Dragon-Marked War God

“No way? The City Lord actually knelt before Jiang Chen? That’s way too bizarre. Our Lord of Tongyou Boundary is actually humbling himself like this?”

“The situation is stronger than the man. There’s nothing he can do. Didn’t you all see how strong Jiang Chen is? Even the Lord of Tianlai Boundary was killed by Jiang Chen, and more than half of the thirty-plus Hierarch Realm experts are dead or injured. The City Lord has no choice.”

“Bowing your head before an absolute expert isn’t shameful. All you can say is that Jiang Chen is too strong, so strong that it’s outrageous, so strong that our City Lord has no power to resist at all.”

“The dignified lord of a boundary. Sigh, how sad.”

Everyone had mixed feelings. After all, in their hearts, the City Lord was high above them, out of reach. Yet in Jiang Chen’s eyes, he was so vulnerable. Now he had become the other man’s prisoner completely, his life and death entirely in someone else’s hands. How bitter that must feel went without saying.

Tao Qianjun was completely out of options. He really didn’t have what it took to contend with Jiang Chen anymore. With more than half of the Hierarch Realm experts dead or injured, the overall strength of Tongyou Boundary would surely be greatly reduced, and who knew how many years it would take to recover. This was also what he had been most worried about before: that others would join forces and destroy his Tongyou Boundary.

With supreme divine might, Jiang Chen had shaken heaven and earth, making everyone feel a trace of trembling. Naturally, Tao Qianjun was no exception. But now, only by playing this emotional card could he hope to escape Jiang Chen’s hands by luck. The death of Bi Chao, the Lord of Tianlai Boundary, had shocked Tao Qianjun far too much. In Jiang Chen’s hands, they seemed to be nothing but ants waiting to be slaughtered.

“Don’t mention Qianying to me again. If I had known back then that your adopted daughter was Xue Qianying, I would definitely have stood on your side, even to the very end. But you were stubborn and wouldn’t see reason. If I don’t kill you, how can I face the Lord of Tianlai Boundary? Am I right? Faced with your own adopted daughter’s death, you were completely unmoved. In your eyes, Xue Qianying was just a pawn, dispensable, yet the most important link in your plan. Right? Someone like me, with no background, isn’t worth a penny in your eyes. All you wanted was to use your adopted daughter to ally with forces from other boundaries. So what you cared about was whether she lived or died, not her as a person. When she died, your plan fell apart completely. In your eyes, all I saw was endless resentment, and not the slightest bit of pity.”

Jiang Chen said coldly. He felt it was unfair to Xue Qianying. Was someone like this worthy of being her adoptive father? If Xue Qianying hadn’t owed Tao Qianjun a debt of gratitude, she would never have been willing to submit to others. And she would never have allowed herself to become someone’s tool in a time of crisis like this. So Jiang Chen guessed that Tao Qianjun must have led her on step by step, and Xue Qianying had acted on impulse to repay his kindness. She was extremely stubborn by nature. Making her the plaything and link in a web of interests would have been an idiot’s dream. It was only for the sake of this debt of gratitude she couldn’t bring herself to abandon that Xue Qianying had resorted to this.

“This is all a misunderstanding. How would you know how deep the bond between me and my daughter is? How would you know that I did it entirely for her own good? I became your enemy precisely because you killed Bi Jiagang, the son of the Lord of Tianlai Boundary. If I hadn’t joined forces with Bi Chao to deal with you, he would very likely have pointed his spear at me. By then, who would know the suffering of the people of Tongyou? Once a war broke out between boundaries, how many people would die because of it? For the sake of the bigger picture, how could I not do this? I never expected Qianying to have a friend like you who can’t tell right from wrong, or loyalty from treachery. No matter how strong you are, so what? Humph.”

Tao Qianjun snorted coldly. At this point, he had somewhat given up. Rather than being killed by Jiang Chen in disgrace, it would be better to die with a clean name, so that at least the countless people of Tongyou Boundary would remember him as a boundary lord who valued loyalty and affection.

Tao Qianjun spoke with fervor, his face full of pride, as if he were a warrior heroically dying for a just cause. Even the people of Tongyou Boundary sighed endlessly. It seemed that Tao Qianjun truly was a boundary lord who valued loyalty and affection and had great ambitions. They had thought the Lord of Tongyou Boundary was afraid of death, but in fact he had the welfare of everyone at heart.

Jiang Chen sneered. How could he not see through the Lord of Tongyou Boundary’s sophistry? But just as he had thought, this guy spoke with such righteousness, as if he stood at the very peak of justice. Although Jiang Chen didn’t care about so many lives, and cared even less whether the people of Tongyou Boundary lived or died, he couldn’t let Xue Qianying bear eternal infamy for no reason.

If he killed Tao Qianjun, he himself feared nothing, but Xue Qianying would be seen as being just like him. People would think it was her arrival that had caused a war between boundaries and made Tongyou Boundary the target of everyone’s attacks. It would make everyone feel all the more that Xue Qianying was a bringer of disaster and that it had all started because of her. How could Jiang Chen let her be so demeaned? By then, her death would be seen as worthless, while Tao Qianjun would become someone admired by everyone.

Jiang Chen’s heart stirred slightly. He hadn’t really intended to kill Tao Qianjun. In other words, he wanted to, but he couldn’t let Xue Qianying’s wronged spirit be condemned. He couldn’t shatter Xue Qianying’s last wish. That was the greatest respect he could show her.

“Forget it. What good would killing you do? Qianying won’t come back. And do you know what the last thing she said to me was? She told me not to hate you, not to kill you, and not to make things difficult for you, because after all, you had done her a great kindness. Whatever the process, the result greatly disappointed me. Qianying’s death wasn’t worth it. She didn’t have to die. So from this moment on, a life for a life. Xue Qianying no longer owes you anything. Whatever debt of gratitude she hadn’t finished repaying, I’ll repay it for her. I’ll spare your life, only to comfort Qianying’s spirit in heaven.”

Jiang Chen’s words made Tao Qianjun pause, and he let out a long breath, because he knew Jiang Chen had changed his mind. If Jiang Chen wanted to kill him, he had no power to resist at all, so in the end he could only give up. But he never expected that just when there seemed to be no way out, a new path would appear. Jiang Chen had actually changed his mind on his own. He knew it couldn’t have been his own words that moved Jiang Chen. It must have been Xue Qianying’s last words that had made Jiang Chen see him differently.

“Whatever the reason, I hope you understand that this world isn’t as simple as you think. You should know very well why I’m not killing you. Whether you were scheming to the very end or humbling yourself to survive, it has nothing to do with me. Your strength isn’t worth mentioning to me. Killing you would be like killing a chicken. From now on, be a good boundary lord.”

Jiang Chen said lightly.