Chapter 41: Chapter 40: A Muddy Wall Cannot be Supported!

The Middle Stage of Dark Energy! Although he wasn’t surprised by this cultivation level, Zhan Long’s declaration still plunged Ye Jizu into a deep panic. Dark Energy was divided into four major stages: Elementary, Middle Stage, Great Success, and Pinnacle. However, each stage was further divided into three minor ranks, and every breakthrough had its own absolute threshold. Someone at the Middle Stage of Dark Energy might not be able to dominate the entire world, but they could certainly hold their head high in the Martial World! After all, while this era was dominated by Martial Artists, Ye Jizu knew exactly how difficult it was to advance through the cultivation ranks. Wang Lu, for example, had been stuck at the bottleneck of the Middle Stage of Dark Energy for a full five years before his breakthrough. Therefore, Ye Jizu was keenly aware of just how valuable a Middle Stage Dark Energy Martial Artist truly was. And now there was Zhan Long, only in his early thirties, who possessed the strength to instantly kill an Elementary Stage practitioner. More importantly, behind him stood Lan Xiaosheng, the man who had trained him.

This was a kind of revenge he simply could not withstand. Furthermore, if Lan Xiaosheng were forced to intervene, the entire Ye Family would be dragged down with him! Just how profound and unfathomable was a man who could cultivate a Middle Stage Dark Energy expert? Ye Jizu didn’t dare to imagine. The legend from twenty-five years ago, which stated that Hua Xiaotian had only narrowly defeated Lan Xiaosheng, made him involuntarily consider Hua Xiaotian’s current level of cultivation. If Hua Xiaotian was, at a minimum, a Transformation Realm Grandmaster, then what heights had Lan Xiaosheng reached? He panicked!

“Zhan Long, I admit I was wrong five years ago! Can’t we resolve this peacefully? I can compensate you for the grievances you’ve suffered for the last five years, in any way you wish!”

Ye Jizu backed down. He was intimidated by Zhan Long’s strength and Lan Xiaosheng’s backing. This was the second time in many years Ye Jizu had been forced to cower, the first time having been before Qin Fan.

“Tsk, tsk… Patriarch Ye has lost his nerve, has he?” Zhan Long sneered, his eyes filled with disdain. He then continued ferociously, “You want a peaceful resolution? You want to compensate me? Haha! First, take a knife and carve a scar on your face just like mine. Then, cripple one of your hands. Only after you’ve done that can you come and talk to me about peace! Patriarch Ye, do you dare? Have you got the guts?”

Carve a scar on my face? Cripple my own hand? Could I dare? Upon hearing the demands, Ye Jizu trembled uncontrollably.

But the thought of Qin Fan gave him hope. If not for that call from Ye Haoyuan, if Qin Fan had refused, I might have had to go beg the Old Master and ask for Wang Lu, a Great Success Dark Energy expert, to protect me. But thinking back on it now, a chill ran down my spine. Asking Wang Lu to help me deal with Lan Xiaosheng’s son-in-law would undoubtedly push the Ye Family onto a knife’s edge. Could the Ye Family afford such a price? Relieved, he fell silent. He had to wait for Qin Fan.

“Would it kill you to not act so tough?” a lazy voice, carrying a distinct chill, drifted up from the wooden staircase.

“Lord Qin!” Ye Jizu shouted excitedly before the figure had even appeared.

Lord Qin? To think Ye Jizu would address someone so reverently…

The title alone made Zhan Long frown. He reflexively snapped his head around, only to see a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy with an indifferent expression walking up the stairs.

“Was that you who just spoke?” Never one for kindness, Zhan Long’s anger began to surge.

’Would it kill you to not act so tough?’ To be lectured by a teenage brat like this… forget being a Middle Stage Dark Energy expert, anyone would be furious!

“Heh…” Qin Fan simply shook his head in disdain, paying Zhan Long no mind as he casually strolled onto the second-floor landing.

“Lord Qin, thank you! Thank you!” Ye Jizu rushed to Qin Fan’s side, bowing slightly with solemn respect.

“Ye Jizu, is this the help you found? A teenage brat you have to call ’Lord’? You’re getting more pathetic by the day!” Zhan Long mocked. Seeing Ye Jizu’s deferential posture, he completely ignored Qin Fan’s earlier slight and jeered incessantly. He didn’t take this teenage boy seriously in the slightest.

A teenager, even one who started practicing Martial Arts in the womb, would have limited cultivation. Even legends like Hua Xiaotian and Lan Xiaosheng, who were practically deified by the public at that age, were only at the Pinnacle of Ming Energy. Could this kid surpass those legends? So what if he could? Even an Elementary Stage Dark Energy user would have to bow before me!

In his confidence, he overlooked one thing. If this boy were truly just at the Elementary Stage of Dark Energy, would Ye Jizu have invited him? Would he have respectfully called him “Lord Qin”? After all, the bodyguard he had just knocked out was at the Elementary Stage of Dark Energy.

“Zhan Long, so many years have passed. Can’t we resolve this peacefully? Yes, I admit I was wrong! I admit I’ve lost my nerve!” Wary of Lan Xiaosheng’s backing, even now, Ye Jizu was unwilling to truly go to war with Zhan Long.

“I told you, carve up your face and cripple your hand before you speak to me again! Now, I’m going to throw this little brat out! What’s this nonsense? Some half-grown kid dares to prance around in front of me!” Zhan Long bellowed.

WHOOSH.

His hand shot out toward Qin Fan with incredible speed.

Watching the movement that seemed to unfold in slow motion, Qin Fan smiled lazily, standing firm and unmoving as a mountain.

Zhan Long, whose own eyes gleamed, misinterpreted this stillness as Qin Fan being scared stiff. The disdain in his gaze intensified as he pictured the scene of Qin Fan screaming while being flung away.

CRACK.

As Zhan Long’s hand grabbed the unmoving Qin Fan, a strange sound echoed. A look of absurd disbelief filled Zhan Long’s eyes. It didn’t feel like he had grabbed flesh and blood, but rather a piece of impossibly hard rock. No, even “rock” couldn’t describe it. For a Middle Stage Dark Energy expert, shattering a boulder wasn’t difficult. But now? His fingers couldn’t even make the slightest indent!

Zhan Long was utterly stunned.

Seeing the disbelief in Zhan Long’s eyes, Qin Fan gave a faint, dismissive smile. The Prison Suppressing Body was overwhelmingly powerful even on the Cangqiong Continent. How could a pathetic Middle Stage Dark Energy Martial Artist like this hope to move it?

“My turn,” Qin Fan said lightly.

His right hand drifted forward. Though the motion looked casual, in Zhan Long’s eyes, it was a blur of afterimages. He had no time to react before his neck was suddenly seized. With a relaxed smile, Qin Fan lifted him straight into the air!

“Ye Jizu, do you have the resolve to let him die?” Qin Fan asked, looking up slightly at the dangling Zhan Long with a harmless smile.

Do I have the resolve to let him die? If Zhan Long dies, does that mean I’ll become Lan Xiaosheng’s sworn enemy? In that split second, Ye Jizu’s thoughts raced, his expression shifting rapidly.

“Ye Jizu, if I die, you’ll drag your entire Ye Family into a hell from which there is no return! Lan Xiaosheng’s nephew can’t lose his father, and his foolish daughter can’t lose me!” Zhan Long yelled, seeing Ye Jizu hesitate while he was held aloft by Qin Fan.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t resisting; it was that in Qin Fan’s grip, he couldn’t move a muscle, despite his formidable Middle Stage Dark Energy cultivation. As he spoke, his heart was flooded with unimaginable shock. A teenage brat with such heaven-defying strength… This… this is impossible! And yet, faced with this reality, no matter how impossible it seemed, his life was no longer in his hands.

“Lord Qin… let him go.” As he said the words, Ye Jizu felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body. He had only considered Lan Xiaosheng and had completely neglected how Qin Fan would see him now.

“Pathetic. Like trying to plaster a wall with mud,” Qin Fan said with a meaningful, cold laugh, shaking his head. The hand holding Zhan Long suddenly slammed him violently onto the floor!

BANG!

CREAK… CRACK!

As Zhan Long hit the ground, the wooden floorboards splintered under the immense force.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhan Long coughed up a mouthful of blood, forced himself back to his feet, and leaped straight out of the second-story window.

Down below, Ye Haoyuan had just reached the entrance of the Nine Dragons Teahouse. He froze in his tracks at the sight of the figure plummeting from above.

But that momentary pause was all Zhan Long needed to get a clear look at his face. Ye Jizu’s son? Haha! Heaven is on my side!

A sinister, savage grin spread across his face. He shot forward, appearing before Ye Haoyuan in a flash. Without a single word, his fingers closed around Ye Haoyuan’s neck.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep