Chapter 109 - Tong Shuai’s Disposal

Chapter 109: Chapter 107: Tong Shuai’s Disposal"Lord Tong Shuai, greetings!"

As Tong Shuai appeared, everyone except Lu Hong knelt on one knee, offering him the highest respect.

Lu Hong looked around at the people kneeling and couldn’t help but wonder, "Tong Shuai probably won’t trouble me if I don’t kneel, right?" Of course, kneeling was out of the question. Never in this lifetime.

Tong Shuai didn’t pay much attention to these formalities; his small stature, a little over half a meter high, slowly walked to Kuang Chi and Kui Hong, and coldly said, "I didn’t expect you to still recognize me as the master of Tong City."

Though his words carried a tone of reprimand, Tong Shuai released a burst of magic light into Kuang Chi’s body, healing most of his injuries instantly. It seemed likely that Tong Shuai might be a healer.

"Lord Tong Shuai, those words are too kind. We hold the utmost admiration for you," Kuang Chi and Kui Hong lost their earlier arrogance before Tong Shuai, and their tone became somewhat meek.

"Humph! If you truly respected me, would you dare to disturb the order within my Tong City?!"

"We’ll compensate. We are willing to pay for all the damages caused to Tong City," Kuang Chi quickly proposed a solution, knowing Tong Shuai’s temper well.

"Mm." Hearing Kuang Chi’s answer, Tong Shuai nodded with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to Lu Hong.

As Tong Shuai’s eyes fixed on Lu Hong, an invisible pressure suddenly overwhelmed him, and his body instinctively entered a combat state. This Tong Shuai was definitely not just at Second Transition Level 4!

"How do you plan to compensate?" Tong Shuai withdrew his gaze and asked indifferently.

"I don’t have any money," Lu Hong shrugged.

Just then, Ku Le’s portly figure rolled over and he hurriedly spoke, "Lord Tong Shuai, I am willing to bear the losses for Tong City on his behalf."

Hearing Ku Le’s commitment, Tong Shuai nodded with satisfaction. "That’s good. Listen well, everyone."

Tong Shuai turned his gaze back to Kuang Chi and Kui Hong, "You came from the Blood City to Tong City entirely to take over the Kangeray family for yourselves. I could consider that a private matter and overlook it. However, today you brazenly caused a scene in Tong City, and since the Kangeray family is under the protection of my city, I will not tolerate such behavior in the future!"

"Lord Tong Shuai, calm your anger!" Terror had softened the legs of Kuang Chi and Kui Hong, and they quickly knelt to beg for mercy, knowing well that if Tong Shuai decided to kill them, the Blood King couldn’t save them.

"Leave! Get out of Tong City, and don’t step foot here again in your lifetime. Should you violate this, I will kill you personally!" The child-like tone of Tong Shuai was strangely harsh, which Lu Hong found oddly dissonant.

"Many thanks for your mercy, Lord Tong Shuai, many thanks!" Kuang Chi and Kui Hong heaved a sigh of relief, thanked him profusely, and helped each other to quickly leave, seemingly heading back to their hometown, Blood City.

"All right, that settles it, Ku Le lead the way," Lu Hong felt he might also be held accountable by Tong Shuai, so he decided to leave early. As he was about to step away, Tong Shuai stopped him. "Their matter is settled, but yours is not."

Lu Hong paused, thinking to himself that Tong Shuai indeed intended to deal with him.

Tong Shuai walked up to Lu Hong, looked up with an indifferent expression, paused for a moment, then said, "A top-ranking warrior of my Magic Race suffered a heavy loss at your hands. Normally, I wouldn’t interfere since it was a fair fight. But this place is still my Magic Race’s territory, and allowing a member of the Human Race to undermine our dignity here is truly unacceptable."

Hearing Tong Shuai’s statement, Lu Hong roughly understood his point. In simple terms, someone from his own Race was beaten in his own territory, and Tong Shuai felt disrespected and wanted to reclaim his honor.

"What does Lord Tong Shuai intend to do then?" Lu Hong secretly stayed on guard, ready to activate the "Kingly Arrival" stance at any moment.

"This battle where Kuang Chi and Kui Hong suffered a major defeat also disgraced my entire Magic Race. Of course, I will not trouble you unduly. Survive my one attack, and I will pursue the matter no further." Tong Shuai stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an air of mastery. However, looking imposing was hard when he had the appearance of a child, not so much authoritative as comical.

Before Lu Hong could speak, Ku Le interjected, "Lord Tong Shuai, that’s not acceptable. Brother Lu was only involved in the fight with the Blood King’s warrior because of me. I am the main cause. If you must penalize someone, penalize me."

"Penalize you?" Tong Shuai laughed, "Ku Le, I admit I was indeed wrong. The Blood King dared to brazenly send people to take over your Kangeray family, and I am partly at fault. But that does not give you the leverage to bargain with me here. Step back!"

Tong Shuai’s words seemed imbued with a force of Magic Power, causing Ku Le to struggle in his expression, yet ultimately unable to resist, he backed away.

"Tong Shuai assured the Kangrei family that they would be under the protection of the Tong family for the next thirty years and no one could threaten them with force anymore," Tong Shuai truly spoke reasonably, keeping issues separate and never blending them.

Seeing that pleading was futile, Lu Hong had no other choice but to summon the Blood Holy Sword and, invoking the Lion King’s power, bellowed, "Come at me!"

"Very well," Tong Shuai raised his finger and lightly tapped the tip of Lu Hong’s Blood Holy Sword.

Instantly, a strange sensation surged into his heart. Lu Hong couldn’t discern how Tong Shuai had made his move; there were no clues to the form of attack, yet the feeling of a lethal crisis was undeniably real.

Since he had no knowledge of his adversary’s attack strategy, he could only defend himself fully.

Just as the power of his qi and blood fortified every inch of his body in strict preparation, a sudden excruciating pain swept through his soul.

It was an attack on the soul?!

Lu Hong was shocked; this fellow could use the Power of Soul?

It was over; as a second transition, Lu Hong had no means of defending against soul-based skills.

Tong Shuai’s finger, phantom-like, reappeared in Lu Hong’s mind and as it descended, the sensation of his soul shattering tormented Lu Hong immeasurably.

Faced with an unbeatable soul attack, Lu Hong was left with no choice but to await death. Just then, a searing heat burst from his chest – it was the Judgment Dual Blades, activated once again since entering his body.

"Judgment?" Tong Shuai naturally sensed the change in Lu Hong and easily recognized the twin blades.

As the Judgment appeared, Tong Shuai’s finger lost its original power and gradually dissipated from Lu Hong’s mind.

"Human, you are quite impressive," Tong Shuai, satisfied, withdrew his arm and spoke, "I look forward to your visit, and I will prepare a warm welcome for you."

Without waiting for Lu Hong to recover from the recent ordeal, Tong Shuai turned and left.

Huff, huff~

After the threat of death was lifted, the searing Judgment calmed down, and Lu Hong, having narrowly escaped death, collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. The feeling of survival from a desperate situation was truly exhilarating!

"Brother Tu, are you alright?" Seeing Tong Shuai had left, Ku Le hurried back, looking at Lu Hong with concern. He fished inside his Space Ring for a while and pulled out a magic potion, "Quickly drink all of these, it will help you recover fast."

"Stop bothering me!" Lu Hong pushed Ku Le away irritably, "I still have a bone to pick with you!"

Faced with Lu Hong’s discontent, Ku Le grimaced and explained, "Brother Tu, I had no choice." He then signaled his servants to clear away the bystanders before continuing, "Do you know why Kuang Chi and Kui Hong could press me repeatedly?"

Lu Hong coldly responded, "I’m not interested."

Although Lu Hong wasn’t interested, Ku Le felt obliged to explain further, "The Blood King reached an agreement with Tong Ling, Tong Shuai’s eldest son. That connection is why Tong Shuai didn’t intervene to stop Kuang Chi and Kui Hong."

"A few days ago, Kuang Chi and Kui Hong came to my Kangrei family, demanding our submission to the Blood King. Naturally, I refused and avoided them with various excuses. Later, I sought Tong Shuai’s help, but he refused me. That’s why I resorted to this desperate measure. Please understand, brother Tu. Without your involvement, my Kangrei family would have been reduced to the Blood King’s lapdogs."

After hearing Ku Le’s explanation, Lu Hong’s expression softened slightly, but the anger of being manipulated hadn’t fully dissipated. From the moment he accompanied Ku Le back to Tong City, he had been entrapped in their calculations. Most likely, it was Ku Le himself who informed Kuang Chi of their whereabouts in order to escalate the situation to a point where Tong Shuai had no choice but to intervene.

"What if I hadn’t been as strong as Kuang Chi and had been killed? Would this account have been settled then?"

"Brother Tu, calm down, please. I’m truly sorry about this, but rest assured, once you’re at the Kangrei family, I’ll make sure you are compensated to your satisfaction," Ku Le humbled himself, continuously apologizing to Lu Hong. His apologies stemmed not only from the debt of manipulating Lu Hong but also from a fear of his fighting capabilities. The Kangrei family lacked strong warriors, and every powerful individual was someone the Kangrei family couldn’t afford to offend.

Even Ku Le avoided confronting powerful demons like Kuang Chi and Kui Hong. Now with Lu Hong, who had clearly defeated both, the Kangrei family definitely couldn’t afford to offend him, despite Tong Shuai’s public declaration of martial protection over the Kangrei family. If Lu Hong was intent on targeting the Kangrei family, Tong Shuai might not be able to provide support fast enough.