You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

Prince Xun watched the Sect Leader of Primordial Sect with a cold gaze, "Considering you didn't let that remnant escape, bring her here. I'll pretend I didn't hear what you just said."

The Sect Leader of Primordial Sect looked somewhat displeased, and he felt even more aggrieved inside.

But what could he do?

In terms of strength, even though both were Great Cultivators, the opponent was a top contender who had won four consecutive victories on the Seventh Layer of Tianxia Building and could defeat him with a single move.

In terms of status, the opponent was a Commandery Prince of surpassing grade; even if the immortal Human Ancestor of Primordial Sect, Lord Primordial Heaven, were to come, he would have to behave modestly and just sit on an equal footing.

Thus, even though he was humiliated to his face, he could only endure.

"Prince Xun, please calm down."

The Sect Leader of Primordial Sect took a deep breath, stood up, and slowly said, "I'll bring the woman here now."

After he had spoken, he turned his head and flew out of the grand hall.

Prince Xun slightly shook his head, murmuring softly, "Father, your way of treating people with courtesy really doesn't work..."

His murmurs weren't disguised, and the high-level members of the Primordial Sect in the hall heard him clearly, but they too could only endure.

It was rumoured that the children of the Twelfth Prince were a bit peculiar and hard to get along with due to the excessively harsh and cruel upbringing of the Twelfth Prince.

From the character of Prince Xun, who would turn hostile at the slightest disagreement, the rumors were indeed true.

In no time, the Sect Leader of Primordial Sect returned to the grand hall with a young woman.

"Prince Xun."

The Sect Leader of Primordial Sect said expressionlessly, "This lady is the granddaughter of the Ninth Prince."

Upon entering the hall and hearing this, Hong Xi looked at Prince Xun, who was seated in the primary seat, and her ominous premonition intensified.

"Oh?" Prince Xun examined Hong Xi, then nodded and smiled, "Indeed, the way of the Ancient God."

He flipped his hand, and a faint golden Blood Testing Needle appeared at his fingertips.

Soon after, the needle flashed and pricked the fingertip of Hong Xi. In a short while, the surface of the long needle shone with a cyan luster.

"Indeed, the granddaughter of the Ninth Prince."

Prince Xun looked at the Blood Testing Needle, nodded slightly, then looked at Hong Xi again, revealing a friendly smile, "So you are indeed my niece. Your name is Hong Xi? Should it be Xiahong Xi?"

Although he smiled warmly, Hong Xi felt an increasing sense of danger.

She took a deep breath and asked, "What do you intend to do?"

"Niece Hong Xi, please have a seat," Prince Xun grinned and ordered, "Someone, serve the tea."

At his command, Prince Xun's subordinates immediately brought hot tea and pastries.

Hong Xi paused for a moment, then sat down.

"My niece is not even twenty years old yet, right?" Prince Xun smiled and said, "Speaking of which, your father is also my cousin. Do you know where he might be now?"

Hong Xi somberly said, "I don't know. I don't even know who my parents are."

Prince Xun slightly raised his eyebrows.

Given his realm, he could naturally tell that Hong Xi was not lying.

However, he knew that she must surely be a child of Prince Tianxuan.

The destruction of Sky Cloud Country and the collapse of Prince Lin Mansion were events from over a hundred years ago.

At that time, the vast Prince Lin Mansion was almost completely annihilated, and only the most outstanding eldest son of the Ninth Prince, Prince Tianxuan, vanished without a trace.

Hong Xi being under twenty years old naturally meant she was a child of Prince Tianxuan.

His goal wasn't merely about killing Hong Xi; that was just incidental.

His real target was to deal with Prince Tianxuan, who had already disappeared for more than a hundred years.

This was something he had planned even before he arrived.

"It's all right."

Prince Xun smiled, "However, I'm afraid it will be tough on Niece Hong Xi. From today, I will apply the Thirty-six Dismemberment Punishments on you once a day, in a public execution, to ensure absolute justice."

The Sect Leader of Primordial Sect's gaze changed slightly.

Thirty-six Dismemberment Punishments?

This was a form of torture by the Xiahong Clan, guaranteed not to kill but to inflict terrible pain on both body and mind.

Such a public execution was clearly meant to draw out the disappeared Prince Tianxuan!

A prince's granddaughter, no longer protected by national fortune, could be killed without anyone caring, let alone being subjected to torture.

"Execution?"

Hong Xi took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "You must be a Commandery Prince, right? To meet me and immediately proceed to punish me, may I ask what crime have I committed?"

"What crime?"

Greedy Prince Xun laughed and nodded slightly, "Hmm... you're right, to merely accuse you as a descendant of a rebel traitor, this accusation isn't quite enough."

He thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled, "Right, how about this? Recently, my Xiahong Clan and the Ancestor Hall have been investigating traitors from the Human Clan at Eternal Night Mountain. Let's just say you were trained by Eternal Night Mountain. How about that?"

Hong Xi was slightly stunned.

She had heard of Eternal Night Mountain, and although she still didn't know what kind of organization it was, it was clearly hostile towards the Xiahong Clan.

"My niece, you see."

Greedy Prince Xun smiled as he took out a damaged and spiritless Eternal Night Order, saying, "I just happen to have an Eternal Night Order here, which can serve as evidence. Are you satisfied with this?"

Hong Xi took a deep breath and felt utterly powerless. Such encounters... it wasn't the first or even the second time.

Perhaps she really was what one might call a 'lonely person stricken by the age's misfortune?'

"So it turns out... the legendary supreme Xiahong Clan, and a Commandery Prince at that, also resorts to such despicable and dirty tactics?" Hong Xi scoffed mockingly.

"Despicable? Dirty?"

Prince Xun, upon hearing this, laughed instead, jovially saying, "Indeed, after all, the Xiahong Clan are just 'humans,' and I, a Commandery Prince, am also human. Isn't this just how humans are?"

As he spoke, he walked slowly towards Hong Xi.

Then, he suddenly knelt down, kowtowed right there, and sincerely looked up at Hong Xi, saying, "I'm truly sorry, as a prince, I only know such dirty and despicable methods, which might have amused you."

Hong Xi was taken aback.

The Sect Leader of the Primordial Sect and others were also stunned.

These children taught by the Twelfth Prince were indeed not quite normal.

This maniac...

"My niece, let me kowtow to you again."

Greedy Prince Xun actually kowtowed heavily again, then looked up at Hong Xi seriously and said, "What's coming next will be quite offensive, the Thirty-Six Calamities Execution is indeed quite painful. The first time I endured it, I only survived half of the initial part before fainting. I hope you can bear it."

With a wave of his hand, ropes flew out of his sleeves and transformed into spiritual snakes that bound Hong Xi's limbs.

Hong Xi, powerless to resist, could only stare fixedly at Greedy Prince Xun, the maniac.

"Are you ready?"

Prince Xun softly said, "Don't worry, I have plenty of spiritual elixirs here to properly protect your life. You won't die. If you hate me, I can kowtow a few more times to you, after all, I'm different from my father. If I feel I've wronged you, I would definitely apologize properly."

With a flip of his hand, a blood-red whip suddenly appeared, instantly filling the air with an intense smell of blood.

The Primordial Sect Leader and others instantly turned pale, obviously recognizing this torture instrument.

"This Heart Burning Whip will cause minimal harm to you, it's just the pain. I hope you can endure as many lashes as possible."

Greedy Prince Xun smiled, then turned to look at a subordinate next to him and said, "Go, set up an Array Barrier that amplifies sound. Since it's a public execution, naturally, everyone should know."

The subordinate didn't say much and began setting up the barrier.

Everyone present was aware that Prince Xun was doing this to draw out Prince Tianxuan.

Just then—

"I have a question."

Suddenly, a childish voice sounded in the hall, "Greedy Prince Xun, you seem very familiar with the Thirty-Six Calamities Execution. How many times has the Twelfth Prince used it on you? Really... Prince Cheng's education is quite a failure."

"Hmm?" Prince Xun's gaze swept coldly around, yet he saw no one, "Playing tricks, who are you?"

...