"H-he, where is he going? The City Lord's Manor?"
"Looks like it."
"Isn't this guy far too bold? Didn't he hear that the city lord is a Golden Core Realm expert?"
"Ah, who knows? Perhaps he has nothing to fear. Truly young and reckless, full of youthful vigor, ignorant of how high the heavens are and how deep the earth runs!"
When the people around saw that Ye Xuan had not fled, but was instead charging toward the City Lord's Manor with murderous intent, they could not help breaking into discussion again.
In their eyes, Ye Xuan was courting death like a madman. His gall was simply outrageous.
For a time, many people followed far behind him.
They also wanted to see whether the heaven-defying Ye Xuan could overcome the difference in realms and slay the Golden Core city lord.
Though City Lord Zhu Pi was a notorious scoundrel of a cultivator who committed every evil imaginable, he was a genuine Golden Core expert.
It was said that Zhu Pi had once fought in cultivator armies and slaughtered countless cultivators.
He was no inexperienced Golden Core good-for-nothing, but a genuine Golden Core expert who had grown through slaughter.
Ye Xuan paid little heed to all that and soon arrived at the City Lord's Manor.
Along the way, he had also heard quite a few accounts of this city lord's deeds.
Arson, murder, plunder, bullying men and tyrannizing women, indiscriminately killing innocents, abducting young wives, and so on and so forth.
In short, this fellow was the scum of scum, an utterly unforgivable villain who deserved even death by a thousand cuts.
These things had all been mentioned, intentionally or otherwise, by the people following behind.
Ye Xuan raised his head, looked at the magnificent, sprawling residence before him, took a deep breath, and walked straight toward its gates.
Naturally, cultivators guarded the entrance to the City Lord's Manor.
They were two Essence Condensation Realm Ninth Layer cultivators, and a thick bloodiness clung to them. Clearly, both had killed plenty of people.
When these two Essence Condensation Realm Ninth Layer cultivators saw Ye Xuan approach, their brows rose, and one barked, "Who are you, and what business do you have at the City Lord's Manor?"
Ye Xuan replied calmly, "My name is Ye Xuan. I'd like to have a chat with your city lord."
"Ye Xuan? Have a chat with our city lord?"
Both cultivators froze at those words.
Only after a long moment did they recover, feeling that they had suffered a tremendous humiliation.
"You little ant, still wet behind the ears! Are you making fools of us?"
"You cur! You dare make fools of us? You're courting death!"
As the two roared, the Spiritual Qi within their bodies was already running wild.
A mere brat still wet behind the ears actually claimed he wanted to have a chat with their city lord. Was this not a joke? What was this if not making fools of them?
The next second, with a whoosh, the cultivator on the left drew the long whip coiled around his waist and, without another word, viciously swept it toward Ye Xuan.
Spiritual Qi coiled around the whip, and the air cracked beneath its lash. In an instant, it came whistling before Ye Xuan.
At this sight, the followers behind him immediately felt a jolt of alarm.
They all wanted to know whether Ye Xuan, at the Essence Condensation First Layer, could block this lash from an Essence Condensation Ninth Layer cultivator.
An ant?
A cur?
Those insults had already put Ye Xuan in a foul mood.
Now, seeing that fellow launch an attack at the slightest disagreement, striking without another word, he grew utterly furious.
He had originally intended to speak with the city lord first and see what sort of disposition he had.
But now, he was angry!
Facing the whistling whip, Ye Xuan's gaze turned cold, and he took several rapid steps.
Thud, thud, thud!
As the paving stones shattered inch by inch beneath him, he slipped completely around the whip and rapidly closed in on the cultivator.
The exquisite footwork left onlookers speechless.
At this sight, the cultivator's expression changed in horror. He immediately realized that he had met a formidable opponent.
He wanted to pull his whip back to defend himself, but he had only just lashed out, pouring out his Spiritual Qi. His follow-through had yet to recover, so how could he possibly defend himself?
Under his terrified gaze, faint lightning gleamed in Ye Xuan's right hand. The next instant, Spiritual Qi surged from his palm as he slammed it viciously toward him.
Thunder God Palm!
Bang!
A tremendous crash rang out.
The Essence Condensation Ninth Layer cultivator felt a powerful force pour into his body. As violent Spiritual Qi frantically tore through his meridians, he was sent flying backward.
With a thunderous crash, he smashed the City Lord's Manor's gates down, then collapsed on the ground like a dead dog.
The other cultivator was utterly stunned by the sight.
This kid was that powerful?
The arrogance on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by profound terror and apprehension.
Cold sweat drenched his entire body.
The Essence Condensation First Layer had actually crushed the Essence Condensation Ninth Layer?
In one move?!
What sort of monster could achieve such an astonishing leap across realms?
He no longer dared to attack. After a glance at Ye Xuan, he took to his heels and rushed into the City Lord's Manor.
Clearly, he had gone to report what had happened.
Ye Xuan ignored him and likewise stepped into the City Lord's Manor.
"An Essence Condensation Ninth Layer cultivator, defeated in one move?"
"Heavens, just who is he? He's far too powerful! Where does his limit lie?"
"Such combat strength is truly something I've never seen or heard of!"
The cultivators who had followed behind broke into another round of exclamations at the sight.
No one had expected Ye Xuan to bridge such an enormous gap, and with such ease at that.
It seemed that, so far, nearly every opponent Ye Xuan had faced had been finished in a single move.
Whether they were at the Essence Condensation First Layer or the Essence Condensation Ninth Layer, it made no difference.
It was simply unbelievable, beyond imagination!
Inside the most luxurious palace in the City Lord's Manor.
City Lord Zhu Pi sat in a grand armchair, staring coldly at the cultivator before him, his tone indescribably chilling:
"What did you say? A young man at the Essence Condensation First Layer killed all the gate guards from my residence at the city gates?"
He roared furiously, "Who is he? What is his background? Why did he kill our people?"
Zhu Pi was truly furious. Someone had actually dared to kill his people on his territory and challenge his authority?
This was nothing less than a provocation against his position as city lord, a trampling of his dignity!
Seeing Zhu Pi like this, the cultivator trembled a little, yet did not dare leave him unanswered.
He replied in a low voice, "Y-yes. As for his background, I... I don't know..."
Smack!
Overcome with fury, Zhu Pi struck out with a Spiritual Qi palm imprint. Before the cultivator could even scream, he had been reduced to bloody pulp.
Yet Zhu Pi stared at his corpse and roared in near madness:
"You don't know? You know nothing, so why did you come back? Useless trash! You deserve to die!"
After roaring for a while, Zhu Pi soon calmed down.
His city was a small one in the Eastern Wasteland, a place where even birds would not shit. Normally, no experts would come here at all.
That was why he dared act without restraint.
Yet today, a young man-and one at merely the Essence Condensation First Layer-had actually slain all the gate guards, whose cultivation ranged from the Origin Condensation Third Layer to the Essence Condensation Seventh Layer.
This forced him to question the other party's identity.
Could he be a young heaven's chosen from one of those great sects or factions?
If so, should he swallow this insult or kill him?
Zhu Pi hesitated.
Although he appeared reckless and domineering, seemingly a brainless brute.
In truth, he was exceedingly meticulous. Otherwise, he would never have survived until now.
He knew whom he could afford to provoke and whom he could not.
Just as Zhu Pi was wavering, another cultivator came racing over in a panic.
Before that cultivator even entered the hall, his urgent voice rang out. "City lord, disaster! Someone has fought their way inside!"
"What?" At those words, Zhu Pi abruptly rose to his feet.
A thunderbolt from a clear sky!