Back then, Consort Xian had already been a royal consort for five years, and her daughter Yang Xi was already four years old.
But in the end, Mother used her powerful means to win the palace struggle and surpassed Consort Xian to become the Empress.
Because of that, the relationship between Consort Xian and Mother had always been bad.
One could even say it was hostile.
Naturally, Yang Xi, as Consort Xian's daughter, was also hated by Mother.
Before Mother became Empress, she'd already pressured Father to depose Consort Xian. Yang Xi, to avoid misfortune, joined the Royal City Division and took on missions overseas.
"So in Yang Xi's eyes, Mother is absolutely the big villain."
Yang Cheng rubbed his nose.
Thinking about Yang Xi's life in her previous life, she really had the vibe of a strong female lead.
Driven out of the palace by a vicious empress, exiled overseas, and eventually became a god-level constable famous across the seas.
She was born with the Iceheart Jade Meridians.
With this constitution, her meridians were like cold jade—no inner fire could rise, naturally suppressing chaotic internal energy.
When cultivating internal techniques, there was no risk of deviation, and she could quickly detect flaws in poisonous or demonic arts.
Her emotions didn't disturb her internal energy either, so she could remain totally calm during interrogations and torture.
Later, she even became a god and traveled to other worlds.
But now, Yang Xi had actually returned to Great Zhou.
This was clearly something that never happened in his past life, obviously a new butterfly effect caused by him.
And Yang Xi clearly didn't recognize Yang Cheng as her younger brother, so she hadn't identified him.
At the same time, Yang Xi had hidden her identity as the Eldest Princess of Great Zhou extremely well. Other than the inner circle of the royal family, hardly anyone outside knew the truth.
Right then—
That dwarf Martial Sovereign suddenly shot out, clearly targeting Chu Xianyin.
"Not good."
Yang Xi's face changed, and she was about to step in to save Chu Xianyin.
But just then, the other shady figures attacked her from all sides, forcing her to defend and leaving no room to help Chu Xianyin.
Chu Xianyin's face crumpled in panic. She regretted not just staying behind the Crown Prince where it was safer.
Yang Xi's heart sank. She could already imagine Chu Xianyin being captured.
But right then, the young boy beside Chu Xianyin suddenly struck out with one palm.
Yang Xi shook her head and sighed inwardly.
That dwarf man was a first-tier Martial Sovereign. Even if he wasn't that strong by Martial Sovereign standards, no child should be able to block him.
Boom!
The next moment, that dwarf Martial Sovereign flew backward even faster than he came. He slammed into the ground, smashing a deep crater into the plaza.
And more than that, he seemed seriously injured—he didn't move at all.
Everyone around was stunned.
The other shady attackers all locked their eyes on Yang Cheng.
"Friend, we're from the Seven Kill Society. You'd better stay out of this, or you know what the consequences will be."
A hook-nosed man warned.
"Seven Kill Society?"
Yang Cheng smiled. "You sewer rats actually dare come into my Great Zhou?"
Yang Xi's face changed drastically. "Seven Kill Society? It's you?!"
Seven Kill Society!
Chu Xianyin was also shocked. She hadn't expected to provoke such a notorious assassin group.
These were the people who once dared to assassinate even the Crown Prince Yang Cheng of Great Zhou—completely reckless.
The assassins turned their attention fully to Yang Cheng. "Friend, are you really going to go against us?"
"I don't want to go against you."
Yang Cheng shook his head.
The killers visibly relaxed.
But Yang Xi muttered in her heart, 'This is bad.' With only two people on her side, she really couldn't block all of them.
But the next moment, they all heard Yang Cheng speak again.
"You rats from the Seven Kill Society aren't even qualified to be my enemies."
"Alright, I don't want to waste time. Just be honest and tell me why you're here today, so maybe I'll let you die quickly."
The expressions on the Seven Kill Society members instantly turned dark. "Friend, being targeted by our Seven Kill Society isn't a good thing. You'd better think twice."
Yang Cheng thought for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense. Then tell me, how many gods does your Seven Kill Society have?"
He remembered that in the future, the Seven Kill Society was destroyed by Yang Xi.
But that was in the future. By then, Yang Xi had already become a god, so wiping them out wasn't surprising.
As for how strong they were now, he honestly wasn't sure.
"How many gods?"
The hook-nosed man's face turned grim. "Friend, are you playing with us? With the spiritual energy in this desolate realm, how could we possibly support the birth of a god? And if our Seven Kill Society had a god, why would we still be a killer group? We'd have already founded a nation and ruled the world."
"So, you don't have any gods."
Yang Cheng immediately relaxed. "In that case, how dare you keep yapping in front of me?"
"Bastard! Our Seven Kill Society's leader is a ninth-tier Martial Sovereign! He's no weaker than Su Lingchen. I advise you to watch your mouth!" the hook-nosed man snapped.
Yang Cheng couldn't help but laugh. "Su Lingchen already died by my hand. And your leader is even weaker than Su Lingchen—what could he possibly do to me?"
The Seven Kill Society members froze.
The people around them also looked stunned by the boy's bold words.
But then it seemed to click.
This was Zhen'nan Pass.
And the massive battle not long ago had taken place right outside the pass, on Old Yin Mountain.
Could it be…
The Seven Kill Society members suddenly felt a jolt in their hearts.
The hook-nosed man's voice trembled. "Frie—no, Your Excellency, may I ask who you are?"
"You people once tried to assassinate me, and now you don't even recognize me? That's way too amateur," Yang Cheng said, shaking his head.
"You… you're… the Crown Prince of Great Zhou, Yang Cheng!"
The Seven Kill Society assassins felt like their hearts had stopped.
The battle at Old Yin Mountain had already made Yang Cheng famous throughout the world, turning him into the most legendary figure in the desolate realm.
He personally killed Su Lingchen, a peak Martial Sovereign, and even harvested a god in the end.
"The Crown Prince of Great Zhou is supposed to be around eleven years old. He… he…"
One of the assassins spoke in terror.
Thud!
All of the Seven Kill Society killers dropped to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.
"Please spare us, Your Highness!"
They could only kowtow.
This time, they didn't even attempt to run.
The other party could kill a peak Martial Sovereign.
Running in front of someone like that would just be a joke.
So now, all they could do was beg for mercy.
Yang Xi and the dark-skinned man stood there frozen.
Chu Xianyin was stunned too.
She had heard about Yang Cheng's feats, but to be honest, they never really felt real to her.
He was just too young.
Especially seeing him now, her first instinct was still to treat him like a strong but young cultivator.
Only now did it finally hit her—this was the martial legend of the desolate realm, the one who killed a peak Martial Sovereign!
"It's him."
When Yang Xi finally came to her senses, her expression turned incredibly complicated.
The Crown Prince of Great Zhou—Yang Cheng!
Wasn't that her little brother?
Because of his mother, her own mother was still locked away in the Cold Palace, her life or death unknown.
And what the hell was he saying just now, to make the Seven Kill Society react like that?
She'd spent the past while chasing these assassins and hadn't had time to catch up on any news.
So even though Yang Cheng had already shocked the world—
She really had no idea.