Frowning slightly, Luo Jianqing puckered his lips.
What Qiu Shuifu saw was a young idiot who was about to take vengeance on him for a bun, not knowing who he was and what he was capable of. Waving his hands with an obvious scorn, Qiu Shuifu threw a piece of Low-grade Spiritual Stone toward Luo Jianqing, and said indifferently, “Come on, it’s just a bun. Get out of my sight with this stone.”
The stone never reached Luo Jianqing. Several inches away from its target, the stone fell abruptly to the ground as if it was blocked by an invisible wall. Qiu Shuifu was totally stunned when he saw this scene.
Moving his eyes off the Spiritual Stone, Qiu Shuifu lifted his head and saw that weird young man dressed in bice was looking at him with a calm and aloof gaze. That ethereal visage of his was expressionless, Luo Jianqing was simply looking back at him with a sense of casualness, as if he was nothing but a piece of dust.
Without any reason, Qiu Shuifu felt a cultch at his heart. He said involuntarily, “Is it you?!”
Raising his eyebrows subtly, Luo Jianqing smiled softly, “What?”
A subtle change of facial expression made him a completely different person in Qiu Shuifu’s perception.
Luo Jianqing had made Qiu Shuifu believe that he was just a naïve Childe who had nothing in his brain except stupidity, but a few seconds ago, he himself intentionally broke that impression. Luo Jianqing stood under the sun, like an ethereal high level cultivator, bearing the golden ray which lightened up his handsome visage. Wind stroked his lustrous hair. His bice robe was glimmering under the sunshine.
Though suspicious, Qiu Shuifu still couldn’t believe Luo Jianqing was that mysterious cultivator. Qiu Shuifu scanned Luo Jianqing all over again by using his Spiritual Sense, which didn’t tell him a different result – a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator, nothing special.
But how could this be possible? Qiu Shuifu wondered, it is impossible for a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator to save Zhao Yue right in front of himself and Elder Li.
Except…
“Who the heck is your accomplice? Point him out for me and we shall have a competition!”
Chuckling, Luo Jianqing was amused by his words, “Accomplice? Well, Childe Qiu, can you at least tell me what I did exactly? Your friend suddenly dispersed his coercion which freaked me out so that my bun was dropped on the ground. This is no common bun, I tell you, and now you want to compensate me with a low-grade Spiritual Stone? Seriously?”
Qiu Shuifu was irritated, “Come on, it’s just a bun! One Spiritual Stone is enough for you to buy more buns than you could ever eat in your life!”
Widening his eyes in shock, Luo Jianqing said in an obvious astonishment, “Do you have some problem with your eyes?”
In other words: Are you blind?!
Qiu Shuifu reproached him, “That’s enough! If you say one more slandering word, I promise that you won’t step out of this Chamber of Commerce in one piece.”
“Alright”, Luo Jianqing murmured, as if soliloquizing, “I see that you are blind.”
Qiu Shuifu, “You!”
Besides them, Xuan Lingzi was watching this prank in calmness. Luo Jianqing was clearly playing a naughty trick on Qiu Shuifu, but his Master didn’t feel there was anything wrong with it. Instead, Xuan Lingzi thought, my disciple was so cute. Right, cultivators of Tai Hua Mountain should never be taken advantage of. Jianqing was such a role model as the Great Senior Disciple.
Luo Jianqing had no idea that his Master was mumbling such interesting ideas in his head. Well, he could never know how biased Xuan Lingzi was. Luo Jianqing continued his little quarrel with Qiu Shuifu, “As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, how come you missed the Spiritual Power dispersing out of this bun? Again, this is not a common Baozi. This is my Life Item!”
Luo Jianqing paused to let his word sunk in. Every one was stunned and kept silent.
Qiu Shuifu was now in real anger. He yelled, “Who the heck would use a bun as his Life Item?!”
Luo Jianqing smiled innocently and pointed himself, “Me.”
Qiu Shuifu, “…”
Luo Jianqing gazed at the bun in sympathy, “This bun had been accompanying me day and night since the first day I decided to be a cultivator. I cannot bear it to be eaten, so it is still a flawless bun all the time. Then, one day, I forged it to be my Life Item, and by any reason it deserves to be treated the same way as the other magical items received. Today, however, under the witness of many others, my bun fell on the ground and is now profaned by dirt, while the other magical items are enshrined in this chamber of commerce, being cared for as precious.” Luo Jianqing paused, pursed his mouth and then let out a long sigh, “Why, discrimination is everywhere.”
Qiu Shuifu was so furious that her pointed his finger at Luo Jianqing and lashed out, “Nonsense!”
Moving away his eyes from the bun, Luo Jianqing got rid of that sad look. He made a slight smile, and fixed his limpid eyes on Qiu Shuifu, “Then, give my intact bun back to me.”
Qiu Shuifu said, “Alright, I see, how many stones is it worth? I’ll compensate you.”
Luo Jianqing said in coldness, “One hundred high-grade Spiritual Stones.”
Qiu Shuifu widened his eyes, “Don’t treat me like a fool!”
Luo Jianqing chuckled, “So you refuse to compensate?”
Hearing Luo Jianqing’s words, Qiu Shuifu sized him up once again. In his eyes, Luo Jianqing was a bold and seemingly indifferent Foundation Establishment cultivator was just trying to playing a joke with him, nothing more. Folding his fan in rage, Qiu Shuifu said, “This whole thing is a setup. However, you made a deadly mistake – don’t think you could take any advantage of the family of prime minister just because you got someone helping you in secret. Today, I shall teach you a lesson for your boldness.”
The next instant, Qiu Shuifu dashed toward Luo Jianqing while forging Spiritual Power into his fan.
Without even dodging, Luo Jianqing stood where he was, looking fearlessly at that Spiritual-Power-forged gigantic falcon flew right toward his eyes. When the beak of the falcon was about to peck his eyeball, Luo Jianqing stretched out his fingers and nipped Qiu Shuifu’s fan effortlessly. Then, he flicked his wrist.
Boom!
Qiu Shuifu was knocked high up in the air and was then caught by his Gold Core Period bodyguard before he hit the ground.
The crowd was shocked. Even Zhao Yue was staring at Luo Jianqing, unable to believe what she just saw.
“Is this… really the power of a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator?”
“How come Childe Qiu was knocked off like that? This guy didn’t even move! Why, it doesn’t make any sense. Childe Qiu is also a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator. They are of the same cultivation base, but one is extremely better than another!”
“He is such a powerful cultivator! Does anyone know who he is?”
Zhao Yue gazed at Luo Jianqing in astonishment. She knew that Luo Jianqing was no doubt a talented one, given that he easily finished the killers that were sent to murder her on the way back. Though the leader of that killer gang was a late-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator, he was no comparison with Qiu Shuifu, even if the latter was only at middle-stage cultivator.
Why? Because Qiu Shuifu got well-equipped and well-experienced. The fan he was fiddling all the time was actually a High-level Supreme Magic Item! Grown up in a cultivation family, Qiu Shuifu had abundant resources, and he accumulated his fighting experience through combats with many high-level cultivators. Although Zhao Yue never really liked him, she had to admit that Qiu Shuifu was a powerful cultivator among his Foundation Establishment Period.
However, no matter how impressive he appeared to be, this arrogant Childe was defeated by Luo Jianqing so easily!
Carefully putting Qiu Shuifu on the ground, the Gold Core Period bodyguard checked his injury and found his Master was only slightly hurt on the skin. Assured of Qiu Shuifu’s safety, the body guard drew a pair of scimitars out of his Interspatial Ring, staring at Luo Jianqing with ice-cold eyes. He sneered, “I respect that guy whoever it is that helped you secretly, and I had no intention to bully a kid. However, now that you’ve hurt Childe Qiu, then don’t blame me for this. You asked for it!”
Thunder started rumbling in the sky.
Suddenly, colossal thick clouds covered the firmament that hung over the Chamber of Commerce. Silver snakes were writhing among the clouds. Blades of lightning were shimmering, as if the next second they would strike the earth. The Gold Core Period cultivator was brandishing his scarlet-colored scimitars, which was glittering under the creepy lightning.
The man hacked, and along with his action, thousands of silver snakes dived from the sky, covered by enormous Blade Shadow that was forged by Spiritual Power. The earth was shaken.
“The Blade of Thunder!”
After all, the bodyguard was a Gold Core Period cultivator, and Luo Jianqing’s cultivation base was constrained by his Master, but it was not a big deal. Luo Jianqing’s middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivation base was not for a guy like Qiu Shuifu to challenge, given that the latter had little chance to win. For this Gold Core Period bodyguard, there was still a little possibility.
Frowning, Luo Jianqing watched the herd of Thunder Snakes approaching him. Hesitating for a moment, at last, he drew out Floating Frost Sword but left it sheathed, just gently waved his sword in the air. A plume of gigantic thunder struck straight from the sky and shocked everyone.
“Man, that’s a horrific thunder!”
“I’ve never seen a thunder like this. What the heck is that?!”
“A thunder summoned by a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator? That’s insane!”
The rumbling thunder, mixed with wisps of bice Spiritual Power, collided with the Blade Shadow.
Bang!
Sound echoing in the Wu Dao Chamber of Commerce, the collision had shaken the floor, making all of the items move off their original positions. The four-story building started to gloom in a mustard color. The defense mechanisms had been triggered. As a magic item, the Chamber of Commerce surely needed to protect itself along with the magic items inside it.
At the very beginning of Luo Jianqing and Qiu Shuifu’s quarrel, the manager of Chamber of Commerce had hurried here to see what was going on. He didn’t take it seriously. A quarrel between the Family of Prime Minister and the Family of State Minister was not a one he should interfere, for he could not afford to upset neither of them. The manager decided to leave it to themselves. Now, nonetheless, if he kept practicing that strategy for any longer, he feared that this building of his would soon be turned into a bunch of useless bricks!
The manager of the Wu Dao Chamber of Commerce stood up and shouted, “Please! Cultivators, please continue your fight outside this building!”
Luo Jianqing turned back to look at the manager, but before he responded, he sensed a Blade Wind striking toward him. Tilting his head immediately, Luo Jianqing wasn’t hit directly by the attack, but got cut a wisp of hair.
Luo Jianqing’s face darkened gradually. Next to him, Xuan Lingzi frowned as well, squinting at the Gold Core Period cultivator.
Floating Frost Sword was roaring in anger, colliding the scabbard constantly, but Luo Jianqing still didn’t draw it out.
The graceful young cultivator flicked his sleeves and asked, “As a man, bullying a lady in public is already unforgivable. Mrs. Lin said that you already took the compensation and accepted her apology, then you made another wrong move by humiliating her so many years after that event. Last but not least, you know better than anyone else that I am just a middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator, and you tried to take me down by secret attack. Excuse me, where is your manner?”
Pausing, Luo Jianqing stroked the scabbard of Floating Frost, stating in a cold tone, “People like you don’t deserve me to draw out my sword.”
Floating Frost Sword vibrated with agreement.
Fixing his eyes on his opponent, Luo Jianqing smiled, “But you, deserve to take one of my Sword Maneuvers.”
Pinching two fingers together, Luo Jianqing summoned a plume of bice-colored Sword Light which floated into the air and formed eight Sword Shadows.
The Sword Qi dispersed by them was so thick that it was almost condensed into a tangible pillar. Luo Jianqing casted the Floating Frost Sword in the air. Immediately, the sword started spinning, surrounded by the Sword Shadows.
Within the scabbard, Floating Frost still dispersed tremendous Sword Qi.
Tapping the ground with his right foot, Luo Jianqing pushed Floating Frost Sword forward. Suddenly, the hovering sword matrix turned into a bice lotus, attacking the Gold Core Period cultivator with intimidating Spiritual Power and coercion.
“One Sword Nine-Petal Lotus!”
The bodyguard was no rookie. Responding quickly, he generated his most powerful maneuver.
Two gigantic Blade Shadows appeared, while Luo Jianqing’s bice lotus was tiny and cute. In the eyes of that Gold Core Period cultivator, however, this seemingly harmless lotus was dispersing dangerous power. In a blink, the Blade Shadows was torn asunder. Luo Jianqing’s opponent reeled back a dozen of steps and finally spat out a mouthful of blood, with cultivation base dropping a great amount.
One single Sword Maneuver with sheathed sword. Nobody was expecting a result like that.