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“You...”

Xiao Jiancheng pressed his hands to his chest as though in a daze in an effort to staunch the flow of blood. To his despair, it continued to seep out between his fingers as he began to tremble more and more violently with anxiety.

Finally, Xiao Jiancheng spat out a word as he glanced at the figure in white who landed soundly beside him, before collapsing with a look of indignation.

Thud!

As he fell, he still bore a look of indignation in his dulled eyes that were staring ferociously ahead.

...

After Xiao Jiancheng collapsed, the only sound in the large courtyard was the sound of the two golden-crowned eagles flapping their wings as they circled in the air.

Zhou Donghuang sat at the stone table, raising his tea that had not yet cooled and taking a sip. Then he looked evenly at the four men from the Chu royal family.

When the four men, who had been shocked at how Xiao Jiancheng had been killed in a single attack, became aware of the youth’s gaze, their expressions changed completely. Looks of fear and panic simultaneously began to show in their eyes.

Although there were four of them, they might not even have been a match for Xiao Jiancheng.

Earlier, their courage had been destroyed by the shock of Xiao Jiancheng’s death, how could they entertain any notion of hostility?

Thud!

The Chu king Xiang Xiong was the first to grit his teeth and kneel down, paying his respects to the youth. “Xiang Xiong was confused and offended Young Master Donghuang, hopefully, hopefully I can make amends to Young Master Donghuang!”

As the king of the Western Ridge of the Chu King, the Chu king Xiang Xiong placed great importance on his dignity, but in these circumstances, and after seeing that even Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor sent by the imperial court of Yunyang had been killed in one attack by the youth before him, his dignity was no longer relevant and was now the last thing on his mind.

Now, he had only one concern, and that was to survive at any cost.

He had not witnessed the youth’s tactic before, although he had heard about it.

His wife Fan Ji’s family had been wiped out by the two golden-crowned eagles at the youth’s command... someone so ruthless that he would wipe out an entire family might well decide to wipe out the Chu royal family in a fit of anger!

Although the Chu royal family had a Great Consummation adept, he had only been recently promoted several years ago and was no match for Xiao Jiancheng. How could he be a match for this youth who had killed Xiao Jiancheng with one strike?

“Young Master Donghuang, show mercy!”

“Young Master Donghuang, show mercy!”

...

The Chu king Xiang Xiong had already fallen to his knees, and as his subordinates, Xue Meng and the other two men followed suit without hesitation. If one looked closely, it could be seen that their bodies were trembling slightly.

The fearsomeness of the youth’s ability was something they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams.

Even the techniques of a Connate stage adept... could not match up?

The three of them were trembling in their hearts.

Of course, they could be sure of one detail, and it was that the youth was not a Connate stage adept.

When a Connate stage adept was in action, the great amount of Connate stage qi would flow to the surface of the adept’s body and be revealed.

Exuding qi was the hallmark of a Connate stage adept.

Moreover, the youth had not exuded any trace of qi when he had struck first, nor when he had demonstrated what they suspected was a first-grade swiftness technique. This proved that he was not a Connate stage adept and was at most a Great Consummation adept.

Zhou Donghuang merely swept a glance over the four men of the Chu royal family as they knelt down, and it was only at the sight of their pale faces and visibly palpitations that he responded.

Zhou Donghuang took out a piece of paper that was crammed with writing, tossing it into the air and sending it floating lightly to land in front of Xiang Xiong. “You have three months to gather all the herbs on it... if you fail, I’ll kill the four of you in three months’ time.”

Xiang Xiong and the others heaved a huge sigh of relief at Zhou Donghuang’s words, and thanked him profusely.

“Farewell, Young Master Donghuang.”

Xiang Xiong did not even see what herbs were written on the paper that Zhou Donghuang had tossed over before putting it away in his pocket like a treasure. He knew that he had to do everything in his power to gather all these herbs.

Xiang Xiong, the Chu king of the Western Ridge of the Chu King, had arrived with confidence and authority but left with dejectedly with clipped wings.

As for the corpses of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor, Xue Meng and the two men self-consciously tidied up the area for the youth before carrying them away, following Xiang Xiong as he departed.

Although the Cloud Condor was a Petty Consummation demon and it had many valuable parts, Zhou Donghuang was unable to make use of it. Therefore, he did not instruct the four men from the Chu royal family to return with the dismembered parts.

Those parts were extremely valuable, but was he short of money at the moment?

Today, he had shown mercy by sparing the lives of these four men, and if he needed money, he only had to ask. Could the Chu royal family refuse him? Would they dare to?

“Young Master, you let them off just like that?” Little Gold could not help asking as he watched the four men from the Chu royal family depart, and Zhou Donghuang having no intention to strike.

He continued without waiting for Zhou Donghuang’s reply, “Today, they will not let Young Master off lightly since you have shown the ability to kill that Petty Consummation flying demon and that Great Consummation adept.”

“I know,” Zhou Donghuang replied casually. “However, if I kill them, what do I gain? Sparing them would be more useful.”

Many of the herbs on the paper that Zhou Donguang had given Xiang Xiong earlier were not herbs that could be purchased even if money was not an issue, and they were so valuable that they were not sold openly.

In the Western Ridge of the Chu King, possibly only the Chu royal family was capable of gathering all these herbs in a short period of time.

Zhou Donghuang needed these herbs for the elixirs and potions that he was preparing to formulate next, for which these were the main ingredients. He could get Fu to purchase the accompanying ingredients from the big medicine shops in the Chu royal city.

In three months, I must attain Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering... then I will make preparations to rush into the Connate stage!

Reaching the Connate stage purely by practicing would require an extremely long time.

However, there were shortcuts that required the aid of some rare and valuable herbs, which would help him attain the Connate stage even faster!

Among the herbs that Zhou Donghuang had ordered the Chu king Xiang Xiong to gather were some valuable herbs that he needed for formulating these mixtures. Moreover, they were the main ingredients and were all essential in the formula.

These herbs... should be available in the Western Ridge of the Chu King.

Zhou Donghuang squinted as he thought about it.

Fu, Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng were also staying in the second guest apartment.

Earlier, although they had not stepped out of their room, they had witnessed everything through the gaps between the unlocked windows.

The Great Consummation adept sent by the imperial court of Yunyang had been killed by their Young Master.

Xiang Xiong, the Chu king who ruled the Western Ridge of the Chu King and someone whom they held in high esteem, had knelt before their young master and begged for mercy.

This had all left them in a daze and feeling as though they were in a dream.

Only when they realized that they were not actually dreaming did they turn around and resume practicing even more fervently.

The youth’s power put a great deal of pressure on them.

Now, to be even more of a burden beside the youth was something they could not accept.

...

“Your Majesty, why do I feel... that the youth had specially prepared the paper that he gave you?” the second elder of the Chu royal family Xiang Donghua asked the Chu king Xiang Xiong with a bitter smile after they left Chuxiu Inn.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Xiang Xiong shook his head. Although he was the head of the Chu royal family and supreme in the Western Ridge of the Chu King, his position was not even noteworthy among great exponents of the martial way.

And that youth was obviously someone of that sort whom he could not afford to provoke.

“He has obviously weighed the benefits of not killing us and feels that keeping us alive will benefit him,” Xiang Xiong continued.

Just as Xiang Xiong and Xiang Donghua had thought, Zhou Donghuang had long ago guessed that they would show up along with someone from the imperial court of Yunyang... killing the person from the imperial court was Zhou Donghuang’s way of giving a warning by making an example of him.

When the four men left Chuxiu Inn, they did not bring the bodies of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor with them, but instead left the bodies behind at Chuxiu Inn for safekeeping. Taking the bodies away in broad daylight would attract unwanted attention.

Even so, those observers in the air on their flying demons had already spotted some clues.

“The Chu king and the others are already leaving?”

“What about that Commander Xiao from the imperial court? And that Cloud Condor? Why does it seem that we never saw them again after they swooped down?”

“That Commander Xiao cannot be inside their drinking tea with that youth, can he?”

...

The observers on the backs of their flying demons in the air surrounding Chuxiu Inn were all perplexed and could not figure out what had happened.

But the three people on the two flying demons in the air just outside Chuxiu Inn had expressions of such shock that it was difficult to describe.

“That Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor... were defeated by that youth?”

“My god! What kind of person is that youth?”

“Although he looks to be seventeen or eighteen years old at most, he already has such power?”

Lu Yuanshan of the Lu family, Ouyang Ye and Ouyang Qiuping of the Ouyang family were all shocked by the scene they had just witnessed, and it took them a long while to regain their wits.

Earlier, they had witnessed with their very own eyes: On March 31, 1229 of the Ziyun Era, the youth called Zhou Donghuang killed the fourth elder of the imperial court of Yunyang, the commander of the imperial guard, a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, Xiao Jiancheng, and also killed the Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor that was raised by the imperial court.

When this news spread from the tycoon Ouyang and Lu families to the Chu royal city, it created an uproar.

“That youth... is really that fearsome?”

“Even that Xiao Jiancheng has been killed by him... can the imperial court of Yunyang do anything about him?”

“What kind of god is he? He has the power to stand against an entire country at such a young age!”

...