From This Day Forward, I Bear the Jiang Name, Not Zhao

Before Zhao Ping'an could speak, Jiang Shuyue had already shielded him behind her and fiercely rebuked Zhao Yingpeng. "Ping'an is not trash. He is more gifted than anyone! Zhao Yingpeng, no father in this world behaves as you do!"

Jiang Shuyue's voice rose with emotion, instantly drawing everyone's gazes.

Publicly accused of failing as a father, Zhao Yingpeng immediately felt humiliated.

His face darkened at once as he unleashed the terrifying aura of the Dragon Transformation Realm, pressing it down upon Jiang Shuyue and Zhao Ping'an.

"You lowly maid, you dare defy me in public!" he growled in a suppressed voice, his eyes gleaming with viciousness.

The terrifying pressure of the Dragon Transformation Realm turned Jiang Shuyue's face pale and made her legs tremble, as though she were facing a dreadful Flood Dragon at close range. She had to devote all her strength to resisting the pressure and could not even open her mouth to speak.

The Dragon Transformation Realm was only one realm above the Divine Treasury Realm, yet one realm was one world apart, their strength as different as clouds and mud—a veritable chasm. A single Dragon Transformation Realm cultivator could easily defeat more than a dozen Divine Treasury Realm Fifth Heaven experts.

Zhao Yingpeng had entered the Dragon Transformation Realm twelve years ago. After becoming Young Lord, the Zhennan Marquis Estate's resources had been almost entirely opened to him. He had therefore cultivated to the Fourth Heaven of the Dragon Transformation Realm by now—the realm had seven heavens in total—and his cultivation completely crushed Jiang Shuyue's.

The next moment, he intensified his aura and bore down on her. "Kneel!"

Unable to endure it any longer, Jiang Shuyue's knees bent involuntarily toward the ground.

At that moment, Zhao Ping'an reached out and supported Jiang Shuyue.

He possessed the Ancient Sacred Body, which ignored all suppression from auras, phenomena, and domains. Zhao Yingpeng's Dragon Transformation Realm aura was therefore useless against him.

However, to keep anyone from discovering that he could ignore aura suppression, he could not step out from behind Jiang Shuyue.

"Zhao Yingpeng, what kind of ability is it to bully a woman in public?" Zhao Ping'an said coldly. "You do not acknowledge me, and I have even less desire to acknowledge you. Once we reach Yujing, there will only be Jiang Ping'an, not Zhao Ping'an!"

His voice was neither loud nor soft, but everyone nearby could hear it. Whispers immediately sprang up, followed by all kinds of discussion.

Zhao Yingpeng's face instantly turned livid. Fury surged within him, and murderous intent filled his eyes as he cursed, "Wretched son!"

Then he moved to strike Zhao Ping'an dead on the spot.

Just then, an even more powerful aura descended, startling Zhao Yingpeng so badly that he did not dare act for the moment.

A golden Dharma Avatar in the form of an armored general flew down from the airship and landed before Zhao Yingpeng. "Young Lord Zhao, this is not a place for disciplining children."

The Dharma Avatar was not especially tall, only somewhat taller than an ordinary person. Yet its golden radiance was dense and solid, carrying countless traces of slaughtering intent and giving off the feeling that it could destroy heaven and earth.

"General Luo, are you not meddling too much?" Zhao Yingpeng said with an ugly expression.

The general's Dharma Avatar spoke solemnly. "This child was personally chosen by Imperial Decree and is now His Majesty's student. Since he is His Majesty's student, no one may casually beat or scold him."

After a pause, his tone softened. "Besides, children are bound to be stubborn now and then. As elders, we should be tolerant. Young Lord Zhao, would you not agree?"

"Hmph!" Zhao Yingpeng snorted heavily, flicked his sleeve, and turned away, resentment roiling in his heart.

Before so many people, his punishment of a worthless wretched son had actually been interfered with. It had cost him greatly in face.

This was humiliation like never before!

"Thank you, General Luo. This junior is deeply grateful and will surely repay you in the future." Zhao Ping'an bowed with cupped hands toward the general's Dharma Avatar.

The general's Dharma Avatar did not care about Zhao Ping'an's promise of repayment. He said gently, "I will send you aboard the airship first."

With that, the general's Dharma Avatar waved a hand at Zhao Ping'an. A gentle breeze precisely wrapped around him and carried him onto the airship's deck.

The general's Dharma Avatar then flew back to the airship and returned to the top floor of the ship's tower.

It was a spacious room. A tall general clad in golden battle armor sat across a tea table from Prefect Gao Xianzhi.

Gao Xianzhi did not quite understand. "Zhao Yingpeng is narrow-minded and cares greatly for face. By making him lose face before everyone, I fear he will hate you from this day forward. Why bother? Even if he had truly killed someone, he would only have been killing his own son."

"I know that," General Luo said with a bitter smile. "But when Chief Eunuch Hu handed the Imperial Decree to me, he instructed me to secretly look after that child. When Zhao Yingpeng intended to kill him, I had no choice but to intervene."

Gao Xianzhi could not help but be surprised. "Why?"

"Chief Eunuch Hu did not say why," General Luo replied. "You are the Prefect of White Emperor City, and that child is Zhao Yingpeng's son. You should know his background, should you not?"

As Gao Xianzhi pondered, he slowly said, "That child is called Zhao Ping'an. He truly is an anomaly within the Zhennan Marquis Estate. Though he is Zhao Yingpeng's eldest son born of a concubine and is quite clever, regrettably, he has a Mortal Body. A Mortal Body could never shake the Zhennan Marquis Estate in the slightest."

At this point, he suddenly said, "The Zhennan Marquis is in truth loyal to His Majesty and loyal to the court."

"Perhaps." General Luo neither confirmed nor denied it. "But the Zhennan Marquis Estate has been walking far too closely with Pudu Mountain."

Gao Xianzhi said hatefully, "Those bald donkeys of Pudu Mountain are truly detestable!"

Beneath the Expedition Airship, Su Yingluo, Zhao Zhenming, and Zhao Jinglian walked up to Zhao Yingpeng.

Su Yingluo gently consoled Zhao Yingpeng. "That mother and son have no upbringing. They know neither rank nor propriety, neither the three cardinal guides nor the five constant virtues. There is no need for you to get angry with them."

"Dad, that trash actually dared to defy you in public. It is utterly hateful!" Zhao Jinglian said indignantly. "Once we board the airship, I will teach him a vicious lesson! I will make him kneel and admit his mistake, then kneel all the way to Yujing!"

Zhao Yingpeng's expression eased. He reached out to stroke Zhao Jinglian's long hair, his face filled with fatherly affection. "Lian'er is still the sensible one."

"Zhenming is very good as well." His gaze shifted to Zhao Zhenming.

Zhao Zhenming said, "Dad, rest assured. Once we reach Yujing, I will not give him any chance to disgrace and embarrass you!"

"I have never regarded him as my offspring." Zhao Yingpeng smiled. "You two siblings are outstanding. With you, your father is wholly satisfied."

At last, the Expedition Airship lowered its boarding stairs, and the students, servants, and guards boarded in orderly fashion.

Jiang Shuyue, Jiang Yiyi, and Chen Donglai also boarded the airship without issue.

On the airship's deck, Imperial Guards clad in armor and armed to the teeth directed everyone into the cabins, strictly forbidding them from wandering about.

The students, servants, and guards were assigned to cabins on different levels.

The deck where the students stayed had an excellent environment: clean, well-ventilated, and spotless. Moreover, the Heavenly Essence was especially dense. Every student had a small private room for living and cultivation.

Once everyone had boarded, Prefect Gao Xianzhi left the airship, which then set off toward Yujing.

After the Expedition Airship had stabilized in the high skies, the Imperial Guards relaxed the students' movement restrictions. The servants and guards, however, were still strictly forbidden from moving around.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

At Zhao Jinglian's command, a disciple of the Zhennan Marquis Estate repeatedly kicked a room's wooden door with force.

However, this was inside the Expedition Airship, where the Imperial Guards maintained strict order. The disciple of the Zhennan Marquis Estate did not dare truly break the door.

"Zhao Ping'an, get out here!" Zhao Jinglian shouted sharply at the door.

Inside, Jiang Ping'an—Zhao Ping'an had changed his name to Jiang Ping'an from this day onward—had been sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, cultivating.

He had boarded the airship ahead of many others. Once he had selected his room, he immediately began cultivating.

The Heavenly Essence here was truly dense, two or three times denser than that of the Yellow Bamboo Courtyard in the Zhennan Marquis Estate. He did not want to waste the opportunity.

The sound of kicking and the haughty feminine shouting forced him to stop cultivating and open his eyes. He expected the door to be blocked by people from the Zhennan Marquis Estate, but he got off the bed without the slightest fear and opened it anyway.

"My name is Jiang Ping'an!" he said coldly, sweeping his gaze over the group of Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples before him. "Who kicked my door just now?"

The Zhennan Marquis Estate disciple who had kicked the door immediately said with disdain, "I did. So what?"

His name was Zhao Baokun. He was eighteen this year and at the middle stage of the Primordial Sea Realm.

Jiang Ping'an did not waste words. He suddenly sprang into action, delivering a savage kick toward Zhao Baokun's stomach.

How could Zhao Baokun have expected Jiang Ping'an, a Mortal Body piece of trash who had been imprisoned for twelve years, to dare strike in front of so many disciples of the Zhennan Marquis Estate? Moreover, Jiang Ping'an's kick was swift, precise, and ruthless. Zhao Baokun had no time to react and was struck on the spot.

Bang—

Zhao Baokun was kicked flying, taking two or three Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples behind him flying as well.

The other Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples hurriedly backed away in fright, throwing the scene into chaos.

"Zhao Ping'an, you actually dare hit someone!" several Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples shouted in unison.

They immediately pounced fiercely toward Jiang Ping'an.

Jiang Ping'an showed no fear. Rather than retreating, he advanced to meet them and descended into a melee with those Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples.

He did not use any martial skills, relying only on his divine strength and two fists. Whenever an attack landed on him, golden light flickered across his body and blocked it.

He had activated the Primal Chaos Body Protection.

His Primal Chaos Body Protection had long since reached maximum proficiency. He could deploy and withdraw it freely, and it could even react automatically.

The Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples noticed something strange and assumed Jiang Ping'an wore a protective treasure.

The airship corridor was narrow, and the crowding made martial skills difficult to use. Those Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples could only use brute force with their fists and feet, no different from a street brawl.

In less than ten breaths, those Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples were sent flying by Jiang Ping'an.

Seeing this, the remaining Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples were furious beyond measure and immediately swarmed forward to besiege Jiang Ping'an.

In a close-quarters brawl against the Ancient Sacred Body, this group of Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples immediately learned a painful lesson.

In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, every Zhennan Marquis Estate disciple present had been knocked to the ground, leaving only Zhao Jinglian standing.

"Were you the one who called me out just now?" Jiang Ping'an asked, his face filled with killing intent as he walked toward Zhao Jinglian.

Zhao Jinglian was frightened by the imposing sight of Jiang Ping'an defeating more than a dozen Zhennan Marquis Estate disciples. She backed away while putting on a fierce front despite her inner weakness. "Do not come closer! If you dare touch a single hair on me, you will die without a burial place!"

Slap!

Jiang Ping'an moved as swiftly as lightning, swinging a slap toward Zhao Jinglian's face.

However, the slap did not land on Zhao Jinglian's face.

Zhao Jinglian possessed a powerful protective Buddhist artifact. As the slap was about to reach her face, the artifact automatically released a layer of Buddha Light that blocked the attack.

When he found his palm blocked by the Buddha Light, Jiang Ping'an did not hesitate and continued slapping Zhao Jinglian across the face.

But every strike was blocked by the Buddha Light.

After closing her eyes and screaming several times in fright, Zhao Jinglian realized Jiang Ping'an's slaps had not landed on her face. Only then did she remember that she had a protective Buddhist artifact.

For a moment, her confidence surged. She viciously kicked toward Jiang Ping'an's groin, intending to leave him without descendants.

Unfortunately, that was impossible.

Jiang Ping'an noticed Zhao Jinglian's child-ending kick and immediately swept his hand downward, catching her leg before violently hurling her away.

Boom—

Zhao Jinglian slammed hard into the wall. Though the Buddha Light protected her, the impact still left her blood and qi churning and her internal organs shaken, making her feel terribly unwell.

Jiang Ping'an did not stop there. He continued charging toward Zhao Jinglian.