Chapter 687

Chapter 687: Seeking Accountability

Upon arriving at the main hall of Qingyu Island, everyone took their seats according to their status.

To welcome these guests, the entire hall was specially reinforced with a spatial formation, allowing it to accommodate thousands of tables for banquets.

When hosting high-level cultivators, it was impossible to seat just a few at each table; each person had to have their own table as a sign of respect.

The banquets were divided into three levels: the highest-quality green jade tables for the Top Ten Semi-Immortals, followed by the blue jade tables enjoyed by over a hundred Thunder Tribulation Immortals, and finally, the thousands of white jade tables.

Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun, along with others, were seated at the third-level white jade tables. Besides them, there were also over a hundred young talents, whose realms may not have been very high, but their strength was on par with Thunder Tribulation Immortals, including a few of Fang Lie’s old acquaintances: Qing Feng from the Xuan Sect, Ao Jianzi from East Kunlun, and Li Qingshi from Abbot Mountain.

Once seated, the feast began, with top-grade dishes being served one after another.

Due to the sea demon disaster, Qingyu Island had acquired a large amount of high-level sea demon corpses, allowing for such an extravagant banquet, where they could almost enjoy dishes made from Seventh-Rank and Eighth-Rank demon beasts.

Under normal circumstances, preparing such a lavish feast with thousands of tables would take a long time, but now Qingyu Island easily provided it.

Seeing the top-grade spirit food on the banquet, many experts were astonished, as they were all discerning individuals who understood the value of these items. They never expected Qingyu Island would be able to prepare so many good things on short notice; yet, here they were, placed before them.

Smart individuals quickly thought of the sea demon disaster and realized that these might be treasures acquired by Qingyu Island, stirring feelings of jealousy towards the Mo Sect in their hearts.

While others fought hard along the coast, achieving impressive results, their losses were heavy due to the massive naval battles, which could not avoid errors. Even with both sides trying to protect their core, many had perished.

Hundreds and thousands of Eighth-Rank and Ninth-Rank great demons had died, and similarly, over a hundred human cultivators above the Thunder Tribulation Immortal level had fallen.

Almost everyone present had friends or family who tragically died in the Sea Demon Disaster. Now seeing Fang Lie profiting from it, feelings of discontent naturally arose in their hearts.

Of course, those present were all cunning individuals; even if they felt emotions, they would not reveal them, quietly eating and drinking while secretly communicating through sound transmission.

As their discussions continued, the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly cold, with most people feeling distrust and even hatred towards Fang Lie and the Mo Sect.

Just at that moment, after several rounds of drinks and various dishes, it was time to get down to business.

Therefore, Ao Jianzi suddenly spoke in a harsh tone, "Fang Lie, I’m very curious; how is it that your Qingyu Island remains unscathed during the Sea Demon Disaster? Are you perhaps related to the Sea Demon Tribes?"

"Hahaha!" At hearing this, everyone burst into laughter, recognizing the hidden content in Ao Jianzi’s words, clearly mocking Fang Lie as a mixed-blood with connections to the Sea Demons.

Upon hearing these words, the people from the Mo Sect immediately became furious, and Fang Lie’s wrath reached its peak as he coolly retorted, "That’s right! I do have a god-grandson who is a hybrid of a sea demon. He’s your father!"

Once Fang Lie said this, the laughter in the hall ceased, and everyone fell silent, quietly shocked. Fang Lie’s audacity was overwhelming; who didn’t know that Ao Jianzi’s father was the son of the East Kunlun Sword God? By Fang Lie’s words, he was effectively claiming to be the godfather of the Sword God!

How could one dare to mock the world’s number one expert like this? Who would still dare to laugh?

"Scoundrel!" Ao Jianzi became furious and was about to attack when he was swiftly stopped by a nearby Thunder Tribulation Immortal.

That Thunder Tribulation Immortal was a handsome middle-aged man, Tianhezi, who wielded the Heavenly River Divine Sword in East Kunlun and had dealings with Fang Lie before.

Seeing Tianhezi standing up angrily, he said to Fang Lie, "Fang Lie, your words are rather harsh, aren’t they?"

"Is Ao Jianzi’s comment not harsh?" Fang Lie coldly replied, "Why is it acceptable for you to insult me, but I cannot return the insult? Is my Mo Sect inferior to East Kunlun?"

"You—" Tianhezi was at a loss for words; indeed, why could Ao Jianzi insult someone so casually?

In front of so many people, such public humiliation was truly excessive and could even be considered a blatant provocation. It was reasonable for Fang Lie to retaliate.

With so many people present, there would be public opinion about who was right and wrong; Tianhezi couldn’t twist the facts.

In desperation, Tianhezi could only say, "My nephew indeed behaved poorly, but—"

"No but!" Fang Lie interrupted sharply, "Wrong is wrong. Since you know he was wrong, you should acknowledge it and offer an apology!"

"You—" Tianhezi was almost infuriated, and then he said, "Fang Lie, we need not dwell on this matter. Regardless, you all have settled your scores. I now want to ask on behalf of everyone present: how did your Qingyu Island survive the Sea Demon Disaster?"

"First tell me, what gives you the qualification to question me?" Fang Lie said with a cold smile. "Am I a vassal of the Mo Sect? Or do you think I, Fang Lie, am easy to bully, that you can interrogate me whenever you want?"

"Of course not~" Tianhezi replied calmly. "We only suspect you have colluded with the Sea Demon Tribes!"

"Suspect if you want, it has nothing to do with me!" Fang Lie scoffed disdainfully.

"Shouldn’t you prove your own innocence?" Ao Jianzi jumped in. "Or are you just feeling guilty, afraid of our doubts?"

"You idiot!" Fang Lie retorted with a smirk. "Why should I prove my innocence just because you have suspicions? I suspect you stole your father’s concubine; why don’t you prove your innocence?"

"You are being unreasonable!" Ao Jianzi said angrily.

"No, you are the one being unreasonable!" Fang Lie sneered. "The Mo Sect is not your subordinate, and I, Fang Lie, am not your servant. What qualification do you have to order me to prove my innocence?"

Hearing Fang Lie’s words, everyone furrowed their brows, silently speechless. Upon reflection, it was indeed true; Fang Lie was not anyone’s subordinate, and no one had the right to command him to do anything.

At that moment, Immortal Lan Shan, the Sect Leader of West Kunlun, suddenly smiled and said, "Fang Lie, we know we have no right to command you, but this matter is serious. You wouldn’t want the reputation of the Mo Sect to be tarnished, would you?"

"The reputation of the Mo Sect is already tarnished!" Fang Lie sneered. "Did you not see that two idiots jumped out at the beginning and shamelessly insulted the Mo Sect?"

"Well…" Immortal Lan Shan replied with a wry smile, "They were just excited in the moment, don’t take it to heart. In any case, I believe this is merely a misunderstanding. Now, you just need to clarify it, and the misunderstanding will naturally be resolved. This will also be beneficial for the Mo Sect, don’t you agree?"

"Fine!" Fang Lie replied, slightly frustrated. "For your sake, I’ll explain, but remember this: I’m not afraid of anyone; I just don’t want to be slandered by those fools!"

"Understood, understood!" Immortal Lan Shan couldn’t help but smile wryly. "You surely fear no one! We all know that!"

"Hehe!" Fang Lie smiled faintly and then said, "It’s actually quite simple. The Sea Demon Disaster passed by, but we drove them away, so Qingyu Island was saved!"

Once Fang Lie said this, the people present immediately responded with boos.

"Can’t you stop boasting?"

"With your little strength, you think you can protect Qingyu Island? Dream on!"

"Could Fang Lie really be colluding with the Sea Demon Tribes? Why else would he say such nonsense?"

Amidst the numerous discussions, Immortal Lan Shan frowned as well and said, slightly displeased, "Fang Lie, I sincerely want to help you, so don’t try to fool me!"

"Why would I fool you?" Fang Lie sneered. "With my reputation, how could you possibly doubt me?"

"Uh…" Immortal Lan Shan immediately felt troubled. Although he knew Fang Lie’s golden reputation would not lie, what he said was too fantastical. How could the Sea Demon Disaster be so easily dealt with? Even if he were personally stationed at Qingyu Island, he wouldn’t be confident in holding it down; the endless sea demon army could tire him out without even needing the Demon King’s intervention.

At that moment, Ao Jianzi finally caught Fang Lie at a weak point and jumped up excitedly, shouting, "Fang Lie, you shameless scoundrel, how dare you deceive us! Don’t you know we are survivors of the Sea Demon Disaster? Who doesn’t know how formidable the Sea Demon Tribes are? With your tiny Qingyu Island, you think you can push them back? You must be dreaming!"

"I’m the shameless scoundrel?" Fang Lie immediately retorted with a laugh. "Let’s stand here and let everyone judge who the real shameless scoundrel is. You’ve completely forgotten about the incident at the Little Demon Chamber, haven’t you? Breaking the rules, fleeing in the face of battle, and betraying your comrades—wasn’t that your good work?"

"You~!" Ao Jianzi’s face instantly turned red, ashamed and wishing he could find a hole to hide in.

Especially as everyone looked at him with endless disdain, it made him feel even more humiliated and furious, nearly driving him mad.

There was no way around it; during the suppression of the Little Demon Chamber, both righteous and demonic paths were involved, and many of the fellow cultivators from back then were still around. At that time, Ao Jianzi’s performance could easily be described as that of a despicable coward.

Seeing Ao Jianzi being called out, Tianhezi could only step in to divert the topic, saying, "Fang Lie, stop avoiding the main issue. We just want to know, with your little Qingyu Island, how can you possibly stop the Sea Demon army? You must know that many islands in Wanxing Sea stronger than yours have been attacked without exception! Why should Qingyu Island be any different?"

"Because I am strong enough!" Fang Lie declared proudly.