Chapter 84: Power Over Life and Death

At that moment, Wen Lie was the first to be struck by the storm pillar conjured by the Thunder Union King Beast. He was swept up and hurled directly into a palace column, sustaining severe injuries and losing consciousness on the spot, but he did not die.

When Wen Lie suddenly regained consciousness and saw the corpses of several hall masters lying on the ground, with Liu Shenghua also bound and captured, he realized that the situation was hopeless. In a desperate attempt to save his own life, he immediately blurted out these words.

"Wen Lie, you and I are sworn brothers by oath, yet you betray me?" Liu Shenghua shouted in fury.

"Betrayal? You incited us hall masters to assist you in your treacherous scheme. Even now, do you feel no remorse? I, Wen Lie, have suffered greatly at your hands!"

As Wen Lie spoke, he collapsed to his knees before Chu Feng with a resounding thud and said, "Young Master Chu, I possess the antidote to the Power-Dissolving Qi-Scattering Powder! I make no demands, I will offer up the antidote willingly!"

He drew a small bottle from his storage pouch and handed it to Chu Feng.

"Ha, Liu Shenghua, what a petty scoundrel you are," Chu Feng remarked with a contemptuous smile as he looked at Liu Shenghua. Taking the small bottle, he addressed the assembled disciples and hall masters: "If any of you wish to atone for your crimes, you may come forward to test the antidote!"

Chu Feng was a careful man—who could guarantee that the antidote Wen Lie offered was not a deadlier poison? And those chosen to test it would, naturally, be drawn from among these dubious disciples and hall masters.

"I am willing to test the antidote!" one voice called.

"I too am willing!" said another.

"And me as well!" a third volunteered.

No sooner had Chu Feng spoken than many disciples and hall masters eagerly offered themselves as test subjects, hoping to earn a chance at redemption.

"Young Master Chu, I, Bao Yu, am most sincere in wishing to test the antidote. Please grant me this chance!" declared a middle-aged martial artist named Bao Yu. Once a hall master of the Thunder Sect, he had previously followed Cui Zhengkun and defected to the Wind Sect’s ranks—a typical turncoat, lacking only the act of drawing his sword against Lei Yingfeng as Cui Zhengkun had.

With a decisive thud, Bao Yu knelt before Chu Feng, hands outstretched, begging like a mendicant for this opportunity.

"Very well. I will give you a chance," Chu Feng nodded, though his eyes betrayed disdain.

Seeing Bao Yu had to kneel for his chance, several other Thunder Sect hall masters, fearing they would be left behind, also dropped to their knees before Chu Feng with a series of thuds.

"Young Master Chu, we beg your mercy, grant us a chance to test the antidote!" they pleaded in unison.

"Get up, all of you! I already hold you in contempt. Do not disgust me further," Chu Feng declared crisply, striking the ground with his Overlord Shadow-Chaser Spear. Startled, the hall masters scrambled to their feet, standing awkwardly and uncertain of what to do.

Chu Feng could not help but sigh inwardly. For all its power, the backbone of the hall masters in the Wind and Thunder Martial Hall could not compare to that of the Tianji Mu family. Apart from the black sheep Ding Wanchong, the Mu family’s elders and stewards all placed the clan’s interests above their own—there was no power struggle or usurpation, nor any fence-sitting, kneeling opportunists like these hall masters.

Chu Feng thought to himself that if he ever gained enough strength to carve out a territory and found his own force, he must be extremely cautious in this regard. He would rather have fewer followers than tolerate traitors or turncoats.

Chu Feng casually selected a few disciples—four in all—to test the antidote. Whether the antidote was genuine would be known soon enough.

He had already collected the Power-Dissolving Qi-Scattering Powder from Liu Shenghua. Now, the four test subjects were first poisoned, then given Wen Lie’s antidote to gauge its effect.

Both the poison and its antidote acted swiftly, so the process took little time. Within the span of a tea’s steeping, the four poisoned disciples recovered, proving the antidote was real.

Overjoyed, Chu Feng immediately took the antidote bottle to Lei Yingfeng upon the dais and personally administered it to him.

He then let Fan Shang, Han Mo, Lei Jianqin, Fan Qianjun, and Tang Jiao inhale the scent of the antidote from the bottle.

Seeing Chu Feng help detoxify them, Lei Yingfeng and his five companions all had tears of gratitude glimmering in their eyes.

Moments later, Lei Yingfeng drew a deep breath and rose from his sedan chair in one swift movement.

A cultivator in the eighth refinement of the body, Lei Yingfeng followed the Thunder Sect’s path of heavy attacks. He had been restrained by the poison for a long time, but now, with his strength restored, he radiated an aura of draconic and tiger-like might.

Almost simultaneously, Fan Shang and the other five also rose to their feet.

"Master Lei, how do you all feel? Are you better?" Chu Feng asked at once.

Lei Yingfeng did not reply. Instead, he suddenly clasped his fists and dropped to his knees before Chu Feng.

"Master Lei, what are you doing?" Chu Feng exclaimed in shock.

Following Lei Yingfeng’s lead, Fan Shang, Han Mo, Lei Jianqin, Fan Qianjun, and Tang Jiao also knelt in deep, silent obeisance to Chu Feng, not uttering a single word.

"This..." Chu Feng hurriedly stepped back and said in a loud voice, "Master Lei, all six of you are either my elders or my comrades-in-arms! I merely happened upon Liu Shenghua’s treachery tonight and did what I could to help. There is no need for such ceremony. If you persist, I will leave at once!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Chu Feng truly turned to leave.

He had only taken two steps when a strong hand gripped his shoulder.

Chu Feng turned to find Lei Yingfeng standing there.

"Chu Feng, such a great kindness cannot be repaid in words. I, Lei Yingfeng, and the Wind and Thunder Martial Hall, shall remember you always!" As he spoke, Lei Yingfeng clasped his fists once more, tears streaming from his tiger-like eyes.

"Great kindness needs no thanks!" Fan Shang, Han Mo, Lei Jianqin, Fan Qianjun, and Tang Jiao echoed in unison, their eyes also brimming with tears.

Recalling the peril just moments ago, when the Wind and Thunder Martial Hall was at its most desperate, not only had Chu Feng risked his life to reverse the crisis alone, but now he had also detoxified the six poisoned leaders. Such immense grace and virtue truly moved anyone to tears.

Though over two thousand people filled the vast council hall, the atmosphere was utterly silent—a pin drop could be heard.

After a long pause, Chu Feng suddenly spoke: "Master Lei, if you do not consider me an outsider, may I stay at the Wind and Thunder Martial Hall for a few days? At present, there is much to reorganize and many await your orders!"

This reminder brought Lei Yingfeng out of his emotional turmoil.

At Lei Yingfeng’s level of strength, ordinary slights could not sway his heart. But tonight’s events had been too traumatic—the vice master Liu Shenghua had staged a violent coup, while he and several key supporters were rendered helpless, unable to move a muscle. Any cultivator of lesser composure might have suffocated from the ordeal.

"Chu Feng, in your opinion, who among them may be dealt with leniently, and who deserves severe punishment?" Lei Yingfeng asked in a low voice.

As the key figure in this incident, Lei Yingfeng respected Chu Feng’s wishes and wanted to give him a say. If Chu Feng wished to spare anyone’s life, all it would take was a word.

Of course, if Chu Feng wanted someone dead, it was equally a matter of a single command.

At this moment, Chu Feng was nothing less than a god of death, a judge of fate, holding the lives of all present in his hands.

Instantly, countless eyes in the hall turned towards Chu Feng, awaiting his judgment.

Especially the hall masters and disciples of the Wind Sect, and those Thunder Sect hall masters and disciples who had defected to the Wind Sect—their gazes held pleas for mercy, fear, and regret, a complex mix of emotions.

Many whose consciences troubled them dared not even lift their eyes to Chu Feng, wishing only to find a hole to hide in, never to face him again.