"Those spoils — I'm afraid you won't be getting them back," Grandpa Song said with a grin.
"W-what? Y-you-you... You old mutt, I knew I couldn't trust you!"
"To think you'd have the audacity to embezzle a junior's spoils — you-you... are you even human?"
"G-give my spoils back right now, and I'll pretend nothing ever happened."
"O-otherwise... otherwise, I'll make sure your f-filthy reputation spreads far and wide — believe it or not!"
Hearing these words, Wang Qiang's expression shifted. In his view, Grandpa Song was dead set on keeping those treasures for himself. But he wasn't about to back down — with surprising confidence, he began threatening Grandpa Song.
"Wang Qiang, are these the spoils you're talking about?" Just then, Chu Feng emerged from the stone house, holding the Universe Bag filled with treasures in his hand.
"Oh my—this... this is impossible!" The moment he saw Chu Feng, Wang Qiang's face changed dramatically. He went pale as paper, his feet slipped out from under him, and he plopped right down onto the ground, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Chu Feng's appearance had caught him completely off guard.
"I'm afraid you'll have to accept it, Wang Qiang. Young friend Chu Feng surpassed you by a wide margin, so the winner of this competition is young friend Chu Feng," Grandpa Song added, his words brimming with mockery.
"N-no... impossible! C-cheating! You definitely cheated!"
"He couldn't have come out through the village entrance trial — he must have used some shortcut through your village!"
"Too... too despicable! Too... too shameless! Too... too thick-skinned!"
"Tell me — what did that Chu Feng bribe you with to make you help him like this?!" Wang Qiang demanded.
"Cheating? Hmph. Everyone here saw with their own eyes that young friend Chu Feng walked out through the village entrance trial, and yet you accuse me of helping him cheat?"
"Wang Qiang, speaking like that shows absolutely no respect for your elders. You're looking down on the people of Seal Ancient Village far too much."
"In that case, why bother coming to our village as a guest at all? In my opinion, you needn't enter — just turn around and go back the way you came," Grandpa Song said, his voice cold with anger.
"How dare you insult our elder! Get out of Seal Ancient Village!" At that, the villagers of Seal Ancient Village erupted in fury.
They drew their weapons and pressed in on Wang Qiang. They weren't joking — they were truly prepared to drive him out of Seal Ancient Village.
"A-ah... d-don't be like this."
"I... I was just joking! Look at you, taking it so s-seriously." Seeing things going south, Wang Qiang quickly shifted his expression, pasting on a cheeky grin.
But neither Grandpa Song nor any of the villagers were buying it. They looked ready to toss him out for real.
"Oh, Grandpa... I... I was wrong, okay?" Seeing the tide turning against him, Wang Qiang bent his knees and dropped to the ground with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly. "P-please — you being the great person you are, don't hold it against a lowly one like me. Just give me a chance."
"You see, I traveled thousands of miles, c-crossing mountains and rivers, just to get here — it wasn't easy."
"I... I fought through every danger and hardship to finally reach this place."
"If you really kick me out over a few joking words, you'd be... destroying a guest who could become a VIP of Seal Ancient Village — and losing the chance to befriend the future overlord of the Martial Holy Land!"
Wang Qiang was truly something else. Kneeling on the ground, he said every kind word imaginable — a completely different person from moments before.
If earlier he had been a king, then now he was nothing short of a grandson.