The Steward Demonic Emperor

Pff!

The girls there giggled seeing the grand coaching venerables of the elite area so deflated.

Some of the usually tough guys there trembled, and even the three ex-elites found it hard to stop laughing.

"What are you laughing at? We're discussing important matters here." Fiend Yang glared at the lot.

Though it had the opposite effect, the fiends felt utterly stripped of respect.

Zhuo Fan chuckled along, chiding, "You think Sect Leader's token's a joke? Go ahead and laugh it up, any more disrespect out of you, and you'll be crying next. Come, have a pill to lift your spirits."

Zhuo Fan presented a vial with a soothing smell as everyone came over and their faces brightened.

"Master, another 7th-grade pill?" Kui Gang cheered, turning to the others in pride, "See that? Stick with master, and you'll have nothing to worry about. I've taken more pills these days than in the last decade. And not one of them was below 7th grade."

The rest were excited.

Having gone to the Labor Office, which was being prepped for Double Dragon Gathering, they came to know what true heaven on earth was.

It used to be only the elite area having such privilege, making inner and outer sects feel like hell.

Gulping it down, everyone looked smug.

The fiends were red in the face and jittery. Coming over, they poked his shoulder, "What's this? Give us some too, and we won't tell on you."

"Nope, none for you." Zhuo Fan had a vague smile.

Fiend Yang was getting more annoyed by the second, "Zhuo Fan, where's that generous bribing style you used on Sect Leader gone too? You now have the prime opportunity to give us one as well. We're venerables for crying out loud!"

"You're missing the point. The fact is…" Zhuo Fan's trademark evil smile was back in business, "If you take it, who'll protect them? I certainly can't."

[Protect?]

"Ah!"

The scream came from Kui Gang. His face froze, his body shivered, and his movement looked robotic, accompanied by trembling. Only his eyes moved freely, and his tongue.

"Son, what… ugh…" Kui Lang was the next victim, feeling his own body not listening to his commands.

Soon came everyone's turn, everyone going to Double Dragon Gathering, crying and freezing on the spot.

The venerables jerked in fright, turning to the culprit, "Zhuo Fan, what is going on?"

Zhuo Fan beamed, dangling the empty vial, "This is no mere 7th-grade pill, but a poison."

"Eh?"

Everyone had the same dumbfounded look.

"Zombie Pill, it would stiffen your body and turn you to stone a month later."

"You're not serious!"

The poor saps were panicking with Kui Gang crying, "Master, why?"

"Didn't I tell you? One must be intent on killing but never without his guard up. Why does no one listen to their master? Who ever told you a master will only give you nice things?" Zhuo Fan sneered.

Their faces sank, looking at Zhuo Fan like kicked puppies.

He had such a homey look too, to invite them deeper into the trap of course.

Compared to the glares they got from the venerables, Steward Zhuo's insidious nature was much worse. Sharing poison with a smile and they even thanked him for it. There were no dumber fools out there, that was for sure.

Fiend Yang grabbed Zhuo Fan's chest, "Why did you do it? Who will go to Double Dragon Gathering with them dead? Are you going to fight by yourself?"

Zhuo Fan dangled the token with utmost seriousness, "Double Dragon Gathering is fraught with perils, you know that. Going as they are will only increase their chance of dying. It's best to have them die here at my hand instead."

[You call that logic? Can't we live a day longer?]

All had bitter looks in their eyes.

"Though it is not without hope. The Zombie Pill made you stiff and sapped your cultivation but all you have to do is keep moving to delay the process. Hold on till Double Dragon Gathering and I'll cure you. As for the rest, tough luck."

Zhuo Fan snickered, "See this token? Sect Leader appointed me as his representative. Your death will be for nothing and your big connections wasted. No one will touch me and I can do anything. You might as well give up begging now. I won't bat an eye even if you all die, hi-hi-hi…"

[Demon…]

They were all distressed and heartbroken while the fiends were stumped.

If Zhuo Fan gave them a more deadly poison, they wouldn't let this one slide and might even take him from another sect's spy. By using slow-acting poison, Zhuo Fan was giving them a lesson, albeit cruel.

Zhuo Fan sent a warning to the three, "They're like newborns and will need your constant monitoring."

The trio nodded.

Zhuo Fan ran over to the other side and slapped his big perky butt, "I'll be waiting for you a mile out. Do your best not to die just as you got out of the sect, ha-ha-ha…"

He was gone the next second, leaving red tomatoes behind, gnashing their teeth as they made a jerky step forward. It was like having the whole world on their shoulders, moving at snail-pace.

But nothing compared to the rage, "Steward Zhuo, you'll have another thing coming if you think we'll just drop dead!"

Tough talk for sure, but their body hardened so much that they only moved one meter in fifteen minutes.

The venerables felt like crying. [I get that you want to train them, but couldn't you have picked a faster method?]

Even infants stumbled around faster than them. [Just when are we supposed to get there, in decades?]

Zhuo Fan was chilling in his spot though.

He fed them the Zombie Pill to petrify their flesh and force them into overcoming their limits. Once overcoming it, they'd move, then stiffen again and would have to go further still.

On and on it went, toughening their bodies and veins in months that would take decades for others.

Zhuo Fan thought of giving it a shot as well. Though it came with a biggie. He needed a guardian angel in this moment of weakness.

In their states, being weaker than an infant would get them to drop dead from anything.

He, a lone operator, had no way of taking the same route…

Meanwhile, the other sects got ready for Double Dragon Gathering.

The back mountain of Mystical Heaven Sect was a towering hunk of rock, covered in biting winds and eternal snow. It was here a woman walked at leisure with a white sword towards a cave.

She bowed, "Senior sister, I am going to Double Dragon Gathering. Thank you for everything you have done for me in the past few years."

The wind fluttered her dress, the snow pricking her cheeks.

"The time for Double Dragon Gathering came at long last. I wonder if he will come as well…" A sigh came from the cave, "Qingcheng, you represent me by wielding Permafrost. Can I ask something of you?"

"Anything, senior sister!" Qingcheng bowed.

Another sigh followed, "If you meet any from the Demon Scheming Sect, please go easy on them. I'd hate to see him hurt from my blade, although the blade is now with you…"

"He?"

"Yes, he. He brought me to this state yet also made me let go of all regrets…" A pleasant voice came…