Ma Yuan thought he was terribly unlucky. Many cultivators had come to Raging Fire City recently, the vast majority for the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda. The rest had come either for the Three Kingdoms Trial or the Long Moon Pavilion.
After much effort, he had earned two crystal stones over the past few days and had come to the Long Moon Pavilion to take some daily tasks. But before he could even read what was on the wooden board, Ding Keqi had sent him sprawling with a kick.
Anyone would have flown into a rage after being kicked out of nowhere, but Ma Yuan didn't dare. In Raging Fire City, offending Ding Keqi was the same as offending the entire Ding Lineage, and anyone who offended the Ding Lineage could no longer stay in Raging Fire City.
Ma Yuan wasn't actually a coward. The biggest reason he was angry but dared not speak was that even if he risked his life and gave up staying in Raging Fire City, he still couldn't beat Ding Keqi.
Fortunately, the content on the wooden board hadn't changed today. Ever since it had been decided that the Three Kingdoms Trial would be held in Raging Fire City, the Long Moon Pavilion had replaced the content on the board with a sheet of paper. It contained only one task: help the Long Moon Pavilion decipher part of a saint-level martial skill.
Over the past half month, countless people had tried to decipher the sentence, but not one had succeeded. Now no one dared accept the task. Being unable to decipher it was one thing, but accepting the task and then failing would be far too embarrassing.
No one wanted to embarrass the Long Moon Pavilion in the Long Moon Pavilion.
Hidden in the crowd, Ma Yuan watched Ding Keqi with a touch of schadenfreude. When the fellow discovered that the content on the wooden board hadn't changed, he too showed a hint of disappointment. But it was clear that, after considering it for so many days, he had finally decided to accept the task.
This was a major event. Ding Keqi, the second-greatest talent in Raging Fire City, accepting the task would surely shake the city.
But just as Ding Keqi raised his hand, before he had placed it on the task paper, someone walked up behind him.
When Ma Yuan saw who it was, he jumped in fright. It was none other than the fellow who had stopped him to ask for directions earlier.
The fellow had tricked Ma Yuan, stealing Ma Yuan's crystal stones to pay him for information, but Ma Yuan didn't blame him much.
Compared with truly shameless people, Yang Zhen was much better. Even if Yang Zhen had stolen his crystal stones and given him no payment, Ma Yuan would still have told him that information. After all, it was no secret; he could have learned it from anyone he asked.
If Yang Zhen had been a little more shameless, the crystal stones on Ma Yuan really might no longer have borne the Ma name.
Seeing Yang Zhen walk so recklessly up behind Ding Keqi gave Ma Yuan a real fright. He raised a hand, about to warn Yang Zhen to hurry over to his side, when he saw a scene that left him utterly dumbfounded.
Yang Zhen walked up behind Ding Keqi without even pausing and slapped him on the back of the head.
When Ma Yuan came to his senses, his face went pale, and he nearly turned and ran.
Didn't you say you kept the lowest profile? Didn't you say you never took the initiative to stir up trouble? Didn't you know that doing this was practically provoking the biggest trouble in Raging Fire City?
Ma Yuan stared blankly at Yang Zhen, then watched Ding Keqi, equally dumbfounded, turn around with a hand over his head. Suddenly, he felt the world was too dangerous.
"You... you hit me?" Ding Keqi seemed not to have processed what had happened. He stared blankly at Yang Zhen as he asked.
Yang Zhen glanced at Ding Keqi. "You were blocking my way."
Wow!
Hearing Yang Zhen's words, everyone present sucked in a breath.
He sounded so perfectly justified! Someone blocked his way, so he slapped them without even looking at who it was?
"You dare hit me?" A flash of fury crossed Ding Keqi's face, twisting his reasonably well-proportioned features. A terrifying burst of True Essence erupted from him with a boom, and he hurled a punch at Yang Zhen.
The raging True Essence let out a series of roars, transforming into a golden lion that charged at Yang Zhen's face, startling everyone.
He had made his move! This was Ding Keqi's true nature: he would come to blows at the slightest disagreement, and killing someone was as simple as eating a meal.
The crowd stared in horror at the scene before them, a trace of pity appearing on their faces, as if Yang Zhen were already dead.
At such close range, a Lesser Vehicle Realm expert like Ding Keqi had struck in anger. Yang Zhen seemed to have been scared witless by the terrifying fluctuations of vital Qi and Ding Keqi's powerful presence, for he still hadn't reacted at all.
He was dead for sure!
The crowd sighed. In the next moment, Yang Zhen would probably die at Ding Keqi's hands, yet even now, he remained unmoved.
No, something moved. Yang Zhen's body didn't move, but he spread his lips in a brilliant smile.
What a brilliant smile! But shouldn't you be panicking at a time like this? You were about to die, so what were you smiling so brilliantly for?
Boom!
A terrifying blast of air erupted around the two of them, its violent shockwave sending the crowd staggering backward. Amid a muffled boom, a dazzling burst of purple light erupted, making everyone close their eyes instinctively.
Purple?
Once the crowd steadied themselves, their eyes widened. Ding Keqi's True Essence should have been gold. In all of Raging Fire City, only one person was known for purple True Essence: Lan Fangyue, whom even Ding Keqi dared not offend lightly.
A clear, spirited voice rang out. "Ding Keqi, you've been getting more and more arrogant. Who gave you the nerve to fight in the Long Moon Pavilion?"
When the shockwave faded, the crowd sucked in a sharp breath. With expressions of surprise and admiration, they looked at the tall woman standing between Yang Zhen and Ding Keqi.
The woman's long hair was arranged in a startled swan bun, and she wore a flowing purple gown that stirred everyone's heartstrings as she moved. She was none other than Lan Fangyue, the pearl in the Lan Household's palm.
Though young, Lan Fangyue was known as the greatest talent of Raging Fire City's younger generation. Not only was she the favored daughter of heaven most highly valued by the Lan Household, but she was also a gold-ranked guest elder of the Long Moon Pavilion.
Only then did everyone remember that fighting inside the Long Moon Pavilion had always been forbidden.
Ma Yuan stared blankly at Yang Zhen and Lan Fangyue. If he hadn't suddenly remembered that rule of the Long Moon Pavilion, he would have thought Yang Zhen and Lan Fangyue knew each other. Otherwise, why would Lan Fangyue protect Yang Zhen even at the cost of offending Ding Keqi?
"Lan Fangyue, didn't you see? He was the one who struck first!"
Ding Keqi shouted angrily. After being stopped by Lan Fangyue, the fury on his face grew even greater.
Lan Fangyue gave Yang Zhen an interested glance, then looked at Ding Keqi with a half-smile. "I didn't sense any fluctuations of vital Qi."
"You..." Ding Keqi was stunned, his lips trembling with anger as he tilted his head up to look at Lan Fangyue. "Are you really going to offend me for the sake of some country bumpkin?"
"Offend you?" Lan Fangyue chuckled. "I wouldn't dare offend you, Young Master Ding. Once he's outside the Long Moon Pavilion, whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me. But if you want to kill someone in the Long Moon Pavilion, don't blame me for maintaining order here."
Ding Keqi started to speak but stopped, interrupted by Lan Fangyue.
Lan Fangyue looked at Ding Keqi with a half-smile and said, "As you know, guest elders of the Long Moon Pavilion have an obligation in this regard."
Ding Keqi's expression changed repeatedly as he glared at Lan Fangyue. For a moment, the atmosphere throughout the Long Moon Pavilion grew unbearably tense.
Just then, Yang Zhen suddenly moved. He strolled over to the wooden board and, with a tearing sound, pulled off the sheet of paper pasted to it.
Lan Fangyue and Ding Keqi both froze, and the eyes of the surrounding crowd abruptly went round.
"He... he accepted it?"
"Am I seeing things? That young man accepted the task that even Ding Keqi and Lan Fangyue didn't dare accept lightly?"
Ma Yuan stared blankly and murmured to himself, "Raging Fire City is going to get lively now."
Yang Zhen winked at Ma Yuan. He did keep a very low profile, but when he acted high-profile, he was terrifying too. Even he was afraid of himself.
But that bastard Ding Keqi dared call me a country bumpkin. If I didn't slap him, he'd really think he was concentrated essence!