Cheng Fen’s string of mistakes was a real eye-opener. No one had ever seen someone mess up so many times in a row, only to end up impaled on a sword—a far more gruesome sight than his previous mishaps.

Nan Fengyun’s expression changed. That was *his* weapon. If anyone was held accountable, would the blame fall on him? ’Getting kissed was bad enough, and now I have to suffer for this too!’

Everyone wanted to help him up, but no one dared. What if they caused yet another problem? How could they possibly fix it?

Fortunately, Cheng Fen was tough. After a few gasps for air, he circulated his energy to staunch the flow of blood. He fiercely ripped the Longsword from his back, sending a column of blood spraying across the ground. Sucking in a sharp breath, he swallowed a few Healing Elixir Pills, and the bleeding quickly stopped. Still, the wound was ghastly to behold. It was a good thing he only fell on the blade. If someone had intentionally struck him, Cheng Fen would have been sliced in two.

Cheng Fen remained motionless, meditating on the spot to heal his injuries. He warily scanned his surroundings, checking for any other sharp objects. If he were to fall again, the consequences would be dire.

"Ding, the effect of the Bad Luck Divine Pill has ended!"

At that moment, the halos of light circling Cheng Fen’s body disappeared. Only Yi Tianyun could see them; they were invisible to everyone else.

’A pity. It only lasted for five short minutes. Otherwise, he definitely would have been messed with until he was half-dead...’

Cheng Fen had been reduced to this state in just five short minutes. If the effect had lasted for ten or fifteen minutes, he’d probably only have a single breath left. When one’s luck hits rock bottom, trouble will find you even when you’re standing perfectly still.

’But the effect is gone now, unless I buy another one. The Bad Luck Divine Pill is in stock in the System Shop, but the price isn’t cheap—a full 100,000 Madness Value. Although I could make him unlucky again, I feel like the effect would be limited. I doubt it would be enough to finish him off. Core Formation Realm experts are very resilient. Getting him into this state is already quite impressive.’

’The main problem is the environment. If I’d used it in a truly dangerous place, it would have been lethal. But the surroundings here are just too ordinary. The most it can do is get him injured; it’s still too difficult to actually kill him.’

However, if he wanted to take his life, he didn’t need this Bad Luck Divine Pill. Yi Tianyun could reap it himself!

’Still, this thing’s effect is pretty insane. I should try the lottery again someday and see if I can get a few more Bad Luck Divine Pills. In the future, I can just toss one to whoever pisses me off.’ When Yi Tianyun had first gotten this Bad Luck Divine Pill from a lottery pull long ago, he had assumed it was nothing special. It was clear now that he had been wrong. The effect was incredibly powerful!

It was astonishingly effective. If there was ever someone he couldn’t stand but also couldn’t move against directly, he could just use a Bad Luck Divine Pill on them without anyone being the wiser.

The atmosphere in the hall was now incredibly heavy, yet also faintly comical and awkward. No one knew what to say. They all stared at Cheng Fen, wanting to laugh but not daring to. The man was simply cursed with bad luck.

Soon, after taking a moment to recover, Cheng Fen’s injuries were already about halfway healed. At the very least, the bleeding had stopped. With a little more rest, he would be able to recover.

He stood up with extreme caution and took a couple of steps. This time, he didn’t slip, trip, or have anything fly at him. Only then did he let out a small sigh of relief. He looked up at the crowd, thoroughly embarrassed. "None of you are to speak a word of what happened today!"

"Yes, Lord Cheng!" someone immediately responded. Whether they would actually keep quiet, however, remained to be seen. For now, they were only agreeing in words.

"We will adjourn for today. We shall reconvene in a few days!" Cheng Fen said after a moment of thought. "You will all stay here in the palace. Our Netherworld Empire will treat you as honored guests!"

Most of his initial arrogance had vanished. The generous hospitality was merely a way to buy their silence. He had originally intended to make an announcement, but after such a fiasco, he was at a loss for words and simply had them stay for the time being.

"My lord, this weapon..." A Guard pointed to the sword Nan Fengyun had presented, which was still stained with Cheng Fen’s blood.

"Whoever wants it can take it! Just don’t ever wave it in front of me again. The sight of it is infuriating!" With a flick of his wrist, he turned and stalked into the palace. He couldn’t even bear to look at the weapon, treating it as if it were a jinx. As he walked, he didn’t let anyone near him, his eyes constantly darting to the ground and his surroundings. He was a hundred times more cautious than usual, clearly traumatized by the recent events.

"Thank you, my lord!" The Guard scrambled to pick it up. It was a high-grade Treasure, an opportunity he couldn’t possibly miss. A little blood could be wiped right off; there was no way he would discard it.

Cheng Fen may have considered it a jinx, but they certainly didn’t.

Nan Fengyun’s face was as dark as a stormy sky. That was his personal longsword, one he frequently used, and now it had been taken away by a common Guard. Yet, he couldn’t take it back. How could one reclaim a gift? Technically, it already belonged to Cheng Fen. Whoever Cheng Fen gave it to was the new owner, and Nan Fengyun had no right to interfere.

"My lords, we will arrange your rooms for you now. Please, come this way." Guards approached to lead them to their assigned quarters.

Before he left, Nan Fengyun shot a cold glare in their direction, a flash of killing intent flickering in his eyes. Then he departed, led away by a Guard to his room.

Yi Tianyun’s group was also assigned a room, but it was obviously not a VIP suite. It was a common servant’s quarters! Every other faction was given a VIP room except for their Celestial Extreme Mansion!

This instantly set Mu Xian’Er off. "Grandpa, they’re discriminating against us! They put us in this servant’s room! It’s obviously different from the others, so crude! Giving us servants’ quarters is one thing, but they only gave us a single room! We gave them a high-grade Soul Artifact! Out in the city, that could have rented who knows how many VIP suites!"

Even though they were all cultivators who could meditate instead of sleeping, how could they not be furious at being crammed into a single room?

It wasn’t just Mu Xian’Er; the Great Elder and the others also looked grim. This clearly wasn’t an issue of not having enough rooms. It was a deliberate power play meant to intimidate them!

"I knew coming to this banquet wouldn’t lead to anything good. They’re just trying to put us in our place. Our Celestial Extreme Mansion is the weakest power here, so naturally, we get the worst treatment." The Great Elder sighed. "This is more or less what I expected."

"We killed so many of their people; it’d be strange if they *did* treat us well," Yi Tianyun said nonchalantly. "They’re probably observing us, and they’ve likely even sent people to investigate the Celestial Extreme Mansion. They want to know what kind of backing we have."

"In that case, the previous Mansion Master..." The Great Elder’s expression changed.

"It’s fine. They probably won’t make a move. If they were going to, they would have done so already," Yi Tianyun said calmly. "What they want is to recruit us. Since we were able to kill that many Shadow Guards, they think we have powerful allies or an expert backing us. A top-tier expert is what they desire, not a declining sect. Refuse, and we die... Accept, and it’s little better than death."

The Netherworld Empire has its own principles. As long as you can be of use to them, they will grant you benefits. If you resist, however, you will be annihilated. The point of Cheng Fen’s initial speech was to make one thing clear: resistors will die!