In terms of numbers, the Li and Zhao Clans, along with their other allies, had almost five times more participants than the Bai Clan.
The Bai Clan participants were already preparing to respond to the threat.
There was no way they would compromise with the Li and Zhao Clans in any way.
Moreover, the Heaven-Grade Artifact had been won by Bai Zihan fair and square—not in the twisted version Zhao Chen was trying to present.
Though whether to give in to Zhao Chen’s demands or not was entirely in Bai Zihan’s hands.
Bai Zihan blinked.
Once.
Then twice.
Then a small, mocking smile curled on his lips.
“You done?”
Bai Zihan glanced at Zhao Chen.
“I thought you had something more to say.”
He showed no intention of giving in to Zhao Chen’s demands.
“Bai Zihan, don’t think we’re bluffing. That artifact belongs to the Zhao Clan! Return it, or you’ll pay for it.”
“And yet it’s with me,” Bai Zihan said calmly. “Strange, isn’t it? It’s almost like I won it. Oh yeah, I definitely won it!”
He paused, then tilted his head with a mock frown.
“Unless you’re suffering from dementia, I don’t think you’d forget that. Or… maybe you are suffering from it?”
“You—!”
Zhao Chen raised his hand, fury twisting his face. But before he could give the order, Bai Zihan raised one of his own.
Just a finger.
Then he pointed it directly at Zhao Chen.
“Let’s get this over with. Come at me. All of you!”
Bai Zihan declared fearlessly.
“Bai Zihan, you can only blame your stupidity!”
Zhao Chen shouted as he got ready to fight.
Li Feng was more than happy with how things were unfolding.
“Nice, nice! Fight! Fight!”
Suddenly, Mo Tianji appeared, looking excited and entertained by the prospect of a battle.
Both the Bai Clan and the opposing side frowned at his appearance.
But Zhao Chen was the one most frustrated by Mo Tianji’s interference. The chance to get the Heaven-Grade Artifact back had been ruined.
(Just when I had the opportunity…)
But aside from feeling frustrated, he didn’t dare to do anything else.
He couldn’t let the truth about the Heaven-Grade Artifact become known. If someone like Mo Tianji found out, keeping it would become a nightmare.
“Hmph! Bai Zihan, you’re lucky. But pray that you don’t meet us again. Next time, no one will be there to save you.”
Zhao Chen said coldly as he turned around and going to leave.
“Oh? Already done?”
Mo Tianji muttered, disappointed.
The Bai Clan members looked at him.
Even though it seemed like Mo Tianji had just saved them, there was no way they’d feel grateful to a Demonic Cultivator.
Bai Zihan didn’t see it that way either.
Rather, he saw it the opposite way—Mo Tianji had saved the Li and Zhao Clan members.
Of course, it didn’t seem like Mo Tianji was done just because they had stopped.
Mo Tianji stretched his arms lazily, bones cracking like dry wood snapping under pressure.
“Tch! Boring. I was hoping to see some heads roll.”
His red eyes swept over both factions—Zhao Chen’s side and the Bai Clan—like a butcher eyeing livestock.
Mo Tianji’s crimson eyes gleamed as a wicked grin slowly spread across his face.
“Actually… on second thought…”
His voice was casual, as he released his Qi, making everyone around cautious.
“Who told you lot you could just walk away?”
Zhao Chen froze mid-step.
Mo Tianji’s grin widened.
“I don’t remember giving anyone permission to leave.”
“What are you playing at, Mo Tianji?”
Zhao Chen snarled, turning back.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“Oh, but it does,” Mo Tianji said, stretching again, his joints cracking ominously.
“See, I was getting bored. And then you showed up. I thought you lot were interesting, but you just leave me in disappointment.”
He tilted his head toward Bai Zihan.
“Since you two groups were about to start fighting anyway, why don’t we make a game out of it?”
He pointed a long, bony finger at Zhao Chen.
“Your side.”
Then he turned and pointed at Bai Zihan.
“Your side.”
Then he spread his arms like a grand performer about to announce the finale of a show.
“Only one group leaves.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
“You’re insane!”
Someone from the Li Clan shouted.
“Do you even know who we are?”
Another yelled.
Although Mo Tianji was definitely terrifying, it wasn’t like they would be terrified of him alone when they were so many in number.
Mo Tianji laughed.
“Oh, absolutely! But that doesn’t mean anything to me.”
He looked around with a devilish glint in his eye. “Only one side gets to walk away. The other… well…”
He licked his lips, a gleam of bloodlust flashing in his expression.
“I’ll be very entertained.”
“You think we’ll go along with this!?”
Zhao Chen snapped, face pale.
“Of course not. That’s what makes it fun.” Mo Tianji chuckled.
“You’ll fight because you have to. Not because you want to.”
And as if to prove his point, he just blinked out of sight.
Then—
A scream tore through the air.
One of the Li Clan disciples staggered back, eyes wide in shock, clutching at the gaping hole in his chest.
His heart was gone.
Blood sprayed from the wound as he collapsed, lifeless, into the scorched obsidian.
A second later, Mo Tianji reappeared where the man had stood, licking his fingers, crimson dripping from his lips.
“Mm. Still warm!”
He murmured, eyes gleaming like a predator’s.
“What the hell—!?”
Several of the Zhao Clan disciples scrambled back, horrified.
Although they all knew that Mo Tianji was stronger than them and had reached the Soul Formation Realm, they didn’t expect the difference in their strength to be this staggering.
Their strongest couldn’t even react before Mo Tianji already took someone from their side’s life.
Mo Tianji just smiled at them, tilting his head like a curious beast.
“You were too slow. So I helped speed things up.”
He raised a finger and slowly drew it across his throat in a mock-slashing gesture.
“Here’s the rule. Only one faction gets to leave this place.”
His gaze swept across both the Bai Clan and the Li-Zhao side.
“You can die now by my hands… or kill each other for the right to survive. Your choice!”
He stretched, his bones cracking audibly, then waved casually.
“Tick tock. Start killing or I will kill another one after 10 seconds.”
For a moment, no one moved. No one breathed.
“It’s better to fight against the Bai Clan than Mo Tianji.”
“Anyway, we were going to take care of them.”
“Yeah! Let’s just do what we initially planned.”
…
Although all of them decided to follow through with what Mo Tianji asked for, they pretended like it wasn’t fear that made them decide—but like they had chosen it because that was the original plan.
In reality, after seeing just how powerful Mo Tianji was, they didn’t want to fight him even if he were alone.
“Zhao Chen, what should we do?”
Li Feng asked, but his intention was clear. He wanted to fight with Bai Zihan and the Bai Clan.
Zhao Chen didn’t know clearly which option was better.
It would be best if Mo Tianji kept his word, but there was no guarantee.
If Mo Tianji knew about their objective—which was to get back the Heaven-Grade Artifact—then Mo Tianji might not let them go.
In the best-case scenario, if he did know, he might just take the artifact and leave—but that was exactly what Zhao Chen wanted to avoid.
On the other hand, the Bai Clan was still in the same situation as before or perhaps worst.
“Bai Zihan, what should we do?”
Bai Ming asked.
Running away should be a wise choice, but there was no guarantee that all of them would be able to flee safely.
Now that Mo Tianji said those words, it didn’t seem like he would be satisfied before one party was completely wiped out.
Fighting Mo Tianji?
Although it was an option, not after seeing how he easily took one of the Li Clan member’s lives—and they also knew that if they fought Mo Tianji, the Li-Zhao group might attack them too.
“Just wait!”
Bai Zihan said, still calm.
“Ten seconds is up. Still undecided? Then let’s go for a Bai Clan member this time.”
Mo Tianji said as he targeted Bai Ming.
Well, Bai Ming wasn’t even aware that Mo Tianji was making his move on him.
!!!
Bai Ming only realized the danger when he suddenly saw a knife just before his eyes.
However, Mo Tianji had stopped right before stabbing. Rather than stopping willingly, it was more like his hand was caught by someone.
Bai Zihan caught Mo Tianji mid-air as he made his move to kill Bai Ming.
“You!”
Mo Tianji narrowed his eyes, unable to believe that someone was able to stop him.
Moreover, Bai Zihan didn’t even look surprised by his move and instead glared at him with a casual expression.
“Want to kill someone on my watch?”
Bai Zihan said.
Then, using his full strength, he pulled him hard and slammed Mo Tianji to the ground.
BANG!
When Mo Tianji came to his senses, he was looking at the sky.
(Wh—How?)
He tried to escape Bai Zihan’s hold but found that he couldn’t, and he was helplessly thrown to the ground by Bai ZIhan.
He quickly got to his feet and shot a glare at Bai Zihan.
Who would’ve thought someone here could actually stop him?