Chapter 4505 — A Mountain-Opening Power Arrives

"That doesn't add up. Even knowing full well there won't be any orders, the Longzhou Escort Agency hasn't been struck from the rolls yet. At a critical occasion like this, even if Long Kuiba doesn't want to show his face and eat crow, he should at least send someone to represent him, shouldn't he?" Wei Zhao still found it odd.

"Now that you mention it, it really is a bit eerie..." Qi Wenmo couldn't help frowning as well.

Even as the two were speaking, a sudden commotion broke out at the entrance to the Moleng Plaza. Everyone turned to look, and amid the confusion of overturned tables and jostled bodies, two figures were slowly making their way toward the center of the assembly. One was Long Kuiba; the other was none other than Cheng Haonan, the heretic cultivator who had fled in public the day before!

A gasp swept the entire hall. No one had expected that Cheng Haonan, a heretic reviled by all, would not only fail to flee to the ends of the earth, but would now dare to come back so brazenly—and to do so openly, right at the assembly where the escort agencies' finest were gathered.

Watching Cheng Haonan stroll over with a wicked grin, as though no one else existed, everyone blurted out the same thought at almost the same instant: "Is this thing out of his mind?!"

"When things turn strange, there's a demon behind it. Something's changed." Wei Zhao's expression darkened slightly. He refused to believe Cheng Haonan was a fool bent on courting death—he had never thought so before, and after last night, when he had worked out the subtleties of top-tier and transcendent body arts, he thought so even less.

Cheng Haonan was an exceedingly shrewd creature. If he dared to come back so openly, it meant he must have something to lean on—and that something was powerful enough that he could disregard his identity as a heretic cultivator altogether.

"What's this? You all look rather unwelcoming toward me," Cheng Haonan said, his gaze sweeping slowly across every face, arrogance and smug satisfaction written all over his brow. He clearly did not regard any of them as worth a second thought.

The whole of the Moleng Plaza was struck dumb, watching helplessly as Cheng Haonan and Long Kuiba walked into the center of the hall. Qi Mingyuan, the foremost figure of this assembly, was the first to recover. His face darkening, he was about to give the order to seize them—right and evil could not coexist. For Cheng Haonan, a heretic, to dare come here so recklessly was a plain affront to him, the newly installed overlord of the escort agencies. This was beyond bearing.

But before Qi Mingyuan could speak, Hai Wuliang, not far to one side, had already risen to his feet first, eyes gleaming. Here was a golden opportunity laid right before him: no matter how awkward and coldly he had been treated before, so long as he could redeem his reputation off this heretic's back, everything would resolve itself.

Hai Wuliang at once slapped the table and rose in righteous fury. "In broad daylight, under the clear sky, a mere heretic dares to come back with such insolence! On behalf of the South Continent Escort Agencies—"

Before he could finish, a fierce gale erupted above the Moleng Plaza. A dense, heavy mass of black mist descended from the sky, trailing boundless evil qi, so foul that faces paled and spines chilled at the sight.

Sensing the immense oppression emanating from the black mist, the crowd trembled to the core, cries of alarm escaping them one after another. The central platform where Qi Mingyuan and the others had been standing was instantly torn away by the wind it brought, and in the space of a moment those many fine fighters were sent sprawling, in utter disarray.

After a moment, the wildly raging wind gradually died away, and from within that mass of black mist an old man's figure slowly emerged—blue-haired and crimson-browed, his appearance indescribably bizarre.

The old man's sinister, cunning eyes swept contemptuously over the whole hall. He radiated no particularly overwhelming aura. And yet an invisible pressure bore down on everyone, so that none dared even draw a deep breath—especially Qi Mingyuan and those nearest him, who felt the blood and qi in their bodies seem to freeze solid, pierced through by a chill for which they could find no cause.

"Why does this man look so much like Wu Baoliang?" Wei Zhao murmured to himself in puzzlement, watching the strange old man from afar.

Wu Baoliang had a pair of uncanny triangular yin-yang eyes; and this old man who had descended from the sky, bizarre as his appearance was, had eyes remarkably like Wu Baoliang's. Could this man be some relative of Wu Baoliang—or perhaps his own father?

By now no one dared speak a word. All stood staring blankly at the strange old man. Though he had not attacked the moment he arrived, everyone could see that he had not come with good intentions.

"What foul creature dares to make trouble at our South Continent Escort Assembly? Cheng Haonan, do you think that finding yourself a backer means you can look down on us of the righteous path? Hmph! Today I, the Chief Escort, shall carry out Heaven's justice!" As everyone stood dazed, Hai Wuliang leapt to his feet with a great shout and made to spring at Cheng Haonan.

This was a rare chance for a turnaround, delivered right to his door! If only Cheng Haonan had come, then even if Hai Wuliang were the first to capture him, it would hardly be convincing enough. But now a strange old man who was plainly not to be trifled with had appeared, and everyone was too frightened to move—would this not be the perfect chance to display Hai Wuliang's courage and sense of duty?

With an unobtrusive glance at Qi Mingyuan beside him and the ridiculous sight of the man behaving as though facing a mighty foe, Hai Wuliang felt immensely pleased with himself.

It is not the goods one fears failing to recognize, but the goods set beside other goods. Only with Qi Mingyuan—this so-called newly installed overlord of the escort agencies—for comparison could his own towering stature be thrown into sharper relief. After today's affair, it would be plain to all who was better suited to lead the South Continent Escort Alliance in the days to come!

With all manner of calculations churning in his mind, Hai Wuliang felt his very body grow light. He was no fool, of course—he would strike only at Cheng Haonan, whom he was sure he could handle. As for that strange old man who was so obviously not to be provoked, it would be safer to wait until he could raise a rallying cry and lead everyone present in a joint assault.

But Cheng Haonan, the very target Hai Wuliang had marked for polishing his reputation, was now watching him with an ambiguous half-smile, arms folded at his ease, showing not the slightest intention of raising a hand to meet the attack.

"What manner of thing are you!" A shriveled, grating cold shout came from behind him, and at the same moment a force beyond words descended upon his back. Before Hai Wuliang could even shake off his smugness, he was swatted flat to the ground like a fly, driven more than three feet into the earth...

Hiss! The entire hall drew a sharp breath in unison. Hai Wuliang was a peak late-Nascent Soul expert—if not among the top two in the whole South Continent Escort Alliance, then at the very least among the top five. And yet before this strange old man he could not withstand even a single move; and from the look of it, the man had not even been in earnest.

A Mountain-Opening stage titan! Qi Mingyuan and the other knowledgeable few felt their hearts churn like a stormy sea. Though the old man had not yet revealed his full strength, that single simple blow made it plain—this strange old man was a Mountain-Opening stage expert! (To be continued.)