Chapter 537 - 552: Leader of the Mystic Sect

An Ning didn’t answer. She attacked first.

The hovering White Moon Compass spun rapidly, shooting toward the four masters who were still waiting for An Ning’s reply.

"What are you doing?"

"Did you steal it?"

"You scoundrel!"

"Cut the damn crap!"

An Ning roared, her temper flaring for the first time.

"What’s with all this damn nonsense? Whether I know the Compass’s owner or not, your intentions are painfully obvious."

"Let me tell you, this thing is in my hands, which makes it mine. Don’t you dare get any funny ideas!"

An Ning unleashed her spiritual power as if it cost nothing. She had expected a tough fight, but the four of them combined were weaker than the red, bloody mist in the underground laboratory.

After recovering from her last injury, her spiritual power had grown even stronger. In this fight, she was like a fish in water.

It was only then that An Ning realized just how formidable Mr. Shou’an was.

She felt it wasn’t that she was so powerful—her opponents were just pathetic.

The four masters already on the ground watched as An Ning brutalized the other four, feeling a hint of schadenfreude and even a bit of relief.

’So she wasn’t even using her real strength before!’

An Ning, feeling no pressure at all fighting one against four, was wiping the floor with them.

Zhao Pandi watched from afar, sitting on the ground and wishing she had a bowl of sunflower seeds to snack on.

The four men being suppressed were finally pushed into a true rage.

One of them shot a flash of light from his hand toward Zhao Pandi.

"You’re courting death!"

"Protect her!"

Bolstered by An Ning’s spiritual power, Tao Quan flew out of his gourd and floated to Zhao Pandi’s side. Meanwhile, the Feng Shui Master who had unleashed the Evil Qi received some "special attention" from An Ning and was now lying on the ground, vomiting blood.

Zhao Pandi couldn’t see a thing—not the flash of light, not any ghostly spirits.

However, having long lived under the shadow of crisis, she sensed the mortal danger and saved herself with an ungainly dive to the side.

Although Tao Quan hadn’t played a major role when he flew over, he still didn’t leave her side.

He understood An Ning’s intention: protect Zhao Pandi.

Meanwhile, An Ning had finished the fight. Three of the men were tied up, while she singled out the fourth.

She strode over, planted her foot on the man’s face, and pressed down hard.

"In duels of the Mystic Sect, harming the innocent is the ultimate taboo, yet you deliberately targeted her?"

"Did you know that people like you are what Mr. Shou’an despised the most?"

"So you really do know him!"

An Ning increased the pressure under her foot, grinding the man’s head into the dirt until soil filled his mouth and nostrils.

"Someone like you isn’t worthy of uttering Mr. Shou’an’s name."

"What are you going to do?"

The man pinned to the ground saw An Ning slowly raise her hand, then bring it down in a swift, vicious motion.

"AHHH—"

"Do I need your permission to cripple you?"

"You should be thankful I didn’t take your life."

An Ning retracted one foot, only to use the other to kick the man several more times. His agonized howls seemed to count off his broken ribs.

Patience lost, An Ning surveyed the scene like a conquering queen.

"Anyone else?"

"To the messengers lurking nearby, go tell your masters they have one last chance. If they don’t show themselves, don’t blame me for using the arts of Feng Shui against your three families. And believe me, if I’m the one to act, the damage won’t be nearly this minor."

Certain that some people in the vicinity had scurried away, An Ning walked back to her spot and sat down cross-legged.

Seven men now lay side-by-side on the ground, all of them deathly silent, not daring to utter a word.

’This woman is a demon.’

Ten minutes later, someone finally broke the silence.

"Um, excuse me, what is Mr. Shou’an to you?"

An Ning opened her eyes, her gaze sweeping lightly over the speaker.

"How do you know Mr. Shou’an? And what is this White Jade Compass?"

The man answered without reservation.

"Mr. Shou’an was once the leader of the Mystic Sect. But after a great misfortune, some of us chose to leave. As for the White Jade Plate, the old tradition says that whoever holds the White Jade Compass is the new leader of the Mystic Sect."

An Ning understood.

"So by ’the old tradition,’ you mean you people don’t accept it now?"

An Ning’s tone was clearly not friendly, and the seven men on the ground scrambled to deny it, each professing their loyalty.

An Ning stood up, her expression disdainful as she looked down on the seven men.

"You all chose to flee, while Mr. Shou’an chose to stay. In terms of character, you can’t hold a candle to him. In terms of strength, you can’t even defeat me, and I only learned the bare minimum from my teacher. So I have to wonder, who gave you the audacity to think I want this damn position as leader of the Mystic Sect?"

"What would I do with a bunch of washouts? Run a charity? Dedicate my life to you selflessly?"

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

It was Tao Quan, clapping with genuine admiration.

He deeply envied An Ning’s character—the way she could say whatever she wanted. It was an unrestrained freedom, the kind he had never experienced.

An Ning shot him a look. Tao Quan immediately put his hands together in front of him, adopting an obedient posture as he floated meekly in place.

An Ning withdrew her gaze and looked back at the seven men on the ground. The White Jade Compass appeared in the palm of her hand.

"Even if you managed to take this, none of you have the power to use it."

With a flick of her wrist, the Compass vanished. This feat left the men on the ground stunned.

"What realm have you reached? You can actually store a Magic Artifact internally?"

An Ning clasped her hands behind her back, turned, and walked away. ’Let them guess!’ she thought.

’Storing a Magic Artifact internally? I suppose that’s not entirely wrong.’

’But that’s a realm even my teacher never reached. With my current level of enlightenment, there’s no hope of me getting there.’

But the men on the ground didn’t know that. To them, An Ning was practically a reincarnated immortal. Fight her? What was the point!

Even the man with hardly an unbroken bone left in his body found his desire for revenge shrinking considerably.

She possessed the kind of power that could kill him with a flick of a finger.

In fact, she could kill him without him ever knowing it, and no one would ever be able to trace it back to her. He would have died for nothing.

Once the master of broken bones understood this, it was like an epiphany. His hatred vanished, and with it, any thought of revenge.

「Half an hour later.」

An Ning finally met with Mr. Hao and the three family heads.

In the ruins of a construction site, the three heads of the families sat on the ground with An Ning, having what appeared to be a very pleasant chat.

The general tone of the conversation was An Ning raising an issue, and them replying, "Yes, yes, of course. As you wish. You have the final say."

This was a clear demonstration of the respect the Mystic Sect commanded in Hong Kong.

In truth, the three family heads had considered using brute force to resolve the situation. But after they saw An Ning fell a large tree thirty meters away with a wave of her hand and shatter a section of a wall fifty meters away, they firmly suppressed that notion.

"As expected of family heads, you are all reasonable people. In that case, our agreement is concluded."

"A pleasure doing business with you, a pleasure."

"Of course, of course."