Someone Disrespected the Big Shot, and I Was Supposed to Stand for That?

Lin Tian, a complete nobody, had actually dared to speak to Qi Liancheng like that.

They truly could not understand it.

Was he really unafraid of death?

Yet faced with Qi Liancheng's questioning, Lin Tian did not even look at him.

He kept picking up food and stuffing it into his mouth.

He ignored Qi Liancheng outright.

Hiss.

Someone sucked in a sharp breath.

This junior from the Wenren Lineage was far too bold.

"You brought this on yourself."

Qi Liancheng sneered, and a chilling presence erupted from him.

"Zhen... Boss, do it!"

Ziwei growled, fierce flames blazing around him.

Whoosh!

A flame formation dozens of zhang in diameter suddenly appeared above the Drunken Immortal Restaurant.

It sent the pedestrians passing along the street into a flurry of screams and cries.

Hum!

The entire Drunken Immortal Restaurant instantly grew scorching hot.

Everyone jolted, looking at Ziwei in horror.

Qi Liancheng narrowed his eyes and stopped short.

None of them had expected Ziwei, who had remained silent all this time, to be a formation master.

Lin Tian merely paused briefly, then continued eating.

It was as though everything happening here had nothing to do with him.

"Ahem."

Su Nan hurriedly spoke up:

"Everyone, could you do me this favor? If my younger brothers and sisters heard about what happened here, they would probably laugh themselves to death."

Qi Liancheng nodded, then cupped his hands to Su Nan.

He glanced again at Lin Tian, who was still eating, and snorted coldly.

Had Ziwei not intervened today...

In his eyes, Lin Tian would already have been a corpse.

The others in the room fell silent.

Some looked toward Ziwei, who had returned to his seat, and rose to strike up a conversation with him.

Some wanted to get acquainted with Lin Tian, but saw that he remained focused on eating.

They could only give up.

"He has quite an appetite."

A lovely-looking woman watched Lin Tian, clicking her tongue in wonder.

"Perhaps he's a body cultivator. Body cultivators generally eat a lot."

Someone offered this guess.

"He's clearly a sword cultivator. The sword cultivators of this world are all outrageously arrogant, each with an inflated opinion of himself."

The lovely woman muttered, glancing repeatedly at Lin Tian.

"No wonder there are so few sword cultivators. Perhaps that's why the Sword Capital was destroyed."

Someone stroked his chin in speculation.

As for Qi Liancheng, he had already seated himself on the other side, his eyes filled with coldness as he looked at Lin Tian.

Seeing that the dispute had settled, Su Nan spoke:

"You have all come for the Fire Nether Forbidden Land. I am deeply grateful that you are willing to help me."

"I submitted the list to my lineage last night. It will not change."

"This afternoon, I will take you aboard Willow Capital's immortal ship and head to the Fire Nether Forbidden Land."

At Su Nan's words, everyone's breathing caught. They looked toward him, their expressions growing serious.

Su Nan continued:

"I must still warn you all to be careful. The contest for lineage head has actually already begun today. Someone may even make a move against you shortly."

"So there is no need for any more unnecessary disputes among ourselves."

Su Nan gave a bitter smile, clearly afraid that Qi Liancheng and Lin Tian would clash again.

Everyone exchanged looks and lowered their eyes, clearly sensing the gravity of the situation.

"Also, there are many treasures in the Fire Nether Forbidden Land. You may all compete for them, but you must be mindful of your safety."

"The contest for lineage head depends on how many people my younger brothers and sisters and I have left alive at the end. Whoever has the most survivors will be the future head of the Su Clan."

As Su Nan spoke, his eyes were deep and his expression calm as he raised a cup of wine.

"A toast to you all!"

"To Young Master Su!"

Everyone raised their cups. Lin Tian took a bite of food, then picked up the wine cup beside him and drained it.

[Ziwei: Zhenwu, the mission the Extreme Realm gave me is to survive. Why don't we find somewhere to turtle up once we enter the Fire Nether Forbidden Land?]

Less than half a day had passed, and Ziwei had already forgotten the vow he had made last night.

Lin Tian gave Ziwei an indifferent glance.

[Zhenwu: Where did all that courage from earlier go?]

Ziwei chuckled sheepishly.

[Ziwei: Someone was disrespecting the big shot. Was I supposed to stand for that? If Su Nan hadn't stopped things, I would've gone right up and given him a big fat slap.]

In truth, Ziwei had only dared to act so boldly earlier because Lin Tian was here.

Although Su Nan had formed an alliance with the ten of them...

That was only on the surface.

These people certainly were not willing to die for Su Nan.

What truly made them willing to take risks were the treasures in the Fire Nether Forbidden Land.

And the gifts Su Nan would give them afterward in thanks.

But he and Zhenwu were different.

They were both members of the Extreme Realm, and they shared the same mission.

Their relationship certainly could not be compared to that of these people.

Time passed until afternoon.

A flock of homeward-bound birds flew slowly and low, reduced to dark silhouettes in the slanting sunlight.

Among the reeds on the shallows beside the Crimson River, a group of children played without pause.

They pointed at the spirit beasts or immortal ships that occasionally passed across the horizon, longing in their eyes.

A gentle breeze played with the water.

It was a scene of an autumn evening on the river.

An immortal ship completely shrouded in a blue-green barrier appeared above the Crimson River.

As pedestrians looked up, they could occasionally glimpse figures hurrying across the deck.

At the stern, three blue-green runes burned with swirling Spiritual Qi.

They formed three long, mistlike tails.

This was the formation that propelled the immortal ship.

A thick rope dropped from the immortal ship, extending straight down to the entrance of the Drunken Immortal Restaurant.

"Young Master Su Nan, please bring your people aboard immediately!"

A man's loud voice came from the immortal ship.

Outside the Drunken Immortal Restaurant, Su Nan sat in his wheelchair and addressed Lin Tian and the others behind him:

"Everyone, please follow me."

Then Uncle Jian took hold of his wheelchair, leaped onto the rope, and slowly walked toward the immortal ship.

A scent of powder drifted past. Qi Liancheng glanced at Lin Tian with a cold snort and stepped onto the immortal rope.

Lin Tian narrowed his eyes as he watched Qi Liancheng's retreating back, a cruel smile involuntarily rising at the corners of his mouth.

Then he followed at an unhurried pace.

Behind him, the voices of the others drifted over.

"With Qi Liancheng targeting him, that sword cultivator is dead for sure."

"I bet he'll die today."

"Surely not? Su Nan just said today that we shouldn't have internal disputes."

The lovely woman spoke with a frown.

"Junior Sister Xianshu, perhaps you don't know that the Joyous Immortal Sect is an immortal sect, with deeper foundations than even the Su Clan. Would Qi Liancheng care what Su Nan says?"

The armored man holding a spear spoke.

The woman named Han Xianshu fell silent, then glanced at Lin Tian's retreating back and said quietly:

"It's just a pity. Sword cultivators are getting rarer and rarer these days."

"What's there to pity? Sword cultivators are martial artists too. They're not a cut above everyone else."

Someone spoke disdainfully.

Listening to their conversation, Ziwei raised his brows slightly.

He felt that inviting Zhenwu to undertake this mission with him had been a mistake.

[Ziwei: Zhenwu, let's share a room. I feel like Qi Liancheng will make a move against you tonight.]

[Zhenwu: Do you know how to block messages coming through the Extreme Realm Mask?]

[Ziwei: ...]

He moved into his assigned room.

Lin Tian sat cross-legged on the bed and began cultivating.

In this world, martial artists needed cultivation arts to cultivate.

His Sword Heart Body Refining Art was a body-refining cultivation art.

As for a cultivation art that increased his cultivation, Lin Tian had none at all.

Nor did he need one.

Because of the Heavenly Sword, Lin Tian only needed to kill to advance.

By comparison, it seemed that cultivation arts of any kind were as tasteless as chicken ribs.

In ordinary battles...

Lin Tian faced his enemies with simple sword slashes.

The insights into the sword he had gained were a process of reducing complexity to simplicity.

Sword moves...

Were nothing more than cleaving, slashing, intercepting, lifting, flicking, hooking, thrusting, piercing, slicing, sweeping, tapping, snapping, parrying, and circling.

Combining these movements in any fashion created sword moves.

By now, Lin Tian had gained enough insight into the sword.

Any casual move he made was a sword move.

Thus, seeking out sword moves was not so important.

As for sword techniques...

They were different from sword moves.

Sword techniques were true ultimate moves, not something a few movements could encompass.

Lin Tian currently had only two sword techniques worth showing.

One was One Sword to the Ends of the Earth, which he had already been nurturing for over a month.

The other was the Heaven and Earth Sword Tribulation.

The Heaven and Earth Sword Tribulation was actually a restriction-type sword technique.

It used the sword to form a tribulation.

It used Sword Intent to control the enemy.

However, Lin Tian had yet to comprehend Sword Intent.

He still could not use this technique.

That being the case, the only sword move Lin Tian could use was One Sword to the Ends of the Earth.

But he could only use it once.

Because after unleashing that sword strike, the Spiritual Qi in Lin Tian's body would be depleted to a tremendous extent.

"Killing is still what I need. It's the most useful."

Lin Tian murmured.

Knock, knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Young master, I'm here to pour water."

A woman's voice came from outside.

"No need... come in."

As Lin Tian spoke, the door opened, and a pretty maid walked into the room.

Lifting the teapot, the maid filled Lin Tian's cup with tea, then made to leave.

"Wait," Lin Tian said.

The maid froze for a moment and hurriedly asked:

"Young master, is there anything else?"

Lin Tian chuckled softly and said:

"Drink this cup of tea."

The maid's expression stiffened, and she hurriedly said:

"According to the rules, we aren't allowed to..."

Hum!

A sword's hum rang out, cutting the maid off.

"Drink or die. Choose one," Lin Tian said indifferently.