At the sight of the tall man walking in, Duan Sanping, who was eating, suddenly narrowed his eyes, a trace of shock flashing through them. He shouted, "Impossible! Xiong Ba, how could your cultivation have reached this level?"
The other guests were startled by Duan Sanping's reaction and followed his gaze toward Xiong Ba. Apart from his towering build and the absurdly large hammer in his hand, they could see nothing unusual. But anyone who could frighten Duan Sanping, third on the Earth Ranking, like this probably had an outrageously high cultivation level.
A flicker of surprise crossed the merchant's eyes. He knew Xiong Ba, who had once been on the Earth Ranking himself, though he had been pushed off it after only a short time. But Xiong Ba had only ranked twentieth back then. How could he have frightened Duan Sanping like this?
Xiong Ba glanced at Duan Sanping, a trace of contempt flashing through his eyes. Rather than answering, he told the inn's waiter, "Set up a new table for me." The waiter agreed and hurried to the backyard to fetch a new table, placing it in an empty spot beside the window.
Xiong Ba sat down, ordered a jug of wine, and began eating and drinking. Seeing Xiong Ba ignore him, Duan Sanping was furious. He had met Xiong Ba a year ago. Although Xiong Ba had been a peak Martial Emperor, his movements had been rather clumsy, and he had not even been able to withstand a single move from Duan Sanping.
Yet when Xiong Ba entered just now, Duan Sanping had sensed mortal danger. He was born with exceptional instincts. Anyone who gave him that feeling absolutely had to be in the Martial Emperor Realm, and not even an ordinary Martial Sovereign.
In the end, Duan Sanping stood up and strode angrily toward Xiong Ba. Cupping his hands, he said, "I am Duan Sanping, the Life-Severing Saber. Please enlighten me."
Xiong Ba glanced at Duan Sanping without speaking and merely waved his hand lightly. An immense force instantly slapped Duan Sanping out through the inn's window and sent him crashing onto the street. Duan Sanping climbed up, coughing blood. Not daring to utter a single threat, he quickly fled.
About an hour later, Duan Sanping walked in from outside, staring viciously at Xiong Ba. A group of black-clad men followed him, led by a plump young man dressed in brocade. With a fawning expression, Duan Sanping said a few words to the young man and pointed at Xiong Ba.
The man in brocade led his men to Xiong Ba's table. Unable to discern Xiong Ba's cultivation either, he said with a smile, "Where might you be from, friend? You dare provoke someone from our Demon Sect. Do you wish to make an enemy of our Demon Sect?"
Before Xiong Ba could say anything, the guests at the other tables were already badly frightened. They had not expected Duan Sanping to actually know people from the Demon Sect, much less be able to bring them here to back him up. Their gazes toward Xiong Ba immediately filled with sympathy. After all, provoking the Demon Sect on the Cangwu Continent nowadays was essentially no different from courting death.
Xiong Ba looked at the man in brocade and asked evenly, "And who are you in the Demon Sect? How exactly have I provoked you?"
The man in brocade gave Xiong Ba a searching look. He felt that this man was a little too composed. Was he naturally carefree, or confident in himself?
Duan Sanping, standing beside him, could no longer bear it. He slammed the table and shouted at Xiong Ba, "Xiong Ba, do you know who you're talking to? Lord Chen is the Demon Sect's branch master stationed in the Great Qian Dynasty's imperial capital! Who are you to question him so casually?"
Without speaking, Xiong Ba took a palm-sized token from his robes. One side bore the character for "tiger," and the other the character for "Xiong." He tossed it straight onto the table and said, "I wonder if this branch master recognizes this token."
The man in brocade looked at the token in shock. He had seen a token like this on his father. Several years ago, his father had also been a branch master. Later, as a reward for meritorious service, he had been allowed to cultivate at the Demon Sect's headquarters for a time. After returning, his cultivation had soared straight to mid-stage Martial Sovereign.
Half a year ago, his father had even broken through to peak Martial Sovereign and been promoted to an elite disciple of White Tiger Hall. Back then, his father had held a token like this, except that his had the character for "white" on one side and "Chen" on the other. His father had said that anyone holding such a token would ascend with the cult leader on his first ascension. Unless absolutely unavoidable, they must never be provoked.
"My lord, please put your token away. I never imagined you were a Lord Tiger Guard serving under the Demon Tiger King. I truly failed to recognize you. My name is Chen Qi. My father is an elite disciple of White Tiger Hall," the man in brocade said quietly to Xiong Ba.
Xiong Ba frowned at Chen Qi. Although Chen Qi had addressed him as "my lord," he had deliberately mentioned that his father was an elite disciple of White Tiger Hall, clearly reminding Xiong Ba that he too had someone behind him and telling him not to make things difficult.
Seeing Xiong Ba frown, Chen Qi recalled his father's warning and turned to look at Duan Sanping.
Duan Sanping had sensed trouble the moment Xiong Ba produced the token. When he then heard Chen Qi address him as Lord Tiger Guard, he immediately knew he had offended someone he should never have provoked. He wanted to turn and flee at once, but before he could run, Chen Qi looked toward him and thrust a hand at his head.
Before Duan Sanping could react, an immense force shattered his head. Chen Qi slowly withdrew his hand and gently wiped it with a handkerchief, saying to Xiong Ba:
"Lord Tiger Guard, this man actually dared to sow discord within our Demon Sect. He truly deserved ten thousand deaths. This subordinate still has matters to attend to, so I won't disturb your meal." With that, he cupped his hands toward Xiong Ba, turned, and left with his men.
Xiong Ba watched Chen Qi leave, then looked at Duan Sanping lying dead on the floor, a flicker of surprise crossing his eyes. He had not expected Chen Qi to act so decisively. In the future, he would surely be no mere creature confined to a pond.
Everyone in the inn was still dumbfounded. They had thought Xiong Ba was doomed when Duan Sanping brought people from the Demon Sect, never expecting that Xiong Ba himself belonged to the Demon Sect-and clearly held a very high position.
At this moment, an old man seated in a corner of the inn stepped forward and bowed to Xiong Ba. "My lord, what realm lies above Martial God? Could you tell me?"
Xiong Ba looked at the old man. "Actually, this is no longer much of a secret. In a few days, the Demon Sect will announce the cultivation realms to the world."
Seeing everyone in the inn poised to listen, Xiong Ba continued, "There is actually no such thing as the Martial God Realm. In the upper realm, it is uniformly called the Profound Understanding Realm. The Profound Understanding Realm has ten levels in total, and Martial God corresponds to its first four levels."
"Then what is the Demon Sect's cult leader's cultivation level?" the old man asked next. The girl standing behind him clutched his clothes tightly.
Xiong Ba frowned and declared, "How could the cult leader's cultivation be something you are entitled to know? All you need to know is that the cult leader is invincible under heaven."