Austin felt kindly disposed towards Theon, as the latter had taken sides with him and even stood up against the Flaming Sun Valley, Peripatetic Sect, Bloody Hero Gang, and Blood Wolf Team. As a result, Austin showed him great respect.
"Okay," said Denali.
She bade Austin goodbye and returned to Theon.
Austin sauntered forward, about to leave the square.
Dewey, Maria, Iris, and Anna didn't follow after Austin; their families were here, and they wanted to spend more time with them.
"Austin, I didn't expect you to return safe and sound. You are indeed much more powerful than before. Congratulations!"
As Austin reached the edge of the square, a group of people approached him.
The head of them was Prince Reuben.
Since the young cultivators' return from the Mysterious Nether World, the ten princes had immediately instructed their men to make contact with those cultivators working for them.
After all, whether or not these cultivators had found the soul-recovering fruit was the ten princes' foremost concern.
The ten princes had then asked each of the cultivators about the soul-recovering fruit one after another, but to their disappointment, no one had retrieved any soul-recovering fruit.
The grand prince had been full of bright hope at the very beginning. He had eagerly asked the cultivators working for him about the soul-recovering fruit one after another, including Graham, Bruce and their men. But their answers proved so disappointing.
Eventually, all the princes became disappointed as they deduced that none of the cultivators had brought back any soul-recovering fruit from the Mysterious Nether World.
Although Graham and Bruce was at the Sky Realm, and was the strongest among the cultivators, they had failed too. The ten princes didn't believe that the rest of the cultivators could have claimed the soul-recovering fruit.
Now that it seemed that no one had successfully brought back the soul-recovering fruit, the competition between the ten princes had drawn to a stalemate. They would have to battle each other in another way next time.
The grand prince had thought for sure that he would win. He had even begun imagining that he would become the crown prince and perhaps even the next emperor of the Violet Orchid Empire.
However, this result was a slap in his face. He was now boiling over with rage.
The other nine princes were not as deeply disappointed by the result. They were even discreetly glad that no one had returned with the soul-recovering fruit.
After all, they had mentally prepared for the event that the cultivators of the grand prince would return from the Mysterious Nether World bearing the soul-recovering fruit.
And now, the reality exceeded all their negative expectations and they were overjoyed.
"Prince Reuben, you are flattering me," Austin said coolly as he looked around to see all the princes standing at the edge of the square with their guards.
Austin immediately realized why they had all remained here and waited so expectantly—they were looking for the soul-recovering fruit.
When the grand prince had told Prince Reuben that he had asked Bruce and Graham to kill Austin, Prince Reuben had thought Austin was likely doomed. But to his intense surprise, Austin had returned safe and sound. What was more, he was much stronger than before—he defeated the Blood Wolf Ancestor with only one move.
Prince Reuben was stunned into disbelief at first, and then he was thrilled. Austin worked for him, and Austin's performance proved that he hadn't bet on the wrong horse.
"Man, you told me Austin would be killed in the Mysterious Nether World. But now you're doomed to disappointment.
Austin is here, safe and sound.
Haw-haw! You know what? One shouldn't speak in absolute terms; otherwise, he will likely be slapped in the face by what he has said," Prince Reuben said to the grand prince. He clapped Austin's shoulder happily and gave him a broad smile.
"Dude, don't say it like that. You know our eldest brother is always such a confident man.
He just clapped his chest and boasted that he was going to win.
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