Chapter 374: Target, Taixi Sect

"Do not hold me back! Is the Taiqi Sect really that formidable? I want to take on ten of them!" bellowed Owner Fang, who had been tormented for so long.

"The kind of opponent you can take on ten of, they have a hundred, a thousand!" The crowd clearly had no intention of sparing Owner Fang's feelings.

"How would we know I cannot take on a hundred or a thousand without trying!"

"Xiaoyue, quick, hold your owner back!"

A throng of people had already surged forward, completely blocking Owner Fang's path.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened that makes you want to go and flatten the Taiqi Sect?" Nalan Hongwu spoke gravely. "Kid Fang, war is no child's play. One wrong move and people will die. Make things clear first. This old man has lived long enough and does not mind going wild with you, but you cannot just drag everyone else into a pit, can you?"

The others also looked at Fang Qi with bewildered expressions. The Taiqi Sect stood high above, completely unrelated to Owner Fang in any conceivable way. When had he provoked them?

"Indeed," Su Tianji chimed in. "If anything is the matter, speak out and everyone can help you. Otherwise, if you just rush to the Taiqi Sect like this, how can people not worry?"

Although cultivation did not entirely represent capability, if one's cultivation was insufficient, no matter how high their practical strength was, there was a limit. Even a True Immortal without cultivation would be inferior to a chicken, let alone Owner Fang, whose realm was nowhere near that high.

Moreover, that was their headquarters, riddled with countless mechanisms. Even with hidden trump cards, safety was far from guaranteed.

"Raiding someone's headquarters, this Deity is most adept at that. If you are willing to submit to Me and honor Me as the Sacred Venerable..." A cloud of black mist drifted over.

Boom!

"Ah—! You wretched brat, may you die a miserable death! How dare you strike this Sacred Venerable!"

Accompanied by a miserable shriek, it was kicked straight back upstairs.

After this little interlude, before Owner Fang could even speak, Su Tianji’s communication jade began to glow.

Not just Su Tianji, but even Ji Wu, who was still hacking away in Legend, found his communication jade flashing frantically.

Everyone received but a single message: The forces of various sects have assembled, deploying troops along the borders of the Grand Jin on three fronts.

"What is going on?" Everyone looked utterly mystified.

What were all the major sects and various factions doing gathering at the borders of the Kingdom of Jin?

In the northern part of the Grand Jin, outside the Cold Stone Pass, a massive fleet of dharma vessels and cultivators had assembled in the skies just beyond the kingdom’s gateway.

The entire garrison of the Cold Stone Pass was already waiting in battle array, their expressions solemn.

"May I ask what brings you all to the outskirts of our Grand Jin Pass?" a general barked in interrogation.

A white-robed Daoist, whose vestments were embroidered with hexagram symbols, shouted loudly, "Go back and tell your monarch to hand over the person in charge of the Origin Internet Club. Or else, we shall flatten the Grand Jin and capture him ourselves!"

"What?!"

"How arrogant!"

"This is simply bullying intolerable!"

Not only did the soldiers at the frontier burst into a barrage of curses, but even Ji Wu, upon receiving the urgent frontier report back at the Origin Internet Club, turned livid with rage: "Simply too arrogant! What do they take our Grand Jin for?!"

Owner Fang shrugged. "So, you see, it is useless for you to stop me."

"Aren't these the surrounding major sects?" Fenghua asked. "What do they have to do with the Taiqi Sacred Sect?"

Su Tianji sneered, "If there were no one pulling the strings behind them, these factions are so intricately entangled with one another, how could they possibly be so united?!"

"But... hmm...?" Ji Wu looked at Fang Qi with puzzlement. "Why are they coming for you, Owner Fang?"

"How should I know?" Fang Qi shrugged. "I have been over at the Morning Star Sea Region the entire time recently."

"Could it still be because of the Demon Suppressing Cauldron?"

"Rest assured," Su Tianji said in a clear voice. "Handing you over? This Aunt here will be the first to disagree!"

"Agree?" Nalan Hongwu sneered. "Who the hell dares to utter such words? Have they asked this old man first?"

"Anyone who dares to say such things would have already been carried out horizontally by me," Owner Fang said with a darkened face. "Didn't you all ask me why? For those of you who run guilds, have any of your members gone missing? For instance, someone who was perfectly fine a while ago, but suddenly stopped coming online, as if they had vanished into thin air."

"Hmm?" Song Qingfeng said. "Isn't that exactly what we were discussing a while back?"

"Could it be...?!" Nalan Xue keenly sensed the faint scent of a conspiracy hidden within. If everything were connected—from the newly joined guild members, to the disciples of various sects, and finally to the Taiqi Sacred Sect.

"This is bad!" Right at that moment, Ye Xiaoye walked through the door with extreme urgency. "I have caught wind of news regarding those people. Big Brother Bai Lang, along with the several cultivators who were with them, and those newcomers from your guilds, have all been imprisoned in a secret location within the Taiqi Sect. Furthermore..."

"Furthermore what?!" With such explosive news bursting forth, under normal circumstances, someone might have doubted its veracity. But now, with the enemy already at their doorstep, what was left to doubt?

"Furthermore, those people are subjecting them to extremely cruel lightning torture, forcing them to admit that they have been afflicted with a poison called internet addiction here, otherwise..."

"What?!"

"Are the sect masters and elders of those other sects all pigs?!"

"How can they just allow these people to run amok?!"

"Where did you get this news?" Ye Songtao asked. "How come I haven't heard anything?"

Ye Xiaoye said gloomily, "Big Brother Bai managed to transmit the message to Senior Sister Zhou with great difficulty, and I heard it from her... You must go and rescue them quickly, otherwise, if the people of the Taiqi Sect find out that someone leaked the news..."

Ji Wu’s face darkened as he spoke, "The elders and sect masters of the other sects already have the preconceived notion that it is our conspiracy, so it probably won't affect them much. But the cultivator who leaked the news will likely suffer a terrible fate!"

Owner Fang shrugged. "Now, do you all still wish to stop me from going to the Taiqi Sect?"

"This is bullying taken too far!" Nalan Hongwu declared. "This old man shall go with you!"

Su Tianji said coldly, "I am going as well!"

"Count me in!"

"And me!"

"Let us demand justice from the Taiqi Sect!"

"Demand justice? They have already marched right up to our gates, and that sect is clearly no good sort either! Flatten the Taiqi Sect!"

With a single rallying cry, the response was like thunder!

"Enough," Nalan Xue intervened. "If everyone goes, wouldn't that play right into their hands? They could flatten the Grand Jin, drive straight in, and wipe this place out in one fell swoop."

"In my view, it is enough for the owner and my grandfather to go together. Elite forces are what matter, not sheer numbers. The rest should stay behind to guard, in case the forces of the major sects truly launch a reckless attack."

"I am going too!" Su Tianji was clearly displeased with this arrangement.

"Fine, fine, fine. Just moments ago you were stopping me from going, and now you are scrambling to go. Go ahead, go ahead," Owner Fang waved his hand. "Just don't blame me for not looking after you."

"It is clearly I who am looking after you!" Su Tianji glared at him with cold eyes.

"That works too." Owner Fang adopted an innocent expression. "Let me state this clearly beforehand: if anything unfortunate happens to you out there, this owner bears no responsibility. I guarantee I will turn on my heel and run, and I absolutely will not lend you a hand."

Su Tianji had originally intended to assist the lad, but upon hearing these words, she flared up instantly. "Who needs your hand? Just don't drag this Master down!"

"Then it is settled," Fang Qi said. "The three of us shall head to the Taiqi Sect."