A Good Senior

Looking at Hunting Guardian prostrate before him, Xie Tianxiao said, "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong. But that isn't important. What's important is—"

"Guessed wrong?"

Hunting Guardian froze, unable to understand what he meant.

Xie Tianxiao did not waste any more words. Instead, he raised his head and looked at the crowd standing around him, all of them already dumbstruck.

Feeling the immense pressure in Xie Tianxiao's gaze, everyone shuddered, their hearts filled with unease. They feared that Xie Tianxiao might destroy them with a single finger.

Just as everyone wondered what Xie Tianxiao intended to do, he slowly spoke in a cold voice:

"All of you, hand over every storage ring you have. Consider it payment for the trouble I went through to save you."

"You... don't have any objections, do you?"

The moment Xie Tianxiao finished speaking, everyone felt as though a massive mountain had been placed upon them, leaving their bodies stiff and rooted to the spot.

"N-No objections."

"Senior, you must be joking. If not for you stepping in, we would have been killed here long ago. How could we still be alive?"

"Yes, yes! Senior is truly such a good person!"

The Dou Wangs of the empire and the independent cultivators all shook their heads. Though they found it strange that someone as powerful as Xie Tianxiao would even care about their possessions, they still hurriedly took out their storage rings and other treasures, respectfully holding them out without the slightest hesitation.

What a joke. Had they not seen Hunting Guardian lying on the ground in such a miserable state?

Even if Xie Tianxiao had simply robbed them outright, they would not have dared raise any objections, let alone when he had saved them along the way.

There was nothing shameful about bowing to the strong!

Seeing this, Xie Tianxiao waved his hand, and all the storage rings and valuable items were collected away.

He then nodded in satisfaction and calmly said to the black-robed elder and the Barbarian Emperor, "Surely you two aren't going to make me come all this way for nothing?"

The Barbarian Emperor and the black-robed elder immediately broke out in cold sweat. "We wouldn't dare, Senior. We are deeply frightened."

"We were merely awed by your actions and wished to invite you to visit our sects as an honored guest, to show a small token of our gratitude."

Then, the Barbarian Emperor and the black-robed elder each took three storage rings from their robes and respectfully handed them to Xie Tianxiao. "These contain all our wealth. Please accept them, Senior."

The Barbarian Emperor and the black-robed elder's hearts bled. This was everything they had earned over so many years, handed over just like that. It was agonizing!

But pain was pain. The fact that Xie Tianxiao had not simply killed them was already an enormous stroke of luck.

Xie Tianxiao took the storage rings, swept through their contents, and nodded with satisfaction before putting them away. "I'll accept these. As for visiting your sects, I still have many matters to attend to."

"Of course. Senior's cultivation is unrivaled. Such peerless strength is far beyond what people like us could fathom."

The black-robed elder hurriedly flattered him.

"That's enough."

Xie Tianxiao could not be bothered to listen to any more flattery and merely waved his hand.

"Yes, we shall take our leave."

The Barbarian Emperor and the black-robed elder bowed and cupped their fists. Then Dou Qi wings formed behind them, and they flew into the distance.

Xie Tianxiao had never intended to kill them. One had to have principles. Though it would only have taken the movement of a finger.

But he was not some mindless killer. Neither of them had offended him, and they had even given him six storage rings full of cultivation resources. It was only reasonable that he spared them.

As for the cultivators who had died at their hands, what did that have to do with him? They were not anyone important to Xie Tianxiao. Which mighty cultivator had not risen by stepping over others' corpses?

In this world where the strong devoured the weak, from the day one began cultivating and became a cultivator, one's hands were destined to be stained with countless lives.

Xie Tianxiao waved his hand and looked toward Lan Cangshan and the other Dou Wangs. "The same goes for you. Stop thinking about the inheritance of the Dou Zong's cave abode and leave."

Seeing Xie Tianxiao address them, Lan Cangshan was the first to recover and speak. "Lan Cangshan thanks Senior for saving our lives!"

"That's right, that's right. If not for Senior, we would have been finished."

The other Dou Wangs hurriedly cupped their fists in salute as well, respectfully thanking Xie Tianxiao.

"It was nothing."

"Come to think of it, I previously met several juniors from your empire. One of them left quite a good impression on me."

Xie Tianxiao fell silent for a moment, as if recalling something, before looking at Lan Cangshan.

Hearing Xie Tianxiao's words, Lan Cangshan was slightly stunned. "May I ask which fortunate junior Senior speaks of, to have earned your praise?"

Lan Cangshan and the others were all extremely curious. Anyone who could earn the approval of this terrifying expert, who could defeat a Dou Zong with one finger, had to be exceptional.

"Around twenty years old. There were four of them in total, and the other three called him Eldest Senior Brother," Xie Tianxiao said after thinking for a moment.

"What? It was actually Nephew Feng Jing!"

"What a pity Nephew Feng Jing did not come here."

"Congratulations, Sect Master Feng. Your Moon-Sealing Sect has truly produced a young genius of outstanding talent, one who has even caught Senior's eye!"

Upon hearing Xie Tianxiao's words, the shock on the faces of the Dou Wangs and the others deepened further. They were all filled with envy.

"Not at all, not at all."

"For him to receive Senior's favor is his good fortune."

Hearing the praise, the Moon-Sealing Sect Master was overjoyed, though he modestly replied otherwise.

Lan Cangshan was even more shocked. "So that's how it is. The mysterious expert Nephew Feng Jing reported to me that day was actually Senior!"

Lan Cangshan was deeply shaken. He had originally assumed that the person Feng Jing encountered had been a Dou Wang expert.

He never imagined it would be the super expert before him, whose strength seemed as unfathomable as a bottomless abyss. For a moment, he did not know what to say. His heart was filled with nothing but shock!

Meanwhile.

Not far from Lan Cangshan and the other Dou Wangs, a white-robed man known as the Young Master among his family's disciples was equally startled when he heard Xie Tianxiao's words. He thought to himself:

He actually remembers us. Good thing I listened to Eldest Senior Brother that day and didn't keep mocking him. Otherwise, I would probably be a corpse by now.

But Eldest Senior Brother is truly lucky. To be praised by such an expert... it's unbelievable.

The white-robed man had actually recognized Xie Tianxiao long ago. But after seeing his terrifying strength and remembering how rudely he had offended Xie Tianxiao before, he had remained hidden among the crowd, terrified that Xie Tianxiao would notice him and settle the score.

And whenever he thought about how he had mocked Xie Tianxiao behind his back for not even knowing how to form Dou Qi wings, he was so ashamed that he wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.

"Whew!"

Letting out a long breath, the white-robed man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and muttered:

"No, when I return this time, I have to tell Junior Sister and the others not to be fooled by appearances. Otherwise, we'll be the only ones who suffer in the end!"

If they offended such an expert, let alone his father, even the entire empire could be overturned by the man!

This white-robed man was none other than the Second Senior Brother from the group of four Xie Tianxiao had encountered a few days ago. He was also the son of the Chu Family head of the Rippling Mountain Empire.

A core junior of a family like him should not have come here in the first place. Yet because of his Junior Sister, he had somehow begged his father to let him join this expedition into the Dou Zong's cave abode.

He had never expected the journey to be so dangerous. One powerful expert after another had appeared, and in the end, someone so absurdly powerful had emerged. He had nearly lost his life!

"Enough idle chatter. Go back."

Seeing how excited the Dou Wangs were, Xie Tianxiao could not be bothered to deal with Lan Cangshan and the others any longer. He waved his sleeve, signaling them to leave.

"Yes."

"Gather the members of our families. We are returning to the empire."

"Understood, Your Majesty!"

Seeing Xie Tianxiao's disinterested expression, Lan Cangshan and the others hurriedly bid him farewell, then led the disciples of their respective families away into the distance.

The remaining independent cultivators saw Lan Cangshan's group leave and hurriedly scattered in all directions as well.

As for the Dou Zong's cave abode, how could they still dare entertain any thoughts about it? Escaping with their lives this time was already a blessing beyond measure.