The Steward Demonic Emperor

Whoosh~

Deep in the woods of a mountain, a lofty and stylish manor rested. A man with a head full of white hair blowing in the wind and full of savage power, flashed.

The two Profound Heaven experts standing guard jerked and bowed, "Pardon us, but are you Steward Zhuo?"

Zhuo Fan only looked at the manor, "You guys sure have plenty of hideouts, even out here. Take me to Leng Wuchang."

A month ago, when he had just obtained the Bodhi Root, Zhuo Fan contacted Leng Wuchang through a jade slip for the exchange. The old man had seen it coming and told him to come here.

This place was close to Drifting Flowers City, merely a hundred miles from it. He only needed two hours to reach it but Leng Wuchang was slower, getting here only today.

"Sir Leng is waiting. Please follow me, Steward Zhuo."

A Profound Heaven expert was an elder in any clan, enjoying respect and awe. Only with Zhuo Fan, it was the other way around, with them bowing and making way.

Zhuo Fan walked behind him.

Passing many pavilions and after twists and turns, they arrived at a garden where Leng Wuchang was waiting.

Leng Wuchang greeted the cold Zhuo Fan, "Ha-ha-ha, as expected of Steward Zhuo. You got Drifting Flowers Edifices' treasure so fast; impressive."

"Humph, tone down on the theatrics. You already knew I'd get it and got ready after I left. It took me two months to reach Drifting Flowers City from the imperial capital while you took a month?" Zhuo Fan flicked in disdain.

Leng Wuchang nodded, "Ha-ha-ha, yes, it's as you say. I rushed here as fast as I could after you left because I believed Steward Zhuo is a professional. That a mere Bodhi Root couldn't escape your grasp. It would be a sin to delay the exchange, not with Steward Zhuo wrought with worry over the Luo clan's safety."

"Enough, I said. I can see you're impatient to get the Bodhi Root as well." Zhuo Fan's hand flashed, tossing a box around, "I just don't get why the Regent Estate is so hung up over this thing. Doesn't it only do wonders for your complexion?"

Leng Wuchang's eyes never left the box, flashing with greed, "Steward Zhuo, you don't need to concern yourself with that. Just hand it over and I will deliver the Luo clan down to the last man. This way, our deal will be finished. That is all you should be interested in."

Zhuo Fan gave him a deep look and then grinned, "Right, it's just a deal. It has nothing to do with me why you need it anyway."

Pa!

The box opened and a green root with a sweet fragrance was revealed. Its throbbing vitality overwhelmed Leng Wuchang, his chest moving with excitement.

"Where are they?" Zhuo Fan asked.

Licking his lips, Leng Wuchang took a deep breath to calm down, "Steward Zhuo, we all know of your skills. If I hand them over, you'll just take this item with you and I'll be powerless to stop you."

Pa!

Zhuo Fan closed the lid and spoke with impatience, "Sir Leng, what is it that you want? Are you going to take this and not return my people?"

"Oh no, no, no. No! You've got it all wrong. I only mean that I can't give them to you 'here'. Because Steward Zhuo is too dangerous, changing moods faster than the wind, I have to come prepared."

Leng Wuchang smiled, "To be quite frank, I already had them sent back to Windgaze City. All you have to do is hand that over and I will have a sending jade tell them to release them."

Zhuo Fan's brow twitched slightly, knocking on the table in thought, "If I just give it, you won't release shit…"

"How could I not? With sir's magnificent display on Beast King Mountain, I've since lost all intention of inciting your ire. Compared to your current treacherous ploy, Steward Zhuo who measures every step before taking it, I am more afraid of the Steward Zhuo hell bent on revenge. It would bring no good to anyone."

Leng Wuchang waved his hand in a rush, fear streaking his eyes recalling Zhuo Fan's psychotic breakdown back on Beast King Mountain.

Zhuo Fan sighed in the end and handed the box over, "I hope, for your sake, that Sir Leng holds up his end of the deal."

Holding the box with a trembling hand, feeling the oozing vitality, Leng Wuchang nodded and sent a jade, "Steward Zhuo, I'm a man of my word."

With a gesture, the jade slip flew away.

Zhuo Fan nodded and stood up, "With the deal complete, I shall be going. I need to see if the young miss and the others are safe. If any harm has come to them, humph. Sir Leng, we'll be seeing each other again in Caged Dragon City…"

Zhuo Fan vanished.

Leng Wuchang was left alone with a heavy look.

He did fulfill his end of the deal and didn't even so much as leave a scratch on the Luo clan, but Zhuo Fan's cold smile left him shuddering.

Not even an honest-to-god man could keep a straight face on meeting Zhuo Fan.

[He is a savage like the rumors describe him. Such power, such dignity, it's not something everyone has…]

Leng Wuchang sighed.

A rough voice broke him out of his thoughts, "Sir Leng, do you have it?"

Huangpu Tianyuan walked over. Leng Wuchang made a deep bow, presenting the box, "Congratulations, Estate Lord, we have it!"

Huangpu Tianyuan opened the box and shuddered in glee, "Ha-ha-ha, at long last I can train the earth ranked martial art, Nine Dragons Diamond Body."

"Indeed, Estate Lord. We are weaker than the imperial family, but stronger than Luo clan. Yet we can't compare when it comes to the quality of their experts. The imperial family has Gu Santong while the Luo clan has Zhuo Fan; freaks of nature capable of fighting thousands. To take these lands for ourselves, we need to defeat those monsters. With the Estate Lord training in Nine Dragons Diamond Body, your power will double. Heaven is smiling on the Regent Estate!" Leng Wuchang praised.

Huangpu Tianyuan was pleased, but then sighed, "A shame that Nine Dragons Diamond Body needs nine dragon souls to reach its peak. Especially the last one to become ethereal. But that dragon soul is with Zhuo Fan, a true shame. Sir Leng, why didn't you set the dragon soul as a condition of the deal as well?"

"Estate Lord, please restrain your greed. You know his temper just as well. If we push him too much and he flips, we are not prepared to take him and we will suffer greatly from it. Moreover, the Dragon Vein Soul is a savage being. Even when the young eldest young master's fate arrived, he could only subdue one. With the Estate Lord being able to use eight souls to train yourself, the pain will be excruciating. Only through the use of Bodhi Root's vitality will it be an assured success."

Leng Wuchang advised, "Sir has yet to even gain the diamond body and wouldn't be able to support so many dragon souls. What is the point of taking back the ninth soul? We should wait for sir to train in it and then look for Zhuo Fan."

Huangpu Tianyuan still believed that he would never train it to peak because of one missing dragon soul, though he understood Leng Wuchang's logic.

As haste made waste in many cases, it would be better to use the other eight first.

As for the ninth dragon soul, [Humph, Zhuo Fan, you just wait. I will be coming for that last one!]

Huangpu Tianyuan snorted inside, filled with battle spirit.

None of them noticed a red flash beneath their feet.

Twenty miles away, Zhuo Fan leaned on a tree, waiting for the red flash to enter his body, his Blood Infant.

When he left, he had Blood Infant slip underground, tuning in on their designs for the Bodhi Root.

He had never guessed that he'd find out so fast.

"Nine Dragons Diamond Body…"

Zhuo Fan grinned, "So using the nine dragon souls to train, that old fox Huangpu Tianyuan can step into the Ethereal Stage from peak Profound Heaven Stage. That'll be dangerous. How convenient that I have one dragon soul from the set, or I'd never have let go of the Bodhi Root."

"They won't come knocking anytime soon. Not before finishing their training that is, he-he-he…"

Snickering, Zhuo Fan glanced next to him, "Young Sanzi, let's go to Allbeast Mountain Range!"

"On an ingredient hunt?" Gu Santong lit up.

With a vague smile, Zhuo Fan only shook his head…