Chapter 1172: I am Ding Lingdang!

　　Dozens of streaks of colorful brilliance, like dozens of burning mice, fled in a hurry from Ding Lingdang’s fingers and returned to Lu Zui’s head after crashing in midair for a while. It took a long time before they were condensed again, but their aura was significantly weaker than before. Their light was dim, and they gave the feeling that they were scared.

　　The spiritual seed was the crystallization of a Cultivator’s thoughts, will, and belief. It did not carry a real entity. Ding Lingdang’s attack was not based on spiritual energy, either. Naturally, the spiritual seed was not obliterated but simply broken apart and stripped of all its charm.

　　Ding Lingdang demonstrated her attitude in such a way.

　　Her eyes were brighter and brighter. Her aura was more and more magnificent, which seemed to be condensing into a real entity. A tyrannosaur was slowly materializing behind her. Although she was merely at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, she was no longer hesitating and backing off in the confrontation with a Cultivator in the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage!

　　The moment she crushed Lu Zui’s spiritual seed, Ding Lingdang also crashed into a brand-new world that she had not seen before!

　　Lu Zui was shaking in fury. He bellowed, “Fellow Cultivator Ding, you turned me down? You’ve turned me down? Don’t you understand how many benefits the spiritual seed of a high-level Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator can bring you?”

　　“I do. However, I don’t care about them!” Ding Lingdang snorted. “Is there anything else you want to say? If not, I’m leaving now. You can give your precious spiritual seed to whoever you want.”

　　Without any hesitation, she walked to the door of the room in only two steps.

　　“Wait!” Lu Zui was greatly shocked. He hurried to call her, “Fellow Cultivator Ding, my proposal will do us both good. It is a great safety measure for the future of the federation, too. Why do you not accept it?”

　　Ding Lingdang was about to open the door when she heard those words. She turned around and gazed at Lu Zui for a long time with her eyes that looked like two swirls of magma. In the end, she opened her mouth. “I admit that some of your words did make sense and moved me, which enlightened me to consider the hatred issue from a new perspective. There was a moment when I almost decided to accept your spiritual seed.

　　“However, there are two things that I don’t like. At all.”

　　She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at Lu Zui. “Firstly, I don’t like the feeling of being someone else’s chess piece, much less the chess piece of such a shameless, sordid, inhumane old b*stard like you!

　　“What were you thinking? Do you think that if you pretend that you’ve changed today, everybody will forget the tens of thousands of innocent souls who were killed in your scheme, and you can simply walk on like a good guy?

　　“Damn you!

　　“In any case, I will not associate with scumbags like you, and I will not be your successor or your chess piece!

　　“However, compared to the whole being chosen by you to be your chess pieces thing, the second thing pisses me off even more.

　　“As it turns out, you selected me as your chess piece not because I, Ding Lingdang, am suitable, full of potential, or incredible, but only because I am likely to be Li Yao’s wife?

　　“So, you are indicating that if Li Yao’s wife is not me but some other girl, then I would not even be qualified to be a chess piece and to get my hands on the hatred sword.”

　　Lu Zui was dumbfounded. He seemed to be caught unprepared by what troubled Ding Lingdang. After a long daze, he replied drily, “Fellow Cultivator Ding—”

　　“Cut the cr*p. I will not be the leader of your Patriots Partnership, and I will not be the successor of a scumbag like you. Just forget it!” Ding Lingdang declared, one word after another. Then, with a confident smile, she suddenly changed the topic. “However, the Sword Grabber is indeed an interesting theory. I’ll definitely think about it.”

　　Lu Zui was dazed again. “What do you mean?”

　　“Patriot is a good word, but the word has been ruined by the likes of you! How many blatant and horrific crimes has the Patriots Partnership that you founded committed? I feel like throwing up when I smell its stink! So, there is no way that I will inherit your bullsh*t organization!”

　　Ding Lingdang opened her hands and groped carefully in the air, as if there was really an invisible, invincible longsword in her hands. “Even if I am to be the Sword Grabber, I will not be picking up your wretched sword, which has been stained with blood! I will unite everybody who shares the same belief as mine with my hands and forge a hatred sword of our own. We will establish a real association of patriots! Let me see. I’ll just call it ‘Patriots Front’!

　　“You the scumbags have sullied the lovely name ‘patriot’, but we will make all the citizens of the federation remember what ‘patriot’ really means!

　　“You asked me hundreds of questions just now. This is my answer.

　　“Yes, I will be the Sword Grabber, and I will establish the Patriots Front. If needed, I will compete with Jin Xinyue, but I will not be doing it as Lu Zui’s successor or Li Yao’s wife! I am just myself. I am Ding Lingdang. I have my own path, and I will wield the hatred sword in my own way!”

　　Both Lu Zui and the Cultivators next door, including Guo Chunfeng, were dumbfounded by her words. They were even more astonished than when they saw Ding Lingdang crushing the spiritual seed a moment ago.

　　After almost half a minute of silence, Lu Zui stammered, “Then… what about the members of the Patriots Partnership who will not be sentenced to death?”

　　“After they are punished by law and have paid for their wrongdoing, if they are willing to join the brand new ‘Patriots Front’, we will treat them equally and welcome them happily.”

　　Ding Lingdang opened her hands and said, “If they are not willing to, whatever. They can go wherever they want. Do you really think that the planet will stop moving if we don’t have them?”

　　“What about the immense resources under Li Yao’s control?” Lu Zui was so anxious that he was almost mad. “Don’t be so arrogant. The enchantress Jin Xinyue is definitely malicious. If you don’t hold on to Li Yao’s resources, she is definitely going to steal all of them!”

　　“I know that you are up to no good. You are still trying to foment trouble between Li Yao and me at this moment.” Ding Lingdang sneered and casually replied, “I’ll give you the same answer. I don’t care! Li Yao and I are not married yet. All his items are his prenuptial property. He can give them to whoever he wants. Does it have anything to do with me?”

　　Lu Zui was completely overwhelmed. He jumped to his feet with disappointment all over his face. He yanked on the chains so hard that they were clattering.

　　“You—you—you are truly an idiotic woman! Without my heritage, without Li Yao’s resources, what are you? Nothing! You are just a fighter with more brawn than brains! How do you expect to compete with Jin Xinyue? Even her hair is smarter than you! Before you know it, you will be tricked into the hell!”

　　“Hiss—”

　　In the surveillance room next door, everybody gasped.

　　That was not an appropriate way of suicide. Talking to ‘Crimson Queen’ Ding Lingdang like that?

　　If the woman was really pissed off, not just a high-level Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, even the deities in the heavens would have to run away from her quickly!

　　Crack! Crack, crack! Crack, crack, crack, Crack!

　　The poor glass between the rooms, because of Ding Lingdang’s shockingly exploding aura, had yet another hundred cracks. It was barely possible to see what was happening in the other room now.

　　For a moment, Ding Lingdang’s eyes turned deep red, more scorching than magma. She seemed to be holding a ten-thousand-ton ship in each hand.

　　Even if she burst into fury and tore the entire White Silver Fortress to the ground, nobody would be surprised.

　　However, she managed to control her emotions in the end. Taking a long breath, she looked at Lu Zui in disdain. “Save your breath, old fart. Whatever you say, your era has passed. It is our era that is coming next!

　　“We will guard the future of the federation well. You can get lost and do whatever you want now!”

　　Ding Lingdang pushed open the gate of the prison cell and walked out with her head held high.

　　Each step carried her three meters forward, but she kept her arms in front of chest stably, as if an unparalleled longsword was placed in her arms.

　　Just like that, she walked out of the White Silver Fortress one step after another. In the warm sunlight, she walked to the future.

　　She never looked back, not even once.

　　…

　　Five minutes later, in the prison cell, Lu Zui sat cross-legged in a corner wearily. His face was frozen in fury and bafflement, as if he were wearing a tawdry mask. The twisted wrinkles did not relax for a long time.

　　Standing right in front of his former boss and looking at his miserable appearance, Guo Chunfeng had mixed feelings. He sighed. “People say that a woman’s heart is as unpredictable as a needle at the bottom of an ocean. Today, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. She was almost convinced by you in the beginning. You really should’ve kept the few redundant words at the end to yourself.”

　　Lu Zui was frozen for more than one minute before his eyeballs started moving again. He pushed the spiritual seed that was still rotating above his skull to Guo Chunfeng softly. “Ah Feng, here are you.”

　　“What?” Guo Chunfeng was amused. “I admit that I’m quite tempted to swallow your spiritual seed, old boss, but you decided to throw it to me after you failed to offer it to a young girl in her twenties? I have my pride, too!”

　　“You’re wrong!” Lu Zui wiped his face softly. As if a magic trick, all the devastation, desperation, insanity, and fury on his face was gone, replaced by a gloating smile that indicated that his plan had worked out.

　　He was like an old fox that had just stolen a bunch of big, sweet, purple grapes.

　　“Is she gone now?”

　　Lu Zui craned his neck and looked around. After confirming that Ding Lingdang had left, he said to Guo Chunfeng with a smile, “What do you mean by ‘throwing it to you’? This spiritual seed was condensed for you in the first place! Don’t think that I’m fooling you. You will know it after you swallow the spiritual seed. Inside the spiritual seed are the most critical points about the jobs in the Secret Sword Bureau, the Cultivation techniques that will be beneficial for your training, and all the secrets of the Patriots Partnership that I promised. Moreover, there are some reminders for you based on my life experience, in which your names are clearly written. What does the spiritual seed have to do with her?”