Jiang Wang’s inquiry, flung forth with resonant power, carried both gravity and sternness in its tone and demeanor.

The guards outside the city gate were startled, their spirits trembling, almost compelled to kneel. As an imperial envoy, his very presence radiated heavenly authority. Jiang Wang stood there, seemingly alone, yet behind him stood the entire Great Qi Empire! Of course, the Great Qi Empire also encompassed this small city of Ji.

Facing the Son of Heaven’s wrath, who could remain unshaken?

Only Tian Anping, standing within the city gate, tilted his head, appearing somewhat bewildered. Then he spoke: “You hold a decree. Come in and proclaim it.”

At this moment, he and Jiang Wang faced each other, separated only by the city gate. One was inside the city, the other outside. He invited Jiang Wang to enter the city!

Jiang Wang met his gaze, and after a moment of confusion, he saw a deep interwoven coldness and madness within.

The wind of Ji City was also oppressive, hovering low around the city gate. Along the straight street behind Tian Anping, there were no pedestrians. The merchants on both sides seemed to have closed their doors for the day.

Jiang Wang’s face remained expressionless. He simply said: “The decree, this official has already proclaimed. Whether you receive it or not is your own concern. Now, this official intends to apprehend Liu Xiao and return to the capital. If you wish to resist the decree, then step out and test my sword!”

He directly drew his Long Xiang Si, which shone like a pool of autumn water in the sunlight. The rope that held Liu Xiao suspended above the city gate silently snapped, and Liu Xiao’s entire body fell, caught by his left hand.

Holding Liu Xiao in one hand and his sword in the other, he coldly stared at Tian Anping. He did not turn and leave immediately, for few dared to rashly turn their backs on Tian Anping.

Now, the entire city fell silent. Tian Anping merely stood inside the city gate, watching him quietly. The Ji City guards outside the city gate also watched in silence, holding their breath, not daring to utter a sound.

Jiang Wang was not going to enter the city, and it seemed Tian Anping had no intention of coming out.

So, Jiang Wang, holding Liu Xiao, began to walk backward. He walked neither fast nor slow, every step at the same speed. He maintained his composure while also retaining his caution. Throughout the backward movement, his gaze and Tian Anping’s never left each other.

He backed up nineteen steps in total – this was the number of steps a cultivator of the Voice-Hearing Immortal state could maintain. Then, with a sudden decisive turn, he held the person in one hand and the sword in the other, his green robes fluttering, and stepped onto a green cloud, soaring into the high sky.

Guard Tian Sifu watched the departing figure of the imperial envoy, as if looking upon a celestial being. This was the first time he had seen someone dare to contend with Young Master Tian Anping in such a manner. Even the family elders within the clan, even… even the Patriarch himself, held a hard-to-conceal apprehension towards Young Master Anping. Not to mention the other members of the Tian family.

Today, Liu Xiao, who arrived with such ferocious momentum and even possessed the cultivation of a God-Descending realm, was ultimately hung on the city gate. He could hardly imagine what kind of character could stand so proudly before Young Master Anping!

Qing Yangzi… right?

Tian Sifu couldn’t help but turn his head to glance. The figure of Young Master Anping behind the city gate had already vanished from sight. He noticed from the corner of his eye that his fellow guards had also, without a word, collectively exhaled. This day… was simply too long!

Tian Sifu, as an ordinary city gate guard, had his own feelings. And Jiang Wang, who carried Liu Xiao away, in fact also breathed a sigh of relief. Before seeing Tian Anping, he had many guesses about Liu Xiao’s situation, suspecting that the Tian family had some hidden powerful figure at play. But after seeing Tian Anping, that sudden sense of crisis clearly told him that it was Tian Anping himself who had reduced Liu Xiao to his current state!

The first time he saw Tian Anping in Seven Star Valley, he simply felt a deep sense of dread. That kind of dread was absolutely not merely because he had disrupted the Tian family’s actions in Hidden Star, or because of Tian Anping’s past madness. It was because Tian Anping himself possessed an extremely dangerous quality, seeming to be the embodiment of danger itself.

The sense of oppression he felt from Tian Anping was something he had never felt from any Inner Mansion cultivator. After all, the opponent had been beaten down from the God-Descending realm; naturally, he possessed some aspects that ordinary Inner Mansion cultivators did not. He could not be measured by the standard of Inner Mansion cultivators. Lei Zhanqian, that kind of arrogant and unrestrained person, even after being defeated by him several times, could still fight again with full confidence. Yet, when facing Tian Anping in Seven Star Valley with his Inner Mansion cultivation, he had not said a single word. This was enough to show his terror!

And now, even Liu Xiao, a God-Descending realm cultivator who desired to kill Tian Anping, had ended up in this state. Even if Jiang Wang was confident, he did not feel that he could truly gain an advantage against Tian Anping.

Tian Anping’s invitation was incredibly oppressive. Everything that happened at the Ji City gate today would undoubtedly become known to everyone in Qi Country. If he were to shrink back today, damaging the Son of Heaven’s prestige, the consequences were imaginable. But to actually enter the city was no different from risking his own life, gambling on whether Tian Anping would go mad. Betting on whether a madman would go mad was dangerous in every sense.

And he chose to directly take Liu Xiao away, gambling that Tian Anping would not leave the city! The Tian Anping he saw in Seven Star Valley last time was different from the Tian Anping of today. At that time, he was bound by shackles on his hands and feet, appearing like a prisoner. Today, however, his hands and feet were free. And from beginning to end, Tian Anping stood within the city gate, even offering him an “invitation” to enter the city during their “confrontation.”

He guessed that this Tian Anping, whose realm was unknown, perhaps could only leave Ji City while wearing those malevolent shackles. He seemed to have gambled correctly.

Although he walked away holding Liu Xiao, appearing dashing and composed, calm and fearless, if Tian Anping had truly pursued him outside the city gate, he would have definitely thrown down Liu Xiao and escaped immediately. It didn’t matter what strength he possessed; the Great Qi Country was vast and powerful, with many strong individuals who could suppress this person. There was no need for him to take this risk. Apprehending Liu Xiao was indeed a relatively safe matter, assuming the “opponent” was Liu Xiao. But when the person to face changed to Tian Anping, the danger or lack thereof became unpredictable.

This was why someone like Tian Anping was so dreaded. It could be said that this trip to Ji City was a precise walk along a fine line. Every gain and loss was carefully considered in his heart.

At this moment, having walked a considerable distance, Jiang Wang suddenly felt something, his pupils turned red, and he looked back. It seemed like some kind of declaration.

In the gaze of his Qian Yang Pupil, that square city, with its myriad dense room-like phantoms, rose into the air! Every single room was identical. It was just like… an Inner Mansion in general!

Jiang Wang immediately recalled his first time coming to Ji City, when he had even stayed a night in the city. At that time, he had simply felt that the arrangement of each room within Ji City was very similar to the rooms opened deep within an Inner Mansion. At that time, he had even speculated whether the Tian family had constructed Ji City in imitation of the Inner Mansion pattern. Because it was all too similar. He had opened three thousand rooms deep within each of his Inner Mansions, and they were all the same, without a single difference!

The apprehension he felt towards this city was also one of the reasons he had been unwilling to enter earlier. And now… that apprehension seemed to have an answer.

Tian Anping had somehow, unknowingly, refined the rooms of an Inner Mansion into Ji City. The entire city was his Inner Mansion! How could the people living within this city not be fearful? Their lives and deaths were in his hands, and all their secrets were laid bare, without concealment.

Why God-Descending realm Liu Xiao had become like this now also seemed to have some explanation. It was just like how he, within his own Tong Tian Palace, was confident in facing any opponent. How could an outsider truly fight against Tian Anping within Tian Anping’s Inner Mansion? Moreover, this Inner Mansion was so different, and moreover, this Tian Anping was so different!