"My, Li Chengyue's, disciple—since when was it anyone else's place to discipline him?"
Everyone whipped around.
Someone was leaning in the doorway.
He wore a dark blue cloth jacket, his unruly hair hastily tied up with a wooden hairpin. He held a wine gourd in one hand, his eyelids drooping as if he hadn't woken up yet.
It was Li Chengyue.
He leaned loosely against the doorframe, a long spear wrapped in coarse cloth resting casually on his shoulder.
"I-I Master?" Su Derong was the first to react. He cried out in shock.
Li Chengyue ignored him.
He slowly lifted his eyelids. His usually bleary eyes were now as cold as a deep pool as he swept his gaze across the tense crowd in the courtyard.
At last, his eyes settled on Zhao Mingyuan.
"Head Instructor Zhao," Li Chengyue said in an even tone, "you've brought all these people to block my disciple's courtyard... What kind of show is this?"
Zhao Mingyuan's Adam's apple bobbed.
Of course he knew Li Chengyue's reputation.
After all, that old drunk of a master had once been a force to be reckoned with, a Huanjin expert.
But that was all in the past.
These days, a Huanjin martial artist was certainly a master in Yilin County, but which of the Five Great Families in the Inner City didn't have several Huanjin experts sitting in their ranks?
The Zhao Family even had two ancestors at the peak of Huanjin, as well as one who was said to have half a foot in Gang Jin.
What could one Li Chengyue do?
With that thought, Zhao Mingyuan steadied himself and clasped his hands. "Master Li, this matter is a private debt between the Zhao Family and the Su Family. By the rules of the martial world..."
"The rules of the martial world?" Li Chengyue interrupted him, then suddenly smiled.
The smile was faint, yet it sent an inexplicable chill through Zhao Mingyuan.
"The rules of the martial world say that debts must be repaid. That's only right and proper." Li Chengyue raised his wine gourd and took a swig, then wiped his mouth. "But the rules also care about what's right. Your Zhao Family first used usurious interest to force repayment, then let your people launch a sneak attack, and now you want to bully us with superior numbers. Zhao Mingyuan, do you think my disciple has no elders to back him up, or do you think the Xingyi Sect's name has become so tarnished that anyone can trample it?"
Before his words had even faded, the long spear wrapped in coarse cloth on his shoulder suddenly quivered with a low hum.
The cloth unraveled inch by inch, fluttering to the ground.
The spear revealed its true form.
It was seven feet and two inches long, dark all over, neither metal nor wood, with fine dragon-scale patterns winding up its length.
The moment it appeared, the temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop by three degrees.
Just then, a loud, aged laugh rang out.
"Li Chengyue! It's been years, but the Killing Intent of your Hidden Dragon Spear hasn't faded one bit!"
Li Chengyue glanced at him and curled his lip. "I was wondering who it was. So it's Iron Hand Zhao Kun of the Zhao Family. What, has the Zhao Family run out of people? You've even sent an old bag of bones like yourself to put on a show?"
Zhao Kun's expression darkened. "Li Chengyue, don't think your glib tongue will get you anywhere! The Zhao Family is in the right today. If you know what's good for you, take your disciple and leave. Don't bring this trouble upon yourself! Otherwise—"
"Otherwise, what?"
Li Chengyue cut him off and suddenly took a step forward.
It was just one casual step.
"Crack-crack-crack—"
The green bricks in the courtyard split in a spiderweb of cracks, spreading three zhang outward from the tip of his foot!
He hadn't gathered power or channeled his strength. He had simply taken a casual step.
Yet his overwhelming pressure crashed over the entire courtyard like a collapsing mountain, like a raging sea!
Zhao Kun's pupils contracted. "You—!"
Before he could finish, Li Chengyue moved.
He didn't even look at Zhao Kun, much less anyone else.
He casually lifted the Hidden Dragon Spear in his hand and pointed its tip at the space between Zhao Kun's brows.
Then he gave it a light thrust.
The spear thrust was straight and simple, without a single flourish.
There was no shrill whistle as it tore through the air, no bizarre phenomenon as it stirred the wind and clouds—not even a clear afterimage.
It was like casually reaching out to greet an old acquaintance.
But Zhao Kun's face changed drastically. He looked as if he had seen a ghost and sprang backward!
He retreated at incredible speed, his feet carving two deep furrows through the green bricks. His gray robe billowed like a sail as he thrust out both palms, unleashing all his Huanjin strength to form layers upon layers of walls of energy before him.
"Boom—!!!"
The moment the walls of energy met the spear tip, a thunderous, muffled crash erupted.
Zhao Kun grunted. His entire body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, slamming heavily into the courtyard wall!
"Bang!"
A section of the green-brick wall collapsed with a roar, dust filling the air.
When the dust settled, everyone stared in horror at Zhao Kun, half-kneeling amid the broken bricks. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. The sleeves of his robe had been shredded, and fine bloody cuts covered his exposed arms.
He raised his head and stared at Li Chengyue, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror. "G-Gang Jin... You actually... reached Gang Jin?!"
The entire courtyard fell utterly silent.
You could hear a pin drop.
Gang Jin!
In martial arts cultivation, Bright Strength could shatter stone tablets and split rocks, Dark Strength could destroy the heart and sever the meridians, and Huanjin could control the strength throughout one's body. All were ways of using one's own strength.
Gang Jin was a realm above Huanjin!
One could release one's strength outside the body and refine it into a solid, protective force, able to injure people from a distance or shield the body like a barrier.
The Zhao Family's ancestor who had one foot in Gang Jin had already secured the family's place among the foremost of the Five Great Families in the Inner City, granting it immense power and influence.
And Li Chengyue, that old man who spent his days with a wine gourd for company and guarded a dilapidated martial arts school, seemingly despondent and unkempt—he was actually a true Gang Jin expert?!
"Now," Li Chengyue said, lowering his spear and casually propping it on the ground as he turned his gaze to Zhao Mingyuan and Li Tian, "can we talk properly?"
Zhao Mingyuan's lips trembled. The hand gripping his saber quivered uncontrollably.
Li Tian was even paler. A wet stain had begun to spread at his crotch, and he shook all over like a sieve.
"M-Master..." Zhao Mingyuan's voice was hoarse. "For the sake of our past ties, today... your disciple was out of line. Since the Su Family has repaid the principal, the interest... can be deferred for three months."
"Deferred for three months?" Li Chengyue raised an eyebrow, as if he'd just heard something amusing. "I seem to recall someone saying he wanted to cripple my disciple's cultivation?"
He paused, then looked at Li Tian. "And someone else said the Xingyi Sect was a dilapidated martial arts school?"
Li Tian's soul nearly left his body. He scrambled to Li Chengyue's feet and kowtowed frantically, smashing his forehead against the ground until it bled. "Master! Master, spare me! I was blinded by greed! I was wrong! Please, for old times' sake... for the sake of the times I brought you tea and water..."
"Old times? Past ties?" Li Chengyue sneered and gently nudged him with his foot.
Li Tian tumbled away like a gourd rolling along the ground, a pitiful sight.
Li Chengyue looked at him. There was no anger in his eyes, only indifference.
"Back then, you were freezing in the snow, close to death. I picked you up, gave you clothes and food, taught you boxing, and hoped you'd grow into a decent man."
The spear tip turned slightly, pointing at Zhao Mingyuan. "Zhao Mingyuan, you had talent and ambition. I taught you everything I knew, hoping you'd carry Xingyi Fist to greater heights and do justice to your natural gifts."
He paused, then continued, "People climb toward higher places, just as water flows downhill. I don't blame you for attaching yourself to powerful people in pursuit of a better future. No one has it easy in this world."
Li Chengyue's voice suddenly turned cold. "But today, you two ungrateful wretches brought outsiders here and used your superior numbers to bully my disciple, trying to destroy his foundation and take away his livelihood... Did you think I, Li Chengyue, was old and could no longer lift this spear?"
As his final word fell, a fierce gale erupted through the courtyard!
An invisible pressure, like a collapsing mountain, engulfed everyone.
The Zhao Family's Bright Strength guards all turned deathly pale. They struggled to breathe, their legs going weak as they nearly fell to their knees.
Even Zhao Mingyuan, a Dark Strength expert at the peak of his realm, felt as if a boulder were crushing his chest, and his blood and energy could barely circulate.
Li Tian spat out a mouthful of blood, staggered backward, and collapsed to the ground.
Only Chen Wanglong continued staring fixedly at Li Chengyue, his eyes full of venom. He rasped, "You old bastard, how dare you..."
"Silence."
Li Chengyue didn't even look at him. He swept his sleeve backhandedly.
An invisible blast of Gang Qi struck Chen Wanglong across the face from a distance.
"Slap!"
The slap rang out, crisp and loud.
Chen Wanglong spun halfway through the air and slammed into the ground. One side of his face swelled instantly. Teeth mixed with blood sprayed from his mouth, and the rest of his curses were choked off in his throat, leaving only pained wheezes.
Only then did Li Chengyue stroll over and look down at him.
"Boy," Li Chengyue said, staring at him coldly, "since when do juniors get to interrupt their elders? Whatever mess your Chen Family has, settle it behind closed doors. If there's another time..."
He paused, bent over, and spoke softly enough for only Chen Wanglong to hear. "I won't mind disciplining your family's elders for them, and teaching that overconfident 'young qilin' of theirs a lesson."
Chen Wanglong shuddered. The boundless fear in his eyes finally overwhelmed his venomous hatred. He clamped his mouth shut and didn't dare make another sound.