424: The lion's mouth is wide open

"Daoist Friend Wang?" Seeing Xiao Zhuo remain silent for a long time, Emperor Jun Hao Tian, despite being the Lord of the Heavenly Court with a stable mind, couldn't help but grow anxious as his only son's life was at stake.

Xiao Zhuo seemed to emerge from deep contemplation, turning to face Hao Tian with a troubled expression: "Your Majesty! You witnessed the situation just now; that strange power is extremely dangerous, even King Buddha Daoist Friend almost suffered harm. As for me..."

Under everyone's bated breath, he paused deliberately before slowly saying, "I can indeed cure him! It's just that the cost will be immense... I need more money!"

"More... money?" Hao Tian didn't react immediately.

"Uh, that is, the consultation fee needs to be increased." Xiao Zhuo smiled with a hint of 'embarrassment,' but his eyes were clear.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao!" Queen Mother of the West immediately interjected upon hearing her son could be saved, "As long as you can save Pan'er! Besides what Your Majesty has promised, I will give you an additional origin supreme treasure, plus a hundred-thousand-year immortal peach!"

A hundred-thousand-year immortal peach! Xiao Zhuo's heart stirred slightly.

He had already weighed the pros and cons.

Having entered the Heavenly Court meant he was already halfway involved in this situation.

Rather than retreating, it was better to seize the opportunity to raise the stakes.

If Emperor Hao Tian and his wife refused, he would immediately withdraw and seek Hao Duo.

If they agreed, it would be a huge profit!

Even if it drew him into a deeper vortex, with his current methods and the Time-Space Dao Fruit by his side, below the Saint realm, even if he couldn't win, escaping would not be difficult.

When he reached the Dao and became a Saint, he would then overturn the chessboard of the mastermind!

"The three Fellow Daoists are widely knowledgeable; you must have already seen through the nature of that power, right?" Xiao Zhuo did not agree directly, instead changing the subject and asking leisurely.

Upon hearing this, Medicine Master King Buddha, Emperor Jun Hao Tian, and Queen Mother of the West all had their expressions darken, becoming extremely solemn.

Only Emperor and Yu Shang remained clueless.

"Taboo Power!" The three of them almost simultaneously uttered these four heavy words.

Xiao Zhuo nodded: "Taboo Power, which is not tolerated by the World Sea, has been dormant for countless years. Its reappearance now must involve a shocking conspiracy. I am merely a Loose Cultivator; if Your Majesty wishes to force me into such a dangerous vortex..." He paused meaningfully, "I'm afraid I might earn it but not live to enjoy it!"

What kind of person was Emperor Jun Hao Tian? How could he not understand Xiao Zhuo's implied meaning?

This was clearly an excuse, implying the price was still not high enough!

Even with his status as Emperor Jun and his profound cultivation of Qi, his brow couldn't help but furrow slightly.

A nine-revolution golden elixir, a hundred-thousand-year immortal peach, a origin supreme treasure, the right to choose from the Heavenly Court's treasury, plus a great favor from him, Emperor Jun Hao Tian — this was already a generous reward sufficient to drive any Quasi-Saint mad!

Yet, this person was still not satisfied!

However, what Xiao Zhuo said was also true.

This matter already involved Taboo Power, and there must be a monstrous conspiracy behind it.

The target of embedding this power into Yu Pan's body was definitely not just a mere Imperial Son at the Half-step Grand Unity stage; it was very likely him, Hao Tian, Queen Mother of the West, or even the entire Heavenly Court!

Anyone who dared to scheme against the Heavenly Court in such a manner must possess unfathomable strength.

If Wang Xuan were to act, he would incur a mortal enmity with that mastermind, and the danger would be unpredictable.

But he had already searched for famous doctors throughout the Immortal Realm, and even Medicine Master King Buddha, the foremost divine physician of the Western Buddhist Kingdom, was at a loss.

This unfathomable 'Wang Xuan' before him was the only hope for saving his only son!

He had no choice.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao!" Hao Tian took a deep breath, suppressing his surging emotions, his voice as firm as iron, "What are your conditions? Speak plainly!"

Seeing this, Xiao Zhuo knew that the other party had weighed the pros and cons, and it was time to lay his cards on the table.

He smiled leisurely and named his price: "Two origin supreme treasures, attributes unlimited. I want both the nine-revolution golden elixir and the hundred-thousand-year immortal peach. As for the Heavenly Court's treasury, forget it. Your Majesty only needs to pay an additional one thousand chaos crystal cores!"

"One thousand chaos crystal cores?!" Princess Yu Shang exclaimed in shock, "How dare you make such an outrageous demand?!"

"Yu Shang! Don't be rude!" Hao Tian and Queen Mother of the West also had their expressions darken, extremely displeased with Xiao Zhuo's almost extortionate demands, but they still immediately reprimanded their daughter.

These conditions had far exceeded their bottom line.

Emperor Jun Hao Tian's gaze was like a cold star, staring directly at Xiao Zhuo: "One thousand chaos crystal cores is absolutely impossible! And only one origin supreme treasure! This is the bottom line!"

Imperial power emanated from him, an irrepressible surge of anger spreading.

If not for his remaining reason, knowing that turning hostile now would be utterly useless, he would have almost struck out with a palm!

Even with his strong self-control, the vast pressure belonging to a Peak Quasi-Saint still bore down on Xiao Zhuo as if it were substantial!

Xiao Zhuo's expression was as calm as an ancient well, allowing the pressure, which was enough to crush a Golden Immortal's Divine Soul, to descend upon him.

That terrifying pressure fell upon him, yet it didn't even stir the corner of his clothes in the slightest!

Let alone cause him to change his expression.

Not to mention the pressure, even if all the strong cultivators here attacked simultaneously, though he might not win, if he wanted to leave, no one could stop him!

This was the confidence behind his calm pricing.

Their gazes, like electricity, clashed silently in the air for more than ten breaths.

Finally, Emperor Jun Hao Tian slowly reined in his pressure and said with finality: "A maximum of one hundred chaos crystal cores! And only one origin supreme treasure! This is the absolute limit!"

Xiao Zhuo understood that this was the utmost the other party could bear.

Pushing further would inevitably void this transaction and completely offend the Heavenly Court.

His original intention was also to save Yu Pan, claim this generous reward, and at the same time, use this opportunity to probe the depths of the Taboo Power.

"Good! It shall be as Your Majesty says!" Xiao Zhuo's face instantly broke into a warm smile, as if a spring breeze had brushed by, as if the previous confrontation had never happened.

However, this smile, in the eyes of Emperor Hao Tian and his wife, made them feel that this person was truly... utterly detestable!

With the reward settled, its generosity made even Medicine Master King Buddha and Emperor on the side feel their hearts pound with envy, secretly lamenting their own lack of means and sighing in helplessness.

Xiao Zhuo said no more, stepping forward slowly, taking Medicine Master King Buddha's place, and standing before the cold jade bed.

His aura instantly became subdued, as if he had transformed into an unfathomable Void Realm, isolating all the noise and gazes outside.

A pin drop could be heard in the hall; everyone's hearts were in their throats, their gazes fixed on him, especially Hao Tian and Queen Mother of the West, whose eyes held a mix of the last flickering flames of hope and unfathomable worry.

"Time-space confinement." Xiao Zhuo whispered, his voice not loud, yet carrying the absolute majesty of decreeing the Law and commanding time and space.

Buzz!

An invisible, intangible, yet peculiar fluctuation that caused all the Quasi-Saints present to feel their own time and space stagnate, instantly enveloped Imperial Son Yu Pan's Divine Soul!

The hideous Dao marks entrenched on the surface of his Divine Soul, and the hidden soul poison Dao marks deep within his glabella, were frozen as if by eternal frost, completely solidified!

Even the last faint trace of vital energy fluctuating from the Divine Soul itself disappeared.

The entire Divine Soul seemed to be sealed within a perfectly still, time-space amber imprinted with Dao injuries!

This precise control over the Great Dao of Time, even more terrifying than the previous barrier reset, caused Medicine Master King Buddha's pupils to constrict, and Emperor Jun Hao Tian's eyes also erupted with an undisguised look of astonishment.

"Annihilation." Xiao Zhuo extended a finger.

His fingertip was no longer pure time-space silver light, but instead, it was entwined with a wisp of pure destructive aura so profound it seemed capable of devouring all light!

This aura was compressed and condensed to the extreme, exuding a true meaning of destruction that could reduce all things to primordial emptiness and disintegrate all Laws!

He lightly tapped with his fingertip, like a deity wielding the authority of destruction delivering a judgment, his target directly aimed at the hideous Dao marks on the solidified Divine Soul!

Hiss... Hiss... Hiss... The solidified Dao marks, upon contact with that destructive finger-light, silently disintegrated, melted, and transformed into the most fundamental Void particles, like fragile glass exposed to absolute zero!

Not even a ripple of Law was stirred!

The entire process was as fast as a lightning bolt, yet it was clearly reflected in the eyes of all the strong cultivators.

The destructive power was terrifyingly precise, acting only on the distorted, damaged Law structure of the Dao marks themselves, leaving the soul body of Imperial Son Yu Pan, protected by the time-space confinement, completely untouched!

Medicine Master King Buddha watched, his mind greatly shaken!

This method appeared incredibly overbearing, yet in reality, the demands on power control had reached an unbelievably Transcendent state!

The purity and condensed nature of that destructive power far exceeded his imagination!

This person not only had unparalleled mastery of the Dao of Time and Space in this era, but had also reached such an astonishing level in the Dao of Destruction!

In a flash of lightning, all the Dao injuries on the Divine Soul, except for those in the glabella, were completely erased by that annihilating finger-light!

Finally, Xiao Zhuo's fingertip, entwined with that wisp of destructive aura that could reduce all things to primordial emptiness, slowly pointed towards the glabella of Yu Pan's Divine Soul!