Tribulation of Myriad Races

Marquis Xia remained silent.

But not everyone decided to stay silent. Hong Tan stepped forth, looked at Zhang Qi, and said, “Zhang Qi, you’re also an expert of the older generation. You understand why we’re here in Nanyuan. Now…nobody is untouchable. Zhang Ying deserves her death. Is the line of Fiery Sea King intending to interfere at this time?”

Zhang Qi sank into a short silence before replying, “I am my own man. My father is his own man. I know what you’re doing here. But…Liu Wenyan killed my daughter. Zhang Ying was merely acting according to the rules and regulations when she demanded his arrest. What wrong did she do?”

Why was the multiple character faction here? To lure the traitor out. This might as well be an open secret at this point. With the Zhang Family stepping forth, one couldn’t help but suspect them as well. But would the real traitor be so stupid and obvious about it?

Hong Tan and Liu Wenyan frowned. They said nothing else.

Marquis Xia opened his eyes and sighed, “Be direct. What do you want?”

“One carrier treasure.”

“…”

Silence descended yet again.

Even Liu Wenyan was stunned. He had killed Zhang Ying to deter the masses from doing anything stupid. When Zhang Qi arrived, he had thought that the battle would break out in earnest. He was ready to face a bitter battle.

But what did Zhang Qi just say?

Zhang Qi calmly said, “Liu Wenyan, my daughter only acted according to the rules and regulations. She did no wrong. The rules and regulations were set by the eight families, not my daughter alone. It is reasonable and fair for the Knowledge Seeking Realm to penalize you for killing others, yet you killed her in response. The multiple character faction is pursuing its own goal today and the Zhang Family does not intend to interfere. We only act according to the rules and regulations, but you have broken the rules.”

Liu Wenyan asked in fury, “You have been here since the beginning?”

Was Zhang Qi here since the beginning?

He did not answer.

Meanwhile, Yuan Qingdong and the others shivered. Had…Had Zhang Qi gone mad? He wanted to affirm his dao so much he had lost his mind!

Zhang Qi was a step away from the ninth-stage Sunmoon Realm. At that point, he would require carrier treasures if he wanted to affirm his dao in the future. And how had he gone about acquiring his carrier treasures?

The hearts of Yuan Qingdong and the others chilled. When Liu Wenyan started killing, they were alarmed, but they weren’t really fearful. But now, they were fearful. If this was how Zhang Qi viewed his daughter, what about their own parents? All of them were early-stage Sunmoons. Where were their parents?

Yuan Qingdong swallowed as he trembled with fear.

Madness. Absolute madness. Had all these people gone mad? The prospect of dao affirmation had driven them all mad.

Zhang Qi had definitely arrived long ago. He had deliberately waited for Liu Wenyan to kill his daughter before appearing. He might even have encouraged his daughter to provoke Liu Wenyan through voice transmissions.

They were not the only ones whose hearts were chilled.

Even some of the gathered myriad race experts felt a chill creeping up their spines. These humans were too ruthless.

Marquis Xia sighed. He stared at Zhang Qi for a long while and asked, “You want the carrier treasure?”

“Yes.” Zhang Qi said, “Us of the Fiery Sea King’s line are not traitors. We have served humanity admirably. My father has contributed greatly to humanity. I have also fought countless battles for humanity. I’m not a traitor. My daughter was not a traitor, yet Liu Wenyan had killed her. Even if you manage to lure the traitor out and kill the traitor, it won’t affect us. Because we’re not traitors. Your offense will be magnified when it is proven that we’re not traitors, Liu Wenyan.”

Marquis Xia asked, “So you’re proposing a private settlement?”

Zhang Qi said nothing.

“Hahaha!” Marquis Xia laughed helplessly with some sorrow in his laughter. He said, “I understand.”

Zhang Qi was not the traitor. The Zhang Family was not the traitor either. Of course, they couldn’t be completely discounted yet.

However, it was clear Zhang Qi wasn’t here because he was a traitor. Rather, he was here to trade his daughter’s life for a carrier treasure. Such an act was something Marquis Xia couldn’t imagine doing.

Yet Zhang Qi was right. Regardless of why he did it, Liu Wenyan had still killed a fellow human, breaching the rules and regulations in place.

Unless he died during the coming battle, the Zhang Family would not let this matter rest the moment it was proven that Fiery Sea King was not the traitor. Not even Great Qin King and Great Xia King could stop them from pursuing justice.

Zhang Qi was too cold. He had sacrificed his daughter for his dao affirmation. For a carrier treasure, he had allowed his daughter to be killed.

Marquis Xia sighed, but soon, he laughed again. The laughter seemed to hide a special meaning behind it as he said, “Sure. If the Xia Family or Liu Wenyan manages to obtain the carrier treasures, you can have one. You impressed me, Zhang Qi. I’m curious. Is Fiery Sea King aware of this?”

Zhang Qi calmly replied, “No. I believe my father is not a traitor. Of course, I have no proof. You are free to continue. Lure the traitor out. If the traitor happens to be my father…forget about the carrier treasure since that will make me the son of a traitor. But if he’s not the traitor, I’ll expect a carrier treasure if either the Xia Family or Liu Wenyan manages to obtain these carrier treasures.”

“…”

The surrounding experts felt like their horizons had been broadened. Liu Wenyan didn’t even know what to say. What a ruthless man. He did not regret killing Zhang Ying, but Zhang Qi’s appearance made him wonder if Zhang Qi had committed an offense as well.

If it was proven that neither Zhang Qi nor his father was the traitor, what Zhang Qi did wouldn’t be considered an offense. His daughter had been killed and he had opted for a private settlement by demanding a carrier treasure as compensation.

Should they give it?

Or should they fight him instead?

This was not the kind of choice Liu Wenyan had expected to make.

Senior Wang was also looking at Zhang Qi with complicated expressions. He sighed and muttered, “It is true that…no love can be found in the house of a monarch.”

He could only sigh. Trading the life of a daughter for a carrier treasure. Was this a worthy trade? Definitely. But humans were creatures of emotions. Not everything could be measured by value alone. Zhang Qi was so cold-blooded it was terrifying.

But he had not breached any of the existing rules and regulations. Liu Wenyan was the killer, not him. The only thing he had done was opting for a private settlement. That was cruel and selfish, but this was not something the Xia Family or Liu Wenyan would argue against.

Just why…did the Knowledge Seeking Realm turn into something like this?

In truth, the Xia Family and Liu Wenyan could reject this proposal. Since they had decided to throw caution to the wind and stop worrying about the future, what was there for them to fear? Yet they had agreed.

They did not reject the settlement. Zhang Qi had gone mad. They did not want to waste more time on a madman.

Meanwhile, Zhang Qi appeared completely calm. After putting the remains of his daughter away, he vanished. It almost felt like he was only here to collect his daughter’s remains.

***

Not far away.

“How cold.” Su Yu asked curiously, “Can someone like this succeed in dao affirmation? Is he even worthy of having his dao affirmed?”

Beside him, First Profound replied coldly, “Yes. To both of your questions. It’s not like there aren’t Invincibles out there who are just as cold. They are simply…not as straightforward. Zhang Qi…son of Fiery Sea King. My horizons have been broadened. But…maybe Zhang Ying wasn’t even his daughter. Perhaps his wife cheated on him with someone else and Zhang Ying was the product. Someone as cold as him has the potential to grow very strong. I only hope that there won’t be too many people learning from his example.”

Zhang Qi was too cold and cruel. It was as though he was incapable of feeling any emotion. Then again, it wasn’t like he was the only person capable of such cruelty amid the myriad races. With so many living beings in existence, all sorts of people existed.

But First Profound was also itching to kill Zhang Qi. If someone like this was able to affirm his dao one day, would he even care about the well-being of humanity? Would he fight for humanity?

If he could sacrifice his daughter, who could promise that he wouldn’t do the same to humanity for his own benefit in the future? For someone like him, there was a price tag attached to everything.

Su Yu had mixed feelings as well.

In fact, many of the humans had the same reaction. Meanwhile, the non-humans found it more amusing than anything. One of them laughed and said, “Well done! Zhang Qi, son of Fiery Sea King. Truly impressive. You have my admiration. Hahaha!”

Someone else said, “Fiery Sea King must be the traitor. With a son like that, you can imagine how the father is as well. If you ask me, the Xia Family should stop with this farce and fight Fiery Sea King to the death with whatever trump card you’re still hiding.”

The myriad races were still trying to guess if the Xia Family was hiding more trump cards. Perhaps the First Divine Sect master was the trump card. It was also likely that they had more trump cards hidden away.

This was also why the myriad races had not dared to start a fight over the ruin rashly. They were all wary of the possible trump cards of Xia Family.

But it was definitely not surprising to see them trying to further incite the humans to fight each other. The myriad races would be more than happy to see that happen. That son of Fiery Sea King was truly a surprise.

The myriad race experts grinned as they witnessed the internal conflict of humanity unfolding before their eyes. One of them laughed and said, “The eight families are truly deep schemers. No wonder they only have some weaklings here. Perhaps the rest of them are also planning to do the same. Liu Wenyan, kill more of them. You can settle the debt with only eight carrier treasures, one for each family. Hahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

The other myriad race experts also howled with laughter.

Marquis Xia ignored them. He looked at Liu Wenyan and said with a sigh, “Come on in.”

Liu Wenyan said nothing else and started approaching the city under the escort of Ye Hongyan and Uncle Liu.

Marquis Xia said, “If anyone wishes to die, feel free to stand in his way. The Xia Family might not be able to do much to the others, but we have enough strength to kill all of you.”

Someone answered, “Don’t worry, Marquis! We won’t enter before the human traitor appears. Not even if the ruin ends up in your hands! Hahaha!”

“We’re all very curious to see this fish the Xia Family is trying to catch! Just who could it be?”

“I wonder if it will be too big of a fish and end up dragging all of you down instead. We’re all very curious about this.”

The myriad race experts laughed with amusement. This was basically an open conspiracy against the traitor. Everyone could see what the Xia Family was doing here. They needed to wait and see just what trump card was the Xia Family hiding. But Liu Wenyan must have the ability to inherit the ruin and show enough potential. Otherwise, the traitor might choose to remain in hiding.

The main show was about to start.

And the myriad race experts were waiting with smiling faces. Those who had remained until now were naturally those confident in protecting themselves in the event of a battle. Those without such confidence had long pulled further away from the city.

Things were getting more and more interesting. Everyone was waiting. Waiting for the ruin to emerge and for the traitor Invincible to show up.