Big head, you're the one.

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Was Xu Hongqiu truly the innocent young girl Xu Nanling imagined her to be, lacking all experience in the martial world?

Although she had only recently entered the world of martial arts, as the daughter of the Whale Gang’s supreme leader, she had held herself to the highest standards from childhood and had never been willing to fall behind anyone. She naturally understood every rule of conduct and social interaction. Had anyone else come, she would certainly have been far more forceful than Xu Nanling imagined.

But the one who had come was Empress Phoenix.

Xu Nanling was around forty this year, and his formative years had coincided with the period before Empress Phoenix had made her name in the martial world. In his mind, she was perhaps merely one of the more unruly masters among Shushan’s thirty-six peaks—someone about whom he knew very little.

Xu Hongqiu, however, had carefully studied the records of every great expert in the Dao-Seeking Realm throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Among the figures who had left the deepest impression on her, Empress Phoenix unquestionably ranked near the top.

Wherever such a person passed, birds bowed in the heavens, flood dragons hid at the bottom of their pools, jackals dug into the earth and buried their heads, and fierce tigers made the cries of tame cats…

What gave you, Xu Nanling, the right to raise your voice at her? Was it because she was smiling at the moment?

“Senior, please calm your anger.” Xu Hongqiu did not retreat. Instead, she stepped forward to mediate.

“You three, go carry him back.” Empress Phoenix jerked her chin toward several Whale Gang subordinates behind her, ordering them as casually as if they were her own servants.

To everyone’s surprise, none of them showed the slightest resistance. They obeyed at once and went to carry Xu Nanling back, not one of them daring to hesitate.

Only then did Empress Phoenix place a hand on Xu Hongqiu’s shoulder and say, “I’m not angry. He just suddenly shouted and startled me.”

A short while later, several subordinates carried back Xu Nanling, whose entire body had gone limp, and propped him up before the others.

His bones were shattered and his internal organs ruptured—there was no question that he was gravely injured—but his mind remained fairly clear. When he looked up at Empress Phoenix, he no longer dared say a word. Even as he struggled to breathe, he kept his gasps as quiet as possible.

“Last night, you struck my disciple without bothering to distinguish right from wrong. I came here simply to demand justice.” Empress Phoenix wore an aggrieved expression. “As long as you can give us a satisfactory answer, we’ll leave at once.”

“Master, Miss Xu is a good person. We needn’t make too much of this…” Chu Liang urged from behind her.

“Very well. Then we won’t trouble anyone else.” Empress Phoenix nodded. Looking at Xu Nanling, who was breathing as faintly as a dying man, she said, “You struck my disciple with one palm, so I’ll strike you with one palm as well. Fair enough, wouldn’t you say?”

“I…” Xu Nanling had just begun to speak when he remembered himself. He hurriedly lowered his voice and whispered, “But didn’t you already kick me once…?”

“That was because you shouted at me.” Empress Phoenix frowned. “Just now, I used less than five percent of my strength. The palm I give you later won’t be nearly so gentle.”

Xu Nanling hurriedly waved his hands, his face filled with despair.

Empress Phoenix was not bluffing. She truly had used less than five percent of her strength just now, and she had not even employed her greatest mastery—fire. Otherwise, even someone like Marquis Mountain-Queller, whose cultivation was considerably higher than Xu Nanling’s, would have been slain in an instant.

“Senior!” Xu Hongqiu stepped in front of Xu Nanling and looked at Empress Phoenix. “We can offer compensation.”

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They had no choice but to compensate her. It was obvious that the other party had come specifically to extort them.

Xu Hongqiu did want to see her second uncle punished, but if Empress Phoenix truly killed him here, she absolutely could not allow it.

After all, she was currently the highest-ranking person in the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts. Everyone there was under her authority, and she bore responsibility for them all. If she allowed something like this to happen, she would lose all prestige within the Whale Gang from that day forward.

She still had to protect him.

“This is rather embarrassing…” Only then did Empress Phoenix smile. “We aren’t unreasonable people. How about this? Just cover my disciple’s medical expenses.”

“Master, how could we ask them for money?” Chu Liang hurriedly interrupted her. “Miss Xu is a good friend. Talking about money would hurt our friendship.”

“Then what should we ask for instead?” Empress Phoenix retorted.

“The Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts is full of spirit beasts. Why don’t we simply take one back to raise?” Chu Liang suggested. “Our Silver Sword Peak happens to be short of a mount.”

“That won’t do.” Empress Phoenix shook her head. “You don’t know about the pressure of my Divine Phoenix aura? Demonic beasts below the Fifth Realm would be frightened to death instantly. They can’t be raised.”

“Then let’s take a Fifth-Realm beast back. Once we raise it properly, it can become a testament to the friendship between us and the Whale Gang,” Chu Liang proposed.

“Hm?” Empress Phoenix seemed to consider it for a moment. “I rather like that idea. What do you think, Miss Xu?”

Xu Hongqiu looked at Empress Phoenix, then at Chu Liang. A faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Very well.”

…

Although there were many demonic beasts in the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts, those of high cultivation were few and far between. A Sixth-Realm demonic beast might appear only once every year or two. Ordinarily, a Fifth-Realm demonic beast was already considered a prized display item.

At this moment, there were four in the courtyard.

Prices in Glutton City were notoriously inflated. The Fourth-Realm demonic beast Xu Hongqiu had slain the day before had already been worth several thousand Vermilion Bird coins. A Fifth-Realm demonic beast, meanwhile, was unquestionably worth more than ten thousand.

“Choose whichever you like. Take the one you select.” After guiding them inside, Xu Hongqiu withdrew to the side with her hands folded. It seemed she had no intention of offering any explanation.

As for which one they chose, that would depend entirely on their own ability.

The four demonic beasts were trapped in enormous cages, each displaying a different bearing.

One was a gigantic black tortoise, its entire body dark and rough. Its heavy shell resembled a small fortress, and it lay sprawled atop a rockery shaped like a little mountain, looking utterly peaceful.

Another was a thick, luxuriant tree demon that seemed to possess some mystical quality. Every one of its branches had grown into the shape of a wild beast. All of them had their eyes closed, yet when Chu Liang looked at them, he felt as though they might open their eyes at any moment.

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One was a pure-white cat demon with three-colored eyes. It lay there lazily, radiating arrogance. Even when people approached, it could not be bothered to open its eyes and look at them.

The last was an exotic beast covered in splendid golden fur, its species impossible to identify. Only the fur atop its head was shorter, making its skull appear enormous—or perhaps its entire body really was enormous. It was asleep with its mouth hanging open and drool spilling out, looking none too intelligent.

“Pick the expensive one.” After making a circuit, Empress Phoenix whispered to Chu Liang.

“I don’t recognize any of them,” Chu Liang whispered back.

When it came to identifying exotic beasts, master and disciple were indeed cut from the same cloth: neither of them had the slightest idea.

“Even among Fifth-Realm demonic beasts, prices can vary greatly. We need to choose the one with the best appearance and condition,” Empress Phoenix said.

“I have an idea…” Chu Liang leaned closer and whispered into her ear.

“Feasible.” Empress Phoenix gave a slight nod. Then she straightened and turned her gaze toward the four demonic beasts, her pupils narrowing.

Boom.

In the next instant, the pressure of her Divine Phoenix aura poured forth violently, and the surrounding air seemed to freeze solid.

Although the people from the Hall of Ten Thousand Beasts standing around the perimeter were not the targets of that pressure, they still felt their hearts seize. Those with weaker cultivation nearly fainted on the spot.

“Roar!”

The four demonic beasts reacted in entirely different ways.

The giant tortoise instantly drew in all four limbs and its head, shut its shell tight, and adopted the attitude that the world had nothing to do with it.

Every branch of the tree demon opened its eyes in an instant. Those beastlike forms had indeed been real. Yet as soon as they opened their eyes, the branches on either side were frightened at the same time and scrambled to burrow back into the crown.

The proud white cat’s three-colored eyes shone brightly. All traces of arrogance vanished as it flattened itself against the ground, seemingly declaring its submission.

The golden-furred beast that had looked so foolish, however, suddenly sprang up with a howl and let out a deafening roar! Its golden fur shot straight upward, standing on end like a forest of blades. It glared at Empress Phoenix, the source of the pressure, arched its back, and raised its head. To everyone’s surprise, it assumed a battle stance.

Chu Liang raised a hand and pointed at it, shouting, “Big Head! You’re the one!”

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