As Ling Fan entered the garden, the situation changed drastically.
The scenery around Ling Fan shifted as if he had entered an extremely confined prison cell.
"Elder Meng, where is this place? What do you mean by this!" Ling Fan's expression changed drastically.
Meng Nanxing sneered, saying nothing.
He clapped his hands.
Over a dozen powerful figures emerged from the darkness.
They were the other three young weapon refiners who, along with him, had approached Han Xiao Ya.
In addition, there were several experts with incredibly potent auras.
They were likely the powerful figures from the Meng family and the families behind the three young weapon refiners.
The way these people looked at Ling Fan was like a pack of hungry wolves staring at a lamb.
They surrounded Ling Fan.
Ling Fan was greatly alarmed and said, "You all, I warn you not to mess around. I am the disciple of the Young Palace Master, the future master of the Myriad Weapons Palace! If you dare to touch a single hair on my head, you will face the consequence of a burial ground for the dead!"
"Heh, precisely because you've become the Young Palace Master's disciple, we must eliminate you, this stumbling block!" Meng Nanxing sneered.
"I am an eighth-stage Heavenly Emperor. Do you think these little tricks of yours can trap me? Just you wait, once I escape, see how the Young Palace Master deals with you!" Ling Fan said, his voice laced with feigned ferocity.
"Stop struggling. Do you think this is just a simple desolate garden? This is a top-grade Emperor Armament, the Nether Prison. Even a ninth-stage Heavenly Emperor cannot easily escape if they barge in rashly. What are you, a mere eighth-stage Heavenly Emperor, worth? Hahaha!" The group burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Haha." Ling Fan also began to laugh.
His demeanor changed.
From his previous panic and subservience, he transformed, revealing a cold and sharp side.
"I was just short of a few ninth-stage Heavenly Emperor puppets, and you've come to deliver a great gift. I should thank you." Ling Fan said with a faint smile.
"What do you mean?"
"Are you having a delusion, or have you been scared silly?" Meng Nanxing and the others frowned.
"Attack, lest we have too many delays and someone discovers us, ruining our plans," one person shouted.
"Dealing with this kind of trash, I am enough!" Meng Nanxing gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with jealousy.
He simply could not accept that this waste in front of him had gained Han Xiao Ya's favor.
He wanted to tear Ling Fan to pieces with his own hands!
Boom!
Meng Nanxing extended a hand, and the terrifying aura of a ninth-stage Heavenly Emperor surged forth, grabbing towards Ling Fan with a thunderous roar.
However, Ling Fan showed no fear.
Instead, his face was filled with mockery.
Slap!
Ling Fan casually slapped out a palm.
Meng Nanxing's eyes widened as his body flew horizontally.
"This!" The others were all greatly alarmed.
Meng Nanxing was a genuine ninth-stage Heavenly Emperor prodigy, arguably the pride of the younger generation in Qi State, second only to peerless prodigies like Han Xiao Ya. Now, he was sent flying by an eighth-stage Heavenly Emperor with a single palm strike?
"Attack! He's playing the pig to eat the tiger!" The others, facing a formidable foe, attacked together.
Instantly, a tidal wave of attacks rained down on Ling Fan without restraint.
Ling Fan's expression remained unchanged.
Having now ascended to the eighth stage of Heavenly Emperor, his sheer physical strength alone was enough to crush all beings below the Half-step Emperor Venerable realm. These attacks were not even enough to tickle him.
Ling Fan casually reached out.
Instantly, the world spun, and the heavens and earth were inverted.
Before the others could even cry out, they were suppressed into the Yanluo Hall by Ling Fan.
"This top-grade Emperor Armament is of decent quality. I'll shatter it and integrate the dense Heavenly Emperor laws within into my domain." Ling Fan looked up and tore at the space.
With a cracking sound, the confined space let out a mournful cry and suddenly collapsed.
Endless dark currents flowed, which were extremely pure Heavenly Emperor laws, containing laws of darkness, space, and confinement. Now, they all became nourishment for Ling Fan's domain.
...
"It's a pity that the Nine Dragon Heavenly Pearls they spoke of were just a ruse," Ling Fan shook his head in disappointment.
He then left.
...
On the other side, deep within the celestial realm's spacetime, where endless chaotic currents churned, a colossal figure, appearing both demonic and divine, materialized.
The spatial chaotic currents, like countless celestial blades, struck his body but could not even tear his clothes.
A terrifying aura, dominating the heavens and earth, emanated from him.
If Ling Fan were present, he would recognize that this person's appearance bore some resemblance to the Crown Prince of the Divine Artifact Tower, whom he had killed. However, this figure possessed a far more profound majesty than the Crown Prince.
With a casual wave of his hand, the spatial chaotic currents suddenly erupted. All time seemed to rewind in the opposite direction. Soon, he saw fragmented scenes of what had transpired in this place.
When he witnessed Ling Fan killing the Crown Prince of the Divine Artifact Tower, an immeasurable, terrifying killing intent surged like a raging sea, engulfing billions of spaces. Even the spatial chaotic currents wailed, daring not to approach.
"Such audacity! To dare kill my son!" This mountain-like figure, filled with overwhelming killing intent, tore through layers of space with a single step and vanished from the location.
...
In the Myriad Weapons Palace.
Since Meng Nanxing and other ambitious individuals were killed by him, Ling Fan entered a period of profound peace. He continued to cultivate with Han Xiao Ya daily, jointly refining their understanding of weapon forging. However, this peace was short-lived.
Experts from renowned weapon forging families in Qi State, such as the Meng, Tong, and Jiang families, as if by agreement, descended upon the Myriad Weapons Palace.
"You have come with such a large entourage. Are you plotting a rebellion?" Han Xiao Ya sat on her throne, exuding a faint pressure, and looked at them coldly.
"Replying to the Young Palace Master! We dare not be presumptuous!"
"Nonsense, you've come to my doorstep to force my hand, and you say you dare not be presumptuous? Do you take me for a three-year-old child, so easily fooled!" Han Xiao Ya's beautiful eyes blazed with sharp light.
"Reporting to the Young Palace Master!" The head of the Meng family, one of the few Half-step Emperor Venerable powerhouses in Qi State, felt Han Xiao Ya's aura and couldn't help but secretly wipe a bead of cold sweat. He had initially believed that even if he couldn't defeat Han Xiao Ya, he could at least contend with her. But he realized he had underestimated this newly ascended Half-step Emperor Venerable! He immediately put away his contempt, cupped his hands towards Han Xiao Ya, and respectfully said, "It is not that we are forcing your hand, but rather that this Ling Fan is wicked-hearted. He murdered my son and the talented juniors of various families, committing heinous acts. We implore the Young Palace Master to hand this person over to us. We wish to flay him and avenge our sons and their kin!"
"Ling Fan, is this true?" Han Xiao Ya asked.
Ling Fan smiled with great ease and composure, saying, "I killed them!"
Han Xiao Ya couldn't help but look at Ling Fan deeply, a hint of surprise in her eyes.