When I woke up, I wanted to go home.

Chapter 117 The Clash Inside the Main Hall

"A celestial being has arrived! I am so sorry for not welcoming you sooner!" King Lai Xun said with a hearty laugh as he saw Prince Zhu Rong standing before him.

Prince Zhurong replied with a gentle smile, "Not at all, not at all. I hope you won't find it offensive, King Lai Xun."

In our broken world, it is an honor that celestial beings have come to visit. How could we talk about disturbing them? We would be honored if we invited them.

Quickly, please invite the celestial lord into the hall for a chat. I have prepared a simple feast to welcome you. However, this small kingdom in the lower realm is extremely impoverished, so please forgive my lack of hospitality, celestial lord!

King Lai Xun, please don't say that. As an outsider who has come to your territory, I should have paid my respects much earlier. However, some minor matters have kept me from doing so. Please forgive me, King Lai Xun. By the way, some time ago, I had Xiao Feng, the president of the Peace Chamber of Commerce, come and communicate with King Lai Xun.

What, did Chairman Xiao not speak to you, the King?

Upon hearing this, Lai Xun paused for a moment before returning to her original expression. While leading Prince Zhu Rong into the main hall, she laughed and replied, "I did, I did, but I wonder if the Immortal Realm knows that a few years ago, demons appeared in the vast ice and snow plains of this continent that I ruled."

The demons controlled the monsters in the snowfield, causing a riot and launching a fierce attack on the Snow Kingdom.

Some time ago, the Japanese king discovered unusual activity again in the snowfield. I immediately mobilized my troops, sparing no expense to set up a Celestial-level array to prevent a repeat of the lesson learned from underestimating the enemy last time. Therefore, when President Xiao came to me and said—"It was you, sir, who caused this commotion…!"

At this point, King Lai Xun paused for a moment before continuing, "Your Majesty, you come from the Upper Realm and are unaware of the barrenness of the Lower Realm. Since the Immortal Realm's grand array has already begun to be set up, it naturally cannot be paused. After all, setting up these few immortal arrays has drained our resources, so I had to attend to these trivial matters first, which is why I haven't been able to contact Your Majesty in time. I hope Your Majesty will not take offense!"

After saying this, King Lai Xun cupped his hands towards Prince Zhu Rong and put on a look of deep regret!

At this moment, the group of five had already entered the hall.

King Lai Xun personally led the three sons of Zhu Rong to their seats at the tables that had been prepared in advance.

Why was it King Rai Xun who personally led the way? Because apart from the old palace eunuch who served King Rai Xun, there was no one else in the palace. Even this old eunuch was to be sent away after King Rai Xun entered the hall. However, the old eunuch, saying he had nowhere else to go and would rather stay and serve the king, did not leave!

After everyone was seated, Prince Zhurong spoke first: "I have come here not only to see you, my great king, but also to ask King Lai Xun for a favor."

Oh? You mean Ninth Brother? But whether I can help the Immortal Realm Lord is another matter, and I dare not accept the word "great" in front of the Immortal Realm Lord.

Seeing that King Lai Xun was no longer making small talk as before, but instead went straight to the point, Young Master Zhu Rong didn't mince words. He composed himself, straightened his posture, and released a slight aura as he calmly said, "I've long heard from President Xiao that King Lai Xun is exceptional in his passion, courage, and wisdom. Meeting him today, I can see that his reputation is well-deserved!"

Since that's the case, I won't engage in any more probing and manipulative tactics. What I want to say is, whether you're great or not doesn't matter to me; what matters is whether you help me or not.

Seeing that Prince Zhurong had already shown an aggressive attitude, Lai Xun did not show any obvious expression, but still asked Prince Zhurong with a smile: "My lord of the Immortal Realm, you can ask me to help you, but you have to tell me what you want me to help you with?"

You've just gotten to the point, and I don't even know what's going on yet, and you're already being a bit too aggressive. Even if you're a celestial being descended to earth... isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Finally, King Lai Xun leaned towards Prince Zhu Rong with a broad smile.

Upon seeing this, Prince Zhurong, who had initially remained calm, now replied with a hint of anger, "Lai Xun, you yourself said it was Brother Guan Jiu. Now you're asking me what it is? Do you think I'm stupid? Or do you simply look down on me?"

Hearing this, Lai Xun sat up straight, quickly waved his hand, and said, "My lord of the Immortal Realm, you've misunderstood me. I asked earlier if it concerned Ninth Brother, just to confirm, since it was President Xiao who told me."

This time, you came in person. How can I know that Chairman Xiao's words can fully represent you?

I asked one more question, just to be more precise, Your Excellency, is this not a mistake?

Upon hearing King Lai Xun's words, Prince Zhu Rong's face darkened, and his body trembled slightly. He thought to himself, "After more than a year in this Cang Shen Realm, I have finally witnessed the shrewdness of a monarch."

This Lai Xun is worlds apart from the golden blade of Shi Jin Cheng.

Driven by his proud nature, and increasingly imagining the smiling yet humiliating King Lai Xun before him, he suppressed his urge to explode and spoke in a stern voice: "Lai Xun, let me tell you, don't try anything with me."

For a small, insignificant country like yours to presume to be king the moment you meet me, I can sentence you to death.

Therefore, you'd better lower your stance and unconditionally cooperate with me. If I'm in a good mood, I might even give you a reward or two. But if you truly anger me, you should think about what you'll bring to your country.

When King Lai Xun saw the gloomy-faced Prince Zhu Rong unleashing his power, the smile on his face vanished. He calmly tapped the table with his finger and replied, "Young master from the celestial realm, since you know that you are not in your territory, but in mine."

"Then, on my own territory, I call myself 'the King,' what right do you have to point fingers at me?"

As soon as King Lai Xun finished speaking his last word, the atmosphere throughout the entire city of Ruixue instantly became violent.

At this moment, Elder Qi, who was beside Prince Zhurong, suddenly spoke up angrily: "You little brat from the lower realm, how dare you start the great formation?"

Don't you really want to think about the consequences of doing this?

King Lai Xun watched as the enraged Elder Qi stood up, walked out of the dining table, and came to the center of the hall. He said, "Of course I know the consequences. A monarch being insulted so openly in his own palace—this is my consequence!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhurong slammed his palm down on the dining table in front of him, shattered it, and stood up, about to make a move. However, for some reason, he suddenly restrained his aura, and his expression softened. He then addressed King Lai Xun in the center of the hall, saying, "Please do not take offense at my rudeness, King Lai Xun. It is only because of my hatred for Ninth Brother these days that I have lost my mind and acted in such an inappropriate manner."

Since things have escalated to this point, I won't waste any more words.

May I ask, King Lai Xun, if you could tell me the current whereabouts of Ninth Brother?

"If King Lai Xun can provide me with useful information, I promise him that when I return to the Celestial Realm, I will take one person from the Kingdom of Ruixue with me!"

Although King Lai Xun did not know why Prince Zhu Rong had suddenly softened his stance, seeing that things had eased somewhat, he put away his cold and stern expression and smiled again, saying, "My lord of the Immortal Realm, your offer is truly tempting."

You must understand, on this God-Forsaken Continent, no one has been able to leave this world for ten thousand years. However, although Ninth Brother is like a brother to me, and has done great favors for my Snowdrift Kingdom, your terms are enough to make someone betray their promise. Publicly, for the sake of my country, I also know the consequences of offending someone from the Immortal Realm. However, I truly do not know Ninth Brother's hiding place.

You may not trust me, but you have a powerful assistant like Chairman Xiao by your side.

He can essentially prove whether what I said is true or false.

How could I know someone who had been investigated by Chairman Xiao for over twenty years without any results, yet had only stayed in my Snow Kingdom for a few short years?

"If the Immortal Realm Lord still doesn't believe me, you can freely investigate anyone connected to Ninth Brother. Surely not everyone can be as stubborn as me?"

After hearing this, Prince Zhurong stared intently at King Lai Xun for a moment before saying, "Then I won't disturb the king any longer."

Having said that, he turned and walked out of the main hall, with Elder Qi following closely behind. Xiao Feng glanced meaningfully at King Lai Xun, then followed Prince Zhu Rong and soared into the sky, heading back towards the vast icy snowfields.

King Lai Xun watched Prince Zhu Rong's departing figure and thought to himself, "Damn it, although I don't know where Ninth Brother is, I must ask him to report this opportunity to go to the Upper Realm to me."