The cultivation Liu Ruyan revealed left the middle-aged man and Xiao Zhize utterly shocked.
This was the Mortal District, after all!
To them, the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Mountain and Sea Empire could only be described with a single word: laughable.
Even the Secret Realms here were rely average in their eyes.
They had assud that after eight years in the Mountain and Sea Empire, Liu Ruyan would have wasted her innate talent, and her cultivation progress would have surely slowed to a crawl.
Who would have thought that Liu Ruyan would give them such a massive "surprise."
A fifteen-year-old at the Void Realm—and one who had achieved ntal Realm Transformation, no less. Forget the Hall of Envoys; even in the Immortal Realm, such a talent was exceedingly rare. One might not appear for decades, or even centuries.
’If she had never left the Hall of Envoys and had been nurtured under the best possible conditions, just how powerful would she be now?’
"Excellent, excellent! It’s good that your cultivation hasn’t fallen behind!" A pleased expression finally appeared on the middle-aged man’s face. "Ruyan, co back with . A storm of opportunity is about to sweep across the continent. Our marriage alliance with the Huangfu Family cannot be delayed. Whether or not we can ascend to the Immortal Realm depends on seizing this chance!"
Liu Ruyan’s brow furrowed, and she made no effort to hide the look of disgust on her face.
Though the man standing before her was her own father, she felt no trace of affection for him at this mont.
All she felt was a bone-deep chill.
"Patriarch Liu, if the Liu Family wishes to form a marriage alliance with the Huangfu Family, that is your own affair. Please do not include in it, thank you," Liu Ruyan said in a cold voice.
"What did you call ?" The middle-aged man froze for a second before bellowing in rage, "What’s this? Has it been so long that you’ve grown defiant? You won’t even acknowledge your own father anymore?"
Liu Ruyan bit her lip, fighting to hold back her tears.
She t the middle-aged man’s gaze without flinching. "Patriarch Liu, I suggest you show so self-respect!"
The middle-aged man flew into a rage and snorted. "It seems that old man has spoiled you rotten over the years. Today, you’re coming back with whether you like it or not! The rise and fall of our family is at stake; this is not the ti for your selfish whims!"
"Zhize, bring your cousin back. I permit you to use force!"
Xiao Zhize’s eyes lit up. ’Use force?’
His gaze road over Liu Ruyan’s graceful curves, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
He liked the sound of that.
"Cousin, just be good and listen to Uncle. Co back with us. Just look at this Mortal District—it’s barren, backward, and filled with ignorance. How could a place like this ever be worthy of you?"
With that, Xiao Zhize began walking toward Liu Ruyan, one step at a ti.
"Seniors, this young woman has a deep connection to the Blessed One. I hope you might lend her your aid," Li Shimu pleaded with the experts from the Feng Family.
However, the mbers of the Feng Family all shook their heads.
"This is an internal matter for the Liu Family. We have no grounds to interfere."
Li Shimu sighed. As the Emperor of the Mountain and Sea Empire, it had been a long ti since he had felt so utterly powerless.
But what could he possibly do?
While he could borrow the power of fortune to attain Immortal Level Combat Power, it was only temporary.
Besides, the Mountain and Sea Empire had already offended the Huangfu Family. If they were to offend the Liu Family as well, he feared that not even the Feng Family could protect them.
Not far away, Jin Sanpang and Liu Hui had pieced together what was happening from the conversation between the Liu father and daughter.
"Dazed Dragon, it looks like they’re trying to take Miss Ruyan away by force! What should we do?"
"Miss Ruyan’s heart belongs to our Master, San Pang. We can’t let anything happen to her!"
Though they both knew they were no match for him, they charged forward without hesitation, placing themselves in front of Liu Ruyan to shield her.
"A couple of nobodies. Get lost!"
Xiao Zhize scoffed, and the Power of Heaven and Earth surged around him.
WHAP! WHAP!
With two sharp cracks, Jin Sanpang and Liu Hui were sent flying by an imnse force, crashing into the ground to her left and right.
The gap in their strength was simply too vast; they weren’t in the sa league at all.
"You’re courting death!"
Seeing this, Liu Ruyan attacked. The spectral willow tree behind her materialized countless branches, which transford into a sky-filling torrent of light as they lashed out at Xiao Zhize.
Simultaneously, her Grotto Heaven descended, locking down the surrounding space to exert maximum pressure on him.
Xiao Zhize just chuckled and shook his head. With a casual wave of his hand, he stopped the incoming willow branches about ten feet in front of him.
No matter how furiously the branches whipped and thrashed, they could not advance another inch.
Then, he pointed a finger toward Liu Ruyan’s Grotto Heaven.
BOOM!
The descending Grotto Heaven instantly froze in place, as if an invisible, giant hand had caught it with absolute strength.
"Cousin, I can tell your Void Realm is still unstable. You must have just broken through, haven’t you? This is the Mortal District, after all. See? Your foundation is superficial and not the least bit solid. You should just co ho with us."
Xiao Zhize continued to close in on Liu Ruyan as he spoke.
Internally, he was roaring, ’A breathtaking beauty like this... I can’t let that bastard Huangfu Yu have her so easily.’
’So what if she’s my cousin?’
’Of all the won in the world, only two are off-limits to : the one who bore , and any I might beget. All others are fair ga!’
In short, for Xiao Zhize, with the exception of his own mother and daughters, he wouldn’t mind having relations with any woman he took a fancy to.
"In your dreams!"
Liu Ruyan steeled herself. Just as she was about to recklessly detonate her Grotto Heaven in exchange for a burst of imnse power, a large hand descended from the sky and sent Xiao Zhize flying with a single slap.
"Liu Chen, you’ve really got so nerve! Selling your own daughter for the sake of your future! I swear, I truly regret not just shooting you onto a wall back in the day!"
A wiry old man with a buzz cut, dressed in coarse linen, appeared before the crowd. It was none other than Liu Hong!
Upon seeing Liu Hong and hearing his deeply insulting words, the middle-aged man’s expression shifted.
But he was helpless to do anything about it, because Liu Hong did indeed have the right to speak to him that way.
"Your son, Liu Chen, greets you, Father."
"Oh, so you still know I’m your father? Weren’t you just calling ’that old man’? What, now that you’re sitting in the Patriarch’s seat, you’ve grown so defiant you won’t even acknowledge your own father?" Liu Hong threw the very words Liu Chen had used to scold Liu Ruyan right back at him.
"Your son wouldn’t dare," Liu Chen said, lowering his head.
He had anticipated this scene before he arrived. To bring Liu Ruyan back, he knew he would first have to get past Liu Hong.
Thus, he had already prepared a counterasure.
"Father, there’s more to this than ets the eye. It’s not what you think. As for the details, it would be best to let Zhize explain them to you."
Although Liu Hong had slapped Xiao Zhize away, he was still his maternal grandson, so he hadn’t struck with his full force.
Xiao Zhize was therefore able to fly back quickly.
"Zhize pays his respects, Grandfather." Xiao Zhize’s expression was deferential as he knelt before Liu Hong and perford three proper kowtows.
His respectful attitude caused Liu Hong’s expression to soften considerably.
"Grandfather, it’s like this..." Xiao Zhize began to explain the situation to Liu Hong via voice transmission.
As Xiao Zhize spoke, Liu Hong’s expression shifted from initial disdain to solemnity, and finally to outright shock.
"What? The Huangfu Family has produced two Immortals in a row?! How is that possible? Are you certain you’re not lying to ?"
Xiao Zhize shrugged with a bitter smile. "Grandfather, how could your grandson possibly joke about sothing like this? We in the Xiao Family aren’t happy to see the Huangfu Family grow stronger either, but it is the truth."
"It’s true, Father! The Huangfu Family’s power has upset the balance. The marriage alliance is more urgent than ever!"
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