Chapter 306: 306 Unyielding?
For thousands of years, when had he ever been subjected to this kind of humiliation?
A Shaman’s Blessing Dance?
In the world, is there anyone who dared to humiliate a Crossing Tribulation Realm cultivator this way? Was he trying to make himself a public enemy?
Ancestor Tuohai mustered his internal Spiritual Power, attempting to break free from Phoenix Seeks Phoenix’s bind, but he found it was impossible. His body constantly writhed, strikingly displaying his robust and vigorous stature before the woman in front of him...
As he saw more and more people showing off their talents around him, Ancestor Tuohai’s mood shifted from anger to horror. He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, looked at Cen Qing coldly, and asked, "Are you from the Moon Spirit Sect?"
"Yes," Cen Qing turned pale, her breath heavy. Terrified, she stood still, not daring to move.
More and more people gathered around her, each one demonstrating their talents. Some were in the Crossing Tribulation Realm, some in the Great Cheng Realm.
It could be said this was the most glorious moment of her life.
However, at this moment, Cen Qing’s heart was filled with utter fear.
She didn’t dare imagine what would happen after Phoenix Seeks Phoenix ended. Would this furious crowd tear her to shreds?
If she wasn’t mistaken, the few people closest to her were the Transcendance Tribulation Stage experts from the Blood Sect. If these individuals impulsively made their moves, they would trigger a Heavenly Tribulation.
Cen Qing squinted at Ancestor Nan Rong, who was somersaulting. Her mouth was dry. Lin Bai has gone too far, actually forcing a Transcendance Tribulation Stage Ancestor to perform flips in front of me...
"What Divine Skill is this?" Ancestor Tuohai asked.
"Phoenix Seeks Phoenix," Cen Qing answered honestly, then deftly shifted the blame, "It has nothing to do with me; it’s Alliance Hierarch Lin Bai’s Divine Skill."
"How do we stop it?" Ancestor Nan Rong’s voice was hoarse, his state bordering on frenzy.
In that short time, he had already performed hundreds of somersaults and had to continue.
For a Transcendance Tribulation Stage Ancestor, this was public execution.
The pressure he endured was far greater than Tuohai’s. If word of this got out and he didn’t ascend, what face would he have left to live in this world?
Of course, he wasn’t the most miserable one. There was someone nearby mimicking bird calls!
"I don’t know," Cen Qing was on the verge of tears.
"You’re Lin Bai’s subordinate; how could you not know?" Ancestor Tuohai roared.
"I don’t know, and that’s that! What can you do about it?" Pushed to the extreme, Cen Qing found her courage, glaring at Tuohai and snapping, "You think I wanted this? This is Lin Bai’s Divine Skill! Why are you venting your anger on me? If you have the guts, go fight Lin Bai!"
The control was indeed in her hands, but what else could she do?
Dare she call a stop?
Even if Lin Bai told her to stop now, she probably wouldn’t dare...
「...」
Currently, the Blood Sect had over thirty Great Cheng Realm cultivators within the Sect.
Due to their Cultivation Techniques, the proportion of male cultivators in the Blood Sect far exceeded that of females.
Among the more than thirty Great Cheng Realm cultivators, only nine were women.
The total number of Hollow Realm female cultivators did not exceed fifty. Divinity Transformation Realm cultivators were more numerous, but their combat power was negligible.
Phoenix Seeks Phoenix controlled all the male cultivators. The female cultivators were stunned by the sudden, grand spectacle, momentarily unsure how to react.
But Lin Bai gave them no chance. He slapped his Storage Bag.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Ropes, refined in advance, flew out one after another, piercing shoulders and wrapping around legs as if manipulated by invisible hands, suspending all the dazed female cultivators in mid-air.
Female cultivators always paid great attention to their maintenance and appearance. Even without the Cultivation Techniques of the Pill and Spirit Sect, after achieving significant cultivation, they would often seek out Complexion-preserving Pills and similar Pill Medicines to retain their youth.
Thus, the rope bondage on them produced an extreme effect, their curvaceous figures appearing exceptionally alluring.
The ropes used this time were refined by the Artifact Refining Grandmaster Zuo Lan. They were far sturdier than the ones hastily refined outside Zhen City. It would be impossible to break free from them in a short time; instead, they would effectively stimulate the body.
Amidst the cacophony of curses, occasional involuntary sounds could be heard, sparking the imagination...
Many of the Justice League’s aboriginals and Players were dumbfounded. Numerous male cultivators subconsciously licked their lips. Binding the Immortal is an art. Even if they had practiced it in private, they could never achieve the standard set by the System. This effect is far too tempting.
Xu Longyun watched the suspended female cultivators, lightly bit her lip, and looked at Lin Bai with a somewhat resentful gaze, her thoughts unreadable.
But Lin Bai wasn’t dwelling on such things.
In his heart, anyone not yet tamed, no matter how beautiful, was an enemy.
The slightest hint of lust could plunge him into a situation of no return.
Those women bound by ropes had lived for who knows how many years; what hadn’t they seen?
Moreover, the refined ropes, despite their strength, had limits; they couldn’t restrain Great Cheng Realm cultivators for long...
"Ye Song, Xiao Yu, Ancestor Purple Robe... don’t just stand there, get to work!" Lin Bai called out, raising his hand. The Blacksmith’s six-piece set was already hurtling towards one of the female cultivators.
To deal with them quickly, he naturally had to break their protective Magic Artifacts first.
CLANG! CLANG!
The Magic Artifacts shattered.
Simultaneously, attacks from Ye Song, Zuo Lan, Ancestor Purple Robe, and Xiao Yu—all four Great Cheng Realm cultivators—landed on the unfortunate Great Cheng Realm female cultivator. In an instant, her defenses crumbled, leaving her in a near-death state, unable to utter a single word from beginning to end.
The next moment, a silver Card hovered above her head and absorbed her. Lin Bai retrieved the Card, then released her. She had become a dazed Puppet, now guarding his side...
The series of actions flowed as smoothly as an assembly line.
Witnessing this, the remaining Great Cheng Realm female cultivators were scared out of their wits. Who would still dare to resist? One by one, they stopped struggling, scrambling to surrender.
"Alliance Hierarch Lin, show mercy! Tong Lin is willing to join the Justice League!"
"Gu Yun wishes to surrender!"
"Qian Jing wishes to surrender!"
「...」
Seeing even the Great Cheng Realm cultivators surrender, the Hollow Realm cultivators had even less thought of resisting. The sounds of surrender rose and fell, the melodious voices of the women even drowning out the curses of the male cultivators forced to perform.
Hearing the surrenders, Ye Song and the others halted their actions, awaiting Lin Bai’s further instructions.
At this moment, their attitude towards Lin Bai was exceptionally respectful, their initial arrogance long gone.
The Blood Sect, one of the Five Demonic Sects that had dominated the world for tens of thousands of years, hadn’t lasted a single round against Lin Bai before being utterly routed. Losing to such a person wasn’t shameful.
"Tong Lin, surrendering without a fight! You have all failed the Sect that nurtured you! Utterly shameless!" Tu Yan, whose forced performance was to waddle like a duck, hands by his sides, pacing back and forth in the sky, berated them.
He had seen that the female cultivators weren’t incapacitated and had pinned his hopes of escape on them. But in an instant, all the women had rushed to surrender, extinguishing his only hope. He couldn’t help but curse loudly.
"Ancestor Tuohai is also trapped! If you kill that woman in the middle, with the Ancestors present, we might still be able to fight!" a Great Cheng Realm cultivator, performing a hip-swaying dance, said bitterly, his face flushed.
"Hold on for a moment longer! Our friends from the Holy Extreme Sect and the Valley of Thousand Souls will soon come to our aid..."
"Ahem!" Lin Bai coughed, his voice cutting through the din. He stepped forward from the crowd, his eyes sweeping over the blushing, rope-bound female cultivators. "Are you truly willing to surrender?"
The jumbled voices of the female cultivators rose once more.
"We surrender!"
"Alliance Hierarch Lin, we are willing to surrender!"
「...」
They paid no heed to the male cultivators’ complaints. It wasn’t them hanging there. If they could break the ropes, so be it.
Bound by ropes, their protective Magic Artifacts rendered useless and then destroyed. To have hundreds, even thousands, of years of cultivation instantly wiped out, to be turned into Puppets—who would be willing to pay such a price?
Furthermore, a single law had the entire Sect singing and dancing for one woman, a law that even Transcendance Tribulation Stage cultivators couldn’t break free from.
To oppose such an expert—was that not courting death?
「...」
"Since you are willing to surrender, the Justice League will accept you. However, as the saying goes, ’You can draw a person’s skin, but not their bones; you can know their face, but not their heart.’ Surrendering mid-battle is ultimately unsettling," Lin Bai said, looking at them. "If you truly wish to surrender, then stop struggling. How about you continue to hang there in the air?"
A brief silence ensued.
The female cultivators ceased their struggles, enduring the humiliation as they remained suspended.
It’s better to live in shame than to die in vain.
Senior Sister Xiuyun’s fate was a clear example. What was being temporarily suspended compared to the humiliation of a Transcendance Tribulation Stage Ancestor performing backflips over there?
"Ye Song, take them aside and guard them closely. If anyone’s rope breaks, show no mercy. Eliminate her immediately," Lin Bai turned to Ye Song, his voice laced with killing intent. "Our conflict with the Blood Sect is to the death. Better to kill the wrong one than to let one escape."
"Yes, Master," Ye Song responded instantly.
In Zhen City, Lin Bai had declared that his feud with the Blood Sect was irreconcilable. Later, witnessing the range of the Sonic attack, Ye Song had thought Lin Bai’s words held merit. But now, with the entire Blood Sect being toyed with in the palm of Lin Bai’s hand, to speak of an irreconcilable feud seemed an overstatement. The Blood Sect, from top to bottom, hardly seemed qualified to be his irreconcilable enemy!
The faces of the suspended female cultivators turned green. One Great Cheng Realm cultivator with profound cultivation had nearly snapped her ropes. Hearing Lin Bai’s words, she hastily stilled her body, not daring to move a muscle, terrified that any slight movement might accidentally break the ropes and cause a misunderstanding with Lin Bai.
To protect the fragile ropes, they even went so far as to expend Spiritual Power to reinforce them, maintaining their current state.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, we’ll be family from now on. When you move us, please be gentle. Don’t break the ropes..."
"If it’s really not secure, if you have extra ropes, we’d be willing for you to add a few more to reinforce us."
「...」
"Shameless!"
"Degenerates!"
"Ashamed to be associated with you!"
"When we break free, we will hunt you down to the death!"
「...」
Tu Yan and the other cultivators, unaware of their own impending fate, continued to relentlessly curse the surrendering female cultivators, venting their suppressed frustrations.
Looking at the numerous cultivators trapped by Phoenix Seeks Phoenix, Lin Bai felt a headache coming on. There are too many of them. If Cen Qing dared to release them, a single slip-up, and they would tear her to shreds...
"Which one of you is Tong Lin?" Lin Bai turned towards the female cultivators.
"I am," a female cultivator in a purple robe responded. She was subjected to the ’Four Horse’ binding, her hands and feet tied behind her back, her neck arched upwards, making it impossible to stand. She used the Art of Riding the Void to remain prone in the air. It was only due to the robust physique of cultivators; an ordinary person in such a binding would have long suffered from numb limbs due to poor blood circulation and a sense of suffocation.
"I’m not too familiar with your Sect’s cultivators. Come over and introduce them to me." Lin Bai flashed to her side, grabbed the ropes on her back, and flashed again into the center of the talent show, beside Cen Qing.
Cen Qing managed a strained smile at Lin Bai. "Alliance Hierarch, what should I do?"
"Don’t be afraid, take it slowly," Lin Bai said, holding Tong Lin with one hand while comforting Cen Qing with the other. "The ones trapped are the Blood Sect members, not you. What are you worried about? The Dao of Laws is nearly absolute. If they still harbor hostility towards you, just let them continue like this. Eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink. It’s merely having a group of people performing talents around you..."
"I find it truly unimaginable that someone who has mastered the Dao of Laws could be such a vile-minded person," Ancestor Tuohai said, scrutinizing Lin Bai with a somber face. "I refuse to believe this Dao of Laws can truly trap us for a lifetime. I swear, the moment I break free will be the day you die."
"Tong Lin, who is he?" Lin Bai asked, feigning confusion.
Tong Lin adjusted her position, shifting from prone to upright. As a traitor, she averted her gaze, not daring to look at her Sect’s Ancestor, but she still replied, "Reporting to the Alliance Hierarch, he is our Sect’s Ancestor Tuohai, at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage."
PTUI!
Tuohai spat towards Tong Lin, but the saliva tellingly failed to travel beyond his dance radius. Phoenix Seeks Phoenix protected him, but it also restricted his Spiritual Power.
"So, it’s a Transcendance Tribulation Stage senior," Lin Bai released Tong Lin and cupped his fists in a mock salute. "Lin Bai, Sect Leader of the Righteous Door, pays his respects."
"Lin Bai, do you dare release me? Let us two have a fair and honorable duel to the death!" Tuohai glared at Lin Bai. "You used such despicable means to defeat the Blood Sect; you’ll never win true respect."
"Senior Tuohai, I’ve never sought to win respect. What I want is conquest." Lin Bai shook his head, then suddenly sighed. "Since you seniors can appear on the battlefield, you must know something about me. That I, Lin Bai, have reached this point today is entirely thanks to the Seven Righteous Sects and the Five Demonic Sects. If they had initially extended an olive branch instead of a Slaughter Knife, perhaps we would be amicably researching the Dao of Laws together now. Why would we have ended up in this life-or-death situation? It is timing, it is fate, it is all the tricks of destiny..."
"..." Tuohai was stunned. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards, forced into a smile. He recalled the reports in the Justice Weekly about Lin Bai’s ’Law Resonance’ and felt an even deeper dread. A Crossing Tribulation Realm cultivator can transcend heaven and earth at any moment. He had thought he could resist such laws, but he wasn’t exempt either.
"Previously, I, Lin Bai, was willing to play along with the Seven Righteous Sects and the Five Demonic Sects because my own cultivation was insufficient. Now that my Dao of Laws has achieved some minor success, I will naturally no longer hold back. My only thought is to pacify the world as quickly as possible, and then research the Dao of Laws together with all of you to face the great worldly calamity," Lin Bai continued, looking at the array of strange smiles around him. "When you think about it, it’s merely different paths leading to the same destination!"
"If that’s the case, why don’t you bind us with ropes and refine us into Puppets?" Ancestor Nan Rong, still performing backflips, said through clenched teeth. "I fear even you cannot truly control this Dao of Laws, can you?"
"And this somersaulting Ancestor is?" Lin Bai asked again.
"That is Ancestor Nan Rong," Tong Lin replied softly, her face blushing.
"Senior Nan Rong is correct. The Dao of Laws is profound and unfathomable. Even I, Lin Bai, cannot control those trapped by Phoenix Seeks Phoenix..." Lin Bai admitted frankly.
"Just as I suspected! Phoenix Seeks Phoenix is connected to that woman, isn’t it?" Ancestor Nan Rong said with a savage expression. "The moment I break free will be the day I perish together with you, little thief!"
"Senior Nan Rong, you are mistaken," Lin Bai shook his head, his demeanor calm and collected. "Although I, Lin Bai, can do nothing to you all now, I fear you also cannot escape by your own power. To me, keeping you trapped is not much different from killing you. If you seniors have the perseverance, you can continue flipping for another hundred or eighty years. It took me, Lin Bai, three months to reach my current state. One hundred and eighty years from now, perhaps I, Lin Bai, will have already become the Heavenly Dao. At that time, it will likely be impossible for you, senior, to wish to perish together with me!"