Chapter 323: Negotiation
"He wants us to give the property back to the Luo Clan?
Keep dreaming!"
Chen Clan's master coldly scoffed at the idea.
If one clan possessed more property in C County where resources were now scarce, then the other clans wouldn't have enough. The situation drove all the clans to compete fiercely.
After murdering Mike with Zen's two uncles, Ford had managed to grab a lot of property from the Luo Clan. Since then, the Qi Clan had ranked second in C County, right next to the Huang Clan.
The Chen Clan, the He Clan and the Zhang Clan had gained much profit from Mike's death and now they were reluctant to give the benefits back to the Luo Clan. Because all the clans had many servants and guards to feed, if they gave back the property to the Luo Clan, they wouldn't be able to live as comfortably as they were accustomed to.
Although Ford originally intended to return the property to the Luo Clan, it was clear that even if he did so, Zen wouldn't let him go. It was high time for the clans to unite and fight against Zen. "Yes, since the Luo Clan was not powerful enough, it's only natural that we should take over its property!
It's impossible for Zen to take all these back by himself.
We should discuss how to go against him."
“Maybe it was just a stroke of luck that he defeated the Blood Prisoner. Since the Blood Prisoner was badly injured, he could barely keep up with the fight and he might have been ninety percent down. It's no surprise that Zen defeated him. Besides, Zen is just a nature creature. I don't think he is a match for us.”
The master of the He Clan sounded certain.
Upon hearing his words, the others pondered for a moment.
While they had, indeed, been frightened by Zen's power, what the He Clan's master pointed out made them reevaluate Zen's true competence.
After some arguments, they finally came to the conclusion that it was impossible for a practitioner at grade three of the nature level to defeat the Blood Prisoner at full power. Zen was only able to kill him because his opponent's power had declined severely because of his injuries.
“Hump! Since he's not as powerful as we thought, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'll kill that mongrel!” with a trace of malice flashing in his eyes, Chuck proudly declared.
Among the clan masters present, he was the most powerful and in turn, he was more confident than the others.
“With Chuck leading us, we'll definitely kill that mongrel!”
Ford readily agreed with the others.
“Yes, we must suppress the Luo Clan. Zen and Yan are already so powerful at such a young age. If we don't suppress them, they'll keep getting stronger. We might...” Before the He Clan's master could finish his words, a sudden chuckle came from outside the room.
Since the Crescent Building belonged to his clan, Chuck had instructed all the servants not to let anyone else come upstairs. “Who's there?” he shouted with a frown.
"It's just funny…seems like I arrived just in time. I was thinking about looking for you individually in your mansions.
Now that you're all gathered here, you have made things so much easier for me!"
Suddenly, a big hole formed on the window and a person jumped in through it. The mysterious man with a handsome face and starry eyes was no one but Zen.
Ford's eyes began to twitch with anxiety. Since Zen dared to come, Ford had a strong feeling that something terrible was about to unfold.
Hearing Zen's taunt, Chuck couldn't contain his anger.
“Zen, how dare you come here!” He stared at Zen viciously, as if he was about to swallow him alive.
With an indifferent look at Chuck and the other clan masters, Zen said, “I came here to negotiate,” turning his eyes to Ford, he continued, “But I will also be taking a life.”
Ford's heart sank as he took two steps backward under the overwhelming murderous intent in Zen's eyes.
“Negotiate? If that's true, you wouldn't have jumped through the window!”
The Chen Clan's master had to point it out.
"Well then…
That's my bad. Can I sit here?" Zen asked, pointing at an empty chair. Before the masters could even say anything, he nonchalantly took a seat anyway and gestured at them to sit down.
'The mongrel is too calm…' they thought, not knowing what to say.
Knowing that Zen was strong, they preferred to negotiate before resorting to force so they held their tongues and sat down.
It was quiet for a moment as Zen poured himself a cup of tea and took a long sip as if they had all the time in the world. Finally, he started explaining, “I'm here for two things. First, all of you, representing the top five clans in C County, have taken a lot from the Luo Clan.”
"So what?
Do you expect us to just hand them all back over?"
He Clan's master snorted.
With a dangerous smile, Zen put two fingers up and said, “If you give our clan back twice as much as you stole from us, we'll consider the matter settled.”
“Ha!” The master of the He Clan burst into laughter. "Dream on!
It's already impossible for me to give the resources back. You can't expect me to give you double!
This is ridiculous. Young man, are you joking?"
With that, the other clan masters burst into laughter as well, much less afraid of Zen than they used to be. In their eyes, killing the already-weakened Blood Prisoner wasn't that big of a deal. Even if Zen hadn't fought him, he would probably have died from his injuries.
“Ah...you only have this one chance. If you don't answer me now, you'll have to pay the Luo Clan back in triple,” ignoring their jeers, Zen said with a serious tone.
"Who do you think you are?
Even without you demanding us to pay you back, I won't be letting you off easily. I'll be taking revenge for my son!" With a harsh slam on the table, Chuck made a broad knife appear in his hand. With a wave, a strand of heat was emitted from the knife before it rushed toward Zen.
Seeing Chuck making his move, Ford joined him with his half-flute-half-dagger weapon. It was a smart choice considering the fact that Zen was no ordinary opponent. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the guts to get involved in the fight. As soon as Chuck began to attack, Ford knew he had to help so that they could take Zen out immediately.
Once Zen was killed, they would have nothing more to worry about.
However, there was a world of difference between Zen's skill and theirs.
When Zen came out of the fairy palace and became a nature creature, he had already been able to defeat disciples at grade eight and grade nine of the nature level.
The clan masters in front of him now were much worse than those noble clans' children in terms of talent, resources and weapons.
It was no surprise that Zen could easily defeat them.
In an instant, a sword appeared in Zen's hand. It was the Streamer Sword.
Two sword radiances were emitted from the weapon, penetrating the large table and rushing toward Chuck and Ford at incredible speed.
“Puff! Puff!”
Two right hands fell to the ground before the other clan masters could even realize what was happening.
Blood gushed from Chuck's and Ford's broken arms.
After a short while, their wounds stopped bleeding, leaving them in shock. Because it happened so fast, they hadn't felt the pain kick in yet.
The masters of the He Clan, the Chen Clan and the Zhang Clan couldn't believe what they had just seen.
To think that Chuck and Ford, the most powerful clan masters in C County, lost both their right hands in a single round! If Zen hadn't shown mercy, the two would probably have lost their lives.
With this in mind, the other three clan masters felt very lucky to have been spared. If they joined the other two in the attack, they might have lost their hands as well.
Zen thrust his sword so incredibly fast that none of them clearly identified his sword method, leaving them at a loss for how to block his attack.
What they didn't realize, however, was that even if Zen thrust his sword slowly, they had no chance of winning, as his sword method was based on the principle of 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.' Even Evan, the Number One disciple of Cloud Sect, couldn't break Zen's attack. How could the clan masters even dream of doing it?
“Chuck, I killed your son because he tried to kill a member of the Luo Clan when they were at the Martial Arts Hall of the Luo Clan! Darcy is your son, so he is important to you. Same thing, the member of the Luo Clan is important to us! I killed Darcy because he deserved it.” Coldly staring at Chuck, Zen raised his voice.
At that moment, Chuck felt rather idiotic, like a joke, and he didn't dare try to resist Zen's words.
With more power, one can speak more proudly. Now, Chuck realized that although he had reached grade five of the nature level with no one in C County who dared challenge him, his achievements were nothing at all in Zen's eyes.
Putting three fingers up, Zen said, “Now you have to pay us back in triple. Listen to me. If you don't agree now, you'll have to pay back in quadruple!”
'Pay back three times as much? That would mean shelling out so much more than what we got from the Luo Clan. We'd have to give up part of our own property worth twice the value of the one we gained from the Luo Clan.
This is just too much!'