Parting Ways

Stepping through one of the three doors behind the underground altar and 'ascending', as Gu Liang called it, may be one of the greatest opportunities within the Beastwilds Mystic Realm.

Of course, with great opportunities often comes great risks, but there was not one among the 18 disciples from the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect and Willow Tree Pavilion who would be unwilling to brace these risks.

Zhang Baichi glanced at the surrounding disciples; Each of them seemed eager to be among the three chosen to be granted this opportunity.

'This is problematic… This Xiao Xueling really has chosen an unpleasant way to put it.', he mused silently.

Xiao Xueling's words put him in a troubling position as the group's leader. He would have to make a decision that everyone will need to be happy with, which is probably impossible to do, since everyone wants this opportunity for themselves.

Contrary to his troubled expression, the expression on Xiao Xueling's face was quite relaxed. She even smiled lightly, like she had everything under control.

Zhang Baichi stared at her for a good second and chose to pin the trouble onto her. He nodded his head and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "Then, who do you think should obtain these opportunities?"

"That is indeed a bit hard to answer." Xiao Xueling's smile widened, which caused Zhang Baichi to frown; It seemed that he had been tricked.

She turned to Yu Hao and spoke in a light voice. "Since Yu Hao is willing to use his own blood to open one of the doors, he naturally should be among the ones that enters. But, I wonder who else is willing to give their blood?"

"Young Miss, everyone would naturally be willing to suffer a bit to get this opportunity. I don't think just this should be used to gift Yu Hao a spot!", a woman from the Willow Tree Pavilion's group spoke with indignation.

Zhang Baichi glanced back and forth between the woman and Xiao Xueling and sighed inwardly. 'So, it was indeed a trap. Does she want to incite unrest among the group?'

He was not happy with the way things were turning out, but he had no choice but to act here. He shook his head and looked at Xiao Xueling. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Ordinary blood will most likely not work, which is why I asked Yu Hao to try instead."

This time, Xiao Xueling frowned and looked confused, and even Zhang Baichi had to commend her for her acting; She had led the conversation in this exact direction, but still managed to seem genuine. "What do you mean?"

"I won't go into any detail. Just know that Yu Hao's bloodline is extraordinary, which is why I asked him to try the altar. And also, why I was not concerned with killing Gu Liang.", Zhang Baichi spoke indifferently.

Xiao Xueling continued to frown. "But, you don't know for certain that others can't activate the altar, right?"

Zhang Baichi rolled his eyes. "That's correct. Well, fine, then let's assume everyone can activate the altar and choose without consideration for that."

He waved her off when she was about to say something else and tried to speed things up again. "So, who do you think should go?"

Xiao Xueling was a bit surprised, but quickly regained her bearings. "Since Brother Zhang is so direct, I also won't mince my words: I think Brother Zhang and I should be allowed to enter. For the third door, we'll let everyone else decide."

This time, Yu Hao frowned. "How should everyone else decide? And why should one of the spots belong to you."

He stepped forward to confront Xiao Xueling, obviously displeased by her attitude, but Zhang Baichi held him back, while stepping forward himself.

While Xiao Xueling seemed quite confident, her smile receded as Zhang Baichi stepped in front of her. "Are you not satisfied with this arrangement, Brother Zhang?"

"I'm not. Quite frankly, I strongly disagree. I think you're not qualified to be 'gifted' such an opportunity.", Zhang Baichi said, using the same 'gifted' she had used when discussing Yu Hao before.

Xiao Xueling's expression darkened, as did the expressions of the remaining disciples of the Willow Tree Pavilion. "Not qualified? Brother Zhang, what are you talking about?"

Zhang Baichi sighed in annoyance and looked at her. "Thus far, we've helped all of you because our Sect Master asked us to. But, quite honestly, all of you have not been of much help to us."

Since it had already come this far, Zhang Baichi did not see any need to remain courteous to Xiao Xueling, or the whole Willow Tree Pavilion, for that matter.

They had been the ones that needed his help, not the other way around, and now Xiao Xueling wants to take a piece of the treasure? On what grounds?

Zhang Baichi spoke in a plain voice. "On what grounds do you think you're qualified to claim one of the three entries? We were the ones that saved your lives. We were the ones that organised the basecamp and hunting groups. While others were scouting for monsters to make sure we were safe, you were quietly cultivating and enjoying the peace."

"Additionally, we were the ones that were actively searching for the secrets of the Mystic Realm, not you. We were the ones that defeated the Gu Clan's disciples, that came specifically to hunt all of you down. We were the ones that captured Gu Liang and obtained all that information from him in the first place. And we were also the ones that found this altar!", Zhang Baichi spoke rudely.

A disciple from the Willow Tree Pavilion stepped forward while Xiao Xueling looked gloomily at Zhang Baichi; She was the other woman at the 10th Layer of the Body Forging Realm. "Zhang Baichi, you're being unreasonable! We've all been working together to make it this far!"

Zhang Baichi looked at her, not interested in her words. "We've been working together, yes. But we would have been fine on our own, while you wouldn't. That's a big difference between us."

She was about to say more, but Zhang Baichi turned away from her and looked at Xiao Xueling again. "Even if we ignore contributions and go solely by combat power, you're still not qualified. You're about evenly matched with Yun Ye, much less Lu Zheng, or Yu Hao. This opportunity comes with huge, unknown risks, and I would rather entrust my back to either of those three instead of you."

"So, you want to monopolize this opportunity for your Fleeting Storm Sword Sect?", Xiao Xueling finally spoke, her face as cold as ice.

Zhang Baichi's face was indifferent. Her words were clearly meant as a threat, but he did not need to care about her inside this Mystic Realm. He took a step forward, closer to Xiao Xueling. "I will say this once, and only once: Know your place."

The atmosphere instantly became even more tense as the two of them stared each other down.

Zhang Baichi was being unreasonable, overbearing and incredibly arrogant, but this was beyond a mere conflict between the two of them: With Xiao Xueling presuming that he wanted to monopolize the opportunity, this had rapidly evolved into a conflict between the interests between their two sects.

Thus, while not everyone from the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect might agree with Zhang Baichi's words, everyone knew that they had to draw a clear line at this point and chose their side.

Among the people present, only Lu Zheng was still as calm as ever. Even in this tense atmosphere, he seemed carefree and patted Zhang Baichi on the shoulder with a smile. "Let's all calm down first, alright? Fighting now won't bring do any of us any good."

Before Zhang Baichi could answer, he turned to Xiao Xueling with a smile. "What Brother Zhang said is still true, though: I also think that you're not qualified. In fact, this altar should indeed be monopolized by our Fleeting Storm Sword Sect."

He looked at the gathered disciples down below. "However, that does not mean that we'll monopolize the whole opportunity. Gu Liang, the leader from the Gu Clan's disciples, whom we interrogated, said that there's four altars within the Mystic Realm. Two of them were destroyed by the Gu Clan, while we've found the third."

Many eyes lit up among the woman from the Willow Tree Pavilion. Xiao Xueling's right-hand woman, who was also present during the interrogation, instantly understood Lu Zheng's meaning: Their Willow Tree Pavilion could take the other altar for themselves.

She rushed to Xiao Xueling's side, lightly pulled at her sleeve, and whispered. "Young Miss, he's right. There's another altar that we can take, and a fight would truly be disadvantageous for us…"

Xiao Xueling's face was gloomy and ice cold, but she still listened to reason, stopping herself from making a terrible mistake in challenging Zhang Baichi and the Fleeting Storm Sword Sect.

She would never admit so openly, but Zhang Baichi's strength truly terrified her. And not only that; He was truly ruthless with his enemies, be they Demonbeast or human. Just the fact that he and Yu Hao alone could annihilate the disciples of the Gu Clan, and cripple and capture their leader alive, was a ridiculous demonstration of their power.

She took a step back, breaking eye contact with Zhang Baichi, and turned around without another thought. "We're leaving!"