Chapter 238: Established Authority Casually (Bonus for Ally Luffy919)

"Boss... maybe we should call the guards..." Zou Mo looked at the men closing in, his face tight with panic. "I'm sure I just saw a patrol from the Cultivator City Security pass by!"

"Is anyone there?! Help—!" Zou Mo screamed right then and there.

The men surrounding them stopped in their tracks, looking down at Fang Qi and Zou Mo with cold, mocking sneers. "You two must be new here, aren't you?"

Just then, the security patrol from before doubled back, quickly noticing the commotion. "What's going on over here?"

"Black Demon business!" A man in a dark cloak stepped forward from the shadows, his voice low and raspy.

"Understood," the security guards replied indifferently. "Carry on, then."

With that, they turned on their heels and marched away.

"Huh?!" Zou Mo froze in sheer disbelief. "Hey! Don't leave!"

"What kind of city is this?!" The spectators watching the livestream almost spat up blood in sheer frustration.

The bald cultivator's sneer grew even colder. "Keep screaming. Go on, let's see who hears you!"

Fang Qi glanced in the direction the black-clad guards had vanished, his tone calm. "Are you absolutely sure they won't be coming back?"

"What do you think?"

"Take them down," the cloaked man standing behind ordered. "No need to hold back against trash like this."

On the other side, Zou Mo found himself cornered by two cultivators.

"Am I going to die here...?" Despair washed over Zou Mo's mind. "I knew I shouldn't have stayed in this city..."

"Hey kid, did you hear that?" The bald cultivator barked, cracking his knuckles with a malicious grin. "Begging won't save you, because beating you half to death is exactly what I plan to do!"

As the words left his mouth, a fist surging with spiritual energy violently smashed forward!

But before the blow could land, a sharp, sudden whistle tore through the air!

A flying sword pierced straight through his hand, pinning him ruthlessly to the wall!

Then came a second, a third, a fourth—a torrential storm of flying swords erupted. The blades moved with such terrifying speed that, caught completely off guard, the several Spirit River Realm cultivators were pinned to the wall before they could even attempt to resist!

"The boss has mastered the Myriad Sword Technique to this level?!"

"Controlled entirely by his will, taking out four opponents in a single breath!"

"This kid is incredible!"

The crowd gathered before the massive projection screen erupted in awe.

The sword shadows dissolved, leaving only a broadsword etched with four strange runes hovering silently beside Fang Qi.

"Bo... Boss...?!" Witnessing this, Zou Mo was utterly stunned. "Since when was the boss this powerful?!"

"Black Demon, Li Huangquan. My apologies for the offense." The cloaked figure spoke, lowering his head in a submissive gesture, seemingly realizing that Fang Qi was far from the weakling they had assumed, and wishing to smooth over the slight.

Yet, no one noticed the sudden, murderous glint concealed beneath his lowered eyes.

Right at that moment, Zou Mo rubbed his eyes and caught sight of a faint, heavily concealed trail of black vapor burrowing into the ground beneath the man's feet.

"Boss! Watch the ground!"

"Hmm?" A ring of crackling lightning surged from beneath Fang Qi's boots.

Holy Shock!

Simultaneously, a burst of insidious black mist erupted from the earth!

Disrupted by the sudden electrical current, the black mist recoiled slightly, giving Fang Qi just enough time to leap high into the air!

"Alright, that's it for today's livestream." Perched upon his hovering sword, Fang Qi casually shut down the broadcast.

"Hey! Why did the boss turn it off?!"

"The fight isn't even finished yet?!"

"We protest!"

In front of the projection screen, complaints echoed through the crowd.

"An ambush?"

Lighting a cigarette for himself, Fang Qi held up a single finger. "I'll leave one of you alive to take a message back to your Black Demon masters. Tell them the Defying Heaven Online Gaming Guild welcomes their challenges anytime."

Fang Qi looked down at the trapped men. "Who's going?"

"Arrogant fool!" The cloaked man sneered coldly. "Do you truly believe you can hold me here?!"

Just as he prepared to vanish into a streak of light, a curtain of blinding sword-light materialized before his eyes!

Looking down from the sky, countless flying swords had aligned themselves within the area, forming a massive, intricate Taiji diagram.

Fang Qi took a slow drag from his cigarette, holding it between two fingers as a misty cloud of smoke drifted from his lips. "What did you say just now?"

"I... I'll take the message back...!" Cold sweat poured down the man's forehead. He had no idea what this grand spectacle before him was, but he knew with absolute certainty that the moment this sword array appeared, every single direction had been utterly sealed off!

Heaven and earth, there was nowhere left to run!

What kind of monstrous technique was this?!

Who exactly was this person?! Wasn't he just a youth in his twenties?! How could he possess such terrifying strength?!

It was simply horrifying!

"Oh, you?" Fang Qi remarked. "You it is, then."

The sword array shifted, and countless flying swords shot toward him along profound, unpredictable trajectories!

A bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air!

Fresh blood splattered across the cobblestones!

"We'll leave this bald one to carry the message instead." Fang Qi glanced at the men still pinned to the wall.

The bald cultivator instantly smelled of urine as terror overwhelmed him. Recalling the arrogant words he had uttered earlier, an immense dread filled his soul.

He had instantly slaughtered Li Huangquan!

Just what kind of monster was this?!

"Bo... Boss..." On the walk back to the shop, Zou Mo spoke, his heart still pounding with lingering fear. "Didn't you say you were going to let that cloaked guy go?"

Fang Qi tossed a cigarette butt onto the ground, stepping on it to extinguish the remaining sparks. "If I could have safely spared him, would I have needed to light a cigarette? Sneaky, treacherous people like him aren't worth leaving alive."

"By the way..." Fang Qi patted the youth's head gently. "Good eye back there."

...

In front of the shop.

Ruan Ning watched as Fang Qi and Zou Mo walked back in a hurried rush. "You're back?"

She pointed inside the shop, her tone laced with annoyance. "You two ran out without even locking the door. Good thing I kept an eye on the place for you, otherwise everything in your shop would have been stolen by now!"

"What kind of faction did you two join anyway?"

Fang Qi pulled out a badge shaped like a dragon-slaying saber. "The Defying Heaven Online Gaming Guild!"

"The what guild?!" Ruan Ning's eyes nearly popped out of her head!

Fang Qi casually hung the badge beside the entrance. "The Defying Heaven Online Gaming Guild."

"How can it be so bizarre?! I have never even heard of it?!" Ruan Ning exclaimed. "You haven't been swindled, have you?! Joining some tiny faction nobody has ever heard of..."

Zou Mo stood beside her, his face a picture of awkwardness. "Sister Ruan... the boss founded this one himself..."

"Himself..." Ruan Ning's mouth fell open, her jaw practically dropping to the floor. "Founded it?!"

You were supposed to join a faction to play it safe, yet you went and founded one yourself?!

"Are you completely out of your mind?!"

"What is there to be so surprised about?" Fang Qi said, taking a seat inside the shop. "Just now, I casually killed a few people from some outfit called 'Black Demon' to establish some authority. They actually dared to rob this boss and play underhanded tricks?! They must be utterly tired of living!"

"Wh—at—?!" If looks could kill, Ruan Ning would have swallowed Fang Qi whole by now. "Just how massive is your heart?! You actually dared to kill people from 'Black Demon'?!"

"..." Zou Mo recounted the events honestly. "And the boss deliberately let one escape, saying our 'Defying Heaven Online Gaming Guild' welcomes any trouble they want to bring."

"By the way... is this Black Demon very powerful?"

"It's over...!" A wave of despair washed over Ruan Ning's heart. "From this day forth, this old lady does not know you! Goodbye!"

"Even if you know this boss, you won't get a discount for playing games in the shop," Fang Qi shouted toward the door.

Ruan Ning stumbled, nearly crashing into the ground. "Who would dare come to your shop to play games?! No one dared to come before, and now..."

"Boss, what exactly do you do in this shop?" Before her words could fully land, three or four cultivators walked in, looking around the shop with confusion, speaking with thick foreign accents. "How very strange."

Ruan Ning hastily shut her mouth; though frustrated, she couldn't well ruin someone's business, could she?

She figured only this kind of clueless outsider would dare to come.

.

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The extra chapters for the other alliance leaders will be presented one after another.