Damon's Ascension-Chapter 120: War In Xiangyang 21

The silence clearly was not meant to last as a series of gong strikes rang out from the northern edge of the arena, which were not celebratory, but sharp and discordant.

People flinched at the sound as a group of city guards in full armor marched onto the field, flanking five approaching figures dressed in the formal robes of sect leadership.

The heads of the Heaven Dew Sect, Iron Banner Hall, Azure Sword Pavilion, Ghost Valley School, and even Zen Sect’s publicly recognized representative—none other than Brother Mian himself—walked side by side with grim expressions.

The air turned thick with malice and tension.

Elder Bai Tianmu stepped forward first, voice laced with frost. "We have urgent cause to interrupt this farce of a festival."

The Governor’s eyes twitched. "What is the meaning of this, Elder Bai?"

Duan Xing of the Iron Banner Hall raised a scroll high. "This is an official writ from our five sects, unified in suspicion and concern."

Yan Qiu said nothing, but he unsheathed his sword halfway as a symbolic gesture of hostility and readiness for war.

Then Brother Mian stepped forward, robes fluttering in the breeze, his expression solemn and contrived. "We regret to inform the public... that the martial judge of this county, Qian Weimin, was not merely missing."

He bowed low, his voice full of sadness and anger. "He was kidnapped, hidden, and subjected to spiritual torture... by none other than the so-called scholar martial artist who stands among you now."

The arena exploded in gasps and disbelief.

"What?!"

"No way..."

"He just defeated three noble heirs!"

Xue Rou immediately stepped forward, fury rising in her chest. "That’s a lie! Governor Zhao—!"

"Silence! Let the evidence speak." Elder Duan Xing barked, using his superior aura to suppress Xue Rou.

One of the guards stepped forward and unrolled a sealed statement, forged but bearing Qian Weimin’s personal sigil, which was stolen when they kidnapped him.

It read: ’I, Qian Weimin, having narrowly escaped spiritual torture, name Damon Arnan as my captor and tormentor. He has colluded with rebel sects and masked assassins to destabilize Xiangyang County.’

Xu Baochun’s jaw clenched so hard the veins in his neck popped.

"That’s not his hand, that’s a forgery. Qian Weimin is alive and recovering under—" He said darkly.

"You dare speak for the judge, criminal?" Brother Mian snapped, turning on him with sudden venom, not daring to let the fellow speak.

Elder Bai continued with a cold look. "You, whose sect was disbanded for heresy and who should have died thirty years ago like the rest of your cursed order!"

A wave of murmurs rose like a storm through the crowd as they wondered what this meant and who this old man was.

Sun Jianhao’s uncle stood and shouted. "This man has brought nothing but chaos since his arrival! He uses tricks to harm three noble heirs in a single hour and now claims to serve justice? It’s a setup!"

"He carries a strange power we’ve never seen before! Who knows what he’s really planning?!" A Liu family elder yelled as he saw a chance.

"He’s corrupted the martial judge!" Another elder from the Cao family bellowed with hatred.

Damon didn’t speak, he just took one step forward and the guards drew their weapons and the sect leaders tensed.

Chen Yuan reached for his sword. "Sir..."

"No need." Damon said calmly.

Xu Baochun looked around at the crowd, the guards, the sects. "You dogs! You really want to see a mountain bleed just because it’s taller than the rest?"

"The evidence is irrefutable! He hides behind silence! Arrest him!" Brother Mian yelled.

The city guard moved forward to capture Damon, an act that was not missed by the Governor or the Envoy from the prefecture, which left the former furious beyond measure as he stood up.

"How dare you!! On whose orders do you think you serve?!" Governor Zhao Fengliang roared at the city guards who had subconsciously moved forward, making them freeze in place.

The veiled official also had a grim expression, his amusement and interest gone as he deeply realized how bad things were in the county. If mere noble families and sects had enough prestige to order city guards around in the face of the governor himself, then when the governor was away, what would these law enforcers do?

However, to everyone’s surprise, the sects did not seem to care.

"We act in the name of righteousness and stability!" Elder Duan Xing declared boldly, stepping forward with authority.

Elder Bai Tianmu backed him up, releasing his aura which was at the peak Martial Grandmaster realm. "When the courts are compromised and the martial judge corrupted, it falls to the sects to ensure order!"

"That is treason! You dare supersede my office before the Prefecture’s envoy?!" Governor Zhao bellowed, his eyes nearly bulging with fury.

"The Prefecture has not yet ruled, and a mere envoy cannot make the decision." Elder Bai Tianmu said with icy calm.

"So we take precaution. If we are wrong, we will face judgment later. But if we are right... we may have saved this entire county from collapse." Master Yan Qiu said coldly.

The guards continued advancing, their steps slower now but steady, faces twisted with slight uncertainty. They looked between the Governor and the sect leaders, their allegiance split not by law, but by power and favor.

Damon was surrounded by eight guards to his front and six on the sides, making twenty in total.

Xu Baochun’s breath turned sharp. "This is a coup."

As the pressure mounted and the final moments of confrontation inched closer, Damon’s group braced themselves for a bloody clash—but then... freewёbnoνel.com

A sound like thunder cracked through the arena.

BOOM.

It wasn’t the sky releasing lightning, but rather the coliseum itself trembling under the sheer weight of one man’s step.

All eyes turned as the veiled official finally stood, his arm raised with his palm open.

Then he spoke without using the projection technique, and somehow, it rang in every ear around the arena with an intensely placid tone.

"That will be enough." He said stately.

The entire arena froze as the guards stopped mid-step while the sect elders visibly stiffened.

The envoy slowly reached up and took off his veil, showing that what lay beneath was not the weathered face of some old bureaucrat as many expected.

It was a man with eyes like obsidian glass, dressed not in ordinary court silks but in military-grade spiritual armor, etched with the phoenix crest of the Prefecture Martial Court. His hair was short, his jawline sharp, and his aura was heavy like a boulder.

"By order of the Prefecture, and under the seal of High Lord Magistrate Shen of the Western Province, I now speak as the direct voice of the imperial martial judiciary." The man said coldly.

Gasps erupted as a few guards actually dropped their weapons in horror.

The envoy pointed at Damon. "Any man who lifts his hand against the accused, without due trial or imperial sanction, will be judged a traitor and executed without appeal."

To add emphasis to his point, he raised his spiritual pressure and it slammed down like a mountain on the backs of all present.

Dozens of city guards collapsed to their knees, vomiting blood while their weapons clanged to the ground helplessly, a few even fainting outright. Even the sect elders were forced to retreat one step, their eyes wide with barely-suppressed alarm.

Brother Mian went pale, blood running cold as things had gone down the worst possible path.

Throughout all of this, Damon did not move. His expression was a mixture of coldness and amusement, fully intent on watching these events play out because he doubted he would ever see such a ridiculous scene in reality.

Even the Chaos Realm was unlikely to have areas with such a nonsensical train of logical behavior by sentient beings. Truly, oriental drama and the scenarios drawn up from them were something else.

The now dominant Prefecture Envoy turned to him, eyes evaluating, gaze unreadable. "Despite saying that, there is merit to their accusation. You are an outsider who had thrown the balance of the entire Xiangyang out of order with your actions, so it is not far-fetched for you to be the cause of Qian Weimin’s disappearance."

Xue Rou paled. "But Lord Envoy, that’s impossible because—"

Damon raised a hand to silence her and then folded his arms behind his back. First, he glanced at the sect leaders who were trembling on the spot to resist the envoy’s aura and then at the extremely furious Governor Zhao Fengliang, then Brother Mian who was pale as a sheet.

Finally, Damon glanced at the now dominant prefecture envoy demanding an explanation and felt that all of this was truly funny.

"I think I understand now. At first, I thought it was ridiculous and edgy, but it does make a little more sense now that it’s happened to me." Damon couldn’t help but say his thoughts aloud.

The Prefecture Envoy naturally frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

Damon shook his head. "I always saw scenes like this when I was brushing up on my oriental history for this instance and disliked when the main characters in question resolved everything using brute force. I thought that acting diplomatically and politically would be better, especially since the facts were on their side. All they had to do was present it in a smart and mature manner, and the whole scene would be rendered silly."

Damon glanced at his fist then opened and closed it slowly. "But now, in such a situation myself, even with the facts on my side, I find myself reluctant. Why should I reduce myself to play politics and diplomacy with those who are all around weaker than myself?"

Saying this, Damon disappeared from where he stood and appeared right in front of the prefecture envoy, his hand placed against the man’s chest as he looked down with shock.

"I think it’s time to start harvesting worldly essence again."