C14 Chai Le

The elderly Village Chief from Northern Mountain Village was visibly shaken, leaning on Wu Mei for support as his body trembled slightly. Wu Mei's face was a mask of frosty anger.

Taking a couple of unsteady steps forward, the Old Village Chief addressed the haughty young man with a quivering voice, "Immortal Master, our village has a mere population of under a hundred. Twenty percent are children, and forty percent are the elderly, the infirm, and women. Less than thirty of our young and strong venture into the mountains to hunt. We subsist on a few dozen acres of farmland and make ends meet by selling animal hides. The beast bones we've obtained were bartered from the Immortal Sect miles away. After covering our village expenses, this is all we have left."

The Village Chief spoke the stark truth. The villagers scrimped and saved every month, surrendering their modest cash and even their food to the Green Mountain Sect. This was the last of their assets. Yet the Sect still deemed it insufficient. What were they to do?

"Old man, you dare to argue?" the young man barked, his eyes flashing with anger. A formidable aura erupted from him, whipping up a fierce wind that nearly blew the frail Village Chief off his feet.

Had it not been for Wu Mei's steadying hand, the Old Village Chief might have met his end right then and there.

It was then that Chen Feng's gaze fell upon Wu Mei. She had donned a veil, obscuring her alluring features, leaving only a vague impression of her beauty beneath the sheer fabric. This only served to enhance her enigmatic allure.

The disciple from the Green Mountain Sect sneered at the Old Village Chief, "Old man, our Sect has long protected the villages within a hundred miles from Demonic Beast attacks, at great cost to ourselves. Your Northern Mountain Village, situated near the Flaming Beast Plains, has seen us suffer significant losses. Is it so wrong for us to ask for a modest protection fee?"

"Yes, the Immortal Master speaks the truth," the Village Chief conceded, nearly buckling under the young man's intimidating presence. He struggled to respond as the villagers behind him simmered with indignation, barely restraining themselves from surging forward.

Perhaps they were intimidated by the young man's strength, leaving them to simmer in silent rage, unable to voice their discontent.

The four individuals behind the young man watched the villagers with sneers etched across their faces, oozing mockery.

"Since you acknowledge the truth of my words, why not hand over additional money and provisions?" the young man demanded, his eyes glaring fiercely. The Village Chief recoiled, his entire frame quivering as he replied, "Immortal Master, I assure you, this is the absolute limit of what Northern Mountain Village can provide!"

"You old fool, you truly don't know when to be scared!" The young man's face was now a mask of irritation as he berated the elder.

It seemed that unless they were taught a harsh lesson, they would never speak the truth. The gazes of his companions had turned icy. One Female Cultivator spoke up, "Senior Brother Chai Le, they need to be taught a lesson. Do they really think we can be dismissed so easily?"

Chai Le's eyes narrowed, a glint of frost in his gaze.

Their true motive was to collect protection fees and covertly accumulate wealth, which they could then trade for cultivation resources upon their return to the Sect. They were assigned to Northern Mountain Village this time, expecting to gather a substantial amount of wealth. However, they hadn't anticipated the meager resources the village had to offer, leaving them with no profit to speak of. Dissatisfied, they were determined to extract more from the village before their return to the Sect.