Chapter 943: Helping Those Close to You, Whether They’re Right or Wrong

Xing Yue.

When he heard that these cultivators were from the ancient Xing Family, Su Yi finally recalled the jade-robed young man’s name.

A long time ago, the Xing Family had overseen the Infernal Palace’s Asura Division. Their clan was based in the Six Paths Royal Territory’s Tianluo City.

Su Yi and Cui Jingyan bumped into Xing Yue while they were on their way to Ziluo City.

However, Xing Yue hadn’t left a particularly deep impression on him, which was why he didn’t recognize him right away.

It seems the daughter of the Cui Family that Xue He person is fighting really is Cui Jingyan,

thought Su Yi. He knew that Cui Jingyan and Xing Yue were acquainted.

Meanwhile, in front of Dragon Cloud Arena.

When the Xing Family cultivators soared over from afar, it caused a disturbance in Night Demon Mountain’s ranks. All of them looked over.

The withered old man resting in a chair and holding a saber opened his eyes.

“Friends of the Xing Family, please stop right there.” The withered old man slowly rose, his expression calm. “Juniors are sparring, that’s all. It isn’t worth rallying your forces like this.”

“If this were just a matter of juniors sparring, why would you seal off the entire area?” Xing Yue said darkly. “Quit talking nonsense. You’d best not get in our way!”

The withered old man snickered. “Young man, you’ve got quite the temper for someone of so low a cultivation! If you weren’t a member of the Xing Family and you spoke like that to me, I’d have you dead!”

His tone was rife with disdain.

“You…” Xing Yue was just about to say something when the middle-aged man in yellow beside him patted him on the shoulder. “Please stay calm, young lord.”

The yellow-robed middle-aged man then looked at the thin elder and subtly inclined his head. “My name is Xing Tianfeng. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Xue Ting.”

Xue Ting!

The third inner court elder of Night Demon Mountain, a mid-stage Profound Illumination Emperor of the demonic path!

The withered old man’s expression mellowed slightly. “Fellow Daoist, this incident is a clash between the leading disciple of our younger generation, Xue He, and the daughter of the Cui Family, Cui Jingyan. Since they’re duelling in an arena, they naturally have to determine victory and defeat fairly.”

He paused, then continued, “If the Xing Family gets involved, it’ll only make this incident bigger and more difficult to resolve. I urge you to just wait for news outside.”

The yellow-robed Xing Tianfeng had a somewhat unsightly look on his face.

He wouldn’t have guessed that Xue Ting would refuse them even after he made a personal appearance.

He took a deep breath, then said, “We’ve come here to keep the peace, not to intervene. Might you do as a favor and let us into Dragon Cloud Arena to spectate? If it’s truly a fair duel, we’ll naturally have nothing to say.”

Xue Ting said in displeasure, “You don’t trust our Night Demon Mountain, Fellow Daoist?”

One sentence, and the atmosphere was instantly tense and stifled.

But it was then that a calm voice rang out: “Xing Yue, is Cui Jingyan inside?”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, the crowd’s gazes landed on a young man in blue. He was currently walking right toward Xing Yue.

“Who’s that?”

“No idea, but it seems he’s no ordinary person.”

“What a waste of breath. What ordinary person would dare get mixed up in this?”

The sound of discussion filled the surrounding streets.

Guo Fan, the information peddler who’d accompanied Su Yi here, widened his eyes.

That guy actually knows the young lord of the ancient Xing Family?

Meanwhile, Xue Ting, Xing Tianfeng, and the other members of Night Demon Mountain and the Xing Family couldn’t help but furrow their brows in bewilderment.

And who is this?

“Brother Su, what are you doing here?” Xing Yue was a bit surprised, but he remembered Su Yi.

He had a quite deep impression of Su Yi, in part because of Cui Jingyan, but also because of how Su Yi completely disregarded members of the ancient Qu Family.

That contemptuous, prideful bearing had shaken Xing Yue to the core.

“This is no time to exchange pleasantries. Answer my question first,” Su Yi said casually.

He was perfectly composed, and he ignored everyone else present completely, as if they weren’t even there. Xing Tianfeng, Xue Ting, and the other older-generation Imperial experts found this quite surprising.

Xing Yue said at top speeds, “That’s right. Miss Jingyan is currently in Dragon Cloud Arena.”

Here, his face filled with indignation. “Brother Su, you don’t know this, but the lead disciple of Night Demon Mountain’s younger generation, Xue He, is simply detestable…”

But Su Yi waved for silence before he could explain. “No need to say all that.”

How could he possibly concern himself with how this conflict started?

Even if Cui Jingyan was in the wrong, as her senior, he had to help her out!

There were times when you could sit down and discuss right and wrong.

But there were also times when you helped those close to you, right and wrong be damned.

The trick was knowing which was which.

Su Yi wasn’t the type to debate right and wrong, and he’d always disdained doing so.

“Don’t tell me you intend to get involved, my young friend?” Xue Ting’s expression darkened. He could tell that the young man in blue was also here on account of Cui Jingyan.

“Want to stop me?” Su Yi asked directly. His gaze was calm and distant, and his tone was casual.

But the more fearless he seemed, the more bewildered and uncertain Xue Ting felt.

What ordinary cultivator dared speak to an Emperor like that?

Even the others present sensed that something was amiss.

“Young lord, just who is that fellow Daoist?” Xing Tianfeng couldn’t help but transmit to Xing Yue.

“I’m not entirely sure, but he and Cui Jingyan know each other. Their relationship isn’t simple, either. There’s no way he’s just an ordinary person,” Xing Yue hurriedly transmitted back.

Xing Tianfeng instantly understood.

Anyone capable of befriending the daughter of the Cui Family had to be extraordinary!

Meanwhile, Su Yi had already started toward the entrance to the arena. “I urge you to step aside.”

This domineering scene soured the Night Demon Mountain cultivators’ expressions.

However, Xue Ting suddenly said, “Forget it. Just let him in.”

Then, his cold gaze scanned Su Yi. “Little friend, you’d best be careful. No matter how extraordinary your background might be, if you act irrationally, I’m afraid you’ll bring trouble on yourself.”

He was rebuking and warning Su Yi!

“Very well, I’ll speak directly too,” Su Yi said calmly. “If anything happens to Cui Jingyan today, all of you are going to die.”

This light, airy sentence left Xing Tianfeng and the others stunned. None of them would have guessed that a young man in blue would dare directly threaten a group of Night Demon Mountain cultivators.

Xue Ting and the others’ expressions were increasingly unfriendly.

“Hah? We’ll just have to wait and see,” said Xue Ting. He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Su Yi said no more. He simply proceeded into the arena.

Xing Yue, Xing Tianfeng, and the others followed shortly after.

“Third Elder, we’re letting them in just like that?” one of the Night Demon Mountain cultivators stationed outside couldn’t help but ask.

The others all looked over too.

“Relax. With their power, they can’t possibly overturn the heavens.” Xue Ting sat back in his chair, his expression calm. “Besides, Second Elder and the proprietor of Dragon Cloud Arena, Weng Xuanshan, are both inside. According to the rules, no one can intervene until victory and defeat have been determined.

“If the Xing Family tries to break the rules, Weng Xuanshan will be the first to object!”

By the end, his tone was downright leisurely.

Weng Xuanshan.

He was the proprietor of Dragon Cloud Arena, as well as one of the oldest and most capable subordiates of the lord of the City of Safe returns. He was also a long-established, well-known Imperial expert in his own right!

With a prominent figure like him present, this duel had to go by the rules. No one could even think about changing the end result!

When the Night Demon Mountain cultivators heard that, their expressions mellowed considerably.

……

Within the arena.

A fierce duel raged atop the ten-thousand-foot-wide stage.

One of the combatants was a pretty young woman in a pale purple dress. This was none other than Cui Chang’an’s daughter, Cui Jingyan.

Her entire body was shrouded a sharp, austere aura of the Grand Dao. Her jade-like hands gripped a dazzling, snow-white dagger, and she was fighting a man in black robes.

The man had a head of long, startling, blood-red hair. His face was fair and handsome, and he was well-built, but there was an air of femininity about his face.

Dark light surge around him, as boundless and forceful as a coursing river. He’d yet to use any treasures, but even fighting barehanded, he was firmly suppressing Cui Jingyan’s attacks.

Furthermore, as he fought, streaks of the pitch-black light of the Grand Dao formed chains, enveloping the air around Cui Jingyan in layers.

Like a dark cage.

Even though the layered, ripple-like chains broke, one after another, beneath Cui Jingyan’s attacks, new ones immediately swept in to take their place.

Densely packed, in layer after layer after layer.

Cui Jingyan gradually found herself trapped. The chains of the Grand Dao were so numerous that they resembled a massive black cocoon, and they were on the verge of enveloping her completely.

“Miss Cui, beneath the suppression of the Black Demon Spirit Chains, any further resistance would be in vain. You’d be like a bug binding itself in its own chrysalis. Ultimately, your struggles will only strip you of all ability to fight.” The man in black smiled faintly, his soft, feminine voice revealing a trace of smug pride.

His name was Xue He, and he was the lead disciple of his generation at Night Demon Mountain. His cultivation was in the peal of the Spiritual Revolution Realm, and he was considered the strongest Spirit Dao cultivator in the Night Demon Realm. Even by the standards of the Netherworld as a whole, he was a first-rate expert among Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivators!

Cui Jingyan pursed her lips but said nothing.

Barely any time had passed since the start of the battle, but Xue He had shattered and suppressed every last one of her attacks.

Now that she faced the layered, ripple-like Black Demon Spirit Chains, she felt as if she were sinking into a swamp.

The more she struggled, the more trapped she became!

She was already giving it everything she had, but she couldn’t turn the situation around. Instead, the chains relentlessly suppressed her, and the suppressive power bearing down on her only increased.

But she didn’t admit defeat. Her expression revealed stubborn determination.

In this battle, she’d rather die than admit defeat!

Meanwhile, two figures sat atop a tall platform constructed out of stone.

“The young mistress of the Cui Family is going to lose,” said a white-haired elder in embroidered dragon robes.

Weng Xuanshan!

The proprietor of Dragon Cloud Arena, as well as the right-hand man of the lord of the City of Safe Returns.

“It was destined to end this way right from the start,” said the man beside him. He was middle-aged, and he wore long, dark golden robes and a tall hat. “It isn’t strange.”

His name was Wei Jingkui, and he was the second inner court elder of Night Demon Mountain, as well as a mid-stage Profound Illumination Emperor.

Weng Xuanshan looked at the duel raging on the distant battlefield, then stroked his beard. “Fellow Daoist, aren’t you afraid that doing this will enrage the Cui Family and cause trouble?”

Wei Jingkui’s eyes narrowed slightly, but then, he laughed. “Everyone knows that Cui Longxiang is already dead.”

It was just one sentence, but it was rife with meaning.