For a long minute, silence reigned between the two factions. Finally, the leader of the Luo Yan vanguard spoke.
"Your name is Xiao Lin, correct? Tell me... where is my elder brother?"
The question from the Four-Star Dou Wang was as abrupt as it was accusatory. Xiao Lin tilted his head, a look of genuine disbelief crossing his face.
"Your brother's location? You're asking me?" Xiao Lin replied, looking at the man as if he had grown a second head. "Are you serious right now?"
"Exactly!" Nalan Jie barked from the side, never one to miss a chance to twist the knife. "Your brother goes missing and you come crying to us? Did you leave your brain at the border, or is the Luo Yan air just that thin?"
Creeeeak.
The sound of the Luo Yan King's knuckles popping echoed in the stillness. Yan Penghong—the younger brother of the late Yan Bohong—struggled to maintain his composure. As a prince of the Luo Yan Royal Family, second only to the Ancestor, he wasn't used to being mocked by "lesser" nations.
"My brother is Yan Bohong," he growled, forcing his hands to unclasp. "My scouts saw you and my brother choose the same path on the first day of the expedition. Now you emerge from this ruin alone, and he is nowhere to be found. If I don't ask you, who should I ask?"
Xiao Lin finally placed the name. So the vulture I killed had a brother. "I don't care if his name is Yan-this or Yan-that," Xiao Lin said dismissively. "I didn't see him. Maybe he realized this path was a dead end and went elsewhere. Instead of wasting my time, why don't you go look in the bushes? Maybe he's taking a nap."
Xiao Lin had no intention of admitting to the kill. While he wasn't afraid of the fallout, he had a "One-Star Dou Wang" persona to maintain. A One-Star novice killing a Five-Star veteran without a single scratch on his robes? No one would believe it—it would scream "Secret Powerhouse" to everyone watching.
Yan Penghong glared at him, his killing intent overflowing. "You're lying! Don't think that just because you've reached the King realm, you can play games with me. I will show you that even among Kings, there is a chasm of difference between us!"
Xiao Lin let out a short, sharp laugh. "Is that so? Then by all means, come and test that chasm. If you're so desperate to find your brother, maybe I can send you to ask him yourself."
The Jia Ma crowd stifled cheers. Xiao Lin's retort was a direct slap to the face of the Luo Yan royalty.
"What?" Yan Penghong's face turned purple. "You? A mere One-Star brat killing my brother? Preposterous! If he has met with foul play, it was clearly a cowardly ambush by a group of Jia Ma curs! Tell the truth, or pay with your life!"
Yan Penghong couldn't fathom his brother losing a fair fight to Xiao Lin. He suspected a "gang-up" by Nalan Jie and the others.
Xiao Lin sighed, deciding to play a different game. "Fine, you want the truth? I killed him with a single finger. I poked a hole in his head and watched him drop. Is that 'truth' enough for you?"
The reaction was instantaneous. Yan Penghong exploded in a towering rage.
"B**TARD! You dare insult my brother's memory with such lies? DIE!"
To Yan Penghong, Xiao Lin wasn't confessing—he was mocking the dead. He used the "insult" as a pretext to rally his men. He wanted the treasure Xiao Lin carried, and now he had the moral high ground to seize it.
The air grew heavy with the scent of ozone and fire as the two armies prepared to clash. The minor nations' cultivators scrambled back, clearing a massive circle for the impending bloodbath.
But just as the first Dou Qi wings began to unfurl, a terrifying pressure descended from the sky. It wasn't the erratic energy of a battle; it was a steady, overwhelming weight that made the very air feel like lead.
"A DOU HUANG!"
The realization sent a chill through everyone present. A Tier 6 expert, a Sovereign of the Empire, was approaching at high speed, their aura unmasked and domineering.
The Jia Ma and Luo Yan factions froze. The question on everyone's mind was: Whose side are they on? If it was a Luo Yan Dou Huang, the Jia Ma coalition was doomed. If it was a Jia Ma protector, the Luo Yan vanguard would be erased. But more importantly... why would a Dou Huang abandon the treasures of the Central Sovereign Hall to come to a side-path ruin?
SWISH!
Dou Qi wings sliced through the high-altitude air, producing a sonic boom that echoed across the ruins. In the blink of an eye, a figure descended, hovering imperiously above the heads of the gathered crowds.
The Jia Ma coalition's hearts sank instantly. The aura was unmistakable—a Dou Huang. And more importantly, he wasn't wearing the colors of the Jia Ma Empire.
However, the reaction on the Luo Yan side was equally strange. Instead of cheering, the Luo Yan cultivators looked pale and restless. While this man was technically a citizen of their empire, his reputation was so foul that his presence was often viewed as a natural disaster.
This was Ying Changkong, the leader of the infamous Black Eagle Bandit Group.
The Rogue Sovereign
In the Northwest Continent, a Dou Huang is usually a pillar of a nation or a sect leader. But Ying Changkong was an anomaly—he preferred the "freedom" of banditry. Because he was a Dou Huang, the Luo Yan Royal Family and the Jin Yan Sect treated him with "three parts deference," which essentially meant they ignored his crimes as long as he didn't rob them directly. This indulgence had turned him into a lawless tyrant.
"Senior Ying!" the Luo Yan crowd called out tentatively.
"Oh? If it isn't one of the Royal twins," Ying Changkong sneered, looking down at Yan Penghong. "Remind me... which one are you again? I forget the names of the minor hatchlings."
Yan Penghong's jaw tightened until his teeth nearly cracked. As a Prince and a Four-Star Dou Wang, he was accustomed to being treated with absolute reverence. To be called a "minor hatchling" to his face was a stinging insult. But against a Dou Huang—especially a psychotic bandit leader—he had to swallow his pride.
"Senior Ying, I am Yan Penghong," he said, bowing low to hide his fury. "The inheritance and treasures of this pavilion have fallen into the hands of that Jia Ma brat, Xiao Lin. If you want them, you need only take them. We only ask that you remember our common nationality and assist us in clearing these Jia Ma curs."
"Hmph! Don't tell me what to do, boy," Ying Changkong barked. "If your Ancestor wasn't still breathing, I'd have stripped you naked and left you here to rot years ago. But you're right about one thing—this is a hunt. And I'm the biggest bird in the sky."
Ying Changkong turned his cold, predatory gaze toward the Jia Ma faction.
Yan Penghong felt a surge of dark joy. It worked! Let the bandit do the dirty work. Once Xiao Lin is dead and the treasure is out, we'll see who can keep it.
The pressure in the air became suffocating. The Jia Ma cultivators huddled together, their faces grim. Facing a Dou Huang was an entirely different league of despair.
"What do we do?" someone whispered. "We hold the line," Nalan Jie replied, though sweat was beaded on his forehead. "If he strikes, we strike together."
Ying Changkong hovered in the air, looking down at the Jia Ma group as if they were ants.
"Listen well," he rasped, his voice carrying a cruel, murderous edge. "Those who want to live, leave your Storage Rings on the ground and get out. I'll give you the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn to consider it."
He then fixed his eyes directly on Xiao Lin. "As for the brat who took the inheritance... hand it over now. If I have to kill you to take it, I'll make sure it's a slow, agonizing process. I've killed thousands, and I don't mind adding a 'genius' to the tally."
Xiao Lin stood at the front of the group, his azure robes fluttering in the residual wind of the Dou Huang's aura. Beneath his mask, his eyes narrowed into thin, lethal slits.
He was calculating. He didn't want to reveal his Eight-Star Dou Huang strength yet, but he had just mastered the Spirit Seals. This bandit was the perfect test subject for his new craft.
"A thief who thinks he's a King," Xiao Lin thought, his killing intent hidden but absolute. "You've just bought yourself a one-way ticket to the void."