Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"If your own bones are soft and you kneel whenever you see someone, that’s your problem. But don’t you dare try to tell us whether we should worship or not!"

Hearing the angry shout of that Floating Life Realm Early Stage Cultivator, Xu Qingshan turned back and glared, immediately shooting back with biting sarcasm. As soon as these words came out, many of the nearby people showed angry looks on their faces.

"Brat, how arrogant!"

For a moment curses erupted all around. These people had all come to handle matters at the Emperor Palace, and now that they saw two snot-nosed kids daring to show disrespect to the Empress Statue of Emperor Canglong, they immediately took it as their chance to perform.

The commotion here was naturally also seen by the guards stationed before the main hall doors of the Emperor Palace, but at this moment they were in the mood of watching a show and did not immediately come over to interfere.

Having the Emperor Palace guards uphold the Empress’s dignity and having Ordinary Cultivators do so of their own accord were two entirely different things. As Cultivators belonging to the Emperor Palace, they were far more pleased to see these Ordinary Cultivators sincerely revere Emperor Canglong.

"Brat, if you still don’t kneel, believe it or not, I’ll break both your legs!"

The Floating Life Realm Early Stage Cultivator who spoke first clearly wanted to put on a good show. In his eyes, how strong could a kid in his twenties or thirties possibly be in terms of Meridian Qi Cultivation?

"You’re going to break my legs?"

Hearing this, Xu Qingshan finally turned his head, staring at that Floating Life Realm Early Stage Cultivator and asking in a low voice. A dangerous gleam had already flashed through his eyes.

He was a堂堂 Lingyun Realm Early Stage expert, a full Great Rank stronger than that old fellow. How could just any random cat or dog be allowed to provoke him? The strong naturally have the dignity of the strong.

"If you dare not kneel, I will—"

At this moment, that Floating Life Realm Early Stage Cultivator still had not begun sensing the terror before his eyes. Seeing those Emperor Palace guards watching with smiles, his desire to perform had undoubtedly reached a peak.

Unfortunately, just as this guy got the first sentence out of his mouth and only managed to say a single word of the second, he was interrupted by a sharp wind-tearing sound. Right after, he felt a sharp pain in both his knees.

Crack! Crack!

The people beside him all heard the sound of two bones snapping. At first, they thought it was that Floating Life Realm Early Stage Cultivator breaking the young man’s legs.

Who could have expected that a moment later, when they focused their eyes, they discovered that the reality was completely different from what they’d imagined. The one whose legs had been broken and who was screaming in agony was actually that Floating Life Realm Early Stage old man.

Xu Qingshan’s nature was originally kindhearted. As long as others did not offend him, he would not lightly provoke them. It was just that this old fellow wanted to show off and had taken the initiative to provoke him. Ending up like this could only be called reaping what he had sown.

Moreover, with Xu Qingshan’s strength, killing that old man in a single move would have been an easy task. Now he had only broken the man’s legs; that was already him showing mercy.

Perhaps this could also be considered Xu Qingshan’s response to what that guy had just said. Weren’t you going to break my legs? Then I’ll break yours instead. This is called giving as good as you get.

Seeing this scene, a trace of fear appeared in many people’s eyes. The one whose legs were broken was a Floating Life Realm Early Stage expert, yet he couldn’t even withstand a single move. It was clear just how fierce that young man was.

Among these Cultivators currently bowing to the Empress Statue, the strongest were only on the same level as that old man. On this Continent, strength ultimately reigned supreme. Knowing they were no match, they naturally wouldn’t rush up to suffer a loss.

"How dare you! To injure someone before the Empress Statue—this is a capital crime!"

Just as everyone was looking at that youth with fear in their hearts, a harsh shout suddenly came from the direction of the Emperor Palace, causing joy to surge in their hearts. They all thought that the Emperor Palace was finally unable to sit still and was going to make a move.

Things were indeed just as they had imagined. Those Emperor Palace guards had been watching a good show earlier, and they had also assumed that a snot-nosed brat could not possibly be a match for that Floating Life Realm Early Stage old man.

If so, then the outcome would definitely be the young brat having his legs broken and being forced to kneel before the Empress Statue of Emperor Canglong. That would also be considered upholding the Emperor Palace’s prestige.

Who knew the final outcome would be completely different from what they had expected, even the exact opposite. The one whose legs were broken and who couldn’t get up was actually that Floating Life Realm Early Stage old man.

At this point, the Emperor Palace guards had no choice but to take action. The one who spoke seemed to be a Guard Captain. Although his strength was also Floating Life Realm Early Stage like that old man, his aura was on a completely different level.

Even if their Meridian Qi Cultivation was about the same, when everyone saw this Emperor Palace Guard Captain bark out a shout and lead his men over here with heads held high, they were all filled with anticipation.

After all, these people had not followed from the Jade Sword Sect. The Emperor Palace’s dominance was already deeply ingrained in their hearts. Whenever the Emperor Palace handled matters, everyone else could only retreat three steps.

Now this snot-nosed brat had broken the legs of a Cultivator defending the Empress’s dignity right in front of the Emperor Palace guards. He was likely in for endless trouble—this all concerned the Emperor Palace’s face.

"Brat, you’ve committed a capital crime. Will you break your own legs and kneel before the Empress’s statue in repentance for ten years, or shall I step in and twist your neck off?"

This Floating Life Realm Early Stage Guard Captain of the Emperor Palace seemed to pay no mind to the force Xu Qingshan had just displayed when he broke that old fellow’s legs. As soon as these words came out, for some reason, everyone felt it was only natural.

Perhaps this Guard Captain was thinking the same way in his heart: even if this brat might be a strong expert at the Floating Life Realm Middle Stage or even Late Stage, this was still the gate of the Emperor Palace, the Ye City Emperor Palace, and he was far from being the only Floating Life Realm Early Stage guard here.

In the past, this Guard Captain had not never seen Cultivators stronger than himself, but even those Cultivators, even Lingyun Realm Cultivators—was there a single one who wasn’t all polite and deferential to him?

This gradually nurtured in this Guard Captain a nature of looking down on everyone; he only felt that in front of the grand hall of the Ye City Emperor Palace, absolutely no one would dare do anything to him—this was the overbearingness that belonged to the Emperor Palace.

"Capital offense?"

Hearing the Guard Captain’s words, Xu Qingshan had yet to speak when the coarse-clothed youth at his side had his eyes flash with sharp light and coldly countered with a question.

"Indeed, it’s a capital—"

Crash!

Just as that Guard Captain nodded, wanting to emphasize it once more, he suddenly heard, from beside his ear, the sound of something shattering, and he immediately turned his gaze over.

"This..."

And at that look, not only this Guard Captain of the Emperor Palace, but even those bystanders all trembled violently in their bodies. Because they saw, shockingly, a pile of broken stone.

It turned out that right after speaking, Yun Xiao had already lightly waved out a palm. With how terrifyingly strong his power was, the Empress Statue forged of solid stone instantly exploded with a boom into fragments, a cloud of dust rising into the air.

In an instant, the entire plaza in front of the Emperor Palace suddenly became somewhat deathly silent, because this was a situation they had never imagined.

Don’t look at how earlier that Guard Captain had sentenced Xu Qingshan to death—Cultivators who came to this Ye City Emperor Palace and did not perform the kneeling rites were not unheard of in the past.

But as for those Cultivators, not a single one had ever dared damage the Empress Statue. Who could have known that this unremarkable-looking young boy would actually, at the slightest disagreement, directly smack the Empress Statue to pieces—did his courage grow fur or something?

"You... you... you actually dared..."

Especially that Guard Captain who had just now been full of confidence—at this moment his face turned deathly pale. He pointed at Yun Xiao for a long time, yet couldn’t force out a single complete sentence.

As today’s Outer Hall guard of the Emperor Palace, with the Empress Statue destroyed, he would definitely have to bear responsibility, and it would be an extremely serious crime; whether he could even keep his little life was still very much in question.

"Does this count as a capital offense? Then what about this?"

Yun Xiao had no interest in minding that Emperor Palace guard’s feelings. Seeing that he had yet to withdraw his palm, he casually turned his hand, placing it upon the statue of Emperor Canglong, and gently exhaled a breath of aura from his palm; a surge of power burst forth.

"No!"

Amid the Guard Captain’s startled shout, he had no time at all to stop it, nor the ability to stop it. One only heard the crashing sound echo once more across this quiet plaza, as a second pile of rubble appeared.

In this way, the two statues of Emperor Canglong and the Empress both turned into ruins. As stone dust billowed, it lit up faces filled with sheer terror.

Even Xu Qingshan’s expression looked somewhat strange. He knew that this grandmaster of his had never been overly deferential to the Emperor Canglong Palace, but he had never thought this grandmaster’s actions would be so domineering.

Yet although Xu Qingshan was surprised in his heart, this kind of behavior truly made him feel a surge of satisfaction inside.

Ever since the Hidden Blade Sect was annihilated, and he realized that his ancestral master was the Long Xiao Battle God, he knew that he and the vast Emperor Canglong Palace were probably locked into an Undying feud.

That was why earlier Xu Qingshan did not bow to the Empress Statue; that was the limit of what he could bring himself to do. But as for the one at his side, he had directly taken action to destroy the statues of Emperor Canglong and the Empress. As for this kind of boldness, he had to admit he was far, far inferior.

After finishing all this, Yun Xiao finally slowly withdrew his right arm, as if he had done only a trivial little thing. He calmly stared at that Floating Life Realm Early Stage Guard Captain, as though waiting for him to speak.

But at this moment, the Guard Captain’s heart was already filled with sheer terror. He was no fool; from Yun Xiao’s actions just now, he had already realized that this visitor came with ill intent.

Daring to directly destroy the statues of Emperor Canglong and the Empress right in front of him, the Guard Captain of the Emperor Palace—no matter how you looked at it, this did not seem like someone who had come to the Emperor Palace for tea and casual conversation, right?

Adding to that how earlier Xu Qingshan had broken that old man’s legs with one move, even the Guard Captain’s body had begun to tremble slightly. He knew that with the slightest misstep, he might very well lose his own life right here.

Since the other party even dared to destroy the statues of Emperor Canglong and the Empress, then what was killing a mere Guard Captain like him? At most, it’d just be adding another capital offense on top of a capital offense; what difference did it make?

For a moment, the atmosphere in the scene became particularly quiet and eerie.