Junior, you dare?!

"Which noisy ant is seeking death??" Yun Wuji wondered, stepping in front of Xia Qingyue to shield her from the pressure.

"Oh no! It's Grand Elder Xiao Wuyi of the Xiao Sect!" Dongfang Xiu exclaimed, his expression turning grim. He quickly pulled Cang Yue back, trying to distance them from Wuji.

Soon, an old man accompanied by five others appeared in the sky above the palace.

"Dongfang Xiu! Your Profound Palace is brave, you are actually colluding with others to deal with my Xiao Sect?!" The old man, Xiao Wuyi, fixed his gaze on Dongfang Xiu and Princess Cang Yue.

"Lord Xiao Wuyi, you misunderstood! We have no relationship with them!" Dongfang Xiu quickly denied having anything to do with Wuji.

"Uncle!" Cang Yue exclaimed anxiously. She didn't want to see Yun Wuji die.

"Shh! The situation is dangerous, we don't have the strength to help them," Dongfang Xiu interrupted her.

Although he knew about the conflict between the Xiao Sect and Wuji, he had expected them to send only a few Sky Profound experts. With his strength, he was confident he could mediate between them to resolve the conflict and then use the pressure from the Xiao Sect to bring Wuji to their Profound Palace.

He never expected the Xiao Sect to send Xiao Wuyi, an Emperor Profound expert, to personally deal with Wuji.

Inside, he felt extremely bitter. They had spent so much time and effort just to find him, only for things to turn out like this.

"Hmph! I'll deal with you later," Xiao Wuyi snorted coldly but didn't make things difficult for them. Even though Dongfang Xiu was just a half-step Emperor Profound, someone Xiao Wuyi could easily kill, he chose to hold off for now.

Xiao Wuyi had to consider the Heavenly Sword Villa.

The Heavenly Sword Villa was the most powerful of the Four Major Sects in the Blue Wind Empire, with strength that surpassed the other three sects combined. They had always been the guardians of the imperial family, at least in name.

If Xiao Wuyi were to kill the strongest expert under the imperial family, it might provoke the wrath of the Heavenly Sword Villa.

"Junior, you destroyed a branch of my Xiao Sect. Today, I will show the world the price of provoking us!" Xiao Wuyi looked down at the handsome man and declared.

He personally came to punish this man who dared to destroy their sect branch, making an example of him to deter others from having similar ideas. In a world where the strong reigns, showing even a hint of weakness can lead to being devoured in no time.

"So you guys are from the Xiao Sect," Yun Wuji said, glancing at Dongfang Xiu before turning his attention to the imposing Xiao Wuyi. He began to consider whether he should extort their sect or exterminate their upper echelon and take all their resources.

"That's right! It's too late for you to run now!" One of the Sky Profound experts behind Xiao Wuyi stepped forward and said. He was a handsome guy who looked to be in his early thirties, and his gaze was locked on Xia Qingyue.

"..." Yun Wuji.

"However, if you hand over the woman beside you, give up all your belongings, break both your arms, cripple your cultivation, and kowtow 999 times, I might consider just killing your 9 generations and leaving your corpse intact," the handsome man said, his expression as if he were doing Yun Wuji a favor.

At this moment, Yun Wuji, who had been watching quietly, spoke up: "Are you done?"

The handsome man was taken aback by Yun Wuji's calm demeanor. Here he was, facing five Sky Profound experts and a powerful Emperor Profound expert, and this guy was unfazed.

Yun Wuji glanced at his bracelet and shook his head, muttering, "One minute and nine seconds... your last words are really long."

In the next moment, Yun Wuji vanished.

The handsome man's eyes widened in shock, and he instinctively raised his hands to defend himself.

But just as he tried to raise his hands...

Crack!

A sickening crack echoed through the air as his arms shattered at the shoulders.

An unprecedented fear surged through the handsome man's heart. Before the pain from his shattered arms could even register, he felt a crushing grip on his throat, choking his breath.

His entire body was lifted up by an overwhelming force.

His eyes were bulging, almost popping out of their sockets, and his legs flailed wildly, kicking and thrashing in a desperate attempt to break free.

Everything happened in a flash. Before Xiao Wuyi and the others could even react, Yun Wuji had already grabbed the young man by the neck.

"Junior, you dare!!!" Xiao Wuyi roared, his fury palpable.

The handsome man struggled to open his mouth, gasping for air. With a choked voice, he managed to croak out, "Yamete Kudasai!"

"You shouldn't have coveted my disciple," Yun Wuji tightened his grip just a bit more, and with a nasty crack, the man's neck snapped. He then tossed the lifeless body aside like a piece of garbage.

Thud!

The man's body hit the ground beside Dongfang Xiu and Cang Yue.

"This... this man is insane..." Dongfang Xiu muttered, eyes wide as he stared at Yun Wuji's unflinching back.

"..." Cang Yue's gaze was locked onto him, her eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Can't you be any more cliché?" Yun Wuji asked, turning to face Xiao Wuyi.

Xiao Wuyi roared as he charged toward Yun Wuji, "Devilspawn! This old man will make you disappear forever!!"

"Bastard, you dare to kill people from my sect!"

"That's right, we're the only ones allowed to kill! How dare you retaliate!"

The other Sky Profound experts charged as well, following Xiao Wuyi's lead.

However, they just moved a few meters when their bodies froze, and became immobilized. It was like they'd run straight into an invisible wall. Their bodies froze up, and no matter how hard they tried to move, they couldn't. It was like some invisible chains had wrapped around them, leaving them stuck and struggling, their faces a mix of shock and fear.

"I can't move!"

"Me too, what's going on?!"

"Devilspawn! It's your doing!" Xiao Wuyi roared, his anger boiling over as he struggled to free himself.

"You guys are hopeless," Yun Wuji said, looking at them with disdain. "If you had any brains, you'd be begging for forgiveness right now."

"I don't know how you managed to pull this off, but your little trick won't last long," Xiao Wuyi's old face twitched, though he tried to sound confident. He didn't believe that the young man in front of him could maintain such a powerful technique for so long or use another technique at the same time.

"...experiment failed, brain not found 404," Yun Wuji shook his head. He'd tried reasoning with them, but it seemed like anyone connected to a 'Young Master' was just plain dumb.

He waved his hand, and the sword lights flashed, cutting through the air in swift arcs.

"Wai.." Xiao Wuyi exclaimed, it was only at this moment that his brain started braining.

Unfortunately, it was already too late. The sword lights sliced through him effortlessly, cutting his body into multiple pieces.

With a thud, he hit the ground. His head rolled to the side, eyes wide open in shock. Until the very end, he couldn't believe he had met his end so easily.

After slicing through Xiao Wuyi, the sword lights continued, cutting down three more Sky Profound experts. Only one figure remained untouched, standing amidst the chaos with a look of utter shock and disbelief.

"Hey, you there," Yun Wuji called out.

"...Agh! Please, don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The last man fell to his knees, begging desperately, "Please, I'll do anything!"

"Obviously, I'm not gonna kill you, you dumb bastard," Yun Wuji spat at him in disgust. "Go back to your sect and tell them if they don't bring me everything in their treasury within a week, the Four Great Sect will become three!"

"Yes, yes, I'll do anything! Just don't kill me!" The man nodded frantically.

"Then what are you waiting for? Scram!" Yun Wuji ordered.

"Yes!" The man scrambled to his feet and began running, crawling in his panic. The immense fear had made him forget he could fly. Only after running a few hundred meters did he remember and take off into the air.

'I didn't even use the Dragon Soul Domain, and he's already this scared. If I had, he'd probably have died from fear,' Yun Wuji shook his head at the pathetic man and turned to Dongfang Xiu and Cang Yue.

"Lord Yun…" Dongfang Xiu felt a chill run down his spine when his eyes met Yun Wuji's. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Fuck off, before I change my mind and kill you!" Yun Wuji cut him off.

"…Yes, right away," Dongfang Xiu sighed and flew off with Cang Yue. He knew his earlier actions had angered Yun Wuji; he was already being kind by not killing them.

Cang Yue remained silent, her gaze fixed on Yun Wuji. No one could tell what was going through her mind.

"Master, you were amazing!" Xia Qingyue exclaimed, grabbing his hands with excitement. Her eyes sparkled like stars.

"I know, I'm always cool," Yun Wuji said with a smile, "I'll teach you how to be just as cool."

"Master! What happened?" A few minutes later Xiao Che and Xiao Lingxi finally managed to reach the gate of the palace.

-----

To avoid confusion, let me clarify a few things:

- This is the first timeline.

- Xiao Che is 13 years old and his fiancée is Situ Xuan

- Xiao Lingxi is 12 years old.

- In the first timeline, Xia Qingyue was originally not meant to exist only Xia Yuanba was supposed to be there. However, I replaced Xia Yuanba with Xia Qingyue, so her age is now the same as he would have been, which is 12 years old.