Chapter 168. You’re Extorting Me?
Xu Yuan found it strange and said, “Yuquan Prefecture City.”
Zhao Xu frowned. What kind of place was that?
He had never even heard of it. The man had to be some country bumpkin from nowhere.
At that thought, the smile on his face grew even brighter. “It’s like this—Senior Brother Liu Yang is holding a welcoming gathering for the new disciples, so I came specially to invite you over.”
“A welcoming gathering?” Xu Yuan raised a brow.
“Here on Ziqing Peak, there are group missions from time to time. Making more friends at a time like this is also a way to prepare for the future.” Zhao Xu still wore the same warm and amiable expression.
“But I still have a few friends…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll go invite them in a moment.”
Xu Yuan considered it for a moment, then smiled. “All right. Then I’ll trouble you to lead the way.”
The two of them passed through the corridors and headed straight toward a courtyard.
…
Inside the small courtyard,
three figures were currently gathered there.
“Senior Brother Liu, do you think that kid might have some kind of background?” asked a man in a black martial outfit.
“Relax. Zhao Xu knows what he’s doing. Besides, people at that age can never hide things well. If he really had backing, he would have flaunted it long ago.”
The speaker was a tall, dark-skinned man with thick eyebrows like brushstrokes. He was none other than Liu Yang.
He gave a dark chuckle. “A few more jobs like this, and once I’ve saved up enough Qi-Replenishing Pills, it probably won’t be long before I can face the life-and-death tribulation head-on. When that time comes, I’ll definitely step into the Grandmaster realm!”
“Then let me congratulate you in advance, Senior Brother Liu,” said another young man in a blue robe with a smile, cupping his hands.
Liu Yang burst into laughter. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget you. Once you also become Grandmasters, I’ll recommend you to Senior Brother Hua and have you enter his cave abode.”
“In that case, we’ll all be relying on you, Senior Brother Liu,” the man in black said with a faint laugh.
“These people always think that once they enter Fangcun Sect, they can sleep soundly without a care in the world. They have no idea how dangerous the world really is. As their Senior Brothers, it just so happens that we can teach them a lesson.”
“They’ll probably have to thank us for it, hahaha.”
The young man in blue threw his head back and laughed loudly.
Crash!
Without warning, the tightly shut courtyard gate was kicked open with brute force, splintering on the spot.
Countless fragments roared into the courtyard with savage force, howling sharply through the air.
The three men inside were all so startled that their faces changed as they sprang to their feet.
“Interesting. So there’s even a private lesson, is there?”
Xu Yuan slowly walked in and casually threw the badly swollen and bruised Zhao Xu aside.
“So, you’re trying to extort me?”
Liu Yang and the two young men beside him were both shocked and enraged as they rose together and looked toward the doorway.
Good, very good!
It had been a long time since they had seen a new disciple like this.
This arrogant, this overbearing—he had actually kicked their courtyard gate to pieces with a single blow!
Even so, Liu Yang did not move at once. He gave the two men behind him a look.
They immediately understood, went over to pull Zhao Xu up, asked him something in low voices, and then nodded at Liu Yang.
Only then did Liu Yang bare his teeth in a savage smile and say, “So you’re the new disciple. Not only did you casually assault a Senior Brother, you also deliberately damaged sect property. On that point alone, it would be perfectly justified for me to teach you a lesson.”
The other two also rose to their feet, both smiling now.
With their arms folded, they began closing in on Xu Yuan.
In this day and age, it was not easy to come across an idiot with so little sense.
Since you had no background, why not just keep your head down and behave yourself?
Instead, you just had to do something so foolish, as though trying to show off your youthful pride.
The atmosphere in the courtyard gradually became oppressive.
Xu Yuan did not move. Instead, he asked in puzzlement, “If you extort fellow disciples like this, aren’t you afraid the sect will hold you accountable?”
Liu Yang gave a scornful laugh. “Those elders in the sect are all busy cultivating in seclusion. Why would they care about a trivial matter like yours?”
“As long as no disciple dies, who has the leisure to come after us? Besides, competition is encouraged within the sect to begin with. If your skills are inferior, who can you blame?”
Xu Yuan suddenly understood. “I see. Then that makes things much easier.”
What did that mean?
Liu Yang and the others were taken aback. In the past, whenever new disciples saw a scene like this, even if they did not run, they would at least show fear on their faces.
After all, their side had three Extraordinary Meridians martial artists.
But looking at this fellow, why did he seem a little excited instead?
Xu Yuan shook his head and asked again, “Didn’t you know I have companions?”
At that moment, the young man in blue laughed out loud. “So that’s what you’re relying on? Don’t worry. Other people are already taking care of them.”
Xu Yuan’s heart sank. There were multiple groups involved?
The environment for new disciples in Fangcun Sect was rather awful!
Looking at him, Liu Yang suddenly sighed and said in a seemingly gentle tone,
“Junior Brother, I’m not trying to make things difficult for you on purpose. It’s just that the monthly allotment of Qi-Replenishing Pills is too small. If you are willing to hand over your share, then once I enter the Organ Nourishment realm in the future, there will naturally be benefits for you.”
“Benefits?”
Xu Yuan let out a light laugh. “How about this instead? Why don’t all of you gather pills together and let me enter the Organ Nourishment realm first? I think my chances are better than yours.”
“It seems Junior Brother is determined to make this unpleasant.”
Liu Yang’s face gradually turned cold.
The man in black beside him also said unhappily, “If we let you advance first, then what about the rest of us?”
Xu Yuan shook his head lightly. “Ah, that’s where you’re mistaken.”
“It’s not that you won’t advance. It’s that you’ll advance more slowly and in a more orderly way. I’ll advance first and then bring all of you along afterward. In the end, everyone advances, don’t they?”
“Stop spewing bullshit at me! Junior Brothers, take him together!” Liu Yang shouted coldly.
But Xu Yuan moved faster than all of them.
With a single step, his entire body shot forward at terrifying speed. His muscles and bones rang out together from head to toe, crackling violently like a demonic body cast from steel.
There was no more talk!
The moment he moved, he unleashed an ultimate palm strike. In the air, it seemed as though three surging waves of river water thundered forth.
“You dare!”
Liu Yang roared in fury, his eyes turning red as the force in his body circulated to its absolute limit. He threw a punch straight at Xu Yuan without hesitation.
He had never expected this fellow to dare strike first!
How could this be tolerated?
How dare he be this arrogant!
“Ironstone Fist!”
Boom!
With a violent explosion, the two bursts of force collided.
A terrifying, savage gale instantly erupted between them, surging outward like a field of blades. The two men who had just been approaching both changed expression and felt a sharp sting across their skin.
Then they saw an utterly horrifying scene.
Liu Yang, who had built up his strength in the Extraordinary Meridians realm for a long time, was actually unable to stop Xu Yuan!
The moment their fist and palm met, Liu Yang’s wrist bone cracked with a sharp snap. Then it bent at an unbelievable angle, and a shrill scream tore out of his mouth.
Xu Yuan’s Layered Wave Palm did not slow in the slightest. Still carrying the crushing weight of a thousand jun, it slammed into Liu Yang’s abdomen like a massive iron hammer.
Boom!
That terrifying force exploded forth instantly, beating Liu Yang until he sprayed blood wildly. His consciousness blurred, the whites of his eyes rolled up, and his entire body was lifted off the ground and bent into the shape of a shrimp.
The clothing over both his chest and back was violently shattered by the impact, revealing the well-tempered skin beneath.
Bang!
Liu Yang’s body flew seven or eight meters backward and crashed into the corner of the wall behind him. He convulsed violently, unable to get back up.
…