649: Chapter 649 I'm giving you a third option!

As the words fell...

The hundreds of black-clad warriors behind Daxiang Maru simultaneously drew the Tachis at their waists.

The blade light was like snow, and the air was thick with killing intent.

The temperature of the entire banquet hall seemed to drop several degrees.

The guests were so terrified that their faces turned pale.

Wait...

Were they going to be collateral damage too?

But they hadn't done anything; they were just there to watch the show...

Wang Shi lay on the ground, watching this scene, a flash of wild joy in his eyes.

The Tachi Sect!

They were an affiliated force of the Emperors Gate within the One Clan, Three Sects, and Five Gates!

This was perfect!

No matter how good Ye Chen was at fighting, he couldn't possibly defeat hundreds of Cultivators, could he?

Even though he, Wang Shi, had lost, if Ye Chen died at the hands of the Tachi Sect, the Wang family's assets wouldn't have to be handed over!

Maybe even...

He could take advantage of the chaos to bite back at the Chu family!

At this thought, Wang Shi's breathing quickened, and the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

However...

Right then...

A lazy voice rang out from the crowd.

"Can I choose a third option?"

Everyone's gaze snapped toward the direction of the voice.

They saw...

Ye Chen walking out from the crowd with his hands in his pockets.

Daxiang Maru's brow furrowed sharply as he looked Ye Chen up and down.

"Nani? I didn't give a third option!"

"There are only two choices! Submit! Or die!"

Ye Chen looked at him and shook his head: "I said there's a third, so there's a third."

Daxiang Maru's gaze turned icy.

"baka! Who do you think you are?"

"You think you're worthy of discussing a third option with me?"

He snorted coldly, his right hand pressing on the hilt of the Tachi at his waist, his thumb pushing the guard open an inch to reveal a section of the cold, glinting blade.

"When my Tachi Sect acts, there have always been only two choices."

"Submit, or die."

"If you want to stand up for the Chu family, then don't blame me for being impolite!"

Ye Chen, however, remained calm and composed.

"No, you've misunderstood."

"I'm not standing up for the Chu family."

Daxiang Maru's brow furrowed even tighter: "Then what do you mean?"

Ye Chen tilted his head: "I wanted to tell you that I'm the one who killed that Yamamoto Ichiki."

???

Good heavens!

Ye Chen was the killer?

Daxiang Maru's pupils suddenly constricted: "Nani? You're saying... you killed Yamamoto Ichiki?"

Ye Chen nodded.

"Yeah, I killed him."

"He attacked me, I acted in self-defense, and then he died."

"Can you really blame me for that?"

Daxiang Maru's face turned completely dark.

"Bakayaro!"

"You killed Lord Yamamoto and you still dare to speak so arrogantly here?!"

"Today, I will use your head as a sacrifice to Yamamoto's spirit in heaven!"

The hundreds of black-clad warriors behind him also raised their Tachis and roared in unison.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The earth-shaking battle cries echoed through the banquet hall. The guests hiding to the side trembled with fear, and some even started crying.

Chu Shixiong's face was pale, but Chu Niubi grinned: "Dad, don't be afraid, Master is here."

Chu Shixiong froze for a moment and turned to look at Ye Chen.

He saw that Ye Chen still had his hands in his pockets, his expression completely unchanged.

"Wait a minute."

Daxiang Maru's movements abruptly stopped, his Tachi suspended in mid-air. His brow furrowed deeply: "Do you have any last words?"

Ye Chen looked at him and said indifferently,

"I'm not leaving last words."

"I wanted to tell you what my third option is."

Daxiang Maru's face darkened: "I said, there is no third option!"

Ye Chen shook his head.

"No, there is."

"Because that is the option I am giving you."

"My third option is..."

"All of you kneel down and let me kill you."

"That way I can finish it quickly, and you'll suffer less."

Silence!

A deathly silence.

Even the sound of breathing couldn't be heard.

Everyone's eyes widened, looking at Ye Chen like he was a madman.

One man, facing hundreds of elite warriors from the Tachi Sect...

Telling... telling them to kneel down and let him kill them?

If this wasn't madness, what was?

Daxiang Maru was stunned for several seconds before bursting into loud laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"baka! Have you lost your mind?"

"You want hundreds of my Tachi Sect elites to kneel and let you kill them?"

"Who do you think you are? Are you Amaterasu?"

He laughed so hard he doubled over, tears almost coming to his eyes.

The black-clad warriors behind him also began to laugh, their voices harsh and filled with mockery and disdain.

"Is this kid scared stupid?"

"One man taking on hundreds of us? Has he got water on the brain?"

"In my thirty years of life, this is the first time I've seen someone so arrogant!"

"Arrogant? This isn't arrogance, this is a death wish! Truly a person from the Dragon Kingdom, even more clueless about the world than the Kimchi people!"

...

However...

Facing a hall full of ridicule, Ye Chen remained completely unperturbed.

Daxiang Maru laughed his fill, wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, and his expression instantly turned cold.

"Since you're seeking death, I'll grant it to you!"

He suddenly raised his Tachi, the blade pointing directly at Ye Chen.

"Warriors of the Tachi Sect!"

"Attack!"

"Cut off this brat's head!"

"Hai!" hundreds of black-clad warriors shouted in unison, their feet thumping against the bluestone floor.

Hundreds of Tachis were raised simultaneously, the blade light like snow and the killing intent soaring to the heavens.

The entire banquet hall seemed to have turned into an Asura's field.

Watching this...

Ye Chen shrugged helplessly.

"Since you won't cooperate..."

"Then let me help you cooperate."

As soon as he finished speaking...

He stomped his foot.

BOOM!!!

In the next instant, the entire banquet hall shook violently as if struck by a meteorite.

With Ye Chen as the center, the marble floor exploded, and countless stone fragments shot out in all directions like cannonballs.

But the fragments weren't the most terrifying part.

It was an invisible pressure.

That pressure descended from the sky like something physical, pressing down on the shoulders of Daxiang Maru and the hundreds of black-clad warriors.

So much so that...

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Hundreds of black-clad warriors all knelt on the ground in unison.

Not a single one could struggle to their feet.

Because that pressure was too strong—so strong they found it difficult even to breathe, let alone resist.

Daxiang Maru knelt on the ground, drenched in sweat, his hands propping himself up.

He gritted his teeth desperately, trying to stand, but as soon as his knees left the ground an inch, he was pressed back down by that force.

"Ba... baka..."

He looked up, staring fixedly at Ye Chen, his eyes full of terror. "You... you are a Late Golden Core Stage expert???"

He was an Early Golden Core Stage expert and the strongest existence in the Tachi Sect!

He had thought that with his strength, he could walk unhindered in the Secular World.

But right now, he couldn't even stand up.

Only someone at the Late Golden Core Stage, or even higher, could leave him without any power to resist...

Late Golden Core Stage?

Those were existences likely only found in the Five Clans, Eight Sects, and Thirteen Gates!

But how old was this young man?

In his twenties?

A Late Golden Core Stage in his twenties?

What kind of monster was this?

Ye Chen looked down at him and spoke calmly.

"Don't worry about who I am. You didn't cooperate with me just now, which made me lose face."

"I plan to just slaughter you all."

Upon hearing this, Daxiang Maru completely panicked: "Chot... Chotto matte!"

"Speak a human language, don't use that bird tongue," Ye Chen's brow furrowed.

Daxiang Maru quickly changed his tune.

"Wai... wait!"

"I... I have people in Wa!"

"If you kill us, Wa will start a war!"

"My Daxiang Family is a warlord family in Wa!"

"My grandson, Daxiang Ichiro, is a high-ranking general in the Wa Self-Defense Forces!"

"My second grandson, Daxiang Erlang, is a heavyweight figure in Wa!"

"If you dare touch a hair on my head, my Daxiang Family will surely use all their power to launch a retaliation against the Dragon Kingdom!"

Ye Chen shrugged, turned to look at Chu Niubi, and said calmly: "Niubi, call the Kōkyo. Say it's Ye Chen, and have their Empress answer the phone."

Chu Niubi froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously: "Got it!"

He pulled out his phone and dialed the number for the Kōkyo.

Kneeling on the ground, Daxiang Maru watched Chu Niubi's actions, completely stunned.

Had these two Dragon Kingdom people gone mad?

The Kōkyo was a place you could just call whenever you wanted?

And have the Empress answer the phone?

Who do you think you are?

The guests in the banquet hall were also stunned.

They couldn't figure out what Ye Chen was trying to do.

But very soon...

Chu Niubi's call went through.

He whispered a few words.

Then...

He handed the phone to Ye Chen: "Master, it's connected."

Ye Chen reached out, took the phone, and pressed the speakerphone button.

In the next second...

A seductive voice came out of the phone.

"Master, you've called your slave?"

The voice was charming to the bone, with a hint of laziness and surprise, like a cat that had just woken up and was acting spoiled.

Total silence.

Daxiang Maru's pupils suddenly constricted, and he felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.

This voice...

He had heard it before.

No, everyone in Wa had heard it.

That was the voice of the new Empress—Daji!

But she actually called a young man from the Dragon Kingdom "Master"?

Daxiang Maru's mind went blank.

The black-clad warriors behind him looked even more ashen, as if they had seen the most unbelievable thing in the world.

Ye Chen spoke calmly into the phone: "Do you know the Daxiang Family?"

Daji sounded surprised.

"I do."

"They are a warlord family that has been established in Wa for hundreds of years."

"They have deep roots in both the military and politics. Master, did they offend you?"

Ye Chen gave an 'en': "There's someone named Daxiang Maru who offended me. Go ahead and wipe out this Daxiang Family."