"I'm here."
A ghostly voice drifted beside Hong An's ear.
"Damn it!"
Hong An spun around at once, but all he saw was a faint figure drifting past him like a ghost.
Before he could react,
suddenly,
a searing pain exploded across his cheek. Then, centered on the left side of his face, the pain rapidly spread until it engulfed his entire head, leaving him violently dizzy.
"Smack—!"
Only then did the crisp sound finally ring out.
A frightening, pitch-black handprint had appeared on his cheek.
"If your brain isn't working, I'll help clear it up and let you understand that I'm not humiliating you. I'm kindly helping you find your place."
"You don't have to thank me. After all, I help people purely for the joy of it, never for fame or profit."
Jiang Qiao stood three paces away and chuckled softly.
"You—!"
Hong An covered his face and glared savagely at Jiang Qiao. Shock and fury surged through him, leaving him speechless for a moment.
Tang Jin, standing nearby, was equally startled.
"What kind of power is this?"
From Jiang Qiao's disappearance to his reappearance, then to the slap across Hong An's face, the entire process had taken less than five seconds. Yet aside from catching a trace of him at the instant he struck, she had barely seen Jiang Qiao's figure at all!
How was that possible?
Was this something an Awakened could do?
Even a Ninth Rank expert shouldn't have been able to do that in front of her, right!?
Quite a few people in Tower City were watching the battle. Most of them couldn't see what was happening, while even the small number of Awakened with the qualifications and strength to witness the whole scene were utterly stunned.
"So that's the Celestial Master?"
"His reputation