The assassins nodded in terror without hesitation.
Yang Xi swallowed hard. Her own younger brother, the Crown Prince, was actually this terrifying.
"That's not even all," Chu Xianyin added. "After the Crown Prince killed Su Lingchen, a god from another realm descended, wanting to kill him too. But then Her Majesty the Empress and the Marquis Champion appeared. They heavily injured that god, and the Crown Prince took the chance to finish him off. It really boosted the prestige of our Wasteland Realm's martial world."
Yang Xi stood frozen in place.
Then, her expression flickered several times.
She had returned to Great Zhou this time to see if there was any way to rescue her mother.
But now, with the Empress, the Marquis Champion, and the Crown Prince all being this powerful, did she still have any chance?
Yang Xi couldn't help but feel a trace of despair.
At the same time…
Yang Cheng was relentlessly pursuing the assassin who had tried to stab him earlier.
The assassin was extremely fast. But how could he possibly escape from Yang Cheng, who had mastered the Divine Ability · Shrinking the Earth to an Inch?
After leaping out of the Western Pass and crossing several mountain peaks in a row, the assassin suddenly froze in place.
Yang Cheng was already standing in front of him.
In that instant, the assassin's hair stood on end.
"How can you be this strong?"
The assassin's face turned grim. "When Qingming Sect gave us the intel, we thought they were exaggerating. How could a backwater youth from a mayfly world possibly be that powerful? But now… you're even scarier than they said."
"Qingming Sect?" Yang Cheng frowned.
"That's right," the assassin said. "Qingming Sect has placed a bounty of 10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones on your head. Right now, there's no telling how many terrifying figures are after you. I just happened to be close to the edge of the Wasteland Realm, so I got here first. The real experts are still on the way. Like the Night Owl from Black Serpent Society—he's someone who's escaped from the hands of gods."
Yang Cheng's eyes narrowed.
10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones?
Even he, the one being hunted, felt tempted. No wonder so many others were.
Just then, a flash of ruthless intent flickered in the assassin's eyes.
Buzz!
The twilight sky seemed to droop. Black mist swirled across the heavens.
The leaves nearby rustled without wind. Then, in a crisp chime, a flash of cold light split the evening haze.
A dagger slid silently from the assassin's sleeve. Its chilling gleam was so intense that it dyed everything within three zhang in a cold, ghostly hue.
This was a divine weapon.
Everything the assassin had said before was just a ploy to lull Yang Cheng into carelessness, all for this very moment of ambush.
10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones—enough for him to risk his life.
"Go to hell!"
Before the words even finished, his body blurred into shadow and lunged forward.
This strike embodied the profound truths of the Dao of Killing. The edge of the blade cut so sharply that even the void rippled.
But just as the icy blade came within three inches of Yang Cheng's throat, a clear sword hum pierced the air.
Yang Cheng casually raised a hand. Two smooth, jade-like fingers effortlessly pinched the deadly strike in place.
The terrifying strength of his Primordial Golden Body was on full display in that instant.
His physical body was growing more monstrous by the day.
At this point, his body alone was comparable to a powerful artifact.
"This... how is this possible!"
The assassin let out a broken screech like a bellows giving out. The reflection in his pupils was no longer a boy—but a god.
Yang Cheng's lips curled into a faint smile. With a slight twitch of his fingers, he easily snatched the dagger from the man's hand.
The assassin instantly made a split-second decision. A blood-red talisman hidden in his chest burst into flames.
As blood mist surged, his body turned into a streak of light, fleeing backward at full speed. His shrill laugh tore through the sky and churned the clouds: "Yang Cheng, you brat! With this kind of killing formation targeting you, even a god would fall! Just you wait!"
"If you've come, why leave in such a hurry?"
Yang Cheng stood with his hands behind his back. The sword qi in his sleeve didn't stir in the slightest, but his feet had already stepped into the Divine Ability · Shrinking the Earth to an Inch.
In an instant, the world flipped. He was already blocking the path the blood-red light had to pass through.
The next second, his fingertip gently tapped forward. The Shura Sword Domain unfolded, and invisible sword intent pierced through the void.
The moment the blood light exploded, a blooming flower of blood burst open at the center of the assassin's forehead.
"A sword... Sword Domain—you're a monster…"
The assassin's eyes were filled with sheer terror.
Bang!
The corpse crashed to the ground, startling a flock of cold crows into flight.
Yang Cheng bent down and picked up a jade slip. When his divine sense entered, Qingming Sect's bounty notice unfolded slowly within his mind.
As expected—10,000,000 top-grade spirit stones.
"A killer who escaped from the hands of a god?" He crushed the jade slip, letting the shattered pieces scatter in the wind. "Interesting. I'll be waiting. Come and test this three-foot blade of mine."
The setting sun was like blood, casting a golden edge along the folds of Yang Cheng's robe.
He looked toward the sky above. Sword intent shimmered in his eyes, as if his gaze alone could shake the heavens.
Then, Yang Cheng turned and left.
A Martial Sovereign at the ninth level lay dead in the wilderness.
After he left, large numbers of savage beasts emerged, kicking off a feast.
This was the flesh and blood of a Martial Sovereign.
Perhaps, before long, a new legend would rise in the world of beasts in this forested mountain range.
Back at the Western Pass.
The zither contest at Jade Zither Pavilion had come to an end.
Although some chaos broke out midway, thanks to Yang Cheng's timely intervention, the event was still completed properly.
When he returned, Yang Cheng noticed that Yang Xi and the Seven Kill Society assassins were gone. Curious, he asked, "Where are the assassins from Seven Kill Society?"
Chu Xianyin replied with an odd expression, "Constable Yang sent them to the authorities to be processed according to the law."
She had discovered that Yang Xi, this Divine Constable, had a deep obsession with law and order. There was no way she'd ever make an exception. Everything had to follow the rules.
Yang Cheng immediately thought of Yang Xi's Iceheart Jade Meridians.
Could it be that her cultivation physique made her act like this?
Then he shook his head, denying the idea.
While her physique did suit her role as a Divine Constable, even if Yang Xi didn't strictly follow the law in everything, it wouldn't slow her cultivation progress.
Which meant—this was just who she truly was.
Especially since he trusted the system's judgment.
The system had called her the Pillar of the Nation. That meant Yang Xi was truly righteous—not faking it, and not doing it just for the sake of cultivation.
That left Yang Cheng with a strange mix of feelings.
In his memory, he had never interacted with this sister before. Who would've thought he had such an interesting big sister?
"Xu Qingxue, let's go."
Yang Cheng called out to Xu Qingxue.
That very day, people from the Imperial City Department came requesting an audience with Yang Cheng.
Leading them was none other than Yang Xi.
"Yang Xi, Constable of the Imperial City Department, pays respects to the Crown Prince."
Yang Xi cupped her hands in salute.
Yang Cheng could tell his sister didn't want to reveal her identity as a princess.
So, he decided to tease her. "Constable Yang, why aren't you kneeling before this prince?"
Yang Xi pressed her lips together, then said, "Replying to Your Highness, I was granted special permission by His Majesty the Emperor. In Great Zhou, I am exempt from kneeling to anyone except His Majesty and the Empress Dowager."
As she spoke, she took out a command token—it was the imperial decree of Emperor Qian Yuan.
Yang Cheng immediately understood—this was Emperor Qian Yuan's way of protecting her.
Clearly, the emperor did feel some guilt toward this daughter.
"Then, may I ask why Constable Yang has come to see me?" Yang Cheng said.
Since she didn't want to reveal her identity, Yang Cheng was happy to go along with the act. After all, by all accounts, he really didn't know this sister of his.