Stirring Up Trouble

As they walked down a narrow alley, five burly youths who all looked about seventeen or eighteen stepped in front of them. Without making it obvious, they began forcing the two of them deeper into the alley.

Xia Xue had been about to call for help, but Chu Xiaotian stopped her. He knew what the five wanted, but he wasn't afraid. They might have been built like bulls, but no matter how you looked at it, they were no match for the dozens of giant wolves.

"Miss Xia, our five brothers are among the strongest of the younger generation in this town, aren't we? Back then, we said we wanted to follow you and protect you, but you said there was no need. Now you've got this wild kid tagging along instead. We're really not happy about it. We want you to give us an explanation." The youth at the front tilted his head and sized up Chu Xiaotian, his face gloomy as he spoke in a cool voice.

"Who I bring along is my business. Why should I have to explain myself to you?" This group made her so uncomfortable that even Xia Xue, with her easygoing nature, couldn't take it anymore. She glared at them and snapped.

"Oh, right. We were wrong. Why would Miss Xia need to answer to us about anything she does? Actually, we only mean well. Just think, Miss Xia, a beauty as peerless as you, with some useless fellow at your side—wouldn't that be dangerous? So we thought we'd help you test whether this kid can really protect you." The youth put on a look of sudden realization and apologized to Xia Xue, but there wasn't the slightest hint of an apology in his expression or tone. As soon as he finished speaking, he gave a couple of meaningful looks, and the other four immediately surrounded Chu Xiaotian without a word.

"What are you going to do? If you don't let us out, I'm going to call for help!" Afraid Chu Xiaotian might get hurt, Xia Xue glared at the youth and shouted.

"Go ahead, call! Let's see if your help gets here faster, or if we can teach this kid a lesson first." The youth in front chuckled without a trace of concern and waved to signal the other four to attack. At the same time, he charged at Chu Xiaotian himself. Teaching Chu Xiaotian a lesson was something many men in Greenwood Town wanted to do; they just hadn't acted on it. So he wasn't afraid anyone would meddle.

Xia Xue didn't call for help, because the fight was completely one-sided.

Chu Xiaotian held a brick he'd picked up from the corner of a wall. Just as the five were about to attack, he smashed it into the face of the weakest one, then kicked him square in the crotch, sending him straight to the ground, wailing. One of them was already down. Only then did the other four react, roaring as they charged at Chu Xiaotian. By then, he'd already slipped out of their circle. He ran a couple of steps forward, drawing the four into a line, then spun around and brought the brick down on the one in front, knocking him flat. Before the youth could react, Chu Xiaotian grabbed him and hurled him backward like a piece of trash, straight at the other three.

The three scattered to dodge. Before they could regain their footing, Chu Xiaotian rushed the nearest one and punched him in the nose, leaving him teary-eyed. By the time he could see clearly again, he found himself lifted off the ground, a piercing pain shooting through his stomach. In the blink of an eye, Chu Xiaotian had knocked down three of the five. The remaining two were no threat. He let them land a couple of punches, then used that time to fling them away with brute strength. They slammed into the wall, fell to the ground, and rolled around in pain.

"If you want to fight, then fight. Why act so cool and run your mouths for ages? You're just asking for it. I didn't kill you because I'm in a good mood today. If you don't have the ability, don't go looking for trouble. People really can die." Looking at the five sprawled on the ground, Chu Xiaotian gave them a cold smile, tossed out those words, then headed for the alley's exit with Xia Xue. As he passed the leader lying at the mouth of the alley, he couldn't resist running over and kicking him mercilessly until the fellow looked like a pig even his own mother wouldn't recognize. Only then did Chu Xiaotian snort and stride away.

"Miss Xia, it's been ages since you last came by! We've kept quite a few of the herbs you need in our shop, just waiting for you to pick them up." Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue forgot the little incident in an instant. They strolled along the streets of Greenwood Town as if nothing had happened. When they passed a two-story shop with a sign reading Hundred Herb Pavilion, which specialized in selling medicinal herbs, a fat old man of about sixty came hurrying out and blocked their way. He looked about as round as a ball and sported a pair of thin mouse-whiskers. Wearing an ingratiating smile, he looked at Xia Xue as he spoke. As he talked, his little round eyes kept roaming up and down her body. From where Chu Xiaotian stood, he could even see the man's Adam's apple bob twice as he swallowed. The old lecher was clearly drooling.

"Hmph. What a lecherous old man." At the sight of him, Chu Xiaotian let out a quiet snort. He had entertained a few improper thoughts about Xia Xue himself, but he'd never looked at her with such nakedly lecherous eyes. And now this old coot, with one foot already in the grave, was openly leering at her. Chu Xiaotian wanted nothing more than to plant the old man's face in the dirt and grind it beneath his heel—or pluck out those lecherous eyes and crush them like eggs.

"Heh heh, young man, don't say that. Everyone loves beauty. I'm a man too, and Miss Xia is so lovely. It's only natural for me to look at her a little." Chu Xiaotian's earlier remark had been loud enough for all three of them to hear. He'd hoped it would shame the old man into backing off. Instead, he'd badly underestimated the man's thick skin. Rather than retreat, the old man shamelessly came back with that.

Chu Xiaotian was speechless. He'd met plenty of thick-skinned people, but he could say with complete confidence that he'd never met anyone this shameless. The old man's hide was thick enough to stop bullets. Turned into soles for a pair of shoes, they'd probably last thirty years without wearing through.

"Manager Pi, we have a few other things to take care of today, so we won't look at the herbs just yet. We'll come back later." Xia Xue had heard every word of the exchange between Chu Xiaotian and the round manager. She said nothing about Manager Pi's lecherous gaze, merely glancing at him and replying coolly. When she finished, she gave Chu Xiaotian a slight nod, and the two headed straight for the center of town.

"Very well. Since Miss Xia has things to do, I'll wait at the shop for the pleasure of your next visit." Even after the two had walked quite a distance away, Manager Pi's lecherous laughter still drifted after them.

"Xia Xue, who's that fellow? He dares to leer at you like that. Why didn't you let me slap him to death just now?" Chu Xiaotian had wanted to teach the ball-shaped fellow a lesson, but Xia Xue had stopped him with a look.

"Forget it. That fellow's a notorious lecher in Greenwood Town. He acts the same way around every woman he sees. Besides, he's one of the most powerful people in town. He has plenty of money, he's at the Pulse-Opening Realm himself, and he has two guards at the same realm. If you hurt him, we might not make it out of Greenwood Town. Of course, the most important thing is that you can't hurt him. But I'm an Alchemist, so he can't do anything to me. All he can do is run his mouth." Xia Xue smiled at Chu Xiaotian's words and said no more. She sighed softly.

Chu Xiaotian fell silent. He knew that in the world he'd come from, just as in this one, anyone with money was a big deal. Everyone hated the old lecher, but with his wealth and strength, no one could do anything about him. He still ruled the roost in Greenwood Town. And they could only let him strut around in front of them, powerless to stop him. Chu Xiaotian turned to look at the shop behind them and silently swore that he would gain the power to look down on the whole world, so he would never again have to act according to anyone else's whims. In his previous world, he'd always had to watch other people's expressions. But Heaven had given him a chance and brought him to this world, and he absolutely refused to make the same mistake twice. He would cultivate. He would find a cultivation method and become a mighty figure who stood above all living beings.

As the townspeople whispered among themselves, Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue soon reached the front of a large compound in the center of town. It was enclosed by walls a zhang high. From where they stood, Chu Xiaotian could see that the wall stretched for ten zhang. At its center stood a gate tower a zhang and a half high, with two tightly shut vermilion gates a zhang wide. Four bold, sweeping characters above the gates read Mad Blade Martial Hall.

"This is another major force in Greenwood Town: the Mad Blade Martial Hall. If you can get accepted as a disciple, you won't have to worry about finding a cultivation method." Standing before the gate, Xia Xue pointed to the four characters and turned to Chu Xiaotian.

There were only two major forces in Greenwood Town. One was the Hundred Herb Pavilion owned by Manager Pi, whom they'd just seen. It made its living buying and selling medicinal herbs and pills, and was immensely wealthy. Three experts at the Pulse-Opening Realm stood guard there. The other force was the Mad Blade Martial Hall. It had only one expert at the Pulse-Opening Realm, its master, Ba Dao. But although he stood alone, his strength at the peak of the Tongmai Realm made him invincible throughout Greenwood Town.

Chu Xiaotian looked at the gate, took a deep breath, and strode toward it. Xia Xue smiled faintly and followed.

"Both of you, this is the Mad Blade Martial Hall's training grounds. Please don't enter without permission. If you need anything, we can report it for you." They had only taken a few steps when two young guards in blue uniforms came over and stopped them, speaking in a stern voice. Of course, even as they spoke, their eyes kept wandering over Xia Xue. But compared with Manager Pi's shameless leering, the two young men were much more discreet.

This time, Chu Xiaotian could only roll his eyes. He didn't say anything. By now, he understood that without strength, no matter what you said, it was basically useless. And that was exactly the position he was in.

"You two must be new here. Please go and inform Master Ba Dao that Xia Xue is here to see him." At first, Xia Xue was taken aback when the guards stopped her, but she soon smiled and spoke softly. She was a regular at the Mad Blade Martial Hall, and everyone inside knew her. She'd never had to announce herself before. The fact that these two had stopped her made it clear they were newcomers.

"Oh, it's Miss Xia! Please, come right in. Our master told us that if Miss Xia came, there was no need to announce her. We were just taken in by the master and didn't recognize you. Please forgive us." Hearing Xia Xue's name, the two young men immediately understood and hurriedly cupped their fists in apology. Then they turned and opened the Mad Blade Martial Hall's gates, and one of them escorted Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue inside.

"Heh heh, who would've thought you were so famous, Xia Xue?" Seeing how the two guards had reacted to Xia Xue's name, Chu Xiaotian chuckled, his voice tinged with envy. It would be great if he could reach that level someday. But he believed that day wouldn't be far off.

"Mm. Most of the pills I've refined were sold to the Mad Blade Martial Hall, after I traded some of them to the Hundred Herb Pavilion for medicinal herbs. That's why Master Ba Dao gave me this privilege." Xia Xue glanced at Chu Xiaotian and smiled faintly as she followed the young man deeper into the martial hall.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Outside, they hadn't heard a thing, but as soon as they entered the martial hall, a chorus of shouts greeted them. On a training ground ten zhang long and five zhang wide, at least two hundred young men were scattered about, bare-chested and practicing. They weren't training in anything fancy—only building their strength. Great stone locks were tossed around in their hands like toys, or held out to either side as they stood in horse stances. They all looked remarkably relaxed. These men were at the Body Refining stage. At this level, in addition to the strengthening provided by cultivation methods, this kind of body training was also an important means of progress.

Of course, there were also a few who were drenched in sweat and trembling all over. Whether they found it easy or not, when they saw Xia Xue, they all stopped to call out, "Good day, Miss Xia," before returning to their training.

Xia Xue answered each of them in turn, leaving Chu Xiaotian speechless all over again. Led by the young man, Chu Xiaotian and Xia Xue entered the master's room. At the center of the room, a man in black sat cross-legged on the ground with his back to the door, meditating.

"Hahahaha, Miss Xia, you've come at just the right time! I was saying that if you didn't show up soon, I'd have to visit you myself to ask for those pills." Hearing that Xia Xue had arrived, the man immediately stood up, turned to her, and burst into loud laughter.