Chapter 244: Returning Together (14)
Although Xiao Ji lived in seclusion and rarely went out, there was no one in the entire immortal sect who didn’t know of the existence of such a prominent figure in the Xiao family.
At this time, upon hearing Sect Leader Xiao toss the question to Xiao Ji, the gazes of everyone in the grand hall focused on Xiao Ji.
Including Zhong Yinnian.
He remembered that the last time the Demon Co-Lord descended to the world, Xiao Ji only said one sentence: “Just kill him.”
Looking at Xiao Ji at this moment, just when Zhong Yinnian thought Xiao Ji would say the exact same words again, he heard Xiao Ji say:
“If the Demon Co-Lord made a move, shouldn’t he be slaughtering the entire sects of the Four Great Immortal Sects?”
The implication was: how could a mere minor affiliated family be worthy of the Demon Co-Lord taking action personally? What kind of grand undertaking was this? An appetizer?
As soon as he said this, someone immediately became displeased:
“You’re boosting the enemy’s morale and dampening our own prestige far too much!”
Xiao Ji had noticed earlier that it was this exact person who had been raising a clamor all along. He had the most to say, urging Sect Leader Xiao that they absolutely had to exact revenge and wipe out this grievance, yet he never once said that his own family would definitely provide their full assistance.
He was clearly someone who didn’t mind the situation blowing up while watching the spectacle. His intentions were obvious: let the Xiao family take the lead, so they could see exactly how much strength this Demon Co-Lord possessed before making a decision.
Xiao Ji had never shown any mercy toward this kind of person. He merely said indifferently:
“What prestige do you have?”
No matter how resounding Xiao Ji’s reputation was, to put it plainly, he had only ever made a move in front of the Xiao family.
No matter how much the Xiao family revered Xiao Ji as the hope of the human race, in the eyes of outsiders, there was still the suspicion that they were merely building up hype.
Furthermore, he was young; within the immortal sects, he was merely a junior.
As soon as these words were spoken, that person immediately launched an attack at Xiao Ji. Firstly, he wanted to test exactly how much skill Xiao Ji had. Secondly, he harbored the thought of wanting to embarrass Xiao Ji and slap the Xiao family in the face.
A fierce sword aura erupted within the grand hall, heading straight for Xiao Ji.
To be able to appear here as the head of a family, his strength naturally went without saying.
Zhong Yinnian narrowed his phoenix eyes slightly. As the sword aura surged toward their faces, he had already prepared to block it for Xiao Ji.
But his hand, which hadn’t yet been raised, was grasped by the wrist by Xiao Ji and pressed down.
Xiao Ji didn’t move, but the air in front of him suddenly solidified to form an invisible barrier, blocking the sword aura outside. However, the longsword hurtling toward Xiao Ji pierced through that barrier, pointing straight at Xiao Ji’s glabella.
Yet, when it was just an inch away from Xiao Ji’s glabella, it was enveloped by a layer of ice, snapped into several pieces, and fell to the ground.
A dead silence fell over the grand hall.
The person who attacked was the family head of an affiliated immortal sect under the Situ family. His name was Duan Li, a running dog of the Situ family. His strength was tyrannical, and he was an arrogant person. Although his core foundational skill was not swordsmanship, his matching sword was still an Earth-grade magical artifact among the four major grades of Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow.
To have it destroyed on the spot so effortlessly by Xiao Ji like this was tantamount to a complete loss of face.
The Four Great Immortal Sects appeared to complement each other and stand tall and firm, but in reality, they were secretly competing. No family submitted to another; they all wanted to sit in the position of the head of the Four Great Immortal Sects and command all the immortal sects.
Duan Li’s actions today were perhaps also instigated by the Situ family.
With an ugly expression, he exchanged a glance with the head of the Situ family and fell silent.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Sect Leader Xiao coughed lightly and reprimanded Xiao Ji in a lukewarm manner:
“Visitors are guests. Family Head Duan is an elder; do not be impolite.”
It sounded like he was lecturing Xiao Ji, but the word “elder” was undoubtedly sweeping Duan Li’s dignity across the floor.
Xiao Ji was very obedient. Having been lectured, he gave a slight bow to Duan Li:
“I was impolite. Please forgive me.”
Sect Leader Xiao waved his hand: “Continue with what you were saying.”
Xiao Ji pursed his lips: “Say what?”
Sect Leader Xiao froze: “Regarding the slaughter of the Lin family, what other views do you have?”
Xiao Ji was silent for a moment:
“Perhaps someone is using the descent of the Demon Co-Lord to commit evil deeds, attempting to confuse the public and provoke the flames of war.”
Upon hearing this, everyone present also fell silent.
Although some people still didn’t want to admit it, upon careful thought, Xiao Ji’s words were not without reason.
They knew the strength of the people in the Four Great Immortal Sects better than anyone. Any family’s old ancestor, taken individually, was a master capable of moving mountains and leveling seas, turning clouds with a flip of their hand and bringing rain with a turn.
Yet even so, the immortal sects had not been able to produce a so-called Co-Lord in hundreds of years.
Cultivating in accordance with the Heavenly Dao was no easy task. Randomly picking out a few old monsters from the demonic and devil paths would reveal existences that struck terror into people’s hearts.
Now that such a figure had emerged who could command both the demon and devil races, the formidable power involved was self-evident.
If it truly was that Demon Co-Lord who made a move, to put it bluntly, a mere little Lin family wouldn’t even count as an appetizer.
After everyone calmed down, there was another bout of noisy discussion. Some felt that Xiao Ji’s words made sense, while others were more cautious, feeling that it might very well be a trap set by the demons and devils.
If they dispatched the core forces of each family with great fanfare, and it turned out to be the deliberate work of a few minor lackeys, wouldn’t they lose all face for the immortal families?
If they only sent a few ordinary disciples, and they ended up getting wiped out in one swoop, they would just be giving the demon and devil races another reason to gloat, suffering a double loss.
In the end, they still couldn’t discuss and reach a conclusion.
And so, the problem was tossed to Zhong Du, who was skilled in calculation and divination.
Zhong Du secretly glanced at Zhong Yinnian.
Zhong Yinnian then spoke up:
“Then I will go myself.”
As soon as these words were spoken, all gazes turned toward Zhong Yinnian.
Then, they all simultaneously looked at Zhong Du.
Just when everyone thought Zhong Du would scold him for messing around, Zhong Du looked relieved and said:
“Alright.”
Leaving demonic and devil matters for the demons and devils to handle was for the best.
Xiao Ji cast a glance at Zhong Yinnian: “I will go with you.”
Zhong Yinnian raised an eyebrow: “And what if this matter truly is the doing of the Demon Co-Lord?”
He was waiting for Xiao Ji to say, “Just kill him.”
But Xiao Ji only said faintly, “Then I suppose that is my destined fate.”
Ultimately, the matter of the Lin family’s annihilation was decided in this loud-thunder-but-small-raindrops manner, all because of the words of Xiao Ji and Zhong Yinnian.
That night, Zhong Yinnian didn’t come knocking on Xiao Ji’s door again.
The one who came was Sect Leader Xiao.
“You are messing around. That brat from the Zhong family has learned weapons in a complete mess, and his spells are a disaster. Zhong Du is an old fool for letting him go to his death. What’s wrong with you? Have you developed feelings from spending time with him these days? If you were to go alone, that would be one thing. If my guess is correct, with your current strength, I am likely no match for you.”
“But if you bring him along, won’t you have to divide your attention to ensure his safety?”
The grand hall had also been a mess of chaos at the time; Sect Leader Xiao’s brain had been muddled by the noise.
Now that he had reacted, he hurried over to the door.
Xiao Ji, however, expressionlessly poured Sect Leader Xiao a cup of tea:
“You underestimate him. If my intuition over this period of time is correct, whether we can return alive from this trip will depend entirely on his willingness.”
Recommended Reads
![[ABO] President Shou Is Not a Total Shou](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-shou-is-not-a-total-shou-214x300.jpg)
