Stepping through the Xu Household's gates into the sunlight, Liu Wuxie took a deep breath.
As a dignified Immortal Emperor, he would hardly stoop to quarreling with a bunch of servants.
Canglan City was enormous, home to several million people. Aside from the four great lineages, its most powerful force was the city lord.
Streets crisscrossed the city, lined with shops. The Great Yan Imperial Dynasty was vast, and Canglan City was merely one of its cities.
Liu Wuxie's destination was called the Pill Treasure Pavilion, Canglan City's largest supplier of medicinal ingredients and seller of pills. It belonged to no lineage and was not subject to the city lord's jurisdiction, standing apart from worldly affairs. Rumor had it that the immensely powerful Heavenly Treasure Sect stood behind it.
The Meridian-Restoring Pill was exceedingly rare. Its grade was not high, but it was extremely difficult to refine.
Three large, glittering golden characters hung above the Pill Treasure Pavilion's entrance, clearly visible from afar. Many martial artists came and went.
Following the crowd, Liu Wuxie walked inside. A vast hall met his eyes, divided into several sections, including areas for selling pills and medicinal ingredients.
There were also Demon Beast pelts and inner cores. The counters could not conceal the fragrance of the pills or the savage, baleful presence released by the Demon Beast inner cores.
"What can I get for you, young master?"
A blue-clad attendant hurried forward and greeted him warmly, yet a trace of contempt flashed deep in his eyes. Compared with everyone else, Liu Wuxie was dressed far too plainly, his blue robe washed pale.
"I'd like to see your manager. Sorry for the trouble, but please announce me."
Liu Wuxie caught every trace of contempt in the attendant's eyes, and a cold smile surfaced at the corner of his mouth.
"Our manager is busy. He has no time for idlers. If you're not buying medicine, get out."
The blue-clad attendant shoved him without the slightest courtesy, but failed to move him. A thread of killing intent flashed through Liu Wuxie's eyes and vanished.
The commotion drew many people's attention. They stopped to watch, turning their gazes toward the pair.
"Isn't he the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law? What's he doing at the Pill Treasure Pavilion?"
Word of the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law had long since spread throughout Canglan City. Everyone knew of him, and last night's incident in particular had become known to every household.
Hearing that he was the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law, the blue-clad attendant's face flashed with mockery and a cold sneer, his expression full of disgust.
"Get lost. The Pill Treasure Pavilion won't do business with you."
A vicious gleam appeared on the attendant's face as he demanded that Liu Wuxie leave at once, forbidding him from setting foot in the Pill Treasure Pavilion. What an arrogant tone.
The Pill Treasure Pavilion was subject to no other power's jurisdiction, leaving these blue-clad attendants with eyes above their heads, looking down on everything. Martial artists who entered usually wore ingratiating expressions.
Even a lowly blue-clad attendant of the Pill Treasure Pavilion was someone ordinary people could not afford to offend. That alone showed how exalted the pavilion's standing was.
"Are you sure you want to miss this deal? Don't say I didn't warn you. Once you miss it, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the consequences."
Liu Wuxie's eyes turned cold. A chill enveloped the attendant, frightening him into a stumble.
"Damn you! You trash dare threaten me? If you won't leave, I'll beat you to death and throw you out."
He struck without another word. Even the Pill Treasure Pavilion's attendants possessed considerable strength. A fist shot toward Liu Wuxie's face with incredible speed, its whistling wind forming a vortex that lifted the hair at his temples.
The blue-clad attendant would not have dared attack an ordinary customer, but the Xu Household's live-in son-in-law had long since become a rat crossing the street, with everyone shouting for him to be beaten. He felt no pressure attacking him.
"Bam!"
Before the wind of the punch reached him, Liu Wuxie raised his foot and drove a vicious kick into the blue-clad attendant's abdomen. His body flew high into the air and crashed onto a counter. The sturdy counter shattered, scattering the medicinal ingredients inside across the floor.
The sudden kick caught everyone off guard. The crowd promptly cleared a large space to avoid bringing trouble upon themselves. Anyone who offended the Pill Treasure Pavilion could forget about getting by in Canglan City afterward.
"Cough, cough..."
The blue-clad attendant coughed up blood on the floor. More than a dozen attendants suddenly rushed over from several directions, two of them carrying weapons, and surrounded Liu Wuxie.
"You're out of line! How dare you hurt someone in our Pill Treasure Pavilion? Seize him!"
One of them wore a purple robe and appeared to be a minor supervisor. At his command, the dozen or so attendants attacked together, their imposing force surging skyward. The waves of air they stirred up bore straight down on Liu Wuxie.
Every one of them possessed considerable strength. The purple-robed man had even reached the fifth layer of the Houtian Realm and wielded tremendous power. The ruler in his hand chopped toward the back of Liu Wuxie's head in a killing strike.
With things having come to this, Liu Wuxie had no choice. If he did not fight back, he would die at their hands. Using Seven Star Steps, he easily evaded the killing strike and appeared behind them.
He moved like a phantom, and every attack from the dozen or so men missed.
His palm became a fist and smashed down through the air. He turned and punched, his movements fluid and utterly unhindered. In Liu Wuxie's hands, such simple fist techniques could turn rot into wonder.
"Boom! Boom! Boom..."
Five attendants were sent flying and likewise crashed into the counters, lying on the floor and howling in pain. These attendants were no weaklings; those knocked away had reached the third layer of the Houtian Realm.
The purple-robed man roared wildly and swooped down like a goshawk. His violent presence swept up the medicinal ingredients on the floor. As expected of someone at the fifth layer of the Houtian Realm, his strength was several levels above that of the third layer. Liu Wuxie did not meet his attack head-on, instead turning sideways to evade it.
His current combat strength was more than enough to deal with someone at the fifth layer of the Houtian Realm. He simply did not want to reveal his strength too early. He had yet to identify those secretly seeking to kill him, so he would conceal himself for now.
Stepping through the Seven Stars, he evaded with ease. The purple-robed man's attack missed, leaving him bellowing in fury.
The sounds of fighting in the hall alarmed the entire Pill Treasure Pavilion. An attendant hurried into the inner hall to fetch reinforcements.
"Stop!"
A cold shout interrupted them. Liu Wuxie drew back and stood quietly in the center, without so much as a single wound. On the floor, however, eight or nine people lay sprawled in all directions, injured by his blows.
A burly old man strode into the hall. Seeing the medicinal ingredients strewn everywhere, his anger soared to the heavens. His hawklike eyes settled on Liu Wuxie, and a terrifying pressure descended through the air.
The Xiantian Realm!
The burly old man was an expert. Everyone present fell silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to speak. They retreated into the distance, leaving Liu Wuxie isolated, standing quietly where he was.
"Why did you attack and injure people in the Pill Treasure Pavilion?"
The burly old man, named Lei Tao, was responsible for the Pill Treasure Pavilion's main hall. He had served as a steward here for over thirty years and had never encountered anyone who dared injure people inside the pavilion. This was a first.
"I had business with the manager here. Not only did this man refuse to introduce me, he also hurled insults at me. He attacked me first. I merely defended myself."
Liu Wuxie had not wanted to explain, but to obtain the medicinal ingredients without trouble, he briefly recounted what had happened.
"What do you take our Pill Treasure Pavilion for? Do you think you can see anyone you please? Steward Lei, I recommend executing him as a warning to others."
The purple-robed man's face brimmed with killing intent, eager to kill Liu Wuxie and be satisfied. The ruler in his hand flickered in and out of sight; it was actually a lethal weapon.
The other attendants nodded in agreement, urging Steward Lei to kill him at once.
Lei Tao knew a little about Liu Wuxie and had already learned his identity from the others' remarks. Out of consideration for the Xu Household's standing, he restrained himself for the moment and did not strike to kill.
"I'm the manager here. What business do you have with me?"
He suppressed his anger. He would naturally seek out the Xu Household and have Xu Yilin compensate for the damage here. The Pill Treasure Pavilion's reputation could not be allowed to suffer.
"There are too many people here to speak freely. Could we find somewhere quieter?"
Liu Wuxie frowned. There were certain matters he did not want to mention before so many people. His gaze had remained calm from beginning to end. Even under the pressure of Lei Tao's presence, he remained composed, giving people the impression that he truly did not regard anyone before him as worth his notice.
"Who the hell do you think you are, asking for somewhere quieter? I think you're just here to cause trouble. I recommend breaking both his legs so he learns what happens when he offends our Pill Treasure Pavilion."
The purple-robed man refused to let the matter drop, his body poised to move. With a single word from Lei Tao, he would pounce at any moment. Having had his attack evaded by Liu Wuxie earlier, he was seething with pent-up fury.
"Smack..."
A resounding slap rang through the Pill Treasure Pavilion. The purple-robed man flew backward like a kite with its string cut and slammed into a corner.
"Too noisy!"