"How do you explain what Eunuch Dong did? Don't tell me that he's not a member of your clan," questioned Xiang Shaoyun.
"Yes, I did send him out, but he didn't return with Yu Caidie!" said Di Mie. At this point, he no longer dared to lie because it was pointless to lie.
Xiang Shaoyun frowned as he thought doubtfully, Did Caidie really escape?
However, he still couldn't fully trust Di Mie. He used the Nether Soul Dragon Curse, trying to control Di Mie to find out if Di Mie was telling the truth. To his surprise, his curse failed to work. Something in Di Mie's soul seemed to be protecting him from the curse.
Looks like this fellow has quite a lot of secrets as well, thought Xiang Shaoyun.
He stopped trying and had Purple Lightning Marquis help his father retreat. Xiang Yangzhan was still engaged in an intense battle with Di Nian. Although Di Nian was only a second-stage Rebirth Realm cultivator, he could match Xiang Yangzhan equally with the help of his god-grade formation. He even planned to capture Xiang Yangzhan so that he could trade Xiang Yangzhan for Di Mie.
With Purple Lightning Marquis's help, Xiang Yangzhan was finally able to withdraw from the fight. Di Nian did not dare to give chase. If he went too far, he wouldn't be able to borrow the formation's strength anymore.
"Release the prince, or the Ziling Sect will be flattened!" threatened Di Nian.
"We'll be keeping this kid with us until we get my daughter-in-law back," said Xiang Yangzhan.
"Like I said, we don't have her! If you refuse to believe it, so be it. This won't end here!" replied Di Nian.
"You can have him back, but you need to trade two people for him," said Xiang Shaoyun.
He was already certain that Yu Caidie was probably not with the Di Clan. In that case, he might as well take a step back for now.
"Who do you want?" asked Di Nian.
Di Mie had a high status in the Di Clan. Di Nian wouldn't mind having someone else take Di Mie's place as the hostage. At that question, Xiang Shaoyun looked toward a certain person. That person instantly felt his entire body turn cold and started hiding among the crowd.
"I want Di Batian and his son Di Lin," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"Di Batian and Di Lin?" muttered Di Nian doubtfully for a bit before he recalled something.
He knew what Di Batian had done to the Ziling Sect. Thus, it wasn't surprising that Xiang Shaoyun would make such a demand. However, he wasn't willing to agree so easily. After all, both Di Batian and his son were talented cultivators. That was especially true for Di Lin, who had won the acknowledgment of several clan elders. They intended to nurture him as Di Mie's replacement.
"How about this. We can offer some god-grade items for the prince instead. If you agree, this ends here. What do you think?" offered Di Nian.
Di Batian heaved a breath of relief. He could only hope that Xiang Shaoyun would agree, inwardly thinking, That little bastard better agree. I'll most definitely have all their heads after Lin'er returns.
"I repeat. I only want those two. Otherwise, prepare to receive Di Mie's corpse," said Xiang Shaoyun firmly.
Di Mie was having trouble breathing from the grip around his neck. With his face red, he shouted, "H-hurry and trade those two f-for me!"
Di Mie was someone who had enjoyed great prestige since he was a boy. He did not want to die so easily. As far as he was concerned, Di Batian and Di Lin were nothing compared to even a hair on his body.
Di Nian had a look of disappointment as he said, "Bring Di Batian and Di Lin over."
When a God brought Di Batian over, Di Batian had no fear on his face. Rather, he was wearing a bleak smile.
"Grandmaster, are you really trading us to them?" asked Di Batian.
"You will have to suffer for us. I'll double the compensation to those from your branch," said Di Nian.
Di Batian himself was a rather talented cultivator and was also an ambitious person. It was unfortunate for him that he was from a branch family. Thus, he had been chased out of the clan long ago so he could build something for himself. Only upon him seizing the Ziling Sect did the clan take him back.
When Di Batian heard Di Nian's words, his little bit of hope was extinguished. He said with great difficulty, "I'll have to trouble the grandmaster to take good care of them, then."
Di Batian had nine sons in total, while Xiang Shaoyun had only killed the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth sons. His other sons were still alive. Di Lin and his three brothers were all staying with the clan, whereas Di Tong had disappeared during his time at the Dragon Phoenix Academy.
As far as Xiang Shaoyun was concerned, Di Lin posed the most threat among them. Thus, his main targets were Di Batian and Di Lin. In any case, he also wasn't aware that Di Batian's other sons were also in the Di Clan.
"Release the prince, and you can have him," said Di Nian.
"One person seems to be missing," remarked Xiang Shaoyun in a displeased manner.
"Di Lin is not with us. If you're not happy with this arrangement, there's nothing I can do," said Di Nian with a shrug.
From how Di Nian had refrained from telling Xiang Shaoyun that Di Batian's other sons were with them, one could see that he still cared about his fellow clan members.
After some hesitation, Xiang Shaoyun said, "Fine. Seal his strength and toss him over. I'll release Di Mie."
Di Nian did not reject the request. He personally sealed Di Batian's cultivation while leaving a backdoor in the seal. He transmitted his voice over, "You'll have to suffer for us. I'll take good care of those from your branch. Of course, if you try something stupid, don't blame me for showing no mercy either."
Upon hearing Di Nian's words, Di Batian felt his heart freeze over. Over the years, he had strove unremittingly to return to the clan. He had thought that his talent would earn him a spot in the clan, but he was still nothing compared to someone from the main branch.
I never expected that I, Di Batian, would suffer such a fate in the end, thought Di Batian bleakly.
"We'll do the exchange at the same time," said Di Nian.
Xiang Shaoyun nodded in agreement as he threw Di Mie over at the same time.
As soon as he threw Di Mie out, Xiang Shaoyun's Death Eyes activated. He exchanged gazes with Di Mie, instantly extinguishing a portion of Di Mie's lifespan. He also imprinted some death aura in Di Mie's body, frightening Di Mie so much that all thoughts of revenge vanished from his mind.
Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to grab Di Batian, a malevolent expression appeared on Di Batian's face. Di Batian said, "Little bastard, come meet the maker with me!"
A strand of God Realm energy rushed out of his body, triggering a self-detonation.
"This is bad!" Xiang Shaoyun retreated unhesitatingly the moment he sensed that something was off. Alas, it was too late.
Boom!
As a peak Heaven Battling Realm expert, Di Batian's self-detonation was powerful enough to kill Great Saints. With the strand of God Realm energy Di Nian had left in his body, his self-detonation was further enhanced to the point even pseudo-Gods could be killed.