Bringing Humiliation Upon Himself

"But that guy is at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm. Aren't you just asking to be at a disadvantage?" Yang Tai said anxiously.

Zhao Xuyong also nodded. "That's right, Brother Luo Zheng, this isn't fair."

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

But before he could stand up, Meng Changjun's hand rested on his shoulder. He then shook his head at Lu Xiao and said, "Let him handle this matter himself. Since he's joining the Imperial Army to fight together, we should trust his ability."

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

Meng Changjun whispered, "I think Brother Luo Zheng is by no means an ordinary Marrow Refining Realm cultivator."

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

Since even Meng Changjun said so, Lu Xiao had no reason to stop him, but his expression wasn't very good either. This Old Wu clearly didn't give him any face.

"Haha, although your strength is a bit lacking, you do have guts, kid. Brothers, move the tables and chairs aside and make some space!" Old Wu shouted loudly.

Where there's a show to watch, there are always people willing to set the stage.

Moreover, in the taverns of Dragon Fortress, such things happened every few days. The waiter nearby quickly moved the tables and chairs, clearing out an empty space.

Old Wu stood in the center of the empty space, gave a thumbs-up, pointed to the floor, and said with a hint of drunkenness, "Kid, come here!"

Luo Zheng nodded. His gentle gaze suddenly changed, becoming extremely sharp in an instant. That gaze seemed to be able to see through anyone's disguise, directly pointing to their true heart!

Then, as he took his first step, his entire aura underwent a drastic change.

His soul was far stronger than ordinary people, so the aura he emitted was naturally powerful.

With each step Luo Zheng took, his aura grew stronger. After taking seven steps, Luo Zheng seemed like a different person, like a demon god crawling out of purgatory, incredibly domineering, emitting terrifying pressure!

This was also because Luo Zheng hadn't yet refined his soul to the level of "intent," otherwise, this pressure alone could injure everyone present!

Feeling the power Luo Zheng emitted, everyone in the tavern changed their expressions.

Even Meng Changjun's eyes showed surprise.

On the Azure Sky Platform, he had seen Luo Zheng attack the Strong Man named Qing Shan. Luo Zheng's movements were skilled, his techniques were practiced, and the entire process was seamless. His strength was far from as simple as it appeared on the surface.

But the aura Luo Zheng was emitting now actually made Meng Changjun, an expert in the Innate Secret Realm, feel pressure and a sense of threat!

It was true that this kid was in the Marrow Refining Realm, but how many hidden abilities did he have?

At this moment, Old Wu was the most embarrassed. The power others felt was just the residual power that Luo Zheng had leaked.

But Old Wu was directly and truly suppressed by Luo Zheng's pressure head-on. He felt as if he had fallen into a quagmire, and the air around him seemed to have solidified.

He secretly cursed 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 guy in front of him was only in the Marrow Refining Realm!

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

He must have cultivated some technique to increase his aura? Maybe his strength was actually very ordinary? This thought suddenly popped into Old Wu's mind, so Old Wu gritted his teeth and decided to use his strongest point—strength.

No matter what technique you cultivate, strength is linked to your realm.

With each realm crossed, the impurities in the body become fewer and purer, and the strength becomes greater.

The strength of a Half-Step to the Innate Realm is greater than that of the Marrow Refining Realm; this is an ironclad rule.

Moreover, the "Giant Ape Iron Fist" that Old Wu cultivated could double his strength. Among those of the same rank, few had strength stronger than Old Wu's.

So Old Wu was the first to punch. He gathered all the strength in his body and fiercely smashed it towards Luo Zheng.

"Puff!" A muffled sound.

What greeted Old Wu was Luo Zheng's palm. To be precise, Luo Zheng only used his palm to block Old Wu's attack, and then firmly held Old Wu's fist in his hand.

His punch was halfway through, and he couldn't push it any further.

Luo Zheng had actually grabbed his fist head-on!

Old Wu wanted to push forward, but it didn't budge.

He wanted to pull his fist out of Luo Zheng's hand, but it still didn't budge.

Sweat slowly seeped from Old Wu's forehead, and a blush spread from his neck to his face, caught between a rock and a hard place.

He knew he had completely lost face!

This miraculous scene also stunned everyone in the tavern.

As comrades fighting together, they knew Old Wu's strength very well.

But this kid in the Marrow Refining Realm had actually grabbed Old Wu's fist with a single hand.

It wasn't easy to do this. Even Lu Xiao, who was also at the Half-Step to the Innate Realm, couldn't do it. This showed that Luo Zheng's strength far exceeded Old Wu's.

And indeed, Luo Zheng, who had awakened four Dragon Scales, could almost rival experts in the Innate Secret Realm in terms of strength!

After this strange state lasted for a few breaths, Luo Zheng took a deep breath, then shook his arm forcefully and heavily pushed Old Wu out.

Old Wu felt a huge force transmit through his arm. He flew backward, crashing through seven or eight tables in a row, then smashing a wooden cabinet to pieces, and finally stopping after hitting the wall heavily.

The tavern was deathly silent.

The conflict between the Imperial Army and the Azure Cloud Sect was not the first or second time.

Although the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect were excellent, the Imperial Army were strong individuals tempered in blood, with superior combat ability. Many times, they were not inferior when facing the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Today, however, he was heavily humiliated by a junior from the Marrow Refining Realm.

The faces of these soldiers were a bit hard to bear.

If it were usual, the entire tavern would have already devolved into chaos.

But everyone saw clearly today that this matter was originally Old Wu deliberately stirring up trouble, and he even found a junior from the Marrow Refining Realm as his opponent.

Although these Imperial Army soldiers had a bit of a ruffian air about them, they were still soldiers after all, and they understood basic principles. Today, Old Wu had completely fallen, it was entirely his own doing, and he couldn't blame that kid from the Marrow Refining Realm.

Lu Xiao was a bit awkward at the moment.

On one hand, Luo Zheng had joined his Azure Mist Squad at his invitation, so he naturally didn't want Old Wu to interfere and make things too difficult for Luo Zheng. On the other hand, Luo Zheng's performance was too astonishing, completely stripping Old Wu of his face, and Lu Xiao and Old Wu were both Imperial Army soldiers, colleagues after all.

Looking at Old Wu lying on the ground, Lu Xiao felt a trace of resentment. He drank two cups of yellow soup and didn't know the immensity of Heaven and Earth. That Azure Cloud Sect is a sacred place of martial arts, full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. What can I do when he brings this humiliation upon himself?

He could only play the mediator: "Alright, the sparring for today ends here. Everyone still has missions tomorrow, so I think it's best for everyone to go back and rest early..."

This was a step down, even if it wasn't a proper one, it was still a step.

Old Wu climbed up from the ground, shook his limbs, and his complexion clearly showed he wasn't injured. Everyone knew in their hearts that the other party must have held back, otherwise, with that strength alone, he could have directly injured Old Wu.

Old Wu was a soldier after all. Although he was unreasonable, he was also open and aboveboard. After being knocked down by Luo Zheng with one blow, he actually walked over and cupped his hands towards Luo Zheng, saying, "Kid from the Azure Cloud Sect, what powerful strength, what great skill. I, Old Wu, am convinced. Today's matter was my, Old Wu's, fault." After saying that, he cupped his hands again towards the onlookers around him and said, "I've made a fool of myself, made a fool of myself!" Only then did he lift his head and leave.

After leaving the tavern, Lu Xiao explained to Luo Zheng, Meng Changjun, and the others the reason why Old Wu was so resentful towards the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect.

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

During the mission, they were surrounded by Blade Worms. Those few disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect, relying on their own strength, broke out of the Blade Worm encirclement, but left their Clear River Squad behind. Although the Clear River Squad eventually broke out of the Blade Worm encirclement with perseverance, dozens of soldiers from the Clear River Squad were sacrificed.

Those soldiers were subordinates who had gone through life and death with Old Wu. If those few disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect hadn't abandoned the Clear River Squad, the Clear River Squad wouldn't have sacrificed so many soldiers.

"Seeing your brothers who have gone through life and death with you being completely eaten by Blade Worms in front of your eyes, that feeling is very painful," Lu Xiao said, shaking his head.

Luo Zheng nodded and said, "I can understand. This Old Wu is so loyal and righteous, he's not a bad person."

"It's good that Brother Luo Zheng understands!" Lu Xiao said with a smile, "It's getting late. With the insect plague rampant now, there will definitely be missions tomorrow. I'll arrange accommodation for the four of you to rest first."

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

After the door of the giant Flying Carriage opened, the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect filed out.

The last one to walk out was Cao Lei.

Behind Cao Lei were two slender, gloomy-looking young men.

One of these two young men had very white skin, a sickly white that lacked any trace of blood color, while the other had dark skin, as black as if a layer of charcoal had been applied to it. The aura of the two was extremely restrained, but the faint, sharp aura they exuded indicated that they were powerhouses of the Innate Secret Realm.

"Two elder brothers, we have arrived at our destination!" Cao Lei said very politely.

"To make us run this far for a kid in the Marrow Refining Realm, damn it, it's really looking for trouble," the pale-skinned young man said unhappily.

Cao Lei said with a smile, "Doing things for the Third Young Master always has benefits. Killing that kid is just a matter of lifting a hand. Let's just treat it as a trip."

The other dark-skinned young man let out a cold "hmph" and said, "Nonsense. If it weren't for the Third Young Master's words, do you think we, the Black White Twin Demons, would come to this godforsaken Dragon Fortress with you? Are you sure that kid named Luo Zheng is in Dragon Fortress?"

Cao Lei nodded and said, "This is absolutely certain."

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

Hearing the words of these two, Cao Lei immediately felt a headache. These two were named White Demon and Black Demon, and together they were the Black White Twin Demons.

Their strength was very strong, but their personalities were too arrogant and perverse. If they weren't served well, they would hit and kill people.

Thinking of the Third Young Master's promise, Cao Lei suppressed his dissatisfaction and explained, "Inside this Dragon Fortress is the territory of the Imperial Army. Do you think you can get away unscathed by killing people indiscriminately?"

"Then what should we do? Do we have to wait for that kid to leave the city?" White Demon said with a gloomy face.

"Since that kid is willing to come to Dragon Fortress, he will definitely go out of the city to hunt Blade Worms. You will have plenty of opportunities to strike. However, there are many ways to make him die, and sometimes we don't need to do it ourselves!" After saying that, a profound smile appeared on Cao Lei's face.