"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims: For surviving a harrowing ordeal in the brutal trials of the Thousand Rivers Secret Land, Wen Qingye has brought glory to our nation and bolstered the prestige of the Celestial Martial Country, ensuring that the people of the other nations dare not underestimate our great court, which presides over thirty thousand li of territory. This achievement shakes the annals of history and will echo through the ages. Thus, he shall be handsomely rewarded. All shall listen to the conferment of these honors!"

At this, the effeminate man paused, but a storm was already raging in the hearts of the crowd.

"By special edict, Wen Qingye’s mother of the Liu Clan is granted the title of First-Grade Imperial Decree Lady! Liu Wen of the Liu Family is appointed City Lord of Phoenix City! Zhang Hua of the Zhang Family is appointed Prefect of Kaiyang County! So ordained!"

After speaking, the effeminate middle-aged man turned, handed the imperial edict to Wen Qingye with a smile, and then moved to stand by his side.

Zhang Hua and Liu Wen were both stunned, unable to process what had just happened.

The crowd erupted in an uproar!

"Heavens, Liu Wen is now Phoenix City’s City Guardian? How old is he?"

"But the most unbelievable thing is Zhang Hua! The Prefect! That’s the position of Prefect!"

"The Liu and Zhang Families are going to rise! The balance of power in Phoenix City—no, in all of Kaiyang County—is about to be overturned!"

Hearing the discussions, the members of the Wen Family felt like they were about to cough up blood. ’If only Wen Qingye were still part of the Wen Family,’ they couldn’t help but think, ’then all of this honor would belong to us.’

’The position of Phoenix City’s City Guardian would be ours, the Prefect of Kaiyang County would be ours—all the glory, all the benefits, would belong to the Wen Family.’

In an instant, the faces of some of the Wen Family elders turned beet red, their eyes burning with intense, unconcealed regret.

At this point, the rest of the crowd also caught on and began to point and whisper about the Wen Family.

"The Wen Family truly brought this upon themselves. To think they’d cast aside a genius like an unwanted child."

"Indeed. What a shame. If Wen Qingye had stayed with the Wen Family, their meteoric rise would have been sealed today."

"They have eyes but couldn’t see! The entire Wen Family is blind!"

...

The merciless words of the crowd were like knives plunging into the hearts of the Wen Family members. By now, they were sick with regret.

Wen Tongyu’s face darkened as he stared coldly at Wen Qingye. "Wen Qingye, did you come to my wedding day just to make a show of force?"

Wen Qingye extended a finger and pointed it directly at Yao Qi. "No. I came to kill him."

Hearing Wen Qingye’s words, all eyes turned to Yao Qi. Yao Qi’s expression changed instantly, and he shouted, "Wen Qingye, there is no grievance or enmity between us! Why do you want to kill me?"

"No grievance or enmity?" Wen Qingye sneered. "Eight days ago, who sent experts to launch a surprise attack on the Liu Family in an attempt to harm my mother?"

Yao Luojun’s heart skipped a beat when he heard Wen Qingye’s words. ’Others might not know, but how could I not know my own son’s character?’

Yao Qi immediately frowned. "How would I know who that was? Wen Qingye, don’t you dare make baseless accusations and try to frame me for this!"

Wen Qingye began walking toward Yao Qi, one step at a time. "Haven’t you noticed that your Yao Family is missing an expert named Yao Chao?" he said as he walked. "He confessed everything last night. What, are you still going to try and argue your way out of this?"

"So that’s why Yao Chao..." Yao Qi trailed off, suddenly realizing Wen Qingye was walking toward him. Terror seized his heart, and he scrambled toward Yao Luojun. "Father, save me! Save me!"

Yao Luojun quickly pulled Yao Qi behind him. "Wen Qingye, your mother of the Liu Clan is still safe and sound! How can you accuse my son of trying to kill her? This is clearly a fabrication! For all we know, you beat a false confession out of our Yao Family expert!"

The woman from the Yao Clan also stood up and shouted angrily, "That’s right! Wen Qingye, don’t you dare twist the truth and mislead everyone! Today is Tongyu’s wedding day! No matter what, you and Tongyu are related by blood. Do you really want to spill blood here today?"

Wen Tongyu stood frozen in place, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Wen Qingye.

"And so what if I do want to spill blood here today?" A smile touched the corners of Wen Qingye’s mouth as he clasped his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the members of the Yao and Wen Families.

"Wen Qingye, don’t get too arrogant!" Wen Tongyu snarled, the veins on his fists bulging.

"Yao Qi dies today! No one can stop me!"

As he spoke, Wen Qingye’s figure blurred, and he dashed toward Yao Qi.

"Then you’ll have to get through me first!" Wen Tongyu roared, throwing a punch at Wen Qingye.

Wen Tongyu had never accepted his defeat in the Thousand Rivers Secret Land. Now that Wen Qingye had pushed him this far, he felt he had no choice but to strike.

Aside from Wen Qingye and Wen Tongyu himself, the person with the highest cultivation present was Yao Luojun, who was at the Refining Spirit Fifth Layer Heaven. Seeing Wen Tongyu make his move, Yao Luojun couldn’t help but cry out, "Refining Spirit Sixth Layer Heaven!"

Wen Qingye watched the whistling Fist Force approach, his expression serene. ’So he broke through?’ he thought.

He was seen simply extending a palm toward Wen Tongyu in a seemingly ordinary strike.

BANG!

The crowd only heard a tremendous bang, the explosive sound echoing heavily in their ears. Wen Tongyu’s body went flying like a scrap of paper before crashing to the ground.

One strike!

Wen Tongyu was defeated!

Even though everyone already knew that Wen Qingye had defeated Wen Tongyu with a single sword strike in the Thousand Rivers Secret Land, they were still utterly shocked to see him defeated in a single move right before their eyes.

This was especially true for the Wen Family. They never imagined that Wen Tongyu, in whom they had placed such high hopes, couldn’t even withstand a single move from Wen Qingye.

"Wen Qingye, you...!" The woman from the Yao Clan rushed to Wen Tongyu’s side, her eyes fixed on Wen Qingye with a venomous glare.

Wen Xu was about to step forward to speak, but after seeing Wen Tongyu defeated in a single blow, he quickly retreated. He helped Wen Tongyu up and whispered, "Forget it. Wen Qingye is too powerful. We should stay out of this."

Wen Qingye’s gaze fell upon Yao Qi, and a flicker of killing intent surfaced in his eyes. "I originally had no intention of getting entangled with your Yao Family. But you sent experts to murder my mother. She is still injured from that attack. If I do not avenge this wrong, I am unworthy of being called her son. Therefore, today, you must die!"

After he spoke, Wen Qingye waved his hand. An overwhelming number of Palm Seals seemed to materialize out of thin air, and their immense aura instantly enveloped the entire Wen Family estate.

It was only now, as the crowd stared at the Palm Seals filling the sky and felt the heaven-shaking momentum, that they truly began to comprehend Wen Qingye’s terrifying power.

"Wen Qingye truly is the top genius of the Sixteen Countries. He’s just too powerful!"

"So strong... It’s impossible to even think of resisting."

"So this is Wen Qingye’s true strength?"

Yao Luojun saw the swirling Palm Seals. With Yao Qi right behind him, there was no way to dodge. Gritting his teeth, he resolved to meet Wen Qingye’s palm strike head-on.

Wen Qingye smiled faintly. ’My palm strike isn’t so simple.’

BOOM!

The moment Yao Luojun’s palm met Wen Qingye’s, he felt as if his arms had been struck by a heavy sledgehammer, and they instantly went numb.

PTOO!

Yao Luojun was sent flying backward, but before he could even steady himself, Yao Qi, who was behind him, suddenly sprayed out a mouthful of blood mist.

The fresh blood dripped onto the ground, scorching a patch of the stone tiles, and a cloud of crimson vapor slowly rose into the air.

Everyone who saw this turned pale with shock. With a single palm strike, Wen Qingye had executed two attacks, one with a hidden killing blow! His control over Primordial Qi was simply too exquisite!

"Wen Qingye, you’re courting death!"

The woman from the Yao Clan stared at Wen Qingye, her eyes blood-red and her face twisted in a furious snarl.

"Hahahaha!"

Seeing this, Wen Qingye was stunned for a moment before he burst into uncontrollable laughter. The sound echoed throughout the entire Wen Family courtyard.