Chapter 363: Chapter 364: Turning Black into White

“The Huaxia Empire is actually so powerful, impossible, right?” Upon hearing the words of the Eighth Elder, the chief elder with the bulbous nose was slightly startled, followed immediately by widening of his eyes as he looked toward the other party.

It was not just the chief elder of the Carefree Sect, but also the elders from the Double Pole Palace and Blood Spirit Valley within the Council Hall, who were all very surprised by this news.

According to what they had imagined, the Huaxia Empire should not possess such strength.

Even though the combined forces of the five states were not enough to fill the gaps between the Carefree Sect’s teeth, in their minds, the Huaxia Empire should not be able to handle it.

“Exactly how strong is the Huaxia Empire, how many people does it have, and how powerful is the strongest among them?” the chief elder asked the Eighth Elder, firing off a string of questions.

In response to the chief elder’s questions, the Eighth Elder could only give a wry smile, shaking his head helplessly and saying, “I don’t know?”

“You don’t know?” the chief elder’s tone suddenly rose, asking in confusion, “Don’t tell me you have no idea to go and see for yourself what exactly is happening in the Huaxia Empire?”

Hearing the chief elder bring up this point, a bitter smile also appeared on the Eighth Elder’s face: “Do you think I don’t want to know? I also wanted to enter the Huaxia Empire and see for myself what exactly was happening, but they wouldn’t allow us to enter.”

“They wouldn’t let you in?” Zhou Yian, seated at the head, furrowed his brows as he looked at the Eighth Elder, “What do you mean?”

“I was originally planning to enter the Coastal State to see exactly what was going on, however, before I could even get near the border of the Coastal State, people clad in green soft armor appeared and told us to quickly roll back out of the five states’ territory.”

“At that time, I thought I was going there to help them, the Huaxia Empire. Now, when such strange things are happening, isn’t it permissible to go in for a look, yet they are driving us away? When I was preparing to argue, they attacked us.”

“As I was ready to strike back, those soldiers donning silver armor with a black dragon charged out. Though their aura was only of the Heart Realm of the Life and Death Realm, their strength was very strong, completely suppressing me from start to finish. Even at the end, the opponent’s strength suddenly surged, leaving me seriously injured and even ready to slay us all.”

“If it weren’t for my quick escape, I fear…”

The words of the Eighth Elder caused the faces of everyone around to turn to shock.

That people from the Huaxia Empire actually had such formidable strength to injure the Eighth Elder of the Carefree Sect, who was of the Awakening Realm, was simply horrifying.

“What exactly is going on with the Huaxia Empire? Aren’t they being too unappreciative?” After hearing the Eighth Elder’s words, an elder from the Carefree Sect frowned, voicing some complaints.

Hearing this elder’s words, many others nodded in agreement, thinking that the Huaxia Empire’s actions were too excessive.

After all, they came with good intentions to help, yet they were met with a murder attempt?

“You have to pay the price for your own actions. Not killing you was already in consideration of Senior Zhou’s face, and you’re still blaming my people for being too harsh on you?”

Just then, Lin Qian suddenly appeared at the entrance of the Council Hall and walked straight toward the center, speaking with a cold tone.

The appearance of Lin Qian surprised everyone, except for Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang seated at the head, who showed no surprise as if they had long expected his arrival.

In fact, Lin Qian had already contacted the three of them three days prior, and it was they who invited Lin Qian to come today to discuss matters concerning the dynasty of Emperor Qin.

“You…” Seeing Lin Qian walking in, the Eighth Elder stretched out his finger toward him, about to say something, when he was rudely interrupted.

“What ‘you’? You all came rushing over, and the Huaxia Empire is grateful, gifting ten million Mid Grade Soul Crystals as a token of thanks. Just for making a round trip, you get a hundred thousand Top Grade Soul Crystals, which surely means you’ve already made a profit, right?”

“But this Eighth Elder actually demanded one million Top Grade Soul Crystals and even tried to forcibly enter the Coastal State, insisting that if you did not receive the Soul Crystals, you would not leave.”

“My people don’t agree, and you just take action against them, then you have the audacity to frame us? How presumptuous!”

At this point, a surge of crimson Thunder Soul Power suddenly erupted from within Lin Qian, emanating a terrifying aura as he swiftly kicked toward the Eighth Elder who was standing there.

In the eyes of the onlookers, the kick appeared akin to a whip made of thunder, viciously striking the Eighth Elder’s abdomen.

The Eighth Elder, already injured by Zhao Long and not at his peak in strength, could never have anticipated that Lin Qian would dare to make a move against him here, and caught completely off guard, was sent flying out of the Council Hall.

Lin Qian stood his ground after retracting his leg, dispersing his Soul Power, and glanced around, “Is it wrong to discipline such a greedy, overreaching person who distorts the truth?”

Outside the Council Hall, the Eighth Elder, kicked out by Lin Qian and bleeding from the mouth, struggled to rise from the ground, casting a hateful glance back at him before angrily turning away.

However, what the Eighth Elder did not realize as he turned around was the gleam of success in Lin Qian’s eyes.

This was because Lin Qian wanted the Eighth Elder to resent him, to use every method at his disposal to harm him, which would ultimately be advantageous for Lin Qian.

Had the Eighth Elder been a true Sect Elder of the Carefree Sect, Lin Qian would not have gone to such lengths, simply allowing Zhou Yian to handle it.

At the same time, Lin Qian also wanted to gauge the stance of Fang Shuiwen, Zhou Yian, and Yang Guixiang toward him.

“Indeed, the Eighth Elder has acted excessively,” Zhou Yian, seated at the head, nodded slowly after understanding the whole story.

His companions, Fang Shuiwen and Yang Guixiang, also nodded in agreement, seeing no fault in what Lin Qian had done.

The people in the Council Hall remained silent, having heard Lin Qian’s words, they too felt that the Eighth Elder’s actions had been excessive.

The other party had already resolved the matter, and the Eighth Elder’s intervention had been futile, with absolutely no merit; even a simple word of thanks from the other party would have been unobjectionable.

Since the other party had offered a hundred thousand Mid-Grade Soul Crystals as compensation for their escape, they had acted with utmost benevolence and propriety.

And yet, the Eighth Elder was so greedy, demanding a million Mid-Grade Soul Crystals and resorting to violence when his demands weren’t met?

After listening to Lin Qian’s explanation, the faces of the Carefree Sect Elders flushed with embarrassment, ashamed to have such a colleague.

Since the Eighth Elder left without retorting, it was evident that Lin Qian’s words were not unfounded.

However, the attitudes of the three elders toward Lin Qian also took them by surprise.

Even if the Eighth Elder was at fault, Lin Qian’s people ultimately left him seriously injured.

And now, with Lin Qian having just kicked the Eighth Elder out of the Council Hall right there on the spot, it was as if he was disrespecting the three elders, yet they seemed not to mind at all, clearly showing favoritism towards him.

Moreover, given the three elders’ irritability in Lin Qian’s absence and their return to normal upon his reappearance, it was quite revealing.

“As for handling the two Emperors of Qin from the Qin Dynasty, I will have to trouble the three seniors, as for the armies of the Qin Dynasty, leave them to the Huaxia Empire to manage; there’s no need for your people to cause further chaos.”

After Lin Qian spoke, everyone was astonished, questioning if they had misheard.