Meanwhile, on the ninth floor, the highest level of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
Sandalwood incense curled through an exquisitely furnished meditation room.
Two old men sat facing each other, an unfinished game of Go between them.
The old man on the left had snow-white hair and beard and the bearing of an immortal sage. An unfathomable aura emanated from him.
He held a white stone between his fingers, but his gaze passed through the window to Qin Chen, who was striding away down the street below with Young Master Liu in his grip.
"Old Ghost Zi, someone's causing trouble on your turf and has even killed people. As the master of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, aren't you going out to take a look?" The white-haired old man placed his stone on the board and spoke with the hint of a smile.
Opposite him sat an old man in purple robes with a lean face.
The purple-robed old man lifted the spiritual tea from the table and took a gentle sip, his expression utterly unruffled.
"Look at what?" He set down his cup, casting a deep glance at Qin Chen's retreating back as a meaningful smile curled his lips. "It's only some damaged tables, chairs, and walls. We can simply have the Liu Family pay their full value afterward."
"Oh?" The white-haired old man raised an eyebrow. "That boy killed members of the Liu Family and took their little tyrant captive. If that old monster of theirs goes berserk, I'm afraid even your Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion will get dragged into it."
"Dragged into it?" The purple-robed old man chuckled and shook his head. "Old Bai, your eye for things is still a little lacking."
He extended a finger and tapped the Go board lightly twice.
"That boy is no ordinary fellow. The Liu Family? Hmph. This time, I'm afraid they've kicked an iron plate. They're in for some terrible luck."
Carrying Young Master Liu like a sickly chicken awaiting slaughter, Qin Chen strode swiftly down the streets of South City Market.
Young Master Liu had been utterly scared out of his wits. Qin Chen dragged him along like a heap of mud, his luxurious brocade robes scraping against the bluestone slabs until they were in tatters, drawing countless glances from passing pedestrians.
"Isn't that the Liu Family's little tyrant? Why's someone dragging him along like a dead dog?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! Do you have a death wish? Can't you feel the murderous aura coming off that young man?"
"Serves him right! That little beast has always used the Liu Family's power to bully men and prey on women, committing every evil imaginable. He's finally kicked an iron plate today! What a satisfying sight!"
"Who is that young man? He actually dared lay hands on the Liu Family's people in South City Market. He's got some nerve!"
Discussion rippled through the crowd. Some reveled in his misfortune, finding it gratifying; others were secretly alarmed and speculated about Qin Chen's identity.
Of course, a few opportunists quietly slipped back through the crowd and raced toward the Liu Family estate, hoping to seize the chance to tip off the family and earn a reward.
Qin Chen ignored the discussions around him and those secretly running off to report the news. His powerful divine sense had already locked onto Old Wang's aura.
After passing through several bustling streets, Qin Chen arrived at a secluded alley.
Deep within the alley, in a shabby tavern, Old Wang was drinking with several sailors until their faces and ears were flushed, spittle flying as he boasted of his "glorious achievements" on this voyage.
"I'm telling you, if I hadn't been so quick-witted this time, our whole ship would've ended up feeding the sea demons!" Old Wang gulped down a mouthful of inferior spiritual liquor and declared smugly, "But this disaster turned out to be a blessing for me. Once Young Master Liu gets things done, he'll give me twenty percent of the profits, and I won't have a thing to worry about for the rest of my life! Hahaha!"
Bang!
The tavern's already flimsy wooden door was kicked open with tremendous force, sending splinters flying everywhere.
Startled, Old Wang and the sailors turned to look. A young man with a cold, stern face strode inside, carrying someone covered in blood, whose fate was unknown.
"You... you're..." The instant Old Wang recognized the newcomer, his smile froze. The wine bowl in his hand fell to the floor with a crack and shattered.
He recognized Qin Chen-and, even more clearly, he recognized the man in Qin Chen's grip as Young Master Liu, the very "backer" he had just been boasting about!
"Old Wang, you seem to be enjoying your drink." Qin Chen casually tossed Young Master Liu to the floor and looked coldly at Old Wang.
"S-Senior... a misunderstanding... this is all a misunderstanding..." Scared out of his soul, Old Wang's legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees with a thud, desperately kowtowing. "I... I lost my head for a moment. Lard clouded my heart... please spare my life, Senior!"
"A misunderstanding?" A cruel, icy sneer curled Qin Chen's lips. "I saved your entire ship's lives, and you turned around and sold me out to the Liu Family. You call that a misunderstanding?"
"I... I..." Old Wang was tongue-tied, unable to get a word out for a long while.
"Be smarter in your next life."
Qin Chen wasted no more words. He raised his right hand, gathered a faint wisp of true qi at his fingertip, and flicked his finger.
Hiss!
A streak of force almost invisible to the naked eye instantly pierced the space between Old Wang's brows.
Old Wang's eyes widened, still filled with extreme terror and disbelief. His body toppled stiffly backward, his life extinguished.
The sailors around him screamed in terror and scrambled out of the tavern on all fours.
Qin Chen paid the sailors no heed. He turned to Young Master Liu, who lay trembling on the floor.
"Now, it's your turn."
Meanwhile, at the Liu Family estate.
Bang!
An exquisite jade cup was hurled viciously to the floor and shattered.
Liu Zhentian, the head of the Liu Family and an early Nascent Soul stage cultivator, paced back and forth through the main hall, his face filled with fury.
"Useless! Every last one of you!"
Below him in the hall, several cultivators who had brought the news knelt trembling on the floor, not daring even to breathe loudly.
"Please calm your anger, Family Head!" An old man in gray robes stepped forward and said gravely, "If that young man could kill four early Golden Core stage cultivators with a single punch, his strength absolutely cannot be underestimated. With the young master in his hands, I'm afraid the odds bode ill."
This old man was the Liu Family's grand elder, likewise a powerful early Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
"Grand Elder, take some men at once and bring that unfilial son back to me! Use every means available, but avoid fighting if at all possible."
"Yes, Family Head!" The grand elder accepted the order, turned, and strode away.
Liu Zhentian drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his anger.
Although furious, he had not lost his reason.
He knew his son's temperament very well: arrogant, domineering, and always stirring up trouble. In all likelihood, his son had instigated this incident.
But what unsettled him was that it had happened at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion's background was unfathomable, and its purple-robed master was even more mysterious. Even his father, the Liu Family's Void Insight realm ancestor, regarded the pavilion with considerable wariness.
Had it merely been an ordinary conflict, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion would never have stood by and done nothing.
Yet now, the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had chosen to watch with folded arms, allowing that young man to kill people within its premises and even take his son away.
What did that mean?
It meant that even the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion was unwilling to lightly provoke the powers behind that young man!
"For even that person at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion to wait and watch, just what is this boy's background?"
Liu Zhentian's brows knitted tightly, and a powerful sense of unease rose within him.
He knew he could not act rashly.
"Prepare my sedan chair! We're going to the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion!"
Liu Zhentian issued the order in a low voice. He had to visit the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion himself, sound out its purple-robed master, and uncover that young man's background. If the young man truly had powerful backing, he would even have to prepare to sever an arm to save his life.
In the cultivation world, face was certainly important, but the survival of the family came first.
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