Spirit Realm

“Please announce the results!”

Xie Zhizhang wanted to end this as quickly as possible too. He immediately sent a signal to Department of Internal Affairs’ bureau chief after seeing that everyone’s attention was currently being focused on Qin Lie.

The person in charge of Dark Asura Hall’s Department of Internal Affairs was a clansman planted by the Xie Family. Back when Xie Jingxuan was training in Dark Asura Hall, she had also worked at the Department of Internal Affairs and possessed an Inspector Command Token. That was why she was able to meet Tu Mo directly at Nebula Pavilion and enlist Qin Lie’s aid to kill the Soul Devouring Beast.

“The three hall masters and I have come to a decision, and we unanimously agree that Tu Shixiong is the one who is more suited to assume the position of Grand Hall Master!”

In an instant, everyone’s attention was attracted to this side once more.

Many people were staring at Han Pu and Tu Shixiong in surprise. The puzzlement on their faces showed just how stunned they were at this outcome.

Tu Shixiong himself looked astonished by this turn of events.

Even he didn’t believe that the competition for the seat of Grand Hall Master would suddenly take such a turn at the last moment.

He knew very well that the Department of Internal Affairs was controlled by the Xie Family, and he also knew that Han Pu had a backing of several Xie Family elders. In fact, only one of the three other hall masters built a tacit understanding with him and acknowledged him.

The remaining two hall masters had always shared a secret relationship with Han Pu, and they obviously stood on Han Pu’s side.

He thought that he would get at most one vote at this final stage. He thought that he would lose the voting for sure.

But now, for whatever reason, the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs and the three hall masters had suddenly decided to vote on him unanimously. Just what in the Spirit Realm was going on?

Tu Shixiong was puzzled by this.

Han Pu was even more confused than he was.

A short period of bewilderment had came over his expression when the results were announced. Then, it sank into a gloomy look.

He couldn’t believe what was happening!

Han Pu suddenly glared at the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs!

For the past few years, he had delivered many spirit materials to the Xie Family through the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs and built a connection this way. This was how he had won the acknowledgement of the Xie Family.

The bureau chief himself had promised him that he would win the competition for the position of Grand Hall Master for sure!

From the moment the Xie Family had sent a few private soldiers into his midst under the guise of subordinates to aid him in winning the first round, he was sure that that no surprises would befall him during this competition.

However, the surprise ultimately happened during the last step of the process.

—He had actually lost the election!

Han Pu couldn’t accept this outcome!

The bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs looked at him in sympathy and shook his head slightly. Then, he strung his voice into a single thread to send direct transmission. “This is the decision of the Xie Family’s patriarch. I… can only obey his demands. I am sorry.”

The moment he heard that the decision had come from Xie Yaoyang, Han Pu immediately understood with a sunk heart that there was nothing he could do to change this outcome.

In fact, he couldn’t even bring himself to question Xie Yaoyang’s decision. Just like the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs, he could only submit obediently.

In the past, Han Pu had depended on the Nie Family for a living. After the Nie Family had experienced a swift decline, he resolutely contacted the Xie Family and pleaded allegiance to them immediately. That was how he was able to leap from the position of Third Hall Master to First Hall Master and obtain the qualification to compete for the seat of Grand Hall Master.

He knew very well that there was no way he could’ve obtained his current status without the Xie Family’s strength.

If Xie Yaoyang disliked him and showed even a hint of displeasure, he might have been chased out of Dark Asura Hall just like that and be met with the most miserable outcome.

His tiny foundation in Dark Asura Hall wouldn’t do him any good. Profound Heaven Alliance only needed to send one or two Fulfillment Realm martial practitioners to slaughter him and his subordinates to the last.

On the Scarlet Tide Continent, he didn’t even possess sufficient strength to escape with his life.

A low rank force whose livelihood depended on a host had no say, status, or the right to question decisions at all.

The only way for them to survive was to submit.

The alternative was to be killed and wiped off the surface of Spirit Realm without mercy.

Han Pu hung his head low and said nothing. He chose to submit to his fate.

“Tu Shixiong was aided by a benefactor,” the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs whispered to Han Pu again after a moment of thought.

“A benefactor…”

A moment later, Han Pu immediately came to a sudden realization and directed his gaze to Qin Lie once more.

He saw Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang standing not far away from Qin Lie’s position, wearing kind smiles on their faces occasionally looking at him and voicing their opinions to the conversation at a suitable moment.

They looked like stars that served to accentuate the brilliance of a sun or moon.

“So he’s Tu Family’s benefactor,” Han Pu came to the realization.

Bits of conflicting emotions passed through his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Just two years ago, Qin Lie was a rat on the streets who was hunted by both Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple because of his collusion with the evil races and his identity as a sect master of Armament Sect.

Tu Shixiong’s decision to aid the Ling Family because of Qin Lie had resulted in him being given the cold shoulder by Profound Heaven Alliance.

After Qin Lie, the evil races, and the Blood Spear had disappeared, Tu Shixiong became the scapegoat and lost the secret support of Profound Heaven Alliance’s Song Family. He lost the advantage again and again over a series of clashes.

Han Pu had seized this opportunity to rise the momentum.

The reason Tu Shixiong fell from the seat of power, was caught up, and even surpassed by Han Pu was all because he had given Qin Lie aid earlier.

But now, Qin Lie had returned to the Scarlet Tide Continent in infinite glory, and both Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang had accompanied him all the way to Dark Asura Hall like his personal flatterers. Tu Shixiong was supposed to lose in the competition for the seat of Grand Hall Master, but the tide was suddenly overturned as if it was guided by god’s will.

Han Pu had seen everything with his own eyes, so he figured out the truth of the matter after the bureau chief’s remark.

“This truly is a situation where one’s success and failure are both due to the same factor,” Han Pu lamented on the inside.

……

“Congratulations, Hall Master Tu!”

“Congratulations!”

“I knew that you’d win without a hitch, Hall Master Tu!”

“We should call him Grand Hall Master now!”

“Haha!”

While Han Pu was forced to accept the truth, many Dark Asura Hall martial practitioners had put on a smile on their faces and surged towards Tu Shixiong, expressing their goodwill towards him.

Among them were the three hall masters and the bureau chief of the Department of Internal Affairs too.

Tu Shixiong was instantly flooded by many cries of congratulations.

While stuck amidst the crowd, he looked backwards and saw that Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang had subconsciously walked beside Qin Lie and looked at him with smiles on their faces.

Tu Shixiong had also understood what was going on here.

He stared at Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian chatting happily with Qin Lie, and felt a million complicated emotions blossoming inside his heart.

The pressure he had to experience because of Qin Lie’s presence, the abandonment of Profound Heaven Alliance’s Song Family, and the ridicule he was forced to endure inside Dark Asura Hall had all vanished in an instant.

Everyone was currently looking at him with envy and respect. They were respecting his foresight.

Even Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang couldn’t help but shower him with unconcealed praises.

It was as if his decision to befriend Qin Lie, and his choice to aid Qin Lie and the Ling Family of the “evil races” both covertly and openly had become the greatest decisions he had ever made in his entire life.

Everyone was impressed by the acute foresight he displayed.

Tu Shixiong sucked in a deep breath before laughing cheerfully with a look of invincible confidence.

He knew he hadn’t been wrong betting on Qin Lie.

The reason he aided the Ling Family, put pressure on Seven Fiends Valley, and even sent his generals to Seven Fiends Valley to aid the migration of Ling Family to Dark Asura Hall was all because of Qin Lie.

During the battle of Flame Volcano, Qin Lie had overturned the tide, dealt heavy blows to the five combined forces, and ultimately repelled their invasion.

It was that battle that made him recognize Qin Lie’s extraordinary capabilities, and he also respected both Qin Lie’s determination and ruthlessness. He respected his madness in cutting off Shi Jingyun, Wu Tuo, and Su Zhiyin’s fingers.

He knew that Qin Lie was no ordinary person, which was why he had always supported his sons in their decision to befriend Qin Lie.

Now, seeing Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang’s flattering attitude after Qin Lie had returned from the Scarlet Tide Continent, he knew that his judgment was right!

—Qin Lie had soared and become a dragon in a foreign land!

“Are we done here?” Qin Lie smiled as he looked at the extremely excited Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian. “Do you wanna give the crystalline war chariot a go and try how it feels to fly in the sky?”

“Of course!” Tu Ze exclaimed.

“I’m going up too. Hehe, let’s see how fast this thing really is!” Tu Mo laughed loudly and forced his way into the chariot despite Tu Ze’s protests.

“Father, do you want to give it a try too?” Zhuo Qian asked cheerfully.

Zhuo Duo himself looked eager for a ride, but when he recalled that Tu Shixiong had just become the Grand Hall Master and needed to deal with a lot of things, he had no choice but to give up and softly laughed and reminded her, “Go and have fun, but make sure you don’t lose control, okay? Remember not to damage the great palaces inside the city!”

“I know, I know, you’re so long-winded!” Zhuo Qian mumbled.

“Let’s go!” Qin Lie let out a long laugh.

The crystalline war chariot he was in immediately soared to the air loudly like a ball of electricity.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian exchanged a glance with each other before they started the crystalline war chariots just like Qin Lie had taught them to.

Soon after, the crystalline war chariots soared into the air as the spirit stones glistered with brilliant haloes.

“This is amazing! Haha, I can’t even begin to describe how amazing it feels to fly in the air!”

“I sure hope I can break through to the Fragmentation Realm one day and be able to fly wherever I want with my own power!”

“Faster! Let’s catch up to to Qin Lie!”

“Go go go!”

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian’s laughter resounded throughout the airspace of Dark Asura Hall as three crystalline war chariots sped and left behind three colorful trails of prismatic light.

Many martial practitioners on Dark Asura Hall plaza looked to the sky, unconcealed envy in their eyes.

“Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian sure are lucky. It takes someone at the level of Zhao Changsheng, the vice sect master of Joyful Union Sect, to own a crystalline war chariot, but now they both have their own crystalline war chariots! What a waste!”

“The Tu Ze Family hit a jackpot!”

“Yeah, who could have expected that the Qin Lie who had been hunted all across the Scarlet Tide Continent would become an important figure that even Profound Heaven Alliance and Eight Extreme Temple had to submit to?”

“The fact that he could take out a dozen or so crystalline war chariots at once means that he must have struck it rich in the foreign lands!”

“But he was gone for just two years!”

“This guy had been creating one miracle after another when he was on the Scarlet Tide Continent. His abilities shouldn’t have faded even after he left this place!”

On the ground, everyone was praising Qin Lie and Tu Shixiong’s foresight. They were all admiring Qin Lie’s current abilities.

Standing amidst the crowd, Song Siyuan and Xie Zhizhang were also listening quietly to the commotion around them. They narrowed their eyes at the three crystalline war chariots flying in the eyes and couldn’t help but sigh to themselves too.

A moment of thought later, Song Siyuan suddenly looked at Tu Shixiong and sent him a message. “Old Tu, if you can maintain a close and friendly relationship with Qin Lie, you will definitely earn a seat in Profound Heaven Alliance in the future!”

Tu Shixiong trembled.