Chapter 381 – 7th Onyx Hall Master Tu Zi Shan
Translated by: Berrrybunz
Edited by: XRCO and DeAndreR
The Fire Scythe Ghost Claw pierced through her chest.
Even at the brink of death, Ji Xiao Ya still did not understand how a crazy individual, with blood drenched across his face and clothes, was still able to smile hysterically.
She slowly sunk into the mud as the light drained out from her eyes.
Tang Tian gathered all the energy he had left and dashed to where Ling Xu and Crane was. When he appeared in front of them drenched in fresh blood, Ling Xu and Crane were taken aback.
All 3 of them locked eyes.
“I am now a Golden rank martial artist!” Tang Tian shouted in excitement as blood continued rolling down his cheeks.
“I told you I will kill him with one move.” Ling Xu replied as he cringed in pain from the open wounds inflicted during the battle.
Plomp, Plomp..
The 2 of them slowly fade into unconsciousness and fell onto the floor from the exhaustion.
Crane: “….”
Suddenly, Crane was alert: “Who is that?”
Two men appeared from the corner of Crane’s sight.
“We mean no harm.”
A bald buff man raised both his hands high up: “We are from Onyx Soul. I know that we used to have a misunderstanding. But it is now over and we do not have any animosity against you all.”
The scrawny man gave out a soft gasp as he fixated his gazed the unconscious Ling Xu and Tang Tian.
Crane did not drop his defence, but his face portrayed calmness: “That’s right. We do not have any animosity between us.”
The bald man let out a soft smile: “I will get straight to the point. I want to invite the 3 of you to the Onyx Soul. I am Tu Zi Shan, Hall Master of the 7th Onyx Hall of Onyx Soul.”
“Onyx Hall!” Crane made his surprise known. Onyx Hall was similar to the Gold Branch of the Honorable Martial Group. The only difference was that there were 13 Gold Branches while there were 9 Onyx Hall.
The structures of both the Honorable Martial Group and the Onyx Soul were similar.
The biggest and strongest authoritative figures were the Hall Master’s groups who possessed the largest power over the organization. Honorable Martial Group had 13 Hall Masters that comprised the Hall Masters’ Panel while the Onyx Soul had 7 Onyx Hall Masters that comprised the Onyx Soul’s Panel.
The Gold Branches were part of the Hall Masters’ Panel while the Onyx Halls were part of the Onyx Soul’s Panel. Both the Gold Branches and Onyx Halls held absolute power, and were answerable only to their respective panels and no one else. All decision making and strategic planning resided in Masters of the Branch or Halls.
Even though the Gold Branches and Onyx Hall had immense authority, they couldn’t go about executing orders without first having the permissions or orders from the Hall Master who was in charge of the task. The benefits and rewards were divided equally across the groups.
As Crane was born from a prestigious family, he had all this knowledge and knew much more than both Tang Tian and Ling Xu. He did not expect the bald muscular man to be one of the Master from the Onyx Hall.
Tu Zi Shan let out a soft smile and stated: “So how is it? The atmosphere in the 7th Onyx Hall is very positive and absent of politics. Our hall possesses more than 100 unique skills and there are bound to be a few that are suitable for your training. Even if there isn’t a skill that fits you, you can change to another Onyx Hall instead. Do not fret about this.”
“I am very sorry but I cannot make the decision.” Crane said politely.
Tu Zi Shan only reacted after a while, he patted his bald head and replied: “Yes I understand where you are coming from.”
The scrawny man was void of expression but was surprised by the reaction. It was rare for the Hall Master to look up to anyone in respect. These 3 men were definitely good but for Hall Master to be amazed and respect them, it was quite a sight.
Crane turned his attention to the doorway where a line of men appeared in his sight.
The leader, who a teen who had a gold hair, was dazzling. The line of men looked like they were battle hardened, with scars across their bodies and face. Angelina was also inside the crowd.
The red hair Qian Xin blurted out: “We have wasted our trip. Hall Master Tu is here.”
The scrawny man’s face turned cold, killer instinct was building up within him. Qian Xin was a member of the 5th Onyx Hall. As a mere member, how dare he address the hall master in such a condescending tone!
Qian Xin was taken aback and immediately waved his hand: “Hey hey hey, Hall Master The 5th and 7th Onyx Hall are great allied halls ok!”
Tu Zi Shan signalled to the scrawny man to calm down. It was Qian Xin’s nature to be like that. It was not worth it to get into a fight due to such a trivial matter. He turned towards Angelina to greet her: “Tu Zi Shan prostrates himself before your majesty.”
Angelina was also taken aback by Tu Zi Shan’s presence. An Onyx Soul’s Hall Master was similar to the rank of commander in the Leo’s Constellation. Angelina was very respectful to be able to have the presence of an Hall Master: “I am honoured to be able to meet you Hall Master!”
Tu Zi Shan smiled: “Your majesty employed a good strategy. The Honorable Martial Group has suffered a great loss this time. A casualty of 5 Gold Ranked Martial Artists will be painful for them.
(DeandreR: Only 4 are said to have died. I think the 5th escaped. The author really didn’t make what happened to the 5th one clear.)
Angelina replied: “Without the help of Hall Master I do not think there would have been such a favourable result.”
Once he came in, he immediately saw Lu Hai who laid motionless on the floor.
Tu Zi Shan let out a laugh: “Your majesty guessed wrong. I was not the one who did this.”
Everyone else was taken aback.
Tu Zi Shan was enjoying the surprise that was written on everyone’s face. He looked down at Lu Hai and pointed at him: “When I was here, he was already dead. Ji Xiao Ya was killed solely by Tang Tian. But he ran away from the battlefield after killing her without first reaping the reward from his enemy. Hence, I helped him retrieve the reward and was planning to pass it to his brother, Crane.”
He tossed a silver aquarius cabinet towards Crane.
The cabinet was still sealed. Tu Zi Shan did not open up to see the contents within after picking it up.
Crane was in awe and his respect for the Hall Master increased. He offered his thanks: “On behalf of Tang Tian, I would like to thank you, Hall Master Tu.”
“It was nothing much.” Tu Zi Shan replied indifferently.
The rest still had not comprehended the situation. They were also in awe by Crane, Tang Tian and Ling Xu for being able to pull off such a feat. Qian Xin who was naturally frivolous was also in awe after hearing Tu Zi Shan’s explanation of what had transpired.
But how was it possible for a Golden Ranked Martial Artist to be defeated so easily?
A Golden Ranked Martial Artist was not that weak.
Based on their intelligence, even with the combination of Tang Tian and his group, it would still have been impossible to kill one Golden Ranked Martial Artist. Ye Zhao Ge might be famous but he was still young and possessed deep potential. But his strength could not be comparable to a Golden Ranked Martial Artist
Even if Ye Zhao Ge was famous and renowned, in Qian Xin eyes, he was just a rookie.
In either the Gold Branch or the Onyx Hall, discipline was strict and secrets were well kept. If any of the members were to be recruited into the clan, they would have to sign a martial spirit contract, relieving themselves of their relationships from their family blood ties.
The training received was also much more rigorous than the average training.
Andre, Qian Xin and Bat Assassin worked together to kill 2 Gold rank martial artists. Since Tang Tian and his other 2 friends were able to also kill 2 Gold rank martial artists, didn’t that mean that the 2 groups had almost similar capabilities and power.
This was impossible!
No matter how much improvement Tang Tian and his group had made during the training, it was still impossible for them to have been able to kill the 2 Golden ranked martial artists. It was even more unbelievable that Tang Tian was able to kill a Golden Fighter on his own. It was ridiculous.
But the event was narrated by Tu Zi Shan and no one dared to doubt what he said.
The Hall Master had never spoken a single word of lie and he never will.
“This…This is too shocking.” Andre was trying to comprehend all of this.
Angelina was feeling joyful inside her. Andre’s strength was too powerful, to that extent that it caused Angelina to feel stifled. If Andre had any demands from Angelina with his victory, she knew that she had no way of rejecting them.
But since Tang Tian and his group were able to kill 2 gold rank martial artists, then their power should be able to match Andre’s.
If there was only 1 buyer, then they could eat everything up. But now there were 2 buyers, and her circumstance had now changed. And she was thinking, even though Qian Xin and Hall Master Tu were both in Onyx Soul, they seemed to have differing views, and seemed to be of different groups.
All these details made Angelina excited.
“Okay, they have suffered multiple injuries and are exhausted. We should give them time to rest.” Tu Zi Shan exclaimed.
Andre could hear the deep respect the Hall Master had for the 3 guys from his tone. It was not a good time to offend Tu Zi Shan: “I am glad everyone is safe. It is time for every to have a good rest.”
Before he left, Tu Zi Shan turned to Crane: “Please come to the Fairy Tavern to stay for this time being. Once you all have discussed, you all can tell me your decisions. Even if you all do not join us, do not worry. It was fate that brought us together and I am glad to have met you all.”
Crane did not expect the Onyx Soul to have such a wise and magnanimous person. He replied: “Alright!”
Tu Zi Shan’s words were still ringing in everyone’s ears. Qian Xin was still doubtful while Andre let out a reluctant smile. Since Tu Zi Shan had wanted to recruit the 3 of them, it would be unwise to go against Tang Tian and his friends. If not, Tu Zi Shan would be made an enemy, and that would be suicidal. Andre was wondering if Tu Zi Shan was trying to give them a warning through his words.
Once everyone left, Andre and Qian Xin walked away together.
Andre asked: “Could there be an agreement between Hall Master Tu and Tang Tian’s group?”
Qian Xin replied: “I have not heard of such an agreement so far.”
He was a very smart person. After hearing Andre, he replied: “Your highness, you might have not known but the 9 Onyx Halls of the Onyx Soul do not always have an amicable relationship with each other. We have good relationship with the 7th Onyx Hall. If it was the 2nd Onyx Hall, a battle would have broken out, with blood flowing like river.”
Blood flowing like river…
Andre was flabbergasted. He never expect the relationships within the Onyx Soul to be so complicated and disastrous.
Only moments later did he regain his sense: “It shouldn’t be that bad isn’t it…”
Qian Xin replied: “The history between us and the 2nd Onyx Hall goes back a long time and that was the source of our vengeance. But of course, the 7th Onyx Hall also had their fair share of enemies, one of which was the 3rd Onyx Hall. The 3rd Onyx Hall had two hall Masters who both died to Tu Zi Shan. There were many people from the 7th Hall that had died under the 3rd Hall’s hands.”
“Don’t your higher ups at the top care about all this?” Andre was surprised at the dysfunctional structure of the Onyx Soul.
“Care?” Qian Xin smiled sarcastically: “The higher ups cannot be bothered. Battle might break out and many fighters would die but that separates the good from the average. Not just us, even the Honorable Martial Group is like that. The 13 Gold Branches have killed each other and suffered much more than the 12 Ecliptic Palaces. We are not the same as you all, as well if you didn’t realize.”
Andre understood the meaning of that statement. When Qian Xin stated “you all”, he was referring to the constellations.
It was not the same…
But, what was different then?
Andre seemed to have caught onto something.