Chapter 4967 — If It's War You Want

Still, on second thought, that was only natural—it was only after Zhuang Yifan took the Earth-Solidifying Pill that such a thing could be possible. Human nature, after all.

"Haha, from the very first time we met I felt we should have known each other long ago, and that feeling has only grown stronger with time. Come, come, we must drink a cup together to celebrate—and to see Brother Lin off while we're at it." Zhuang Yifan proposed.

"Good, I'll have it arranged at once." Wei Zhao immediately called Li Ren over. They had not yet set sail from port, so while the iron was hot he might as well deepen his bond with Zhuang Yifan—this was, after all, a powerful ally for the days ahead.

But before the wine and dishes arrived, a sudden clamor broke out beyond the ship, and the now-familiar howling of the wild wind came again. Wei Zhao and Zhuang Yifan both froze for an instant. Could Chang Minghui have come sweeping back?

"You there, brat named Lin, get out here and meet your death!" A ferocious, savage voice echoed outside the ship. It was Chang Minghui, sure enough.

Hearing that voice, Wei Zhao was not alarmed but delighted. He had been worrying over how this pest haunted them so, and here it had delivered itself to their door. And by the most convenient coincidence, Zhuang Yifan had just laid down his bold words—this fellow had practically jumped out to test Zhuang Yifan on the spot.

"Let's go take a look." Zhuang Yifan's face darkened, and he took the lead out of the cabin.

At this moment a gigantic golden eagle with ghostly eyes hovered in midair, and on its back stood Chang Minghui. Yet beside him there was another man as well—a middle-aged man with long hair and a black beard.

At the sight, Wei Zhao, Liu Ziqi, and the rest all felt their hearts turn cold. Chang Minghui himself was no one to trifle with, yet the aura of the middle-aged man standing beside him far surpassed his. The man did not feel like any Mountain-Opening expert at all, but rather a great master of the Earth-Splitting stage, on the same level as Zhuang Yifan!

"Chang Tianwen!" Zhuang Yifan's eyelid twitched as well, and he spoke the middle-aged man's name aloud.

"Heh heh, parted so many years, and Guild Master Zhuang is in fine health, I trust." Chang Tianwen's face carried a trace of mockery and smugness. It seemed the two had some old grudge between them—at the very least, they were certainly no friends of the same path.

"You should be staying in the Mystic-Rank sea region—what are you doing here? This is the territory of the Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance. By the rules, you must announce yourself before coming. Barging in like this is far too unseemly, is it not?" Zhuang Yifan said in a low voice.

"So many years have passed, and Guild Master Zhuang still speaks without the least regard for feeling. For people of our caliber, what use is there in such rules?" Chang Tianwen curled his lip with a disdainful smile, then said: "I came here for no other reason than to seek justice for my clansman Chang Minghui. I hear someone here beat his wife and son half to death—as the Guild Master of the Alliance, ought you not look into it?"

At these words, Wei Zhao and the others finally understood. So this man was Chang Minghui's elder clansman—Chang Minghui was, in short, running to the family patriarch after taking a beating. So even late Mountain-Opening experts were only human, with thoughts no different from anyone else's.

"This was their own private feud, and everything was spoken plainly beforehand. My Academy Alliance neither needs to meddle nor may meddle. If they came off worse, they have only their own lack of strength to blame. Who else can they fault?" Zhuang Yifan snorted mercilessly.

"Served them right—is that what you mean? And yet I find it so very hard to believe. A mere early Profound-Ascension cultivator defeating an early Mountain-Opening one—such a thing has never even been heard of in the Mystic-Rank sea region. Could it be that this little backwater of yours hides dragons and crouching tigers even more than the Mystic-Rank sea region? I am highly suspicious. This affair was instigated by you, Zhuang Yifan, from behind the scenes!" Chang Tianwen sneered.

"Is that so? It seems you did not come to seek justice for anyone, but purely to stir up trouble. Only, what I am most curious about now is this: back in the Mystic-Rank sea region, when you competed with me for the post of Alliance Guild Master, you were my defeated subordinate. Where exactly did you find the confidence to come stir up trouble on my territory? Or have you perhaps broken through to a new level of strength?" Zhuang Yifan looked coldly at Chang Tianwen.

At these words, Chang Tianwen's face visibly darkened several degrees. His public, crushing defeat at Zhuang Yifan's hands in the Mystic-Rank sea region had been the shame of his life—a scar no one was permitted to tear open.

"Hmph, spare me such foolish talk of defeated subordinates and self-deception. Had I not been careless and underestimated the enemy back then, how would the seat of Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance Guild Master ever have fallen to you, Zhuang Yifan?" Chang Tianwen curled his lip contemptuously.

"So then I must thank you for your mercy that year, Your Excellency?" At those words, a note of mockery appeared on Zhuang Yifan's face.

Chang Tianwen's expression grew uglier still. In both background and strength, he had always considered himself a cut above Zhuang Yifan. Back when others had named the two of them in the same breath, he had dismissed it with contempt and even declared on the spot that Zhuang Yifan was not worth a single exchange with him—only to discover after they crossed hands that he was no match for Zhuang Yifan at all. The mocking gazes of the crowd that day still made him feel utterly humiliated even now, and he brooded on it to this day.

"You became Guild Master of this Alliance, and your strength has not improved, but your tongue has grown considerably sharper. How gratifying." Chang Tianwen gave a cold laugh, then said: "I am taking this brat named Lin today, no matter what. Guild Master Zhuang, if it truly was not you pulling the strings from behind, then surely you will not stop me? After all, by what you said a moment ago, this is also a private matter between us and him, is it not?"

"Whether it is a private matter is not for Your Excellency to decide, but for my Brother Lin here to decide himself. So long as he does not consent, he is a member of my Academy Alliance, and I dare guarantee that you cannot touch him." Zhuang Yifan said flatly.

"Brother Lin? You, Zhuang Yifan, are at least a late Earth-Splitting expert—to address such a greenhorn as an equal, do you not find it shameful to speak of?" Chang Tianwen laughed heartily. Seeing that Zhuang Yifan still wore an unmoved expression, he cooled his face and said in a low voice: "So you are set on protecting him?"

"Indeed." Zhuang Yifan nodded without hesitation. To say nothing of the old grudge between him and this Chang Tianwen—even without it, he would never allow Wei Zhao to fall into the other's hands. This was, after all, his greatest hope for surging into the Sea-Rending stage in the days to come.

"Then there is nothing more to say. I did not wish to take advantage of another's peril, but you have forced my hand." Chang Tianwen laughed at once. As his words fell, a monstrous pressure came crushing down from the sky, and the vast Morning Star Treasure Ship actually sank beneath it, forced down a great measure by that incomparable power, while the once-calm sea around them turned to surging waves.

"If it's war you want, then war you shall have." Zhuang Yifan's face darkened, and the mighty pressure bearing down on the Morning Star Treasure Ship dissolved into nothingness. He leaped up whole: "If we fight, we fight outside—otherwise, if you wreck my Alliance branch, the wrath of the Mystic-Rank Academy Alliance is more than you can bear!"