"The sinner knows his sins are grave, how dare he attempt to resist the Heavenly Might of the Alliance Leader? I beg the Alliance Leader to punish me."
"Oh? Then tell me, how should your sins be punished?"
Wan Lei's words made Huo Xuanqi curse inwardly.
If he said his crimes deserved death, and Wan Lei simply followed suit and ordered his execution, what then?
If he said his crimes were not deserving of death, but Wan Lei was displeased, what then?
Wasn't this just presenting him with a dilemma?
His life was hanging by a thread at Wan Lei's whim, so why was he being asked?
"I submit to the Alliance Leader's judgment."
Huo Xuanqi maintained his respectful demeanor.
Wan Lei looked down at the hundreds of thousands of cultivators, who had been fighting fiercely moments before but were now trembling, a colder smile gracing his lips.
"Why have you stopped fighting? I have come today to be your referee.
You are responsible for fighting. I can tell you clearly, here, in this Huo family, only one person can walk out alive, and that is the one who ultimately survives among you.
Not only will he walk out alive, but he will also receive the spoils of everyone else, and obtain an elder seat in my Thunder Emperor Hall, enjoying eternal offerings.
Alright, you may continue."
Upon hearing Wan Lei's words, Fang Xiaoyu glanced at him with astonishment. Wan Lei's insidious cruelty was beyond her imagination.
He would give these people a glimmer of hope, then let them slaughter each other, while he watched from the sidelines, enjoying the spectacle of his enemies killing and maiming each other, thereby satisfying his thirst for revenge.
How had Wan Lei become like this?
Fang Xiaoyu frowned. Had Qi Man Yao's death affected him so deeply?
Huo Xuanqi raised his head and spoke to Wan Lei with a serious expression,
"Alliance Leader Wan, please do not be like this. We are willing to surrender and submit to the Thunder Emperor Hall. We do not seek to preserve the Huo family's lineage, we only wish to eke out an existence and survive."
"If we were to fight to the death, and in the end, Alliance Leader Wan, you did not keep your promise and killed the last survivor, what then?
Not everyone among these people is utterly wicked; there are innocent individuals here too."
"Innocent people? Are there no innocent people in the Yin Yang Sect? Are there no innocent people in the Thunder Emperor Alliance?
Are there no innocent people among the civilians you massacred?
How innocent they were, they simply desired to cultivate and live in peace.
But you did not let them live in peace."
"That was the ancestor's decision. How dare we disobey? Now that the main culprits have been dealt with, I implore Alliance Leader, in your mercy, to spare them and give them a chance to live."
"Spare them a chance to live? Huo Xuanqi, what if I said that if you die alone, they can all live, would you be willing?"
At these words, the entire scene fell silent. Everyone looked at Huo Xuanqi, their eyes filled with anticipation and a hint of urgency.
"Die quickly, you die, and we don't have to.
Why aren't you dead yet? What are you hesitating for? For the lives of so many people, for the hundreds of thousands of cultivators and tens of millions of mortals to survive, why haven't you died yet!"
Huo Xuanqi looked up, staring at Wan Lei in astonishment, his face fluctuating between green and white.
To have him die? To have him trade his life for the lives of others?
How could that be?!
He had done all this precisely to avoid dying. If they all died, he would not die.
"You don't want to die? Very well, then go kill all the others, and you will live. Not only will you live, but I will also take you to the Thunder Emperor Hall and grant you an elder seat.
What are you waiting for? Make your move, kill them all, and you will live."
"Alliance Leader, I implore you, spare us. We are willing to lead your horse and hold your stool, to serve you like dogs and horses, and to help you eliminate the Liu family and the Kai Tian Sword Sect."
Huo Xuanqi was making his final efforts.
He absolutely could not agree to Wan Lei's proposal of everyone fighting until only one survived.
Although he was currently the strongest fighter in the Huo family, he had no chance of surviving until the end.
On the contrary, precisely because he was the strongest, others knew that he had the greatest hope of surviving until the end. But who wanted to die?
Those people would undoubtedly attack him first, eliminating the greatest threat before themselves.
Then the others would fight for a slim chance of survival.
No one was foolish.
Moreover, Wan Lei's focus was directly on Huo Xuanqi. He had also said that if Huo Xuanqi killed everyone else, would the others simply watch him kill them?
Huo Xuanqi was not arrogant enough to believe he could kill tens of millions.
He was not Wan Lei, not a Tribulation Transcending expert. The Huo family still had other Mahayana elders.
"I implore the Alliance Leader to spare our Huo family. We are willing to be vassals of the Thunder Emperor Hall, never to betray you."
Wan Lei ignored Huo Xuanqi and turned his gaze to the crowd below, his voice leisurely,
"Do you know? Since I began cultivating, I have never provoked your Huo family. But your Huo family, time and again, has targeted me.
From Huo Xingyuan gathering over a dozen people to kill me on the Ten Thousand Pride Ranking, to Huo Ling'er pursuing me in the Mu Xian Secret Realm, Huo Liuli, with her Mahayana cultivation, repeatedly tried to kill me, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator. Later, your Tribulation Transcending ancestor, Huo Qingfeng, ambushed me outside the Huo Xian Secret Realm.
I never provoked you. You wanted to kill me, but your strength was inferior to mine, and you were killed by me. You cannot blame anyone. If you intend to kill someone, you must be prepared to be killed.
However, after each pursuit, I only resisted. I never intended to retaliate against your Huo family.
Not once.
Even after I established the Thunder Emperor Hall, I only sent troops to rescue the citizens within the Liu family's territory. I did not attack your Huo family.
I could have overlooked everything you have done to me.
But you should not have, you should not have pursued an innocent girl.
She only wanted to save someone. What wrong did she commit? You sent three Nascent Soul cultivators to pursue her, even chasing her all the way into the Gui Xian Secret Realm without letting up.
Perhaps you still don't understand why I did not bring a large army to your Huo family today. Do you think I came to spare your lives?"
Wan Lei's gaze suddenly turned fierce, and his voice filled with venom,
"No, I have come to personally destroy your Huo family, to personally slaughter all of you, and to avenge her."
At these words, panic erupted below. Huo Xuanqi said with a grim expression,
"Wan Lei, you call yourself a righteous leader protecting your homeland, yet you intend to kill tens of millions of the Huo family. What difference is there between you and the demon race?
With such actions, are you still fit to be the leader of the largest alliance in the Lei Feng Realm?
If you destroy the Huo family today, you will be condemned by a thousand fingers and spat upon by myriad mouths. You should also consider your own reputation."
"What you do to others, can others not do to you?
Now, where are the Wu family? Where are the Zhou family? Where is the Dun family!
You could annihilate their three families, and they can annihilate your entire clan!
Reputation? Do I care?
For her, what if I am condemned by a thousand fingers, what if I am cursed by myriad mouths?
If it could bring her back to life, what if I became a sinner for all eternity!!!"