17: Chapter 17 Who do you think you are?

Indifferent. Even a bit lazy. Like someone being disturbed by a neighbor, complaining offhandedly.

But the moment these drifting words rippled across the Capital of Great Xia, everything instantly fell silent.

"So noisy."

It was as if the world had frozen.

In the sky, the cruel smile on Elder Qian Kun's face froze.

The hand he held above his head, having gathered his life's cultivation, ready to raze everything below to the ground—a second before it fully formed—poofed. It shattered.

Like a balloon, it burst into countless golden specks of light. A light golden snow. It no longer held any lethality. The destructive storm was just gone like that.

"Pfft—" The technique was forcibly interrupted, and the backlash was extremely violent, slamming hard into Qian Kun's Dao foundation.

He swayed in the sky. His face turned deathly pale. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

The wind died down around his purple-gold Dao robe, and his Aura rapidly dissipated. His entire body went limp. His presence plummeted.

He staggered back two steps, staring in horror at the depths of the imperial palace. For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

Gone? My pressure, my Divine Thought, my Cave-Heaven Realm power... how were they all gone? No. They had been erased.

Erased by an entity of a higher dimension, as easily as wiping words off a draft paper.

How is this possible? How could this be? Who am I? The Grand Elder of the Outer Sect of Ziyang Holy Land! The Ninth Heaven of the Cave-Heaven Realm! Only one step away from being a Marquis!

In the entire Eastern Continent, apart from those Holy Lords and old monsters, who is worthy of my attention? A Mortal Dynasty. A pathetic place where even Spiritual Qi is thin. How could such a monster exist here?

That voice just now... was it a human, a god, or... the Dao? Qian Kun's worldview collapsed.

In that voice, there was no magic power, no pressure, not even any emotion. It simply existed. Its existence was the sole Law of this world.

Will Manifests as Law. When he said "noisy," everything in this world was no longer permitted to make a sound.

This... isn't this the legendary "Golden Mouth, Jade Word" that only a Saint can use? An absurd thought made Qian Kun shudder.

The few Holy Land Disciples behind him were in an even worse state. Their cultivation was far inferior. When that phrase "So noisy" rang out, their Divine Souls suffered excruciating pain, as if they were about to be crushed.

Without even a groan, blood leaked from their mouths and noses, and they collapsed straight onto the deck of the flying boat. Whether they were dead or alive, no one knew. They paid the price for their arrogance.

Above was doomsday. Below, the Capital of Great Xia felt as if it had been brushed by a spring breeze. The pressure that had been weighing on everyone's hearts, making it hard to breathe, was gone.

The kneeling commoners looked up in a daze. They could breathe again. They could move again. The despair of near-death from just a moment ago felt like a dream.

Supporting each other, they stood up and saw the beautiful flying boat in the sky and the old Daoist spitting blood. They were stunned at first. Then, they erupted into earth-shaking cheers.

"It's the Retired Emperor! The Retired Emperor has made a move!"

"Immortals fighting! No! It's our Immortal, cleaning up an outsider's wild Immortal!"

"I told you! What kind of crappy Holy Land? In front of our Retired Emperor, it's nothing but a fart! Look at that cowardly look of him spitting blood, it's hilarious! Keep acting tough!"

The commoners didn't understand what the Cave-Heaven Realm was. They only saw one fact: a very arrogant guy came to show off, and was knocked down by one sentence from our own even more awesome Immortal. That was enough.

For a time, the entire city was filled with shouts of "The Retired Emperor is mighty!"

In the Golden Throne Hall, Li Zhan, who had been nearly exhausted by the pressure, let out a sigh of relief. He was drenched in sweat, gasping for air.

He lifted his flushed, swollen face and looked outside the hall. He saw the old Daoist who had possessed an Immortal air, now spitting blood in a miserable state. Li Zhan was stunned at first.

"Imperial Grandfather!" Li Zhan's voice trembled, and he clenched his fists in excitement. It was Imperial Grandfather. It was Imperial Grandfather again.

At his most desperate moment, when it felt like the face of Great Xia was about to be trampled into the mud, that man had once again, using a method he couldn't understand, turned the heavens upside down.

He had heard that voice clearly just now. Indifferent, but it was definitely Imperial Grandfather's voice. What kind of power was that? Two words, and that "Immortal" spat blood on the spot.

Li Zhan's awe for Li Xuan had reached its peak. It wasn't just admiration. It was almost... faith.

With such an Imperial Grandfather here, why would Great Xia not flourish, and why would the world not be settled?

His gaze swept over his colleagues who were scattered about the hall, finally landing outside the hall. It landed on the figure who had once been high and mighty, but was now slumped on the ground. Wei Yong.

Wei Yong was dumbfounded. He slumped at the entrance of his own home, the color drained from his face. His brain had stopped working. What happened?

The script wasn't supposed to be like this. Shouldn't the Holy Land Immortal have descended, slapped Li Xuan and his grandson to death, and then he himself would become a lackey, rising to power from then on?

How... how did the Immortal lose first? That voice just now... that nightmarish voice, it came again. It was that old monster Li Xuan.

"No... impossible..." Wei Yong muttered to himself; he couldn't accept it. Could it be that Li Xuan's strength was something even the Holy Land couldn't handle?

Could the towering backer he had gambled his entire family's life to rely on actually be so fragile? He felt a chill shoot straight to his crown. He felt that this time, he had really miscalculated. He had played a dangerous game.

...In the sky. Qian Kun forcibly suppressed his blood Qi, his eyes fixed on the imperial palace below. Sometimes terrified. Sometimes ferocious.

Run? The thought had just emerged before he snuffed it out. Are you kidding? In front of such an existence, he felt like a mosquito stuck on a spider web. With one thought from the other party, he would die.

Space and time had no meaning in front of them. He couldn't run. Since he couldn't run, there was only one path left.

Qian Kun's face looked worse than if he were crying. He tried his best to squeeze out a smile he thought was "respectful," and shouted down below in a trembling, fawning tone:

"I don't know... I don't know which Senior is cultivating here?"

"Junior Qian Kun of the Ziyang Holy Land has no intention to offend. I was only following the Holy Lord's orders to investigate a phenomenon of heaven and earth... I absolutely do not, absolutely do not have any intention to be an enemy of Senior!"

He lowered his stance significantly, even using the term "Junior." A powerhouse at the Ninth Heaven of the Cave-Heaven Realm now appeared at a loss, stammering his explanation. He was terrified that if he said one wrong word, he would be killed on the spot.

This scene made countless citizens of Great Xia feel deeply satisfied. What kind of crappy Holy Land Immortal? In front of the Retired Emperor, didn't he still have to kneel?

But his "humility" did not receive any response. The depths of the imperial palace were terrifyingly silent. This dead silence was more frightening to Qian Kun than any beating or scolding.

He knew the other party was waiting for his attitude. But he didn't know what to do. As a dignified Grand Elder of the Holy Land, did he really have to kneel to a native of a Mortal Dynasty? His face, the Holy Land's face, would not allow it.

Just as he was hesitating and sweating profusely, that indifferent voice sounded again. This time, it was no longer lazy. It carried majesty.

"What kind of thing are you?"

"Are you worthy of standing while speaking in front of me?"