Chen Ping, a cultivator who appeared to be only at the fifth rank of the Loose Immortal Realm, had unleashed a strength that absolutely reached the Earth Immortal Realm.
He walked up to the Seventh Hall Master, looking down at this once-arrogant peak Loose Immortal Realm expert, now begging like a stray dog, his eyes devoid of any ripple.
“Apologise?”
Chen Ping crouched down, his fingers lifting the Seventh Hall Master’s chin, his tone laced with mockery. “If apologies worked, what would be the point of strength?”
The Seventh Hall Master trembled, his face as pale as paper. He knew that today, he likely wouldn’t escape death.
“I… I’m a member of the Divine Hall… If you kill me… the Divine Hall won’t let you off…” he stammered, making a final desperate struggle.
“Divine Hall?”
Chen Ping chuckled lightly, standing up and brushing off nonexistent dust. “In my eyes, the Divine Hall is just a slightly larger ant nest.”
“Chen Ping, you’ve offended the Divine Hall, but not everyone in it. The Fourth Hall Master instructed me to only investigate you, not to clash with you.”
“If you hadn’t pushed me so far, I would never have acted against you,” the Seventh Hall Master said helplessly, looking at Chen Ping.
Hearing this, Chen Ping suddenly recalled what the Eighth Hall Master, Huo Zhao, had told him about the two factions within the Divine Hall’s God King Palace: the conservatives and the reformists.
“This Fourth Hall Master you mentioned, how is her influence in the Divine Hall? I’ve heard that the Divine Hall isn’t exactly united, with two factions at play,” Chen Ping asked.
The Seventh Hall Master gave a bitter smile. “For people like us below the Third Heaven, no matter which faction in the Divine Hall gives orders, we have to obey.”
“But the Fourth Hall Master is kind and has always wanted to abolish outdated rules, allowing our clan to intermarry with outsiders.”
“She’s a female cultivator herself, so she likely understands the pain of female cultivators. In the God Clan, female cultivators exist to serve male cultivators, and they’re forbidden from marrying outsiders.”
“Because of this one rule, countless lovers have been torn apart, and countless female cultivators have suffered the God Clan’s punishments,” the Seventh Hall Master said with a hint of resignation.
After speaking, his expression turned deeply forlorn, as if weighed down by heavy thoughts.
Chen Ping hadn’t expected the Fourth Hall Master to be a female cultivator, but it seemed she genuinely wasn’t out for his life.
After all, when the Seventh Hall Master was at the Eighth Hall, he could have wiped it out entirely, especially since Chen Ping wasn’t there at the time.
Yet the Seventh Hall Master hadn’t gone all out, likely because the Fourth Hall Master had instructed him to only investigate Chen Ping, not to cause conflict.
“It seems your Fourth Hall Master is a reformist,” Chen Ping said, then looked at the Seventh Hall Master’s expression and asked, “Did this clan rule hurt you too?”
At this, the Seventh Hall Master’s eyes welled up with tears, and he sobbed, “Actually, hundreds of years ago, I fell in love with a human female cultivator. We were in love, but the clan rules forbade us from being together.”
“We’re all human, yet they slap a ‘God Clan’ label on us, making it impossible for us to find the ones we love.”
“She left in the end, and I’ve never looked for another woman since…” he finished, his voice trailing off.
Chen Ping felt a pang of sympathy. The God Clan was human too, yet they arrogantly crowned themselves with that title.
They acted superior, as if they were untouchable.
But some in the God Clan could see reality clearly.
Without strength, what use were all those titles?
“Today, I won’t kill you,” Chen Ping declared.
The Seventh Hall Master’s head snapped up, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.
“But,” Chen Ping’s tone shifted, his eyes glinting coldly, “if you dare target the Eighth Hall again, I’ll wipe out your Seventh Hall.”
“Never, absolutely never…” the Seventh Hall Master shook his head frantically.
