Hao Xuan looked the man up and down, scrutinizing every little detail.

Hao Xuan pushed aside the stunned soldiers and stepped forward with a curious expression, "What's wrong with you? Your "powers" are all over the place, they are clashing with one another."

This much was easy to see. Any cultivator with keen enough senses would be able to feel the several different energies inside the man's body. instead of working together, they were going against one another.

Iris and Klem, Ceni's close friends whom she had rescued from the roach camp (described in Ch 464) were standing beside her, both ready to attack.

Upon seeing their stances, the anxious City Lord quickly stepped forward.

"Branh, what are you doing? Step down! This is none of our business!" he shouted trying to sound authoritative, but his wavering voice made it difficult to have the desired effect.

While 'Branh' only seemed to have eyes for Hao Xuan as his battle intent surged.

He looked towards the city lord with a disgusted expression, "Brother, you have become weak. You see these invaders and come crawling on your knees with a single order to please them, is that what we have come to? Pawns they can order around at a moment's notice? No!" his voice rising by the second, he looked around at all the nobles and officials that surrounded him, most of them refusing to meet his gaze.

Even the city lord who seemed to be his blood brother could only lower his head in shame.

"Pathetic. You are giving up without even putting up a fight," he shook his head and turned to face Hao Xuan, looking him in the eyes, "Lo and Behold! This is the power of our resolve, of all our efforts! This is our answer to your "invasion"! We are not as helpless as you all think us to be!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the marks on his bodies starting lighting up and one by one joined together. His body started to deform even further. Sounds of the breaking of bones and ripping of flesh came from him as he grew from a mere 1.6-meter tall man to a humanoid creature over 3 meters long.

He was still standing on two feet but that's where the similarities between the old him and what he had become now ended. It looked like each of his limbs was from a different beast, all mixed and matched to make something new.

Hao Xuan, on the other hand, watched everything in silence without making a move. It was not for a lack of opportunity but because he was genuinely curious about this power Branh he was talking about actually was.

And seeing it in person, he was certainly surprised.

Earlier even though he could feel different energies coming from Branh's body, they were extremely weak. Too weak to even sense normally.

But now, out of nowhere he had morphed into this thing and Hao Xuan could not even tell how strong he had become. It was like something was blocking his senses.

Hao Xuan gazed at his body once again with a pondering expression.

Branh saw and somehow mistook it for fear. He laughed loudly, even his voice sounding like an animal's, "That's right! This is my power! Tell me, invader, are you...afraid?" he leaned in, showing his rows of sharp teeth.

Hao Xuan gently shook his head once, "Not really, but I am certainly curious. Come, hit m-" he had yet to finish when Branh's massive fist tore through the air and before he could even blink, sent him flying back.

*BOOM*

A shockwave was created from their impact as Hao Xuan flew through one wall after another and landed in the front garden of the inner castle with a loud bang, sending mud and rocks flying everywhere.

Bells rang loudly and shouts of soldiers filled the hall.

Everyone, be it the locals or the cultivators that had arrived from the academy, all of them were left speechless.

For the students of the academy, Hao Xuan was a guardian and just by that fact, he was a tier above them, at least in their eyes. And now with a single punch from this random person, he was thrown away like a ragdoll.

Iris and Klem moved closer to Ceni and whispered, "We should leave."

Ceni didn't reply. Her eyes were fixed on the spot Hao Xuan's body was at. She tried to walk towards him but was held back by Iris and Klem.

"Ceni!" Klem tightened her grip on her shoulder.

Hearing their interaction, Branh started laughing like a maniac, "HAHAHA!"

He looked towards the scared nobles to the side, "See? See how weak they actually are? And you want to serve them?!"

In his current condition, he looked more like a threat than their invaders so the outcome wasn't unexpected.

Getting no reaction from them other than some whimpers, he looked towards the cultivators.

"All of you should die for what you have done to my people," his tone becoming somber as his giant body turned towards them.

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