Spurn My Face, and I Will Oblige!

Yet the three purple-robed elders remained unmoved. The crane-haired, youthful-faced elder at their head narrowed his eyes slightly. The oppressive pressure radiating around him grew considerably heavier, blatantly unleashing the aura of a late Nascent Soul cultivator! Seeing this, Lu Kangnian took a sudden stride forward, drawing all the pressure released by the elder toward himself, and advanced with an unruffled expression. With every step Lu Kangnian took, his aura surged frantically. By the time he came to a stop three feet before the trio, his released presence completely suppressed the three elders of Ziyang Palace! Peak Nascent Soul! Lu Kangnian's eyes swept across the three men with cold detachment, and he said softly, "With just the three of you, you dare come flaunt your might before me?" "Who gave you the nerve?!" *Boom!* From the Great Xia Sword Sect's eight main peaks, a formidable aura rose from each summit, surging straight into the heavens! Aside from Qin Xian and the other elder, the masters of the eight peaks had all broken out of seclusion! The overwhelming presence of eight great Nascent Soul cultivators saturated the open sky. In an instant, fierce winds whipped through the borders of the Great Xia Sword Sect, accompanied by the ceaseless rumble of thunder. Ten full Nascent Soul cultivators tread upon the void in an encircling formation, surrounding the three purple-robed elders on all sides! Witnessing this scene, Li Guanqi could not help clenching his fists. He had likely already guessed why the elders of Ziyang Palace had come! Lu Kangnian narrowed his eyes and said, "Yu Chang, out of respect for your advanced years, I, Lu Kangnian, have addressed you as Elder Yu whenever our paths crossed." "Yet have you forgotten that you are merely an enshrinement elder of Ziyang Palace?" "Daring to shatter the outer boundary formation of my Great Xia Sword Sect—did I give you too much face?" At these words, the elder's face turned an alternating pale and livid. In the past, Lu Kangnian had always respectfully addressed him as Elder Yu whenever they met. Yet now, this man dared address him directly by name! Even so, Yu Chang was secretly astounded. *Two hundred years ago, this Lu Kangnian was merely at the mid Nascent Soul stage. How has he become so formidable now?!* Keeping his composure on the surface, Yu Chang sneered darkly. "Lu Kangnian, I come today by the order of our palace master!" "What your Great Xia Sword Sect has done, you should know full well in your heart!" Lu Kangnian let out a cold laugh. "Oh? My Great Xia Sword Sect tends to our own meager turf and has hardly crossed Ziyang Palace, haven't we?" "What have we done? Why don't you lay it out plainly and tell me?" Yu Chang sneered, flicking his sleeve to cast out a headless corpse! Pointing at the body, Yu Chang said, "You should recognize this person, shouldn't you?" Lu Kangnian nudged it with his foot, pondered for a moment, and said softly, "Oh my… isn't this Elder Zheng Hao of Qingxiao Palace?" "*Tsk, tsk.* Did he cross some enemy? What a miserable way to die." Seeing his nonchalant expression, Yu Chang barked in fury. "Lu Kangnian! Look closely at the wounds on his body! He was clearly killed by someone from your Great Xia Sword Sect!" "If you do not hand over the culprit in this matter, Ziyang Palace will never let it rest!" By now, all the disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect had leaped onto rooftops, looking toward the heavens. Seeing three Nascent Soul elders of Ziyang Palace arrive in person, everyone was somewhat bewildered. Yet no one noticed Li Guanqi standing atop the mountain peak, his head lowered, his pupils trembling! *He's dead! Zheng Hao was truly killed!* Only he understood in his heart why all of this had happened; it seemed his earlier guess was entirely correct! Yet he was also somewhat bewildered. Merely because he had slain Zheng Hao's disciple on the arena stage, that man had been so venomous as to tamper with the pocket realm gifted to the sect, causing the Great Xia Sword Sect's disciples to suffer catastrophic losses... Li Guanqi raised his head toward the sky, thinking to himself: *So Grandfather was right—immortal cultivators are even more vengeful over the slightest slight!* At the same time, Li Guanqi marveled at Sect Master Lu Kangnian's sheer ruthlessness! Facing a sect whose power was several times greater than their own, the sect master had made such a choice without the slightest hesitation! *These old fellows from Ziyang Palace clearly came to demand accountability!* *What will happen next…* Sure enough! Yu Chang stared darkly at Lu Kangnian and sneered, "Let me tell you, Lu Kangnian, playing dumb will do you no good before Ziyang Palace." Lu Kangnian curled his lip in open disdain. "An elder of your palace dies, and without a shred of evidence, you come right to my doorstep to dump a pot of filth over my head." "Yu Chang, did you shovel manure before you took up cultivation?" "Just because a man died, what gives you the right to claim my Great Xia Sword Sect killed him?" "Could it not be that some personal enemy of Zheng Hao's came seeking revenge?" Yu Chang cut Lu Kangnian off: "Hmph! Spare me your nonsense. Since I am standing here, let me tell you straight: Ziyang Palace holds the evidence!" Hearing this, Lu Kangnian laughed from sheer exasperation and countered, "Oh? Evidence? Then why don't you bring it out for everyone to see?" "Let all the sects across the entire Northern Region see just why Zheng Hao… met his death!" His icy voice carried genuine murderous intent, and his sharp gaze swept across the surroundings, intentionally putting on a show for the scouts of nearby sects. Within his wide sleeves, Yu Chang clenched his fists, momentarily at a loss for words. Ziyang Palace had indeed uncovered certain issues after investigating, but as they delved deeper, they also discovered what Zheng Hao had done! A secret jade slip issuing a bounty was more than enough to explain much. Moreover, the news that eighteen Foundation Establishment disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect had died had already spread far and wide. Even so, that the Great Xia Sword Sect dared to take action and execute an elder of Ziyang Palace still provoked immense fury among Ziyang Palace's upper echelons! Only then did the spectacle of Yu Chang and the others coming to demand the culprit take place. Yu Chang's eyes flickered. Flapping his wide sleeve, he said in a heavy voice, "The dignity of Ziyang Palace permits not the slightest trampling!" "Three days. I give you only three days." "When the time is up, if you do not hand over the person who killed Zheng Hao..." The old man turned slowly, a glint of cruel amusement flashing in his eyes as he whispered, "...then prepare for war. Ziyang Palace will flatten your Great Xia Sword Sect!" With that, Yu Chang turned away. "Let us go!" Yet just as the three prepared to leave, the oppressive pressure emanating from Lu Kangnian behind them abruptly surged, engulfing all three of them within it. Lu Kangnian let out a cold laugh. "Acting the whore while erecting a monument to chastity—is Ziyang Palace the only one allowed to play the saint?" "So you understand full well the truth of what transpired, yet you still choose to act this way merely to preserve Ziyang Palace's face, do you?" "Fine! Let me tell you right now: we did not kill him. And if you want me to hand over the killer, there is no one!" "If you have the ability, bring out your evidence so I can show it to everyone in the Northern Region!" *Clang!* Drawing his longsword, Lu Kangnian wore a cold smirk. Leveling his blade at Yu Chang, he said in a grave voice, "Go back and tell Han Tiange: if Ziyang Palace wants to establish its authority, he picked the wrong target!" *Boom!* Three earth-shattering sword beams erupted in succession from the ground, instantly forcing the three purple-robed elders back over a thousand zhang! *Clang!* Sheathing his longsword, Lu Kangnian turned away and sneered, "If Ziyang Palace wishes to wage war, my Great Xia Sword Sect will gladly oblige at any time!" Their purple robes torn, Yu Chang and the two men beside him each bore a moderately deep sword wound across their chests. Yu Chang's expression turned exceedingly grim. A junior from the past had actually forced the three of them back with a single sword strike. His growth had been far too swift. *Damn it! Since when did the Great Xia Sword Sect gain so many Nascent Soul cultivators?!* The taciturn elder beside him who had remained silent all along spoke softly: "I suggest we simply report back truthfully." Yu Chang looked down at his incessantly bleeding chest and said in a dark voice, "Hmph! A bunch of overreaching fools, actually daring to think they can arm-wrestle with Ziyang Palace!"