But I wonder how much of this imposing manner of Sect Master Su can withstand before our Puppet Heaven Sacred Ground...

Fine beads of cold sweat seeped from the forehead of the red-haired middle-aged man from the Blood Fiend Sect.

The seductive smiles on the faces of the Joyous Sect's female disciples had long vanished, replaced by a heavy solemnity.

No one expected this succession ceremony to devolve into such a farce.

Su Ji, seemingly finding counting too troublesome, had pulled up a chair and sat right at the edge of the high platform. With his legs crossed, he leisurely cracked melon seeds between his teeth, watching the scene with keen interest.

Finally, after kowtowing an unknown number of times, the elder seemed to suffer a severe panic attack; his legs gave out, and he passed out cold.

Only then did Su Ji stand up, looking as if he hadn't quite had enough fun, and clapped the melon seed shells from his hands.

"That's enough."

He waved his hand at the Azure Sword Sect disciples, whose faces had long since drained of all color.

"Not bad, not bad. Your Azure Sword Sect has earned the friendship of my Lovesick Sect. Some other day, I'll have my disciples send over some local specialties as a token of goodwill. Remember to send some local specialties back as a return gift."

The Azure Sword Sect disciples felt as if they had been granted a grand pardon. Scrambling and stumbling onto the stage, they hoisted up their unconscious elder and fled the plaza in utter disgrace.

Su Ji's gaze swept over the crowd below once more.

The sect representatives who met his gaze all felt a chill in their hearts and subconsciously averted their eyes.

How should one put it? It wasn't that no one among this group of sects dared to rebel against Su Ji.

It was mainly because the highest cultivation base among them was only at the Late Golden Core realm. Who would dare to invite such bad luck?

Those who came today were merely elders acting as representatives.

After all, even if the Lovesick Sect had a new sect master, their prestige wasn't great enough to warrant the personal attendance of the various major sect masters.

Sending a representative, offering some inexpensive gifts, testing the waters, and going through the motions—this was their original plan.

But who could have imagined that this new sect master wouldn't play by the rules at all!

Now look at them: dissatisfied but unable to win a fight, wanting to leave but not daring to.

Everyone felt stifled to death in their hearts, only hoping that some blind fool would jump out to organize the crowd so they could attack him together.

But if you asked them to be the bird that sticks its head out, most of them would be unwilling.

"Alright."

Su Ji sat back down in the seat of honor, picking up a teacup to moisten his throat.

"Let's continue."

"Next, the Blood Fiend Sect."

He cast his gaze toward the Blood Fiend Sect group, the smile on his face as warm as a spring breeze.

"How many spirit stones... do you plan to offer to buy my 'friendship'?"

"The starting price is still ten thousand high-grade spirit stones."

The corner of the red-haired middle-aged man's eye from the Blood Fiend Sect twitched violently.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart, and actually played along with Su Ji's words, cupping his fists and speaking in a deep voice.

"My Blood Fiend Sect offers ten thousand high-grade spirit stones!"

As soon as these words came out, many people around cast surprised glances at him.

Giving in just like that?

Since when was the Blood Fiend Sect so agreeable?

The red-haired middle-aged man's heart was bleeding too.

A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him!

The spirit stones belonged to the sect, but his life was his own.

He didn't want to end up like that old geezer from the Azure Sword Sect, forced to kowtow in public.

As for the sect's side... anyway, it wasn't his money. Let the sect master have a headache over it!

He refused to believe that Su Ji would actually dare to slaughter his way into the Blood Fiend Sect's headquarters all by himself!

However, upon hearing this bid, Su Ji seemed very dissatisfied.

He frowned, a look of disappointment appearing on his face.

"Only ten thousand?"

"Is no one going to raise the bid?"

He looked around, his voice full of instigation.

"Everyone, everyone! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Normally, the Blood Fiend Sect does all sorts of sneaky things, murdering for wealth, committing acts that anger both gods and men. They surely haven't done any less of that, right?"

"For those of you who have a grudge against them, isn't now the best time to kick them while they're down and get your revenge?"

"Raise the price! Don't be afraid! Add as much as you can! It would be best to directly hollow out their sect's foundation! I'll back you up!"

These words were spoken with such open righteousness and stern justice.

But the crowd below listened with twitching mouths.

How is this upholding justice? You clearly just want to watch the world burn!

The red-haired middle-aged man from the Blood Fiend Sect was so angry he almost exploded on the spot, his face turning a purplish-red.

This kid was too damn wicked!

However, no matter how much Su Ji instigated, the plaza remained dead silent.

No one dared to take the bait.

You must be joking. If they offended the Blood Fiend Sect today, and the Lovesick Sect packed up and ran away tomorrow, who would they go to for justice?

Although the Blood Fiend Sect wasn't a Holy Land, just as Su Ji said, they loved doing underhanded things.

Who knew when they might strike at you from the shadows.

"Tch, a bunch of cowards."

Seeing this, Su Ji curled his lip, looking thoroughly bored.

Just as he was about to announce the Blood Fiend Sect's "successful bid" and move on to the next segment.

A highly discordant sound of clapping suddenly rang out from the entrance of the plaza.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

The applause was neither fast nor slow, carrying a strange rhythm that clearly reached the ears of everyone in the plaza.

The crowd looked toward the sound.

They saw an alluring woman dressed in the attire of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land, lazily clapping her hands as she slowly walked over with a swaying, graceful gait.

A faint, seductive smile hung on her face, and her peach-blossom eyes sparkled with every glance, as if capable of stealing a person's soul.

It was none other than the Second Elder of the Puppet Heaven Holy Land.

She had arrived!

The crowd below was momentarily stunned before wild joy erupted in their hearts!

They're here!

The people from the Puppet Heaven Holy Land have finally arrived!

The one to put you in your place is here!

Let's see you act arrogant now, kid!

A Holy Land has personally stepped into the ring; let's see how you wrap this up!

The Second Elder ignored the surrounding gazes of astonishment and schadenfreude, walking straight to the center of the plaza.

She raised her face toward Su Ji in the seat of honor.

Her voice was filled with undisguised mockery.

"Sect Master Su has such great prestige, such a menacing aura."

"I just wonder if Sect Master Su's prestige, in front of my Puppet Heaven Holy Land..."

She paused, her red lips curving into a cold arc.

"...is still enough to hold weight?"