Prodigal Young Master!

Yan Xiangma's expression was astonished, his jaw dropped, and ten thousand Cao Ni Ma were stampeding through his mind.

The script was wrong; the story wasn't supposed to unfold like this. As the young master of a prestigious and wealthy family, after he had revealed his intentions and employed both carrot and stick, shouldn't this dark-skinned little fellow in front of him have meekly apologized and agreed to never contact any Cui family women again? Then, Yan Xiangma would have magnanimously patted his shoulder, offering comfort while maintaining the dignified demeanor of a noble young master. From then on, they would have no further contact, and this person's appearance and name would never again appear in his life—

What did he mean by breaking stones with his fingers?

Was he defiant? Was this his counterattack against Yan Xiangma's display of power?

"I am not an ordinary person who can be kneaded and shaped at will. If anyone tries to force me to do something I dislike, they will inevitably have to pay the price for their actions."

Yan Xiangma naturally filled in these lines for Li Mu Yang in his mind.

Yan Xiangma gently tapped the stone testing table with the bone of his fan, examining the large chip he had broken off the lapis lazuli tabletop. He spoke, "I thought I had people thoroughly investigate him, but it seems we still don't understand you well enough."

"You understand me very clearly," Li Mu Yang said. "It's just that we change every day. Don't we?"

"How did you do it?" Yan Xiangma asked, looking at Li Mu Yang.

"If I want to do it, I do it."

"That answer doesn't convince me."

Li Mu Yang narrowed his eyes and smiled. "I never intended to convince you. I'm just stating a fact. In truth, I haven't fully figured out the answer myself."

Yan Xiangma snapped open his folding fan with a 'pa' sound. "This fan is called the Dragon Spine Fan. It was forged by the weapon master Mo Lang of Mogan Mountain using a piece of divine iron from beyond the heavens. I have been practicing martial arts since childhood, apprenticed to a famous master, and have now reached the High Mountain Mid-grade realm—therefore, I can easily slice through this lapis lazuli tabletop with the Dragon Spine Fan. And you? You're just a frail student who's all talk and no action. How did you do it?"

"What's the point of you pursuing how I did it? The fact that I can do it is the focus you should be concerned with, right?"

Yan Xiangma stared at Li Mu Yang for a long time before asking, "Are there any more watermelons?"

"Yes," Li Mu Yang nodded.

"Get me two more pieces," Yan Xiangma said. "It's too hot, and I'm thirsty."

"Alright," Li Mu Yang said with a smile.

After finishing two more pieces of frozen watermelon, Yan Xiangma stood up, completely satisfied. He looked at Li Mu Yang and said, "I sincerely advise you, and I hope you'll sincerely consider my advice. Don't do anything foolish, okay?"

"Thank you for your sincerity, cousin, but I've already made up my mind," Li Mu Yang replied with a smile.

Yan Xiangma shook his head and sighed. "Don't think you can protect yourself just because you know a little bit of parlor tricks. There are some people you can't afford to provoke."

"I have no intention of provoking anyone," Li Mu Yang said with a shy smile. "I only pray that no one provokes me."

"You don't know what's good for you." Yan Xiangma shook his head and strode out, waving his folding fan. "Let me tell you, as the most notorious dandy in Jiangnan City, I'm capable of anything."

Li Mu Yang saw him out, then turned back into the courtyard and stared blankly at the lapis lazuli table that had been shattered into pieces.

He picked up a piece of the tabletop that Yan Xiangma had sliced off with the Dragon Spine Fan and gently rubbed it with his finger.

Then he picked up the stone he had forcefully broken and gently stroked it—

"Ouch—" Li Mu Yang cried out. A cut appeared on his finger, and blood seeped from the wound. But as soon as a red head poked out, the wound had already healed.

"It's still neater when cut with a fan," Li Mu Yang said with immense envy.

Yan Xiangma sat in the back garden. An octagonal pavilion in the back garden also had a lapis lazuli table.

Yan Xiangma set aside the Dragon Spine Fan in his hand and then reached out to grasp a corner of the tabletop.

"Hmph—" Yan Xiangma grunted and exerted sudden force, but the lapis lazuli stone was incredibly hard and showed no abnormal signs.

Yan Xiangma gathered his qi to his dantian, and a surge of powerful energy coursed through his body.

The hand gripping the stone table glowed red, as if it were a blazing flame.

Blazing Fist!

It was the Cui family's inherited secret technique and the lifeblood that had allowed the Cui family to stand firm in the Xifeng Empire for centuries.

Yan Xiangma's shoulder twitched slightly, and then he tore off a large half of the lapis lazuli tabletop.

The lapis lazuli stones were also ignited by his fist-fire, as if stones could burn.

The blue stone with its dark gold patterns rapidly changed; the piece closest to his palm was incinerated to ash. A gust of wind came, scattering it into nothingness.

Crack—

The remaining half of the stone tabletop fell onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Xiangma, your progress is remarkably swift. This Blazing Fist has already reached the High Mountain Mid-grade realm. In another half a year, you might reach High-grade. At that time, you will be the foremost young martial artist in Jiangnan City." A man in a blue robe stood at the garden entrance, looking at Yan Xiangma with a smile.

"Master Ning," Yan Xiangma respectfully saluted Ning Xin Hai, completely devoid of the arrogance attributed to him as a dandy. "Master, aren't you accompanying Mother and Cousin Xiao Xin to Yongqing Temple for prayers?"

"Uncle Yan is going with them, so what is there to worry about?" Ning Xin Hai said with a smile, showing immense respect for Uncle Yan. "Miss Xiao Xin felt I had been working hard guarding her for many days, so she told me to rest at home today."

"That's true," Yan Xiangma said with a smile. "Due to the Crow attack incident, Master Ning has indeed been exhausted these past few days. I had to guard Cousin at all times without the slightest slack. It's good that Cousin is considerate enough to remember to give Master a day of rest."

"Miss Xiao Xin is intelligent and kind, with a delicate heart. This is a blessing for those of us who follow her," Ning Xin Hai said. He looked at the scorched black stone on the ground and asked, "Why did you suddenly come to the back garden to break stones?"

"Because he did it," Yan Xiangma said with a serious expression.

"What? Who did it?"

"Li Mu Yang. The good-for-nothing you've been talking about—" Yan Xiangma looked at Ning Xin Hai and said, "Master, you've interacted with him many times. You should know what kind of person he is, right?"

"I can't see through him," Ning Xin Hai shook his head. "Last time, during the Crow's ambush, I was outside the Beast-Faced Pavilion, and it was too late to rescue him—it was this ordinary-looking Li Mu Yang who rushed forward and blocked the Crow with his own flesh and blood."

"But he's still alive." Yan Xiangma's eyes flickered, deep in thought. "The Crow is a top twenty expert on the Empire's assassin ranking list. He blocked the Crow with his own body—but he's still alive. Master, don't you find that strange?"

"I also find it very strange," Ning Xin Hai said, a pensive look on his face. "The situation was incredibly urgent at the time. He blocked Crow's attacks again and again—I heard from Miss Xiao Xin that he blocked Crow's knives with his bare hands twice. Every time Crow tried to stab Miss, the blade ended up piercing his palm."

"Crow treats killing as an art. His favorite finishing move at close range is Cherry Blossom Fall—Master, I have a question for you. If it were you, could you block Crow's Cherry Blossom Fall?"

Ning Xin Hai thought for a moment and said, "I could block it. But—I can't be sure I could block it every time. Cherry Blossom Fall is like rain, a swift blade cutting through wind and snow. The reason it's called Cherry Blossom Fall is because that strike is incredibly brilliant, and as fast as lightning with countless variations. I can't predict every single one of its changes either."

"But he blocked it," Yan Xiang Ma said in a cold voice. He pointed to the lapis lazuli tabletop on the ground. "Just like he could snap this stone with just one hand."

"Can't you do that too?"

"That's different," Yan Xiang Ma shook his head. "I used my family's Blazing Fist technique, 'Wildfire,' I used my Qi—but he didn't. He just sat there, and then he gently snapped it—I was sitting right across from him, and the expression on his face didn't change much. He just broke the lapis lazuli tabletop. Master, don't you think that's terrifying?"

"It is terrifying," Ning Xin Hai frowned. "It seems Li Mu Yang is more complex than we imagined. I had already warned Miss before that this classmate of hers was a dangerous individual. But you know Miss's personality; no one can force her to change her mind once she's decided on something—and I also probed him secretly, but I couldn't sense even the slightest ripple of Qi from Li Mu Yang. He doesn't seem like a cultivator."

"Yes. We originally thought he was just an ordinary person with unrealistic dreams, a toad wanting to eat swan meat, so we didn't pay much attention to him. We even considered resolving this matter in a gentler manner. Now it seems the situation is beyond our understanding. If we allow someone like this, who deliberately hides his strength and has ulterior motives, to cling to Miss like a fly, it will be a very challenging matter for us. Miss is returning to Tiandu in two months. The situation in the imperial capital is complicated right now. If something were to happen to her at this time, the imperial capital might plunge into a new round of conflict and clashes—"

"What do you mean, Xiang Ma?" Ning Xin Hai asked, looking deeply at the handsome young man before him.

"I warned him that as the most famous young master in Jiangnan City, I'm capable of anything," Yan Xiang Ma said with a smile. "Tell me, do you think he understood?"