Ye Xiu looked toward the two cars. Ye Tianming got out of the first, and the Dragon Master, Wang Yue, and an unfamiliar young man got out of the second.

Ye Xiu’s gaze immediately locked onto the unfamiliar youth. He was about 1.7 meters tall, slender, with ordinary features and a Dongzhou face, holding a sword in his hand. He carried himself with haughty arrogance, his face expressionless, his eyes icy cold.

"Ye Xiu, why are you just standing there like a block of wood?" Wang Yue berated him. "Hurry up and kneel to welcome the Envoy!" He puffed himself up with unearned authority, his arrogance on full display.

The Envoy, meanwhile, adopted a haughty posture, waiting for Ye Xiu to approach and kneel in welcome.

Ye Xiu nearly died from laughter at the Envoy’s posturing. The man was the epitome of a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. However, he was furious at Wang Yue’s attitude.

He said coldly, "Wang Yue, I just saved your life. Is this how you repay me?"

"You’re the one who set me up and got me seriously injured. Healing me is the least you owe me," Wang Yue retorted smugly. "Besides, I never asked you to save me."

He’s asking to die... A true killing intent for Wang Yue finally sparked within Ye Xiu.

At that moment, the Dragon Master turned to the Envoy and said respectfully, "Envoy, this is Ye Xiu. As you can see, he is extremely arrogant and disrespectful. Even knowing of your arrival, he has shown no intention of greeting you."

Ye Tianming immediately added fuel to the fire. "Ye Xiu has long boasted that you’re nothing but a fart in his eyes. He’s wanted to kill you for some time."

The Envoy, already displeased that Ye Xiu hadn’t come to kneel and pay his respects, grew even more furious after hearing the words of the Dragon Master and Ye Tianming.

"Are you the Envoy sent by the three great Judicator Families to preside over the Mist Chant Martial Meeting?" Ye Xiu asked as he walked up to him.

"Kneel!" the Envoy commanded expressionlessly.

"..." Ye Xiu asked, "What did Wang Yue tell you that made you want to kill me?"

"I told you to kneel!" Haishan raised his voice.

Ye Xiu frowned. "I have no intention of making an enemy of the Judicator Families. I hope you’ll think this through."

"I told you to kneel!" the Envoy said angrily.

Ye Xiu took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to strangle the man. "Can we have a proper conversation?"

"I told you to KNEEL!" the Envoy roared.

SLAP!

Ye Xiu suddenly slapped Haishan across the face. "Are you a damned parrot? Speak properly!" he cursed.

The slap sent a shudder through Wang Yue, Ye Tianming, and the Dragon Master, who had all been gleefully waiting for Ye Xiu to kneel. They had never expected Ye Xiu to dare strike the Envoy, let alone with a humiliating slap.

A moment later, however, they grew excited. Originally, they had been worried that Ye Xiu might talk his way out of it, especially since they had lied and slandered him to trick the Envoy into coming here in the first place. But to their surprise, Ye Xiu had attacked first! Now he was surely doomed!

Seeing Ye Xiu make a move, Ye Liuyun immediately adopted an attack stance. If the Envoy retaliated, he would risk his life to help his brother knock out one of the Envoy’s teeth. He didn’t dare to imagine that he and Ye Xiu together could actually defeat or kill the Envoy.

Qin Qing and An Dongye, on the other hand, were completely calm. If Ye Xiu dared to strike, it meant he was fully confident he could kill the Envoy.

"You... you dare to hit me?" the Envoy stammered, clutching his face and staring at Ye Xiu in utter disbelief. "I am the Envoy of the three great Judicator Families! I represent the dignity of the families! How dare you strike me?"

"So you’re not a broken record," Ye Xiu sneered. "Can we talk properly now?"

"You’re courting death!" the Envoy raged, drawing his sword and slashing upward at Ye Xiu’s neck.

Ye Xiu arched backward in an ’iron bridge’ maneuver to dodge the sword, simultaneously swinging his left foot toward the Envoy’s groin.

The Envoy was shocked, not expecting Ye Xiu’s reaction to be so swift or his move so vicious. He hastily retreated a step to dodge the crippling kick, then changed his sword technique, slashing toward Ye Xiu’s leg.

Ye Xiu stomped his planted right foot fiercely on the ground, his body still parallel to the floor as he shot backward. At the same time, his right hand summoned the Slaughter City Blade from where it was stuck in the ground nearby. He flipped over and clashed with the charging Envoy.

"His speed is incredible. The Envoy’s strength is definitely far greater than a War God’s, yet Ye Xiu is keeping up with his attack rhythm. It seems he’s been hiding his true strength," the Dragon Master commented with an air of nonchalance, though he was inwardly surprised.

Wang Yue, being an ordinary person, couldn’t follow their movements at all. He just laughed and said, "The Envoy is just toying with him. He hasn’t even gotten serious yet."

Ye Tianming remained silent. Only he knew that Ye Xiu was Huang Quan. His heart was in his throat, worried that the Envoy might not be a match for Ye Xiu.

"Sister-in-law, why are you holding me back?" Ye Liuyun demanded angrily when Qin Qing stopped him from rushing to help.

"He doesn’t need your help," Qin Qing said.

Ye Liuyun froze, only then noticing how relaxed Qin Qing and An Dongye were. They didn’t seem worried about his Big Brother at all.

Could it be that Big Brother’s strength is now so great that he doesn’t even fear the Envoy?

"Third Realm? You’re a Third Realm War God?" the Envoy exclaimed in shock after trading a few more blows with Ye Xiu. In his mind, the strongest on Earth were the Totem Inheritors, who were merely Second Realm War Gods. That was why he had boasted to Wang Yue that, with no one from the three Judicator Families present, he was invincible. Yet Ye Xiu’s strength matched his own; they were both Third Realm!

"What’s the Third Realm? I just had a breakthrough to a level above War God last night while I was on the toilet," Ye Xiu said, feigning ignorance. He deliberately showed weakness, making it seem as though the Envoy was pressing the attack and forcing him into a fighting retreat.

"So it was just a lucky break," the Envoy realized, attacking Ye Xiu with his full strength.

Suddenly, Ye Xiu feinted with his blade. As the Envoy moved to block, Ye Xiu turned tail and ran.

"Thinking of running? You can’t escape," the Envoy snorted disdainfully, giving chase at full speed.

Seeing this, Wang Yue, the Dragon Master, and Ye Tianming started laughing.

"Ye Xiu is no match for the Envoy at all. He’s a dead man!" the Dragon Master laughed.

Ye Tianming breathed a sigh of relief. So Huang Quan isn’t so great after all.

"Should we follow them and watch? Or should we take this chance to kill these people?" Wang Yue asked, gesturing toward Qin Qing, An Dongye, and Ye Liuyun.

The Dragon Master and Ye Tianming scoffed at the idea. Qin Qing and Ye Liuyun were both Second Realm War Gods, and An Dongye’s strength was unknown. Plus, there was still a foreign woman who hadn’t shown herself. They stood no chance of killing them.

"The Envoy and Ye Xiu are too fast. We can’t keep up," Ye Tianming said with a sigh of regret. "It’s a pity we won’t be able to witness the Envoy slaying him with our own eyes. As for these people, once Ye Xiu is dead, someone else will take care of them."

In his mind, once Huang Quan was dead, the Thirteen Protectors would inevitably turn on one another for power. Huang Quan’s friends and family would all be eliminated by them in the ensuing chaos.

"Let’s go. We’ll head back, have some tea, and wait for the good news!" the Dragon Master laughed.

As they watched the three drive away, Ye Liuyun said anxiously, "Sister-in-law, Big Brother doesn’t seem to be a match for the Envoy. We should go help him."

At this moment, Qin Qing and An Dongye also felt a flicker of panic. They didn’t know the Envoy’s true strength, so they couldn’t tell if Ye Xiu was running because he was outmatched or if he had another plan.

Just then, Chloe and Ye Lin’er walked out. "The Young Master probably has another plan," Chloe said with a smile. "The Envoy is no match for him. The Envoy’s strength is even less than mine."

Her words put Qin Qing and An Dongye at ease, though they were now even more curious about what game Ye Xiu was playing.