202: Chapter 202 Golden Core? So what!

Inside the ruins of the main hall, silence reigned.

All the Cultivators stared blankly, as if stunned, at the young man standing with his hands behind his back, their minds buzzing.

A single punch... not only shattered the killing move of a Golden Core powerhouse, but even forced the City Lord, who was at the Early Stage of the Golden Core Stage, to retreat and vomit blood?! Is this really just the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage?!

High in the air, City Lord Situ Huo landed in a somewhat disheveled state. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and in the eyes with which he looked at Qin Feng, there was no longer any of the previous arrogance or confidence, replaced instead by an unprecedented sense of dread and shock.

"Thank you for the concession."

Qin Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm, and spoke indifferently.

In the ruins of the main hall, the City Lords Wife, curled up among the fragments of a screen, turned deathly pale upon hearing these three words, her eyes filled with despair.

She never imagined that her husband, of whom she was so proud, a City Lord at the Golden Core Stage, would actually lose to a youth at the Foundation Establishment Stage!

"Qin... Qin Feng... what are you doing... don't come over..."

Watching that devil-like man walking toward her step by step, the City Lords Wife trembled, sobbing and desperately clawing at the rubble on the ground to retreat.

Qin Feng walked up to her, a cold, evil smile on his Face.

With a casual wave of his right hand, the fourth-grade Medium Grade Magic Treasure, the "demon-binding vine," which was dark green and covered in sharp barbs, instantly sprang up like a spirit snake.

"Whoosh—!"

The dark green vine instantly wrapped several times around the City Lords Wife's fair, slender neck...

"Come here, you."

Qin Feng gave a sharp tug with his right hand.

"Ah—!"

The City Lords Wife let out a cry of pain, her neck tightly bound by the vine, and she was dragged out of the main hall by Qin Feng, stripped of all dignity.

"Madam!!"

"Let the Madam go!!"

The few remaining guards in the City Lord's residence saw this, their eyes splitting with rage. With a clanging sound, they drew their swords and prepared to rush forward to stop him.

"Stop!"

However, City Lord Situ Huo, above the main hall, slowly raised his hand. Although his voice was hoarse, it carried an unquestionable majesty.

"City Lord?!" The few generals turned back, looking somewhat confused.

City Lord Situ Huo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging blood in his body. He closed his eyes and waved his hand weakly: "A bet is a bet. Let Young Friend Qin... take the Madam away."

"This... as you command."

Although the generals felt extremely aggrieved, since the City Lord had already spoken, they could only grit their teeth and step aside, clearing a path.

Qin Feng glanced sideways at the City Lord with a playful smile, then tugged on the demon-binding vine in his hand. Dragging the sobbing City Lords Wife, he strolled out of the City Lord's residence gate under the awestruck and complex gazes of the Loose Cultivators.

Bai Qi and Zhao Simin also hurriedly composed themselves, following closely by Qin Feng's side as they left together.

...

Inside the City Lord's residence main hall, as Qin Feng and his group left, the deathly silence gradually dissipated.

Leaving only the debris strewn all over the ground and the lightning-struck crater that was a hundred zhang deep.

"City Lord, are... are you alright?"

A somewhat hunched old man walked to City Lord Situ Huo's side, asking with eyes full of concern and complexity.

This person was the City Lord's residence advisor, Elder Xu.

City Lord Situ Huo shook his head and sighed wearily: "It's nothing, just some minor injuries. A few days of recuperation will be fine."

Elder Xu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and asked in a low, puzzled voice: "City Lord, are we really just going to let it go like this? That is the Madam... to be taken away by a brat at the Foundation Establishment Stage in front of everyone... How will we stand in Sunset City from now on?!"

"Elder Xu, you have followed me for many years, how can you not understand such a simple principle?"

City Lord Situ Huo gave a meaningful look, his voice hoarse but unusually calm, "If the Madam is gone, I can marry ten, a hundred more; if Face is lost, it can eventually be earned back... but if life is gone, then there is truly nothing left."

Hearing this, Elder Xu's body jolted, and he frowned in confusion: "City Lord, although that brat's combat power is indeed strange—not only having a Half-step Golden Core Cloud-Piercing Eagle, but also being able to injure you—I feel that if it were a life-and-death struggle, he absolutely could not be your match."

"Do you think that person doesn't know he is no match for me?"

City Lord Situ Huo smiled bleakly and asked in return: "Since he knows he cannot defeat me, why does he dare to be so arrogant in front of me? Why does he dare to slaughter in the City Lord's residence? Have you thought about these things?!"

Elder Xu was stunned: "This... this is probably just youthful arrogance?!"

"Arrogance? Would someone with invincible combat power at the same level be an idiot blinded by rage?!"

City Lord Situ Huo shook his head, his eyes flashing with unprecedented dread and wisdom, "The other party is young, yet possesses such inconceivable Prodigy combat power, and faced me, a Golden Core Cultivator, without any fear. There is only one possibility—this person has a significant background, and behind him stands an existence we cannot afford to provoke."

Speaking of this, City Lord Situ Huo paused, recalling the two stunning female Cultivators following Qin Feng in the main hall earlier, and lowered his voice: "Seeing the beautiful female Cultivators surrounding him, I estimate he is likely an upper-level Cultivator from the Hehuan Sect out for experience."

"Hehuan Sect?!" Elder Xu exclaimed, his old Face filled with deep terror.

The Hehuan Sect was a famous great demonic sect, with countless Golden Core Stage powerhouses, and even legendary Nascent Soul old monsters holding the fort.

In front of the Hehuan Sect, the small Sunset City didn't even count as an ant; a single word from them could make the City Lord's residence completely vanish into ashes.

"Indeed, although he is only at the Foundation Establishment Stage now, don't forget who taught him to be such a Prodigy? How could we possibly afford to provoke who stands behind him?"

City Lord Situ Huo sighed, waved his sleeves listlessly, and turned to walk toward the inner hall. His voice, hoarse and carrying a hint of helplessness, echoed in the empty main hall: "The waters on the path of cultivation are deep... staying alive is the prerequisite for having everything..."

Elder Xu stood frozen in place, watching the City Lord's desolate back, his heart shaken. Cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes, and he dared not mention revenge again.

...

On the other side. Outside Sunset City, on a secluded path.

The surroundings were desolate grasslands that had survived a disaster, and the morning breeze blew through, bringing a hint of the fragrance of soil, washing away the smell of blood from the city.

"Master, just now... weren't you afraid of completely enraging that City Lord? What if he wanted to fight us to the death?"

Zhao Simin walked by Qin Feng's side, patting her full chest with lingering fear, and asked with curiosity in her beautiful eyes.

Bai Qi also pursed her red lips, holding the other corner of Qin Feng's garment, looking at him with some confusion.

Qin Feng smiled and touched his chin with some complacency: "Fight to the death? Since he could become a City Lord and has lived for so many years, he couldn't possibly be an idiot!"

"For a person in power, what they care about most is interest and life. Vague and ethereal things like Face are worthless when life is threatened. He knows he cannot afford to provoke me, so in the end, he would never choose to fight us to the death."

"Why does he know he cannot afford to provoke you?" Bai Qi tilted her little head, blinking her beautiful eyes innocently.

"Haha..."

Qin Feng laughed wildly, turned his head, and mischievously extended his index finger to lightly scrape Bai Qi's delicate nose bridge, teasing: "If you knew, you would be the City Lord. Would you still need to be a little maid serving tea and water for me here?!"

"Hate you..."

Bai Qi's pretty Face flushed red, and she gave him a shy glare, but she wasn't angry; instead, she leaned into his embrace with some sweetness.

"Ugh... beast, be gentle..."

Just then, a gnashing curse came from behind.

It was the City Lords Wife, with the dark green demon-binding vine around her neck; she was gripping the vine tightly with both hands.

"Insolent!"

Qin Feng applied a slight force to his wrist, and with a wicked tug on the demon-binding vine in his hand, he pulled the City Lords Wife, causing her to stagger and almost fall.

He turned his head and instructed the two women: "You two, wait here. I'm taking the City Lords Wife to the stream ahead to discuss some 'important business'."

"Important business???"

Hearing this word, Bai Qi and Zhao Simin looked at each other, both seeing the shyness and strangeness in the other's eyes, their pretty Faces instantly turning red to the roots of their ears...