Self-Inflicted Humiliation

"But that fellow is at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm. Aren't you obviously going to suffer by doing this?" Yang Tai said anxiously.

Zhao Xuyong nodded as well. "That's right, Brother Luo Zheng. This isn't fair."

The moment Lu Xiao heard this, he wanted to stand up and stop Luo Zheng. He knew Old Wu's strength very well—a peak expert at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm. If Luo Zheng really fought him, he would definitely suffer!

But before he could stand, Meng Changjun placed a hand on his shoulder. He then shook his head at Lu Xiao and said, "Let him deal with this himself. Since he joined the Imperial Army and is fighting alongside us, we have to trust in his ability."

"But..." Lu Xiao still wanted to speak.

Meng Changjun, however, said quietly, "I don't think Brother Luo Zheng is an ordinary Marrow Refining Realm cultivator."

Meng Changjun was an expert of the Innate Secret Realm, so naturally, his judgment was different.

Since even Meng Changjun had said this, Lu Xiao had no reason to stop him. However, his expression still looked unpleasant. Old Wu clearly had not left him any face at all.

"Hahaha, you brat may be a little lacking in strength, but you've got guts. Boys, move all the tables and chairs aside and clear out some space!" Old Wu shouted.

Wherever there was a show to watch, there was never any shortage of people willing to set up the stage.

Besides, this sort of thing happened every few days in the taverns of Dragon Fortress. The nearby waiter hurriedly moved the tables and chairs aside, clearing out an empty space.

Old Wu stood in the middle of the open area. He raised one thumb, pointed it toward the floor, and said with two parts drunkenness, "Brat, come over here!"

Luo Zheng nodded. His gentle gaze suddenly changed. In an instant, his eyes became incomparably sharp, as if they could see through anyone's disguise and point straight at their true nature!

Then, when he took his first step, his entire aura underwent a violent transformation.

His soul was far stronger than an ordinary person's, so the aura he released was naturally powerful.

With every step Luo Zheng took, his aura grew stronger. After seven steps, he seemed to have become a different person, like a demon god crawling out of purgatory. He was incomparably domineering, radiating terrifying pressure!

This was because Luo Zheng had yet to temper his soul to the level of condensing "intent." Otherwise, this pressure alone would have injured everyone present!

Feeling the might radiating from Luo Zheng, everyone in the tavern's expression changed.

Even astonishment appeared in Meng Changjun's eyes.

On Azure Sky Platform, he had once seen Luo Zheng attack the burly man called Qing Shan. Luo Zheng's movements had been practiced and his technique seasoned; the entire process had flowed together seamlessly. His strength was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.

But now, the aura Luo Zheng released had actually made even Meng Changjun, an expert of the Innate Secret Realm, feel pressure. It made him feel threatened!

This brat really is in the Marrow Refining Realm, but just how many methods is he hiding?

The most awkward person at that moment was Old Wu. The pressure everyone else felt was merely the lingering might scattered by Luo Zheng.

Old Wu, however, was being directly and genuinely suppressed by Luo Zheng's pressure. He felt as if he had fallen into a swamp, with the air around his entire body seemingly frozen solid.

He secretly groaned in his heart. Old Wu knew very well that none of the disciples who came out of the Azure Cloud Sect were weak. But the fellow before him was only in the Marrow Refining Realm!

This little fledgling in the Marrow Refining Realm seemed absurdly strong.

He must have cultivated some technique that increases his aura. Maybe his actual strength is quite ordinary? This thought suddenly surfaced in Old Wu's mind. He gritted his teeth and decided to use the one thing he excelled at most—strength.

No matter what technique one cultivated, strength was linked to one's realm.

Every time one crossed a realm, the impurities in the body decreased, making it purer and granting greater strength.

The strength of someone at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm was greater than that of someone in the Marrow Refining Realm. That was an ironclad law.

Moreover, Old Wu's cultivation of the Giant Ape Iron Fist could double his strength. Among those of the same rank, few possessed greater strength than Old Wu.

Thus, Old Wu struck first. He gathered all the strength in his body and slammed it fiercely toward Luo Zheng.

"Puff!"

A muffled sound rang out.

What met Old Wu was Luo Zheng's palm. More precisely, Luo Zheng merely used his palm to block Old Wu's attack, then clamped Old Wu's fist tightly in his hand.

Old Wu's punch had only traveled halfway before it could no longer advance.

Luo Zheng had actually caught his fist with brute force!

Old Wu tried to push forward, but it did not budge in the slightest.

He tried to pull his fist free from Luo Zheng's grasp, but it remained utterly motionless.

Sweat slowly seeped from Old Wu's forehead. A flush spread from his neck to his face as he found himself caught between advancing and retreating.

He knew he had lost all face!

This astonishing scene left everyone in the tavern staring blankly.

As comrades who had fought side by side, they knew Old Wu's strength very well.

Yet this youngster in the Marrow Refining Realm had actually caught Old Wu's fist with one hand.

Doing this was no simple feat. Even Lu Xiao, who was also at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm, could not have done it. This showed that Luo Zheng's strength far surpassed Old Wu's.

And that was indeed the truth. Having awakened four Dragon Scales, Luo Zheng's strength was almost comparable to that of an expert in the Innate Secret Realm!

This bizarre stalemate lasted for several breaths. Then Luo Zheng took a deep breath, suddenly shook his arm with force, and sent Old Wu flying backward with a heavy push.

Old Wu felt a colossal force travel up his arm. His entire body flew backward, smashing through seven or eight tables in succession. He then crashed into a wooden cabinet and shattered it before finally slamming heavily into the wall.

The tavern fell deathly silent.

The Imperial Army and the Azure Cloud Sect had clashed more than once or twice.

Although the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect were outstanding, the Imperial Army was made up of experts tempered through bloodshed. Their practical combat ability was even stronger, and they often held their own against Azure Cloud Sect disciples.

But today, they had been heavily humiliated by a junior in the Marrow Refining Realm.

The soldiers' faces all looked somewhat unpleasant.

Under normal circumstances, the entire tavern would probably have descended into a brawl by now.

But today, everyone had seen clearly that Old Wu had deliberately picked a fight, and he had even chosen a junior in the Marrow Refining Realm as his opponent.

Although these Imperial Army soldiers all carried a certain ruffian air, they were soldiers in the end and still understood basic principles. Old Wu had been thoroughly defeated today. He had completely brought this humiliation upon himself, and the blame could not be placed on that youngster in the Marrow Refining Realm.

Lu Xiao was somewhat embarrassed at that moment.

On one hand, Luo Zheng had joined his Azure Mist Squad at his invitation, so naturally, he did not want Old Wu barging in and making things too difficult for Luo Zheng. On the other hand, Luo Zheng's performance had been too astonishing, stripping Old Wu of all his dignity. Yet Lu Xiao and Old Wu were both members of the Imperial Army and therefore comrades.

Looking at Old Wu lying on the ground, Lu Xiao felt a trace of resentment. He drank two cups of wine and forgot how high the heavens were and how deep the earth was. The Azure Cloud Sect is a sacred ground of martial arts, full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. What could I do about him bringing this humiliation upon himself?

He could only smooth things over. "All right, today's spar is over. Everyone still has a mission tomorrow. I think we should all head back and rest early..."

It was not quite a Stepping Stone, but at least it was something to step down on.

Old Wu climbed up from the ground and shook his arms and legs. His complexion showed that he clearly had not been injured. Everyone understood that his opponent had held back. Otherwise, with that strength alone, Old Wu would have been directly shaken into serious injury.

Old Wu was a soldier after all. Although he had been unreasonable, he was also open and aboveboard. After being knocked to the ground by Luo Zheng in one strike, he actually walked over and cupped his fists toward Luo Zheng. "Kid from the Azure Cloud Sect, what domineering strength and impressive skill. I, Old Wu, am convinced. What happened today was my fault." After saying this, he also cupped his fists toward the surrounding onlookers. "I've made a fool of myself, I've made a fool of myself!" Only then did he raise his head and leave.

After leaving the tavern, Lu Xiao explained to Luo Zheng, Meng Changjun, and the others why Old Wu harbored such hatred toward the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect.

It turned out that some time ago, Old Wu had led his Clear River Squad on a mission. At the time, there had been several disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect in his squad.

During the mission, they had been surrounded by blade insects. Those Azure Cloud Sect disciples had relied on their own strength to fight their way out of the blade insects' encirclement, but they had left the Clear River Squad behind. In the end, although the Clear River Squad had broken out of the blade insects' encirclement through sheer perseverance, dozens of its soldiers had been sacrificed.

Those soldiers had been subordinates who had lived and died alongside Old Wu. If those Azure Cloud Sect disciples had not abandoned the Clear River Squad, so many soldiers would not have died.

"Watching brothers who had shared life and death with you get eaten clean by blade insects right before your eyes is an incredibly painful feeling," Lu Xiao said with a shake of his head.

Luo Zheng nodded. "I can understand. Since Old Wu values loyalty so deeply, he isn't a bad person."

"I'm glad you understand, Brother Luo Zheng!" Lu Xiao said with a smile. "It's getting late. With insect infestations breaking out everywhere, there will definitely be missions tomorrow. I'll arrange lodgings for the four of you so you can rest first."

That night, another enormous Flying Carriage descended upon Dragon Fortress.

After the doors of the enormous Flying Carriage opened, the Azure Cloud Sect disciples filed out.

The last person to emerge was Cao Lei.

Behind Cao Lei were two slender young men with gloomy expressions.

One of the two young men had extremely pale skin, the sickly white of someone without the slightest trace of blood. The other had skin as black as if a layer of charcoal had been smeared over it. Their auras were extremely restrained, but the sharp presence they faintly radiated made it clear that both were experts of the Innate Secret Realm.

"Big Brothers, we've arrived at our destination!" Cao Lei said with great courtesy.

"For the sake of a brat in the Marrow Refining Realm, you made us travel this far. Damn it, we really came looking for trouble," the snow-white young man said unhappily.

Cao Lei accompanied him with a smile. "Doing work for the Third Young Master always comes with benefits. Killing that brat will be no more difficult than raising a hand. Let's just treat it as a trip."

The other young man with pitch-black skin snorted coldly. "Enough nonsense. If the Third Young Master hadn't spoken, do you think the Black White Twin Demons would have followed you to this godforsaken Dragon Fortress? Are you sure that brat called Luo Zheng is in Dragon Fortress?"

Cao Lei nodded. "Naturally. I'm absolutely certain."

"Then call him out and let me kill him with one palm. We can immediately take the Flying Carriage back!" the two young men said in unison.

Hearing this, Cao Lei immediately developed a headache. One of these two men was called White Demon, while the other was called Black Demon. Together, they were known as the Black White Twin Demons.

The two were extremely powerful, but their personalities were far too arrogant and vicious. If they were not properly attended to, they would beat or kill people.

Thinking of the Third Young Master's promise, Cao Lei forcibly suppressed his displeasure and explained, "Dragon Fortress falls within the Imperial Army's territory. If you recklessly kill someone, do you think you'll be able to leave unscathed?"

"Then what should we do? Do we have to wait until that brat leaves the city?" White Demon asked with a gloomy expression.

"Since that brat was willing to come to Dragon Fortress, he will definitely leave the city to hunt blade insects. You'll have plenty of opportunities to strike. Besides, there are many ways to make him die. Sometimes, we don't even need to act ourselves!" After saying this, a mysterious smile surfaced on Cao Lei's face.