Nebula Prefecture, Parchprime Palace.
Inside a great hall.
An old man was chiding a young man. “You dumb*ss, do you have any idea what the hell you’ve done?!”
“How dare you capture someone from the Black Heaven Sect? Do you not want to live anymore?!”
“Do you really want our Parchprime Palace to end up like Ethereal Rapture, Acheron Manor, and the rest? Have Chu Kuangren head over here and give us a slam too?!”
The old man was so infuriated that his breathing accelerated.
He was extremely angry.
He looked at the grim look on the young man’s face and became even more incensed that he kicked the latter to the ground.
“Your father should never have made a child like you.”
“Father, just relax for a minute. I’m sure Xuan’er didn’t mean it. Who knew so many things would have happened in this short span of two months?”
A middle-aged man walked up to them and said.
Another woman walked up and helped the young man to his feet.
“Exactly. If I knew Chu Kuangren had this much power to unlock the Heavenly Punishment Seal, I would’ve never kidnapped her.”
The young man, Zhang Xuan, explained.
The old man nearly rushed forward to slap him to death when he heard that. “Look at him. This is the precious son that you two have brought up.”
The old man was the Lord of Parchprime Palace.
All this mess started because Parchprime Palace Lord’s grandson, Zhang Xuan, kidnapped a lady two months ago.
This did not really come as a surprise.
Zhang Xuan’s lust for women was a fact widely known amongst Nebula Prefecture. It was not the first time he had captured some young lady back to the palace either.
However, the person that he caught this time around had a special background.
This lady was from the Black Heaven Sect!
If this were to happen two months ago, Parchprime Palace Lord would not care too much about it. After all, the Black Heaven Sect had hidden from the realm two months ago. Everyone thought that with the Heavenly Punishment Seal on him, Chu Kuangren was done for.
What else could he do if they captured one of his disciples?
Yet in these two months, things have evolved way too quickly.
In this period of time, Chu Kuangren had reentered the realm, topped the Soaring Dragon Leaderboard, shocked the entire world with his incredible runic prowess, and also annihilated the Craggy Ocean Tower. After he had removed his seal, the strength he showed was like a living Emperor!
He absolutely dominated all his enemies!!
Five great orthodoxies were obliterated by him in one day!
Everyone in this world was shaking with fear.
Everybody was terrified of Chu Kuangren now.
Yet, Parchprime Palace had captured one of his disciples?!
Was there anything much worse than this stupid act?!
“Father, it’s just a disciple. I don’t think it would cause huge problems for us. At most, we can just offer them some monetary compensation.”
The middle-aged man said.
“Are you dumb? Don’t you know what kind of person Chu Kuangren is? Have you guys done your research? A few years ago, when he wasn’t a Sage yet, do you know how many Sages he killed and how many orthodoxies he demolished just for his disciples?!”
“Now that he is a Sage, nobody can match his power. If he finds out that his disciple has been mistreated here, he will surely reign terror upon us.” Parchprime Palace Lord suddenly felt his head hurt.
He flashed Zhang Xuan a vicious stare and sneered at him. “If it’s really necessary, I won’t mind sacrificing you for this.”
Zhang Xuan’s face suddenly turned pale.
“Let me ask you once more, have you done anything to that girl?”
“No, no I haven’t.”
Zhang Xuan hastily shook his head. “This girl is really obstinate. She would threaten to kill herself every time I got close. All I’ve done is imprison her inside the boudoir. Nobody else can go inside except me.”
“As long as you haven’t touched her, we’ll have room for negotiation.”
She had only been trapped here for a few days, so there should not be any problem.
At this moment.
A disciple suddenly walked in.
“Sect Leader Hui, it’s the Daoist. He is back.”
A look of delight etched on Parchprime Palace Lord’s face. “Yiqing is back.”
Liu Yiqing was Parchprime Palace’s Daoist and also the most outstanding sky-pride amongst Parchprime Palace’s younger generation — someone capable of being placed on the Soaring Dragon Leaderboard.
All this time, he was the disciple that Parchprime Palace Lord was most proud of.
“Liu Yiqing… I can’t believe that fella has returned.”
Zhang Xuan revealed a sinister look.
Everybody in Parchprime Palace adored this Daoist. Even his own grandfather, Parchprime Palace Lord, was extremely fond of this person.
On the flip side, besides having the title as the sect leader’s grandson, he had close to no respect from the people of Parchprime Palace.
This made him hate Liu Yiqing a lot.
Hence, he was naturally unhappy about his return.
Liu Yiqing stepped inside the great hall.
“Oh, dear Yiqing, you’re finally back. I’ve failed to reach you this couple of days, I thought something bad has happened to you.” Parchprime Palace Lord smiled and said.
Liu Yiqing looked slightly embarrassed.
Over the last couple of days, he had been imprisoned inside Black Heaven Sect with all his belongings confiscated. This explained why Parchprime Palace Lord could not contact him.
“Sect Leader, I’ve also brought two guests with me this time.”
“Hey, Senior Brother Liu, you truly have a large network. Considering you brought back Yin Li last time, I wonder which impressive character you’ve brought this time,” Zhang Xuan replied with an odd demeanor.
“Be careful of what you say, Junior Brother. These two guests are way above my standards.”
Liu Yiqing said cautiously.
“Is there anyone who’s above the great Liu Yiqing’s standards? Come on, you’re the mighty Daoist of Parchprime Palace. Are you trying to be humble, or are you looking down on Parchprime Palace?” Zhang Xuan responded mockingly.
“That’s enough. Shut your mouth!”
The Parchprime Palace Lord warned Zhang Xuan.
He then turned towards Liu Yiqing and said, “So Yiqing, where are our guests?”
“They’re waiting outside the palace.”
“Great. Bring them in here.”
“Alright.”
Liu Yiqing hurried outside. Those two guests had requested him to notify the palace about their arrival out of courtesy, so he dared not make them wait any longer.
“Pfft, look at how anxious he is. If I didn’t know, I would have thought he brought a Boundary Emperor guest here.”
Zhang Xuan pouted his lips.
“Yiqing does look a bit off upon his return this time.”
The Parchprime Palace Lord had also picked up on how over-cautious Yiqing was. What kind of person did he bring back that deserved so much attention from him?
Even if it were some orthodoxy’s lord, he did not need to behave to this extent.
He stared at Zhang Xuan beside him, looking at how nonchalant he was behaving. When he was reminded of the trouble that stemmed from this useless kid, he scoffed and picked up the teacup from the table. He hoped that sipping on some tea would help soothe his frustrations.
At that moment, Liu Yiqing walked into the great hall with his two guests.
One had black hair and was donned in a white robe, looking extremely peerless and handsome, while the other wore a mask, revealing only a pair of ice-cold eyes.
Clang…
Parchprime Palace Lord’s hand trembled and the teacup shattered on the floor.
“Chu Kuangren!!”
Parchprime Palace Lord gasped in terror.
He was trying to figure out who Liu Yiqing’s guest would be, but he never thought that it would be Chu Kuangren. What the heck was he doing here?!
Could he have discovered about Zhang Xuan kidnapping his disciple?
Chu Kuangren, who had just stepped into the palace, felt rather surprised.
Come on, really?
He knew he currently had quite a reputation.
However, there was no need for such a huge reaction. He was not even here to mass-murder and burn down their whole place, so why was this palace lord so terrified?
This was especially true for Zhang Xuan. Upon hearing Chu Kuangren’s name, he immediately stumbled backward and almost fell from his chair.
Look at how terrified he had made them.
Something was not right.
Chu Kuangren narrowed his eyes.
“I didn’t expect the esteemed guest that Yiqing mentioned to be you, Sect Leader Chu. If I had known earlier, I would’ve gone out myself and welcomed you personally.”
Parchprime Palace Lord quickly maintained his cool and walked up to him with a smile.
“Not at all. I did not give you any prior notice before my visit, so I do apologize for that, Brother.” Chu Kuangren smiled gently.
“Come, please have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
“I wonder if there is anything I can help you with this time.”
“Ah, yes. A disciple of mine went missing in Parchprime Palace’s territory. My purpose here today is to ask for Parchprime Palace’s help, to locate this disciple. Would you be willing to lend me a hand, Brother?”
The moment he finished his sentence, a pin-drop silence befell the entire hall.
