The person leading them was indeed that same beautiful and charming young man, Luo Tianhua. At that moment, there were also three other similar aged individuals beside him. They were all unique in their demeanors, but from their auras, they were not less capable than each other.
Beholden with such a sight, the five lords were flabbergasted. An inexplicable ‘Lan Xiao' had already shocked them to their core. Now, suddenly appeared a few more monstrous geniuses who were only slightly weaker than ‘Lan Xiao'. Such powerful geniuses, other than those major nations, could only be nurtured by an organization like the Soul Society that had been around for millennia.
The five lords suddenly sensed a deep-seated frustration in their hearts. As natives, they had always been proud of the Lawless Lands' monstrous physical const.i.tutions, believing that in terms of physical skills and mecha operating, those from the Lawless Lands were far more talented than anyone in the galaxy. However, these young men who stood before them shattered that perception into pieces. Even monstrously talented citizens of the Lawless Lands might not even be able to reach their current realm at their age, and there was no need to compare them with the monstrous demon ‘Lan Xiao'. He was an impossible existence…
The four of them entered the main hall despite noticing the unrecognizable faces. Noticing their lack of respect towards them, the five lords intentionally put forth their pressure to take them down a notch.
Among the four people who arrived, Luo Tianhua, who the lords have met once before, along with a barbarian like young man seemed to not react to their pressure. They both looked on calmly. The other two, one with a devilish look while the other has a sharp and cold presence, only frowned slightly before returning to their normal expression in the blink of an eye. The pressure the five lords gave off didn't affect them too much.
The four of them walked towards Ling Lan's ice throne uniformly until they were three meters away. Then, they knelt on one leg and placed their left hands on their right breast, performing a standard bow for underlings when greeting their superiors. They were showing their respect to the Soul Society.
“Master Lord Gen!” shouted the four of them respectfully and in unison.
“You're five minutes late. Wait to receive your punishment later.” Seeing two unexpected faces, Ling Lan was somewhat surprised. However, even so, she still calmly made the decision to punish the four of them all together.
Ling Lan knew that they had gone through many hards.h.i.+ps and had tried their best to arrive on time. However, they were still late. Luckily, Ling Lan had some trump cards to withstand the combined attack of the five lords. If she was just somewhat weaker, not only would she die, they who arrived late would also definitely die with her.
Only when people die, information would not be leaked. Only when they die, could the Lawless Lands paint themselves as innocent for killing them. Despite no one believing them to be innocent, there wouldn't be anyone or anything to disprove of their claims. Even if the Soul Society knew it was the lords who killed them, the Soul Society still needed to think carefully about whether the war would be worth it or not.
After all, dead people were worthless. Even if they were monstrously talented when they were alive, talent was useless when it came to a corpse.
“Understood,” Luo Lang and the others bowed and responded respectfully.
This was Ling Lan's usual way of dealing with things. Luo Lang and Zhao Jun had already gotten used to it, and did it naturally and smoothly. Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran on the other hand did it subconsciously because Zhao Jun had helped them to acclimatize to the customs of Lingtian. Zhao Jun told them they must accept anything Boss told them to do. If they couldn't do just that, then they should just not see Boss.
After being told that continuously for more than 20 days, Tang Ningyu and Mu Chaoran were successfully brainwashed. After Ling Lan's order, they subconsciously reacted like Zhao Jun had told them, kneeling down and accepting the order given to them obediently.
“This is the first s.h.i.+pment of supplies the Soul Emperor has made me bring.” Luo Lang respectfully pulled out a list of supplies and held it above his head.
Ling Lan used her mind to contact Little White and a white tentacle rushed towards Luo Lang. It grabbed the list on Luo Lang's hands and then handed it to its master.
Ling Lan took it and carefully scanned it. A slight smirk appeared on her face. She raised her head and looked towards Lord Zhen. “Lord Zhen, because of the time crunch, the Soul Emperor will send full s.h.i.+pment in batches as they are still gathering the rest of the list. Following this s.h.i.+pment, there will be a second and a third one.”
After saying that, Ling Lan flickered her finger lightly. The list in her hands floated towards Lord Zhen and then slowly landed in his hands.
Lord Zhen could sense that there was no residual domain concept energy left on the list that landed on his hand. Just this perfect control of power was enough for him to acknowledge Ling Lan.
Lord Zhen knew very well that moving objects like this through the air, no matter what the object was, the slower the speed, the more difficult it was to control. The way Ling Lan pa.s.sed the object through the air was definitely more than difficult… Despite ‘Lan Xiao' being so young, the insights he had of his domain concepts didn't seem to be weaker than any of them. His degree of control over his energy was even greater than them. This was perhaps why he was able to endure a combined attack from the five of them.
Lord Zhen pushed the random thought to the back of his mind and opened the list. After reading through it, his expression warped into one of joy. Of the things on the list, most of them were rare weapons and equipment they had always wanted but couldn't get their hands on them. There were also a portion of needed supplies of daily necessities for the citizens. Although they were already cooperating with the mercenary world to obtain such necessities, the mercenary world would sometimes not be able to get their hands on the necessary amount. The nations in the central region were too guarded against the Lawless Lands. They definitely wouldn't let the mercenary world get their hands on too much of the stuff and let the Lawless Lands have the possibility to develop faster.
Lord Zhen's look of joy drew in the attention of the other lords. Soon after, they all looked through the list Ling Lan had given them. Like Lord Zhen, they all had looks of surprise and joy on their faces. They didn't expect the Soul Society to be so courteous when they had just barely cooperated.
“This is how our Soul Society is presenting itself. Now, we want to see how the 13 Lords present themselves,” said Ling Lan indifferently as she put her head down and rubbed Little White.
Although she sounded indifferent, her tone of voice suggested that if they sincerely cooperated with them, everyone would win. If not, everyone would lose out on this deal.
The five lords met each others' gazes as they discussed in hushed tones. After they finished discussing with one another, Lord Zhen stood up and smiled. “My little friend, we have seen the Soul Emperor's good faith. However, we will go back to Lord Qian and Lord Kun to further discuss how we can compensate you for this grand gesture. How about we give you an answer tomorrow?”
Ling Lan gave a half-smile towards Lord Zhen. After a minute of full silence, just as Lord Zhen's smile was about to crack, Ling Lan suddenly let out a huge smile.
All the ice and snow in the palace a few seconds ago suddenly melted. Lord Zhen was someone who had seen the beauties of the world. However, after seeing Ling Lan's smile, he was dumbfounded for a full second. When he fully realized what he had done, the expression on his face turned unfriendly.
Ling Lan still smiled brightly as she said, “That's fine too. I will wait for your good news.”
The five lords then said their goodbyes and disappeared from the main hall. They only left behind five empty ice thrones in their place.
Ling Lan's smile slowly disappeared and her expression finally turned as cold as ice.
“Boss, what do they mean?” Luo Lang seemed to sense something was off and immediately asked.
“Heh, what do they mean? Well, that is for them to decide.” Ling Lan laughed coldly. The fingers on her right hand softly rubbed together before flicking outwards. The five ice thrones instantly shattered into dust.