Chapter 841: Ch 591 - Just a Scratch

"This isn’t fair! I’m reporting Divine Abyss Gate to the Immortal Alliance!"Watching Lin Che get swallowed by that dark baleful aura, Zhihan couldn’t take it anymore. She slammed the table and shot to her feet.

But before she could take two steps, Lin Yuchen shifted sideways to block the curtained doorway.

"Divine Abyss Gate has been conducting live sacrifices in the Eastern Sea for how many years now? Does Lady Pei really think the Immortal Alliance would interfere with Divine Abyss Gate’s customs and beliefs?"

Lin Yuchen smiled coldly, though even he found his own words dripping with irony.

That’s right. The so-called righteous path of this world, sometimes it really wasn’t all that different from those cults and demons.

It simply came down to what you believed in.

If your faith was in some ancient true phoenix, then you were absolutely a cult among cults. But if you worshipped the Dragon Sovereign, who’d distinguished himself in the Dragon-Phoenix War... well, that changed things. The Great Dragon Dynasty had always respected the customs and traditions of its subjects across all regions.

Divine Abyss Gate was the textbook example.

For the past thousand years, to keep this sect on their side, the Great Dragon Dynasty had loosened regulations and granted Divine Abyss Gate no small number of special privileges.

"What utter bullshit! A forbidden art that sacrifices lifespan counts as customs and beliefs?"

Zhihan’s face was ashen. She knew in her heart that Lin Yuchen wasn’t wrong, but right now, watching Lin Che trapped in mortal danger, she was powerless to do anything about it.

Lin Yuchen shrugged and stepped aside from the doorway.

"If Lady Pei truly can’t accept this, then by all means, go down and stop the match. Let’s see how the Immortal Alliance rules on it."

He said this with absolute confidence.

How could the Immortal Alliance possibly dare to intervene?

As long as Divine Abyss Gate insisted Lin Yu had voluntarily sacrificed his lifespan in exchange for combat power, what could the Immortal Alliance say?

Divine Abyss Gate had been doing the sacrifice thing since ancient times. If the Immortal Alliance dared to rule it as cheating, that was tantamount to the official body engaging in religious discrimination, disrespecting Divine Abyss Gate’s traditions. If something this trivial caused a rift among the righteous factions, that’d be a real problem.

On the other hand, if they ruled Lin Che the loser, Pei Zhihan alone couldn’t stir up any real waves. After all, Jianlan Sect wasn’t as united from top to bottom as Divine Abyss Gate.

Any ruler with half a brain would know which of the two was easier to push around.

"You know, I do happen to have a way to save junior brother Lin Che..."

Lin Yuchen smirked and raised a finger, but before it could touch Zhihan’s chin, a terrifying wave of Primordial Sword intent made his hand go weak.

He clicked his tongue, pulled his hand back, and folded his arms with an amused look.

"I won’t hide it from you, Lady Pei. I’m actually on quite good terms with Divine Abyss Gate’s heir. If Lady Pei would be willing to sign this marriage contract and marry into the Lin mansion, then today, on account of my future wife’s dignity, this young master could go next door and have a word with the Divine Abyss Gate heir. Ask Lin Yu to show some mercy."

"Otherwise, Divine Abyss Gate’s forbidden arts kill without blinking. If Lin Che were to die over a mere tournament match..."

"Time waits for no one. Who knows how much longer Lin Che can last in that demonic fog?"

"If Lady Pei truly loses the last hope of the Primordial Sword Dao, the loss would be immeasurable!"

By the end, Lin Yuchen’s smile had turned greedy, finally revealing his true face for coming here today.

In that moment, Zhihan felt her chest tighten with acid bitterness. She bit down on her teeth; her face twisted with barely contained humiliation.

She’d lived a hundred years. How could she not understand the unspoken rules of this world?

Lin Yuchen had truly stepped aside and cleared the path. But Zhihan found she didn’t dare go out and file a complaint after all. Disrupting the match would guarantee the Immortal Alliance ruled against Lin Che. Whereas letting him keep fighting, there might still be a sliver of hope for victory.

And right at this standoff, Yino, who’d been sitting in his seat the entire time without so much as a ripple of concern, finally spoke.

"Why bother stooping to the level of a petty man like him? My lady, you’ll only end up making yourself miserable."

His tone was relaxed, instantly shattering the oppressive atmosphere Lin Yuchen had built up.

Zhihan blinked, turning to look at him. Her cold eyes couldn’t help but betray a glimmer of hope.

If this were before...

She would never have trusted the empty words of a young man like Yino.

But after being proven wrong by him again and again, Zhihan had somehow developed an instinctive reaction toward him. If it was him, then maybe he really could defy fate.

"I have a plan. It can save Lin Che."

Yino leaned back on the bench. Since Pei Zhihan had just left her seat, the spacious main seat was now practically his alone.

The moment those words left his mouth, both Zhihan and Lin Yuchen tensed.

After all, it wasn’t just Zhihan who couldn’t read Yino. Even Lin Yuchen was growing increasingly wary of this kid who seemed to appear and disappear like a ghost...

He was like a black box. Nobody knew what reversal card he’d pull out next.

"Young master..."

Zhihan stepped forward, pressing her lips together, her face earnest as she looked at Yino.

Yino smiled knowingly and patted the seat beside him, then said with a light grin, "My brilliant plan won’t require Lady Pei to sign away her freedom in a contract... but you’ll need to sit next to me first. This plan involves secrets of heaven. I have to whisper it to you. Can’t let that Lin mansion villain overhear."

"..."