Chapter 1231: Envoy of the Tao Family

Jian Chen did not wait for very long before Qing Yixuan, Tai Dou, Lan Jing, Xin Pian, and Mochas entered the hall. Their faces were pale-white, without a shred of blood, and they were extremely heavily injured.

“To think you would still know to return. You sure are having it easy as the ruler of the Turtle clan. Leaving behind the five of us and then vanishing. Back when I told you to deal with the Tao family, you insisted on saying ‘no.’ Now look at it. The Tao family and the Moxi clan have joined in marriage, and they‘re already prevailing. They’re not something that the current Turtle clan can deal with. What do you think we should do?” Qing Yixuan could not help but criticize Jian Chen as soon as she saw him. Although she had already agreed to temporarily watch over the Turtle clan, it was just an agreement in the end. Qing Yixuan was still biased against Jian Chen. She still remembered the moment when Jian Chen had taken the Octoterra Map fragment from her while she was heavily injured. She could not forget it no matter how she tried.

Unfortunately, Jian Chen was no longer the insignificant Saint Ruler from before, so even if she hated him, she was not his opponent.

“I didn’t move against the Tao family back then because I was not confident we could completely suppress them, which was why I let them be. It’s just that I never thought that the Tao family would strengthen so quickly and declare war against my Turtle clan themselves,” Jian Chen coldly replied. What he really feared about the Tao family was their ancestor, Tao Zhengtian. It was said that he was quite close to becoming a hall elder, and all hall elders were Saint Kings at Great Perfection.

“Then do you have the power to deal with the Tao family right now?” Qing Yixuan stared at Jian Chen. Among everyone present, he was the only person she did not show any respect to. She had always felt like he owed her.

“Tell me in detail just how many Saint Kings the Tao family have first and what level of strength they possess as well as Tao Zhengtian’s exact strength,” Jian Chen said.

“The alliance of the Tao family has a total of nine Saint Kings so far. There are four beneath the Fifth Heavenly Layer and five that are either at the Fifth Heavenly Layer or above. One is of the Fifth Heavenly Layer, two are of the Sixth Heavenly Layer, another is of the Seventh Heavenly Layer, and the last one is of the Eighth Heavenly Layer. The ancestor of the Moxi clan is of the Seventh Heavenly Layer while Tao Zhengtian is the strongest, having reached the peak of the Eighth Heavenly Layer. He is also only a single step away from reaching the ninth, and I heard that Tao Zhengtian is in possession of a divine hall as well,” Qing Yixuan coldly replied.

Jian Chen frowned. Adding Nubis, Tie Ta, and him, they only had eight Saint Kings. Tai Dou was of the Fifth Heavenly Layer while Qing Yixuan, Lan Jing, Xin Pian and Mochas were all of the Sixth Heavenly Layer. Nubis was the weakest, at the Fourth Heavenly Layer, but if he used the Saint Tier Battle Skill he had modified, he could temporarily match up against experts of the Seventh Heavenly Layer. As for he himself and Tie Ta, both of them could face up against experts of the Seventh Heavenly Layer without suffering defeat. Together, they were in no way weaker than the Tao family alliance. They may even be stronger.

However, what pained Jian Chen was that Tao Zhengtian was in possession of a divine hall. His side seemed very strong, but it was still not enough to destroy a divine hall.

Qing Yixuan thought that Jian Chen was not confident that they could defeat the Tao family when she saw him frown. She could not help but sigh inside. The influence of the Tao family was like the midday sun right now, and without much time, Tao Zhengtian would become a hall elder as well. At that time, dealing with them would become even more difficult, and she had no idea if she would still have the chance of obtaining what she wanted.

If she did not obtain the item, she would not be brave enough to return to the Tian Yuan Continent.

“God dammit. I had the Octoterra Map fragment before, and I could’ve used it to exchange with the Tao family for what I wanted. It’s all because the map fragment was stolen away by Jian Chen.” Qing Yixuan gritted her teeth in hatred when she thought up to that point.

At this moment, a guard quickly rushed inside. He said in a rather flustered manner, “Ruler, the Tao family has sent an envoy. He’s currently waiting outside.”

“An envoy of the Tao family!” Jian Chen became stunned, probably due to the fact that he did not expect an envoy to come at such a crucial moment. However, he quickly snapped back to his senses and said, “Lead the way for him.”

“There’s no need to lead the way. I’ll come in myself.” An arrogant voice rang out from outside as soon as Jian Chen had finished speaking. He was a skinny old man who strode over with his chest high, as if he was above everyone present.

The old man was a Saint Ruler, and behind him followed two Heaven Saint Masters.

The elders of the Turtle clan immediately became furious when they saw the envoy. Their hatred for the Tao family had already reached a bone-deep level.

As soon as the envoy stepped into the hall, he quickly glanced around. When he discovered the 16th Star experts standing below and Jian Chen sitting above, his heart immediately sank. He could already sense an ill omen, but he immediately became fearless when he thought of the Tao family’s current strength.

The envoy knew that he had come this time as a representative of the powerful Tao family, so even if there were many 16th Star experts present, he still remained composed and unhurried. He observed Jian Chen who sat on the throne without any fear and freely smiled, “May I ask who you are, and why I've never seen you before?” The envoy’s attitude was flippant, as if he did not care about Jian Chen’s identity at all.

“How dare you! Kneel before our ruler,” an elder of the Turtle clan berated the envoy.

The envoy came to an understanding and became surprised. He clasped his hands, “Oh, so you’re the legendary ruler of the Turtle clan. Please forgive me rudeness, I have truly been rude.”

“Since you know he’s our ruler, why don’t you hurry up and kneel. It’s your honor to be able to see our ruler at the 13th Star,” another elder demanded.

The envoy began to to laugh aloud, “You sure are worthy of being the ruler of a clan, demanding respect at times like this. However, I’ve only ever kneeled to ancestor Tao Zhengtian. Even the current patriarch of the Tao family has no right to make me kneel, so I do wonder if the ruler of the Turtle clan deserves such a thing.”

“大膽……”

“How dare you…”

“Such boldness! You must be tired of living for speaking like this to the ruler…”

Every single elder became utterly furious.

Jian Chen deeply frowned as well. The Tao family was just too arrogant. Even a mere Saint Ruler envoy was acting in such a cocky fashion before so many Saint Kings.

“Tai Dou, toss out the three of them,” Jian Chen coldly commanded. No matter what intentions they had come with, he did not plan on talking to them with how arrogantly they acted.

The envoy’s expression immediately changed when he heard that Jian Chen was about to throw them out of the clan. He yelled, “Don’t you dare! I’m representing the Tao family…”

Once he reached that point, he was thrown out of the clan along with his two followers by Tai Dou. Although Tao Dou was heavily injured, he was still a Fifth Heavenly Layer Saint King. The envoy could not resist the frozen space.

Plop! Plop! Plop!

A hundred meters away, three muffled sounds could be heard The envoy and his followers heavily hit the ground. Although they were not injured, they were reduced to a mess.

The two followers silently climbed up and did not dare to say anything. However, the envoy was furious. When he had been thrown out by Tai Dou, he had been locked up by Spatial Force and was unable to control his body, making him come so close to the ground. How could he endure something like that as a mighty Saint Ruler.

At the same time, he had already subconsciously determined the Turtle clan had been defeated and that they should have treated him with plenty of respect and politeness. Yet, the situation was the exact opposite.

The envoy ignored the gleeful gazes of the clansmen from his suffering as he furiously charged back into the hall. He roared out, “How dare you! How dare you treat an envoy of the Tao family like this. You will regret your actions.”

A gleam of light flashed through Jian Chen’s eyes, and he said with a heavy voice, “Tai Dou, throw him out. If he charges in again, kill him immediately.”

“Yes sir,” responded Tai Dou as he arrived before the envoy. He extended his hand, about to throw him out.

“Wait!” The envoy had already been trapped by Tai Dou. Seeing how he was about to be tossed out yet again, he quickly shouted to make him stop. He said through gritted teeth, “I’ve come under the patriarch’s orders to deliver a message. After the message is delivered, I will leave immediately.” With that, the envoy felt like he was out of trouble, so he added something else, “If it weren’t for the patriarch’s orders, I wouldn’t be willing to come even if this mere Turtle clan had invited me! Hmph.”

“Speak! What did the patriarch want you to say?” Jian Chen emotionlessly ordered.

The envoy calmed down and unhappily stared at Jian Chen. He said, “The Turtle clan has attempted to take the grand quality crystal mines in possession of the Tao family time and time again, which has resulted in great losses for us. In the battle three days ago, a large number of experts and elites fell, so the Turtle clan had already caused an extremely great loss to the Tao family. As a result, the Turtle clan has fifteen days to pay up a billion grand quality crystal coins as compensation, or the clan will take corresponding measures against the Turtle clan.”

The elders of the Turtle clan began to tremble in rage after they heard what the envoy had to say. The Tao family was going more and more overboard. Even if they used everything they had, they probably would not be able to gather a hundred million, let alone a billion crystal coins. Although they had been in possession of some crystal mines for some time, it was just far too little time to make a grand sum.

“I have delivered the patriarch’s message. Farewell.” The envoy turned around in an attempt to leave.

“Wait!” Jian Chen stopped the envoy from leaving.

He turned around to look at Jian Chen as he coldly asked, “What is it, ruler?”

A gleam of heavy killing intent flashed through Jian Chen’s eyes. He coldly answered, “Envoy, you would have been able to leave safely before you had said that, but now you can’t.”

The envoy’s expression changed. He growled, “What are you trying to do?”