Chapter 62 Arrogance

Under the fury of Demon Venerable Chi Xiao, his cultivation aura sent several human female Cultivators flying, crashing against the palace pillars and losing consciousness.

The Ten Thousand Races Talent List was about to be revealed, and the Place of Origin was about to open. All factions were staying still, afraid of causing trouble. Yet someone dared to intrude upon his territory at a time like this?

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao took a step forward and rushed toward the backyard.

The backyard, originally filled with volcanic rock, had turned into a massive crater. The rockery was shattered, fire marrow liquid splashed everywhere, and black pits were scorched into the ground.

In the center of the crater,

a deep blue spatial vortex slowly subsided, and the spatial Laws turned into silver electric arcs, crackling in the air.

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao floated in mid-air, gathering Crimson Demonic Flames in both hands, prepared to incinerate the intruder into ash.

At that moment,

a voice rang out from within the dust.

"Old thief Chi Xiao! Why are you still floating up there pretending to be some big bird? Hurry up and get down here to welcome the Lord!"

The voice was full of vigor, overbearing and arrogant, seemingly carrying the bluster of someone borrowing another's authority.

Hearing this voice, the demonic flames in Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's hands halted.

"Chong Batian?"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao thought he had misheard.

His eye twitched. What was going on? His arch-rival had come to his place? And was shouting about "welcoming the Lord"?

Welcoming the Lord?

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao was completely bewildered.

He was the local tyrant in Chiyan City; it was always others who welcomed him.

He didn't know of any "Lord" in the Demon Territory who would come to this desolate place. Even if an envoy from Demon Emperor City came, they would have to issue a decree in advance.

The dust dissipated.

Several figures appeared within Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's vertical pupils.

He saw his arch-rival.

At this moment, the demonic armor on Chong Batian's body was tattered and stained with blood. His face was full of pride and smugness, hands on his hips, head tilted back as he shouted at Chi Xiao.

In front of Chong Batian stood three people.

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's Divine Sense was like a large net, instantly covering the four of them. When it swept over the youth in white, his brows furrowed.

Profound Immortal?

He confirmed it three times. It was indeed the Late Stage of the Profound Immortal Realm. The aura was clean, without Impurities or the weathered sense of age.

His skeletal age was less than a hundred years.

A Profound Immortal... two True Immortals... and a Demon Venerable, Chong Batian, standing by with a respectful face like a lackey.

What kind of hellish combination was this?

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao looked down as if watching a fool. His anger was suppressed by this sense of absurdity. He descended from mid-air, landing on the edge of the crater, arms crossed, looking down at Chong Batian.

"Chong Batian, has magma seeped into your brain?"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's tone was full of mockery as he pointed at Gu Heng. "As a border Demon Venerable, no matter how miserable you've become, you shouldn't be so subservient to a human Profound Immortal, right?"

"You call this wet-behind-the-ears kid 'Lord'? Have you gone stir-crazy in that Blood-Vein Mine and come here to put on a show?"

Chong Batian let out a cold laugh.

"A frog in a well, failing to recognize Mt. Tai!"

He straightened his back, a hint of pity appearing in his eyes.

He now knew Gu Heng's true cultivation was only at the Profound Immortal Realm, but he had personally seen Gu Heng throw out that billion-foot-tall giant tower.

That was the Divine Court's supreme treasure, the heaven-reaching tower, which could suppress the Immortal Emperor Jiang Wuji until he spat blood like a dead dog. Holding a trump card that could insta-kill an Immortal Emperor made him a living ancestor.

Moreover, this living ancestor's way of doing things was extremely bizarre; he didn't even give face to Emperor Li and just fled across domains.

Chong Batian was now determined to cling tightly to this powerful thigh and, in passing, use his prestige to trample his usually high-and-mighty arch-rival.

"Old thief Chi Xiao, prick up your ears and listen well!"

Chong Batian pointed a finger at the sky, spittle flying everywhere. "Just half an hour ago, in the hands of this Lord—this Profound Immortal Lord—the Supreme Patriarch of the Taixu Sword Sect, Jiang Wuji, a mighty expert of the Immortal Emperor Realm, was suppressed by the Lord with a single hand! He didn't even dare to let out a fart!"

"The Lord didn't even use his full strength. He just casually threw out a Magic Treasure, crushing that Immortal Emperor's Sword Intent into powder and leveling a million miles around my Blood-Vein Mine!"

"If not for the Lord's mercy and his unwillingness to create more slaughter, that old man Jiang Wuji wouldn't even have ashes left by now!"

"You blind dog, you actually dare to be disrespectful to the Lord? Hurry up and kneel down to kowtow and admit your mistake. Perhaps if the Lord is in a good mood, he might leave you an intact corpse!"

Silence.

Tucked away in the back, the Old Dragon King covered his face with his dragon claws.

This Demon Race brat's ability to brag was more shameless than even this old dragon who had lived for tens of thousands of years. What "unwillingness to create more slaughter"? They clearly fled because they sensed Emperor Li's approaching aura!

After hearing these words, Demon Venerable Chi Xiao was stunned for three breaths.

Then...

"Pfft, hahaha—!"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao clutched his stomach and laughed wildly.

He pointed at Chong Batian, breathless. "Chong Batian, oh Chong Batian, I used to only know you were stupid, but I didn't expect you to be not just stupid, but insane! A Profound Immortal suppressing an Immortal Emperor with one hand? Do you take this Venerable for a three-year-old? How many demon crystals did you spend to have someone write such a ridiculous script?"

"You—"

Chong Batian's face turned red, wanting to retort.

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao suddenly stopped laughing, his gaze turning cold.

"The Immortal Emperor aura you mentioned, this Venerable indeed sensed it."

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao looked up toward the direction of the Blood-Vein Mine.

Even across infinitely distant domains, the earlier fluctuation of Sword Qi piercing the sky and the Demon Emperor's descent still caused a faint resonance in the space of Chiyan City.

"There were indeed big shots fighting over there, and Lord Emperor Li was also alerted."

"However, to say this kid caused that commotion? This Venerable wouldn't believe it even if killed!"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao lost his patience.

The Place of Origin was about to open; he didn't want to cause trouble or take in these people of unknown origin. If Emperor Li's wrath fell upon his head, it would be a catastrophe.

He waved his sleeve, dismissing them in a cold tone.

"This Venerable has no time to play house with you lunatics! Before I change my mind, take these ridiculous followers of yours and get out of Chiyan City immediately! Go wherever you want, just don't involve me! Otherwise..."

Before he could finish, Gu Heng suddenly looked up and met Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's eyes.

The System's voice rang out in Gu Heng's mind.

[Ding! Target meeting requirements detected: Late Stage Demon Venerable Cultivator 'Chi Xiao'.]

[Triggering 'Passing By' mechanism.]

[Passing By Chi Xiao's thousand years of cultivation... Passing By successful!]

[Bonus reward: Passing By target's personal Storage Ring, Passing By successful!]

The System notification ended.

The space around Gu Heng began to distort violently.

His original Late Stage Profound Immortal aura soared wildly like a rocket.

"Boom—!"

The dark red volcanic ash above the entire Chiyan City was forcibly pushed aside by a force.

From above the Nine Heavens, immortal music faintly sounded, and ten thousand golden rays of light pierced through the domain barriers, showering upon this City of Sin.

Immortal King Realm!

In just the blink of an eye, the aura on Gu Heng's body steadily came to a halt at the Early Stage of the Immortal King Realm.

"???"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao, who was about to say some harsh words and kill these people on the spot, had his words stuck in his throat.

He was stunned.

What happened?

An ant of a Profound Immortal just a second ago had somehow become an Immortal King on the spot in the time it took him to blink?

But what made Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's Soul tremble even more was not the surge in Gu Heng's cultivation.

It was himself.

In that instant just now, Demon Venerable Chi Xiao felt a portion of his condensed Demon Venerable Origin suddenly vanish.

A full thousand years of bitter cultivation.

Silently, just like that, it had... vanished from within his body.

His Realm, which was originally stable at the Late Stage of the Demon Venerable Realm, began to shake violently, faintly threatening to drop to the Middle Stage.

"What's going on?"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's face instantly turned pale. He looked into his Qi Sea in terror, confirming that the vanished thousand years of cultivation was no illusion.

"This youth... this youth is not right!"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao stared at the white-clothed youth before him. There were no spell-casting movements; what kind of Heaven-Defying evil technique was this?

Standing behind Gu Heng, Chong Batian saw everything.

Seeing Chi Xiao's expression as if he'd seen a ghost, and feeling the genuine Immortal King pressure from Gu Heng, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately... fortunately, I guessed correctly!"

Chong Batian roared inwardly, almost wanting to cry.

Previously at the Blood-Vein Mine, he had also been instantly drained of a thousand years of cultivation and dropped in Realm, which was why he was fooled into believing this person was the Deputy Hall Master of the Immortal Realm Law Enforcement Hall.

Although Gu Heng had just admitted he only had a Profound Immortal's cultivation and his identity might be fake, his method of draining cultivation had not only remained unchanged but had become even more aggressive. He could even convert it into his own Realm on the spot.

Thinking this, Chong Batian's awe for Gu Heng reached its peak, and he could no longer harbor even the slightest thought of rebellion.

By the edge of the crater,

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao finally recovered from his extreme shock.

Fear reached its limit and instantly turned into hysterical anger.

"What evil technique is this!?"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao let out a roar, his eyes bloodshot. His Demon Venerable pressure poured out, shaking the surrounding volcanic rocks into powder.

He would never allow this to happen. A thousand years of cultivation—how many life-and-death battles had he fought to gain that foundation?

"Kid!"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao pointed at Gu Heng, his voice hoarse. "Although this Venerable doesn't know how you performed this sleight of hand and used such low-down methods to bewitch Chong Batian, but..."

A flash of venom appeared in his eyes.

This was Chiyan City, his home turf.

Inside his Storage Ring, there was an ancient killing Formation Plate he had dug up from the outskirts of the Place of Origin. If he brought it out, he could catch them all in one net.

"But since you dared to come today, all of you can turn into nourishment in the magma!"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao let out a cold laugh, his demonic sense reaching for the Storage Ring on his left index finger, intending to activate that ancient Formation Plate immediately.

However,

one second passed.

Two seconds passed.

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's Divine Sense swept over the position of his left index finger, but it was as if it had swept over a void.

There was no familiar Formation Plate aura; it seemed he had lost connection.

"Something's wrong..."

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's expression froze.

He suddenly looked down at his left hand.

His index finger was empty.

That Storage Ring, which had accompanied him for tens of thousands of years and contained all his wealth and trump cards...

was gone.

"Where is my ring?"

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's pupils shrank.

He looked up in disbelief, fixing his gaze once again on the white-clothed youth standing in the center of the crater.

Gu Heng had changed his posture at some unknown point.

He lowered his head slightly, his right hand slowly rising. Between his long index finger and thumb, he was casually pinching a ring that shimmered with a faint blood-red light.

While fiddling with the Blood-Jade Ring, Gu Heng muttered to himself, "The aesthetic of this Demon Territory is truly rugged. Even if the material is coarse, why are the things inside so pathetic too?"

"A few withered weeds, some low-quality demon crystals, only that plate carved with broken formation patterns is somewhat interesting... Poor, way too poor."

This... when?

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao felt his proud Demon Venerable Dao Heart let out a crisp cracking sound at this moment.

He hadn't seen when Gu Heng had made his move at all.

If instantly draining a thousand years of his cultivation could barely be attributed to some extremely rare evil technique, then now, silently erasing his Life-Bond Mark and stripping him of his Storage Ring had completely shattered all his delusions.

Facing such a monster whose cultivation could soar from Profound Immortal to Immortal King in an instant and whose methods were too bizarre to be understood by common logic, the ancient killing formation he had been proud of and all his trump cards had become a huge joke.

Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, and cold sweat slid down his cheek. He knew that as long as the white-clothed youth before him was willing, it wouldn't have been his ring taken just now, but his head.

His murderous words from just now were still echoing in his mind: "But since you dared to come today..."

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

Just as Chong Batian thought Chi Xiao was going to fight for his life and prepared for battle...

The killing intent on Demon Venerable Chi Xiao's face instantly receded, replaced by a smile as warm as a spring breeze. His hands, which had been frozen in mid-air, were lowered naturally, and he gave a deep bow.

"But..."

"As the saying goes, a visitor is a guest. Moreover, having a distinguished guest with such peerless Divine Might as your Lord visit is truly an honor that brings glory to this dilapidated Chiyan City!"

As he spoke, he stepped aside and extended his right hand, making an extremely standard and respectful gesture of invitation.

"I was offensive just now; this little demon was blind. The wind and sand outside are strong. My Lords, please, come inside the palace to rest!"

"..."