Chapter 5174: Kowtow “I don’t think I’ll be paying this back with my blood.” Li Qiye responded. The saintess calmed down and interjected: “This has nothing to do with the young noble. He saved us from the beast.” “No, look at how obedient it is to him, he released it wantonly with no regard for human lives!” The crown prince disagreed. “Iron Prince!” The saintess was livid and raised her voice. The crown prince didn’t dare to disobey her and hid behind his father. “Saintess, our members cannot die in vain. If I ignore this matter, how can I ever hope to lead my kingdom in the future? We deserve a proper answer.” The monarch bowed. With that, he turned toward Li Qiye and uttered coldly: “Your carelessness results in your pet murdering our disciples. This is punishable by death but out of consideration for the saintess, hand over the bear first then we shall take you into custody for a trial in Iron Tree.” Li Qiye yawned and said: “You don’t want me to go to your kingdom since it cannot handle the weight of my steps and shall be destroyed.” The saintess became anxious because this was fanning the flames. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢 “You!” The monarch turned red. “This is ridiculous! Your impudence is punishable with clan extermination!” An expert behind the king shouted. “No mercy for those who disrespect Iron Tree!” Another chimed in. “Hmph!” A thunderous scowl erupted, causing all of them to drop down to their knees. “I want to see who dares to talk about destroying our kingdom!” The voice made everyone feel as if they were trapped in a layer of ice. A flying palanquin brimming with dao laws descended to the ground and an old man walked out. He wore thick armor plates, capable of destroying both mountains and experts by smashing them. His aura was a ferocious and deadly one, leaving no room for people to breathe. “Ancient ancestor!” Even the king got on his knees after seeing him. “Hallowedsteel Ancestor.” The saintess became alarmed after seeing him. He was one of the strongest cultivators from Iron Tree who ruled for six generations before abdicating. Most importantly, he had nine sacred fruits so his words were the laws in Iron Tree. "Run!" The saintess drew nearer, her voice a hushed plea. “Why?” Li Qiye smiled. “You’re in a precarious situation, two hands can’t handle four fists.” Her tone became urgent. She didn’t want to say that he wasn’t a match for the ancient ancestor. Moreover, there must be other masters from the kingdom present if he was here too. She even pushed him away, thinking that she would buy him time afterward. Unfortunately, he still stood there with a smile. This made her feel like an ant crawling on a hot pan. “Let’s see who you are, arrogant soul-” The ancient ancestor was imperious as he looked around. However, he couldn’t finish his sentence after he saw Li Qiye and became frozen. The imperious aura suddenly disappeared right away to everyone’s astonishment. The members of Iron Tree thought that he would instantly kill the junior or at least give them the command. “Bam!” A loud bang hit the ground due to his armor plates. This was because he was on his knees. “Bam! Bam! Bam!” He kowtowed repeatedly, smashing his forehead onto the ground. Everyone became slack-jawed at the sight of their nine-fruit dragon lord kowtowing before this junior without uttering a single word. Keep in mind that he was a famous cultivator across the upper continents as well. However, the monarch reacted quickly and kowtowed, following his ancient ancestor’s lead. What else could the others do after seeing their two leaders but get on their knees as well? “Bam! Bam! Bam!” The ground was shaking from everyone slamming their forehead into the ground. This left the saintess speechless. Even her master, Jadecure Conqueror, treated this ancient ancestor with courtesy. The ancient ancestor had lived for countless eras now and was one of the oldest dragon lords in Imperial Attendant. Rumor has it that he had met the founder of Iron Tree during his youth. Li Qiye didn’t say anything and observed the crowd kneeling before him. This resulted in a magnificent yet inscrutable spectacle. Two dragon lords and nearly a thousand experts were showing reverence to him as if he was their ancestor. They seemed to be afraid that they weren’t filial enough and continued to kowtow as many times as humanly possible. As the saying goes - no one can slap a smiling face. Thus, even if Li Qiye had wanted to kill, seeing the act of apology made him change his mind. “Enough, at least say something.” Li Qiye smiled. Hallowedsteel Ancestor finally stopped and took out an item. His hands trembled as he presented it to Li Qiye, still not daring to utter a single word.