she force herself on darling?"
"That's their clan's matter. It has nothing to do with you." Peony Overseer sighed.
Xiao Dandan whined, "That's my darling! Of course it has…"
Xie Tianyang found the ever sweet and cheerful Xue Ningxiang wearing a mask of anger and sorrow.
[This is a cat fight only a man can stir. But why do I get the feeling even my cute and lovely Ning'er wants to join the battlefield as well?]
The audience was even more shocked, [That's no Demonic Dragon, that's a Love Doctor I tell you!] While actually, they felt jealousy and anger, [Being a skirt-chaser is a skill as well.]
Huangpu Tianyuan twiddled his mustache with a cold eye, "Sir Leng, who among these girls is his Achilles heel?"
"They all have a crush on him, but he ignores them completely. It's too soon to tell if any of them can be called his weakness. This needs further observation." Leng Wuchang's eyes flashed.
Huangpu Tianyuan nodded.
Zhuo Fan was out of it for a second there, then saw Luo Yunchang's rosy cheeks and rubbed her head, "Young miss Luo, you're not getting weird on me, are you?"
"You're the weird one. Now get on stage!" With a glare, Luo Yunchang pushed him forward.
With that charming and touching look, she made quite a number of hearts skip a beat in the crowd.
Zhuo Fan shook his head and went on.
Just then, two figures wrapped in black energy popped up in front of him. The Blue Expanse City's Sun clan duo!
Looking at the two creepy aberrations, Zhuo Fan was stunned, "You need something?"
"Hi-hi-hi, Zhuo Fan, you can't tell who we are?" The man let out an eerie laughter, followed by the girl.
Zhuo Fan shook his head, "Sorry, I've sinned so much I don't keep track of how many I've wronged. If you're here for revenge, kindly wait your turn. I'll be with you in a second to send you to the afterlife!"
"Hi-hi-hi, Zhuo Fan you're as arrogant as ever. But we aren't the same as before. This time it's you who dies!" The man's eyes flashed bloody red.
Zhuo Fan nodded, "I get it now. I've never seen such ugly freaks in my life. Going through such a nasty makeover, of course I couldn't recognize the current you!"
The crowd erupted in laughter.
Even the girls who were glaring at each other giggled, breaking off their cat fight. Only the duo on stage was pissed.
"Zhuo Fan, that's enough!"
Another shout came and two more figures wrapped in black smoke appeared as they landed in front of Zhuo Fan. They were old men in the 5th layer of Profound Heaven Stage.
But their faces were as creepy and disturbing as the duo's.
"Zhuo Fan, you've mocked and derided us ever since we met. It's because of you we look like this. Today, we will take your head as revenge!" One of the old men said savagely.
Luo Yunchang frowned, "You came for revenge but we do not even know how we've offended you."
"Humph, Yunchang, have you forgotten? Destruction of our clan, being cast out, are these not reasons enough?" The old man spat.
Luo Yunchang was still puzzled, but Zhuo Fan caught onto something and mocked, "Oh, so it's you. Who knew you ended up so pathetic and turned into freaks. Now that you've lost all reason to live, you've come to me for reincarnation?"
"We came to kill you, or die together!" the old man's mind was set.
Snickering, Zhuo Fan said, "Even if you came to kill me, you ought to get in line. After I deal with the ones on stage, I don't mind finishing off the lot of you as well."
The four nodded.
As the saying went, know thyself and your enemy and you'd be ever-victorious. It payed to know what the other party was capable of.
So the four cleared a path for Zhuo Fan to go on stage.
By now, the 20 strong fighters on stage were grave. They had lost the mockery and disdain they had for the Bone Tempering Zhuo Fan.
They just found out that he can stand tall like Six Dragons and One Phoenix and changed their thinking.
How were they going to beat such a monster? Heck, not even a first rate clan could do him in!
But since they were on stage already, the fight was unavoidable.
They came to Esoteric Debate in hopes of coming under the wing of the seven houses after all.
This made every fight a chance to show their spirit and worth. A chance they would never miss.
"Soaring Demonic Dragon, come!" Wan clan's leader cupped his hands, ready for battle. He was sweating buckets, but that didn't stop him from braving through the fear.
"Wait!"
Zhuo Fan smiled, "My Luo clan will definitely enter the final battle and this is too much of a hassle. So in order to move things along, let all clans, from third to first rate step in. If I lose, we walk. If I win, we'll go straight to the final battle, fighting with the seven houses!"
Sss~
A round of gasps echoed. He wants to fight every clan, alone? That was just too outrageously cocky!
His words only sparked anger in every clan present. While only the seven houses looked on calmly.
They were the only ones who knew all too well of Zhuo Fan's cunningness and deceit…