All the big shots from the seven houses were overwhelmed at Zhuo Fan's power having exceeded their expectations by a long shot.
What was considered a freak body cultivator, harder than diamonds, had in a single step crossed over the Profound Heaven Stage and went straight to using Radiant Stage's abilities, leaving these old fogies eating dust.
Bluntly put, these seven houses' big shots were so daft that not even one had touched upon the Radiant Stage.
And that shame came crashing down, evident by their flushed faces.
[What is wrong with this generation? One freakier than the last.] If these bags of bones were of Zhuo Fan's age, they'd be dancing in joy if they had the hope of even entering the Profound Heaven Stage.
[But now, it only brings us tears!]
[Out with the old and in with the new, they always say. But the new has kicked us to the curb with this display! Sigh…]
As the old bones watched the imposing and daunting Zhuo Fan on stage, their eyes glistened with tears, feeling as if they had aged a few centuries on the spot.
Huangpu Qingtian was having a hard time containing himself, evident by the gnashing teeth and clenched fists.
He showed off killing with intent last night, to flounce his almightiness and scare the living daylights out of Zhuo Fan. But come tomorrow, Zhuo Fan replied with the same coin, making his act anything but of a circus clown.
Such a display of power would leave anyone wallowing in their refuse from fright. As to what Zhuo Fan did after this display, not only bitchslapped him but threw him from the highest peak into the deepest abyss.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his act yesterday was of foolishness.
Zhuo Fan picked on his shame and did what he liked doing best, egging Huangpu Qingtian on with an exaggerated middle finger and a quirk of his eyebrows. Words were hardly necessarily at this stage in getting his point across.
[Dumbass!]
Huangpu Qingtian's eyes were spitting flames at this point, having long crossed the limits of his tolerance.
But Leng Wuchang held his shoulder, stopping him from acting out.
By getting rid of these third and second rate clans, Zhuo Fan spoke aplenty. By "killing with intent" taken as his weapon of choice, he spat on Huangpu Qingtian's bravado while also slapping him around for good measure. Could any living being take it?
And yet he did. He knew this was neither time nor place for such an altercation.
"Ol' poisoner, have you ever seen the eldest young master lose his cool?" You Yushan walked over to Yan Bangui.
Shaking his head, Yan Bangui's face was grave, "Not even once."
"Same. But the punk sure knows how to push the eldest young master's buttons." He chuckled for a second before sighing, "By the looks of it, the final battle revolving around Six Dragons and One Phoenix for so many centuries has now turned into Heaven-shaking Dragon Lord versus Soaring Demonic Dragon. All we can do is stay back and cheer, like mere squires. We were so useless yesterday as well…"
Yan Bangui recalled how Zhuo Fan had popped up in his face and shuddered from how powerless he felt. He didn't want to admit it, not with how he scrunched his teeth.
Since when their prestige as Six Dragons and One Phoenix was seen with mockery?
Yan Bogong, leader of Pill King Hall, glanced at the two with calm, "Don't sell yourself short. You are very much needed in the plan to get ourselves rid of that little monster."
Shuddering, the two recovered their fighting spirit.
"Yeah, we just need a good plan and together we will waste him for good!" Yan Fu grinned with hatred.
While the two were quite, You Yushan mocked him, "We? Ha-ha-ha, what can you possibly do? Since when are you on the same level as us?"
Yan Bangui couldn't help but smile and Yan Bogong chuckled.
Yan Fu was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
Ever since his master, Yan Song, suffered an untimely demise, he lost all support in Pill King Hall. His alchemy was very much well regarded still, but his poison arts paled to the likes of Yan Bangui so he was kicked to the curb.
It only worked to fuel his hatred for Zhuo Fan to new heights. He lost everything because of him!
Back on the stage, all those greedy and power hungry clans finally woke up from the allure of fame. They started drawing back, further and further away.
The referee landed on the corpse filled stage and sighed at Zhuo Fan's insane power.
In the millennium that passed, and in all the Esoteric Debates that were held, never had the preliminaries to the final battle yielded so many casualties.
Although sad, he had no sympathy whatsoever.
Their greed got them their deaths. They bet their lives for power and fame, but lost in the end.
They got their just desserts!
"In this qualification round for the final battle, Luo clan is victorious!" The old guy shouted.
They all heard it but they didn't applaud. Those that laid at Zhuo Fan's feet were their brothers, part of the same clans.
Why would anyone congratulate their enemy for killing their men? Did that even make sense?
The only thing they felt when looking at the slaughter was pain. Zhuo Fan had stepped on their kin to enter the final battle. Why the hell would they applaud? Their hearts were only capable of unbridled hatred now.
Not that Zhuo Fan cared. Every general climbed to his rank by stepping over a mountain of corpses. He had no need for eulogies and acclamations, only to be feared and obeyed!
"Old Pang, make a list with all the dead people's clans. I will pay a visit to each and every one of them." Zhuo Fan pointed at the corpse filled stage.
Old Pang got to work immediately.
The relatives watched disgruntled, and some even had the courage to voice their indignation, "Zhuo Fan, we don't need your hypocrisy. Don't think that some poor apology will be enough to atone for this slaughter!"
This earned the nods of the crowd.
"Apology, atone?"
Quirking an eyebrow, Zhuo Fan felt he had heard the biggest joke ever, "Ha-ha-ha, are you stupid or what? Since when did I start having regrets from killing? And you even went as far as thinking I'd apologize for squashing mere ants?
"Humph, let me be perfectly clear. When you went after me just now, wishing to get my head, I made sure to burn each one of you in my mind! I only want the list so I can pay a social visit and send you off with the rest of your clan and avoid any meddlesome folks in the future. Apologize? Atone? Unlike all those stories where the guy gets the girl, I will be sure to take her from right under your noses, morons!"
Sss~
Gasps of fear resounded everywhere.
[Is this guy human? He slaughtered so many and yet he won't rest until he has committed genocide?]
Gone was vengeance from everyone's minds and instead they shivered in fear worrying if they'd even have a future. [Maybe moving into mountains and avoiding this Demon Archon is for the best.]
They all paled and forgot everything about revenge.
Leng Wuchang snickered a praise, "This brat sure is crafty. People seek revenge out of survival. But when that is at risk, all the hatred evaporates. They will most likely run home and cover all of this up, while leaving him a free path to the final battle!"
"But this punk is a tyrant. He does not care for the people!" Huangpu Tianyuan said.
Leng Wuchang shook his head, "A tyrant is called that only in the moment of his fall. That is when others gather their nerves to call him that. If he keeps on winning, he will always be a righteous lord. His actions will have no impact whatsoever as well. As you can see from his choice today, he instilled a powerful image on all present here that getting on Luo clan's bad sides or on the seven houses' bad side made no difference. They'll end up dead either way. So who then will go against the Luo clan besides us?"
Gasping, Huangpu Tianyuan nodded, "He is both ambitious and a ruler material. We need to nip him in the bud!"
Huangpu Tianyuan stood up and left.
Seeing Regent Estate following their Estate Lord, the other six houses glanced one more time at Zhuo Fan before leaving as well. Staying any longer wouldn't net them any new information anyway.
They had been introduced already to Zhuo Fan's other grand ability.
Zhuo Fan sighed watching them go and went to Xue Ningxiang and Xie Tianyang, "What a coincidence. You are also joining the Esoteric Debate?"
He failed to notice, however, Leng Wuchang pausing and looking back at him with a wide grin.
"Estate Lord, I may have found this brat's weakness." Leng Wuchang beamed at Huangpu Tianyuan.
Huangpu Tianyuan raised an eyebrow, "Sir Leng found out the cause behind his vanishing acts?"
"No, but it is akin to a spacial array. We can only use another array to seal this ability!" Leng Wuchang shook his head.
If only Zhuo Fan was here to hear this, he'd have the shock of his life, and praise Leng Wuchang's cunning eyes. The Divine Eye of the Void's 1st stage's weakness was indeed a sealed space.
"But how do we trap him in an array? He is just too insidious to fall for it!" Huangpu Tianyuan frowned.
Leng Wuchang showed a vague smile, "He is trickier than a fox, proving to be a hard opponent even for me. But even smart people act like an average person sometimes!"
"Hoh, Sir Leng must have a plan ready then." Huangpu Tianyuan's eyes flashed.
Leng Wuchang nodded and smiled…