“That is…”
Li Chengfeng followed his gaze to the two people at the street stall, his expression stiffening. He snorted coldly and strode forward.
“Hey, wait, Brother Li! Brother Li!”
Chu Mingxuan and Lu Wenyuan exchanged a glance and quickly followed the drunkard.
“Rongrong, what do you think of this wind chime?”
Hua Yan, who had picked up Hua Xiangrong from Jiling Court, was strolling along the street with her daughter, quite interested.
Although Yuxin City was newly built, there were quite a few young cultivators from the South Sea area setting up stalls here to do business.
She brought Hua Xiangrong to a stall selling small magical artifacts and picked out an exquisite conch shell wind chime.
“I think this one’s cooler!”
Hua Xiangrong held up a jiao dragon sculpture made of small conch shells and seashells glued together, her eyes shining as she thrust it toward Hua Yan.
“Oh my, miss, you and your younger sister have excellent taste!”
The vendor immediately smiled and introduced:
“This wind chime in your hand, though a small magical artifact, has the effect of calming the mind and soothing the spirit. Placing it at home would be most suitable. The sculpture in your sister’s hand was handmade by a renowned mortal artisan from the South Sea. Though not a magical artifact, it is a rare work of craftsmanship.”
“How much for both? I’ll take them.”
Hua Yan was in a good mood, so she didn’t haggle and couldn’t be bothered to correct the vendor’s assumption about “your younger sister.”
“Got it! The two items together will be twenty low-grade spirit stones.”
After quickly paying, Hua Yan put away the wind chime she had chosen, while Hua Xiangrong held onto the jiao dragon sculpture herself—according to the girl, she couldn’t bear to let go of such a cool dragon, and Hua Yan let her be.
“Wait! You are—”
?
Hua Yan nimbly sidestepped, dodging the large hand reaching for her shoulder, and turned back with a capture move, attempting to slam the attacker to the ground.
The restrained purple-haired man was startled. Blue-purple lightning crackled instantly on his arm, deflecting Hua Yan’s hand.
Hua Yan spun in midair and quickly retreated with Hua Xiangrong.
‘Late Nascent Soul Stage…’
Hua Yan assessed the power of the lightning magic that had just repelled her—her fair palm was stinging from the electric blast—and couldn’t help frowning.
She quickly summoned a five-colored array disk and handed it to Hua Xiangrong beside her:
“Rongrong, take this array disk and first…”
Just as her gaze turned to Hua Xiangrong, she froze—the jiao dragon statue in the pink-haired girl’s hand was no more.
The fragile mortal craftwork had shattered into pieces in the shockwave of their earlier clash, the small shells that made up the statue clattering to the ground.
Hua Xiangrong looked pitifully at the remnant in her hand—only the base remained—and turned to her with a woeful expression, tears welling up in her eyes.
A surge of inexplicable anger rose in Hua Yan’s heart.
“Rongrong, hold the array disk and watch from the side. Mom will teach this guy a lesson right now.”
Hua Yan, who had originally intended to have Hua Xiangrong run to the Xiaoyao Sword Sect’s base to get reinforcements, instantly changed her mind.
With a flick of her right hand, a carved fine sword appeared in her grip.
“Where did this drunkard come from? Looking for a beating!”
“Hmph, bring it on!”
Li Chengfeng saw the red-haired girl with furrowed brows charging at him with a sword.
He tossed aside his nearly empty wine gourd, lightning quickly gathering in his palm, and met her head-on.
“Wait! Stop fighting!”
“Gentleman’s Word: This is no place for weapons!”
A streak of fire shot in, precisely intercepting the lightning in Li Chengfeng’s hand.
It burst with a crackle but did not spread to injure anyone. At the same time, a voice full of righteousness rang in Hua Yan’s ear.
The sword strike she had thrust out instantly lost its power, drooping weakly.
‘A Confucian cultivator… Early Deity Transformation Stage?’
Hua Yan warily eyed the refined young man before her, who wore a square headcloth and a jade-colored robe.
She had already swapped her sword for a long blade.
“My apologies, Fairy. I am Lu Wenyuan of Haoran Academy. I bear you no ill will, please rest assured.”
Everything just now had happened in a flash. As the surrounding crowd scattered with shouts, Lu Wenyuan raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
‘Lu Wenyuan of Haoran Academy… The chief disciple of Haoran Academy now?’
“Aren’t you on that guy’s side?”
Hua Yan still held her long blade at a distance, not letting down her guard.
“Well… Brother Chu and I do know Daoist Friend Li, but the attack was not our intention. It was Li’s independent action. I apologize on his behalf.”
Lu Wenyuan said helplessly.
“Lu Wenyuan! Who gave you the right to apologize to this woman on my behalf! Chu Mingxuan, let me go! I’m going to teach her a proper lesson for Xue Shang today!”
‘Teach me? For Xue Shang?’
Hearing this, especially the intimate way he said “Xue Shang,” Hua Yan’s eyes narrowed instantly.
‘This purple-haired ugly freak, who exactly is he?’
“Alright, Brother Li! Say a little less!”
The blond young man holding him quickly urged, then turned to Lu Wenyuan for help:
“Brother Lu, you say something quick! I can’t hold him anymore!”
Lu Wenyuan nodded, and his righteous voice rang out once more:
“Gentleman’s Word: Let no anger arise here!”
Li Chengfeng, held down by Chu Mingxuan, gradually stopped struggling.
“My sincerest apologies, Fairy. Daoist Friend Li had a bit too much to drink today. Brother Chu and I failed to keep an eye on him. It is our fault. Another day, we will certainly come to your residence to apologize.”
With that, he gave a slight fist-and-palm salute and turned to leave together with Chu Mingxuan, pulling Li Chengfeng along.
“Wait, who said you can leave?”
Hua Yan put her hands on her hips and irritably called out to these fellows who came and went as they pleased:
“That purple-haired freak named Li or whatever smashed my daughter’s statue. If you don’t pay compensation today, none of you are leaving!”
She pointed at the purple-haired man being strenuously held back by the blond youth.
“Who are you calling a purple-haired freak?”
Li Chengfeng immediately exploded again upon hearing that, the anger that Lu Wenyuan had just suppressed flaring up even hotter.
“Oh, Brother Li!”
Chu Mingxuan hastily increased his grip strength and said to Hua Yan with a helpless expression:
“I say, Fairy, you should also say less. Don’t add fuel to the fire!”
“I haven’t even asked who you are yet, and you’ve already knocked over my daughter’s things. You want to leave without even leaving your names—”
Hua Yan, hands on hips, instead of backing down, deliberately used spiritual power to broadcast her voice further:
“Or is it that you big men dare to act but not take responsibility? You bully a child and then try to slip away?”
“Exactly, exactly, what kind of behavior is this…”
“That one bullying a child is the Young Palace Lord of Shenxiao Palace, right? To think he’s like this…”
The passersby who had scattered with shouts earlier saw the fighting had stopped and gathered around again.
Many cultivators attracted by the commotion also converged, their murmurs rising and falling.
‘This Hua Yan’er… Does she know that as fellow outsiders, we wouldn’t easily cause trouble in Yuxin Island where the Righteous Path gathers, and so she uses public opinion to pressure us?’
Lu Wenyuan carefully examined the delicate red-haired girl before him, who appeared aggressive but actually had a sense of proportion and knew how to leverage the situation.
“Hmph, I never change my name, whether in action or at rest. I am Li Chengfeng of Shenxiao Palace!”
The subdued purple-haired man snorted coldly.
“I am Chu Mingxuan of Shenhuo Sect. Nice to meet you for the first time. Whatever Brother Li broke of your daughter’s sculpture, he’ll pay the full price.”
The blond youth who had been holding him also quickly smiled along.
‘Chu Mingxuan, Young Sect Master of Shenhuo Sect…’
‘And Li Chengfeng of Shenxiao Palace… The Young Palace Lord of Shenxiao Palace? How is he connected to Xue Shang?’
Seeing this man’s unusual hostility, Hua Yan’s mind grew more confused, so she simply asked for an exorbitant price outright:
“Fine, ten thousand high-grade spirit stones. You pay up.”