On his journey to the Nine Head Clan, Chu Kuangren held a piece of painting that he had purchased from a merchant. On it was the depiction of a strange nine-headed serpent with all its intimidating features.

“The ancient beast, the Nine-Headed Snakelet!”

“Legend has it that the beast wields both water and fire elements masterfully. Hah, I didn't think the Nine Head Clan would wors.h.i.+p such a beast. How interesting.”

Chu Kuangren chuckled.

Lan Yu was curiously studying the depiction too.

“What an unsightly beast. It's nowhere as majestic as Lil Red,” said Lan Yu.

“Of course. Lil Red is a prosperous G.o.dly beast, whereas this is a ferocious beast. They can't be compared, but the Nine-Headed Snakelet should not be underestimated. According to its bloodline, its hierarchy is just below that of the G.o.dly beasts.”

Chu Kuangren said.

Then, he looked across the distance to the barren land and said, “Only four hundred kilometers to go before we get to the Blackwater Prefecture. That's where the Nine Head Clan is.”

“Let's go, we should be able to reach today.”

Inside a Nine Head Clan tent.

“Everyone, when Young Master Li awakens the Nine-Headed Snakelet, we shall finally expand our territory!” The Nine Head Clan Leader cheered with several elders as they indulged in alcohols and delicacies.

The elders were equally as excited.

Boom!

At that instance, thunder could be heard from the outside.

As dark clouds gathered, the tents were immediately washed by a heavy downpour.

“d.a.m.n it, I've had it enough with this stupid place. It's always raining heavily out of nowhere,” complained an elder.

The other elders were scowling too.

Although this was the land that they grew up in, they did not have any sentimental values for it, only endless complaints.

“Once we invade the Royal Azure Dynasty, the enormous prefecture is ours. By then, don't we have all of the resources we need?”

“That's right. This is all thanks to the Young Master. It's with his foresight that if Gu Changge is compromised, then the Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl is ours.”

“I can't wait to mess around in the Royal Azure Dynasty Palace.”

The elders were laughing heartily.

Just then, one of the Nine Head Clan members rushed in.

He was panicking as he said in terror, “Clan Leader, we're in deep trouble!”

“What happened? Why're you so frightened?”

“Chu Kuangren's here!”

Upon hearing this, the looks on the elders' faces changed.

The Nine Head Clan Leader became stern. “Why's he here? Hold on, could he be here for Gu Changge?”

The clan leader and the elders only now remembered that aside from being the Black Heaven Sect Leader, Chu Kuangren was also the fiancé to Linglong, which made him the de facto king of the Royal Azure Dynasty.

“Come, let's go meet this person!”

The Nine Head Clan Leader said after he pondered about it.

With that, the group exited the tent.

Amid the thunderstorm stood two people, a man and a woman who looked out of this world, and around them were a forcefield that separated them from the heavy outpour.

The ground was covered in muddy water as the wind howled ferociously.

Yet, the two people remained pristine, as if they did not need to pander to the physical boundaries of this world. It was a fascinating sight to behold.

A strange look flashed across the Nine Head Clan Leader's eyes before he approached the duo. He smiled and greeted them, “Welcome, Sect Leader Chu. It's my honor to host you as our guests!”

“Alright, enough with the polite words. Hand the Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl and Gu Changge over,” said Chu Kuangren firmly.

The Nine Head Clan Leader seemed dumbfounded. He uttered, “Sect Leader Chu, what're you talking about? Gu Changge is the Crown Prince of the Royal Azure Dynasty, why would he be here? And what in the world is a Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl?”

“Your attempt at playing the fool here doesn't hide the truth. I'd advise you to fulfill my demands before I resort to more violent measures.”

“Sect Leader, I truly don't…”

Before the clan leader could finish his words, a breeze of cold intent manifested within the thunderstorm, covering half of the Nine Head Clan's territory.

“I'm running out of patience, Clan Leader. Please get to the point.”

Chu Kuangren said.

Although Chu Kuangren's voice was not as loud as the pattering of raindrops, the Nine Head Clan Leader could hear his words clearly. Meanwhile, he felt a cold chill spread across his heart, as if his blood was about to freeze.

“Sect Leader Chu, isn't driving the Nine Head Clan to a corner like this a bit too much?” At this point, a frail voice rang out.

An elder in a clothed robe suddenly appeared in the void as he stared unhappily at Chu Kuangren.

Chu Kuangren glimpsed at the elder.

It was the Sage of the Nine Head Clan, who possessed a Three-Step Sage cultivation base.

Chu Kuangren gently lifted his hand and summoned an enormous golden palm that charged fiercely towards the elder.

Under the rainwater, the strike was immediately blasted into a mist that covered the sky.

“What?!”

The elder was caught off-guard as he did not expect Chu Kuangren to attack so abruptly. He hastily channeled his spiritual energy and converged the surrounding rainwater into a gigantic water pillar that launched itself outwards.

The two opposing forces collided!

Then, the water pillar disintegrated as the remaining violent energy swept out and landed a direct hit on the elder's body.

In a split second, the elder was blasted off his feet, sustaining heavy injuries before he fell onto the floor. His once pristine robe was now tainted by the muddy water on the ground. By looks, there was no difference between the majestic Sage and an average street beggar.

“Chu Kuangren, you're too much!”

The Nine Head Clan Leader was fuming.

Unfortunately for the clan leader, a devastating Sword-based Daoist Rhyme emanated and now enshrouded the entire Nine Head Clan.

Every clan member, including the clan leader and the Sage, could feel their scalps numb. With the Daoist Rhyme, pouring rainwater now manifested into a hail of daggers, as if ready to slice their heads off at any time!

“I've told you not my patience is wearing thin. If you speak another word of nonsense, I bet that none of you can make it out alive even if each of you has nine heads. I'll ask this one more time, where's Gu Changge and the Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl?!”

Chu Kuangren snorted coldly.

The Nine Head Clan leader and the Sage were already green to the face, s.h.i.+vering in fear. However, there was nothing they could do.

'This person is an insanely violent person!'

'Did he just threaten to annihilate the entire Nine Head Clan?!'

'How can he resort to such a threat?!'

However, the Nine Head Clan Leader did not doubt Chu Kuangren's ability to follow through with his words. After all, Chu Kuangren's past was filled with many cautionary tales.

Chu Kuangren had once created a huge mess within the Scaled Clan of the deep sea. The Nine Head Clan was nowhere near as strong as the Scaled Clan.

How could they possibly defend themselves against Chu Kuangren?

“The Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl and Gu Changge were indeed here, but not anymore,” said the Nine Head Clan Leader.

He surrendered to Chu Kuangren's demands.

“Oh, where did they go then?”

“To the Blackwater Swamp!” The Nine Head Clan Leader gritted his teeth and uttered.

“What're they doing there?”

“To help the Young Master in awakening our Lord, the Nine-Headed Snakelet!”

Chu Kuangren was a little confused. “Awakening the Nine-Headed Snakelet… You mean they want to resurrect the Nine-Headed Snakelet?”

“That's right.”

The Nine Head Clan Leader then revealed the entire story.

It turned out that an empyrean walker had recently come to the Nine Head Clan, and this particular empyrean walker carried the bloodline of the Nine Head Clan!

As such, the empyrean walker was conferred as the Young Master of their clan. In order to resurrect the Nine-Headed Snakelet, he had bribed Gu Changge into stealing the Nine-Headed Snakelet Pearl from the Royal Azure Dynasty…