Chapter 703: Chapter 703: Pay In Installments

As the head of Cloud Hall, Letitia already had possession of absolute control over it right after she reached the later stage of the Virtual Tribulation Realm.

But being “head of the hall” was just a nominal title and really didn't mean much. Before being the true leader of Cloud Hall, she had to convince the elders, stewards, and disciples under it with her own strength.

Only Imogen was able to rank higher than her in terms of power.

Several noble clans had planned things well. They took advantage of the time when Letitia was undergoing her tribulations to make a move, which was nothing short of genius.

Because Letitia had chosen to undergo the tribulations at this time, the noble clans had mocked her endlessly as they were plotting against her. As she was still a young lady, although she was gifted with immense power, she wasn't able to figure out what the clans were thinking.

Unfortunately for them, Lady Luck was not on their side. Zen was able to show up right on time to save Cloud Hall and Letitia herself.

Now that Letitia had reached the Life and Death Realm, it would be hard for anyone, regardless of where they might come from, to rebel.

And because of this, the clan masters had mixed feelings. All of them were shocked by Letitia's sudden rise to power.

Letitia leaned forward slightly and started to descend. Her long feathers flapped behind her, and she looked like an icy phoenix coming down from the sky.

Behind her, Zen, Morphens, and the Virtual Tribulation Realm elders all left Cloud Hall one by one and flew towards the place where the warriors from different noble clans were floating in the air.

After some time, Letitia suddenly froze in mid-air. She stared coldly at the clan masters and said, her tone dangerous, “Emanuel has been executed. He's already dead. Now, I wonder how every one of you will explain the rebellion that you tried staging against me. Do not tell me you had no hand in it.”

Cloud Hall floated above Cloudy City, protecting the steady progress of the noble clans. They used to complement each other, but now, they had become mortal enemies.

The clan masters stared at Letitia in a daze, speechless.

They had families to support, and many important things were involved and sacrificed in the name of their rebellion. If they were not absolutely sure about victory, they would not have tried to challenge Letitia. But after hearing what Letitia just said, they all had realized that the confidence they had felt towards their plan was just a joke.

“I know, the fact that I'm the head of Cloud Hall has always been a thorn in your tiny, tiny hearts,” Letitia said. “But I want to say that Cloud Hall does not belong to any of you. It's an independent sect - a fifth-grade sect in Cloudy City!”

Somehow, in the eyes of these clans, Cloud Hall belonged to them. Indeed, in the early days of the Cloud Hall, they had contributed a lot to its development.

However, they had forgotten that they were not the only clans admitted in Cloud Hall, as there were a lot of martial artists from other regions. If a sect wanted to flourish, it would not rely on just a few clans, but thousands upon millions of martial artists and countless elites and geniuses.

The clan masters were dejected. They didn't even have a chance to escape. All they could do was to resign themselves unto Letitia's orders. As their lives and everything important to them had settled down and had taken deep root in Cloudy City, they wouldn't be able to leave that easily.

Moreover, the times had proven to be very chaotic. If they stayed, they would be able to survive under the protection of the Cloud Hall. But if they decided to leave, they would not even have a place that would shelter them from the many lurking dangers.

With these running in their minds, the rebellious warriors started bowing their heads one by one. The master of the Shen Clan said through his sobs, “Master Ning, ask whatever you want me to do for you, and I wouldn't say no.” 𝘳Ａ₦ȱ₿Εs

With that, Letitia couldn't help but snort, “Well then, your four clans will be eliminated from Cloud Hall and your families will be exterminated!”

As soon as Letitia said this, the warriors from the four clans started bawling their eyes out.

The immediate protests were not only limited to the rebelling warriors. The expressions on the faces of Morphens, Zen, and all the Virtual Tribulation Realm martial artists also changed. They never thought that Letitia would be this ruthless.

The master of the Shen Clan knew that he would face severe punishment from Letitia. Rebellion was unforgivable in any sect. However, he thought that since their four clans were the pillars of Cloud Hall after all, she would be lenient towards him and them. Besides, there were countless connections between them and Cloud Hall - many warriors from their clans were in Cloud Hall as disciples, stewards and elders.

Even among the elders standing behind Letitia, some were from the four clans, such as Fernandez. Although Fernandez was a member of the Fei Clan, he was opposed to the rebellion. In the end, he chose a neutral position and did not want to partake in whatever they were planning.

Even if Letitia wanted to punish the rebels, she couldn't really exterminate the four clans, because it would involve too many people.

However, they had never thought that Letitia would order something so extreme - like their extermination - so directly, so they were greatly shocked.

Looking at the stunned expressions of the clan masters, Letitia sneered, “So you're afraid now?”

The master of the Wu Clan started to speak, “Master Ning... We just...”

He, however, didn't have the chance to finish whatever he wanted to say as Letitia had already interrupted him. “Shut up. When you were planning to rebel, of course you wanted to kill me, exterminate me. Why can't I take your lives today? Oh, I see. You think that I am just a woman who you men think can easily be bullied into submission?”

Letitia's words hit the nail on the head. They really thought she was just a little girl, and they could bully her into doing whatever they wanted.

It was only now that they understood that Letitia was as good as any previous heads of the Cloud Hall.

“Master Ning, now that the Heavenly Evil Sect is closing in on us, and we are in badly need of talented people. Isn't this too…” Morphens intervened, standing up. He was pleading for mercy in behalf of the four clans.

To be fair, if the four clans were to be eliminated, many people would be involved. If Letitia really pushed through with it, the chaos that would engulf the entire Cloud Hall would be unimaginable. Morphens was afraid that Letitia would lose her temper and ignore the bigger picture.

However, Letitia sneered and continued, “Morphens, you are right.” She then turned to the clan masters and said, “Alright then. Today, all your lives are spared. But you have to pay the ransom for the elders who have been captured. 1, 000 supreme life vitality crystals for each.”

Of course, Letitia would not do such a stupid thing like exterminating four clans. She had predicted that someone would come out and stop her, so she just said something incredibly harsh to scare them. Once Morphens pleaded, she would take his words as an exit and take the opportunity to extort important supplies from them.

The combination of such kindness and sternness had a surprisingly good effect.

It had to be said that even Zen and Morphens had begun to admire Letitia, as well as Imogen for her incredible judgement. Letitia did have the ability to rule Cloud Hall after all, and it wasn't only due to her sheer power.

Upon hearing Letitia's words, the clan masters let out a sigh of relief. However, when they heard that 1, 000 supreme life vitality crystals were needed to redeem an elder, their faces immediately showed bitterness.

A supreme life vitality crystal was the largest currency in the Central Region. Even the clan masters only used medium-grade and top-grade life vitality crystals. A supreme life vitality crystal was equal to a million low-grade life vitality crystals. That meant that a thousand supreme life vitality crystals were equal to one billion low-grade life vitality crystals!

In order to draw up their sect-protecting array, Cloud Hall had spent several thousand supreme life vitality crystals, which were almost half of their wealth as they had only had about 10, 000 supreme life vitality crystals.

But the four clans were different from Cloud Hall; they all had their own businesses. Under the protection of the Cloud Hall, every year, they would earn a great deal of money. If one person was worth a thousand supreme life vitality crystals, then over twenty Virtual Tribulation Realm warriors would cost more than 20, 000 supreme life vitality crystals.

Unfortunately, even if the four clans used up their wealth, it would still be very difficult for them to gather enough crystals.

“Master Ning, that would be too expensive! Our Wu Clan probably wouldn't be able to gather enough crystals,” the master of the Wu Clan said with a bitter expression on his face.

Letitia sneered, “Well, I'm sorry about that. But if there's a will, there's a way. Think of how you can afford that, because if you fail to give me that,” Letitia paused and looked directly at the master of the Wu Clan, “I will kill all of you!”

The clan masters exchanged looks. They didn't know what to say. Letitia's move seemed kind, but in fact, she just took this opportunity to collect all the savings that the four clans had accumulated over the years.

Money was important for warriors. If they didn't have it, it would be hard for them to survive.

Seeing the expressions on the clan masters' faces, Zen floated in front of Letitia, smiling. He then said to them, “If you don't have enough money, I have a way to help you.”

“What's it?” The master of the Wu Clan asked as he stared at Zen.

Zen said with a chuckle, “You can pay in installments.”