Immortal of the Nine Realms-Chapter 1270: My Apologies, Elder Duan

Chapter 1270: My Apologies, Elder Duan
Wei Chen and the others were stunned. When they heard the exchanges between Zhu Tongshu, Xu Dongjiang, and the old flood dragon, they realized that something had gone terribly wrong!
A great upheaval had occurred!
Even the Duan Family cultivators who had been keeping a close watch on Xu Gaohu took a few steps back.
Upon hearing Xu Dongjiang's words, Duan Feizhan's gaze toward his toes sharpened. But he still did not lift his head and continued to stare at the ground.
The old flood dragon smiled at Fang Chen and nodded. "You take care of this matter."
With that, he turned and left.
Xu Dongjiang froze for a moment, then looked toward Fang Chen, cupping his hands. "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Fang."
"Mhm. Greetings." Fang Chen nodded. "You just said a criminal attempted something improper toward disciples of my sect. Explain this in detail."
Xu Dongjiang steadied himself, adjusted his stiff expression, and forced a natural, confident smile. "It happened like this: today I was handling affairs in the Guangyuan Hall when I suddenly heard from my subordinates that Duan Tianfu of the Duan Family attempted to act indecently toward a Cangyun Sect disciple in the market. I was furious and rushed here to deal with the matter."
He then pointed to the stunned Duan Tian'en. "Fellow Daoist Fang, look, here is the person who ordered him to do so. To commit such acts while being a cultivator is beneath contempt for people like us!"
Fang Chen did not respond.
Seeing this, Xu Dongjiang immediately barked at Duan Tian'en, "You, throw the head over here."
Duan Tian'en instinctively tossed the head forward.
Xu Dongjiang stomped down, crushing it like a watermelon. He then cupped his hands to Fang Chen. "Fellow Daoist Fang, do you feel this was an appropriate way to deal with him?"
Fang Chen said nothing, only glanced toward Xu Gaohu.
Xu Dongjiang's eyes lit with realization. "Ah, there's another matter Fellow Daoist Fang should know. Duan Tian'en and Duan Tianfu committed those vile acts together—but that's not all! A few opportunistic rogue cultivators on Cang Mountain falsely testified to curry favor with Duan Tian'en."
He pointed to Wei Chen.
"Yes, I mean you. Come here."
Then he pointed to Xu Gaohu. "To verify this matter, I invited Fellow Daoist Xu to clarify the truth. I was truly alarmed. If not for him telling us what really happened, we might have been deceived by these vile schemers."
Xu Gaohu and the four disciples exchanged complicated looks. They already grasped the situation.
The Duan Family not only failed to seize the advantage, but they were also about to face complete ruin. Even Guangyuan Hall's master had chosen to side with the Cangyun Sect.
Wei Chen moved like a zombie, passing by Xu Gaohu and slowly approaching Xu Dongjiang.
Xu Gaohu's eyes showed pity. This was the same man who earlier had told him he had chosen the wrong side.
Suddenly, Wei Chen dropped to his knees with a thud, kowtowing frantically, crying out over and over. "Injustice! I've been wronged!"
Fang Zhixue and the others found it amusing. The moment they saw Wei Chen with the Duan Family cultivators, they guessed he had to have spoken ill of Fang Chen behind his back.
"You still dare to cry injustice? Wasn't it you who twisted the truth? Wasn't it you who schemed like a rat?" Xu Dongjiang roared. "Men, kill him!"
Someone immediately moved to strike Wei Chen.
Fang Chen waved his hand lightly. "Wait."
The cultivator halted instantly. He then retreated back into the ranks, head lowered.
"He might have embellished the story, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die," said Fang Chen calmly. "It's enough to cripple his cultivation and expel him from Cang Mountain."
Wei Chen had thought he might live, but the moment he heard Fang Chen say to cripple his cultivation, his vision went dark, and he fainted.
Fang Chen looked at Duan Feizhan. "And who is that?"
Duan Feizhan trembled under Fang Chen's gaze. Forcing a smile, he raised his head and said, "I am—"
"He is Duan Feizhan of the Duan Family, a long-serving guest official of Guangyuan Hall," interrupted Xu Dongjiang coldly. "He has recently advanced to the Ascension Realm. Seeking to establish dominance on Cang Mountain, he incited his juniors to stir up trouble everywhere. That gave scum like Duan Tianfu the chance to act, offending the Cangyun Sect. This old thief deserves death!"
"You... what! This is nonsense!" Duan Feizhan's face flushed red as he glared at Xu Dongjiang. "How can you be so shameless, so utterly shameless!"
"If I weren't shameless, my entire clan might be wiped out. My apologies, Elder Duan," came Xu Dongjiang's voice through transmission, carrying a snarl.
Publicly, Xu Dongjiang said, "Shameless? You call me shameless? I came here to prevent the situation from worsening, even bringing Ice God Sect's Peng Cheng to testify, yet you call me shameless? Then let the local authority, Daoist Peng Cheng of the Ice God Sect, speak!"
"Authority? No, I'm not! Really not..." Peng Cheng waved his hands around nervously, stammering. He forced himself to calm down and quickly bowed to Fang Chen. "I am Peng Cheng of the Ice God Sect. I am not any sort of local authority; that's just a false rumor going around."
He paused, then slowly stepped forward to face Fang Chen and said respectfully, "Our Ice God Sect has also heard of this matter. Its cause should be exactly as Daoist Xu described."
Duan Feizhan's face showed despair. He stared at Peng Cheng for a long moment, then at Xu Dongjiang. He suddenly let out a bitter laugh. "Fine. Fine! You really are masters at bending with the wind."
The two ignored his ridicule, watching Fang Chen's expression closely.
"Since we have two such enthusiastic fellow Daoists eager to see justice done, I'll leave this matter to you guys," Fang Chen said with a smile.
Since the old flood dragon had arranged for Zhu Tongshu to step out and shock everyone today, Fang Chen felt no need to chase after the spiritual materials for the Four Stage Profound Yang Body. He immediately asked Xu Dongjiang, "I've heard Guangyuan Hall has a complete stock of spiritual materials?"
Xu Dongjiang's eyes lit up with joy. "Indeed, indeed!"
"Then come inside. We'll talk properly."
"Yes, yes!"
Xu Dongjiang followed Fang Chen into the Cangyun Sect.
Fang Zhixue and the others chuckled softly and turned to enter as well.
Looking at the ordinary-looking faction before him, Peng Cheng suddenly felt a chill rise in his heart.
Just who is this man, and why has he quietly settled in a place like Cang Mountain? Could it be that the Qingyuan Market is about to change hands?
Peng Cheng's gaze grew unfocused for a moment. He turned to Duan Feizhan and cupped his hands. "Daoist Duan, come back to the Ice God Sect with me."
Duan Feizhan looked like a man who had lost everything, his face aging several years. With a sluggish nod, he left with Peng Cheng and the others.
His mind held no thought of resisting. A mere Ascension Realm cultivator like him would not dare oppose the Ice God Sect. That would risk the Duan Family's total annihilation.
If he behaved obediently, there might still be a chance to live.
Once they left, a Guangyuan Hall cultivator crippled Wei Chen's cultivation. Then he went to Xu Gaohu, smiling as he cupped his hands. "Fellow Daoist Xu, I must apologize for earlier. How about we get to know each other better?"
Xu Gaohu nodded with a strange expression. "Ah... sure..."
Glancing at the heap of ruin that was Wei Chen, a chill crept into Xu Gaohu's heart. Wei Chen might have escaped death, but he had, in fact, been met with a fate worse than death.
After all, he had made quite a few enemies over the years.