That smile was almost certainly the first genuinely beautiful thing Jiang Chen had seen since arriving on Winter Extension Island. The Star Child's smile seemed utterly out of place here — out of place on this island, in this City of Sin.
A speck of purity amid countless evils. A ray of sunshine in endless darkness.
"Boy, what are you staring at? Where's your residence token?" Just as Jiang Chen returned the Star Child's smile with one of his own, a thunderous voice boomed from right beside him.
The inspection had reached him.
A flicker of annoyance passed through Jiang Chen's mind. A spot check was one thing, but did it really need to be this dramatic?
He casually produced the residence token he had just obtained and passed it over expressionlessly.
"Hmph!"
The city guard conducting the inspection glanced at Jiang Chen, his gaze lingering with unmistakable meaning. At the corner of his mouth, a barely perceptible smirk crept out.
This subtle detail, however, did not escape Jiang Chen's sharp eyes.
The moment he noticed it, a sense of foreboding flashed through his mind. He looked around and saw that several dozen city guards had, almost imperceptibly, sealed off every exit around him.
And these people — they were ostensibly conducting an inspection, but one by one, their attention seemed locked squarely on him.
A warning alarm blared in Jiang Chen's heart.
This was bad. Very bad.
The inspecting guard held up Jiang Chen's residence token and said coldly, "Wait here!"
When Jiang Chen saw the man turn to leave, he immediately blocked his path. "Hold on. Where do you think you're going?"
"Are you stupid? I'm going to verify your residence token, obviously." The guard sneered at Jiang Chen. "Are you trying to obstruct law enforcement?"
Jiang Chen said flatly, "If you need to check it, check it right here. Everyone else is being inspected on the spot. You walk off with my residence token — how do I know you won't swap it for a fake?"
"Insolent!" The guard looked as though he had suffered an unforgivable affront. "Contempt of a law enforcement officer and slander of the city guard — what punishment does that warrant?"
"My, what impressive authority. I'm simply asking for fair enforcement — is that a crime? There's no need to blow things out of proportion." Jiang Chen had seen plenty of people who wielded petty authority like it was a imperial decree. He certainly wasn't going to be intimidated.
The guard sneered repeatedly and waved his hand. "All of you — back to your rooms! The city guard is conducting enforcement, and someone dares to resist?"
The other residents had been trembling in fear. Upon hearing this order, who would hesitate? They scrambled back into their rooms in a panic.
However, the Star Child and her father did not leave. They remained rooted in place. The Star Child was visibly anxious, repeatedly casting meaningful glances at Jiang Chen, clearly urging him to back down and smooth things over.
Jiang Chen ignored her and sent a voice transmission: "Star Child, you and your father don't need to get involved in this. Help your father back to the room first."
The Star Child still hesitated, clearly unwilling to leave at a time like this.
Jiang Chen sent another voice transmission, his tone much sterner this time: "Go! Now!"
Seeing how severe Jiang Chen's tone was, the Star Child bit her lip and helped her father hobble back toward the room.
Jiang Chen kept his gaze forward. He didn't want these city guards to think he cared about this father and daughter pair. Otherwise, given how this lot operated, if they couldn't handle him, they might very well target the pair — or worse, use them as leverage.
Still, the girl — the Star Child — had shown remarkable courage in the face of danger. She hadn't simply fled, and that gave Jiang Chen a faint sense that this gray, sin-stained city held at least a sliver of warmth.
Several dozen city guards seemed to have little interest in anyone else. With almost rehearsed synchronization, they had locked their attention onto Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "Is this really what you call a spot check?"
"Boy, enough talk. Resisting the city guard — you're digging your own grave."
"Brothers, take him down first!"
The city guards were clad in armor and carried weapons, each one like a tiger or wolf. Individually, their cultivation was nothing impressive — most were merely at the initial stage of the Emperor realm.
What made them intimidating was nothing more than the skin of the city guard they wore. Without that authority, given their level of cultivation, they would be nothing but a ragtag mob.
Jiang Chen could wipe them out in the blink of an eye.
The Evil Golden Eye snapped open. A powerful wave of force materialized into streaks of golden light, shooting toward the city guards.
Jiang Chen's voice turned frigid: "Are you certain you want me to start a massacre?"
The deterrent force of the Evil Golden Eye could penetrate straight into the soul — its oppressive power was overwhelming.
The moment each guard was swept by that gaze, their spirits shuddered involuntarily, and their entire bodies began to tremble. It was as though a vastly powerful force was attempting to lock down their very souls in an instant.
Ever since Jiang Chen had broken through to the Emperor realm, the chain seal within his sea of consciousness had undergone a marked transformation. Previously it had only stirred with occasional ripples; now it had become distinctly active.
This had granted Jiang Chen a tremendous boost in his spiritual perception.
And the greatest beneficiary of that enhanced perception was none other than the Evil Golden Eye itself. The Evil Golden Eye was not only a formidable metal-attribute Divine Ability — it also relied on spiritual perception enhancement, combining overwhelming spiritual force with its metal attribute to lock down an opponent's soul and solidify their flesh.
At this point, in terms of spiritual perception, even a Minor Heaven-realm expert might not dare act rashly before Jiang Chen — let alone these initial-stage Emperor-realm city guards.