The mortal Great Lord just left?
Yes.
He just left.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, under the gazes of everyone filled with disbelief, and under the hateful, furious, and resentful stares of Danshou and the others, he departed just like that, sitting grandly on that carriage pulled by nine-headed Fire Cloud Crimson Flame Tigers.
When that fiery cloud carriage gradually disappeared from everyone's sight, Senior Qinglu from the Guardian Court stepped forward and asked, "Elder Bai, may I ask who this Great Lord truly is? Why do you hold him in such reverence?"
Senior Qinglu had asked a question everyone wanted the answer to. All eyes turned over, hoping to hear the answer from Bai Susu's mouth.
Puzzlingly, Bai Susu merely shook her head slightly, saying not a word, as if she had no intention of answering the question at all.
Bai Susu's status was noble. If she didn't want to speak, no one could force her, not even Senior Qinglu. Though he was a member of the Guardian Court and a respected senior of high virtue in the Dual-Pole Celestial Domain, compared to Bai Susu—a Council Elder of the Fengyue Small World and a Nine Heavens Enfeoffed Lo Supreme Immortal—he was utterly insignificant.
Seeing Bai Susu unwilling to answer, Qinglu did not press further. Instead, he looked at Danshou and the others kneeling on the ground and asked, "Elder Bai, how should we handle today's matter?"
Within the scene.
The thousands from the Prestigious Bai Family, the Golden Crow Liu and Li Families, and the Lotus Secret Realm were still kneeling on the ground. It wasn't that they didn't want to rise, but with their Immortal Spirit dispersed and their meridians completely severed, they simply couldn't stand. Apart from kneeling, they could only kneel.
Looking at these thousands of people, those gathered at the Tower of Stolen Gold all sighed with pity.
From the Bai Family's Ancestor Bai Qi and Bai Teng down to their descendants like Bai Yufei, without exception, all had their meridians severed and Immortal Spirit dispersed. Though a few from the Bai Family remained uninjured, they were merely a handful. Everyone knew the Prestigious Bai Family was utterly finished this time.
However.
It wasn't just the Prestigious Bai Family that was finished; the Golden Crow Li Family and Golden Crow Liu Family shared the same fate.
Within their families, from the Ancestors Li Shengyang and Liu Ziyu, to the core pillars like Li Xiao and Liu Kaiyun, most of the senior members and descendants all had severed meridians and dispersed Immortal Spirit—some injured, some crippled, some utterly ruined.
The Prestigious Bai Family was done for; the Golden Crow Li Family and Golden Crow Liu Family were done for as well.
As for the Lotus Secret Realm, their losses were even more severe. Thirty Five Luminaries Convergence Great Nature Golden Immortals, nearly a hundred Five Luminaries Great Perfection Guardian Star Golden Immortals, and over a hundred secret realm disciples were all practically crippled.
Though the Lotus Secret Realm was an ancient heritage and its family was filled with powerful experts, every disciple was a genius meticulously selected through layer upon layer of screening in the mortal world. The Lotus Secret Realm had invested untold amounts of effort, resources, and care into nurturing them—resources too numerous to count. Now, they had all become useless cripples.
Everyone knew that while the Lotus Secret Realm might not necessarily decline from losing these disciples, recovering their vitality and regaining their former glory would likely take thousands of years.
"Find a way to notify others from their families and have them take these people back," Bai Susu's voice came.
Senior Qinglu frowned and asked, "But... how do we explain this to them?"
"Why should we explain anything?"
"After all, they were injured within our Fengyue Small World."
Bai Susu replied indifferently, "If we had to take responsibility for everyone injured within our Fengyue Small World, then there would be no point in continuing to operate it."
As soon as her words fell, someone spoke up, "Upper Immortal Bai, this old man and the others do not wish for the Fengyue Small World to take responsibility. We merely wish for you, Upper Immortal, to seek justice for us, nothing more!"
The speaker was none other than Danshou.
He stood up, his face ashen, looking utterly wretched. Staring at Bai Susu, his expression was filled with particular fury. "Upper Immortal, as a Council Elder of the Fengyue Small World, the Chief Inspector of the Inspection Court, and a noble Nine Heavens Enfeoffed Lo Supreme Immortal, you clearly know that person was the one who attacked and injured us. Not only did you not uphold justice, but you also allowed that person to leave. Dare I ask, Upper Immortal, does this not lack fairness? Could it be that this is how the Fengyue Small World upholds justice?"
Under normal circumstances, Danshou wouldn't dare angrily rebuke Bai Susu like this. But now, with hundreds of Lotus Secret Realm disciples beaten into cripples, he could no longer restrain himself. His face flushed red as he accused Bai Susu of bending the law for personal gain and violating fairness.
"Senior Danshou."
Facing Danshou's accusations, Bai Susu's beautiful face showed little change in expression, still appearing cold, her voice equally so. "Firstly, our Fengyue Small World is merely a trading world, not a world for seeking justice for others. Secondly, although I, Bai Susu, am a Council Elder of the Fengyue Small World, the Chief Inspector of the Inspection Court, and a noble Nine Heavens Enfeoffed Lo Supreme Immortal, I have no obligation whatsoever to help you uphold justice."
Danshou, furious as if having lost his senses, shouted, "If you don't uphold justice, then why does your Fengyue Small World even establish a Guardian Court!"
"The purpose of our Guardian Court is to maintain the normal order of the Fengyue Small World, nothing more. It is not to seek any so-called justice for you. You brought people to the Tower of Stolen Gold and fought violently, which has already disrupted the normal order of the Fengyue Small World. According to the rules, we should hold you accountable. However, considering your injuries, we will let it pass. What face do you have to demand we seek justice for you?"
Bai Susu's words were reasonable, well-founded, convincing, and left Danshou unable to refute.
"Moreover, as far as I know, today's matter began with a wager between Xuan Yun, Liu Feng, and Bai Yufei. Before the wager, the Great Lord did not wish to trouble himself with them, but the three of them were aggressive and pushy, finally forcing the Great Lord to agree. Afterwards, when the Great Lord ascended to the eighty-first layer of the Tower of Stolen Gold, he still considered them young and ignorant and did not stoop to their level."
Bai Susu spoke softly and plainly, "But what about you? Dan Lei, Bai Teng, and Liu Kaiyun not only showed no gratitude, but relying on the backing of their secret realm families, they offered apologies in name while secretly threatening."
"Later, Li Xiao of the Golden Crow Li Family brought thousands of people in a grand procession, driven by nothing but greed for the Great Lord's ten trillion prize. And when you jumped out afterwards, wasn't it also driven by greed for that ten trillion prize?"
Danshou, shamed into anger, retorted, "This old man never coveted that ten trillion prize!"
"You may not have, but that doesn't mean they didn't. No one is a fool. What intentions you harbored, what schemes you plotted, everyone knows perfectly well."
Bai Susu continued, "It was you who made the wager, you who refused to admit defeat after losing, you who uttered threats, you who were given face but didn't want it, you who coveted the ten trillion prize, you who attacked, you who called for reinforcements after losing the fight, and you who brought people here to cause trouble."
Bai Susu stepped forward, staring at Danshou, her voice grave. "Danshou, you are a senior from the ancient era. You keep demanding I seek justice for you. Then, I ask you, having committed such despicable and shameless acts, how can I possibly seek justice for you?"
"If I, Bai Susu, sought justice for you today, then in the future, if someone in our Fengyue Small World was killed because they committed murder, robbery, or arson, should I also seek justice for them? If I didn't, would that then be lacking in fairness? Would that be bending the law for personal gain?"
"I... I..." Danshou, shamed by Bai Susu's words, flushed crimson, the corner of his mouth twitching unnaturally. With a thud, he collapsed onto the ground, speechless.
"Consider yourselves fortunate that no one died today. If it were me, Bai Susu, I would have slaughtered you all. Learn your lesson from this. Do not think that having the backing of a secret realm allows you to act recklessly. The Great Wilderness is vast and boundless; the myriad realms of the heavens are infinite and endless. The Dual-Pole Celestial Domain is but a tiny corner. You and I are all mere ants. Do not mistake ignorance for fearlessness. How much of the vastness of heaven and earth do you truly know?"