Showing Off Your Movement Skills to Me?

The Mine Enclosure.

People streamed into the mountains without end.

Beneath the Xu Family's sunshade.

Xu Mengfu, the Xu Family Head, was in the prime of his life. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a lean face and sharp features. Though he was merely sitting there, he gave the impression of a tiger lying still or a lion dozing, as if he might open his eyes at any moment and bare his fangs at his prey.

It was a sign that his cultivation had reached great heights and his aura was spilling outward.

He might not have reached the Heavenly Firmament Realm, but he was close.

Beside him sat a young man whose appearance, build, and bearing were all much like his.

A great halberd rested across the young man's back. It towered over him, its pitch-black shaft giving off a sense of unyielding weight. Though it seemed somewhat ill-suited to his build, the young man stood beside it in striking harmony.

Old Man Ji would have been amazed if he had seen this.

Man and weapon as one—a martial prodigy!

This young man was none other than the Xu Family's leading figure of the current generation and its future family head, Xu Baxia!

Behind the two of them stood many Xu Family elites, but their brilliance was completely overshadowed by the pair in front.

Xu Mengfu rested with his eyes closed and spoke in a casual tone. "Be careful of that sword-wielder from the Qin Family. Judging from how he crippled Xu Tianqiao with two strikes earlier, with the Divine Weapon's power, he can unleash strength no lower than the Transformation Realm's Sixth Stage, perhaps even the Seventh. The final outcome of this contest between the Xu and Qin Families may well rest on the two of you."

Xu Baxia's face remained expressionless, but his eyes were keen and confident. "I won't lose to anyone of my generation, even if he's in the Transformation Realm's Eighth Stage. I have nothing to fear!"

Seeing the confidence of the Xu Family's prodigy—who was also his son—Xu Mengfu opened his eyes and nodded approvingly.

A Xu Family prodigy ought to be just like that!

Beneath the Qin Family's sunshade.

Ancestor Qin, Qin Fenglan, the clan head Qin Yuanshan, the four elders, and the clan's elites had all gathered.

"Greetings, Family Head!"

Ancestor Qin was the first to bow to Shen Zhou. Clan Head Qin Yuanshan followed suit.

The other Qin Family members paused when they saw this, then hurriedly bowed as well.

Shen Zhou waved a hand. "Don't bother with all that. I'm here today to take care of personal business. That doesn't mean I've agreed to become your Qin Family Head."

At those words, many of the Qin Family members frowned.

In their view, allowing him to become their Family Head was an honor. How dare he act as if he looked down on them?

Ancestor Qin merely smiled faintly. "It doesn't matter. Whatever the Family Head says goes."

Qin Yuanshan shared her attitude.

This left Shen Zhou at a loss for words. In the end, he could only wave a hand. "Do whatever you want."

The reason Shen Zhou was with the Qin Family was to put Old Man Ji and Li Taohua at ease. The two of them had been worried that he might act impulsively.

To calm them down, and to keep Old Man Ji from interfering with his plans, Shen Zhou had come to the Qin Family's camp with Qin Mingshu.

Otherwise, given his usual way of doing things, he would have been moving with the Three Little Ones.

As he waited, Shen Zhou suddenly spotted Xi Mei waving to him from among the crowd in the distance.

Shen Zhou's eyes lit up, and he told the Qin Family members, "I'm going to relieve myself."

The Qin Family members thought nothing of it.

After leaving the Qin Family's formation, Shen Zhou turned a corner and met up with Xi Mei. "Did you see him?"

Xi Mei nodded.

"Lead the way!"

Shen Zhou and Xi Mei left the venue together.

Meanwhile.

After entering the venue, Wu Jiuyan stayed beneath the sunshade, stroking the War Pet beside him and looking somewhat bored.

Suddenly, three furtive and somewhat familiar figures appeared in his line of sight. He stared at them for a while, then recognized them.

"Those three little nobodies from yesterday. They still dare show their faces in front of me?"

Wu Jiuyan's lips curled, and a playful glint appeared in his eyes.

Several dozen meters away, among the loose cultivators.

A Dai, San Mazi, and Dongfang Hongyu each held a wooden board.

They deliberately wandered back and forth in Wu Jiuyan's line of sight.

Once they were sure Wu Jiuyan had seen them, all three raised their middle fingers at him, then held up their boards.

The boards read:

Wu Bug, you stupid ass!

Stupid ass, Wu Bug!

Stupid Bug, Wu Ass!

Crack!

At the words on the boards, Wu Jiuyan crushed the teacup in his other hand. He snapped furiously, "You want to die!"

Wu Jiuyan rose and headed outside, with Big Tiger following close beside him.

The Wu Family Head frowned. "Where are you going?"

Wu Jiuyan stopped. "Just to relieve myself. And while I'm at it... take care of a little matter."

With a cold glint in his eyes, Wu Jiuyan left the Wu Family's area.

The Wu Family Head's eyes flickered. He beckoned over a middle-aged man and instructed him, "Keep an eye on him. The Grand Tournament is about to begin. Don't let him cause any trouble."

The middle-aged man was a Wu Family Supplicant. He bowed at the order, then turned and followed Wu Jiuyan.

Outside the crowd.

When they saw Wu Jiuyan leave, A Dai immediately said, "He's taken the bait. Let's go!"

San Mazi and Dongfang Hongyu quickly followed him.

Not long after leaving the venue, the Three Little Ones reached a secluded hill. A figure suddenly leapt down from a nearby mountain and blocked their way.

"You three ants really don't know when to quit. I spared your lives yesterday, and today you still dare show your faces in front of me—and even provoke me?

Have you grown tired of living?"

Wu Jiuyan sat astride the Striped Tiger, looking down at A Dai and the others. A cold glimmer flashed in his eyes, and his killing intent pressed down on them.

Seeing Wu Jiuyan again, Dongfang Hongyu was still haunted by what had happened. He instinctively took a step back.

A Dai and San Mazi, however, remained fearless. "Wu Bug, don't get cocky. You're so arrogant only because your family and your strength are better than other people's. But there are plenty of people in this world stronger than you."

Wu Jiuyan curled his lip in disdain. "Oh? So you deliberately lured me out to get revenge, and even found yourselves some backup? Whatever. This young master was bored anyway, so I'll play with you.

Since you called someone, hurry up and bring him out. Otherwise, I'm going to..."

As Wu Jiuyan was speaking, a black shadow suddenly appeared, hurtling toward his face with a gust of force behind it. The rest of his words caught hard in his throat.

In his haste, Wu Jiuyan raised an arm to block, but failed. With a bang, he was sent flying, tumbling more than ten meters away.

Luckily, he reacted quickly. While still in the air, he braced himself with one hand against the ground, then used the momentum to leap and flip onto a large rock.

Once steady, Wu Jiuyan saw flames flicker in his eyes. He wiped the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, then touched his right cheek. A clear shoeprint marked it. His gaze instantly turned murderous as he looked up at his attacker.

The newcomer was very young, around sixteen or seventeen. He was solidly built, with clear, fair features. His eyebrows were especially striking—thick and long, like a pair of blades, giving him a sharp, aggressive air.

The newcomer was Shen Zhou.

After arriving, Shen Zhou wasted no time. He turned to A Dai and the others to confirm, "Is this the guy?"

A Dai, San Mazi, and Dongfang Hongyu all nodded. "That's him!"

"Good. I'll avenge you!"

Without another word, Shen Zhou took up the Taixuan Sword and charged at Wu Jiuyan.

Wu Jiuyan even froze for a moment.

When ordinary people came to take revenge, they usually said a few words to vent once they found their enemy. Only then could they savor the feeling of revenge.

But this guy in front of him had confirmed his identity and gone straight to hacking at him?

At least tell me who you are, damn it!

Shen Zhou came at him with a sword.

Sword Qi blazed like a rainbow!

Killing intent surged!

Yesterday, when Shen Zhou saw how badly A Dai, San Mazi, and Dongfang Hongyu had been hurt, rage had lodged in his chest.

The sight of Dongfang Pangpang rolling around on the ground and crying out in pain had especially stayed with him.

If he hadn't needed to save Dongfang Hongyu yesterday, he would already have gone looking for this bastard and hacked him to death.

Now they had finally met. Why waste time running his mouth?

Every extra second the other man lived made Shen Zhou feel sick.

"Die!"

The moment Shen Zhou struck, he pushed his Entry to its absolute limit. Sword Qi after sword Qi blasted toward Wu Jiuyan.

Wu Jiuyan's demonic tiger was the first to bear the brunt. It had only just roared when it was instantly cleaved into eight pieces, its flesh and blood scattering across the ground.

Wu Jiuyan's gaze sharpened. His figure flashed as he unleashed the Wu Clan's secret art, Thunder Flash.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Shen Zhou's Sword Qi wove into a crisscrossing net, its killing intent nearly covering the entire area. Yet Wu Jiuyan relied on his nimble footwork, dodging every strike like a butterfly flitting through flowers.

After breaking through the range of the Sword Qi, Wu Jiuyan appeared on a small hill. He regained his usual arrogance and haughtiness, then sneered at Shen Zhou. "Not bad, this backup of yours. But that's all. Now I'll make you pay for kicking me!"

Shen Zhou narrowed his eyes. "Showing off your movement skills to me?"

"Ripple Step, Divine Travel Nine Changes!"

Shen Zhou shouted.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Zhou seemed to teleport, appearing in front of Wu Jiuyan in an instant.

He moved so fast that he was already there, yet a "Shen Zhou" still lingered at his original position, slowly fading away.

"What? He moved so fast he left an afterimage?"

"What kind of secret art is that?"

Wu Jiuyan's pupils contracted sharply.

Even when the Wu Clan's secret art, Thunder Flash, was mastered to perfection, it might not achieve such an effect.

But now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Wu Jiuyan shuddered and hurriedly used Thunder Flash to dodge.

But he was clearly slower than Shen Zhou. His feet had only just started to move when Shen Zhou's sword had already struck him.

Pfft...

Blood sprayed.

Wu Jiuyan's body only paused for an instant, but after that, he had no chance to fight back. He was plunged into Shen Zhou's relentless onslaught.

Pfft, pfft, pfft...

The Sword Qi never ceased. In the blink of an eye, Wu Jiuyan had been struck by more than a hundred slashes.

The blood beneath him quickly stained the ground red.

Shen Zhou stopped.

Wu Jiuyan's body was covered in countless sword wounds. Each one had torn his flesh open, leaving him drenched in blood, yet none had damaged his bones or sinews.

Wu Jiuyan fell to his knees in pain. He glared at Shen Zhou with a twisted expression and rasped, "Who are you?"

Shen Zhou replied coldly, "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is that yesterday I said I would make anyone who hurt my brothers pay tenfold, a hundredfold. So until you've suffered so much you wish you were dead, I won't let you die."

As Shen Zhou spoke, he beckoned to A Dai and the others. "It's your turn now. Beat him up!"

Dongfang Hongyu limped forward first, then threw a flurry of punches at Wu Jiuyan. As he beat him, he yelled, "I'll teach you to use your speed to kick me!"

"Can't you dodge? Go on, dodge now!"

"Calling yourself Wu Jiuyan of the Wu Clan, huh? Still think you're so great?"

"..."

Seeing how enthusiastically Dongfang Hongyu was beating him, A Dai and San Mazi felt as though their anger had faded somewhat too.

As "Dongfang Wudi" was unleashing his fists, a figure suddenly shot down from the sky. "Stop!"

Shen Zhou reacted swiftly and struck out with his palm.

A boom rang out in midair, and the newcomer was forced back.

After landing, the man revealed himself as a middle-aged man.

It was the Wu Family Supplicant who had been ordered to keep watch.

The Wu Family Supplicant had left the venue right on Wu Jiuyan's heels, only a short while after him. Yet when he landed and saw Wu Jiuyan's pitiful state, he could hardly believe his eyes.

Was this the Wu Family's young master, Wu Jiuyan?

How had he turned into this wreck in such a short time?

Even a pig wouldn't be slaughtered that fast!