Night deepened beneath a bright moon and sparse stars. On the Dou Qi Continent, where entertainment was scarce, this should have been an hour when all sounds fell silent.
Yet in northern Wutan City, the Spring Breeze Pavilion-the largest and most profitable pleasure house owned by the Ao Ba Family-was still seething with noise.
The first-floor hall blazed with light, the scent of wine spreading freely through the air. Rough mercenaries, scholarly young masters from prominent families, and fat, rich merchants and dignitaries mingled amid a sea of occupied seats. On the stage at the center of the hall, scantily clad dancers with alluring figures spun to exotic music. Every smile and furrow of their brows tugged at the spectators' hearts, drawing thunderous cheers as handfuls of gold coins were tossed their way.
Above it all, atop the Spring Breeze Pavilion's lavish roof, a handsome youth in blue had already been waiting for some time.
He was none other than Xia Kong. After returning to the Mittel Auction House with Ya Fei that afternoon and making a few preparations, he had come here early to scout the place.
In a head-on clash, Xia Kong was certainly no match for the Ao Ba Family's several Da Dou Shi yet. But that did not mean he could not collect a little interest first.
The Spring Breeze Pavilion had once been the cage in which his adoptive mother was imprisoned, making it the natural choice for his first strike.
According to the information Ya Fei had gathered, Aoba Kui, a Seven-Star Dou Shi elder of the Ao Ba Family, oversaw the Spring Breeze Pavilion from its third floor.
Xia Kong was no stranger to the name Aoba Kui. This was the very man who had been determined to recruit him as a live-in son-in-law, so there was already bad blood between them. Tonight was the perfect opportunity to settle it. Moreover, being entrusted with the Ao Ba Family's largest den of extravagance proved that Aoba Kui held considerable standing within the family. Killing him and destroying this money tree should be enough to make the Ao Ba Family feel a vicious pang.
Over the past year, the crops he grew in the Farm Space had sent his cultivation soaring to Five-Star Dou Master. He had also practiced the cultivation methods and Dou Techniques purchased from Ya Fei. After breaking through to Dou Shi, he had sparred with guards of the same rank under her command, but those had only been practice bouts that stopped short of injury. He had never experienced a true fight to the death, nor had his hands ever been stained with blood.
Thus, before setting off for the Magical Beast Mountain Range to temper himself, he urgently needed a real battle like this. If he could not even bring himself to kill an enemy like this, how could he speak of venturing across the Dou Qi Continent?
Drawing a deep breath of the cool night air, tinged with the scent of wine, Xia Kong did everything he could to still his emotions. He had already prepared himself to stain his hands with blood.
Meanwhile, on the Spring Breeze Pavilion's third floor, Aoba Kui was embracing a dancer and indulging himself in wine and women, utterly unaware that the shadow of death had silently fallen over him.
After waiting a little longer, Xia Kong saw Ya Fei signal from a window in the building opposite that everything was ready. He hesitated no longer and stamped his right foot hard against the roof.
The stomp incorporated the force-generating principles of the Scorching Wood Palm. Power surged forth, and with a thunderous crash, he smashed a hole large enough for a person to pass through in the roof. Broken masonry and wood splinters rained down.
"Who's there?! What suicidal fool dares barge into my Spring Breeze Pavilion and cause trouble?!"
From above, Xia Kong swept his gaze across the room.
Inside, the half-gray-haired Aoba Kui sat with his chest and belly exposed, his build short and thickset. At the noise, he immediately roared in anger. A gauzy mantle of gray-black Dou Qi instantly wrapped around him as he assumed a guarded fighting stance. In a corner, two dancers trembled at this earth-shattering turn of events, huddling tightly together against the wall with terror written across their faces.
There was no one else in the room. Ya Fei's information had been accurate down to the last detail.
A faint smile curved Xia Kong's lips as he leaped down from the roof. Moonlight poured through the opening amid drifting dust and splintered wood. The blue-clad youth descended through the air with a longsword in hand, looking almost like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world. The sight etched itself deep into the eyes of Aoba Kui and the two dancers.
Xia Kong had no time to spare for the women in the corner. Seeing that Aoba Kui was barehanded, wisps of gray-black Dou Qi curling between his fingers, he simply put away the longsword he was not particularly skilled at using.
The instant Aoba Kui saw Xia Kong's face clearly, he recognized him.
This was the youth he had been yearning to take in as a live-in son-in-law. Xia Kong had been under his surveillance all along, but a year ago, his incompetent subordinates had allowed the boy to slip out of his grasp. Now that Xia Kong had fallen into his hands again, how could he let him escape?
"It's you! You little bastard! After hiding for so long, you actually dare deliver yourself to my door. You've walked straight into the net!" Aoba Kui laughed wildly, his eyes blazing with savage light. "Today, I'll cripple you and break both your legs. Let's see where you can run then!"
Before his words had faded, Aoba Kui struck without hesitation. His stocky body shot forward with imposing momentum, his five fingers forming sharp claws as he lunged through a haze of gray Dou Qi. He had clearly activated a Dou Technique.
Xia Kong was not surprised that the man recognized him; he had never deliberately concealed his appearance. Still, Aoba Kui's excitement upon seeing him was a little unexpected.
Facing the claws whistling toward him, Xia Kong felt no fear. A year of regularly eating level 1, level 2, and level 3 potatoes had given him a physique comparable to that of a top third-rank magical beast. That was the foundation of his confidence in withstanding any attack at the Dou Shi level head-on.
Even so, he did not grow careless. He instantly activated his proficiency-stage Scorching Wood Palm, sending Dou Qi surging through his meridians. Green Dou Qi tinged with orange-red gathered in his palm as he met Aoba Kui's claws head-on.
The ashen claws slammed fiercely into Xia Kong's palm.
The power of the Scorching Wood Palm erupted fully at the instant of impact!
Boom!!
Violent waves of air swept in every direction. Every table, chair, and ornament in the room shattered, sending wood splinters flying.
The two forces briefly locked in a stalemate.
Xia Kong understood. What Aoba Kui had just unleashed must have been a Black Tier Dou Technique of considerable power.
Aoba Kui, on the other hand, wore a look of utter disbelief.
"Impossible! How could you have broken through from Dou Zhe to Dou Shi in just one year?!"
Xia Kong had not manifested a gauzy Dou Qi mantle, yet he had steadily blocked the attack. That convinced Aoba Kui that he must already be a Dou Shi.
"Heh. Nothing in this world is impossible. An ignorant old fool like you should hurry off to hell!"
After a single exchange, Xia Kong had gauged Aoba Kui's true fighting strength. The man could no longer threaten him, so he stopped holding back. He brought the full strength of his body to bear, and the Dou Qi output of his Scorching Wood Palm abruptly surged.
The stalemate broke, and the situation reversed in an instant.
Aoba Kui was blasted backward by the immense force. The gauzy Dou Qi mantle around him disintegrated inch by inch as he crashed heavily into the carved bed, smashing the entire frame into a collapsed wreck. His body slammed into the wall, spreading a spiderweb of cracks across its surface. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips. He was gravely wounded.
Seeing that Aoba Kui still had a breath left in him, Xia Kong calmly voiced the question on his mind.
"Aoba Kui, why are you so fixated on me? Is that daughter of yours too ugly to find a husband?"
After taking another careful look at Aoba Kui's appearance, Xia Kong's tone grew even more teasing and certain.
"That must be it. With an ugly brute like you for a father, how pretty could your daughter possibly be? No wonder you can't stop thinking about me. A toad lusting after swan flesh!"
Xia Kong's words struck Aoba Kui squarely in his sorest spot. He was ugly to begin with, and his daughter had inherited his looks. She had resented him for it more than once, which was precisely why he had set his sights so firmly on the handsome Xia Kong and refused to let go.
But now, whatever he said would be too late.
He did not know what sort of opportunity could allow a Dou Zhe to break through to Dou Shi in a year. All he knew was that the Ao Ba Family had offended someone they should never have provoked. The Ao Ba Family was finished.
At that thought, panic and rage surged into Aoba Kui's heart. His head lolled to one side, and he passed out.
"Tsk, tsk. Just an old piece of trash-all bluster outside, hollow within."
Xia Kong gave a derisive laugh, drew his sword, and swung. Cold light flashed, severing Aoba Kui's head and ending his life.
Then he strode out of the room.
The decadent singing and dancing in the hall below had long since been interrupted by the commotion. Timid guests and dancers scrambled to flee, while a few busybodies hid nearby and craned their necks to watch. Most importantly, dozens of Ao Ba Family guards and clansmen armed with curved sabers had already packed the third-floor corridor so tightly that not even water could get through.
"All of you, die!"
Xia Kong gave them an indifferent glance.
Even Aoba Kui, a Seven-Star Dou Shi, had not lasted a single move against Xia Kong. These guards were at most mere Dou Zhe. How could they possibly withstand him?
The longsword grew sharper in its menace as blood stained its blade. Xia Kong's gaze was cold and resolute, his figure drifting and swaying like a leaf falling on the wind, like willow branches bending in the breeze. The sword in his hand blossomed into dazzling flashes, fierce sword Qi ravaging everything in its path.
Screams rose one after another. Severed limbs flew, and blood dyed the surrounding gauze curtains red.
He cut his way from the third floor down to the first. By the time Xia Kong calmly stepped through the Spring Breeze Pavilion's main entrance with his bloodstained longsword in hand, the once lavish den of wine-soaked luxury lay in ruins, with all those dozens of Ao Ba Family guards sprawled in pools of blood.
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