Chapter 674 - 396: Got a Gun Holster Too
Seeing Jiang Wanzhao’s spirits remain low, Zou Feng couldn’t help but try to console her. "The Tribulation Cultivators have been plotting this for a long time. Even the Dragon Race of Yu Long Lake was turned against us. In short, the Celestial Hearing Tower was already riddled with holes and corroded from within long before we arrived..."
"If the Immortal Sect still insists on holding you primarily responsible, Senior Sister Jiang, that would be completely unreasonable!"
The meaning behind Zou Feng’s words was obvious. The primary responsibility for the fall of the Celestial Hearing Tower should have been borne by its Tower Master, Yu Lingxiao.
It was precisely because she, as the Tower Master, had clearly governed poorly over the years that the Yama Underworld and the Ninefold Celestial Court were given an opening to exploit.
However, as soon as Zou Feng finished speaking, Jiang Wanzhao let out a soft sigh. "Yu Lingxiao... she was captured alive a few days ago!"
’Captured alive!?’
Zou Feng froze, then shuddered to imagine what fate would befall her after falling into the hands of those Tribulation Cultivators.
Either she would be endlessly tortured and perish tragically, only to be reduced to raw materials after death—not even her soul would be spared.
Or she would be brainwashed by the Queen Mother and assimilated into that horde of madmen from the Ninefold Celestial Court...
But with Yu Lingxiao’s complete demise, it meant that the one who should have shouldered the most blame had already paid the price.
"I may not be held primarily responsible, but the fall of the Celestial Hearing Tower during my tenure is an undeniable fact. The Immortal Sect can’t possibly act like nothing happened!" Jiang Wanzhao said with conviction.
Zou Feng mulled it over for a moment. "Then... it’ll probably just be a symbolic punishment. The consequences shouldn’t be... too severe, right?"
Jiang Wanzhao shook her head with a bitter smile. "It’s hard to say. My foundation within the Immortal Sect is still too shallow."
Just as Jiang Wanzhao said, even if she wasn’t at fault, being in her position when such a major catastrophe occurred meant she would inevitably be implicated.
And it was truly hard to say how the upper echelons of the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect would decide to handle Jiang Wanzhao.
Furthermore, even a symbolic, slap-on-the-wrist punishment would still leave a terrible impression on the sect’s leadership.
Her future prospects as a True Disciple were now incredibly bleak.
After all, Jiang Wanzhao had already been marginalized for certain reasons prior to this. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been relegated to guarding the Northern Domain just to build up her merits.
Now, through sheer bad luck, she was saddled with this disaster. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say any hope of a comeback was now lost.
After a moment of silence, the various powers within Zou Feng’s body began to surge restlessly, causing his killing intent to boil uncontrollably once again.
This was clearly the result of having just used Refinement on a crowd of Tribulation Cultivators without having had time to fully absorb and digest the power.
Absorbing and digesting these gains was also a form of Cultivation, and it was the only way to offload the side effects of using Refinement on Tribulation Cultivators.
Sensing that he had essentially struck it rich like a war profiteer, and considering Jiang Wanzhao’s current predicament...
"Senior Sister Jiang, what if... we don’t go back for the time being!"
Jiang Wanzhao, not yet grasping his meaning, asked in confusion, "Don’t go back?"
Zou Feng nodded. "That’s right. Since things have come to this, rather than returning to the Immortal Sect to face an unpredictable situation, it would be better to... stay here and hunt Tribulation Cultivators!"
"If we can take down a few more Golden Core Realm Judges or Immortal Officials, what crime will there be to speak of then, Senior Sister Jiang? It’ll all be battle merits!"
As they say, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Jiang Wanzhao had been so consumed with anxiety about being punished that she had completely overlooked the opportunity she now had: to atone for her supposed failure with new merits.
The Celestial Hearing Tower had fallen on her watch, but if the Ninefold Celestial Court and the Yama Underworld paid for it with the lives of several Golden Core Realm Tribulation Cultivators, then it would be hard to say who truly won or lost...
However, atoning for her failure with new merits was only feasible in theory. Given Jiang Wanzhao’s current state, even though the poison had been neutralized, it was clearly unrealistic for her to turn the tables and start hunting Tribulation Cultivators.
After all, for the Cultivators who had survived the recent turmoil, just escaping successfully was a major question mark.
This was exactly what Jiang Wanzhao had been thinking, but when she saw the eager look on Zou Feng’s face, she quickly realized that his plan might actually be feasible.
After all, not long ago, the two of them had just worked together to kill a Judge.
Including the Dragon King Luo Gang, who they’d taken down before, they had essentially scored a double kill on Golden Core Realm Tribulation Cultivators.
Frankly, even if she had teamed up with Yu Lingxiao, it would have been difficult to achieve a double-kill record in the current climate.
Achieving such a feat was a complex affair; a great many specific conditions had to be met.
But the most important reason was... Zou Feng was only at the Dao Foundation Realm. Before he unleashed one of his incredible Big Moves, no Golden Core Realm Tribulation Cultivator would ever take him seriously.
Take the previous situation, for example. If that Judge had sensed another Golden Core Realm Cultivator coming to the rescue, he never would have allowed his opponent to charge up a Big Move from a distance.
To put it bluntly, hunting with Zou Feng created the perfect "play the pig to eat the tiger" effect.
"Are you sure?"
Realizing the plan was actually feasible, Jiang Wanzhao was immediately tempted.
’If we can really take out a few more Judges or Immortal Officials... Never mind a few, we just need to slaughter two or three more. If I return to the Pinnacle Celestial Immortal Sect with that kind of record, not only will I be blameless, I’ll have earned great merit!’
However, while the temptation was immense, the danger was equally extreme—especially for Zou Feng, who was only at the Dao Foundation Realm.
Seeing that Jiang Wanzhao was tempted, Zou Feng’s killing intent flared as he said, "Honestly, I can’t wait to kill more of them. If you join me, Senior Sister Jiang, it would be like giving a tiger wings..."
Without Jiang Wanzhao, Zou Feng had no intention of continuing to court death; he would focus on escaping by any means necessary.
But with her on board, it was a completely different story.
He didn’t even need to bring up his "gun stock," Su Qingyu. Once Jiang Wanzhao joined, he—the "gun"—would also have a "gun holster" for protection.