Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin: I Set Taboos in the Heavens

On this vast grassland, the experts of the Crown Prince's faction are now filled with fear.

They had originally intended to deal with Fang Qing and Yang Qi, but ended up losing the battle. When they heard Fang Qing and Yang Qi say that there was too much trash at the Heavenly Academy, they couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

“I can give you a few chances to turn over a new leaf, as long as you kill Song Haishan and Gu Fenxian.”

Yang Qi's voice rang out across the twilight-shrouded grassland, calm yet carrying an undeniable chill.

These words struck Jiang Fan and the other four like a thunderclap.

Song Haishan and Gu Fenxian, who had been slumped on the ground, suddenly looked up, their eyes flashing with disbelief, terror, and resentment. Jiang Fan and the other two members of the Crown Prince's faction trembled violently, their faces drained of color instantly.

"Yang Qi! You...you actually dare to incite us fellow disciples to fight each other!"

Song Haishan roared furiously, struggling to stand up, "Senior Brother Jiang! You must not listen to him! This is the behavior of the demonic path! If the Crown Prince finds out..."

"Shut up!"

Jiang Fan suddenly interrupted him with a sharp shout, his voice distorted with extreme fear.

He stared intently at Yang Qi, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at Fang Qing, who stood with his hands behind his back, his expression indifferent.

The terrifying methods he had used to effortlessly subdue them and crush their dignity had already shattered all his defenses. What was the bond between fellow disciples, what was the prestige of the Crown Prince's faction? In the face of life and death, all of that became pale and powerless.

"Senior Brother Jiang! You..."

Gu Fenxian panicked as well, noticing the wavering in Jiang Fan's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Junior Brother Song, Junior Brother Gu."

Jiang Fan slowly straightened up. Despite his damaged meridians and unstable breathing, his will to survive forced him to activate his remaining true energy.

"The Crown Prince often says that those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles. Today... today we... we must survive!"

"Jiang Fan! You coward! You traitor!"

Song Haishan's eyes were bloodshot as he cursed, "The Crown Prince has treated you well! And Junior Sister Yun too..."

"Pfft!"

His words stopped abruptly.

A crimson, flaming longsword pierced his back and protruded through his chest.

The one holding the knife was Zhao Yan, another member of the Crown Prince's faction standing behind him.

This man was usually taciturn and quite respectful to Song Haishan, but now his face was contorted with rage, and his eyes were filled with only a frantic will to survive.

"Senior Brother Song, please don't blame me."

Zhao Yan's voice was hoarse as he abruptly withdrew his flaming blade. A burst of blood erupted from Song Haishan's chest. He looked down at the charred hole in his chest, opened his mouth, and finally collapsed to the ground with endless resentment and unwillingness.

"You...you're all insane!"

Gu Fenxian was terrified and scrambled backward to escape.

But with his cultivation sealed and him seriously injured, where could he possibly escape to?
A flicker of struggle crossed Jiang Fan's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by ruthlessness. He knew that once he made his move, there would be no turning back. If they didn't kill Gu Fenxian, all three of them would die here today!

"Junior Brother Gu, may you rest in peace!"

Jiang Fan gritted his teeth, pointed his fingers like a sword, and a dim yet sharp sword aura shot straight at Gu Fenxian's nape.

At the same time, Sun Yi, the third member of the Crown Prince's faction, also made his move, unleashing powerful palm strikes that sealed off all of Gu Fenxian's escape routes.

"No...the Crown Prince will avenge me—!"

Gu Fenxian let out a shrill, desperate roar as sword energy pierced his neck and palm force shattered his heart meridian. He collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing a few times before falling silent again.

The grassland was filled with the stench of blood.

Jiang Fan, Zhao Yan, and Sun Yi stood there, panting heavily, staring at the two corpses of their fellow disciples on the ground. Their faces were pale, their eyes were empty, and their hands holding their weapons were trembling slightly.

The impact of personally killing a former comrade was far greater than imagined.

Yang Qi watched this scene indifferently, his heart unmoved.

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is an ironclad rule in the cultivation world. Since the other party has the intention to kill first, one must be prepared to be killed in return.

"Very good, very good."

Fang Qing finally spoke, his voice still calm, "You should all have died, but since you have done such a thing, you have a chance to live. Do your job well, and one day you will know that submitting to me is not a bad thing, but perhaps the beginning of something good."

Jiang Fan and his two companions felt as if they had been granted a pardon, yet a chill ran down their spines. They knew they had embarked on a path of no return. But at least, their lives were spared.

"Of course, I still don't trust you, and I still need to set up a little trick. You can ask someone else to break this trick."

Fang Qing flicked his finger, and three faint, almost imperceptible streams of five-colored light burst forth from his fingertip, precisely entering the depths of Jiang Fan, Zhao Yan, and Sun Yi's dantian.

"Ugh!"

The three of them groaned simultaneously, their faces instantly draining of color.

The instant the light entered their bodies, they clearly felt that something new had appeared at the very core of their dantian. It wasn't a physical entity, but rather a miniature, constantly rotating vortex composed of pure energy. It lay dormant, seemingly integrated with their own true energy, yet distinctly separate.

The most terrifying thing is the distortion of perception.

When they focused their inner vision, trying to pinpoint the "foreign object," it seemed to be nonexistent; their dantian and qi sea were empty, and everything was as usual.

However, once they relax their vigilance even slightly, or when they circulate their true energy, a strong sense of crisis stemming from their life instinct will suddenly arise.

It was as if that "vortex" could awaken at any moment, turning into a black hole that would devour everything, draining and absorbing their years of hard-earned true energy and even the very essence of their lives in an instant!
This contradictory perception of "existence" and "non-existence," this absolute sense of powerlessness in having one's life in the hands of others, is more torturous than any form of torture.

Jiang Fan's forehead was covered in cold sweat, Zhao Yan's lips trembled, and Sun Yi's legs were so weak that he could barely stand.

"This... what kind of method is this?"

Jiang Fan's voice was hoarse, trembling with despair. He tried to channel a wisp of his true energy to touch the "vortex" he sensed, but the energy was like a mud ox sinking into the sea, yielding no response, and the position of the "vortex" was also elusive.

"It's just a small insurance measure."

Fang Qing stood with his hands behind his back. "You can go back and ask your prince, or any elder or senior in the academy who claims to have profound cultivation, to try to 'break' it for you. If you succeed, that's your skill, and I will not pursue the matter."

"Of course, if the attempt to break through fails, or if it leads to any bad 'consequences'... then you can only blame yourselves, or that you entrusted the wrong person."

Upon hearing this, the last glimmer of hope in Jiang Fan and the other two's hearts was completely extinguished.

Please ask the Crown Prince for help?
Leaving aside whether the Crown Prince would be willing to expend his energy to decipher this bizarre method for the sake of the three of them, even if he were, the consequences of failing to break it and triggering those "consequences"... they dared not imagine. As for the other elders, they didn't even understand the basics of this method, so how could they possibly decipher it?

Despair, like an icy tide, overwhelmed them.

Seeing the three men's ashen faces and unfocused eyes, Fang Qing suddenly changed the subject.

"However, you don't need to despair. Working for me may not be without a future."

He glanced at the three of them and said slowly, "It won't be long before I step into the fourth and fifth stages of life-threatening situations... This small Heavenly Academy, and even this bountiful continent, will not be my final destination."

"Your future depends on whether you follow that seemingly glamorous but inwardly corrupt prince, scheming and plotting within the confines of the academy, ultimately sinking with him; or whether you follow me, to see the view from a higher vantage point, and strive for a truly promising future."

Fang Qing withdrew his gaze and turned it back to the three of them: "Whether you become pawns I can use or discard, or armies that can advance alongside me... depends on your future performance."

The despair in Jiang Fan's and the other two's eyes was gradually replaced by a complex emotion.

The fear remains, but it is a fear of the means and the power.

Despair faded as a glimmer of hope, unprecedented and perhaps offering a chance to break free from the shackles of fate, appeared.

Although this glimmer of hope is still firmly held in the hands of this unfathomable young man before us.

"Your subordinate... understands."

Jiang Fan took a deep breath and was the first to kneel on one knee. This time, his posture carried less of the forced humiliation and more of a complex sense of submission. "I will not fail my master's expectations."

Zhao Yan and Sun Yi exchanged a glance and then knelt down one after the other: "We are willing to serve our master!"

"Go ahead." Fang Qing waved his hand. "Remember your 'story,' and remember the little thing inside you. Actually, things aren't so bad. After all, my cousin Yang Qi and I are just sitting at home, and you came to us yourselves, didn't you?"

"..."

The three of them finally remembered something: they were not originally victims; they had come to provoke others.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Fan and the other two froze, their faces drained of color, and an indescribable sense of shame and regret welled up within them.

Yes... they almost forgot.

Today's slaughter on the grasslands, the sin of being forced to kill one's own comrades, the terrifying shackles implanted in one's body, and the uncertain fate of this servant.

The root of the problem was not that Fang Qing and Yang Qi provoked the conflict.

Instead, it was these five people who, relying on the power of the Crown Prince's faction, took the initiative to approach Fang Qing and Yang Qi, intending to coerce, extort, or even kill them.

They themselves handed the knife to the other party, and then the other party used that knife to hold to their own necks.

"I...we..."

Zhao Yan's lips trembled, and he was so ashamed that he wanted to disappear.

"Thank you, Master... for sparing my life!"

Jiang Fan was the first to react. This time, the humiliation in his tone was much less, replaced by an almost absurd resignation and lingering fear.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party had extraordinary abilities and seemed to have other plans, they would already be withered bones on the grassland by now, and would not be alive.
Sun Yi also lay prostrate on the ground, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He actually felt some regret, endless remorse for his past arrogance and disdain for others.

"Go."

Fang Qing said no more.

The three, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, or like stray dogs, staggered away into the increasingly dark night, their bodies riddled with "serious injuries" and their minds filled with complex thoughts.

"How can the Celestial Academy set an example for the entire Bountiful Continent? I must have the strength!"

Yang Qi clicked his tongue in admiration. (End of Chapter)