Chapter 1204: Clash (3)

Silence descended. It was obvious that Marquis Xia had merely posed that question as a challenge without intending to actually hand the matter over to the Knowledge Seeking Realm.

But...someone from the Knowledge Seeking Realm had actually denied him. The gazes of numerous myriad race experts landed on the person who had just spoken.

One of them said, "Granddaughter of Fiery Sea King."

"A member of the Zhang Family."

The Fiery Sea King was the leader of one of the eight leading families of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. He was not one of the prefecture founding kings.

The person who had just spoken was someone called Zhang Ying. She had spoken because she coveted the treasures in the ruin. At the same time, she was also furious at the disrespect Liu Wenyan and Xia Family were showing the Knowledge Seeking Realm.

Right at that moment, an empty space in the sky warped as an old man with white hair appeared. With a furious expression, he coughed and spoke with great difficulty, "Zhang Ying! Who told you...to get involved in this? Stand down! You have...no business getting involved in this!"

Zhang Ying knew who the old man was. She frowned and said, "Senior Wang, this is an internal affair of the Knowledge Seeking Realm. The eight families run the Knowledge Seeking Realm together. As a representative of the Zhang Family, I'm demanding the arrest of Liu Wenyan. This has nothing to do with you."

The old man was furious. He said, "Are you threatening me with Fiery Sea King? Back when I fought the myriad races, your grandpa—"

"Senior Wang!" Zhang Ying cut him off and said, "As you said, back then. You're getting old. Why are you running around instead of staying in seclusion?"

Many of the surviving old warriors who had fought for humanity back then were living miserably due to the many injuries they had suffered during the war. Almost all of them had been staying exclusively in seclusion in an attempt to delay their death. They weren't doing this because they feared death. Rather, they were only preserving their lives to fight one last time for humanity when the final war arrived.

In fact, among these old survivors, Niu Baidao was the most vigorous one. The others were mostly struggling at death's door.

Senior Wang was one of those who had yet to recover from his injuries even after all these years. He couldn't stop coughing as he hovered in the sky. Furious, he rebuked, "Ignorant fool! Shut your mouth! The Knowledge Seeking Realm...is not the holy land of...Zhang Family. It is not the holy land of the...eight families. It is the holy land of...all human cultural researchers! The Zhang Family is only one of the administrators, not the ruler! You ignorant fool!"

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Furious at being rebuked, Zhang Ying said, "Senior Wang, your injuries are too heavy. I suggest you go back and focus on recuperation instead. The world has changed. Four hundred years have passed."

Why was this old man who was on the verge of dying being such a busybody?

"Impudent! You! You!"

Senior Wang raised his hand in fury, but he lowered it again. All of a sudden, sorrow gripped his heart. He wasn't completely helpless. He wouldn't have any trouble killing a mere first-stage Sunmoon like Zhang Ying.

But...that was the granddaughter of a comrade who had once fought beside him. He was assaulted by grief and helplessness. The Knowledge Seeking Realm...was no longer the same.

After so many years of seclusion, the world had changed into something he could no longer recognize.

After coughing a few more times, he spoke with some difficulty, "The eight families...no, it's nine families now. The Zhang Family...alone does not represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm! You...need the agreement of...the other families!"

He looked at the others and asked, "What is your decision? Do you agree with her? The divines and devils are our mortal enemies! The myriad races...can't be trusted! More than four hundred years ago...they carried out boundless slaughter in the Human Realm! More than four hundred years ago, I fought the myriad races alongside your seniors! We didn't fight...for the divines and devils! We fought...the divines and devils!"

As he spoke, his crooked back straightened, his coughing and gasping stopped, as he said, "Over four hundred years ago, we fought the divines and devils. We killed, and killed, until they bowed. Until they retreated. Today, we are a hundred times, or a thousand times stronger than before. But why...do you fear these divines and devils now? What is there to fear?"

His gaze landed on the divine who had spoken earlier. His killing intent surged as he said, "The human race of today is no longer the human race of the past. Four hundred years ago, all these bastards would have died by now. Back then, we had nothing to lose. Thus, we feared nothing. Today, Great Qin King and the others have too many things to lose. Have they forgotten the devastation back then?"

He was furious. These people shouldn't have appeared in the Human Realm. They shouldn't have appeared in Nanyuan. If internal strife must happen, it should happen among fellow humans, not before the myriad races. He was even more furious at how short-sighted the younger generations of the Knowledge Seeking Realm were.

Back then, they would have swallowed their anger in the presence of the myriad realms. How could they humiliate Great Xia before the myriad races? For hundreds of years, the Xia Family had served as the vanguard of humanity in the war against the myriad races.

How could they do this? Damn it! Senior Wang was incomparably furious. But he also felt sorrowful and helpless. He was old and crippled. Who among these youngsters would listen to him?

Liu Wenyan appeared as calm as ever. He smiled and said, "Senior Wang, I guess you should just let me be. Since the Knowledge Seeking Realm wishes to arrest me, so be it. Come on, then. Come. Arrest me. I'm here. I'm waiting."

Zhang Ying's expression changed slightly as she asked coldly, "Are you disobeying the will of the Knowledge Seeking Realm?"

"Do you represent the Knowledge Seeking Realm?" Liu Wenyan laughed, "Do you...even know what the Knowledge Seeking Realm is? Do you know how the Knowledge Seeking Realm came to be?"

Liu Wenyan roared with laughter.

"The Knowledge Seeking Realm was founded after the various prefectures were founded. About three hundred years ago, my martial ancestor, Mr. Xia Chen, founded the Great Xia Cultural Research Academy, the first cultural research academy in the Human Realm. The other cultural research academies came after that. My martial ancestor joined hands with Great Ming King, Great Han King, Great Song King, Great Shang King, Great Zhou King, and a few other Invincibles to found the Knowledge Seeking Realm. They founded it to explore the greater mysteries of cultural research cultivation. It was never meant to be the ruler of humanity. It is merely a shrine, a shrine of culture and knowledge..."

Liu Wenyan continued, "The likes of you...are shrine keepers. Not rulers. The Knowledge Seeking Realm does not represent all cultural researchers of humanity. That is even more so for those from my line, since we were the founders of this shrine you're keeping. You have no jurisdiction over me. I don't owe you anything. Rather, you owe us. The power and authority you enjoy today originated from my martial ancestor. Who are you to arrest me?"

Liu Wenyan raised his voice, "Tell your Fiery Sea King to get over here. Ask him. Ask him if the Knowledge Seeking Realm has the authority to arrest those from the main line of the multiple character faction!"

Nobody said a single word.

Marquis Xia laughed. Senior Wang laughed as well. He said, "I doubt Fiery Sea King will say yes to that question."

The faces of Zhang Ying and the others fell.

Clenching her teeth, Zhang Ying said, "That is the past. Things have changed. Liu Wenyan, are you disobeying the holy land? Are you betraying humanity?"

Liu Wenyan sighed.

Noticing the cold expression and the slowly raising hand of Marquis Xia, Liu Wenyan shook his head at the marquis. He smiled, "Marquis, looks like I have no choice but to bear more crimes."

Right after saying that, he vanished with a flicker before swinging his axe. Since these people couldn't be reasoned with, it was time to apply some force.

Alarmed, Zhang Ying shouted, "Kill him!"

The Sunmoons around her hesitated, but when they saw Liu Wenyan charging at them, they had no choice but to act. Several characters manifested to meet the axe.

However, they felt an incomparably powerful weight behind the axe. This was the character of Ye Batian. This was the weight behind Ye Batian's character.

At that moment, Liu Wenyan stepped out of thin air. He sneered and said, "Everyone calls me the second Ye Batian. But my teacher is my teacher. I am my own person. I am Liu Wenyan."

A sword appeared in his hand.

The axe belonged to his teacher.

The sword belonged to him.

"Heavens, sever!"

With a roar, a sword cleaved the sky apart. This was Liu Wenyan at the peak of the Mountainsea Realm. He was only a peak Mountainsea, yet the power of his sword far surpassed that level.

This was the real Liu Wenyan.

As the sword descended, Senior Wang reached out, intending to stop the clash. But then, he sighed and withdrew his arm.

The sword dropped down at an unprecedented speed.

A head dropped.

An expression of utter disbelief was frozen on the face of that head. Even until her final moments, she could not believe that someone would dare to kill her. After that attack, Liu Wenyan exhaled and pulled back. His axe also returned with him. Everyone else was still stunned. Nobody moved.

A moon dropped from the sky. Source qi dispersed everywhere, and multiple characters crumbled apart.

With one strike, the granddaughter of Fiery Sea King, Zhang Ying, had been killed.

With complete indifference, Liu Wenyan said, "I'm a traitor. Come. Arrest me."

If this was the humanity he was supposed to fight for, he would rather turn against it. In any case, these people couldn't even represent humanity as a whole.

Silence descended. A direct descendant of an Invincible had been slain publicly.

Shortly after, the air warped.

An old man walked out. Looking at the dead Zhang Ying, the old man strode over and picked up the severed head. With a sigh, he said, "Liu Wenyan, even if she was wrong, did that give you the right to kill her?"

"Zhang Qi!"

Senior Wang's expression changed. That was the father of Zhang Ying, and the son of Fiery Sea King. He was an eighth-stage Sunmoon.

Liu Wenyan said nothing. Instead, Ye Hongyan rushed forth and questioned, "Zhang Qi, what are you trying to do?"

The old man laughed, "He killed my daughter. What do you think?"

His laughter seemed eerie.

After putting Zhang Ying's corpse away, he looked at Marquis Xia and asked, "Xia Xiao'er, is the Xia Family going to continue protecting him?"

Marquis Xia shut his eyes and said nothing.

The answer was clear.

Yes. The Xia Family would continue protecting him.