Conflict

Turmoil gripped the Human Realm. Countless experts—some hiding their identities, others lurking in the shadows—waited for an opportunity. The carrier and the Civilization Tombstone were at the very heart of it all. Without these two treasures, gathering so many people and so many formidable figures would have been next to impossible. The fake ruins fabricated by the Xia family could have only attracted a limited number of people, even with the divine character disassembly art used to draw the public's eye. Yet now, the divine character disassembly art was no longer needed. Of course, that technique had still served as the catalyst that lured all races into the Human Realm. *** November 15. Liu Wenyan, who had been missing for several days, finally reappeared. At that moment, the entirety of Nanyuan was surrounded by countless experts. There were experts from all races, as well as powerful figures from humanity. Someone spotted Liu Wenyan, and word spread in an instant. "Liu Wenyan!" A cold shout rang out as someone flew into the air, glaring down at Liu Wenyan in the distance. "Liu Wenyan, back then you claimed you had no way of retrieving the Fifth Head's divine characters! Now that you've reached the peak of the Shanhai Realm and even passed down the Fifth Head's divine characters to Su Yu, what excuse do you have today?" Liu Wenyan looked at the man. Only after a long pause did he smile. "Excuse? What excuse? And you are...?" The man in the air barked furiously, "Liu Wenyan, stop playing dumb! My father followed the Fifth Head back in the day and died in battle on the All-Heavens Battlefield! You once said you would display the Fifth Head's divine characters publicly for everyone to see. Yet now you and Su Yu have detonated them—were those divine characters even yours to destroy?!" "..." Liu Wenyan chuckled. He looked around. Some spectators remained silent, some sneered, some waited for a good show, and others looked on with disdain. In a calm voice, Liu Wenyan said, "I never said I would display them publicly for everyone to see, did I? You people simply imagined that yourselves. Back then, I spoke to the Zhou family once because the research materials left behind by my master had gone missing. To save my master, the Zhou family sacrificed the life of an Invincible... After thinking it over for a long time, I did mention that once the divine characters could be manifested, members of the Zhou family could be permitted to view them. But... my debts with the Zhou family were settled long ago, weren't they?" Liu Wenyan gave a light laugh. "Don't say I'm being unreasonable. I am reasoning with you! It is truly admirable that your father followed my master, and his death on the All-Heavens Battlefield is worthy of immense respect. But... you cannot demand that every soldier who died on the battlefield get to carve up the personal estates of those Invincibles, can you? "In the Great Xia Prefecture and the Great Qin Prefecture, tens of thousands of soldiers have perished in battle. Does that mean the descendants of all those soldiers should carve up the wealth of the Xia family and the Qin family? It boggles my mind how the divine characters left behind by my master somehow became public property! Yes, they died following my master, but... did my master ever mistreat any of them during his lifetime? "When he set off for the All-Heavens Battlefield, did he force anyone to accompany him? In fact, he explicitly told everyone not to follow! Your father and those other seniors admired and idolized my master, so they chose to go and protect his dao! "Yet how does that give you the right to carve up my master's legacy?" The smile on Liu Wenyan's face faded. "Moreover, my master died in battle as well. Only a few divine characters remained. When I left the Great Xia Civilization Academy, I asked for nothing and took nothing with me except those divine characters. By all rights and reason, shouldn't they belong to me? "Because of that, I even took on a massive debt to repay the Great Xia Prefecture, since it was Great Xia that nurtured my master. My master reaching that height had very little to do with any of you, didn't it?" He looked around at everyone—at all the races, at humanity—and said with a smile, "Have you all grown so accustomed to bullying us? Did you think our lineage was such an easy target that anyone could come along and take a swipe? Our lineage left behind quite a lot back then, didn't we? Later... whatever had to be compensated was compensated, and whatever had to be yielded was yielded. My junior brother and I were left with practically nothing! "Even my grievances with the Zhou family have been settled. I truly don't understand where you get the right to demand that I surrender my master's divine characters. By what right?" The man stared at him coldly. "So you're saying that those who died following the Fifth Head all died for nothing?" Liu Wenyan sighed softly. "I grieve deeply over the fall of those seniors. But... that is no excuse!" He shook his head. "I am being reasonable, and I expect you to be reasonable as well! A general leads thousands of soldiers into battle, and everyone dies—not because of the general, but because someone committed treason. Instead of hunting down the traitor, you persistently harass the general's descendants. That is absurd. Just because the traitor is powerful, you turn around and bully the general's family instead? "Is there really any need for this? Over the past fifty years, we fought for nothing and grabbed for nothing. When we were bullied, we endured it! When our disciples were murdered... they were murdered! When our faction was dismantled, it was dismantled! We swallowed every suppression and target painted on our backs. What more do you want? Must you push us to mutual destruction before you're satisfied? "This isn't the first time, is it? Why bother?" Liu Wenyan looked at him and said softly, "Why stick your neck out like this? Even if my master's divine characters were given to you, could you even use them? Could you even understand them? We should have been working together to expose that traitor. Instead, you've spent decades fighting us. Has it been satisfying? Or... did someone promise you something?" The man replied coldly, "Liu Wenyan, save your excuses! My father died because of you all, so naturally you must pay the price!" "*Sigh!*" Liu Wenyan let out a heavy sigh. "There really is no reasoning with you. I already told you... fine, if you insist on forcing me to be blunt! My master paid every single person who accompanied him. They received salaries during peace, allowances when marching to war, and pensions upon death. Back then, who among them didn't take benefits from my master? And after my master died, you demand that we pay with our lives... Isn't that taking things too far?" Liu Wenyan shook his head helplessly with a wry smile. "Truly, so many years have passed. Everything that should have been given or compensated has already been given. Most of my master's divine characters have already been detonated. Must you really hunt down the very last scraps?" Before the man in the air could speak, someone in the surrounding crowd sneered, "Liu Wenyan, are you saying that those who followed the Fifth Head died meaningless deaths? Just because they were paid, their lives are none of your concern? It seems all that talk about sentiment from your Multiple Divine Characters Faction was nothing but lies. You never treated them as people at all!" "..." Liu Wenyan felt profoundly exhausted. "When I reason with you, you bring up sentiment. When I bring up sentiment, you demand lives in compensation. No matter what I say, I am always in the wrong. After all these years, you've grown accustomed to it—and perhaps you assume I should be accustomed to it as well." A demon expert burst into hearty laughter. "Liu Wenyan, why not bring out Ye Batian's divine characters for everyone to see?" Liu Wenyan glanced at the demon and smiled. "Sure. Do you want to see them?" The demon expert froze slightly. Liu Wenyan looked around again, paused in thought, and said, "Do you all insist on seeing them? You must see them? Then... just looking, no taking. How about that?" The man in the air stirred. "You really can manifest them! Liu Wenyan, bring them out for us to see first. As for who these divine characters belong to... that is not for you alone to decide..." "Then who decides?" Liu Wenyan laughed. "These treasures were passed down by my master. He had no children, but he still has a grandaunt, and my junior brother is his student. Right now, Grand-Aunt Ye is standing right here, and my junior brother is inside the city. Aside from the three of us, who else could possibly have more say?" Her face slightly pale, Ye Hongyan gave a cold snort and said harshly, "Why bother wasting words on them! If not for the sake of past ties with those who fell back then, I would have dealt with them ruthlessly long ago!" Among these people, some had lost relatives alongside Ye Batian, some barely had any tenuous connection at all, and a few were direct kin. This confrontation was clearly premeditated. They had evidently been waiting for Liu Wenyan all along! This was far from the first time such a challenge had occurred. It had happened in the past as well, including during the battle between the single and multiple divine character factions in Great Xia, when Tang Yunfei of the Jiutian Academy had used the exact same excuse regarding his fallen senior brother. At that moment, Hong Tan and several others rose into the air from inside the city. Shouting across the crowd, Hong Tan barked, "Senior Brother, it's useless talking to them! These people were blinded by greed long ago. You can't get through to them!" Liu Wenyan raised a hand and smiled. "We must be reasonable. Reason governs all things, and the more we talk it through, the clearer reason becomes!" Several people sneered inwardly. Here went Liu Wenyan again. The man was an incurable pedant. Reason? In this era, who bothered to reason with you! This was not Liu Wenyan's first time facing such a situation. Years ago, people had even gone straight to Nanyuan to demand things from him. Though they were driven off by the Xia family, Liu Wenyan had still chosen to reason with them. Liu Wenyan smiled and said, "How about this: anyone today who believes my master's divine characters should be handed over to you, step forward. Let me see how many descendants of those people from back then truly believe that because my master died in battle, his divine characters ought to be carved up among you." There was no movement. Finally, an old man in the crowd couldn't hold back and cursed loudly, "Brother Liu, why waste your breath on these wretched dogs?! Did the descendants of any of the core experts who followed the Fifth Head ever come to you demanding his belongings? When our fathers followed the Fifth Head, it was never to carve up his divine characters after his death! Our fathers fought for an ideal, for a dream, for humanity! "And now, descendants of a few opportunistic cowards actually have the gall to demand treasures?" The old man raged, "Take this Wang Chong here! I knew his father. Back then, the Fifth Head explicitly said no one needed to follow him, yet his father insisted on going. Because he was weak, everyone refused to take him, and he turned around and cursed everyone for looking down on him! In truth, his father only went along to watch the Fifth Head's Dao attainment process and curry favor. What 'dao-protecting heart' did he have? Did the Fifth Head ever need a third-stage Shanhai to protect his dao? What a joke!" The man in the air turned red with fury upon hearing this. "What did you say?!" The old man refused to yield an inch, roaring back, "What did I say? I spoke the truth! People usually give you face and can't be bothered with you, yet you keep instigating everyone to corner the Fifth Head's lineage! What kind of thing are you? A coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong! The culprits who killed the Fifth Head and your father are right here—or at least their lineage is! The Tianyuan race is standing right there! Why don't you go kill them? You just come here to pressure Brother Liu—do you think everyone is blind to your intentions?" The old man pointed straight at Zhouhun and the others watching the spectacle. "Go kill them! You don't dare touch your true enemies, yet you come here to push Brother Liu around. Do you have any shame at all?!" The man in the air replied coldly, "Whether I kill them or not is my business! What wrong is there in demanding my father's rightful share from Liu Wenyan? Did the Fifth Head's divine characters belong solely to him? They belong to everyone..." The old man was so furious he laughed. Just as he was about to curse again, Liu Wenyan smiled. "Forget it, Brother Huang, say no more. It's fine! I am a reasonable man. Wang Chong, besides you, who else is there? If it's just you alone, even if we divide them equally according to the number of fallen back then, you won't get much. How many more are there? If there are truly many, we can discuss how to handle the divine characters." Wang Chong felt a surge of joy. He shouted, "Step forward, everyone! The Fifth Head's divine characters don't belong to Liu Wenyan alone. Everyone has a share!" After he shouted for a moment, several people actually stepped forward. Before long, seven or eight people had gathered beside Wang Chong. Liu Wenyan chuckled. "Anyone else? Eight people. I won't bother asking which families you belong to. Quite a few died back then—hundreds, easily. With only eight of you, you won't get much..." Wang Chong said in a low voice, "Liu Wenyan, the eight of us are more than enough to represent the descendants of those people..." The old man in the crowd cursed again in fury, "Represent your ancestors! Even your ancestors would be ashamed to associate with you! You represent shit!" Wang Chong couldn't be bothered with him. He wasn't demanding anything from the old man; his target was Liu Wenyan. And Liu Wenyan had always been easy to talk to. Because his master had dragged down so many people, everyone had received compensation to varying degrees over the years. Liu Wenyan had repaid debts, and the other treasures left by the Fifth Head had all been divided up. Today was simply repeating the old trick. Liu Wenyan looked utterly helpless and sighed. "Fine. Come over here. Only the eight of you are qualified to take a look. As for the rest... you don't qualify." Wang Chong hesitated slightly, then shouted, "Bring it out yourself!" Resigned, Liu Wenyan held out his hand. A moment later, a divine character materialized above his palm. There were no tremendous fluctuations, no earth-shattering phenomena. It simply floated quietly above his hand. Everyone craned their necks! Glances flickered among Wang Chong and the others. Exchanging looks, they hesitated no longer and flew toward Liu Wenyan! They didn't overthink it, because Liu Wenyan was a reasonable man, a pedantic bookworm... Or so they believed. Among the foreign experts, however, several eyes flickered with suspicion. In the distance, someone beside Modona sneered, "Modona, will Liu Wenyan really give it to them?" Modona glanced at him. "What do you think?" "I think... it's a joke!" Indeed, a joke! Of course, they weren't entirely familiar with human customs. Could Liu Wenyan truly give it away? *** At that moment, all eight people arrived before him. Liu Wenyan sighed. "Never mind. If you want it, I'll give it to you. Hold on tight!" With those words, the divine character flew toward Wang Chong. Overjoyed, Wang Chong reached out to grab it, but the character darted straight toward his sea of will. It appeared slow, yet moved with blinding speed! The divine character shot directly into his sea of will! *BOOM!* A deafening explosion rang out. His sea of will blasted apart, and his physical body disintegrated into powder. Wang Chong left not a single word behind! Only a bloodcurdling shriek echoed in the air. The surrounding atmosphere instantly froze. Liu Wenyan smiled. "I am a reasonable man. I gave it to you... but you couldn't handle it!" With that, the divine character shot toward the next person. Terror struck them instantly. "No, we—" *BOOM!* Another person was blown to pieces. Liu Wenyan said with a smile, "Here, take it. Back then, these characters were stored in my sea of will. Now, you can keep them in your seas of will as well. Don't be polite!" *BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!* Consecutive detonations rang out. In an instant, five or six people were blasted into oblivion. The few survivors were petrified, their minds overwhelmed with sheer horror. No, this wasn't Liu Wenyan. Liu Wenyan wasn't like this! Even when dissatisfied, unhappy, or enraged, Liu Wenyan would act as he had with Tang Yunfei—back then, even after detonating a divine character, Liu Wenyan had possessed the strength to kill them all, yet had chosen only to execute an unrelated Shan Tianhao. Because Liu Wenyan valued past sentiments! Someone screamed in agony, "No! My second uncle once fought for the Fifth Head—" *BOOM!* Flesh and bone ruptured, and the sea of will collapsed. Liu Wenyan chuckled softly. "Yes, you said it yourself—it was your second uncle who fought for the Fifth Head. That was the Fifth Head... I am not the Fifth Head. My apologies!" *BOOM!* The last person detonated in an instant. All eight had been reduced to a mist of blood in the blink of an eye. Around them, many spectators had yet to process what had happened. Only after a long pause did someone recover their senses, roaring in fury, "Liu Wenyan, you dare slaughter fellow humans?! You've gone mad! You're turning traitor—" At that exact instant, Liu Wenyan's gaze turned chillingly cold. The divine character in his hand suddenly transformed into a giant battle-axe. Liu Wenyan's aura erupted violently. He vanished in an instant and reappeared directly above that person, bringing the axe down with crushing force! The person was terrified and tried to strike back, but their body was instantly suppressed by immense pressure. *Pfft!* The man was cleaved clean in half from top to bottom, including his sea of will! A crescent moon plummeted from the sky and shattered instantly. Silence! Sheer shock! On the human side, countless people were dumbfounded. This... Liu Wenyan had completely lost his mind! He had just publicly executed a human Sun Moon expert! Was this madman truly intending to make an enemy of the entire human race? Liu Wenyan flashed back to his original position and smiled faintly. "Treason against humanity? Perhaps! When you kill our people, it's called justice, the righteous path. Yet when I kill you... why does it become treason? Back then, our Multiple Divine Characters Faction had so many people... and how many are left alive today?" He gave a faint smile and looked in every direction. "If you believe I'm a traitor, feel free to step up! Isn't that what my martial nephew Chen Yong did? Yes, let me tell you right now—he was the one who killed those people! So what if he did? Those people murdered experts of our Multiple Divine Characters Faction. Did you truly think I was unaware?" Liu Wenyan suddenly roared, "Ask yourselves! Did you truly not know?! "You played deaf and dumb simply because you thought my lineage was weak and easy to bully! "Killing us is the righteous path, because all the other races also think we deserve to die! And the Multiple Divine Characters Faction doesn't lack a few dead members, does it?!" His aura surged to unprecedented heights as he shouted coldly, "The kind-hearted are always trampled upon! A traitor? No one touches the real traitors! Since that's how it is... what if I choose to commit treason today? What can you do about it?!" "Insolence!" A burly expert roared angrily, "Liu Wenyan, watch your tongue! What treason or no treason? I will report this matter to the Invincibles. You will provide an explanation afterward! Do not make a laughingstock of us before the foreign races! Marquis Xia, arrest Liu Wenyan at once! What utter insolence!" "..." Many turned to look at the burly man. Some were speechless, while others were incensed. He wasn't just muddying the waters... he was blatantly taking Liu Wenyan's side! Liu Wenyan had slaughtered nine people, including a Sun Moon expert! And now this man was asking Marquis Xia to arrest him... it was a colossal joke! Yet quite a few people recognized the speaker. Whispered transmissions echoed, "It's him, the commander of the Modao Guard from the Great Tang Prefecture! He came as well? The man is blatantly biased!" "This matter... is hard to judge. If Liu Wenyan can produce evidence that the people Chen Yong killed were responsible for the deaths of members of their faction, and that the ones killed today were also involved, nothing will happen to him!" "..." Murmurs broke out across the crowd. Behind them, Marquis Xia wore a strange expression. He offered a slight smile before his face snapped into solemnity. He barked, "Insolent Liu Wenyan! As fellow humans, how dare you slaughter our own within the Great Xia Prefecture? You deserve death! Surrender immediately! Men, apprehend Liu Wenyan and bring him into the city!" At these words, General Zhao on the Great Xia side moved to step out from the city. Suddenly, a god race Sun Moon blocked his path and said indifferently, "What is Liu Wenyan in such a hurry to enter the city for? We have no intention of interfering in human internal affairs. However, Liu Wenyan's slaughter of his fellow humans is a capital crime. As a Civilization Master, protocol dictates he be handed over to the Quest Realm. The Quest Realm is the sacred ground of Civilization Masters. Isn't that so, Marquis Xia?" Marquis Xia chuckled. "Well, well. As a god, you seem to know human regulations better than humans do. Impressive!" His eyes were icy, though a smile remained on his face. "Yes, that is indeed the rule. Has anyone from the Quest Realm arrived? Liu Wenyan is temporarily under the custody of my Xia family. Does the Quest Realm have any objection?" *** At that moment, many eyes turned toward a corner inside Nanyuan City, where over a dozen Sun Moon experts from the Quest Realm stood. Among the crowd, Yuan Qingdong sent a transmission: "Pretend you heard nothing. Do not intervene..." Why interfere in this mess? Marquis Xia had phrased it that way, and from the look of his temper, he was practically ready to tear down the sky. There was no need to invite trouble for no reason. Yet as soon as he finished speaking, someone retorted in dissatisfaction, "Civilization Masters inherently fall under the jurisdiction of our Quest Realm! Liu Wenyan... has immense nerve, slaughtering his own kind... Once we arrest him, we don't need anything else, but we must have a share of the ruins on Su Yu's end!" Greed was always present! Yuan Qingdong was furious and transmitted, "The Xia family is already seeing red—" "So what? Can Xia the Second actually kill us? The ruins never belonged to his family alone. Besides, we are all descendants of Invincibles. Our demands aren't unreasonable—at the very least, the Sun Moon Xuanhuang Liquid and the carrier must be given to us. At worst... we won't ask for the Civilization Tombstone!" "..." Yuan Qingdong felt ready to explode! *Do you truly believe the Xia family doesn't dare touch us?* He could tell that the Xia family was burning their bridges this time. Frankly speaking, if the Xia family intended to continue playing by ordinary rules, they might not dare harm them. But the feeling the Xia family gave him today was that of a desperate gambler staking everything on a single throw, disregarding all consequences! Interfering now—did they have a death wish? The Xia family was on the verge of madness! Before he could stop her, a voice rang out from the group: "Marquis Xia, according to precedent, Liu Wenyan, as a Civilization Master who slaughtered his compatriots, should be executed! However, since the facts remain unverified, Liu Wenyan should be taken into custody first. When a Civilization Master commits a crime, if the Quest Realm is present, custody naturally belongs to the Quest Realm!" "..." Silence fell over the surroundings. Marquis Xia's implication earlier had been unmistakable. He was merely asking out of courtesy, with no intention whatsoever of surrendering Liu Wenyan to the Quest Realm. Yet now... someone from the Quest Realm had actually stepped forward! At this moment, the gazes of all races focused entirely on her. Someone whispered, "The granddaughter of King Fenhai!" "A member of the Zhang family!" King Fenhai was one of the leaders of the Eight Great Families governing the Quest Realm, the pillar behind the Zhang family, though not an Invincible who had founded a prefecture. On the Quest Realm's side, Zhang Ying had spoken! On one hand, her eyes were red with greed over the treasures in the ruins; on the other, she was furious at the Xia family and Liu Wenyan for disregarding the dignity of the Quest Realm and repeatedly defying its will. She had chosen to speak. Right then, space rippled. A white-haired old man appeared, his face tight with anger and irritation. He coughed, wheezing slightly as he barked, "Zhang Ying, who gave you permission to speak?" He glared at her. "Step down at once! This is no place for you to open your mouth!" Zhang Ying recognized the old man quickly. Frowning, she replied, "Elder Wang, this is an internal matter of the Quest Realm! The Quest Realm is governed jointly by the Eight Great Families. I speak on behalf of the Zhang family in demanding the arrest of Liu Wenyan. This has nothing to do with you, does it, Elder Wang?" The old man was furious. "You dare use King Fenhai to suppress me? Back when I was campaigning across the heavens, your grandfather was—" "Elder Wang!" Zhang Ying interrupted with a frown. "You said it yourself—that was back then. You are advanced in years, Elder Wang. Instead of remaining in secluded cultivation at the Quest Realm, why have you come out?" *Secluded cultivation!* Many of the veteran warriors from those early days were now barely clinging to life, plagued by wounds and sickness. Nearly all of them remained in seclusion to delay their impending lifespans, waiting for one final battle. Among them, Niu Baidao was considered the most vigorous. The rest were either ancient, dead, or severely crippled. Elder Wang was likewise weighed down by heavy injuries that had never healed. At her words, fury surged to his heart, sending him into a fit of violent coughing. A high-stage Sun Moon expert, he now looked as frail as a candle flickering in the wind. He roared, "Ignorant brat! Shut your mouth! The Quest Realm does not belong to the Zhang family, nor does it belong to the Eight Great Families! It is the sacred ground of all Civilization Masters of humanity! *Cough, cough, cough...* The Zhang family... *cough*... the Zhang family is merely an executor, not its master! You insolent fool..." Zhang Ying felt annoyed and said coldly, "Elder Wang, your injuries are too severe! In my opinion, you should return to seclusion and heal as soon as possible. The world today... is no longer the world of four hundred years ago!" *You are old!* *You're so old you're practically on the verge of death, yet you still have the nerve to meddle in this!* "You insolent... you..." Elder Wang was shaking with rage. He raised a hand, only to lower it again. A profound sadness washed over him. It wasn't that he lacked the strength to fight. He did! Killing a mere first-stage Sun Moon was well within his power. Yet... she was the granddaughter of his former comrade-in-arms, the granddaughter of King Fenhai. At this moment, he felt only sorrow and helplessness. The Quest Realm... had changed. Emerging after countless years of seclusion, he found the world utterly unrecognizable! He looked toward the others, coughing and panting. "The Eight Great Families... no, nine now. Even if the Zhang family agrees, if the others do not, the Zhang family... cannot represent the Quest Realm..." Panting, he looked at the rest of them. "What about you? Do you all intend to act like this as well? The gods and demons are our mortal enemies! Very few among the myriad races are anything good! Over four hundred years ago, they slaughtered all living beings! Over four hundred years ago, your fathers, your ancestors, and I fought across the heavens—not to serve the gods and demons, but to take their lives!" He straightened his back, his wheezing subsiding. "Over four hundred years ago, we fought the gods and demons until they lowered their heads and retreated! Four hundred years later, our strength has grown hundreds, thousands of times greater! Must we still cower before these gods and demons at a time like this?! Must we still grant them face?!" He turned his gaze toward the god race expert who had blocked the path earlier, his killing intent soaring to the heavens. "The humanity of today has lost its way! Four hundred years ago, every last one of these beasts from the myriad races would have been slaughtered on sight! Those with nothing to lose feared no one! But now that King Daqin and the others have gained status and comfort, have they forgotten the past? Have they forgotten the misery of those days?!" He was burning with rage! These foreign beings should never have been allowed to step foot into the Human Realm, let alone Nanyuan! Even if humanity fought internally, it should have been handled within the Human Realm, not paraded before the myriad races for them to laugh at! He was even more furious that the new generation of the Quest Realm was so short-sighted, completely blind to the bigger picture! In the past, even if the Quest Realm felt dissatisfied, they would have swallowed it rather than publicly contradicting Xia the Second. How could they put the Xia family in such an awkward position? The Xia family had always been the vanguard against the myriad races! To humiliate the Xia family in the Human Realm right in front of all these foreign races—how disgraceful! *Fools!* Elder Wang was beside himself with anger! Yet a sense of sorrow and powerlessness gripped him. He was old and crippled. Who among these people would listen to him? Over on his side, Liu Wenyan said nothing at first. Then he smiled and spoke up, "Elder Wang, please don't trouble yourself over this. The Quest Realm wishes to arrest me? Very well. Come, then! Arrest me! I'm waiting!" He looked toward them and smiled faintly. "Come on. Take me!" Zhang Ying's expression shifted, and she said coldly, "Do you intend to defy the will of the Quest Realm?" "Do you... represent the Quest Realm?" Liu Wenyan chuckled. "Do you truly know what the Quest Realm is? "Do you know how the Quest Realm came to be?" Liu Wenyan laughed! "The Quest Realm was established after the founding of the prefectures, over three hundred years ago! My ancestral master, the first head of the Great Xia Civilization Academy, Mister Xia Chen, pioneered the civilization academies. Later, academies were established everywhere. My ancestral master, together with King Daming, King Dahan, King Dasong, King Dashang, King Dazhou... multiple Invincibles of that era, co-founded the Quest Realm! Its sole purpose was to seek the mysteries of civilization! The Quest Realm... was never meant to be a ruling faction! It is a sacred hall—a hall of knowledge, a hall of civilization! "You are merely executors, not masters! The Quest Realm cannot represent all the Civilization Masters under heaven! Least of all my lineage! You have no authority to arrest me, because... I owe you nothing! On the contrary, you owe me! The authority you wield today was granted by my ancestral master! By what right do you presume to arrest me, Liu Wenyan?" Liu Wenyan's voice turned thunderous as he roared, "Call your King Fenhai here! Ask him whether the Quest Realm has the right to arrest the direct lineage of the Multiple Divine Characters!" Dead silence! Marquis Xia grinned. Elder Wang also smiled, coughing as he remarked, "I suspect King Fenhai wouldn't dare claim he has that right..." Across the way, Zhang Ying and the others turned pale. Gritting her teeth, Zhang Ying flared with anger. "The past is the past, and the present is the present! Liu Wenyan, do you intend to defy orders? Do you intend to rebel against humanity?!" Liu Wenyan let out a sigh! Nearby, Marquis Xia's eyes turned sharp and cold. Just as he was about to wave his hand, Liu Wenyan glanced at him, shook his head, and smiled. "Marquis, it seems... I can only add another crime to my name!" As the words left his mouth, his figure flashed, and he cleaved downward with the battle-axe toward the distance! If words failed, then blood would speak! Zhang Ying was startled and screamed, "Kill him!" The Sun Moons beside her hesitated, but seeing Liu Wenyan brazenly charging toward them, they chose to strike. As the battle-axe crashed down, seven or eight divine characters manifested, intercepting the blow. Even so, they all felt an immense, crushing pressure. This was Ye Batian's divine character, after all! Yet at that very moment, Liu Wenyan stepped across the void with a cold sneer. Everyone called him a second Ye Batian. But his master was his master, and he was himself—he was Liu Wenyan! The next instant, a longsword materialized in his hand. The axe belonged to his master. The sword belonged to him! "Heaven Severing!" A soft cry resonated through the clouds, and a brilliant sword light illuminated heaven and earth! Liu Wenyan at the peak of the Shanhai Realm! At this moment, he stood only at the peak of Shanhai, yet this strike was astoundingly powerful and unimaginably swift! *This* was the true Liu Wenyan! *Buzz!* The sword hummed violently. Behind him, Elder Wang moved to reach out and stop him... but then sighed and withdrew his hand. *Slash!* The sword swept through, faster than comprehension could follow! *Thud!* A head tumbled from its shoulders! Even in death, disbelief was etched onto her face—she couldn't fathom that someone had truly dared to kill her! Breathing softly, Liu Wenyan retreated rapidly. The battle-axe returned to his side. The others stood frozen in shock, none daring to move. *BOOM!* A bright moon fell from the heavens, crashing into the earth. Origin qi scattered in all directions, and divine characters shattered. With a single sword strike, an Invincible's descendant—the granddaughter of King Fenhai, Zhang Ying—had been slain. Liu Wenyan's expression remained utterly calm. "I am a traitor. Come and arrest me!" If this was what the Human Realm had become, then so be it—he would defect today. Besides, these people could never represent humanity! Complete silence! A Sun Moon had been struck down on the spot, and she was the direct descendant of an Invincible! A moment later, space rippled in the distance. An elderly man emerged. He glanced at the fallen Zhang Ying, stepped across the void, and landed. Picking up Zhang Ying's severed head, he let out a soft sigh. "Liu Wenyan, even if she was in the wrong, did that give you the right to kill her?" "Zhang Qi!" Elder Wang's expression shifted slightly. It was Zhang Ying's father, the direct son of King Fenhai! A supreme eighth-stage Sun Moon expert! He had actually come in person! Liu Wenyan said nothing. Ye Hongyan quickly rushed to his side and said in a low voice, "Zhang Qi, what do you think you're doing?" The old man gave a soft laugh. "He killed my daughter, and you ask me what I think I'm doing?" His soft laughter sent chills down everyone's spines. After stowing Zhang Ying's corpse away, he rose and turned toward Marquis Xia. "Xia the Second, does your Xia family still intend to protect him?" Marquis Xia closed his eyes and said nothing. His silence spoke volumes. *I will protect him. The Xia family will protect him!*