"Yaozhu."
Leng Yaozhu, who had been showing Leng Hanyuan around the Spirit Pagoda and introducing him to the place, immediately furrowed her brows upon hearing that voice.
A few traces of undisguised disgust appeared on her pretty face.
"Qiangu Dongfeng, what are you doing here?"
"And how many times have I told you not to call me that?!"
Looking at the newcomer, the impatience in Leng Yaozhu's voice was nearly overflowing.
She had always found Qiangu Dongfeng extremely unpleasant.
Although he was the powerful and influential Pagoda Master of the Spirit Pagoda,
he gave her the feeling of a hypocritical gentleman and scheming villain at every turn.
Qiangu Dongfeng had clearly grown accustomed to Leng Yaozhu's attitude.
Faced with the impatience in her voice, his expression did not change in the slightest.
The same hypocritical smile remained on his face.
"Didn't I hear that you brought an outsider to our Spirit Pagoda, Yaozhu?"
"As the Pagoda Master, I naturally had to come and take a look."
"After all, as Vice Pagoda Master, you should know very well that there are many places in the Spirit Pagoda unsuitable for outsiders to enter."
As Qiangu Dongfeng spoke, his gaze had already fallen upon Leng Hanyuan.
Upon seeing that incomparably handsome face, one that even surpassed Yun Ming's in his youth, a barely perceptible gloom flashed through Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes.
There seemed to be nothing wrong with his words.
Yet anyone with eyes could tell that the outsider Qiangu Dongfeng was referring to was Leng Hanyuan.
The nearby Spirit Pagoda members did not dare get too close, but countless gossiping gazes turned in their direction.
It was no secret within the Spirit Pagoda what this Pagoda Master felt for the Vice Pagoda Master.
Hearing Qiangu Dongfeng's words, many people immediately looked on eagerly, anticipating a show.
The Pagoda Master was about to clash with the handsome young man brought by the Vice Pagoda Master!
Leng Yaozhu naturally understood what Qiangu Dongfeng meant as well.
She immediately grew somewhat angry.
"Qiangu Dongfeng, Brother Hanyuan is not an outsider!"
"He is from our Phoenix Family..."
Leng Yaozhu paused, then quickly continued.
"He is one of the higher-ups of our Phoenix Family!"
"As one of the Spirit Pagoda's Four Great Families, how could our Phoenix Family's Brother Hanyuan be called an outsider?"
Leng Yaozhu had instinctively wanted to reveal Leng Hanyuan's identity as their ancestor.
However, she felt that an ancestor from ten thousand years ago was simply too extraordinary and difficult to believe.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, she promptly changed her words and called Leng Hanyuan a higher-up of the Phoenix Family.
There was nothing wrong with that, either.
After all, as their ancestor, calling him one of the family's higher-ups was beyond reproach.
However...
How could Qiangu Dongfeng possibly connect this young man, who looked barely over twenty, with the Phoenix Family's ancestor from ten thousand years ago?
To Qiangu Dongfeng, Leng Yaozhu's momentary hesitation looked like a guilty conscience.
He sneered inwardly.
Well, well, Leng Yaozhu. You were actually willing to fabricate such an excuse for this man.
Qiangu Dongfeng had long since thoroughly investigated the Phoenix Family's higher-ups.
He was certain that Leng Hanyuan was absolutely not among them.
However, Qiangu Dongfeng did not directly question Leng Hanyuan's identity.
Instead, he gave a soft sound of surprise.
"Oh?"
"So you are one of the Phoenix Family's higher-ups, sir?"
"Then why have I never seen you before?"
Leng Yaozhu snorted coldly.
"Brother Hanyuan has been in seclusion year-round. Of course you've never seen him."
"Qiangu Dongfeng, since when do the affairs of my Phoenix Family require your interference?"
"In seclusion year-round?"
Qiangu Dongfeng naturally ignored the hostility in Leng Yaozhu's tone.
His eyes narrowed slightly, revealing the sinister cunning of an old fox.
"Then you must be quite accomplished in cultivation, sir?"
The smell of gunpowder in Qiangu Dongfeng's words grew increasingly intense.
It sounded like an ordinary question.
But his doubts regarding Leng Hanyuan's strength could not have been more obvious.
"You—!"
"That's enough, Little Yaozhu."
Leng Yaozhu glared furiously and was about to say something when Leng Hanyuan gently interrupted her.
He reached out and patted her shoulder.
The lofty and imperious Heavenly Phoenix Douluo swallowed the words at her lips like an obedient girl, then stood meekly behind Leng Hanyuan.
The sight made Qiangu Dongfeng wonder whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Since when had this woman Leng Yaozhu listened to anyone so obediently?
Leng Hanyuan stepped forward.
His snow-white eyes looked toward Qiangu Dongfeng.
There was something strange about that gaze.
Neither sorrowful nor joyful, it inexplicably made Qiangu Dongfeng feel uncomfortable all over.
It was as though he had been seen through completely, inside and out.
"Alas."
A soft sigh rang out, as clear and pleasant as silver beads falling upon a jade plate.
"The Qiangu Family's people have grown quite arrogant over the years."
As he spoke, Leng Hanyuan's aura suddenly sharpened.
An Ice Crystal Profound Phoenix flickered in and out of view behind him.
Qiangu Dongfeng's entire body trembled.
Though he was still within the Spirit Pagoda, he felt as though he had been transported to the core region of the far north.
The temperature around him plummeted.
An inexplicable fear suddenly rose from the depths of his heart.
Unwilling to show weakness, he activated his Soul Power.
Coiling Dragon!
The phantom of a hidden dragon seemed ready to contend with the Mystic Phoenix.
However...
Only a moment later,
the hidden dragon phantom suddenly wilted.
It let out soft, low whimpers.
Qiangu Dongfeng's face turned pale, and he staggered back a step.
The previous disdain and contempt in his eyes when he looked at Leng Hanyuan vanished without a trace.
In their place were solemnity and disbelief.
After a moment, he forced out a smile.
"As expected of a higher-up of the Phoenix Family, Brother Hanyuan. Your cultivation is truly admirable."
"I have some matters to attend to, so I shall not disturb Yaozhu and Brother Hanyuan any longer."
With that, Qiangu Dongfeng turned and left.
Yet despite his seemingly calm and unhurried bearing, he could not conceal the air of discomfiture about him.
The sudden change left the nearby Spirit Pagoda members, who had been enjoying the show, completely bewildered.
"What just happened?"
"Why did the Pagoda Master leave?"
Most of them were not particularly strong.
The clash between two Limit Douluos had occurred in an instant.
They had not sensed much of it at all.
They merely saw Qiangu Dongfeng and Leng Hanyuan exchange a glance, after which Qiangu Dongfeng's attitude inexplicably changed and he turned to leave.
Leng Hanyuan withdrew his gaze.
His expression remained as calm as an ancient well.
A mere Qiangu Dongfeng was not worthy of his attention.
Just as he had said.
A petty Coiling Dragon was only fit to tremble and crawl beneath the cry of a phoenix.
Though both were at the Limit,
there were still differences even among those at the Limit.
Qiangu Dongfeng was, at most, merely a demigod.
But Leng Hanyuan was a genuine peak quasi-god.
He had already surpassed the current strongest man on the continent, the Sky-Propping Douluo Yun Ming, and was a true existence only half a step away from godhood!
Even with the amplification of Four-Word Battle Armor, Qiangu Dongfeng would not have been a match for Leng Hanyuan without Four-Word Battle Armor.
Much less in a clash where neither had the amplification of Four-Word Battle Armor.
Those who had not stepped into the Limit might not understand Leng Hanyuan's terror.
Only those who had truly entered the realm of the Limit
would understand upon seeing him what it meant for a mayfly to behold the azure heavens!
Before you continue