As several soldiers rushed forward, the silver-eyed youth snarled, "Who dares kill me?"
From his sleeve slithered a silver snake.
To everyone's shock, the snake released the aura of a peak Demon Saint.
In an instant, just the force of its aura sent the soldiers flying.
Zheng Degong was horrified and quickly shielded Yang Cheng.
"Crown Prince of Great Zhou, I admit I offended you earlier. That was my fault."
The silver-eyed youth said to Yang Cheng, "Let's turn hostility into peace. What do you say?"
Realizing Yang Cheng wasn't someone he could easily deal with, he had no choice but to suppress his hatred.
As for letting the silver snake attack Yang Cheng?
Unless he was truly cornered, he would never make such a foolish move.
If Yang Cheng were killed and Great Zhou's experts went all out, he too would die.
Yang Cheng didn't answer. Instead, he lifted his eyes to the sky.
The Heaven-Stealing Divine Pearl had already been activated. At this moment, he held half-control over the fate of this space.
This was even more domineering than a Heaven's Mandate Son.
The next instant—
The stolen fate of this domain responded to Yang Cheng's will.
Boom!
A bolt of heavenly thunder split the sky, striking down directly onto the silver-eyed youth and his snake.
In the blink of an eye, both were reduced to charred corpses.
"What?"
"That was heavenly punishment thunder!"
The crowd gasped in horror.
The scene before them was simply unbelievable.
The silver-eyed youth had offended Yang Cheng, and then the heavens themselves sent thunder to smite him?
There hadn't been a trace of martial skill or divine ability fluctuations.
This proved it was truly heaven's thunder.
Those with strong cultivation felt the crushing weight of heavenly might in that instant.
It couldn't have been faked.
Every genius from the Azure Jade Realm stared wide-eyed.
Moments ago, they had been so arrogant. Some had even considered joining the silver-eyed youth in scolding Yang Cheng.
Now, every one of them felt like they had fallen into an icy abyss. Their hearts trembled uncontrollably.
Even Tang Yun'er's hair stood on end.
She wasn't afraid of any ordinary expert.
Even a Martial True God would struggle to kill her.
After all, she had a protector by her side.
But this bizarre death of the silver-eyed youth made chills run deep into her bones.
The heavens moved to kill?
Not just her—even Tang Yuan and most experts of the Tang clan would not dare dismiss such a thing.
Tang Yuan herself was startled.
But her mind worked far quicker than Tang Yun'er's.
In an instant, she saw the great opportunity hidden in this event.
"A Heaven's Mandate Son. This Crown Prince of Great Zhou, Yang Cheng, is the true Heaven's Mandate Son."
"A Heaven's Mandate Son of the Wasteland Realm holds a status no less than those of the great worlds. If our young lady can form ties with him, it may bring us immense help in the future."
This thought sent waves of excitement through Tang Yuan's heart.
She immediately addressed Yang Cheng politely: "Crown Prince of Great Zhou, that person may have traveled with our young lady, but he was not brought by her."
"Of course, it was also improper that our young lady did not stop him in time."
Then she turned to Tang Yun'er. "Young Lady, I believe you should apologize to His Highness the Crown Prince of Great Zhou."
"Me… apologize to him?"
Tang Yun'er's expression stiffened.
She had come here precisely to vent anger on behalf of her younger brother Yang Xiu, to cause trouble for Yang Cheng.
And now Tang Yuan wanted her to apologize to him.
The crowd was equally stunned.
"That genius of the Azure Jade Realm, along with a Demon Saint, was struck dead by heavenly thunder just for offending His Highness?"
"Heaven's Mandate Son—I'm certain His Highness the Crown Prince must be a Heaven's Mandate Son."
"That's right. If not, why would even a Martial Sovereign powerhouse suggest that Miss Tang should apologize to His Highness?"
Shock was written across every face in the crowd.
"Young Lady, today we truly acted far too rashly."
Tang Yuan hurriedly spoke, afraid Tang Yun'er would make the wrong decision. At the same time, she secretly sent a voice transmission: "Young Lady, this Crown Prince of Great Zhou is the true Heaven's Mandate Son of the Wasteland Realm."
"What?"
Tang Yun'er was shocked.
"I sensed immense fate power on him," Tang Yuan said. "And when that heavenly thunder struck, I too was suppressed by heavenly might. That kind of thing can't be faked."
Tang Yun'er's breath caught.
Yang Cheng spoke calmly: "I wonder, why have you all come here?"
"We simply heard of Your Highness's great name and came to pay our respects."
Tang Yuan's words were spoken with utmost courtesy.
"Paying respects? Yet your so-called visit has only ruined the mood."
Yang Cheng said indifferently.
"That is indeed our fault."
Tang Yuan replied, giving Tang Yun'er a meaningful glance.
Tang Yun'er immediately felt humiliated.
She was supposed to apologize to her younger brother's enemy?
"I can apologize to you, Crown Prince of Great Zhou. But before that, I want to ask you a question."
Tang Yun'er said.
"What question?"
Yang Cheng asked.
"What do you think of your younger brother, Yang Xiu?"
As she said this, Tang Yun'er stared at him closely.
"My sixth brother?"
Yang Cheng fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "My sixth brother has no small talent. Given time, he will surely achieve great things. But how is it that Miss Tang knows of him?"
Tang Yun'er frowned.
From Yang Xiu's hatred toward Yang Cheng, she had assumed Yang Cheng would belittle him. But instead, his evaluation was decent.
"Crown Prince of Great Zhou, everyone knows your relationship with Yang Xiu is terrible. Don't you find your words here hypocritical?"
Tang Yun'er pressed.
Yang Cheng said calmly: "Has Miss Tang never heard the saying, 'An elder brother is like a father'? I may not be the eldest, but as Crown Prince, I am more than an elder brother. Naturally, I want my younger brothers to grow strong quickly, so I can't help being strict."
"It's likely that my harshness has caused my sixth brother to resent me. But I don't regret it, because his strength has indeed been improving rapidly."
"You're really that kind-hearted?"
Tang Yun'er doubted.
"What benefit would I gain by deceiving you?"
Yang Cheng countered.
Tang Yun'er faltered.
From his perspective, lying to her truly brought him no advantage.
After all, he had no idea of her true identity.
"But I saw it myself. Yang Xiu was cast into the wilderness, and he said it was you who banished him from the capital. And just recently, you even sent men to hunt him down. If I hadn't arrived in time, he would already be dead."
Tang Yun'er said.
Yang Cheng's face tensed. "How is my sixth brother now?"
His reaction caught Tang Yun'er completely off guard.
"He's no longer in mortal danger."
Tang Yun'er replied, scrutinizing him.
"Damn it. Who dared to assassinate the sixth prince of Great Zhou?"
Yang Cheng's expression turned icy. "Muxue, investigate this at once. Find out who was behind it."
"Yes."
Shen Muxue, acting as a maid, answered.
Tang Yun'er felt today was nothing like she had expected. "So this wasn't your doing?"
Yang Cheng said: "Miss Tang, please think. With my strength, if I truly wanted to kill my sixth brother, would I need to go through so much trouble? If I wished him dead, he would never have left the capital alive in the first place."
As he spoke, a faint smile flickered in his eyes.
It wasn't that he didn't want Yang Xiu dead—he simply couldn't kill him.
After all, Yang Xiu's sea of consciousness still held the remnant soul of a half-step Martial Ancestor.
But Tang Yun'er didn't know this.
And so, she had no way to refute his words.