Chapter 71: Wang Family (2)
The pressure bearing down upon the Peak of Golden Wisdom had brought the thousands of Wang Clan disciples to their knees, their faces pressed into the floor.
Yet, amidst everything, the Patriarch of the Wang Clan, Wang Tianze, managed to force his head upward.
Gritting his teeth against the suffocating aura, Wang Tianze locked his furious, bloodshot gaze directly onto the figure hovering high above them. His mid-stage Core Formation aura flared desperately, fighting off the suppression just enough to allow his divine sense to probe the sky.
As his perception washed over Lin Yuan, a sudden realization pierced through the Clan Head.
He is only at the Early Stage of the Nascent Soul realm!
Wang Tianze’s eyes widened, and the dread that had gripped his heart was instantly replaced by a surging tide of confidence. In the Nine Provinces, an Early Stage Nascent Soul expert was undoubtedly an expert capable of wiping out an entire clan. If Wang Tianze had been alone, he would currently be kowtowing until his forehead bled.
But he was not alone.
Seated right beside him was Envoy Zhao Wuhen—a representative of the Cultivation Council, the ultimate ruling authority across the entire Nine Province. More importantly, Envoy Zhao was a Middle Stage Nascent Soul expert! The disparity between the early stage and the middle stage was not a mere step; but a vast chasm!
With the Cultivation Council’s envoy sitting right here, no mere Early Stage Nascent Soul expert would ever dare act rashly! To do so was tantamount to declaring war on the very heavens themselves!
Emboldened by the presence Zhao Wuhen, Wang Tianze aggressively pushed himself up from the floor. He pointed a finger toward the sky, his voice echoing with the bravado of a man who believed he held the ultimate winning hand.
"Dare not take another step!" Wang Tianze roared, his voice amplified by his Core Formation qi, rolling across the silent amphitheater. "I do not know what rogue cultivator you are, or what backwater mountain you crawled out from, but you have fundamentally misjudged your prey! If you dare to unleash your hostility upon my Wang Clan today, I swear to the heavens you will deeply regret it!"
Hovering in the sky, completely unaffected by the threats, Lin Yuan’s eyes remained cold and detached. He looked down at the shouting man with the mild curiosity of a dragon observing a noisy insect.
"I have no interest in exchanging idle threats with the help or fighting either," Lin Yuan stated, his voice a calm, rumbling thunder that vibrated directly within the chests of everyone present. "I only want an audience with the Patriarch of the Wang Clan. Tell him to come forth and face my terms."
Wang Tianze’s face flushed a humiliated crimson. To be called ’the help’ in front of his entire clan and the Envoy was a supreme loss of face. He puffed out his chest, his robes shimmering violently.
"You are looking at him right here!" Wang Tianze barked, trying to project authority. "I am the Patriarch of the Wang Clan! Whatever arrogant demands you have brought to my clan, speak your mind, rogue!"
Lin Yuan slowly descended a few dozen feet, his hands resting casually behind his back. He looked at the amphitheater, the disciples, and the Patriarch.
"Is this how you intend to receive me?" Lin Yuan asked, his voice carrying a faint, chilling edge. "You have no intention of treating me as a guest?"
The sheer audacity of the question—demanding the hospitality of a guest while actively suppressing thousands of people with his aura—finally snapped the patience of the true monster in the room.
CRACK!
The throne exploded into fine dust.
Envoy Zhao Wuhen stood up. He had remained seated to observe the situation, but this junior’s blatant disregard for his presence was an insult to the Cultivation Council itself.
"Insolent junior!" Envoy Zhao Wuhen sneered, his voice cutting through the air like a serrated blade.
Without bending his knees, the Envoy took directly to the sky. The space around him warped and folded as he ascended, stopping only when he was perfectly level with Lin Yuan. The moment Zhao Wuhen established his position, his Middle Stage Nascent Soul aura erupted like a detonating volcano.
A massive, and suffocating wave of spiritual energy crashed against Lin Yuan’s aura. The sky above the Wang estate visibly split into two distinct halves—one side glowing with the crackling purple of Lin Yuan’s aura, and the other side swallowed by the silver aura of the Cultivation Council Envoy.
"You are only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, yet you dare act rashly?!" Zhao Wuhen bellowed, his face twisting in contempt. He unleashed the full weight of his Middle Stage cultivation, intending to forcefully push Lin Yuan out of the sky and crush his Dao Heart.
"You stand before an Envoy of the Cultivation Council! Our authority dictates the very cycle of life and death in the Nine Province!" Zhao Wuhen declared, raising his chin with arrogance. He pointed a finger directly at Lin Yuan’s chest. "I give you exactly ten breaths! Retract your aura, lower your head, and properly state your purpose for trespassing on this estate! If you continue acting rashly in front of a Cultivation Council Envoy, I will personally strip your Nascent Soul from your body and condemn it to soul-refining!"
Down below, Wang Tianze and the thousands of disciples watched in absolute awe. This was the true power of the Council! Even another Nascent Soul expert was nothing but a reprimanded child in the face of their absolute authority!
One breath passed.
Lin Yuan did not retract his aura. He did not lower his head. He did not speak a single word of his purpose.
Instead, Lin Yuan’s eyes locked onto Envoy Zhao Wuhen, as he simply raised his right foot and took another step forward.
Zzzzt!
It was the Thunder Step, perfectly fused with the teleportation ability he gained after ascending to the Nascent Soul realm.
Lin Yuan completely bypassed the silver aura. And in a fraction of a second, Lin Yuan vanished from his position and seamlessly teleported directly beside the Envoy.
He was so close that the crackling lightning now dancing across his black-and-white Daoist robes singed the edges of Zhao Wuhen’s collar.
Envoy Zhao Wuhen’s pupils shrank. The shock of an early-stage nascent soul cultivator successfully penetrating his aura without triggering a single defense sent a violent chill directly down his spine.
But Zhao Wuhen did not freeze. His battle instincts, honed through centuries of suppressing rogue factions and demonic cultivators, took over instantly.
"So be it!" Zhao Wuhen roared, his voice abandoning all pretense of diplomacy, replaced entirely by raw, lethal intent.
With a rapid flick of his wrist, the Envoy accessed his spatial storage ring. A blinding flash of ancient light erupted between them.
From the void of his ring, Zhao Wuhen released a Crown.
Initially, it appeared as a simple, golden circlet adorned with nine flawless jewels. But the moment it was exposed to the ambient spiritual qi of the outside world, it awakened. The crown hovered high into the sky, tearing away from the Envoy’s hand.
As it ascended, the crown began to grow. It expanded rapidly, its golden metallic frame shifting and multiplying until it was no longer a mere circlet, but a massive, floating construct. It grew bigger and bigger until it took the size of a mighty boulder, casting a terrifying shadow over Lin Yuan.
The jewels embedded within the massive structure began to pulse like beating hearts, bleeding a suffocating aura that locked onto Lin Yuan. The space around the crown became visibly distorted, groaning under the sheer power of the energy it was generating.
Envoy Zhao Wuhen rapidly retreated backward, putting distance between himself and Lin Yuan. He then glared at Lin Yuan, his face twisted into a vicious, victorious sneer.
"This crown contains an immense amount of spiritual energy gathered from the very core of the Central Continent!" Envoy Zhao Wuhen declared, his voice echoing with absolute confidence as the crown artifact hummed with terrifying power above them. "Once unleashed, its power will completely destroy your physical body, leaving your Nascent Soul exposed and utterly vulnerable to my attacks!"