Chapter 345: Saving Face

Chapter 345: Saving Face

【You have slain Reverend Karma. Obtained Righteous Path Cultivator Fragments ×100. Due to the overwhelming nature of your attack, no loot remains.】

“No loot? Ah well.”

Chen Huaian let out a sigh.

His real opponents were people like Real Person Yuyao and Reverend Karma, both in the Mahayana Stage.

Even a supreme-grade spiritual weapon was useless to him—it’d just shatter when it touched a spirit treasure.

Better to honestly start crafting a spirit treasure sword embryo instead.

Still, it’d been a while since he last checked the Demonic Faction Store. He wondered if anything good had refreshed.

Now that the main threat was dealt with, and only Li Ziping remained—a problem easy enough to handle—he took a quick glance.

And that glance startled him.

【Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure: Sunfall Vajra Pestle – Price: 15,000 Righteous Cultivator Fragments, 1,000 Spirit Crystals】

【High-Grade Spirit Treasure: Buddha’s Vajra Finger Bone – Price: 50,000 Fragments, 5,000 Spirit Crystals】

【Mid-Grade Spirit Treasure: Three-Realm Spirit Vine – Price: 12,000 Fragments, 1,200 Spirit Crystals】

…

The Demonic Cultivator Store had not only refreshed—it now had nine spirit treasures available!

But at his current number of fragments, he was nowhere near affording any of them.

That said, farming Righteous Cultivator Fragments was easy—

just find some disciples from Yaoshi Holy Land or Burning Purity Holy Land and kill them.

Not only did they drop a ton of fragments—they dropped a lot.

Chen Huaian used to be a man of peace, but now he couldn’t help the urge…

The urge to go sow some “karmic connections” at those two holy lands.

“Senior, I humbly request that you return the Sword Soul to Zhenwu Holy Land. We are willing to offer any resource in exchange.”

Li Ziping hadn’t interfered during the battle with Reverend Karma.

But now that it was over, he once again dropped to his knees before Chen Huaian, face full of earnest pleading.

As someone at the Seventh Realm of Void Fusion, even if he wasn’t as strong as Chen Huaian, he still had the pride of a Void Fusion cultivator.

The only person a Void Fusion would willingly kneel to was a senior from their own sect.

Not even a Mahayana cultivator could force someone like him to kneel unless it was from the heart.

Which just showed how sincere he was right now.

Chen Huaian’s head throbbed just looking at him.

He handed the Blackscale Sword back and waved dismissively.

“Talk to your sect’s founder yourself.”

Li Ziping blinked and dumbly accepted the sword.

Before he could speak, a voice rang out in his mind:

【Li Ziping, what did I always teach you? Since when was Zhenwu Holy Land the type to pressure others and steal by force? If you demand the Sword Soul just because it’s me today—

Then tomorrow, are you going to kill someone for their fortune just because you want it?!】

Li Ziping nearly burst into tears hearing the voice of his ancestor.

He stammered:

“Patriarch, I have always followed Zhenwu’s rules. I’ve never had a heart for robbery or murder… It’s just… the Sword Soul is you, Patriarch! How can I just stand by while someone from outside takes it?”

【Outside? Are you not an outsider too?!】

Li Ziping was dumbfounded.

Since when had he become an outsider to Zhenwu?

Was the ancestor really going to abandon an inner sect disciple… for the Sword Pavilion Ancestor?

【Did I not pick you up from some no-name sect back then? You weren’t born from the soil of Zhenwu, were you?!】

Suddenly enlightened, Li Ziping glanced at Chen Huaian and cautiously asked:

“Y-You mean… we should invite the Sword Pavilion Ancestor to join Zhenwu Holy Land? That makes sense, if he becomes a fellow disciple, then carrying the Sword Soul is like… taking you home!”

【Bullsh*t! I mean Zhenwu Holy Land should follow the Sword Pavilion Ancestor!】

“What?!”

Li Ziping screamed, utterly stunned.

“Patriarch, what happened to you?! Zhenwu Holy Land, following Sword Pavilion? But we’re Zhenwu! Why would we…”

【Why? Because not one of your elders has reached Mahayana!】

Zhang Yibai’s voice dripped with sarcasm:

【Heh, forget Mahayana—you people can’t even scrape together a Ninth Realm Void Fusion!

Your strongest is Zhang Mengchu, right?

Well, this Sword Pavilion Ancestor already told me what’s up with him.

Go ask him later if he has any objections!】

Chen Huaian gave his bro a silent thumbs-up.

Gotta love a fellow Earth native—when they’re biased, they go all in for their own.

He had been wondering how to convince Zhenwu Holy Land to enter his Small World.

Bringing it up to Zhang Mengchu would’ve been awkward.

But now, thanks to Zhang Yibai, the path was already paved!

Li Ziping stood frozen, too ashamed to move.

He couldn’t stand, couldn’t sit.

He couldn’t just let his beloved Zhenwu Holy Land get merged into some “little Sword Pavilion” without doing something.

Wouldn’t that make all Zhenwu disciples look weak?

If he didn’t act now, he’d never be able to live with himself.

In a flash of desperation, he stared hard at Chen Huaian—rage boiling to the surface.

“Sword Sovereign Chen! Even if your power is unmatched—today, I, Li Ziping, challenge you to a duel!”

Inside Blackscale Sword, Zhang Yibai nearly fainted from anger.

He thought he’d made everything crystal clear—

Why was this kid still acting like a complete idiot?!

Chen Huaian, on the other hand, didn’t mind at all.

Less talking, more fighting—that’s his style!

“Bring it!”

He immediately took his stance.

Right hand gripped Chenjian’s hilt, left hand beckoned Li Ziping with a curling finger.

“Kill—!”

Li Ziping launched himself forward, sword raised, no techniques, just raw aggression.

Chen Huaian twitched his lip, then stepped in with a straight punch—

and just so happened to nail Li Ziping right in the nose.

The timing and precision were uncanny.

It honestly looked like Li Ziping had thrown his own face into the fist.

“Aaargh!”

Li Ziping screamed, crashing to the ground.

He looked up at the sky, slowly raising Blackscale Sword with trembling hands.

“Patriarch… I have resisted… I’m not a coward… and I’m no traitor to Zhenwu Holy Land… ugh—!”

With that, he closed his eyes and dramatically “fainted.”

Zhang Yibai: “……”

Chen Huaian: “……”

It seems that beyond their inflexible pride…

Zhenwu disciples also had an unshakable need to save face—even if it killed them.

Chen Huaian carefully pried open Li Ziping’s death-grip on Blackscale Sword, one finger at a time, and took it back into his hand.

Zhang Yibai’s sheepish voice followed:

【Bro… sorry you had to witness that mess. Zhenwu Holy Land’s got its flaws, sure—

But trust me, I hand-picked every disciple.

Their hearts and values are solid. No bad seeds here!】

“I fully agree.”

Chen Huaian nodded.

Li Ziping might’ve been stubborn, but he’d never shown real hostility.

He’d just been… yellow the whole time.

Not like that Reverend Karma—who radiated red flags from his glowing forehead.

【Uh, hey bro, can I ask one more thing…?】

“Go ahead.”

【It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Zhenwu Holy Land.

I don’t know how my disciples are doing.】

Zhang Yibai’s voice was tinged with emotion.

【If it’s not too much trouble… can you take me back to visit sometime?】

What kind of request was that?

Old Bro Zhang was way too humble.

Chen Huaian had just opened his mouth to agree—

when he saw Li Ziping’s transmission jade at his waist start flashing like crazy.

The “unconscious” Li Ziping suddenly furrowed his brows…

And the next second, he popped up with a full-bodied kip-up.

…

…