"What about us?" Xie Manshui demanded in a low voice. "What business is it of yours how my Xie Family does things?"

"It’s not that you’re in our way. I just can’t stand the way your Xie Family operates. Is that not allowed?" Xiao Dongxuan shot back.

"Hah!"

Xie Manshui sneered.

Xiao Duguang and Xiao Dutian didn’t speak, but their auras were no less imposing.

As the standoff continued, Xie Tianyin suddenly spoke from a thousand meters away in midair.

"Which friend is it? Since you’ve arrived, why not show yourself?"

As he spoke, he slowly turned to face the entrance of the Spirit Realm.

’The Xie Family’s King’s Body?’

Gu Zheng had just entered the newly opened Xiao Family Ancestral Land, shrouded by his Invisibility Cloak. Upon hearing those words, he raised a brow, then put away the cloak and revealed himself.

Then, he strode through the air, walking step by step toward the clearing.

"He’s here!"

Seeing the newcomer, Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others quickly turned their heads to look.

Xiao Dutian, Xiao Duguang, and the other members of the Xiao family also stared with wide eyes.

Suddenly, Xiao Dutian’s eyes widened even further, his face a mask of astonishment.

"It’s Gu..."

"Greetings, Gu King!"

Xiao Dongxuan was the first to step forward, bowing respectfully to the approaching Gu Zheng.

"...Greetings, Gu King!"

Xiao Duguang, a beat behind, followed suit with a cupped-fist salute.

Xiao Dutian remained frozen in place, completely dumbfounded.

The rest of the Xiao family bowed one after another.

"It’s Gu Zheng from Jing Country!"

"How could it be him..."

The expressions on the faces of Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others were a mixture of emotions.

All the great Noble Families had received news of Gu Zheng breaking through to the King’s Body Realm.

Everyone was intrigued by the speed of Gu Zheng’s rise.

However, Gu Zheng was now a King’s Body. No matter how intrigued they were, they wouldn’t dare to act recklessly against him.

Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others had speculated about who Xiao Dongxuan’s outside help could be, guessing several different families.

They never imagined it would be Gu Zheng!

A newly ascended King’s Body Realm expert.

A King’s Body like him...

’He actually seems like a perfect fit for the Xiao Family!’

Other King’s Body experts had their own clansmen.

If things went wrong, they might turn the tables, usurp their hosts’ position, and take everything the Xiao Family owned.

Gu Zheng was different.

Even if there were other members of the Gu family, they were just ordinary people.

The Xiao Family, however, had three at the Heroic Body Realm, a dozen or so at the Super Body Realm, and over a hundred at the Alien Body Realm.

Xiao Dongxuan inviting Gu Zheng was a matter of mutual need.

The Xiao Family would gain the protection of a King’s Body, and Gu Zheng would have powerful subordinates at his command.

’Damn it!’

As they pieced this together, the faces of Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others turned ugly, and they fell silent.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to speak, but that they didn’t dare.

"So, it is Gu."

While Xie Manshan and the others fell silent, Xie Tianyin was unaffected. With his hands clasped behind his back, he casually strode through the air toward them.

"Gu, you are a rare talent. After hearing of your deeds, I was filled with admiration. It’s a shame we never had the chance to meet. To finally see you today is truly a great fortune."

Xie Tianyin offered a cupped-fist salute.

"Xie, you flatter me."

Gu Zheng returned the salute and said bluntly, "I have come to the Xiao Family today purely at Xiao Dongxuan’s invitation to act as a witness."

’A witness?’

’Witness my ass!’

Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others cursed inwardly.

Xiao Dongxuan bringing Gu Zheng here was a clear warning, meant to make them abandon their plans to seize the Xiao Family’s assets.

’Gu Zheng actually knows Xiao Dongxuan, and they seem to be on good terms.’

’What the hell is going on?!’

At the exit of the Nine Heavens Shadow Realm, Xiao Xing had caused a scene, pressuring Gu Zheng and Zuo Lingfeng and trying to forcibly search them. The two parties had become enemies at that time.

Many people had witnessed it.

Afterward, Xiao Xing was dealt with by the Jing Country royal family and the Zhong Family. He hadn’t been seen since. After disappearing for so long, he had most likely been killed by the Kao Mountain King’s or Zhong Zhengqiong’s people.

Xiao Xing was dead, yet Gu Zheng—a Grand General of the Demon Slayer Bureau from Jing Country—was now here at the Xiao Family’s Ancestral Land to back them up? To act as their patron?

’What kind of bullshit is this!’

Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others were bewildered, cursing silently.

On the Xiao Family’s side, Xiao Duguang was also full of questions, but the current situation made him wisely choose to keep his mouth shut.

Xiao Dutian’s mind, meanwhile, was still reeling.

When he first met Gu Zheng, Gu Zheng hadn’t even broken through to the Super Body Realm!

They were clearly on the same level back then, but now Gu Zheng had become a King’s Body, while he had only just entered the Super Body Realm.

There were two entire major realms separating them.

The gap left Xiao Dutian so shaken he couldn’t find the words.

Especially since Gu Zheng was now here in person to back up their Xiao Family.

He felt both awkward and grateful.

...

"I see."

Xie Tianyin smiled and looked at Xiao Dongxuan. "To be able to invite Gu to act as a witness, Xiao Dongxuan, you are quite impressive."

"It was nothing special."

Xiao Dongxuan calmly cupped his fist in a salute and said, "Xie King, regarding your previous proposal for the Xiao Family to submit to the Xie Family, we have given it much thought and feel it would be too much of an imposition on you. Therefore, we will not be submitting."

"No matter."

Xie Tianyin raised a hand. "These things require openness from both sides to be successful. Since your Xiao Family is unwilling, then..."

"You can all just die!"

WHOOSH—!

He hadn’t even finished speaking when a ball of scorching flames transformed into a furious dragon, roaring as it shot like lightning toward Xiao Dongxuan, Xiao Dutian, and the others.

As the furious dragon lunged forward, Xie Tianyin himself flickered, appearing before Gu Zheng. His Domain Power erupted, and one scorching flame dragon after another tore through the void to engulf Gu Zheng.

The entire sequence was incredibly fast.

However, as if anticipating it, Gu Zheng had already thrust his hand out the instant before the dragon lunged at Xiao Dongxuan’s group, unleashing a massive tornado.

At the same time, the Heaven-piercing Halberd appeared in his palm. Divine Wondrous power surged as Xiaolu channeled Thunder and Fire Power, and he unleashed it all in a strike aimed at the charging Xie Tianyin.

BOOM—!

The tornado appeared at the perfect moment, sweeping up the fiery dragon, carrying it high into the sky where it dissipated.

Xie Tianyin’s evasive maneuver followed immediately after, allowing him to dodge the Heaven-piercing Halberd.

Shocked and enraged, he flicked his hand, and a trident appeared, wreathed in flames and radiating scorching heat.

The moment it appeared, the trident tore through space with ferocious, piercing energy, stabbing toward Gu Zheng.

’A Pseudo-Divine Weapon!’

That it could tear through space with its sharp aura alone was a testament to the trident’s power.

Unfortunately...

CLANG—

CRACK!

After a sharp crack, the trident snapped in two.

The Heaven-piercing Halberd, angled slightly as it chopped down, had easily broken the trident.

The Divine Weapon Power continued its momentum, slicing off Xie Tianyin’s left arm.

If Xie Tianyin hadn’t dodged so quickly, half his body would have been cleaved in two.

Even so, he was now retreating in terror, trying to flee.

That’s right—flee!

Gu Zheng wielding the Heaven-piercing Halberd to break the trident could be attributed to the halberd’s power.

But the aura of the Domain that erupted from him—Xie Tianyin realized it was even more formidable than his own!

This was not a new king who had just broken through to the King’s Body Realm.

This was an existence even stronger than him!

This was the source of Xie Tianyin’s shock and fury.

He couldn’t understand how Gu Zheng’s strength had increased so rapidly.

’Could he really be a once-in-a-generation talent?’

BOOM—

BOOM!

His thoughts raced like lightning. Xie Tianyin activated his Flame Dragon Domain to protect himself, then teleported away, dodging Gu Zheng as he fled toward the Spirit Realm’s exit.

But how could Gu Zheng let him escape?

He also burst forward, activating his Hurricane Domain. His figure flickered, enveloping Xie Tianyin and clashing with his Flame Dragon Domain.

The Heaven-piercing Halberd in his hand, meanwhile, plunged into the Domain, heading straight for Xie Tianyin himself.

The collision of the two Domains produced a series of deep, muffled booms.

SHIIING— 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Streaks of brilliant light flashed, shattering the two pieces of the trident in Xie Tianyin’s hands into several more fragments.

VMMMM—

The void trembled, sending out vast ripples.

SQUELCH!

With the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart, the Heaven-piercing Halberd struck Xie Tianyin, who could neither dodge nor resist. It split him in two, starting from between his eyebrows.

SPLAT!

A torrent of blood, foul-smelling entrails, and the two halves of his body fell to the ground below.

SWOOSH!

Gu Zheng’s figure flickered, and he reappeared in the area where the Xiao and Xie families were still facing off.

Xie Tianyin was dead.

Naturally, Xie Manshan, Xie Manshui, and the others could not be spared!

"Go~!"

"Quick, scatter and run!"

The sudden turn of events happened too quickly. From Xie Tianyin’s surprise attack to him being cleaved in two by Gu Zheng, only a single breath of time had passed.

In that amount of time, anyone else would still be in a state of shock.

But Xie Manshan and Xie Manshui were Heroic Body Realm experts, after all. The moment the shock wore off and they realized what had happened, they decisively chose to flee.

Unfortunately...