Yang Qing's expression shifted, and he hurriedly stepped forward to stop Su Mei.
Stepping between the two sides, he whispered urgently into her ear, explaining the pros and cons.
The woman's face remained impassive, showing scarcely any reaction as she quietly listened to the elder's analysis.
Moments later, the elder leaned slightly aside to clear the way. Su Mei let out a cold laugh.
"It is merely the Lin family. Even if they squandered their entire family fortune to hire a Golden Immortal, so what?"
Her eyes were placid and brimming with disdain as she looked at Lin Jinting and sneered, "You can't possibly think that Golden Immortal realm cultivators who have scraped and crawled just to survive along the Dao would really be foolish enough to make an enemy of Xutian Palace for some mere wealth and heavenly treasures, can you?"
With that, Su Mei turned and took her seat upon the throne atop the raised dais, looking down as she straightened her robes.
"Golden Immortal cultivators brave trials of life and death, endure heavenly tribulations, and shatter bottlenecks.
"For a few measly benefits, they flatter old monsters and cultivate goodwill, toiling in bitter cultivation for thousands, tens of thousands of years..."
The more she spoke, the uglier Li Guanqi's expression became.
The woman raised her eyes, gazing coldly at them.
"What makes you think people like that would stand against Xutian Palace for money?
"Xutian Palace is my Xutian Palace. It is my father's Xutian Palace."
Resting both hands upon the armrests of the throne, she tilted her chin slightly, her eyes laced with contemptuous mockery.
"Go to war?
"Ha, what a joke!!"
Li Guanqi gritted his teeth and abruptly sent a voice transmission to Ran Shiming.
"If you don't have the courage to burn your boats right now, you might as well smash your head against a wall and die in this hall right here and now!!!
"If our two families join forces to force their hand, there might still be a glimmer of hope! Keep being soft, and you'll only end up stretching out your neck for the slaughter!!"
As the transmission ended, Ran Shiming's face flushed and paled in rapid succession. At last, he gritted his teeth, took a sharp step forward, and parted his lips!
Yet Su Mei, clad in her yellow dress, merely shot a meaningful glance.
Yang Qing frowned slightly and, with a single backhand, sent Ran Shiming flying over a hundred feet before the man could utter a single word!!
Su Mei glanced at the man coughing up blood and sneered.
"If the Ran family speaks, then we slaughter the Ran family first.
"A fence-sitter is nothing more than a spineless coward in my eyes."
With that, her gaze drifted slowly toward Li Guanqi, and she tilted her head slightly.
"You aren't as decisive as him.
"Who are you?"
Taking a deep breath, Li Guanqi stepped forward and said in a heavy voice, "Li Congxin."
Hearing this, the woman closed her eyes with a slight frown, then raised a finger and pointed at him.
"I know of you. A rather formidable rogue cultivator. You caused quite a stir back with the Tianhua Sword Sect."
With that, Su Mei gathered her long dress and slowly descended from the raised dais, her eyes, calm as still water, fixed upon Li Guanqi.
"Everything that happened this time—you were the one strategizing behind the scenes, weren't you? Quite impressive.
"However..."
The woman narrowed her eyes, stopping less than an inch away from him.
Yet that exquisite face exerted an oppressive aura like that of a venomous viper.
She was far too clever...
Li Guanqi's greatest reliance had been the Xutian Stone, along with the Lin family's all-or-nothing momentum.
Yet the moment this woman arrived, she had struck straight at the heart of the matter, wresting back the initiative in just a few words while holding an overwhelmingly dominant position!
Li Guanqi understood that the woman before him was anything but simple; she was certainly no brainless ornamental vase.
Her grasp of human nature was terrifyingly sharp.
Ran Shiming, whom he had previously managed to sway, was completely crushed and cowed by her threats, losing every shred of his earlier momentum.
Li Guanqi knew that any hope of counting on the Ran family to fight to the bitter end had now been shattered.
*Su Mei.* Li Guanqi committed the name to memory.
For the first time, he felt such profound cunning and calculating depth in a woman.
Arrogant, brilliant, excessively controlling, and unyielding!
Thoughts raced through Li Guanqi's mind, wondering what other way could possibly break this deadlock...
Had he not held a high position in the Human Spirit Realm and possessed a broader perspective, he likely would have shown weakness by now.
Her breath was like orchids, its scorching warmth distinctly felt against Li Guanqi's skin.
Leaning close to his ear, the woman closed her eyes slightly to sense something, then opened them, her voice chilled to the bone.
"However...
"You must be a despicable lower realm cultivator, aren't you?"
At those words, Li Guanqi's expression shifted slightly. He had no idea what method she had used to discover it!
Su Mei slowly drew herself upright, her slender fingers tracing across Li Guanqi's collar.
Suddenly, she grabbed it tight and yanked Li Guanqi toward her!!
Her eyes turned vicious, and her voice rose, sharp and shrill.
"A mere ascended cultivator from a lower realm, yet you dare look me in the eye so arrogantly?
"You dare stand in the grand hall of my Xutian Palace and spout such nonsense?!
"Who do you think you are?! Some hero of the Spirit Realm?!"
Li Guanqi's hands clenched tightly within his sleeves, the killing intent in his heart spilling over uncontrollably.
Crimson light swirled around him as he weighed whether to seize the woman before him as a hostage.
Yet after calculating countless possibilities in his mind, he still found no way out.
A mighty Golden Immortal stood right beside them. It was completely impossible...
"Heh, you want to kill me?"
*Slap!!!!*
An afterimage flashed, and a bright red palm print bloomed across Li Guanqi's cheek.
The woman's cold rebuke rang out.
"What audacity..."
Turning to the old man beside her, she spoke in a voice dripping with malice.
"Elder Yang, bring the slave mark branding iron.
"Lower realm cultivators are meant to be slaves!
"So what if you ascended? Lowly vermin unfit for decent company, in the Immortal Realm you are nothing more than ants and mayflies!!!"
Li Guanqi's throat twitched slightly, and he swallowed down the broken tooth knocked loose in his mouth.
Beside them, Lin Jinting stepped forward in fury, only to be held back by Lin Shengwu.
"Call for help! If a Golden Immortal doesn't come, there's no way this ends peacefully. Quick!"
Slumped on the floor, Ran Shiming stared blankly, murmuring numbly, "It's over... It's all over... The Ran family is finished..."
Lin Jinting shattered a jade slip with a pop, calling for reinforcement.
"If things turn dire later, you and I will join forces to shatter Xutian Palace's barrier and escape immediately with Congxin!!"
"Alright, but if Yang Qing makes a move, it will be hard for us to escape."
"We can't worry about that now. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it!"
Li Guanqi's cheek burned with searing pain. This was the first time in his life anyone had ever slapped him across the face!
Before long, a disciple arrived carrying a red-hot brazier and a branding iron.
*It seems there are quite a few lower realm cultivators in Xutian Palace...*
Looking at the glowing-red branding iron, Li Guanqi's eyes flickered continuously. He licked his dry lips, his gaze growing colder and colder.
"Heh...
"It seems Xutian Palace doesn't care about the Xutian Stone, does it?"
Before anyone could react, Li Guanqi roared in fury, "Smash that stone to pieces for me!!!"
Infused with immortal essence, his voice echoed throughout Xutian Palace.
"Heh, a country bumpkin after all. Don't you know immortal essence cannot penetrate the barrier of my Xutian Palace?"
Su Mei sneered, holding the branding iron in her hand.
Yet right after, a shimmering light materialized into an image within the hall.
A pitch-black stone the size of a palm was held in two snow-white hands.
Pengluo had manifested his true combat form, divine runes covering both of his hands.
The pitch-black stone flashed with brilliant light, and a hairline fissure abruptly cracked open across its surface!!
"No!!! Stop!!"
Chapter 1697