Chapter 5552: The Wrong Choice
The city master’s complexion turned awful upon hearing those words.
He didn’t know the cause of the matter prior to this. If the chief elder was right, there was really nothing he could do about this.
“Since we’re on this topic, I ought to inform you of another matter. This test was exclusive to City 19. I had a person in mind right from the start, and that person is 521. Putting aside the fact that 521 hasn’t broken any laws, even if he did, I would still be taking him away with me today,” the chief elder said.
The city master’s face collapsed. It finally dawned on him that in his futile attempt to allow his son to come into contact with Xianhai Yu’er, he had inadvertently offended three trial elders and the chief elder. The realization of that brought his knees to the ground.
He kneeled down before the chief elder and cried, “Lord Chief Elder, I have failed in my position as the city master. Please punish me.”
The chief elder coldly looked at the city master and sneered, “Your City 19 has been suffering from a lack of talent. Do you really not understand why no one from your City 19 has been picked in the last few rounds of selection? I was still thinking that I could give you a chance if you could slowly improve over time, but I can see now that the problem is bigger than I expected. There’s no reason for your city to continue existing if it’s rotten from top to bottom. Reflect and keep your people in line if you don’t want to lose your city.”
The chief elder then turned to the high elder who assigned Chu Feng to the Formation Master Hall and said, “While your talent is lacking, you have a good eye for people. I’ll grant you the chance to enter the Star Sea Central City. Are you willing to take up this opportunity?”
“Y-yes, I am. I am willing to take up this opportunity!”
The high elder vehemently nodded his head. How could he possibly be reluctant to take up this dream opportunity?
“521, are you going to bring your follower with you?” the high elder asked.
A conflicted expression appeared on 399’s face. As much as he wanted to capitalize on this opportunity, he chose to lower his head. He hadn’t thought he would ever stumble upon something as good as this, but it also made him wonder if he was worthy.
He knew that Chu Feng could easily find followers who were much more competent than him once he entered the Star Sea Central City, which made him feel inadequate as a lowest-tier formation entity.
Yet, he couldn’t help but clutch onto the glimmer of hope.
“Lord Elder, I’ll take 399 with me,” Chu Feng said.
399’s head shot up. He dared not believe that Chu Feng was going to keep him even after getting into the Star Sea Central City. He even wondered if he was dreaming.
“All right.”
The chief elder stowed the three trial palaces away with a wave of his sleeves before taking his leave. The crowd watched enviously as Chu Feng and his follower, together with the high elder who first acknowledged him, followed the chief elder to the Star Sea Central City.
It was only after the chief elder was nowhere in sight that the city master finally rose to his feet, but he nearly lost his balance. There was a horrified expression on his face as if the end was upon him.
The young city master rushed forward to support him.
“Father, what does the chief elder mean? Is our City 19 going to come under the command of other cities, just like City 20?” the young city master asked worriedly.
Even if their City 19 was weaker compared to the other cities, they were still the emperors here. If they were taken in by the other cities, they would become subservient to others. They would lose the absolute authority they had wielded thus far.
“There’s still a chance… There’s still a chance,” the city master murmured with a voice quivering with fear.
All of a sudden, his eyes flared with anger as he turned his eyes toward the severely injured man with white brows.
Shoosh!
A piece of paper and a brush flew toward the man with white brows.
“You! Give me the names of the people who have oppressed 521!” the city master roared with a voice overflowing with killing intent.
Scared out of his wits, the man with white brows hurriedly did as he was told. He even wrote down the names of those who hadn’t participated in the bullying but simply laughed along with them, though he made sure to indicate what each of them did.
The city master glanced at the list before tossing it to one of his subordinates and ordering, “Execute everyone on this list!”
Many guards rushed forth to arrest the people on the list.
“Spare us, city master! Spare us! I have never bullied 521!”
Those who were arrested cried in indignance.
In truth, most of the people written in the list had not participated much in the bullying. The city master was aware of that too, but he had no other choice. He had to severely punish those who had bullied Chu Feng in order to protect City 19.
Besides, he didn’t think that their lives were important anyway.
“City master, what about those two?” one of the guards asked as he glanced at the man with white brows and his follower.
“Those two people are the masterminds behind this. Torture them!” the city master sneered.
The man with white brows and his follower were horrified. They desperately begged the city master to kill them, knowing how frightening the torture would be, but no one paid them any heed.
The crowd shook their heads, especially those who knew the full story from the Formation Master Hall. In truth, the man with white brows and the others might have been able to advance to the Star Sea Central City had they supported Chu Feng, just as the high elder and 399 did.
It was a pity that they made the wrong choice.
