167: Chapter 167: Compensation? No, I want your entire sect!
In front of the mountain gate, the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke mingled together, pungent and unpleasant.
Several cleaning robots were already in operation, efficiently clearing the bloodstains and severed limbs from the ground while spraying disinfectant.
The entire scene exuded a cold and eerie sense of order.
The Hook-nosed Elder and the two remaining helmsmen had been disarmed; they stood there dejectedly like three defeated roosters.
Their flying sword magic treasures had been confiscated and set aside, and a technician was holding an instrument, scanning and analyzing these spoils of war.
"Report: The flying sword material is Blood-Veined Steel, mixed with a small amount of Resentful Soul Stone. Energy conduction efficiency is low, and structural integrity is poor. Recommendation: Send back to the furnace for remelting."
"Report: Inside the Storage Pouch, we found a large number of magic tools refined from human bones, as well as some low-level poison pills and toxic herbs. There is no significant research value. Recommendation: Dispose of safely."
Listening to these "professional" analyses, the faces of the three men flushed red and then turned pale.
The magic treasures they were so proud of were, in the eyes of these people, merely a pile of trash that needed to be remelted or disposed of as hazardous waste?
This blow was more painful than killing them.
Jiang Ning sat down on an alloy chair that had been brought out temporarily, with Zhang Liancheng and Sect Leader Lu Yun standing on her left and right.
The disciples of the Qingyun Sect formed a circle from afar, curiously watching this "trial," something they had never seen before.
"Speak," Jiang Ning said, picking up a cup of hot tea and blowing on it gently, her gaze landing on the Hook-nosed Elder. "Your Blood Evil Sect came to my territory aggressively, shouting and killing. What exactly are you trying to do?"
Her tone was very flat, as if she were asking if he had eaten today.
But the Hook-nosed Elder felt as if he had been targeted by an ancient ferocious beast; his blood felt like it was about to freeze.
"Sen... Senior..." He swallowed hard, the arrogant aura he had before now completely gone. "A misunderstanding... this is all a misunderstanding..."
"A misunderstanding?" Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow. "Bringing over thirty people and immediately trying to kill—is that also a misunderstanding?"
"It... it is our fault!" The Hook-nosed Elder reacted extremely quickly, immediately lowering his posture. "We were blind and failed to recognize a superior expert, offending you! We accept any punishment, but we beg you, Senior, to be magnanimous and spare our miserable lives!"
He understood now.
The woman before him, and the mysterious force behind her, were simply not people their Blood Evil Sect could afford to provoke!
Let alone a Vice Sect Leader like him, even if their Sect Leader came in person, facing that kind of overwhelming attack from earlier, the outcome probably wouldn't be any better!
The most important thing right now was to save his life and rush back to tell the Sect Leader this shocking news!
Let the Sect Leader decide!
"Sparing your lives is not impossible," Jiang Ning said, putting down her teacup calmly. "However, while the death penalty can be avoided, you cannot escape punishment."
"You attacked my gate, destroyed my entrance, frightened my employees, and delayed my construction schedule. Someone has to pay for these losses, right?"
Here it comes!
The Hook-nosed Elder's heart sank; he knew the other party was about to extort them.
However, any problem that could be solved with spirit stones was not a problem.
"Yes! Yes! We should compensate! Our Blood Evil Sect is willing to compensate!" He quickly nodded and bowed. "Senior, please name your price. As long as we can afford it, we will not haggle!"
"Very good." Jiang Ning nodded with satisfaction.
She held up one finger.
The Hook-nosed Elder's heart skipped a beat.
Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones? Or... ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones?
Although it would hurt, if he gritted his teeth, it wasn't impossible to scrape together.
However, what Jiang Ning said next struck him like a thunderbolt.
"I want your Blood Evil Sect to merge into our Qingyun Sect from now on."
"What?!"
Not only the Hook-nosed Elder, but even the two helmsmen behind him and the surrounding Qingyun Sect disciples were stunned.
They could understand compensation. But this... this was to directly annex the entire Blood Evil Sect! This appetite was too big!
"Sen... Senior... you... you aren't joking, are you?" Cold sweat broke out instantly on the Hook-nosed Elder's face.
This wasn't extortion anymore; this was trying to take the whole pot!
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Jiang Ning asked in return.
The Hook-nosed Elder looked at Jiang Ning's calm, expressionless face, and his heart turned icy cold. He knew the other party was serious.
"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" He refused excitedly without thinking. "Our Blood Evil Sect has been passed down for hundreds of years, how could we..."
"Bang!" A gunshot rang out. A bloody hole appeared in the center of the forehead of one of the helmsmen beside him. The look of astonishment on the helmsman's face hadn't even faded before he fell straight down, devoid of life.
The one who fired was Zhang Liancheng, who was standing behind Jiang Ning.
He blew on the muzzle, which was still emitting blue smoke, and said expressionlessly, "The Chief Engineer is asking you a question, not asking for your opinion."
Hiss—the whole crowd gasped. Too overbearing! Too unreasonable! Killing people at the slightest disagreement!
The Hook-nosed Elder and the remaining helmsman were scared out of their wits; their legs went weak, and they knelt directly on the ground.
"Sen... Senior, spare us! Senior, please spare us!" They were truly terrified. This group of people didn't follow the rules of the cultivation world at all! In their eyes, killing a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator seemed no different from stepping on an ant.
Jiang Ning picked up the teacup and took another sip, as if nothing had happened just now.
"I will ask one more time: do you agree to my proposal or not?"
"I... I..." The Hook-nosed Elder knelt on the ground, trembling like a sieve.
Agree? If he dared to agree, once the Sect Leader found out, he would be dead anyway! Refuse? He would die right now! This was simply a dead end!
"It seems you still haven't figured it out." Jiang Ning shook her head, seemingly disappointed.
She gave Zhang Liancheng a look. Zhang Liancheng understood and once again raised the gun in his hand, aiming at the remaining helmsman.
"Don't! Don't kill me! I agree! I agree!" At this critical moment, the Hook-nosed Elder finally broke down, screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn't want to die! Compared to his own life, what was the foundation of the sect?
Zhang Liancheng's gun barrel paused. A satisfied smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face.
"Very good, you have made a wise choice."
She stood up, walked in front of the Hook-nosed Elder, and looked down at him.
"I know you are only a Vice Sect Leader and cannot make the decision. Therefore, I will give you a chance."
She took something with a strange shape, like a helmet, from a technician nearby.
"Put it on."
"This... what is this?" The Hook-nosed Elder looked at the object flickering with a faint light, feeling a chill in his heart.
"A... communicator that allows you to talk directly to your Sect Leader," Jiang Ning said calmly.
"Now, you will go and persuade him yourself."
"Tell him that the times have changed."
"Either choose to cooperate, bring the Blood Evil Sect, and join our great cause to make a fortune together."
"Or, along with his pile of junk, be crushed to pieces by the wheels of the times."
"Let him choose the path himself."