169: It's not that I don't want to hide, it's that I'm afraid to!

In the square before the main hall of the Taichu Sect, the atmosphere was as frozen as iron.

The Quasi-Emperor pressure was like an invisible Primordial Divine Mountain, weighing heavily upon Great Sage Taishi.

"Grand Beginning, we haven't met for thousands of years, yet you, old dog, have only regressed as you aged."

Lin Chao stood in mid-air with his hands behind his back, a cruel sneer on his lips and a disdainful look in his eyes, viewing the people below as mere ants.

"How does it feel to guard this barren, godforsaken land and play as a local tyrant?"

Great Sage Taishi's hair and beard were completely white, and his form was withered, yet under that terrifying pressure, his back remained as straight as a spear.

He looked at his high-spirited Junior Brother high in the sky with a calm expression.

"Lin Chao, why vent the grievances between us on the Juniors of the Sect?"

"Grievances?"

Lin Chao laughed wildly as if he had heard the world's biggest joke, his laughter causing the clouds to churn.

"You think you're worthy of discussing grievances with me?"

He cut off his laughter, his gaze suddenly turning cold, revealing a blatant Killing Intent.

"Today, I am already a Quasi-Emperor!"

"And you are nothing more than an old dog trapped here, gasping for your last breaths!"

"Now, it's my turn to teach you the meaning of hierarchy!"

Lin Chao's rage reached its peak; he swore to trample this old man's remaining dignity underfoot and crush it to pieces!

"Kneel!"

He bellowed.

An even more terrifying Quasi-Emperor pressure crashed down like the pouring of the Heavenly River!

"Crack! Crack!"

The hard bluestone slabs beneath Great Sage Taishi's feet shattered inch by inch, web-like cracks spreading frantically.

Every bone in his body emitted overburdened pops; his aged face turned beet red, and a striking trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Yet his knees remained as motionless as two pillars of divine iron rooted deep within the earth!

Wanting him to kneel?

In your dreams!

"Still stubborn?"

Seeing this, Lin Chao laughed out of extreme anger, the cruelty in his eyes intensifying.

He was about to apply more pressure to snap Great Sage Taishi's kneecaps and vent his hatred.

Just then.

A clear voice, yet one filled with overwhelming rage and chilling Killing Intent, drifted from the horizon.

"Lin Chao!"

"What audacity you have!"

Though the voice was soft, it was like Nine Heavens Profound Ice, freezing the temperature of the entire Taichu Sect!

The Elders who had been fawning nearby and waiting to see Great Sage Taishi's humiliation felt a chill surge from the soles of their feet to their crowns, their Divine Souls trembling.

Lin Chao was also taken aback and followed the sound.

He saw a streak of light racing toward them at an incredible speed.

"A mere Saint dares to be so impudent before me?"

Lin Chao swept his Divine Thought over, let out a disdainful sneer, and the fire of rage in his heart burned even brighter.

He wanted to crush Grand Beginning's last hope right before his eyes, as easily as killing an ant!

"Stop!!"

Great Sage Taishi's eyes nearly split at the sight.

He knew better than anyone that what Lin Chao was grabbing at was not just any Saint, but a catastrophic disaster capable of turning the entire Taishi Holy Land to ashes!

"Overestimating yourself!"

Lin Chao snorted coldly and flicked his finger, directly suppressing Great Sage Taishi to the ground, unable to move.

He turned his head and reached out his massive Quasi-Emperor hand toward the streak of light.

That palm blotted out the sun, with Laws circulating within it, intending to crush the streak of light along with the surrounding Void Realm!

However.

""

A more terrifying, more vast holy radiance that transcended the Emperor's Path erupted from that streak of light!

An exquisitely beautiful phantom of a palace gate stretched across the horizon.

Immortal light flowed upon the palace gate, and moonlight shimmered like water.

"Crack!"

Lin Chao's aggressive Quasi-Emperor hand was as fragile as glass before this pressure.

It couldn't even last a single breath before shattering on the spot!

"Pfft!"

Lin Chao felt as if he had been struck by lightning; he spat out a mouthful of essence blood, his face turning pale instantly.

"A Su... Supreme Secret Treasure?!"

His eyes widened, his heart raced, and a chill surged from the soles of his feet to his crown!

The light dissipated.

A beautiful figure dressed in a plain white gown floated in the air.

Lin Miao's face was cold with anger, her Phoenix eyes wide, and her body surrounded by Killing Intent; the Supreme Secret Treasure above her head cast down ten thousand rays of immortal light, making her look like an inviolable Nine Heavens Profound Maiden.

Her gaze was firmly locked onto Lin Chao.

"You deserve to die!"

When that gaze swept over him, Lin Chao was so terrified his liver and gallbladder nearly split, and he subconsciously took half a step back.

[Where on earth did this woman come from?!]

His soul was frightened out of his body, and he was about to explain.

But Lin Miao gave him no chance at all.

With one step, she appeared right in front of Lin Chao.

"You dare to insult my Taichu Sect?"

"Slap—!!!"

A crisp, loud slap echoed through the heavens and earth.

Fast!

Too fast!

So fast that Lin Chao, this newly ascended Quasi-Emperor, didn't even have time to react!

He only felt a burning pain on his face; he was completely dazed by the slap, spinning several times in the air before stabilizing himself.

The entire field was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by this scene.

A Quasi-Emperor... was slapped in the face?

"You... you dare hit me?!"

Lin Chao clutched his swollen cheek, shocked and furious, his eyes filled with disbelief.

A dignified Quasi-Emperor like himself was actually slapped in public by a Saint?!

"Hit you?"

Lin Miao sneered, her eyes full of contempt.

"Hitting you is letting you off easy!"

"Today, I shall clean house and slay you, this scum of the Taishi Holy Land!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the Supreme Secret Treasure above her head shone brilliantly, and a terrifying Killing Intent capable of suppressing a Quasi-Emperor locked onto Lin Chao.

Lin Chao completely panicked.

He truly felt the threat of death from this woman!

"St... Stop!"

He roared with false bravado, "I am a Quasi-Emperor of the Taishi Holy Land! If you dare to kill me, the Holy Land will never let you off!"

He wanted to use the Holy Land's reputation to suppress this madwoman.

However.

Just then.

A faint voice came from below.

"Lin Chao, oh Lin Chao."

Great Sage Taishi slowly stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked at Lin Chao's panicked and wretched state with eyes full of pity and mockery.

"Do you know who she is?"

Lin Chao was stunned.

Great Sage Taishi didn't keep him in suspense; word by word, his voice wasn't loud, yet it was like successive claps of Nine Heavens thunder exploding in Lin Chao's mind.

"Her name is Lin Miao."

"She is the Su Family Ancestor, Su Xuanchen's..."

"Wife."

Boom—!!!

These few short words were like a supreme immortal hammer containing world-ending power, slamming heavily into Lin Chao's Divine Soul.

His mind went blank instantly.

The rage, terror, and resentment on his face all froze.

What followed was an endless... deathly silence.

And fear.

[Su... Su Xuanchen?!]

[That monster who can crush even a True Immortal and face a Quasi-Immortal King head-on?!]

[What... what was I doing just now?!]

[I actually dared to attack his wife?!]

[I actually dared... to want to kill his wife?!]

A drop of cold sweat slid down Lin Chao's forehead.

Then came a second drop, a third... in the blink of an eye, his entire body was drenched in cold sweat, as if he had just been fished out of the water.

He stiffly turned his head to look at Lin Miao; those eyes that were filled with tyranny and conceit not long ago now held only cowering fear and pleading.

"No... that's not it..."

He was incoherent, wanting to explain but finding his throat seemingly gripped by an invisible hand, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

He wanted to flee.

But his legs were as heavy as lead, so burdensome they wouldn't listen to his commands at all.

At the moment his mind faltered.

"Slap—!!!"

Another loud slap landed heavily on the other side of his face.

Lin Chao wasn't sent flying.

He just froze in place, motionless.

It wasn't that he didn't want to dodge.

It was that he... didn't dare!

"Thud!"

Under the horrified gazes of the crowd.

Lin Chao, this newly ascended Quasi-Emperor and favored son of the Taishi Holy Land.

Actually had his legs go weak, falling from mid-air to kneel heavily before Great Sage Taishi!

He couldn't care about anything else anymore.

He pressed his head firmly against the cold ground, kowtowing frantically to Great Sage Taishi.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Each strike was with all his might, making the ground shake.

"I had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai! I deserve ten thousand deaths!!"

"I beg for Madam's mercy!!"

With tears and snot streaming down his face, he was a wretched sight; where was there any trace of a Quasi-Emperor's dignity?

He was the very image of a stray dog... begging its master for forgiveness!

Looking at the scene before him, Great Sage Taishi's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He felt no pleasure, only endless sighs and reflections.

He shook his head, ultimately softening his heart.

He looked at the still-furious Lin Miao and advised, "Miao'er, enough."

"Considering we are of the same lineage, leave him a path to live."

Lin Miao's Phoenix eyes were filled with anger, still not appeased.

"He wanted to kill you just now!"

"Sigh..." Great Sage Taishi sighed, "When will these grudges ever end? Besides, if he dies here, it will be hard to explain to the Holy Land, and also... to the Su Family."

Hearing this, the fire of rage in Lin Miao's chest finally subsided slightly.

She snorted coldly and withdrew the Killing Intent of the Supreme Secret Treasure.

Lin Chao felt as if he had been granted a great amnesty; he slumped on the ground, gasping for breath, his heart filled only with the relief of having survived a disaster.

He knew.

His life had been snatched back from the brink.