Chapter 1063: Face Changing

The figure formed by endless radiance was an enraged bald elder, his entire body ablaze with light as if he were the sovereign of all life.

“Who dares kill my daughter Xiayin?” His furious roar shook the heavens and earth, an overwhelming killing intent sweeping in all directions. Many cultivators on the streets felt their hearts turn to ice under this murderous aura, their souls seemingly freezing, their heartbeats pounding like drums. They stared in terror at that figure. The patrons in the tavern, as well as the manager who had just served Dongbo Xueying, gaped at the luminous figure hovering in the distance.

Who in the Tu Hua Kingdom did not recognize that terrifying presence?

“Pillar King! Pillar King!”

“It’s the Pillar King!”

“The Pillar King is here. We’re doomed. Truly doomed.”

The Tu Hua Kingdom had only two Pillar Kings, both peerless experts at the tenth level of the Chaos Realm. Their status was a full tier above that of other titled kings.

In the Tu Hua Kingdom, the highest authority was the Monarch, followed by the two Pillar Kings. When they were enraged, countless lives would perish! Yet the people of Tu Hua still revered and worshipped the Pillar Kings, for it was only with these two pillars and their Monarch that the kingdom could resist foreign enemies and demonic forces.

Without enough powerful defenders, the Tu Hua Kingdom would be overrun by demons.

But even with this reverence, the cultivators now facing imminent death were filled with terror. They didn’t want to die! Some even felt wronged—they were truly innocent bystanders.

“I don’t want to die! I haven’t even found my Dao companion yet!”

“No, no…”

“I was saving up enough cosmic crystals to send my son to the Nanyun Sacred Sect as an outer disciple, to learn the ‘Twelve Forms of Nanyun.’ Now it’s all for nothing. Under the Pillar King’s wrath, we’ll likely be obliterated with a mere thought.”

Some despaired in unwillingness, others faced it with calm acceptance.

Meanwhile, the soldiers present were overjoyed.

Few held any hope for Dongbo Xueying, for the influence of the Pillar King was too great. In the eyes of Tu Hua’s people, he was a match for a Cosmic God! Without Cosmic Gods intervening, the Pillar King could sweep through all Chaos Realm experts. Though that “white-robed youth” was formidable, the aura he had displayed earlier was merely that of the Chaos Realm—far less dazzling and domineering than the Pillar King now.

“It was me,” Dongbo Xueying said casually, pouring himself another cup of wine. He glanced at the radiant bald elder in the distance, sensing his fury and killing intent, then continued nonchalantly, “What of it? You want to kill me?”

The bald elder’s gaze instantly locked onto the white-robed youth—the enemy who had slain his daughter. How audacious! To still be drinking at a time like this!

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, the bald elder shuddered. The murderous rage in his heart vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling coldness. He scrutinized the white-robed youth with trembling focus. Though Dongbo Xueying usually concealed his aura while traveling, his appearance remained unchanged. He was, after all, a newly risen peerless expert from the distant “Four Black Devil Kingdoms” in the southern reaches of the Xiafeng Ancient Nation. In Tu Hua, few knew of Dongbo Xueying—mostly Chaos Realm experts and scions of noble families who paid special attention to intelligence.

Even Dongbo Xueying himself didn’t bother collecting information on rising experts from minor nations near the Ancestral or Myriad Realms Ancient Nations. But given his status, the Nanyun Sacred Sect naturally provided him with the latest intelligence.

Noble scions of Tu Hua, however, had to gather such information themselves.

Thus, few recognized Dongbo Xueying.

But as one of Tu Hua’s two Pillar Kings and the patriarch of the Yang Clan, Yang Xiong had naturally long since acquired intelligence on Dongbo Xueying.

“Him? Ying Shan Xueying?” The bald elder’s entire body turned cold, his heart trembling violently. “Thunder King Mo Chao, guardian of the Heavenly Sword Dao, couldn’t withstand a single move from him—captured alive by the Five-Phase Sealing Art! At best, my strength is only on par with Thunder King Mo Chao, perhaps even slightly inferior.”

“With the Five-Phase Sealing Art, a single move would end me.”

The bald elder knew this all too well.

He had lived too long. Born a commoner in the Xiafeng Ancient Nation, he had clawed his way to his current strength through deceit, treachery, and life-and-death struggles. Even now, he had no intention of returning to Xiafeng—there, his power was insignificant. Why not remain in Tu Hua, where he could reign supreme?

As for his earlier fury and killing intent? Gone without a trace.

To save his own life, he would abandon all his children without hesitation. With 265 offspring, what did one daughter’s death matter?

…

“Not at all, not at all!”

The bald elder instantly suppressed his aura, descending to the ground. His face broke into an ingratiating smile, so warm it bordered on obsequious. In a few strides, he reached the tavern and even bowed slightly to Dongbo Xueying, apologizing with a fawning tone, “Forgive me, forgive me! That wretched girl offended Lord Xueying—she deserved death! Even if you hadn’t acted, I would have. The fool didn’t know her place.”

His voice carried only to their immediate surroundings.

Only he and Dongbo Xueying could hear. The tavern patrons and street-side cultivators remained oblivious.

He could grovel before Dongbo Xueying, but he didn’t want the others to witness it.

“What’s happening?”

“The Pillar King… he seems…”

Though they couldn’t hear, they could see.

They saw Pillar King Yang Xiong’s enthusiastic smile, even his bow of apology to the white-robed youth.

“Wow.”

“They’ve encountered a true heavyweight.”

“Who is he?”

“Someone even the Pillar King fears—a Cosmic God?”

“Must be a Cosmic God.”

The tavern manager, patrons, and street-side cultivators felt a surge of relief. There was hope—they might survive after all.

Dongbo Xueying sipped his wine indifferently. “Yang Xiong, aside from this attendant here, none of these cultivators provoked your daughter. Yet Xiayin sought to slaughter them all—no different from the fiends of the Black Devil Great Marsh. Since she wished to massacre indiscriminately, I simply returned the favor.”

“What? She dared do this? I knew she was ruthless, but this…” Yang Xiong feigned outrage, though he had long been aware of his daughter’s cruelty.

“Whoosh.”

A new figure appeared in the distance—a portly man whose steps caused illusory flowers to bloom around him. Every cultivator present felt an inexplicable joy welling up in their hearts.

“Monarch!” All bowed in deep reverence.

The newcomer was none other than the Monarch of Tu Hua.

“So it’s Ying Shan Xueying. Visiting my Tu Hua Kingdom without informing me?” The Monarch smiled, then glanced at the bald elder. “Yang Xiong, your daughter actually offended Ying Shan Xueying? You’ll need to make proper amends at the banquet later.”

“Of course, of course,” the bald elder said hastily.

“Greetings, Monarch.” Dongbo Xueying rose to his feet. While he could disregard Yang Xiong, he had to show some respect to the Monarch.

“Haha… I’ve long heard of your fame, Ying Shan Xueying. Never thought we’d meet so soon. It seems fate binds us, Brother Xueying.” The Monarch’s warmth was palpable—within moments, he was already addressing Dongbo Xueying as “brother.”

This was natural.

Even now, their strengths were comparable. But with the mastery of the Five-Phase Sealing Art, Dongbo Xueying’s ascension to Cosmic God in the Void lineage was all but certain. Once that happened, he would surpass the Tu Hua Monarch. Moreover, behind Ying Shan Xueying stood an even more terrifying figure—the Nanyun Monarch!

Though the Nanyun Monarch had to tread carefully around the invincible existences of the Six Great Ancient Nations, he could effortlessly crush the rulers of third-rate minor kingdoms like Tu Hua.

“It’s him… Yang Xiong.” The attendant, Ba Tuochen, stared at the bald elder, first in despair, then in shock as he witnessed Yang Xiong’s subservience to the white-robed youth—not even daring to protest his daughter’s death.

“Monarch.”

Then he saw the Monarch of Tu Hua himself, the kingdom’s mightiest, treating the white-robed youth with enthusiastic camaraderie.

“Brother Xueying, come, come! Let’s go to my palace. Why eat here? My delicacies and wines far surpass this place,” the Monarch urged.

“No need for formalities, Monarch,” Dongbo Xueying replied. “I have matters to attend to and cannot linger.”

“Senior!”

The attendant Ba Tuochen suddenly called out.

The surroundings had fallen silent—who would dare speak when even the Monarch and Yang Xiong were fawning over the white-robed youth? This sudden shout drew everyone’s attention, including the Monarch, Yang Xiong, and Dongbo Xueying.

Ba Tuochen had never before been the focus of the Monarch’s gaze.

“Senior.” Ba Tuochen looked directly at Dongbo Xueying and knelt heavily with a thud.

He knew—if he missed this chance, he would be doomed for eternity.