The middle-aged man’s sudden appearance, as well as the youth hacking up blood on the ground, made everyone’s expressions change dramatically.
The tides had turned.
The elder standing in the sky was obviously from the Xiao Family, and from his aura, it was clear that he’d long surpassed the earth-supreme level.
“Hah….” Ye Zichen, however, remained seated. He even laughed, then looked up at the man standing in a spatial rift. Next, his gaze landed on Chen Chenghe and the other two.
At this moment, all three of them were as white as paper.
Xiao Hu! His nickname was “the Lightning Tiger.”
He was one of the three elders of the Xiao Family’s punishment division and Xiao Zhan’s master. More importantly, he was a diviner, and a transcendent expert.
Long ago, the Divine, Yao, and Demon Realms didn’t coexist as harmoniously as they did now. Even then, Xiao Zhan was already famous. He’d risen to prominence during one of the Xiao Family’s battles against the yao, in which he single-handedly defeated a million enemy elites. Even more impressively, he slew three Earth Rakshasa Yao Divine Generals and heavily injured several others.
Countless years had passed since then, so know one knew if he’d taken that final step to become a ruler or not.
“So, you’re the true boss of Upheaval?” Xiao Hu’s gaze was cold, and as he spoke, thunder crackled through the heavens. “You dare consort with yao. You’re truly an irredeemable villain!”
His thunderous roar reverberated through the crowds. Instantly, Jiao Qi, Meng Huairong, and the other yao of the Yao-Sealing Pagodas’ faces twisted in agony.
Ye Zichen and the other humans felt nothing out of the ordinary. It was clear that Xiao Hu’s attack had only targeted the yao.
“Return to the Yao-Sealing Pagoda.” This was an expert who was at least a diviner; his earth supreme subordinates couldn’t possibly resist him anyway. Ye Zichen sent them a transmission, and Jiao Qi and the others immediately disappeared right before everyone’s eyes.
Everyone noted their appearance with astonishment. At that moment, Ye Zichen spoke. “Senior, would you mind telling me why you’re here?”
Xiao Hu deeply furrowed his brows. He’d obviously locked onto Jiao QI and the others, yet they really had disappeared right in front of his nose. When they vanished, he spread his divine awareness throughout the lower lands, yet he saw no trace of them.
It should have been impossible for mere earth supremes to elude his notice.
However, he naturally wouldn’t ask directly about it. He was an esteemed half-step ruler, an absolute expert. If he admitted that a few trivial earth supremes had escaped right beneath his nose and the word got out, he’d lose a lot of face.
“You’re asking me…..? I ought to be asking you: why have you sealed my disciple’s divine core? Moreover, why have you tied them up like that?”
“They destroyed my city in an attempt to destroy my gang. I tied them up to kill them as an offering to the departed residents of my city.”
“They’re members of the Xiao Family! One of them is my apprentice!” said Xiao Hu darkly.
“So what?” Ye Zichen pursed his lips, chuckled, then grabbed Xiao Zhan by the hair and yanked his head up. “So, if I beat a little one, their elders will come rushing to their aid. Your LIghtning Emperor’s Xiao Family sure lives up to its reputation.”
A playful smile surfaced on Ye Zichen’s lips. When Chen Chenghe and the others heard that he dared slander the Xiao Family like that, all of them were visibly astonished.
Xiao Hu was at least a diviner, and maybe even a ruler! If he wanted to kill Ye Zichen, a single glance would be enough. Where on earth did Ye Zichen get the courage to mock him openly like that?
“You’re seeing death!” Xiao Hu’s expression darkened even further, and he fired a pair of massive illusory hands right towards Ye Zichen.
The massive hands blotted out the sun, and as they filled the air, everyone below sensed death on the horizon.
Ye ZIchen had already prepared to open the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. He didn’t care if those people from the Divine Mountain lived or died, but he had to save his gang members.
However, as Xiao Hu’s giant hand seals drew, another set of fair and slender hairs slapped them to pieces.
Xiao Hu immediately looked over in astonishment and saw a woman standing beneath the Northern Divine Mountain. She was middle-aged with peach-colored eyes, and wore a long azure dress.
“Zhao Qianhe, what do you mean by this!?” Xiao Hu roared her name, his brows furrowed into knots.
The woman smiled warmly, rubbed her earlobes, and spoke, “Lightning Tiger, this is the Northern Divine Mountain. Do you think this is your Central Divine Mountain? How dare you cause such destruction here?”
“Don’t you see my family members tied up there?”
Zhao Qianhe maintained that same warm smile. Her left hand carried an azure umbrella. She looked off into the distance, where Xiao Hu was pointing, and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t see them.”
Xiao Hu’s eyes glinted. It was clear that she was here to make trouble for him. “What exactly are you here for?”
“Is that any of your business? This is our Northern Divine Mountain’s territory; I can go wherever I want. Who are you to stop me?” Zhao QIanhe said disdainfully, “That said, if you keep acting wildly here, I don’t mind teaching you manners on the Lightning Emperor’s behalf!”
Her unyielding response startled Xiao Hu. His face stiffened. Although Zhao Qianhe looked delicate, she was one of the highest authorities of the Sea of Innocence.
Moreover, she was a third-stage ruler. Even Xiao Hu had no choice but to fear her.
When they heard how this new arrival spoke to Xiao Hu, the people below erupted into uproar. In the Divine Mountains, there were likely less than a hundred people who’d dare speak to him in such a way.
They waited for the old lightning tiger’s response, but when it came, it shattered their expectations.
“Then if I don’t intervene, you won’t either?”
He backed down.
The Lightning Tiger, an elder of the Lightning Emperor’s Xiao Family’s punishment decision, and a famed expert renowned for his bravery in combat, backed down.
“That depends on my mood,” she said.
“Boss, who is that?” Wei Jie couldn’t help but ask. Ye Zichen had seemed confident even after Xiao Hu arrived. The way Wei Jie saw it, this woman hat to be the source of his confidence and their true backer.
Since she was a super-expert capable of intimidating even the Lightning Tiger, Wei Jie couldn’t help but be curious about her identity.
“I’m not sure.” Ye Zichen shrugged. He had the confidence to face Xiao Hu, not because of a backer, but because of Yao-Sealing Pagoda. Even if Xiao Hu wanted to kill them, he could just pull everyone into the pagoda. He truly had no idea who this woman was.
“If it’s not convenient to say, forget it. Wei Jie shrugged. In his heart, he was already certain that this was Boss Ye’s hidden backer. It’s just that Ye Zichen wasn’t in a position to talk about her is all. However, knowing that Upheaval had such a powerful figure supporting them filled Wei Jie with confidence.
Ye Zichen couldn’t be bothered to explain all that to Wei Jie. He glanced at Zhao Qianhe, only to hear Xiao Hu say, “Brat, if you know what’s good for you, release my apprentice.”
“Why should I? I already said I wanted to kill him to avenge the citizens of Raging Flame City!”
When faced with a major power like Zhao Qianhe, he had no choice but to swallow his fury, but now even a small fry like Ye Zichen dared provoke him? Xiao Hu’s temper was already on the verge of explosion!
“Alright, then do it now, right in front of me. Let’s see if you dare kill them!”
“No problem.” With practically now hesitation, Ye Zichen summoned a longsword. There was a flash of light, and Xiao Zhan’s severed head thudded to the ground.
Blood spurted from his headless neck, reaching a full half meter into the air. Even after his head fell into the dirt, his eyes were wide with confusion.
It was as if, in the moments before he died, he thought to himself, “My master came for me, so why am I going to die anyway?”
The onlookers froze up. Their seas of consciousness were completely blank as they watched blood spurt from Xiao Zhan’s neck, and his head fall to the ground.
Ye Zichen really killed him!
