Chapter 138: Confrontation, Opportunity!

"How dare you!"

From all directions, several factions suddenly descended. Among them were several dragon-carved carriages pulled by ferocious beasts.

"You have all trespassed into our territory and injured our Great General; this seems rather insolent."

From one of the dragon-carved carriages, a middle-aged man in yellow robes stepped out into the air. Although his cultivation was only at the ninth level of the Mortal Realm, his presence was no less imposing than that of the sect masters present.

Hearing this, a prodigious disciple standing beside one of the sect masters flew forward and stared coldly at the man in yellow robes. "What kind of thing are you to speak to our sect master in such a tone?"

The middle-aged man’s face darkened. "On my own soil, is it your turn to speak? Someone, slap him!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several guards behind the man flew forward. They had just reached the Saint-Entry Realm and were the royal guards. However, compared to those present, they were like mere ants. Yet, since the Emperor had issued an order, they dared not disobey. Thus, they braced themselves and moved in to seize the prodigy and carry out the punishment.

"Hmph, an ant from a mortal kingdom dares to touch me?" The youth immediately struck, unleashing a fierce sword slash. With a single stroke, he cleaved one of the guards in two.

"You!" The remaining guards stopped in their tracks. The youth was also at the Saint-Entry Realm, but possessing spiritual power, he was far more formidable than those who had attained the realm through mortal martial arts alone.

"Presumptuous! Get out of my sight!" The middle-aged man was furious. A dark red orb appeared before him. With a mere thought, a barrier rapidly descended.

"Retreat, quickly!" This stretch of sea happened to be on the border of the Shiling Kingdom. Many of the experts from the outside world were standing right on the edge of the barrier.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

The barrier descended with such speed that over a dozen disciples from the outside world could not retreat in time; they were crushed by the descending force and exploded into mists of blood.

"You ungrateful wretches!" The man stood inside the barrier and shouted coldly.

"Jing Wenchen, you are doing this on purpose!" The sect masters glared at him with fury.

"This is my kingdom. I shall seal it if I wish. What can you do to me?" Jing Wenchen replied coldly.

"Brother Wenchen, this is not fair. We came to hunt down a demon, not to disrupt the order of your nation. Why must you make things difficult for us?" one elder asked, forcing himself to suppress his rage.

Jing Wenchen remained cold-faced and did not respond. From several other directions, the emperors of the mortal kingdoms, who had remained silent until now, flew out from their dragon-carved carriages.

"You borrowed hundreds of prodigies from our mortal realms; where are they now!" one of the emperors demanded coldly. In truth, every kingdom had long since received word that those prodigies were dead.

"This..." The crowd was momentarily speechless.

At this moment, Yang Guirong stepped forward. "Everyone, most of your kingdoms' prodigies died at the hands of Xia Jiuxuan. As for the rest, they were all indirectly caused by that little beast. If you want to hold someone accountable, let us first capture Xia Jiuxuan before we discuss anything else!"

"Who are you? And who is this Xia Jiuxuan?" an emperor asked coldly.

"I am Yang Guirong of the Yang family from the Yunyan Kingdom!" Yang Guirong stated proudly.

Hearing his name, the expressions of the emperors present all shifted.

"So it is Elder Yang!" While others might not know of Yang Guirong, the emperors of every kingdom knew his name all too well. He was the former Guardian of the External Boundary!

Yang Guirong was satisfied with their reaction and continued, "As for Xia Jiuxuan, that scoundrel not only caused the deaths of your nations' prodigies but also killed my grandson. Therefore, I must capture him to exact my revenge. He is currently within a five-hundred-mile radius of these waters!"

"So that's how it is!" The emperors immediately understood the situation.

...

Beneath the sea, Xia Jiuxuan’s location was exactly on the edge of the Shiling Kingdom. He was contained within the barrier. On this side, the area was quite small, with a perimeter of only about ten miles. Within this range, only four prodigious disciples were stationed as guards.

"A perfect opportunity!" Xia Jiuxuan sensed everything happening above. This was his only chance to escape.

*Whoosh!*

Xia Jiuxuan darted through the seabed at high speed, reaching the edge in just a few breaths.

"Someone is breaking through!" Because Xia Jiuxuan had used his spiritual power, the four disciples immediately sensed his presence.

"Kill him!" The four quickly converged, locking onto Xia Jiuxuan’s figure and crushing him with their combined aura. These four were all spiritual cultivators who had just entered the Saint-Entry Realm.

"Oh no, we cannot hold him!" The four disciples were shocked to find that their combined pressure was shattered by Xia Jiuxuan without any resistance. "Quickly, kill him with everything you have!"

*Boom!*

The four struck at once, their blades and swords whipping up massive waves as they slashed toward Xia Jiuxuan. But before they could even complete their attack, a figure surged right before their eyes.

*Swish! Swish!*

As sword light flashed, a thin line of blood appeared across all four of their throats simultaneously.

"Impossible..." The four widened their eyes, murmuring in disbelief. They could not fathom that they had not the slightest power to resist Xia Jiuxuan.

*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*

After killing the four disciples, Xia Jiuxuan did not even stop to claim their resources; he fled at full speed.

"That scoundrel Xia Jiuxuan has appeared!"

"Capture him!"

From afar, the experts from the outside sects locked onto Xia Jiuxuan's figure, but they were all blocked by Jing Wenchen’s barrier and could not pursue.

"Brother Wenchen, open the barrier at once and let us slay that wretch!" The crowd shouted in desperation at Jing Wenchen.

Jing Wenchen remained cold-faced. "Even if this Xia Jiuxuan is the murdering demon you say he is, he is currently within the borders of my Shiling Kingdom. It is for me to deal with him; when did it become your place to shout and scream?"

These words left everyone stunned. Was this fool Jing Wenchen out of his mind? Was he openly defying the entire outside world?

"Brother Wenchen! At a time like this, you don't know how strong and ruthless that Xia Jiuxuan is. The guards in your country cannot possibly be his match. Please open the borders and let us go in to capture him!" one elder tried to persuade him.

"Do you outside cultivators look down on my Shiling Kingdom so much? You are insulting me, implying that my nation is incompetent and lacks capable men!" Jing Wenchen remained utterly unmoved.

"You! You are infuriating!"

"Jing Wenchen, you pedantic fool! Are you not afraid that we will settle the score with you later?" someone cursed in a rage.

"Clowns, try to enter my borders first if you have the ability!"

Jing Wenchen refused to budge, leaving the experts from the outside sects gnashing their teeth in frustration, wishing they could crush him like an ant. Even the emperors of the other kingdoms could no longer watch.

"Brother Wenchen, just open the barrier and let them pursue him. After all, that scoundrel killed the prodigies of many nations; he should be brought to justice," one emperor advised.

"What does it have to do with you? If you want to be a lackey for the outside sects, go ahead, but leave me out of it," Jing Wenchen said coldly.

"You!"

The other emperors could only shake their heads and sigh. Why was Jing Wenchen being so stubborn and refusing to yield today?