Chapter 2477: Hitting the Royal Family in the Face

Baili Xingkong suppressed the anger in his heart, his expression gloomy: "I've already paid the money, shouldn't you release him now?"

"Don't worry, I always prioritize my reputation and keep my word. Any price increase will be for next time. But you'll have to wait a little longer."

After saying that, the Black-Clothed Man reached out and took Baili Hongjun's Storage Ring, seemingly still unsatisfied.

"These clothes look pretty good too."

With that, he actually stripped off all of Baili Hongjun's clothes, leaving him only in his underwear.

"Uh…"

Everyone watched in a daze. What kind of bandit was this? This was too shameless, wasn't it?

He had already taken fifty Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and he was still stripping off clothes.

"What exactly does this guy want to do? Is he trying to offend the Saint Dragon Empire Royal Family to death?"

"This is the Crown Prince! To be stripped naked in public like this, isn't this slapping the Saint Dragon Empire Royal Family in the face?"

"It's over, it's over. The Saint Dragon Empire Royal Family won't be able to hold their heads up after this. Is there anything more humiliating than this…?"

Baili Xingkong's lungs were practically bursting with rage. If Baili Hongjun wasn't still in the Black-Clothed Man's hands, he probably would have slapped this guy to death already.

"Your Excellency, aren't you going too far?"

His voice was filled with barely suppressed killing intent.

"What's so excessive about this? As the saying goes, 'love what you do.' Since I'm a bandit, I have to be a thorough one!"

The Black-Clothed Man looked completely nonchalant, stuffing all the plundered items into his Storage Ring. Then, he raised his right leg and kicked Baili Hongjun squarely on his plump backside, sending him flying.

After doing all that, his figure flickered, and he turned to run.

Baili Xingkong reached out and caught Baili Hongjun, then his killing intent surged.

"Move! Catch this bastard for me!"

With that, he tossed the Crown Prince to a subordinate nearby and himself shot forward like lightning.

At the same time, the Imperial Family's experts, who had already set up an ambush, swarmed forward. Each of them vied with the others, afraid that this merit would be snatched away by someone else.

But the Black-Clothed Man was also extremely fast. He leaped down from the city wall and fled directly into the distance.

"Still trying to escape?"

As a Great Ascension Peak expert, Baili Xingkong's speed was astonishing. In just a few breaths, he closed the distance with the Black-Clothed Man.

"Stay here for me!"

Although his heart was overflowing with killing intent and he wished he could immediately tear this guy into ten thousand pieces, he didn't deliver a killing blow to find out if there was anyone else behind him. Two sharp finger winds shot out, heading straight for the Black-Clothed Man's legs.

According to his plan, as long as he crippled this person's legs, he naturally wouldn't be able to escape.

But unexpectedly, the two finger winds created two holes in the black robe and then vanished without a trace, while the Black-Clothed Man continued to sprint forward, completely unaffected.

"Uh… What's going on?"

Baili Xingkong was momentarily stunned. With his Cultivation, those two finger winds were enough to pierce metal and break stone. This person in front of him should absolutely not be able to withstand them.

But the problem now was that they clearly hit, yet the person was completely unaffected. What exactly was going on?

While he was momentarily bewildered, the Black-robed man in front of him had already darted into a small grove nearby, and then his figure disappeared.

And just then, numerous Imperial Family experts also gathered, instantly surrounding the not-so-large grove.

"Search for him! You must seize that Ye for me!"

Baili Xingkong was the first to rush in, but his Divine Sense swept through the entire grove more than a dozen times, yet he still couldn't find any trace of the Black-Clothed Man.

The Grand Elder led the Imperial Family experts directly into the grove, also finding nothing.

"Your Highness, that Ye is gone."

The Grand Elder was also completely bewildered. Logically speaking, under the watchful eyes of so many experts, that person should not have been able to escape, yet he had simply vanished without a trace.

"Damn it!"

Baili Xingkong was practically going insane with rage. If this guy really escaped, what face would the Saint Dragon Empire Royal Family have left?

"Set this grove on fire for me, then dig three feet deep! No matter what, you must seize that guy for me!"

After he finished speaking, the Imperial Family's experts retreated from the grove, and then several fireballs were thrown, instantly igniting a blazing inferno.

This grove was neither big nor small. Once ignited, the raging fire blotted out the sky and sun, and the scorching heat forced the onlookers to retreat.

Baili Xingkong stared intently into the sea of fire. As long as the Black-Clothed Man ran out, he would immediately capture him.

Facts proved he had overthought it. Even after the fire extinguished and the area was burned to charcoal, not a single person was seen.

The onlookers watched with eager anticipation. They had originally thought that after this person handed over the Crown Prince, he would have no escape, but they never expected him to just vanish like that.

"Damn it, where did he go?!"

He didn't expect to still not find anyone. Baili Xingkong grew even more enraged and said to the people present, "On behalf of the Saint Dragon Empire Royal Family, if anyone can find that Ye, we are willing to offer one hundred million High-Grade Spirit Stones as a reward! We will not break our word!"

He clearly saw that at this point, relying solely on the Imperial Family's people would definitely not lead to finding the Black-Clothed Man.

He could only offer a public reward, hoping that there would be an expert present who could ferret out the hidden guy.

As the saying goes, 'heavy rewards bring forth brave men.' As soon as the reward of one hundred million High-Grade Spirit Stones was announced, the scene immediately erupted.

People who had been watching the show rushed forward, vying with each other, afraid of missing such a good opportunity.

There were tens of thousands of these people, and among them, naturally, were various talented individuals, each displaying their Divine Ability.

Some were good at tracking, doing their best to find clues.

Some brought out their Spirit Beasts to search for the Black-Clothed Man's scent.

Those without special skills simply used brute force to dig three feet deep.

But even so, tens of thousands of people worked for a full two hours, turning over all the scorched earth beneath the grove, yet they couldn't find a single trace of anyone.

The Black-Clothed Man from before seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

The Grand Elder said, "Prince, that Ye seems to have escaped."

Baili Xingkong's expression was terribly gloomy. He didn't need anyone to tell him; he could see that at this point, the possibility of finding the person was almost nil.

But no matter what, he couldn't understand how that person had escaped under the encirclement of so many Mahayana experts.

The Second Elder said, "Who exactly was that guy? Could he really be from the Demonic Sect?"

The Third Elder shook his head: "Unlikely. Who would announce their affiliation? That Ye was just trying to hide his identity by covering himself so thoroughly."

The Fourth Elder added, "That's right. If he were truly the Demonic Sect's Grand Elder, his Cultivation would at least be at the Great Ascension Peak. How could it be so low?

That guy was clearly trying to shift the blame, using the Demonic Sect to hide his identity."

"No matter what, that person's Cultivation was extremely strange."

Baili Xingkong said, "This King clearly hit his legs, but that guy was completely unaffected. This shows how profound his Cultivation is; it should be no less than mine."

The Grand Elder showed a thoughtful expression: "That's hard to say. Perhaps he Cultivates some secret technique, or he used other means.

If he truly had Great Ascension Peak Cultivation, he wouldn't have been surrounded by us so easily."

"That makes sense!"

Baili Xingkong's heart stirred. The opponent's escape speed was indeed much slower than his own, so he shouldn't be at the Great Ascension Peak Cultivation.

He turned to look at Baili Chengye nearby: "I told you to send someone to keep an eye on that Ye. Is there any movement over there?"