Kalina remained where she was.
Her head was still lowered respectfully, yet irritation slowly built up inside her heart.
She had already revealed her affiliation.
She had clearly stated that she belonged to Great Elder Runiye’s faction and had come under the Shinayin Empire’s mandate.
Yet the cloaked King in front of her neither answered her question nor allowed her people to retreat.
He simply stood there in silence for some to show that. The silence itself became pressure.
Seconds slowly passed.
No one dared to move.
The surviving members of the royal faction remained frozen on the battlefield. The Foundation Establishment Experts were still kneeling under the heavy pressure. The Spirit Gathering cultivators did not even dare to breathe loudly.
Kalina clenched her fists inside her sleeves.
’What is he waiting for?’
She could not understand. If this King belonged to another imperial faction, then he should at least identify himself.
If he wanted her to retreat, he could simply say so.
If he wished to negotiate, then he should begin.
Instead...
He simply kept everyone waiting.
Kalina slowly took a deep breath. She reminded herself to stay calm. Kings were never ordinary people.
Every one of them had their own habits.
Some rarely spoke.
Some enjoyed making juniors wait.
Some deliberately remained mysterious.
Others acted completely unpredictably.
A Nascent Soul King could easily live for more than a thousand years.
Some lived even longer by relying on precious medicines or forbidden cultivation arts.
With such a long lifespan came countless years spent in secluded cultivation.
It was only natural that many Kings became eccentric.
Most of them no longer cared much about ordinary social manners, especially when speaking with juniors.
Thinking this, Kalina suppressed the irritation growing inside her.
She respectfully offered a bow once more before speaking.
"Great Elder King, may I know—"
Before she could finish—
Aksai interrupted her.
"I heard you the first time. There is no need to ask me twice."
His voice carried obvious displeasure.
Then he sighed softly.
"Haah! Kids these days. They don’t even have a bit of patience."
He sounded as though he was talking to himself instead of anyone present.
After a short pause, he finally raised his head slightly and looked toward Kalina.
Or rather...
He looked as though he was carefully sizing her up. His gaze slowly moved from head to toe. It lingered for a brief moment before he finally spoke again.
"You look somewhat talented."
"Let me test you."
"Who do you think I am? And which organization do I belong to?"
Kalina’s lips twitched ever so slightly.
She almost failed to maintain her calm expression.
’So this is what he wanted?’
She naturally did not suspect that the cloaked King was trying to fool her. In her eyes, there was no need for a Nascent Soul King to deceive someone as weak as herself.
She had met several Kings before entering the Dadangar Subcontinent. Every single one of them had been strange in one way or another.
Some enjoyed speaking in riddles.
Some liked testing juniors.
Others expected their identities to be recognized without introducing themselves.
Compared to those people...
The King before her was merely another eccentric old monster.
Kalina thought carefully.
She quickly searched through everyone she knew inside the Shinayin Empire.
A King...
Someone who preferred remaining mysterious...
Someone who rarely showed himself...
Someone who might appear alone...
One name slowly surfaced inside her mind.
After a brief hesitation, she cautiously spoke.
"Great Elder King..."
"Are you perhaps the owner of the Black Yin Flower Trading Company..."
"...King Kainaat?"
The cloaked figure seemed to be very pleased with the answer. He slowly nodded.
"You sure have a keen eye. And you are indeed quite talented, lass."
"I am indeed Lo..."
He paused for the briefest moment.
"...I mean King Kainaat."
Kalina secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
’So I guessed correctly.’
She immediately relaxed a little.
Meanwhile—
Hidden beneath the hood...
Aksai almost slapped his own forehead.
’That was close.’
For one terrifying moment, he had almost introduced himself as Lord Aksai out of habit. Thankfully, he had corrected himself in time. He then casually turned his head toward the Purple River Lord.
Immediately—
He noticed something strange.
The old man’s face looked... wrong. His lips were tightly pressed together. His shoulders shook slightly. His cheeks had puffed up.
It looked as though he was trying with all his strength not to burst into laughter.
Aksai immediately understood. Without changing his expression, Aksai secretly sent a voice transmission.
’Old Purple, get the hell away from this place before you ruin everything for both of us.’
A moment later, the Purple River Lord replied.
’Alright, alright. I will leave the battlefield. But I’ll stay a few miles away on standby. You carry on with swindling pretty ladies. I never thought you were this proficient at taking advantage of the opposite gender.’
Aksai’s eyelids twitched.
If they were not standing before a powerful enemy...
He would have seriously considered poisoning this old man.
The Purple River Lord finally looked toward Kalina one last time before activating his movement technique.
Whoosh.
His figure instantly shot across the night sky. Within moments, he had disappeared into the distance.
Only then did Aksai silently let out a sigh of relief.
On the other side...
Kalina quietly watched the Purple River Lord leave.
She naturally assumed that the two had reached some kind of understanding.
Otherwise...
There was no way the Purple River Lord would dare leave so calmly in front of a Nascent Soul King. She assumed that the Purple River Lord had reached some form of understanding with the cloaked King, which allowed him to get away from her grasp.
’Strange. I thought King Kainaat was quite wealthy even among the other Nascent Soul Kings. As such, he wouldn’t be interested in this subcontinent. After all, his trading company operates between the Shinayin Empire and the Eternal Sea.’
Kalina couldn’t help thinking to herself as she watched the Purple River Lord vanish from her sight.
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