Not worthy.

Marilius's legs felt like they were about to give out underneath him, he nearly lost control of his sphincter and defecated himself right where he stood. For a short second, he even prayed that it was all just a joke, but seeing that even the famous shut-in Egong Pangli had left his room to greet him, he was certain that the youth standing only five steps away from him was truly the dreaded Yao Jun.

Arthurius had already sent out a decree two years ago, notifying all their subordinate sects and clans about how they should treat Yao Jun should they ever encounter him. The decree was very simple, to the point that it was hard to believe that it was an official document created and released by the grand World Tree clan.

"Stay as far away as possible and avoid angering at all costs. Should the worst happen, accept your fate."

There was nothing about how to please him, nothing about how to get on his good side, their best advice was simply to stay as far away as possible. A decree such as this, of course, confused just about everyone that got it, they could just barely accept it thanks to the events of God Piercer planet, but some were still a bit unsatisfied with how the decree basically stated that they would die upon angering him.

But the reason behind the simplicity of the decree was also very simple, even Arthurius felt some fear towards Yao Jun, he was a walking doomsday clock waiting to reach 0. No one knew where he came from, no one knew just how increased his strength at such a monstrous rate, and no one knew what made his strength so great that he could kill people who had higher cultivation than him, he had singlehandedly crushed the myth that a mortal could never kill a deity.

But the main reason behind it all was that even now, no one knew Yao Jun's true depths. Every time he showed up he would bring out some new power, a new technique, or a new law. And without fail, each appearance would end with a rain of blood that shocked the universe, each one more devastating and apocalyptic than the next. His previous appearance erased the second-largest planet in the universe, just what sort of havoc would his next appearance cause? Facing such a strange monster that no one really knew anything about, even Arthurius was acting very cautiously.

It was this caution that made him send down that decree without including a picture of Yao Jun, resulting in Marilius's actions today. It wasn't hard for Arhurius to see that Yao Jun preferred to stay to himself and remain mostly unknown, he didn't care about the grand spotlight of the universe. Arthurius worried that including an image of Yao Jun with the decree would quickly cause his appearance to spread to the rest of the universe, it would make it hard for him to leisurely travel around with his family. What would Arthurius do if something like that created a rift in their relationship, could he really bear the weight of that?

Marilius's thoughts were racing as he stood frozen in place, his eyes flickering over the five other people he had brought with him. For a split second the thought of using the two charm of his two junior sisters might work, but that idea was quickly squashed. Having multiple lovers wasn't strange for cultivators, but from what he had heard Yao Jun was very devoted to his wife, there were even rumors that he had rejected Yuri Jahad while they were both taking part in the Ascending Dragon competition.

He failed to come up with anything even with his mind racing but he knew that he had to do something before it was too late, so he decided to bite the bullet. His legs remained frozen in place, but his torso dipped into a deep bow, the five other people around him quickly joining him.

"Please forgive us, Senior Jun! We didn't know that it was your distinguished self and thus acted irrationally and arrogantly. We hope that you can forgive us and ease your anger, we are even willing to do whatever you..."

Marilius's words caught in his throat before he could finish them, an icy dread enveloped him as he felt Yao Jun's gaze land on him. He raised his head slightly, but his soul felt like it would shatter when he met those ghastly gray eyes, his gaze quickly shifting away. It ended up landing on the young child he was carrying on his shoulder, the girl rumored to be his only daughter.

Compared to Yao Jun's calm and nearly indifferent gaze, the little girl was grinning at him with shimmering eyes, clearly very excited. Marilius quickly moved his gaze away again, not daring to shift it onto the woman standing next to Yao Jun, worried that even the smallest action might set him off. But while he was worried about what Yao Jun might do, he only received a single word as a response.

"Anger?"

Marilius didn't know why, but that one word seemed to strike his very soul, his gaze rising again and locking onto Yao Jun's face. Yao Jun's gaze remained as calm as always as he raised his foot and stepped forward, slowly walking closer to Marilius, each step seeming as soft as a cloud.

Marilius felt a soft pressure on his stomach when Yao Jun took the first step, the second step caused him to feel as if someone was sitting on his stomach, and the third step made Marilius feel as if someone had hit him in the chest with a massive hammer. By the time Yao Jun finished his fourth step, Marilius fell to the ground, it felt as if an entire mountain was pressing down on him.

Yao Jun had already reached the Earthly Deity realm in all three of his cultivation systems, the physical force that his body could unleash was not something normal people could resist. Even some early-stage Earthly Deities that had been sloppy with their body tempering would be completely repressed by the sheer might of Yao Jun's body.

Yao Jun finished his fifth step, but the pressure on Marilius had luckily vanished the moment he collapsed to the ground. The five others around him were still standing, albeit completely frozen in fear, it seemed like only he had to endure that mountain-like pressure. His body was trembling ceaselessly, his lungs felt like they were simply unable to pump enough air to support him. And standing right in front of him, looking down at him with unchanged expression, was Yao Jun.

"You, are not worthy of my anger."

Each word was pronounced slowly and clearly, perfectly spelling it out for Marilius. Since the very start, even when he rudely pushed his way past Yao Jun and tried to intimidate him into compliance using his sect name, Yao Jun had never once put him into his eyes. He was so far removed from Yao Jun that his actions weren't even able to instill anger into him, the only way for him to manage that was probably by touching his reverse scale, an act which was already synonymous with suicide.

Yao Jun's gaze remained on Marilius for only a single second before it moved away, landing on the somewhat-awkward-feeling Egong Pangli. Yao Jun gave him a polite nod and made sure that Yao Xuelian was sitting safely on his shoulders before he courteously cupped his hands.

"Good afternoon, Mister Pangli. I've come here in hopes that you can help me find a certain broken sword and a few pieces of clothing."

The items sounded so normal that it was ridiculous, but Marilius was fully convinced that the items he was looking for were probably treasures that he couldn't even imagine the value of. Egong Pangli quickly reacted, gesturing towards the door that led to his private room.

"Of course, of course. Please, follow me and allow me to help you."

Yao Jun nodded his head, holding out his hand and grasping hold of Guo Luo's hand, the two following after Egong Pangli and heading towards the door. Yao Xuelian turned her head to look at Marilius as they walked, sticking out her tongue with a gloating expression, clearly filled with an extreme amount of pride.