Noble families, arrogant

Inside the inn, Dongfang Pangpang's punch not only stunned Lin Fang, but Shen Zhou and the others were also left dumbfounded.

San Mazi exclaimed in amazement, "Damn, since when did Dongfang Pangpang grow such a pair?"

Lin Fang, covering his face, said incredulously, "You dare hit me?"

As a member of the Lin Family, everyone else had either feared him or flattered him before. Now someone actually dared to strike him?

After coming to his senses, Lin Fang roared angrily at the people behind him, "What are you standing there for? Get him!"

The Lin Family subordinates snapped out of it and immediately drew their swords, charging at Dongfang Hongyu.

Shen Zhou had been curious to see how Dongfang Pangpang would handle the situation, but after throwing that one punch, the latter immediately jumped behind him, shoved him forward, and shouted, "You go, fight them! I'll cheer you on!"

"..."

Shen Zhou was dumbfounded.

What the hell!

So you were that bold just so you could have me clean up your mess?

Seeing the Lin Family already upon him, Shen Zhou had no time to argue with Dongfang Pangpang. Figuring he might as well test his real combat strength after body refinement, he didn't even summon the Taixuan Sword. Relying solely on his fists, the tough defense of the Golden Body Art's first layer—as resilient as thousand-year-old bark—and the strength and physique cultivated through the Wild Desart Art, he brawled with the group of Lin Family men.

Bang, bang, bang...

Fist met flesh, every blow landed hard.

Shen Zhou fought one against eight, and his actions proved two things.

First, two fists truly are no match for four hands.

Second, his current strength after body refinement wasn't as impressive as he'd imagined.

So from the very start of the fight, Shen Zhou was at a disadvantage, getting beaten and howling in pain.

Later, A Dai and the others joined the fight, but they had either only recently begun training or were even weaker than Shen Zhou. The outcome was predictable.

Just as Shen Zhou was about to activate his Entry and go all out, Tan Tong appeared. With his Coagulation Eighth Realm cultivation and the Golden Body Art's second layer—the Stone Skin Realm—he trounced Lin Fang's group.

After being beaten, Lin Fang glared defiantly at Shen Zhou and said, "If you've got guts, don't call for help. I'll beat you until you beg for mercy!"

Shen Zhou craned his neck and shot back, "Come on, then! Let's see who makes who beg. You should be grateful my senior brother saved you, or I'd have left you in pieces."

"You're just at the Blood Coagulation Third Realm—what are you bragging about? If your senior brother weren't here, I'd fight you with one hand tied behind my back."

Shen Zhou couldn't take it anymore. With a swish, the Taixuan Sword appeared in his palm. Tan Tong, startled, quickly stopped him and urged, "Forget it, forget it... This guy's not worth drawing your sword over. If this inn gets wrecked, where will we stay?"

Lin Fang, still oblivious to the danger, pointed at Shen Zhou and Tan Tong and declared, "Fine. Just you wait... Once all my Lin Family people arrive, I'll make you regret everything you did today. Let's go!"

With that, Lin Fang left with an air of having lost with honor.

In his eyes, Shen Zhou and his group had only saved face thanks to the senior brother. In a real fight, he could crush them all single-handedly.

After Lin Fang left, Shen Zhou was still fuming. "Damn it! If I'd known this bastard was such a pain, I should've just cut him down with my sword from the start. Look at the act he put on... Pisses me off!"

Tan Tong didn't know what to say.

It was hard to judge.

The second day in Mine Market Town.

Waking up early, Shen Zhou wore a long face, clearly unhappy.

After the incident with Lin Fang the night before, Shen Zhou hadn't slept well.

Old Man Ji noticed and asked Dongfang Hongyu, "What's wrong with the kid? Dragging his face like that since morning—constipated?"

Dongfang Hongyu sneaked a glance at Shen Zhou and replied quietly, "He's petty. Still stewing over last night."

Old Man Ji chuckled unkindly after hearing that.

Thinking about it, it was pretty funny. A guy who could cut down a Celestial Firmament Realm cultivator with his sword had been tripped up by a few brats from noble families at the Coagulation Realm. It was hard not to laugh.

Seeing Old Man Ji's gleeful expression, Shen Zhou's face darkened even more. "Old man, looking for a spar?"

Old Man Ji took a slow drag from his pipe and said, "If you don't use your sword, I wouldn't mind sparring with you. Might even give you some pointers..."

The Taixuan Sword appeared in an instant.

Shen Zhou gripped it. "Come on, let's go!"

Old Man Ji nearly choked on his smoke and backed down instantly. "Forget it, forget it. I'll just go take a walk outside."

The Three Little Ones saw Old Man Ji get put in his place and almost burst out laughing.

By now, they were used to the banter between Shen Zhou and Old Man Ji. It was more entertaining than listening to storytelling or watching puppet shows.

To cheer Shen Zhou up, the Three Little Ones dragged him back to the market in the morning.

Besides food, the market also had plenty of fun things to do.

Ring tossing, sugar figurine blowing, street performances... And today, it was noticeably more crowded than yesterday.

"People from the Five Great Families, the Qin Family, and even some wandering cultivators who got wind of the news and came to join the fun—they've nearly packed Mine Market Town to bursting."

San Mazi complained about it.

As they strolled along, a large group of martial artists suddenly surged onto the street ahead, clearing a path through the crowd.

Shen Zhou and the others were no exception—they were blocked at the very back of the crowd, and then they saw a large procession of carriages and horses drive into the market, putting on quite a show.

"Who is this, making such a big scene?"

"Shh~ Keep your voice down, this is the Wu Clan's procession. Word has it that for this negotiation between the Xu and Qin families, the heads of all the major clans will attend in person. The one in that carriage is probably the Wu Clan head himself!"

"Ah..."

Hearing the murmurs around them, Shen Zhou and his group realized it was the Wu Clan.

A Dai couldn't help but remark, "Riding in a chariot, making pedestrians scatter—this pomp is almost on par with the emperor himself, isn't it?"

Dongfang Pangpang's family back in East Continent had no small amount of fanfare either, so he said matter-of-factly, "Clan people have always been like this. Otherwise, how would anyone know they're extraordinary?"

Shen Zhou curled his lip and said, "Extraordinary? It's just bullying others with their power."

Only after the Wu Clan's carriage train had passed did the pedestrians return to normal.

After that little episode, Shen Zhou had lost his mood for shopping, so he told the Three Little Ones and Dongfang Hongyu to enjoy themselves while he went back to the inn first.

Back in his room, Shen Zhou didn't idle either. He swallowed a lingzhi mushroom and began cultivating the Wild Desart Art, using his own blood energy and the medicinal power to rapidly strengthen his physical body.

Not long after the technique started cycling, a faint layer of red haze seeped from his skin, wrapping around him like a cocoon.

If any expert had been present, they might have keenly sensed that the blood energy inside Shen Zhou was now surging like a great river, fierce and powerful; his muscles grew denser, his bones tougher and more lustrous.

This was a refinement from the inside out.

Gurgle...

After who knew how long, a hunger pang came from Shen Zhou's stomach, and his blood energy had waned considerably—a sign of over-refining.

Shen Zhou quickly stopped his cultivation, swallowed another spirit herb to refine it, and only then recovered.

He clenched his fist, and surging power burst forth from every part of his body, revealing astonishing potential.

"Fourth Realm of Blood Coagulation!"

In less than a month of cultivation, breaking through four realms in a row—if this got out, it would startle many people.

Of course, aside from his cheating with the 'Entry' and the aid of a powerful technique like the 'Wild Desolate Art,' the earlier stages of cultivation were naturally easier. Progress would not be so simple later on.

"Whatever, I'll deal with the future when it comes."

Shen Zhou was quite carefree about it.

When he stepped out of his room, it was already afternoon outside.

Having just broken through, he felt refreshed and clear-headed. He was about to order some food to fill his stomach when suddenly, Xi Mei ran back from outside, crying. The moment she saw Shen Zhou, she shouted anxiously, "Zhou-gege, hurry! A Dai-gege and San Mazi-gege are about to be beaten to death!"

Shen Zhou's face changed instantly. "What?"

Let's rewind the timeline a bit.

After Shen Zhou returned to the inn, the Three Little Ones and Dongfang Hongyu continued their stroll.

At noon, they were eating Steamed Rice Cake at a stall that sold them.

Xi Mei loved the soft, sweet, and sticky texture of the cake and was enjoying it happily when, without warning, a massive tiger head poked over from behind her and stretched out its tongue to lick the cake in her hand.

Startled, Xi Mei dropped the cake, which splattered right onto the tiger's head.

Enraged, the tiger let out a roar, scaring the passersby into scattering.

A Dai and San Mazi snapped to their senses and quickly pulled Xi Mei back to dodge. When they turned to look, they saw the tiger was five meters long, its tail like an iron pillar, standing taller than the roadside stall awnings. Its body was striped, with a 'king' character on its forehead, looking ferocious and exuding a menacing Sha Qi.

Just as A Dai and the others were wondering how such a huge beast had wandered into the market town, a young young master and five or six underlings hurried over from behind the tiger.

The young master saw his beloved pet's head covered in sticky Steamed Rice Cake, his face darkened, and he barked at Xi Mei, "Wench, you dared to dirty my War Pet? Slap your own mouth!"

The young master's underlings received the order and rushed forward to strike.

A Dai and San Mazi immediately blocked Xi Mei, arguing, "Your tiger suddenly charged over and scared her. You don't apologize, and instead blame us for dirtying your tiger. Do you have any sense of reason?"

The young master sneered, "What do you think you are? My War Pet is a rare beast bloodline, worth ten thousand gold. Even if you three were tied together and sold, you wouldn't be worth a single one of its tiger hairs. And you want me to apologize? Do you deserve it?"

Hearing this, A Dai and San Mazi both clenched their fists.

Too much!

Not only was the other party utterly unreasonable, but they also said the three of them weren't even worth a beast—this was arrogance to the extreme!

Dongfang Hongyu stepped forward at this point. Though he knew the other side was at fault, in this situation, if they insisted on arguing, they would definitely be the ones to suffer.

So he gave A Dai and San Mazi a look telling them not to act rashly, then addressed the other party, "Brother, I am Dongfang Hongyu of the Dongfang Clan in East Continent. Could you perhaps give me face and let this matter drop? I am willing to pay a thousand gold as compensation. What do you say?"

The young master curled his lip and said, "The Dongfang Clan? They might be a big merchant family in East Continent, but in Southern Prefecture, they carry no weight. Still, if you sincerely apologize, I'll give you a chance. Pay ten thousand gold in compensation, and leave that girl's right hand behind. Then I'll be magnanimous and let you off this once. How about it?"

"What? A hand?"

A Dai and San Mazi's faces changed repeatedly.

Xi Mei's face went pale with fear, and she couldn't speak for a moment.

Dongfang Hongyu's expression darkened. "I can pay the ten thousand gold, but taking an arm... isn't that going too far?"

The young master's expression turned harsh. "Do you think I'm running a street stall, where you can haggle over the terms I set?

I've given you your chance. If you don't take it... don't blame me for taking matters into my own hands!"

"Attack!"

The young man's underlings pressed forward once more.

A Dai and San Mazi gritted their teeth and said, "If you want to touch our sister, you'll have to get through us first!"

With that, the two threw themselves without hesitation into battle against the young master's men.

But neither had trained for long, and their skills were mediocre. Barely a few exchanges in, one was kicked flying, spitting blood as he hit the ground; the other was pinned down, unable to move.

Seeing this, Dongfang Hongyu quickly said to Xi Mei behind him, "I'll try to hold them off. You go find Shen Zhou, now!"