A terrifying pressure flickered once more throughout the pavilion before vanishing instantly.

Darius was worried that if he pushed any further, Luke’s heart might genuinely fail under the pressure. Going this far was acceptable, but killing Luke was a completely different matter altogether. If the son of one of the four generals died inside his pavilion, then General Shield himself would likely appear at his doorstep the very next day.

Another thing was that Darius simply wasn’t comfortable killing someone unless they were truly evil. Being an arrogant playboy did not deserve a death sentence. If the system panel had shown genuine evil deeds earlier, then Darius might have truly considered ending him without hesitation.

After a brief silence, Darius calmly continued,

"He can kneel beside you as well."

Silence filled the pavilion.

Absolute silence.

Any’s lips slightly parted beneath her veil while her beautiful eyes trembled endlessly.

Shen’s heartbeat quickened violently.

As for Moon...

At this moment, he completely understood why Elder Albreto had specifically warned him not to provoke Darius no matter what happened.

This person...

Was a complete monster hiding behind the appearance of a harmless young man.

Or at least that was what Moon believed. The pavilion’s suppression power felt strange and impossible to accurately judge. If spiritual energy could be clearly examined, Moon would have realized long ago that Darius’s strength itself did not exceed the Third Realm.

In fact, Moon still suspected that Darius had terrifying backing behind him. Otherwise, how could someone so young possess such bizarre means?

Luke’s mind had already gone blank from fear and pain.

The arrogance from earlier had vanished completely.

At this moment, he no longer cared about reputation, dignity, or face.

He simply wanted the terrifying pressure crushing his body to disappear.

"I...I was wrong..." Luke painfully forced the words out while trembling violently. "Pavilion Master...please stop..."

Darius quietly stared at him for a few moments before lightly flicking his sleeve once more.

Buzz!

The terrifying pressure instantly vanished.

Luke collapsed onto the floor like a dead dog, gasping for air endlessly as though he had just escaped death itself.

His entire body was drenched in sweat.

Darius indifferently glanced at him.

"You are blacklisted from the Immortal Pavilion for one year."

"If you dare step inside again before that period ends..." Darius calmly added, "The consequences will not end with shattered knees."

Luke’s body trembled once again hearing those words.

At this point, he no longer dared say another word.

Any hurriedly stepped forward and supported him up. No matter how disgusted she felt toward him right now, she still couldn’t bring herself to leave him behind in such a miserable state.

Shen, on the other hand, remained silent from beginning to end.

Even he felt lingering fear toward Darius after witnessing such methods.

Meanwhile, Darius calmly returned toward the receptionist’s desk as though nothing had happened.

Only after sitting down did his eyes slightly flicker.

’System, was how I handled this situation acceptable?’

The eerie voice of the system quickly sounded in his mind.

"Host handled the matter appropriately."

"This is not some ordinary restaurant or mundane business with no real consequences. If the host wishes to run the Pavilion properly, powerful individuals from across continents and realms will eventually gather here seeking membership."

"If Host merely threw him out without consequences, the Pavilion would slowly lose authority. Future evaluations and rewards may also be affected depending on the Host’s actions."

Light flickered in Darius’s eyes hearing those words.

He didn’t know whether the system was simply satisfied with today’s outcome or whether this had always been part of the rules, but one thing became very clear to him.

His actions were constantly being evaluated.

And those evaluations could directly affect future rewards.

’As expected...’ Darius inwardly sighed. ’Running a pavilion is completely different from running something like a restaurant. Strength speaks louder than anything here.’

Looking toward the cultivation room behind him, Darius understood one thing very clearly.

People would eventually kill to seize such treasures.

And this was only the beginning.

In truth, these inward thoughts were mostly Darius reassuring himself.

No matter how quickly he adapted, four days ago he had merely been an ordinary person from Earth who only witnessed such brutal scenes in movies and novels.

Getting accustomed to blood and broken bones would still take time.

Still...

Darius felt slightly relieved knowing that his actions today were not wrong.

At the very least, his pavilion had finally shown its fangs.

The atmosphere inside the pavilion remained strangely quiet even after Luke was dragged away by Any.

Only the faint sound of his painful breathing could still be heard from outside before gradually disappearing into the distance.

Moon silently stared toward the entrance for several moments before finally looking away.

For some reason, he suddenly pitied that young master slightly.

Provoking such a monster inside his own territory...

Luke was fortunate to still be alive.

However, Moon was now more curious about something else.

How exactly would Darius deal with the consequences?

While Darius possessed terrifying methods, Moon still wasn’t certain whether he could truly stand against General Shield himself.

After a moment, Moon shook his head inwardly.

’I doubt the general would personally seek revenge.’

At most, he would likely treat this incident as a lesson for his son. If Luke’s cultivation had been crippled, things might have escalated further, but shattered knees could easily be healed with elixirs and several days of recovery.

At the receptionist’s desk, Darius calmly organized the papers before finally looking toward Shen.

"The mission details have already been recorded under your name," Darius casually said. "The target usually moves around at night under the guise of his job, so after sunset would be the best time to act."

Shen immediately nodded seriously.

"I understand."

Truthfully, after witnessing everything earlier, Shen no longer dared show even the slightest casualness toward Darius.

His earlier thoughts about merely joining a mysterious pavilion had completely disappeared.

This place...

Was far more terrifying than he had initially imagined.

And strangely enough, instead of fear alone, Shen also felt excitement.

For the first time in years...

He truly felt that joining the Immortal Pavilion might become the greatest opportunity of his life.