Philip was standing beside a good-looking man in his early twenties. The young man in his yellow robe
radiated a graceful aura and a golden folding fan was in his hand.
"Philip, you were supposed to be loyal to Prince Reuben! You knew very well that those people are
supporting the Grand Prince, yet, you still took their side.
How do you plan on explaining it to Prince Reuben?"
Maria shouted at Philip.
"As the saying goes, 'Man struggles upwards, water flows downwards.'
The Grand Prince is the most sociable and powerful among the ten princes. I am certain that he would
sit on the throne one day. I cannot work for Prince Reuben if I want to gain the Grand Prince's good
side.
Besides, Prince Reuben favors Austin over me. I feel like he doesn't value me anymore, so there's no
point for me to follow him," Philip defended himself.
"It's clear that he has betrayed Prince Reuben. Don't waste time on him. He's disgusting and I don't
want to see his face anymore!"
Dewey sneered with repulsion.
A crooked, stern look flashed in Philip's eyes.
He moved closer to the young man in yellow and whispered in his ear. As he spoke, he studied Maria
from head to toe with his lewd eyes.
Maria didn't like the look that Philip just gave her, and she had a bad feeling about it.
"Let's get out of here, Maria, before Philip gets us into any trouble," Dewey whispered to Maria.
The maid obediently nodded her head and quickly followed Dewey towards the woods.
"Stop them!" the young man in yellow robe ordered.
Immediately, seven cultivators swarmed towards Dewey and Maria and stopped them from leaving.
Dewey and Maria abruptly stopped and were forced to step back. Then, the seven cultivators pushed
them back to join Philip and the young man in a yellow robe.
As Dewey assessed, the seven cultivators who blocked their way were at the premium stage of the
Earth Realm.
These seven cultivators were being led by a brawny young man in purple who had reached the
preliminary stage of the Mysterious Realm.
Despite being at the premium stage of the Earth Realm, Dewey and Maria were still at the
disadvantage in this situation. Aside from being outnumbered, they were also outpowered given that
one of these cultivators was at the preliminary stage of the Mysterious Realm. If they fought back, they
would surely not stand a chance.
"Hahaha! You're Maria Wu, right?
You may not be that appealing, but I like your sexy body. You can still satisfy our needs.
Well, I initially planned to let you go.
But then I heard you two were closely related to Austin.
That brat is just a nobody of low birth, yet he defied the Grand Prince. His arrogance and cockiness
had brought him the wrath of the Grand Prince.
The Grand Prince ordered us to execute him in the Mysterious Nether World.
And since you now know about our plans, we might as well kill you here before you could even warn
Austin!
But as for you Maria, I'm considering keeping you alive if you do a good job satisfying my men. Take off
your clothes and do them a good job. What do you say?" the youth in yellow said casually as he gently
waved his fan over his face.
"You! I'd rather die, you pervert!" Maria was so upset that her face turned livid.
She could feel her breathing started to become heavy as her anger rose.
"I have a thing for this woman. If you may, I would like to have some fun with her."
Cheekily, Philip sized Maria up with his obscene eyes.
"Shame on you, Philip Song! You're a jerk!"
Dewey scolded indignantly.
"Well, I can see why. Any man would find her irresistible.
Go ahead, do whatever you wish to her. But leave something for my men to have some fun with," the
young man in yellow said.
Staring at Maria with a greedy look in his eyes, Philip walked up to her with a nasty smile on his face.
"Damn it, Maria. Looks like we have no other choice but to try our luck," Dewey said through his gritted
teeth.
Maria nodded with a stern look on her pretty face. As she flipped her palm up, two long ribbons
suddenly appeared.
Dewey activated his vital energy that spread across his body instantly.
"Stupid! You don't really think you can win over my crew, do you? You're wasting your time!" the young
man in a yellow robe snorted defiantly.
Suddenly, the young man's facial expression changed as if something had caught his attention. His
eyes quickly moved away from Dewey and Maria towards the entrance of the woods.
The rest noticed the change in the young man's gaze and quickly turned to see what could have
possibly captured the young man's attention.
As they all turned to look at the entrance of the woods, they caught sight of three figures emerging from
a distance.
A teenage boy with fine features was taking the lead followed by two girls. The lad looked around and
his eyes lit up as he spotted Dewey and Maria at a corner.
"How are you, buddy? Am I interrupting anything? I'm sorry, I didn't expect that you would have some
company," the lad greeted Dewey gladly.
The three newcomers were no other than Austin, Iris, and Anna.
Dewey and Maria were stunned to see Austin. After it finally dawned to them that it was indeed Austin,
they greeted back, "Tin..."
"Austin..."
With the help of his power of spiritual sense, Austin had already figured out what was happening even
before arriving here. He knew that Dewey and Maria were in trouble.
Austin chuckled and casually asked, "What's happening here, Dewey? Are these guys giving you any
trouble?"
Dewey's eyes lit up. Maria almost broke in tears. They were relieved to see Austin here. It was as if an
angel was sent to their rescue. They knew Austin's power was greater than theirs and he could help
them in this time of need...
But the feeling of relief suddenly vanished from their hearts and their eyes grew more worried.
'Austin may have incredible power, but there's no way he could easily bring down twenty cultivators
hired by the royal family and Philip.
Looks like we're as good as dead today, ' Dewey and Maria speculated.
"I'm glad to see you again, Tin. But you shouldn't be here right now," Dewey said with a bitter laugh.
The young man in a yellow robe had recovered from his shock and burst into laughter. "Oh?
Look who decided to grace us with his presence!
Austin! What a surprise! I was looking for you!
But it seems like fate was in my favor and the winds took you here by purpose! Now, I don't need to
waste time looking for you!"
As he finished his words, he winked at his men and they immediately surrounded Austin, Maria, and
Dewey.
Austin didn't move. A cold smile crossed his expressionless face.
As Austin, Maria, and Dewey were surrounded, the young man in a yellow robe put away his folding
fan.
"Get down on your knees, Austin!
Do you know your crimes? You have lambasted the image of the Grand Prince!" he said with a grave
expression.
He pointed to Austin as if the latter was already a convicted criminal.
"I don't know what you're blabbing about."
Austin raised his head and leered at the young man in a yellow robe indifferently. He didn't like the tone
of the young man and the accusations he had made against him. He felt the urge to kill the arrogant
man but tried his best to calm himself.
"Tin, he is from a powerful family. He is the only son of the Hand of the King," Dewey reminded Austin
in a low voice.
"Screw you! I don't care who you are!
How dare you accuse me of anything!"
Austin shot back acidly, glaring at the pretentious young man.
The crowd was stunned to see Austin disrespecting the young man in a yellow robe.
They turned their eyes from Austin to the young man, holding their breaths as they wait for what would
happen next.
"How dare you talk back to me like that!"
The young man's face darkened with anger. With a twisted face, he chided, "You really have no respect
towards people with power! Who do you think you are? You're just a peasant, no one!
I'll make you regret being alive this day!"
He trembled with fury. No one had ever dared to offend him especially in front of his servants and
people.
Going ballistic, he commanded his men, "What are you waiting for? Seize this man immediately!"
As the son of the Hand of the Orchid Empire King, he felt insulted and embarrassed. He wouldn't let a
lowborn person like Austin treat him like that. 'If I didn't teach this brat a hard lesson, I would be the
laughingstock, ' he thought. His rage knew no boundaries this time.
Four of his men obediently acknowledged the order. These four cultivators were giving off dangerous
vibes. Judging by the vital energy force emitting from their body, it was safe to conclude that they were
at the premium stage of the Earth Realm.
More than that, these four cultivators would potentially breakthrough to the Mysterious Realm.
But despite their strength, they were still no match for Austin. After all, he had already reached the
medium stage of Mysterious Realm. The four cultivators, however, had underestimated Austin. They
couldn't see through his real cultivation base because he had compressed his vital energy. This could
all be like a child's play to Austin.
Austin smiled faintly and took a stride forward to fight with his enemies.
As Austin made his move, the four cultivators had activated their powerful martial arts skills. Their
strong and aggressive vital energy force spread in all directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
In an instant, the four cultivators were violently pushed backward. Austin's applied force was so strong
that the four cultivators' bodies were pushed a little deeper into the ground and left four slightly deep
long drag marks on the ground.
Their fall was so hard that they felt like their body parts were dislocated. They struggled to stand up
and fight back but failed.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda