Then, the wall of flames extinguished, and Ye Lingyuan slowly walked over.
With a gentle lift of his hand, a short knife on the ground floated up.
The power of法则 surged, and the single short knife instantly turned into dozens, accurately severing the right hands of those people.
Blood splattered everywhere, and severed hands flew through the air.
A chorus of wails immediately erupted from the ground.
Yan Long and Zi Yuling's faces turned ashen with fright, their legs trembling uncontrollably.
Despite being the foremost among the younger generation of the Giant Flame Sect, Yan Long was merely a flower cultivated in a greenhouse. He had never witnessed such a scene before.
Zi Yuling, needless to say, could barely contain her nausea from the smell of blood in the air.
After severing the right hands of those people, Ye Lingyuan retreated to his original position.
Zi Linling, however, was not in a hurry, and she relished watching the two of them on the verge of collapse with great interest.
"Ah..."
Finally, Yan Long could no longer bear it and let out a howl.
"You! How could you... Are you completely turning your back on the Giant Flame Sect?"
At this moment, his terror and rage were intertwined, making his speech somewhat jumbled.
"Turning my back? If you say so, then so be it!" Zi Linling said dismissively.
"Aren't you afraid of retaliation from the Giant Flame Sect?" Yan Long asked, unwilling to give up.
"Retaliation?"
Zi Linling sneered and said, "Is your Giant Flame Sect that powerful?"
"..."
Yan Long finally understood. They clearly did not take the Giant Flame Sect seriously at all.
In other words, they were not afraid of retaliation from the Giant Flame Sect.
"I warned her long ago that she had provoked someone she shouldn't have, and even the Giant Flame Sect couldn't protect her!" Ye Lingyuan added with a sarcastic glance at Zi Yuling.
Yan Long stared at Zi Yuling in astonishment, as Zi Yuling had never mentioned this.
In fact, even if Zi Yuling had mentioned it, Yan Long would still have come to seek retribution.
Young people, after all, were stubborn and would only learn when they hit a wall. Only after suffering a loss would they realize that some people were beyond their ability to provoke.
This was precisely the meaning of learning from experience.
With her heart already guilty of maliciously distorting the facts, Zi Yuling's gaze immediately darted away when Yan Long stared at her.
As the son of the Sect Master of the Giant Flame Sect, Yan Long was not a fool.
Seeing Zi Yuling's reaction now, he naturally guessed that what she had said earlier contained many untruths.
However, at this point, it was difficult to pursue the truth or falsehood of the matter.
Furthermore, since he had already considered Yuling his woman, he had to deal with the aftermath, whether he wanted to or not.
Thinking of this, Yan Long calmed down instead.
He organized his thoughts and said, "Third Miss Zi, this is all a misunderstanding between us. Although I ordered an attack on your courtyard's barrier, it did not cause you any substantial harm. Yet, you have injured dozens of our Giant Flame Sect members..."
"And so?"
Zi Linling asked with a cold smile.
Yan Long said, "Shall we make peace?"
"No!"
Before Zi Linling could speak, Zi Yuling preempted her, "She killed my parents and disgraced me in the Phoenix Pavilion. The enmity between her and me is irreconcilable, and there can be no peace!"
Zi Linling smiled faintly and said to Yan Long, "Did you hear that?"
"Slap!"
A crisp sound of a slap echoed.
Yan Long actually slapped Zi Yuling directly, causing her eyes to sparkle.
She covered her face and looked at Yan Long in disbelief, "You hit me?"
"You're being unreasonable! I am now representing the Giant Flame Sect to make peace with Third Miss Zi. What right do you have to interrupt?" Yan Long reprimanded her furiously.
The current situation was extremely disadvantageous to them.
Given the ruthlessness with which Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan acted, if they continued to stall, he and Zi Yuling would inevitably suffer the same fate of having their right hands severed.
And if the son of the Sect Master had his right hand cut off, his father would certainly not let it go.
At that time, the Giant Flame Sect would inevitably be in opposition to Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan.
And given Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan's confident demeanor, did they look like they feared the Giant Flame Sect?
Therefore, the Giant Flame Sect would be the one to suffer in the end.
This was why, despite the Giant Flame Sect members being at a disadvantage, Yan Long had to swallow his pride and seek peace.
And Zi Yuling, failing to see the situation clearly at this critical juncture and obstructing Yan Long's attempt at peace, it was no wonder Yan Long hit her!
However, Zi Yuling, who had always been pampered by Yan Long, could not tolerate this.
Therefore, she erupted, and vulgar curses tumbled out of her mouth.
"Yan Long, you hypocrite! Coward! Chicken-hearted! I, Zi Yuling, was wrong about you!"
After she finished scolding, she stomped off in a huff.
"You... you..."
Before Yan Long could finish speaking, he saw a figure flash, and Zi Yuling was violently thrown to the ground.
"Is this a place where you can just come and go as you please?"
Zi Linling clapped her hands and continued, "Trying to escape by arguing with him? Elder Sister, I'm not an idiot like this fool, so put away your tricks!"
"Don't worry, I won't kill you until you've committed enough evil. But I said, anyone from the Giant Flame Sect who came here today must either kowtow and admit their mistake, defeat me, or leave behind a hand. So, choose one!"
Zi Yuling's expression finally changed.
It had to be said that her little scheme was seen through by Zi Linling.
When she saw that the members of the Giant Flame Sect had their right hands severed, she had wanted to escape. However, she had never found an opportunity.
And just now, after Yan Long slapped her, she knew that an opportunity had arrived.
Unfortunately, she had deceived Yan Long, but she could not deceive Zi Linling.
"I don't choose! I don't choose!" Zi Yuling shook her head in panic.
She could not bring herself to kowtow and apologize to her enemy.
She still couldn't defeat Zi Linling.
And she was unwilling to leave behind her right hand.
"You won't choose? Then I'll choose for you!"
As Zi Linling spoke, she held a gleaming scalpel in her hand.
She gently ran her finger along the blade, her gaze falling on Zi Yuling's right hand.
"No! Don't!"
Zi Yuling cried out in terror. She wanted to get up and flee, but she didn't know what means Zi Linling had used to render her unable to move.
"Third Miss Zi, wait a moment!"
After all, she was a woman he cared about. Yan Long could not stand by and watch and stopped Zi Linling.
Zi Linling looked at Yan Long and asked, "What do you want to say?"
"Make peace!"
Yan Long sighed and said.
This time, he did not say "make peace," but "seek peace."
"Oh!"
Zi Linling said with a half-smile, "May I ask... how do you intend to seek peace?"
"We will not pursue the matter of you injuring so many members of the Giant Flame Sect. Furthermore, we are willing to offer thirty million high-grade spirit stones as compensation, only asking that you allow the two of us to leave unharmed."
Yan Long blurted out his thoughts, finally feeling a little relieved.