"Out of the way! Move!"
While Yang Kai was quietly observing his surroundings, a crude shout suddenly erupted from behind him. He turned to see a large group of people materializing on the massive spatial transmission array — more than a dozen in total, every one of them a cultivator of considerable strength.
One man stood out above the rest. He looked to be in his early twenties, strikingly handsome with an arrogant bearing. His narrow phoenix eyes held an air of lofty authority, and he wore a moon-white greatcoat draped over his shoulders.
The remaining members of the group had fanned out around him, surrounding him like stars encircling the moon.
The moment they appeared, the group began moving in a specific direction, with a warrior at the front clearing the way by shoving aside anyone who stood in their path.
Those who were pushed didn't dare offer the slightest resistance. Instead, they scrambled trembling out of the way.
"It's His Highness the Third Prince! The Third Prince has returned!"
"Quick, kneel and don't speak — and don't look at him. If he locks eyes with you, you're finished."
…
The crowd rippled like a wave and dropped to the ground in unison — men and women, old and young, strong and weak alike. Everyone within a hundred-zhang radius of the transmission array, regardless of what they had been doing, prostrated themselves in respect.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
He had been curiously examining this so-called Third Prince, listening to the whispered murmurs about him, wondering to himself what exactly a "prince" was. Such titles seemed to belong only to the mundane kingdoms of the mortal world. He had essentially never heard this kind of address among cultivators.
Everyone around him was on their knees. Only he and Zhu Qing remained standing — and Zhu Qing was still cradling a small black dog in her arms, which made them stand out all the more conspicuously.
He sighed softly, knowing trouble was coming. Before he had fully grasped the situation in this Wheel World and Renhuang City, he wasn't keen on inviting problems. But life had a way of ensuring that nine times out of ten, things didn't go as one wished. He hadn't gone looking for trouble — trouble had come looking for him.
He glanced helplessly at Zhu Qing, who had a hint of amusement at the corners of her eyes.
"Hm?"
The anomaly of Yang Kai and Zhu Qing instantly drew the attention of the group. The warrior leading the charge strode over in a few steps — the man was enormous, like an iron tower, radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure. He looked down at Yang Kai from his height and growled, "Boy, why aren't you kneeling before His Highness the Third Prince?"
As he spoke, a formidable wave of imperial aura surged from his body and crashed toward Yang Kai.
He possessed the cultivation of the first level of the Emperor Realm and appeared to be a seasoned veteran of countless battles. His imperial aura carried a thick scent of blood, enough to make any ordinary person's courage evaporate on the spot, their will to resist crumbling before it even formed.
Yang Kai remained unmoved, standing right where he was as though nothing more than a gentle breeze had brushed past, ruffling his hair. He looked up at the burly man and said, "We're simple folk from the countryside, unaccustomed to the ways of the world and unfamiliar with proper etiquette. Please don't hold it against us, sir. We'll be on our way now." With that, he moved to leave with Zhu Qing.
Whether this was the Third Prince or some other prince, kneeling was absolutely out of the question — and that went doubly for Zhu Qing. As a proud member of the Dragon Clan, she would sooner die than bow to mortals. Better to leave now and avoid unnecessary trouble.
But fate had other plans. Seeing Yang Kai about to walk away, the burly man's eyes went wide. With a thunderous roar of "Insolent!", he swung his massive palm down like a charging bull, slamming it directly onto Yang Kai's shoulder.
A deafening boom rang out. Yang Kai's figure didn't budge an inch — he stood as steady as a mountain. The violent force, however, traveled straight through his body into the ground beneath his feet, cracking the stone tiles in every direction.
Yang Kai lifted his eyelids and gave the burly man a lazy look. "And just what exactly do you mean by that, sir?"
The burly man's expression shifted to one of surprise, then twisted into a savage grin. "So that's why you're so bold — you actually have some skill. Too bad you've run into me!" As he spoke, the force in his hand suddenly intensified to a terrifying degree. The veins on his thick neck bulged grotesquely, as though he was pouring every ounce of strength he had into pressing Yang Kai to the ground.
Yang Kai casually glanced at the others. The remaining guards were all staring at him with cold expressions, as though he had committed some grave offense that absolutely demanded punishment.
As for the Third Prince himself, his face remained an icy mask, showing little interest in Yang Kai. When his gaze fell on Zhu Qing, however, a flash of appreciation crossed his eyes — but that was all. He gave her no further attention.
His gaze pierced over the crowd and across half of Renhuang City, locked onto some distant point, blazing with a fervent light.
He was still standing here only because he was waiting for his subordinate to teach Yang Kai a lesson — to make the residents of Renhuang City understand the price of offending him, to learn their place.
The burly man continued pressing down on Yang Kai. At first, his expression had been one of absolute confidence, having already determined that Yang Kai possessed only first-level Emperor Realm cultivation. Against an opponent of equal rank, he feared no one — least of all this strange-looking youth standing before him.
But as time passed and his imperial energy surged without avail, his expression gradually grew ugly. No matter how he channeled his power, he couldn't move the young man in front of him by even a fraction. It was as though Yang Kai had taken root in the ground — there wasn't so much as a tremor.
Moments later, the burly man's face had turned red and his neck was bulging. His iron-tower frame was actually shaking, clearly reaching the limits of his endurance, yet he was stuck in a position where he couldn't back down. All he could do was grit his teeth and keep pushing.
He had greatly underestimated his opponent.