Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

”Fei Qingchen, you old bastard, don’t you spout nonsense. Which eye of yours saw Brother Yun Xiao destroy the statue?”

Under everyone’s gaze, Nangong Xiaofeng’s heart also gave a fierce jump, yet at this moment he spoke out loudly, finally letting the crowd know the name of that rough‑clothed youth.

To be honest, as a direct descendant of the Nangong Family, Nangong Xiaofeng naturally hated Emperor Canglong Palace to the bone, but he knew that he and his parents had been hiding east and west all these years, and with his own strength, to dare proactively provoke Emperor Canglong Palace would only be a dead end.

This time, because of the disturbance caused by Gong Jinzhu, on his way to the Yannan Mountain Range Nangong Xiaofeng had indeed heard some news about the Empress Statue in Yulong City being destroyed; he had once been so excited that he drank several big bowls of wine over it.

It was just that Yun Xiao hadn’t mentioned it earlier, so even Nangong Xiaofeng himself had no idea that that matter was actually done by this newly acquainted brother of his.

But he also knew how serious a matter this was. If such a charge were really nailed down, then in the vast Nine-layered Dragon Cloud there would probably no longer be any place for Brother Yun Xiao to stand.

Thus Nangong Xiaofeng stood out at the first moment to argue for Yun Xiao. After all, according to the information he had, when the Empress Statue in Yulong City was destroyed back then, no one knew what had happened; the one who destroyed the statue had never appeared at all, so naturally no one knew anything.

Nangong Xiaofeng was ninety percent certain in his heart that this matter was Yun Xiao’s doing, but a thing done like this absolutely could not be admitted no matter what. When the time came, not only the Emperor Palace, even those completely unrelated Cultivators would want to capture Yun Xiao to claim a great merit, right?

Ask yourself, among the human cultivators above the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, apart from the remnants of the exterminated Four Great Families, who wouldn’t want to find a chance to curry favor with Emperor Canglong Palace? To capture and present a man who had destroyed the Empress Statue and committed such monstrous treason would undoubtedly be a great achievement.

”Nangong Xiaofeng, you, as a remnant brat of the Nangong Family, can hardly even protect yourself, and you still have the mind to care about someone else’s life or death?”

Hearing Nangong Xiaofeng’s mocking words, a gleam flashed across Fei Qingchen’s old eyes, then he said softly, ”Lord Inspector, that is the remnant brat of the Nangong Family. If we capture him, we might be able to easily obtain the Secret Treasure hidden by the Nangong Family.”

It had to be said that Fei Qingchen still understood Nangong Xiaofeng quite well. After all, a young man of about thirty years old had already cultivated his Meridian Qi Cultivation to the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage; it was obvious that among the remnants of the Nangong Family his status was not low.

”Since that’s the case, then we’ll settle them together!”

After a short moment, Lou Liheng had already steadied his mind. A hint of cold fierceness flashed in his eyes, and an overbearing wave of energy surged out from his body.

Although, due to Yun Xiao’s deliberate control, Lou Liheng was unable to sense his true cultivation, the former’s extremely young age was extremely deceptive, making Lou Liheng not have too many scruples.

Not to mention anything else, even that Nangong Family genius, Nangong Xiaofeng, was only at the Heavenly Realm Middle Stage. This brat barely over twenty years old—how strong could he possibly be?

Don’t look at how Lou Liheng was only one minor realm higher than Fei Qingchen; this was still a minor realm in the Heavenly Realm. If they really fought, even ten or a hundred Fei Qingchens might not be his, Lou Liheng’s, match.

It was just that if Lou Liheng knew that even the Artifact Spirit of the Half-step Holy Rank Chongxiao Stairs, as well as Chongxiao Sect’s peerless genius Jiang Jingyu, had once been defeated at Yun Xiao’s hands, who knew whether he would still have such overwhelming confidence.

Unfortunately, Lou Liheng knew none of this. He only knew that this youth dared to provoke Emperor Canglong Palace and had even destroyed the Empress Statue; that alone gave him every reason to seek death and could absolutely not be allowed to live.

If they really let this fellow who had destroyed the Empress Statue roam free across the Continent, where would the prestige of Emperor Canglong Palace be in the future? Wouldn’t that mean anyone could come stomp on it?

Perhaps this could also be considered one of the duties of Lou Liheng and these Inspectors: they had to forge Emperor Canglong Palace into the Supreme Sovereign above the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, not allowing anyone to profane it at will.

Bang!

Yet just as Lou Liheng, this Heavenly Realm Late Stage Expert, was letting a majestic aura surge forth from his body, an equally majestic wave of energy abruptly rose up behind Yun Xiao and Nangong Xiaofeng.

”Careful!”

Nangong Xiaofeng was not a Meridian Refining Master, so his Power of Soul was far inferior to Yun Xiao’s. In this instant, the latter had already spoken out to warn them, but it seemed to be a little too late.

Fortunately, Yun Xiao was far from merely shouting a warning. The moment he sensed that with Nangong Xiaofeng’s reaction and speed it was absolutely impossible for him to avoid this sneak attack, his right hand stretched out lightly and slapped the latter to the side.

This palm of Yun Xiao’s looked gentle, but it was actually just right. At the very moment when terror had just appeared on Nangong Xiaofeng’s face, his body was already moving sideways uncontrollably by several feet, and then he saw a clawed hand faintly wrapped in Blood Light sweep past the side of his neck.

Immediately after, Nangong Xiaofeng’s eyes narrowed. He abruptly saw that blood‑shrouded claw, after sweeping past his neck, did not pause in the slightest, but fiercely grabbed toward Yun Xiao.

”Brother Yun Xiao, wa—”

In his panic, Nangong Xiaofeng let out a startled cry, but at the very moment his voice rang out, Yun Xiao’s right arm swept back with the momentum, colliding fiercely with that clawed hand wreathed in Blood Light.

Pa!

A strange sound of claw and palm colliding rang out, and only then did everyone finally see clearly that the one who had just launched an attack from behind Nangong Xiaofeng was actually that Li Xuefu, the one known as the Heavenly Slaughterer.

”Huh?”

Seeing that his sneak attack, which had been unexpected and sure to hit, had actually failed to take effect, and that the vicious claw he followed up with had even been blocked by that coarse-clothed youth, Li Xuefu could not help but let out a low exclamation from his mouth.

However, that exclamation lasted for only an instant before Li Xuefu felt an extremely violent force explode from that coarse-clothed youth’s palm, forcing him to retreat several steps in midair despite himself.

”Why is this brat’s strength so terrifyingly strong?”

After retreating several steps, a trace of doubt flashed in Li Xuefu’s eyes, and a hint of shock swept through his heart. Even though he hadn’t used his full strength just now, the other party’s Physical Strength was still a bit too monstrous, wasn’t it?

”Who are you, sir? Why did you strike from the shadows?”

Yun Xiao’s wrist trembled slightly, and his face didn’t look good either. He knew for a fact he had never met this old fellow shrouded in Blood Energy before, yet the other party had attacked Nangong Xiaofeng without even asking the reason. How could his mood possibly be pleasant?

”This brat is a remnant of the Nangong Family. If I don’t hurry to make a move, am I supposed to stand by and watch others attack first?”

Li Xuefu was straightforward as well, not bothering to conceal his thoughts in the slightest. As soon as these words came out, quite a few people revealed looks of realization, and there were even several cultivators who grew restless.

From Fei Qingchen’s earlier words, everyone had already guessed Nangong Xiaofeng’s identity, and now, with the Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure about to appear, this youth of the Nangong Family would clearly be of great use.

After all, many hidden ruins, especially some treasure lands left behind from the Ancient Times, required the Essence Blood of direct descendants to be opened. It was obviously because Li Xuefu had thought of this point that he had struck so abruptly, trying to seize the initiative.

”Li Xuefu, the Nangong Family’s remnant is an important figure whom my Emperor Canglong Palace has explicitly ordered captured. You dare interfere?”

Yet this time, before Yun Xiao could respond, Fei Qingchen on the other side could no longer hold back. He directly skipped mentioning the Yongxiu City Emperor Palace and brought out the entire Emperor Canglong Palace, clearly intending to use it to intimidate others.

”When the Emperor Canglong Palace acts, if anyone dares to meddle, they will bear the consequences themselves!”

Lou Liheng’s expression had turned somewhat grim. Had the Emperor Canglong Palace really been too mild in its conduct these past years, that all these people actually dared to disregard the prestige of the Emperor Palace? It seemed it was time to knock some sense into them.

”Hmph, even if I don’t make a move, do you really think your Emperor Palace would ever let me go?”

At those words, a cold smile appeared on Li Xuefu’s face, and Fei Qingchen’s face involuntarily stiffened. He had to admit to himself that this was indeed the truth.

Back then, Li Xuefu had killed a Yongxiu City Emperor Palace Heavenly Realm Early Stage Elder and made Fei Qingchen lose a great deal of face. If not for the Nangong Family’s Secret Treasure being on the verge of appearing at this very moment, they might well have already moved to strike and kill Li Xuefu on the spot.

Just as Li Xuefu had said, since the two sides had already formed an irreconcilable grudge, what did it matter if there was one more feud or one less?

So the words Fei Qingchen and Lou Liheng had spoken in succession could only intimidate those Ordinary Cultivators who had no grievances with the Emperor Palace, but they could not cow enemies like Li Xuefu and Yun Xiao, who already had old scores with the Emperor Palace.

”But then again, I can ignore your Fei Qingchen’s face, yet I still have to give this old brother a bit of face. These two brats, I’ll leave them to you for now!”

Who would have thought that just when everyone believed Li Xuefu would never back down no matter what, such words would come out of the Heavenly Slaughterer’s mouth, making quite a few people curl their lips.

”Tch, so this guy’s afraid of dying after all!”

One Heavenly Realm Early Stage onlooker sneered softly, but he forgot that he himself was also someone who cherished his life. Otherwise, why hadn’t he dared to make a move right now to seize control of Nangong Xiaofeng?

Of course, these onlooking cultivators had no idea that after that brief exchange just now, Li Xuefu had already developed a trace of fear toward Yun Xiao. At the very least, in terms of Physical Strength, that coarse-clothed youth was in no way inferior to him, the Heavenly Slaughterer.

Since he did not have absolute confidence he could subdue this coarse-clothed youth, the cautious Li Xuefu chose to leave this testing-the-water opportunity to the two from the Emperor Palace.

Perhaps through the battle between both sides later, he could glimpse that youth’s true background, and at the same time decide whether or not it was worth openly opposing the two from the Emperor Palace. That would be killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, Li Xuefu had absolute confidence that, as a lone wanderer, he was not like the Emperor Canglong Palace with its vast foundations. Having been provoked by that coarse-clothed kid, how could the Emperor Canglong Palace possibly let the matter rest so easily?