Chapter 868 — Persuading the Sect Masters

"Who the hell are you, and how did you get in here?" Sun Hao asked Yuan with a frown on his face.

'He not only blocked my most powerful zither note, but he did so as a Spirit Lord…'

Sun Hao and the other Sect Masters were wary of Yuan's presence.

"My identity isn't of any importance, and I came here by asking those elders at the square." Yuan said.

He didn't want to give them his identity since he was being watched by millions of people right now. Of course, it didn't really matter if his identity is exposed to the Players watching, but he'd rather avoid it if possible.

"You bastard… There's no way they'd let you in here of their own free will… If you have harmed even a hair of their body, I will make you regret it!" Sun Hao growled.

"Don't worry, I didn't touch them. Though, I did threaten them a little, but that was inevitable, as I wouldn't have been able to come here if I didn't." Yuan shrugged.

"So… What do you hope to achieve by coming here?" The Sect Master of the Heavenly Academy suddenly spoke out loud.

"I am here to persuade you all to forgive my friend. No doubt, she was wrong for coming here without any intentions of joining your sects, and she was a little rude, but I don't think that warrants a death sentence."

"So you don't think that mocking the Sect Masters of the Seven Spirit Academies— the most powerful sects in this realm— should be punished with death?" Sun Hao asked.

"Of course not. That's simply unreasonable. If you think that's punishable by death, then should I just kill all of you for trying to kill my friend, which is an even bigger offense in my eyes?" Yuan narrowed his eyes at the Sect Masters.

"Arrogant little bastard. I can see why you're friends. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if you were a couple." Hao Sun gritted his teeth in anger.

"Do you really think you can kill the seven of us? You're just a mere Spirit Lord." The Heavenly Academy's Sect Master couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing Yuan's outrageous claims.

Suddenly, a voice resounded inside his head, "Sect Master Li, don't underestimate them! That little girl beside him is a Spirit King!"

Elder Lang had just warned the Sect Master of the Heavenly Academy about Xiao Hua's prowess.

"I see… The reason you're acting so arrogant is because of that little girl beside you, right? However, even if she's a Spirit King, there is only one of her while there are seven of us." Sect Master Li smiled.

"Hm? Xiao Hua? No, I never planned on letting her fight for me. Although she is also more than enough to handle all seven of you by herself, I don't want to trouble her with my problem."

"If you came here to piss us off even more, then you're doing a great job. However, if you're here to help your friend, then you should have never come here." The Sect Master of the Formless Sword Academy said.

"Then how about this? I will fight the seven of you. If I win, you will let my friend go and forget everything that happened between us today. If any of you manage to beat me… I will give you this."

Yuan retrieved a box before showing the contents inside to the Sect Masters.

Inside this box was a bunch of beautiful crimson leaves, but none of the Sect Masters recognized it— except one.

"Leaves from a Golden Celestial Tree! And judging from the intense scent… It's at least a hundred thousand years old!" The Sect Master of the Healing Spirit Academy exclaimed after she picked up its unique scent.

Although the other Sect Masters still aren't aware of its value, they could somehow take an educated guess from the shaken look on her face.

'I have never seen her this shocked before… Those crimson leaves must be extremely valuable…' Sect Master Li thought to himself.

"There are 21 blades of crimson leaves in this box. Do we have a deal?" Yuan suddenly asked them.

"We have a deal!" The Healing Spirit Academy's Sect Master immediately responded without any hesitation, taking the others by surprise.

"S-Sect Master Xiahou! How can you agree to fighting him without even asking for our approval? I don't agree to—"

However, before the Sect Master could even finish his sentence, Sect Master Xiahou interrupted, "With those 21 leaves, I can concoct 7 Golden Aptitude Pills for the seven of us. Do I need to further elaborate the meaning behind those words?"

"G-Golden Aptitude Pills?! And seven of them?! Are you sure about this, Sect Master Xiahou?!" Sect Master Li asked her, seemingly in disbelief.

The other Sect Masters also appeared to be filled with shock at this moment.

"What's a Golden Aptitude Pill?" Yuan turned to ask Xiao Hua.

"It's an extremely valuable pill that can boost one's innate talent up to 50 percent depending on the quality of the pill, and it requires the leaves from a Golden Celestial Tree to create such pills. When did you acquire such a treasure, Brother Yuan?" She asked him after explaining about the pill.

"Ah, we found it within the Demons' Valley right before coming here. In fact, we have the entire Golden Celestial Tree." Yuan said with a smile on his face.

"T-The whole thing?" Xiao Hua was dumbfounded to learn such information, as she was aware of the Golden Celestial Tree's true value.

Meanwhile, the seven Sect Masters finished their conversation.

"Okay, we agree to play your little game." Sect Master Li said out loud.

"Great." Yuan nodded.

"Since I am already in the mood, I shall go first." Sun Hao said.

"You're going to fight me one by one? I had planned on fighting all seven of you at once, though." Yuan said in a nonchalant voice.

The Sect Masters were left speechless by such baffling arrogance behind Yuan's words.