Host’s note: I’m hosting this for the author on RRL; I’m not the author. I also did some PR and fixed a few mistakes before posting, but I think I missed some. Feel free to comment about any mistakes in the chapter.
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One by one, figures began to slowly emerge and file into the colosseum. Many of them came from the royal family’s section, but there had even been a few who had hidden themselves amongst the dense crowd itself.
In total, eleven Spiritual Dan practitioners were in the squad, with four being in the middle stages, four being in the early stages, and three at the late 9th stage of Spiritual Dan!
Within moments, these Dan cultivators had formed a circle around Jin Xia and the king; their eyes shining with a piercing cold light as they glared at the white robed youth. There was a look of awe, fear, and anger mixed within their eyes. They had naturally seen Jin Xia’s prowess when he blew back the two elders… as well as the black energy that Jin Xia attacked with! That… was an ability available to only those who’ve reached the Xing Profound realm!
However none of them was able to feel even a drop of Qi aura coming from Jin Xia, so they were unsure if the youth had truly reached the Xing Profound realm. Perhaps he had used a trick or special item to launch that Qi energy? After all, such items were rare but not impossible to obtain.
And seeing how strange Jin Xia was, it might not be a surprise that the youth may have obtained something heavenly!
A few of the practitioners’ eyes glowed with greed, while the others looked on with caution and skepticism.
They stood silently, awaiting the order of the king.
Lan Fu slowly rose from his broken throne as he strained to contain the malicious aura within him from leaking out. Staring intently at Jin Xia the entire time, he tried to ask in a calm manner, though a slight tremble of excitement could be heard in his tone.
“Child, no, young man… have you reached the… Xing Profound realm?”
The surrounding crowd hushed at the king’s questions. The quiet was due to two reasons: the first being that all the weaker cultivators utterly taken back by the king’s words, and the other being that the few strong experts were awaiting the confirmation of their disbelief.
Jin Xia smiled for a moment before he coolly replied.
“Xing Profound realm? I am not at this level.”
At Jin Xia’s words, the king Lan Fu frowned as he looked deeply at Jin Xia. However, he could not detect any falsehood from Jin Xia’s words, nor could he look through the other’s cultivation level.
Could it be that he had seen wrongly? No! That was impossible. Then, could it be that the child had some sort of rare treasure that he had deployed?
The surrounding experts also heaved a sigh of relief at Jin Xia’s words, but they did not let their guard down. The more skeptical ones did not relinquish their tenseness at all. These people continued to observe Jin Xia and the situation.
If Jin Xia was not at the Xing Profound, with his earlier display of strength, he should probably be somewhere in the high ranks of the Spiritual Dan! After all, peak Spiritual Dan practitioners could temporarily release Qi energy attacks as well, but only truly powerful ones would be able to do so.
As for Jin Xia’s blank aura, many had already guessed that the youth must have used some special method to completely cover it up. Perhaps it could even be a rare sealing treasure!
Lan Fu thought for a moment longer before he looked back up at Jin Xia. A light of viciousness was now in his eyes as a murderous air leaked out of him freely.
He had come to the same conclusion as the experts around him: that Jin Xia might have reached the peak of the Spiritual Dan realm and had been able to somehow temporarily use materialised Qi energy attacks.
If Jin Xia had been at Xing Profound realm, Lan Fu might consider trying to rope Jin Xia. But for peak Spiritual Dan… while this was an impressive feat to have such power at a young age, the other party was rebellious power.
Unless the youth was near his own cultivation realm, Lan Fu would not consider even sparing him, regardless of the other’s talent. As long as Jin Xia was a threat to his royal family, he was willing to spare any cost to eliminate that budding threat!
So what if he was a once in a millennium genius? To oppose his Lan family, the only path was death!
Pushing out Jin Xia’s talented prowess out of his mind, Lan Fu focused his mind solely on his growing killing intent instead. As he silently glared at Jin Xia with a fake, cold smile, he asked in a raspy voice.
“If so, then do you… have anything you want to say? If you want to explain anything yourself, now is most certainly your only chance, child…”
Jin Xia smiled as he said, “I have already explained my reasons earlier. But I do have a question.”
“...And that is?” Lan Fu said as the killing intent around began to steadily increase due to Jin Xia’s answer.
“If I kill you, does that mean I will become king of this country? Or do I have to annihilate the entire royal family?” Jin Xia replied with a smile that was not a smile. “Oh, but if you and the royal family surrenders and transfer the position over to me, I can of course let you go.”
Suddenly, an explosive murderous aura rose into the sky. Lan Fu’s face at this time did not possess the smile he originally had. All of it was gone now, replaced with a icy dark expression.
The onlookers stared with bated breath as shock swirled within their heart. That statement… was equivalent to a declaration of rebellion! Someone was actually rebelling!
On a distant section, Jin Liu Dan and all the Jin clansmen had a pale expression. They did not know what to do anymore.
Hu Dang stared at Jin Xia’s figure as questions and shock and confusion all raged within him. Finally, he could not help but sigh to himself.
‘Such a behavior… either you must be a lunatic, a once-in-a-millennium legendary cultivator reborned, or…’ Hu Dang thought silently as he gazed at Jin Xia. ‘...or you are someone similar to me…’
Lan Fu glared venomously at Jin Xia as he growled, his demeanor as a king now completely replaced with coldness and murderous air.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Good, good! It is unfortunate that a genius such as yourself would choose this route, but I guess all talents have their own phase of arrogance. However, you have truly crossed the limit now. Even if you are a hundred times more talented...vyou, will still die here. Your entire clan will be eradicated as well.”
Each words were said calmly, yet each sentence was filled with strong killing intent.
Jin Xia’s smile slightly faltered as a faint anger could be felt within his eyes. While his Jin clan was not related to his true self, it was still the family of his current body. And since he occupied this body, the old Jin Xia’s family was likewise his!
During those previous months, the emotions that had been sealed away when Jin Xia was a deity were surging back inside. He was beginning to feel, like a mortal. There had even possibly been a slight alteration in his train of thought as well, with him placing a bit more emphasis on relations than he had done before!
“Since I was generous enough to give you a way out, yet you refused to take it… very well. Though given the mindset of cultivators like you and this current predicament, perhaps it cannot be blamed that you would react as such.” Jin Xia calmly spoke as he looked towards the Jin clan’s section out of the corner of his eyes.
“So I will do this: whoever that opposes me now, I will eradicate; but for those who chooses to surrender and leave, I will spare, regardless of your status or cultivation level.”
The surrounding cultivators from the royal family had mocking look on their face as they glared at Jin Xia. Lan Fu had a sneer on his face as he decided to speak no more. The child before was truly arrogant to the extreme, like a naive lamb that has yet to experienced the cruel law of the jungle outside!
He raised his left hand for a brief moment before flipping it down.
“Kill.” Lan Fu softly ordered at the same time.
Immediately, several cultivators rapidly shot towards Jin Xia.
At the same time, royal guards began to approach the Jin Clan section. Since Lan Fu had already seen where Jin Xia had been seated, and after hearing the youth’s name, he had ordered several guards to take care of the group of Jin clansmen who were present. He would then swiftly deal with the rest of the Jin clan later.
Today, those who were surnamed “Jin” will not leave this colosseum alive!
Right as four mid-staged Spiritual Dan practitioners pounced on Jin Xia, the latter’s figure blurred before disappearing from the spot.
“?!”
“W-what! Where did that brat go?!”
Their questions were quickly answered when a series of miserable cries rang out from behind. Turning around, they quickly saw several royal guards being dispatched at once. Heads flew, bloods spilt, and limbs were shattered!
The royal cultivators’ pupils shrunk as they stared in disbelief. Among the pile of fallen royal guards, at its center, stood a white robed figure, Jin Xia!
“This… how, how was he able to arrive there so quickly?!”
But just as the four Spiritual Dan practitioners, the ones who had pounced on Jin Xia, tried to move, they suddenly felt that they were strangely stuck in place. It was as if their body had lost connection with their brain; no, it was more as if… they could not feeling anything below them!
The four looked down at their body before their head started to spin.
At some point, a large hole had appeared in the center of his chest. And they had not even sensed the pain, much less the impact. In fact, they could not even understand when they were attacked at all!
As blood poured from the giant hole on their chest, the four men, whose cultivation level could easily shake the entire Great Azure country, fell to the ground. Their body, now forever one with the eternal dust...
The remaining seven Spiritual Dan cultivators were greatly stirred by their comrades’ death, much less the peak Wudan practitioners who stood around in trepidation. None of had even seen the moment of attack!
Even Lan Fu, who had somewhat regained his cool, furrowed his brows in deep anxiety.
“With my cultivation level, I could not see through him. Four Spiritual Dan practitioners died right under my nose and I did not even know how they died...And now that movement skill which I couldn’t even sense...” Lan Fu silently thought as his expression rapidly darkened.
Things were starting to look worse and worse, and more questions had begun to sprout.
“Could he be someone from the outside, who had hid inside the Jin Clan until now?”
After a while, Lan Fu came to another conclusion about Jin Xia’s identity. Given the talent and skills that Jin Xia had displayed, Lan Fu had never even heard of anyone being capable of displaying within the Great Azure Country.
And with Jin Xia’s sudden emergence, there were truly suspicious points to be carefully considered.
“Ahh!!”
“S-stop! I-I-Ahh!”
Blood splattered everyone as Jin Xia mercilessly flicked his arms left and right, with black Qi energy firing everyone. None of the royal guards had been able to escape.
All the along Jin Xia had expected that the royal family would attack his people. Given that the king must have already knew his identity, his clan that was here would naturally suffer the consequence of his forthcoming actions, had he been unprepared.
When everyone saw the black Qi energy continuously been shot out by Jin Xia, a chill ran down their spine.
Lan Fu had an extremely heavy expression as he stared at Jin Xia.
No peak Spiritual Dan practitioner could use materialized Qi energy continuously like Jin Xia did. Only… a Xing Profound expert could do so!
‘Was I… tricked?’ Lan Fu thought as a certain urgency and fear began to rise in him.
That boy… is hiding too many secrets within him! He must be eliminated at all cost!
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Host’s note: Managed to get the author to send me 52. The story is officially off hiatus and resuming updates.