“Alright criminal you can di-”

Shu!

His next word was cut off as Long Di was already before him with his sabre raised high for an overhead slash!

****

Pang!

“Argh!”

A clang reverberated throughout as Yaomu Qiang hurriedly blocked it with his fist!

The power sent him stumbling back, but he was still relatively unharmed.

Everyone was shocked as they were sure that Long Di used sabre intent. How could this Yaomu Qiang use his fist to block it!?

Long Di’s gaze slowly slid to Yaomu Qiang’s hands and the answer soon made itself known.

Everyone else did the same, and they were enlightened as well. They could see that Yaomu Qiang was wearing a pair of black gloves with metallic-looking nubs on the knuckles.

“S-Such powerful spiritual fluctuations!” one expert commented.

They flashed with a minacious light. They were obviously spiritual artefacts at the medium rank of the mortal grade.

Shu!

However, Long Di only spared these spiritual artefacts a quick glance before he was on Yaomu Qiang once more. He pressed his attack on Yaomu Qiang, sending the latter into a fluster.

Vrrrm!

Sabre intent caused Long Di’s blade to shudder before he let loose another attack.

‘Earth Severance!’

Rumble!

Long Di slammed the sabre on the earth and a massive crack spread from the point of impact towards Yaomu Qiang!

The latter just barely dodged it when he saw Long Di right there waiting for him slashing his sabre to the side. It was heading straight for his neck!

Bang!

“Ugh!”

Yaomu Qiang unleashed a punch that landed on the sabre’s edge, but the collision caused his arm to numb from the shock!

“His gloves are damaged!” an expert yelled in surprise.

Hearing this, Yaomu Qiang looked down and saw a faint nick on his gloves. His face paled in surprise.

These weren’t just offensive-type spiritual artefacts, they were defensive in nature as well. For them to be damaged to such an extent showcased the power of not just the sabre Long Di wielded, but the power of his sabre intent as well.

Not only that, even though the nick appeared light, the mark more than likely interrupted the flow of spiritual energy circulating through the spiritual artefact. This can result in its defensive and attack power sharply dropping.

“Damn it!” he cursed.

He couldn’t block or attack at this rate. Basically, he couldn’t allow Long Di’s sabre to touch him anymore. The risk it carried was far too great!

His mind was moving at light speed, trying to figure out a way to resolve this, without using the Imperial Divine Edict.

He could end all this in an instant with its power, but if he did end up using it, then it would highlight his uselessness in dealing with a human that was, for all intents and purposes, weaker than himself. He needed to make a good impression on his first time as leader of the team.

As a result, using the Imperial Divine Edict was counter-productive for his goal this time around.

“Let’s make a bet!” he soon stated out of nowhere.

Long Di still had his sabre at the ready to receive or inflict a strike, but still asked, “What sort of bet?”

“What if we engage in hand-to-hand combat? We fight with our fists, no weapons. You seem fairly confident in your skills after all,” Yaomu Qiang proposed.

Long Di slightly lowered his sabre as he stared at Yaomu Qiang suspiciously. “Prize and consequence for win and loss respectively, state them.”

Yaomu Qiang smiled, “if you win, I will release your friends and I will no longer use them as bargaining chips in any way. In addition, I will no longer fight you OR allow my companions to stop you. However, if I win, you will give yourself up willingly.”

Long Di thought about the pros and cons of this for a moment. The deal sounded legit, but Long Di didn’t believe Yaomu Qiang was just giving him an olive branch like this.

Soon an idea came to him and Long Di almost felt the urge to laugh… not like it would have worked but the urge was almost there.

“Sure.”

Long Di agreed. He had confidence in his fighting style and would secure a win to get his friends out of danger.

“Great!” Yaomu Qiang flashed a malicious grin, thinking he had trapped Long Di.

Long Di was about to place his sabre in his storage ring when a disciple from behind Yaomu Qiang spoke up.

“Stop! It’s not fair that you have such a powerful spiritual artefact that you can call on at any time.”

Long Di shot the disciple who spoke, a lazy glance, “And what do you plan to do about it?”

“You can either give up your weapon temporarily or you can swear on your dao to not use it!” the disciple said with a devilish grin.

Yaomu Qiang smiled when he heard this. This colleague of his was quite clever.

“Despicable!”

“Shameless!”

“This is the junior adjudicator committee royal family of the demon race!?”

The experts present cursed the actions of the junior adjudication committee for their actions.

Yaomu Qiang frowned when heard this, “Shut up! If you have the power why don’t you take his place with your weapons in hand!?”

Instantly, they all went silent. The ones who spoke earlier were from the regular powers and as a result, they didn’t have the power to stand up to anyone from the royal family of demons.

Even if it was the junior adjudication committee, these powers weren’t qualified to offend such a power.

Nevertheless, they still cursed the junior adjudication committee inwardly. To ask Long Di to do such a thing highlighted their fear of him even in a hand-to-hand fight.

Even though what they said on the surface seemed fair, this was a psychological tactic.

It was no secret that Long Di’s sabre was extremely powerful. But, since he had agreed to the hand-to-hand combat, an expert like him would no doubt keep his word and keep his sabre sheathed.

Yet the junior adjudication committee still imposed this rule on Long Di knowing full well he would never give up his sabre. Comprehending sabre intent meant that the sabre was incomparably precious to him.

Even though he had seemingly dropped it carelessly earlier, the fact that he was able to summon it at will the way he did meant that his senses never left it.

So since he would never give it up meant that he would have to choose to swear on his dao path instead. However, for an expert of Long Di’s calibre to impose a dao oath on himself would create a level of pressure that would no doubt impact his fighting style.

If this wasn’t underhanded and malicious then what was!?

“No.” Long Di said with zero emotion.

“N-No?” the expert that spoke earlier was taken aback.

“No,” he shook his head.

“No?” the experts present said to themselves in unison.

“No?” said peak experts like Jixie Wudongyuzhong, Er Jinshu, and others at the same time.

Long Di looked at all of them and said, “No.”