Chapter 642: The Meaning of a Hegemony
Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: - -
Quinn died, framed by Zai Qiu, executed on the spot instantly. For those who acted, they were all from the Core Faction of the Royal Sacred Sect.
Fan Miaoyu stared in shock at the scene before her, she only felt her blood being frozen as her entire body went cold. Quinn’s sword dripped with blood, that was a blood from a member of the Core Faction. He slashed apart another cultivator’s arm but at that moment, Zai Qiu’s palm imprint slammed right into his heart, withering his life instantly while Xia Sheng’s fist smashed into his back, crushing his internal organs. There was also another spear that was embedded through the center of his forehead. He died in an extremely tragic manner.
Fan Miaoyu panted, she would never have imagined even in his dreams that Zai Qiu and the others would actually slaughter Quinn right on the spot. When Zai Qiu bellowed that his surname was Zai, the others all acted at that instant, surrounding Quinn and giving him no chance at all. Zai Qiu wanted to act before reporting, this was the only way he could get revenge for Sun Qing. In truth, the death of Sun Qing wasn’t something Quinn wanted. But at that moment, he and Qin Wentian could only save one person, and they had chosen Fan Miaoyu.
And because of this choice, it led to this bloody scene right now. One could only imagine what Fan Miaoyu was feeling. She had never imagined the Royal Sacred Sect would be so cruel and cold-blooded.
Siko’s heart also trembled violently as he stared at how Quinn died. His eyes turned red and he drew in a deep breath, trying his best to calm his heart. His personality had always been so that he could endure patiently. He had always believed that the human heart was unpredictable and treacherous, hence he warned Quinn before this. However, Quinn didn’t take his warning to heart, and Siko also thought that Zai Qiu wouldn’t be so ruthless. But in reality, he still underestimated the determination of Zai Qiu wanting to kill Quinn.
Siko in fact, was certain that Zai Qiu had not reported this matter up and obtained approval, but was rather acting first with no regards to the consequences. If not, the upper echelons would definitely never allow the tyrannical killing of a Heaven Chosen from the Battle Sword Faction. This was also the reason why they believed that today, Quinn wouldn’t be in any danger, hence he didn’t strongly try to change Quinn’s mind.
Zai Qiu retracted his palm that had smashed Quinn’s heart. Quinn softly flopped to the ground, lying in his pool of blood. A peak-tier Heavenly Dipper Sovereign of the Battle Sword Sect died just like that, with grievances.
Right now, all those who were gathered here, all felt their hearts shivering at Zai Qiu’s methods.
"The orders of my Royal Sacred Sect are as heavy as mountains, one has to obey them, yet Quinn chose to disobey. Not only that, he placed one of us in danger by trying to lead a buried immortal to her. Such a traitorous person, we will kill without mercy," Zai Qiu’s cold voice echoed in the silence of this space. Fan Miaoyu felt cold, extremely cold. What a good usage of the word ‘traitorous,’ killing without mercy, pinning the crime on Quinn. Since Zai Qiu wanted to kill Quinn no matter what, all further discussions already had no meaning. All this happened simply because his surname was Zai.
"What happened?" a cold voice rang out. Evidently, there were people who discovered the situation here and soon after, experts from the Royal Sacred Sect arrived.
"Quinn rebelled against Elder Li’s command, causing junior brother Sun Qing’s death and even trying to implicate junior sister Shang when back in the immortal realm. Hence, I killed him," Zai Qiu spoke. Upon hearing him mention the name Elder Li, everyone didn’t dare to say anything.
Soon after, a voice resounded out. "Zai Qiu, Elder Li tells you to head alone to his palace. The others are free to disperse."
"Roger." Zai Qiu’s silhouette flickered. He coldly glanced at Quinn’s corpse before departing while silently adding in his heart, "One more to kill!"
Xia Sheng and the others all departed as well. Siko walked up, he grabbed Quinn’s corpse before he turned and left. Fan Miaoyu followed behind Siko and at this moment, this era-suppressing genius was evidently in a dazed state. She still had no way to accept the fact that Quinn was killed just like that.
...
Zai Qiu arrived in the abode of Elder Li. And noting the cold gaze of that elder, Zai Qiu didn’t dare to meet his gaze. What Siko guessed was right, Zai Qiu acted first before seeking approval.
"Zai Qiu, what nonsense have you done?" That elder surnamed Li berated. Killing a Heaven Chosen of the Battle Sword Faction would definitely create waves of repercussion.
"Uncle-master, someone needs to pay for the death of junior brother Sun Qing." Zai Qiu didn’t hide anything in front of Elder Li. He was doing this to avenge Sun Qing, and as for pinning the crime onto Quinn, that was simply an excuse to the others. But in front of his master’s apprentice brother, he didn’t need to hide anything.
"So you chose to act before gaining approval, killing him together with Xia Sheng and the rest?" Elder Li coldly spoke. "Who else is involved in this?"
"There’s still Qin Wentian." Zai Qiu spoke. "That young man and Quinn are both too arrogant, he even dared to reject uncle-master’s invitation back then. For people such as him, there’s no need to consider anything more. Since he refused to join us, KILL HIM!"
As the sound of the word ‘kill’ faded, an intense coldness radiated from Zai Qiu. Elder Li stared at Zai Qiu causing Zai Qiu to lower his head. He didn’t know what his uncle-master’s intentions were, he could never see through him.
After a long time, Elder Li then stated, "The repercussions of this will be intense."
"Repercussions? We are the Royal Sacred Sect and we control all the factions. We are the Hegemony not because of benevolence and kindness, but rather, we have strength enough to dominate everything. If the Battle Sword Sect is unhappy, they can scram the fuck out from our Royal Sacred Sect. There would be no lack of other major powers who want to replace the Battle Sword Sect as one of the nine great sects. Without the protection of our sect, the Battle Sword Sect would face the ambitions of the other major powers in this Royal Sacred Region. How long could they last?"
Zai Qiu inclined his head as he spoke. The words ‘Our Royal Sacred Sect,’ indicated that the other Factions were all merely tools for them to use. In his heart, the Core Faction was the only true faction of the Royal Sacred Sect.
Elder Li remained silent before he sighed and spoke in a low voice, "Qin Wentian, what a pity. He’s truly an extremely rare genius. I don’t want to be involved in this manner. Go arrange things yourself."
"Understood, uncle-master." Zai Qiu felt joy in his heart. Seems like his uncle-master had given the silent approval. This was the effect of doing things first before seeking approval. Since things had already happened and history couldn’t be changed, with his uncle-master’s personality, he would definitely want Zai Qiu to do things beautifully and not leave behind any source of trouble.
After Zai Qiu left, Elder Li’s eyes flashed with sharpness. "Qin Wentian, I’ve already given you an opportunity. Since you chose not to join the Core Faction, just disappear forever in our Royal Sacred Region."
...
For the Battle Sword Faction, at the entrance of their palace, everyone stared at Quinn’s corpse as they mourned for his death.
"Quinn…" A old-looking figure gently touched Quinn’s eyes, closing them for him. This old man was none other than Quinn’s master, and it appeared that he aged immensely at this moment. He had doted on this disciple of his a lot; Quinn had good talent, and a warm and friendly personality. He was upright and straight-forward, just like his sword style and was extremely suited to cultivate the sword.
However, this outstanding disciple of his died just like that. Not only that, Quinn had died in the hands of members from the same sect, the Royal Sacred Sect.
The leader of the Battle Sword Faction had arrived; In the Royal Sacred Sect, he had the title of vice-leader, but not only him, the leaders of the other faction all had the same title as well, they had to govern their own factions. Right now, a disciple of his faction was killed in public. This was simply smacking his face.
"Ancestor." Quinn’s master stared at that old man. This old man was the previous leader of the Battle Sword sect, and these people from the Battle Sword Faction in the Royal Sacred Sect were naturally from the Battle Sword Sect.
"Tell me everything clearly." That old man stared at Siko. Siko nodded and explained the events leading up to Sun Qing’s death. At the same time, Fan Miaoyu also revealed the things the female surnamed Shang had done, as well as how Zai Qiu had framed Quinn.
After hearing their words, the expressions of everyone turned cold. There were even people who wanted to rush to the Core Faction and demand them to hand Zai Qiu over.
"Wentian is in danger." The old man softly spoke, his words causing the hearts of everyone to shudder. That’s right, since Zai Qiu dared to kill Quinn in public, this meant that he would never spare Qin Wentian.
"Ancestor, are we going to request them to handover Zai Qiu?" Quinn’s master’s eyes were red as he asked.
"Asking them to hand over Zai Qiu? Do you think they would be willing to?" The old man at this moment didn’t have any humorous attitude unlike the time when he was conversing with Qin Wentian. Right now, he radiated nothing but a majestic imposingness.
"But are we going to let them off, allowing them to be this brazen?" Quinn’s master raged.
"In the Royal Sacred Region, the Royal Sacred Sect is the hegemony. But why?" That old man asked.
"Because of strength, there’s an existence at that legendary realm," Quinn’s master replied.
"You know it as well, they could control everything in this region and regarding us as their subjects wasn’t because of any kindness or benevolence but rather, it was because of strength. What does strength truly mean? If one day, our Battle Sword Sect also had a character capable of breaking through to that realm, we could survive independently, clearly separating from the Royal Sacred Sect and even be qualified to be their equal, recruiting the masses and growing in strength." The old man stared at Quinn’s master as he solemnly continued, "This is a logic each of the other factions understand clearly in their hearts. But without an immortal as our backer, do you think they would care about our faction? Even if we rebel, they don’t even need to do anything. With just a command, the other factions would be more than willing to destroy our Battle Sword Sect. There’s no lack of major powers wishing to elevate their status and become the next faction in the Royal Sacred Sect."
The words of the old man caused everyone to be left speechless. If they rebelled, they would instantly be suppressed. Even without a Battle Sword Sect, the Royal Sacred Sect could raise another major power and invite them to be a faction.
In this region, the Royal Sacred Sect was the ultimate hegemon.
Fan Miaoyu’s entire body went cold, as she shivered. Although they roughly guessed at some of the things before, when they heard a vice-leader of the Royal Sacred Sect analyzing the matter so bluntly, their hearts couldn’t help but tremble.
This was what a strength-oriented world was. Cruel and cold. If you want to talk about justice, you had to have the strength first before you are qualified to even talk about it. Might makes right, strength ruled everything!
Everyone’s understanding towards the meaning of the word ‘hegemony’ - the Royal Sacred Sect - deepened even further. Since the ancestor spoke so openly, he wasn’t afraid that his words would be spread simply because this was a logic that everyone understood. If they didn’t rebel, the Royal Sacred Sect wouldn’t suppress them for no reason. And how could the Battle Sword Faction be punished simply because of a single sentence? The upper echelons of the Royal Sacred Sect didn’t have time for such nonsense.
And as for being ambitious? Among the countless powers of the Royal Sacred Region, who didn’t want to replace the Royal Sacred Sect as the hegemony? Everyone wanted to do so, but the prerequisite was that they need to have an immortal backing them. Without an existence at that legendary realm, even if they had the ambition, was it even possible for them?