As Liu Xiao’s palm descended, it sought to annihilate both Tian Anping’s fleshly form and his ‘Four Seas’ at once. It was a severance of both lifespan and the cultivation path itself.

Yet, the terror radiating from the vanished inner mansion was so profound that he almost failed to notice a crucial detail: how, despite his palm’s strike, Tian Anping’s head remained.

Not until Tian Anping’s voice, seeping from the gaps between his fingers, reached him. He could even feel the frigid breath of Tian Anping brushing against his fingertips as he spoke.

Then, with a sudden jolt, he realized: the figure before him was not Tian Anping! It was a frigid corpse, not the man himself. Or perhaps, even the notion of it being a corpse was questionable!

Within the range of his spiritual sense, cultivators of the Shenlin realm were akin to the divine beings of the Shenlin world. But today, he found himself doubting the very power of his own spiritual sense! *Could I truly control this space? Was what I perceived real or false? Where, then, was the true Tian Anping? And… “In my mansion,” what did that mean?*

In an instant, a thousand thoughts twisted and turned within his mind.

Suddenly, a hand shot out, seizing his wrist! Regardless of whether this corpse was the true Tian Anping, this corpse now reached out and clamped onto his wrist. It was like an iron hoop, conveying a sensation of profound cold and unyielding strength. A potent force surged, dragging his hand downwards, pulling it away from the space before his face.

Liu Xiao could sense it: this was pure, terrifying fleshly power. Thus, he finally met Tian Anping’s gaze. It was a pair of eyes filled with a certain perplexity, as if harboring many questions about this world and everything before him.

Tian Anping’s voice spoke, “Your madness today, is it to protect the Liu clan, or to sever the fear within your own heart?” He looked at Liu Xiao, his voice not loud, yet every word was like a declaration of the world’s truth – a truth of extreme coldness, extreme cruelty… “Reality.”

“So many years have passed, and you haven’t made an inch of progress,” Tian Anping continued. “Liu Xiao, you have violated the old agreement, intruded upon a private residence…”

His long hair suddenly danced. Within his eyes, after the initial perplexity receded, coldness and madness intertwined! “I should kill you!”

“What nonsense! You are the one who should die!” Liu Xiao roared with fury.

The Tongtian Palace, the Inner Mansion, the Outer Building, and even the Yunshen Hall within the Zangxing Sea! All simultaneously erupted! Dao Yuan, divine ability light, star force, path power, divine soul power… The immense power belonging to a Shenlin cultivator exploded without reservation!

His easily withdrawn palm was pulled back, pressing down on that face once more, unleashing terrifying power. The air emitted a fearsome explosion. And beneath his press, Tian Anping’s corpse vanished. Completely and utterly gone, leaving not a trace.

Liu Xiao knew he had killed nothing. He looked around again. Within this strange two-story small building, it was empty, as if nothing remained. This was a monotonous room devoid of any decoration, any color. All he saw were four walls, boring to the point of driving one to madness. An ordinary person probably wouldn’t last a day. What kind of lunatic could sit in such a place for nearly ten years?

With no time to dwell further, Liu Xiao’s heart held but one thought at that moment: He could not let Tian Anping escape! He had willingly courted great taboo, torn up the initial decision made in Changming County, and boldly come to Jicheng to assassinate Tian Anping. Success would be one thing, but failure… he couldn’t imagine how Tian Anping would treat the Fufeng Liu clan afterward!

No matter how the Tian family retaliated, it would still be within the rules of the world’s family games. But this man, Tian Anping, was utterly unrestrained by rules! If he failed, even in death, he would have no face to see the man who had picked him up from the roadside, who had been like a teacher and a father to him.

Liu Xiao pulled himself from that “well mouth” and leaped out.

Before his eyes, he saw…

Monotonous and boring scenes, one after another. Empty, bare walls, and a sky window with no hiding place at a glance. There was no other color, no decoration to be seen.

It was still an Auxiliary Building!

What was happening? Liu Xiao felt a growing panic. He absolutely refused to admit that Tian Anping’s words had struck a chord in his heart. That year, when Tian Anping was still in the Shenlin realm, Liu Xiao had been significantly stronger than him. Later, after Tian Anping’s golden body and jade marrow were shattered, and the four great holy buildings were bombarded, Liu Xiao was immeasurably stronger. Yet, deep within his heart, fear of this man had persisted for years!

The most prodigious talent he had ever witnessed in his life was Liu Shentong. He himself admitted that if they were in the same Outer Building realm, he wouldn’t be able to withstand three exchanges with Liu Shentong. And it was precisely this Liu Shentong who, in the same realm, was killed by Tian Anping. Liu Xiao, with his Shenlin realm strength, had gone personally, intending to forcefully eliminate this man, yet Tian Anping had achieved Shenlin right before his eyes! That kind of feeling… It was like going to step on an ant, expecting to solve it with one foot. But no matter how many times you stepped, it wouldn’t die, and that ant, right before your eyes, suddenly grew as tall as you. That was an indescribable despair.

The gap in talent between people was even greater than the distance between a person and an ant. And the unfortunate truth was, in the realm of “talent,” he was the one who had to look up, the human ant! He was indeed afraid! Failing to personally kill Tian Anping in Changming County had already become his nightmare. Every day, every night, every hour, every moment, he thought of killing Tian Anping!

So Tian Anping was not wrong. His journey to Jicheng was for the Liu family, and also for himself. He was repaying the Liu family’s kindness, and also severing the fear in his heart. If this nightmare wasn’t cut, Liu Xiao himself would become a waste! In these nearly ten years, he had indeed made no progress in cultivation! He had maintained a strong front before Tian Anping, with the self-respect of a Shenlin cultivator, although that pair of eyes, filled with exploration and perplexity, seemed to see through his heart.

But outside the Auxiliary Building, why was there still an Auxiliary Building?! His spiritual sense reached out, yet failed to detect even a trace of strangeness! Where exactly was this place?

Liu Xiao casually drew forth a curved blade treasure knife, forged from a blend of Dao Yuan, star force, and divine soul power. With a backhand chop, he cleaved through the boundary between the virtual and the real, slicing open the building wall, and leaped out! His gaze swept in all directions.

All he saw were four walls, and only a sky window.

It was still an Auxiliary Building! Forever monotonous, forever boring, forever unchanging Auxiliary Building!

Within Linzi city.

The grand ceremony finally drew to a close. Jiang Wang took the top name, and the ancestral temple was informed. In a sense, this grand ceremony was the Qi Emperor boasting of his achievements to his past ancestors. Naturally, it was solemn and respectful.

The decree had been proclaimed, the rewards received, and the sacrificial text burned. The presiding official was just about to announce the end of the ceremony when, suddenly, a disturbance arose upon the high platform where the meritorious nobles and hundred officials stood. Gaochang Marquis Tian Xili was like a mad lion, roaring in fury: “Liu Yingqi! Do you want to exterminate our surname?!” He actually pushed aside the meritorious minister beside him and advanced menacingly towards Xuanhuai Earl Liu Yingqi.

“Gaochang Marquis, don’t! Let’s discuss this later.”

The surrounding officials and meritorious nobles rushed to advise him, but Tian Xili paid them no heed.

“Don’t block him!”

Liu Yingqi directly thrust his hands apart, pushing outwards to both sides, and boldly stepped forward to meet him: “Let’s see how he exterminates my Liu surname!”

A hereditary Marquis and a hereditary Earl, solemnly upon this grand ceremony, were on the verge of a full martial arts display!