191: Chapter 191 All thirteen of you, come at me together!

The palace banquet hall was brightly lit.

Thirteen Cultivators were seated in two rows on either side.

All of them were renowned young elites from the Central Province.

Every single one of them possessed a cultivation at or above the Void Refinement Stage.

Although they deliberately restrained the Spiritual Pressure around them, that arrogance of a long-standing Prodigy was impossible to hide.

The two leading the group, in particular, had deep auras and restrained spiritual power.

They had already touched the threshold of the Half-step Body Integration Stage.

Just then,

Cao Kun followed behind Pei Qinglan, walking into the hall with a casual, carefree gait.

Swish!

Thirteen pairs of scrutinizing eyes swept over him simultaneously.

After a brief Divine Sense probe, someone quickly began to frown.

"Mid-stage Deity Transformation?"

"This is the distinguished guest Your Majesty mentioned?"

"Does such a person even deserve to attend tonight's royal banquet?"

The prodigies whispered among themselves, their faces full of disdain.

In their eyes, someone at the Mid-stage Deity Transformation wasn't even fit to carry their shoes in the Central Province.

Empress Yue Chan sat regally in the main seat.

Dressed in dark gold palace attire and wearing a phoenix crown, she rested her chin on one hand, leaning lazily back into the wide dragon chair.

"Everyone."

Empress Yue Chan's red lips parted slightly, her voice cold and authoritative.

"This is Cao Kun. For this trip to the Ancient God Ruins, he will have full command over all the forces of the Great Yan Dynasty."

As her voice fell,

A young man at the head of the left side stood up.

His name was Lin Potian.

He was the number one Prodigy of Great Yan, with a Half-step Body Integration Stage cultivation.

Wearing Purple-Gold Battle Armor, his back was straight, and his brow was filled with defiance.

Lin Potian cupped his hands toward Empress Yue Chan, his tone firm: "Your Majesty. In the world of cultivation, strength is respected. The Divine Ruins are full of danger."

"On what basis should a Mid-stage Deity Transformation lead the team?"

He turned to give Cao Kun a cold glance and continued mercilessly:

"If we truly encounter a powerful enemy, are we expected to distract ourselves to protect him?"

From the second seat on the right, a female Cultivator of peerless beauty also rose.

Her white dress was spotless, her figure slender and upright, and her brow carried a natural, awe-inspiring Immortal Qi, like a green lotus under the moon, elegant and transcendent.

This woman was named Sword Cultivator Murong Xue.

A member of a branch of the Great Yan royal family, she was at the Late Stage Void Refinement and possessed extraordinary talent.

She glanced coldly at Cao Kun, her eyes filled with distaste:

"Senior Brother Lin is right. This concerns the national fate as well as our own lives; we only follow the strong."

"If he cannot even defeat a single one of us, we will not recognize his position as commander."

The remaining eleven prodigies nodded one after another, their positions surprisingly unanimous.

Entrusting their lives to an outsider with the lowest cultivation...

Such a thing was absolutely impossible!

Facing this scene of collective indignation,

Cao Kun stopped in his tracks and looked up at the main seat.

Empress Yue Chan was currently holding an exquisite glazed teacup, looking down as she sipped her tea.

Pei Qinglan stood to the side, looking at her nose and her heart, maintaining a posture as if none of this concerned her.

Neither of them had any intention of intervening.

Old foxes.

Cao Kun cursed silently.

They had called him all this way just to make him the villain and beat down these disobedient troublemakers.

Fine.

Since you won't step in, don't blame me for playing dirty.

He turned around slowly.

His gaze wandered over Sword Cultivator Murong Xue's lovely figure.

From that cold face, all the way down, sweeping past her chest,

And finally resting on her slender waist.

"Your cultivation isn't much, but you're quite pretty."

Cao Kun clicked his tongue and shrugged indifferently,

"It's just that your temper is a bit too foul; not cute at all."

As soon as these words were spoken,

Everyone was stunned.

No one expected that, faced with a challenge from thirteen high-level Cultivators, this kid wouldn't be flustered but would instead act like a rogue in public.

Sword Cultivator Murong Xue had never been subjected to such blatant harassment by a lecher.

She had always been revered as a pure and noble Fairy.

Being stared at by Cao Kun's aggressive gaze now, she felt incredibly uncomfortable.

A surge of nameless fire rushed straight to her head.

"Shameless scoundrel! You are insolent!"

Sword Cultivator Murong Xue's face was full of frost as she flipped her wrist, and a Top-Grade Spirit Sword radiating cold air appeared in her hand.

"You dare to disrespect this County Princess!"

Cao Kun sneered and immediately entered group-taunt mode.

"Disrespect you?"

"Do you think you're a Top-Grade Spirit Stone that everyone loves? Stop flattering yourself."

He took a step forward, his gaze sweeping across the thirteen people present.

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was cutting.

"You think I want to lead a bunch of dead weight like you?"

"Inside the Ancient God Ruins, it's full of old monsters and mad dogs who will eat you alive."

"I'm afraid that if I look away for a second, you bunch of greenhouse flowers will all end up dead."

The thirteen prodigies were completely enraged by these words.

They were all famous figures in the Central Province.

To be called dead weight to their faces by a Mid-stage Deity Transformation?

What kind of contempt and humiliation was this!

"You're only good at talking!"

Lin Potian stepped out, his bones letting out a series of pops as lightning flickered around him.

"In that case, I shall ask for a few pointers to see if your strength is as tough as your mouth!"

Cao Kun waved his hands repeatedly with a look of disdain: "No, don't ask for pointers. I don't have the time to play house with you."

Lin Potian snorted, thinking Cao Kun had finally recognized reality and chickened out:

"What? Scared already? If you're scared, then get out of the Imperial Capital!"

"Don't misunderstand," Cao Kun sighed, "what I mean is, let's not waste time individually."

He pointed at Lin Potian, then at Sword Cultivator Murong Xue and the others.

"You thirteen, come at me together."

"Let's finish this quickly; I'm in a hurry to go back and hold my wife to sleep."

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Immediately after, an uncontrollable rage erupted.

"Arrogant!"

"Courting death!"

"A mere Mid-stage Deity Transformation dares to speak such nonsense!"

Lin Potian turned to look at Empress Yue Chan on the main seat.

He cupped his hands, knelt on one knee, and loudly requested permission.

"I beg Your Majesty's permission!"

"Let us together witness the high skills of this Commander Cao!"

Empress Yue Chan set down her teacup.

This was exactly the sentence she was waiting for.

"Since Young Master Cao has made such a request."

"If you were to back down, it would make the prodigies of Great Yan look cowardly."

Empress Yue Chan went along with it, her tone calm.

"Then the thirteen of you, go ahead together. It's a good chance for me to broaden my horizons as well."

With that,

She lightly raised her jade hand.

The space in the center of the hall distorted.

The originally flat jade floor instantly expanded a hundredfold.

A layer of semi-transparent Formation light screens rose all around.

In an instant,

Everyone was pulled into a Royal Martial Arts Space reinforced by Formations.

The figures of Empress Yue Chan and Pei Qinglan appeared on a high, Levitating Observation Platform, looking down.

On the Martial Arts Arena,

The thirteen prodigies quickly spread out, forming a Formation and surrounding Cao Kun right in the center.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Thirteen radiant high-level Magic Treasures were sacrificed one after another.

Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds—the treasure light pierced the sky.

Facing such a display, Cao Kun's expression remained normal.

He beckoned with his fingers toward Lin Potian and the others.

"Come, let me see just how much weight the number one Prodigy of Great Yan actually carries."

[Image]

Luo Qingcheng