71 Song Mei's Confrontation

"Let him go now! Or do you want to offend me once more?"

The short man backed away with a paled face, "You! Why are you back?"

"Hmph! Did you think that you could abduct one of my friends into your cult and expect me not to retaliate?" Song Mei advanced towards the man with large strides, glaring daggers as she did so.

Wiping away the perspiration that had formed upon his forehead, Lu Fengyi sighed in relief as he watched Song Mei impose upon the small man. It seemed that he would be able to escape joining the cult, thanks to Song Mei's timely appearance. If he were to be left by himself any longer, it was almost certain that he would lose the duel and be forced into joining the Exis Cult.

Evidently recovering from the initial shock, the man stopped backing away, holding his ground with a deadly stare, "Do you think I fear you? Do remember that after I defeated White Glory several weeks ago, my rank has already risen to 439th of the eighteenth bracket! You mean nothing to me!"

A devilish smile bloomed upon Song Mei's face, "If I were still the same rank, your words would hold some truth, however no longer does your superiority hold."

The man spat upon the floor in disdain, "Huh, you saying that those measly competitors you fight everyday have given you enough points to raise your rank? Even if they have, there was several tens of ranks between us. There's no way that you have caught up already."

Mirroring the disdain, Song Mei whipped her hair backwards before opening a holographic display, "Hmph! Just today, I fought the infamous Sang Jin and managed to prevail within minutes, due to the extremely quick duel format. Take a closer look at my rank now, peasant scammer!"

If they were able to, the man's eyes would have dropped from their sockets from his astonishment at that moment, "H-h-how! This isn't possible! There's no way that you have already made it into the seventeenth bracket!"

Lu Fengyi peered at the holograph. Indeed, the rank displayed a bold seventeen in the centre while rank 9843 lay on the side. From what the man had said, it was evident that there were several different divisions of ranks, and within each were numbered ranks that would differentiate the transcenders within that division.

Fumbling over his words, the man managed to recover from his speechlessness, "W-well. It doesn't matter if you have reached the seventeenth bracket. I have already challenged the boy to a duel and there's nothing you can do to prevent it!"

Song Mei turned a side eye towards Lu Fengyi, "Is he speaking the truth? Did you really accept his duel challenge."

Lu Fengyi nodded awkwardly, 'If I had known you were going to come save me, I wouldn't have gone and accepted immediately, alright? Stalling that situation out wouldn't have been hard, however how would I have known that you were done with your duel already?'

Although Lu Fengyi did not voice his thoughts, he could only sigh at how unfortunate the timing was.

Song Mei shot a choking gaze towards the short man, "Ji Xun, although you have managed to succeed this time, you have enraged me. If you do not rescind the duel, I will call upon the higher-ups to place sanctions upon your cult. I'm interested to see how you will continue to expand without any method to trade!"

Realising that he had finally begun to gain momentum, Ji Xun pushed his chest forward and took on an uncaring tone, "So what? Do you really think that the Exis Cult cannot run without external help? You already placed tens of sanctions upon my cult, yet I'm still able to keep the roof of our humble abode up, allowing true believers to join and have a safe place to pray and follow the teachings of our cult."

Ji Xun waved his arm in a large arc, "Nevertheless, no matter what you do today, you cannot stop the duel. I will defeat him and earn another follower, regardless of the cost. I have to say, it's been a fair while since we've last had a new Exis Cult member. Ever since you started interfering with our promotion and accepting process, it's been hard, running the Exis Cult. Thank god our current believers are so devoted to us!"

If one listened carefully, the sound of grinding teeth and cracking fingers could just be heard, coming from Song Mei's position. If there was one word to describe her current expression, it would most definitely be unsightly as the faintest trace of wetness began to form at the corner of her eyes, "You promised me that Li Ke would be well. You'd better hope you haven't reneged on our agreement!"

Ji Xun waved his hand in reassurance, "Don't worry. If I'd really mistreated her, my Exis Cult would not even be standing right now. I know how ferocious you can get when you lose something of great importance. Even if years were to pass, I'd never forget how you tore apart that fourteenth bracket transcender in your duel with him, despite still being a twentieth bracket."

"Hmph! You'd better remember it!"

"Now, here comes the matter of most importance right now," Ji Xun put his head between his interlocked fingers, turning his attention to Lu Fengyi before continuing, "We must now discuss the details of our duel."

"Ji Xun! Are you truly going ahead with this?"

Despite having the basic trust between humans, there was definitely no way that Song Mei would trust Lu Fengyi to duel with Ji Xun and come out victorious. No matter the type of duel, there was a complete suppression of not only experience, but shop purchased perks. If they were truly to duel, there would be no question on who would win. Trying one last time, Song Mei tried her trump card, "Do remember that I still have holds over your weaknesses. Please don't force me to use them..."

"Tch! Do you really think that you're the only one with those? I have vices of you as well," Ji Xun smirked at Song Mei, "Although I have many more, only one is sufficient to prevent you from taking action. Imagine if I were tell Kang Lu about this boy..."

Instantly, Song Mei's face paled, "Y-you! Don't you dare tell Kang Lu about this!"

"Is that how you should be talking to the one with the cards in hand?" Ji Xun held his chin high.

A murderous aura radiated for a moment before disappearing from Song Mei, "Alright. I won't interfere anymore with your matters. However! If you dare to even do the slightest bit of mistreatment towards Lu Fengyi or Li Ke, I will rain the wrath of hell upon you!"