"...I think I know who that is."

A middle-aged man in the crowd suddenly spoke. His voice wasn’t loud, but when the others heard him, they all whipped their heads around in unison to look at him.

"Old Jiang, you know him?"

"If I’m not mistaken, those glinting lights are all blades. They come from a high-grade Spiritual Soldier, the second form of the Chaotic Heaven Shield."

Jiang Hanshan said in a low voice, "Also, the power displayed by these blades flying through the sky should be the Golden Thousand Blades."

"The Chaotic Heaven Shield? Golden Thousand Blades? That sounds a little familiar." Someone fell into thought after hearing this.

"From the Jing Country’s Demon Slayer Bureau... a Demon-slaying Grand General... Gu..."

The woman in the long purple skirt’s eyes flickered as she spoke in astonishment, "Old Jiang, are you saying the one who acted was Gu... Gu King?"

"It’s him."

Jiang Hanshan wore a complex expression as he sighed with emotion. "I was fortunate enough to meet Gu King once in the Jing Country’s Royal Capital. At the time, Jin Yanzi and He Zheng made the introductions."

"Jin Yanzi?"

"He Zheng? Where are they now?"

"Jin Yanzi died in Kang Country, and He Zheng went north."

"...Seriously? Why would this newly ascended King’s Body expert show up in Taiping City?"

"..."

The others were in an uproar, their faces filled with shock and astonishment, but they subconsciously lowered their voices.

Gu Zheng of Jing Country, a new King’s Body!

In less than two days, this news had spread throughout the major Noble Families and the Four Divine Organizations.

The once-in-a-millennium upheaval was indeed a great opportunity.

Someone advanced to the King’s Body realm almost every time.

But someone who broke through as fast as Gu Zheng was the first in history.

How long had it been since the Demon Fiends invaded?

Gu Zheng wasn’t from a Noble Family, just the young master of a prominent family in a small county town.

Yet he broke countless records, soaring all the way to the King’s Body Realm.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Gu Zheng is the youngest King’s Body in history!

When "The Gods" organization received the news, they were equally amazed and envious.

There was also greed and covetousness, of course.

However, any such notions were swiftly extinguished the moment they arose.

For Gu Zheng to break through to the King’s Body Realm so quickly, he must have a secret.

However, Gu Zheng was now a King’s Body!

Trying to pry that secret from him was simply asking for death.

Not a single Noble Family dared to test him.

As for the Four Divine Organizations, it was hard to say about the other three.

In any case, "The Gods" had no such intentions.

Jiang Hanshan’s group had been in Taiping City for some time. They had a plan and had been waiting for the right moment.

But then, Gu Zheng suddenly appeared and slaughtered all the Demon Fiends that had emerged from the newly formed Domain.

Slaying Demon Fiends, the Chaotic Heaven Shield, the Golden Thousand Blades...

All these things together were Gu Zheng’s signature!

...

"Gu... Gu King appearing in Taiping City... he must have just been passing through."

The woman in the long purple skirt spoke, her eyes glittering. "According to our intelligence, Gu King came to the Central Celestial Dao and the Ten Thousand Dragons Dao in pursuit of someone from the Changsheng Clan. Taiping City is located between these two Daos. He must have seen the Domain while passing by and decided to act, slaying the Demon Fiends!"

"Gu King is truly righteous."

"Worthy of the name Gu King!"

"..."

Hearing this, everyone chimed in with admiration.

The woman in the purple skirt smiled slightly, then suddenly used a Divine Strange Sound Transmission to speak to Jiang Hanshan. "Old Jiang, what’s the relationship between Gu Zheng and ’The Gods’? Have we had any conflicts with him before?"

"...I don’t think so."

Jiang Hanshan also replied with a Divine Strange Sound Transmission. "The last time in the Royal Capital of Jing Country, our invitation to Gu Zheng was unsuccessful, and we haven’t met since. Not only was there no conflict, but Jin Yanzi and He Zheng actually had a pretty good rapport with Gu Zheng at the beginning."

"That’s good."

The woman in the purple skirt’s expression didn’t change as she continued the Divine Strange Sound Transmission. "Since there’s some rapport, once the Domain stabilizes and opens, everyone should spread out in the city and collect some Source Fruits and Marvels."

"No—"

Just as Jiang Hanshan was about to respond, his body suddenly stiffened. He felt an indifferent gaze lock onto him from across the distance.

The words died on his lips. Jiang Hanshan’s hands trembled, but in the next instant, he straightened his back, slowly turned toward the source of the gaze, clasped his fists, and bowed deeply.

"Jiang Hanshan pays his respects to Gu King!"

"..."

The others, who had been murmuring quietly, fell silent the moment they heard Jiang Hanshan’s sudden words.

Their expressions shifted, and their auras stirred restlessly.

But soon, they all followed Jiang Hanshan’s lead, bowing deeply and paying their respects to the sky.

"We pay our respects to Gu King!"

"Greetings, Gu King!"

"..."

...

...

’People from "The Gods" organization?’

Suspended in mid-air, Gu Zheng’s face was calm as his gaze swept over everyone, including Jiang Hanshan, from a thousand meters away.

He was slightly surprised to see Jiang Hanshan in Taiping City.

Jiang Hanshan was at the Heroic Body Realm—the second stage of it.

The other woman in the long purple skirt was also at the Heroic Body Realm.

The others’ Cultivation was not low either; they were all at the Super Body Realm.

This force, appearing in Taiping City, was already considerable—enough to easily eliminate Emperor Zhou and all the military power within the imperial palace and city.

Yet Jiang Hanshan’s group hadn’t done so.

’So, what are they plotting?’

’Something coveted by "The Gods" organization couldn’t be anything small.’

Gu Zheng stared from a distance, lost in thought.

Back in the courtyard, Jiang Hanshan and his group didn’t dare to make a single move.

’A King’s Body!’

Unless you were being watched by a King’s Body, you could never know the weight of that gaze.

Even at the second stage of the Heroic Body Realm, Jiang Hanshan felt as if a hundred-zhang-tall mountain was pressing down on his shoulders and head under Gu Zheng’s gaze.

One moment they were discussing Gu Zheng, and the next, they were discovered.

’If Gu Zheng got angry and decided to attack them...’

THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.

Jiang Hanshan’s heart began to race.

It was the same for the others around him; everyone’s heart started to pound faster.

Gu Zheng said nothing. His silent stare from over a thousand meters away was enough to make them feel the threat of death.

Only when that mountain-heavy gaze vanished and the invisible force pressing down on them dissipated did the group let out long, turbid breaths. Cold sweat beaded on all their faces.

A few of the Super Body Realm experts even collapsed to the ground, all strength leaving their bodies as they gasped for air.

"Old Jiang, what was that about?" the woman in the purple skirt asked Jiang Hanshan via Divine Strange Sound Transmission.

"I don’t know," Jiang Hanshan replied with a bitter smile, also using a Divine Strange Sound Transmission. "He suddenly looked at us. I have no idea... what he was thinking."

"I hope he was just curious and gave us a casual glance," the woman in the purple skirt exhaled, her heart still pounding with lingering fear.

It wasn’t that she had never seen a King’s Body Realm expert before.

"The Gods" organization had a few as well.

But none of those King’s Body experts had ever exerted such terrifying pressure on her as Gu Zheng just had.

’Is the gap between one King’s Body and another really that vast?’

...

...

"WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!"

A piercing shriek of rushing air came hurtling down from the Inverted Mountain Range.

Gu Zheng had withdrawn his gaze from Jiang Hanshan and the others precisely because another batch of Demon Fiends had just rushed out from the fused region of the Demon Realm.

The Demon Fiends that came this time were each over three meters long. They resembled swordfish, but their heads took up half their bodies, and a ring of thick, beard-like fur grew around their necks.

Numbering in the thousands, they pointed their sharp heads downward, wrapped in a gale as they howled towards Taiping City.

However, in Gu Zheng’s perception, it wasn’t just the auras of these big-headed swordfish-like Demon Fiends.

Activating his Eyes of Golden Flame, he swept his gaze across the area.

Just as he’d suspected, dozens of invisible Demon Fiends were following behind, rushing out from the Inverted Mountain Range.

These invisible Demon Fiends resembled giant pythons, but they were linked together in groups of two and three.

At a glance, they looked like a net woven from pythons.

’Doesn’t matter what they are, they’re just cannon fodder!’

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

The three hundred and sixty blades, which had only just stopped, once again danced through the air, slicing and dicing as they weaved between the big-headed swordfish-like Demon Fiends.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

A familiar series of crisp, strange sounds echoed through the air.

Amidst splatters of dark green Demon Blood, the thousands of big-headed swordfish-like Demon Fiends were torn to pieces. Chunks of flesh mixed with organs rained down upon the ground.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +7]

[Demon Points +5]

...