Chapter 34: Chapter 32: Beat Him Up for This Master
Mr. Si shot forward, intercepting the Smiling Scholar.
He was the only one present who had not reached the Innate Realm. Though he was just a hair’s breadth away, in battle, that tiny gap was a chasm.
He had no intention of defeating his opponent; he only hoped to stall for time.
Du Gubian wouldn’t deign to fight him. As for the Sick Young Master, Chen Tonggui, his Poison Skill was masterful, and Mr. Si didn’t dare face him head-on. That left the Smiling Scholar as his only option.
Yang Wenwan finally drew her sword. The next instant, she clashed violently with Du Gubian. The impact of their energies sent out a deafening roar, shaking the snow from the nearby trees.
Meanwhile, Du Youqian met the Sick Young Master, Chen Tonggui, empty-handed.
As an Alchemy Master, it was only logical for him to carry a few Antitoxic Pills.
His fight against Chen Tonggui would likely be decided faster than Mr. Si’s.
And as for the Immortal Master who had made her grand entrance last, her beautiful eyes had not left Du Youqian for a single moment.
~~~~~~~~~~
Innate Grandmaster.
The first thing people thought of when they heard this term was power.
Unrivaled power.
Then came rarity, eccentric personalities, and elusive natures.
In truth, to say an Innate Grandmaster was "powerful" was a generalization.
There were varying levels of strength even among Innate Grandmasters.
For example...
Yang Wenwan and Mr. Si were struggling against their respective opponents.
On the other side, however, the fight between Du Youqian and the Sick Young Master, Chen Tonggui, was not nearly as close as one might expect.
After just five moves, Chen Tonggui took a palm strike.
While he wasn’t seriously injured, the flow of his True Qi was disrupted.
But Du Youqian gave him no time to recover, his subsequent attacks coming like a sudden storm.
After blocking a few blows, Chen Tonggui was completely caught in Du Youqian’s rhythm, unable to mount any sort of counterattack.
Within thirty moves, the Sick Young Master, Chen Tonggui, was coughing up blood and had over a dozen broken bones.
For experts like them, thirty moves passed in the span of just a few breaths.
The battles involving Yang Wenwan and Mr. Si were still in their warm-up phase.
The two of them were experiencing an indescribable mix of feelings.
On one hand, they were happy, of course; Du Youqian was on their side, after all.
If Du Youqian could secure an easy victory and reduce the enemy’s numbers...
...it would give them a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.
On the other hand, there was shock, a touch of jealousy, and a hint of resentment.
’You’re only twenty-four, and you’ve only been practicing Martial Arts for six years, yet you’re effortlessly thrashing the Sick Young Master, Chen Tonggui.’
’Chen Tonggui may look young, but he’s actually over sixty and has been an Innate Grandmaster for nearly twenty years!’
’And you’re beating him like he’s your own son.’
’Isn’t that a little disrespectful to your elders?’
’Are our decades of lonely Martial Arts cultivation, all the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve shed, worth nothing?’
In truth, they hadn’t considered the details.
A large part of why Du Youqian could achieve such a miraculous result was that the Sick Young Master’s skills were mostly focused on "poison."
And poison was the one thing Du Youqian feared least.
Furthermore, Du Youqian wasn’t really only twenty-four; his combat experience was actually extremely vast.
Chen Tonggui, unaware of this, had underestimated him from the start, which led to him being at a disadvantage after just five moves.
When experts clash, victory hangs by a thread. Once you fall behind, how could it be so easy to turn the tables?
These two factors were the key to Du Youqian’s easy domination of Chen Tonggui.
In fact, if Du Youqian had faced a different opponent—be it Du Gubian or Lin Lisan—he might still have won, but it would have been anything but easy.
A few more breaths passed.
Chen Tonggui fell.
A flying needle had pierced the center of his brow, leaving only a tiny speck of blood. In reality, his brain had been turned to mush.
"Immortal Master, why did you..." Lin Lisan forced Mr. Si back with a palm strike, his voice trembling.
"Useless," the Immortal Master said lightly, her vermilion lips barely parting.
Everyone fell silent.
Although Du Youqian had the absolute upper hand, Chen Tonggui was still an Innate Grandmaster. If he had been determined to flee, Du Youqian couldn’t have stopped him.
So, as Chen Tonggui tried to escape, the Immortal Master had made her move.
Dozens of flying needles hovered above her head, each glowing with a faint blue light, clearly coated in a deadly poison.
Du Youqian found this interesting. He had seen quite a few people use flying needles as Magical Artifacts.
But he had never seen a Cultivator coat their Magical Artifacts in poison.
’I wonder what kind of Sect Lin Sha joined.’
That’s right. The Immortal Master their enemies had paid a great price to hire was none other than Lin Sha, who had been missing for three years.
Her veil had prevented Yang Wenwan, who wasn’t familiar with her, from recognizing her.
But there was no way Du Youqian would fail to recognize her. He wasn’t that much of a scumbag.
"This person displeases me," Lin Sha said, raising a slender, jade-like finger to point at Du Youqian.
"Me?" Du Youqian pointed at himself in surprise, looking left and right. "Why me? Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?"
Lin Sha ignored him and commanded coolly, "You two, go beat him up for me."
"Yes."
Lin Lisan and Du Gubian immediately abandoned their opponents and leaped in front of Du Youqian.
As for Mr. Si and Yang Wenwan, the glowing needles hovering before their eyes served as a silent warning, daring them to make a move.
Du Youqian could only give a wry smile and spread his hands. "Well then, I’ll do my best to try and earn a smile from the beauty."
"You court death!" Before Du Gubian’s voice had even faded, he had already slashed out with his blade.
Meanwhile, Lin Lisan’s Judge’s Pen attacked from behind without a single sound of displaced air.
His Innate True Qi had parted the air, allowing the weapon to move with almost no resistance.
Du Youqian didn’t dare be careless. Both men were experts who had been Innate Grandmasters for at least twenty years; he would have a hard time fighting either one of them individually.
Against two, all he could do was use every trick up his sleeve and hold on for as long as he could.
’I can’t just abandon Yang Wenwan and run away by myself, can I?’
Of course, the most crucial reason Du Youqian was willing to stay and fight was that he knew his life was not in danger.
A woman’s heart is a needle at the bottom of the sea, as they say. After three years apart, he didn’t know if Lin Sha’s feelings had changed.
But he was certain of one thing: even if she wanted to kill him, Lin Sha would do it herself, not leave it to others.
The pressure from two Innate Grandmasters working together left Du Youqian almost no chance to even catch his breath and regulate his Qi, forcing him onto the defensive.
In just over a dozen moves, he was at an absolute disadvantage.
Du Youqian was a complicated person.
For example, he believed that following one’s gut was a virtue.
A gentleman does not stand beneath a collapsing wall; he who understands the times is a man of wisdom.
After all, he had infinite chances at reincarnation; there was no need to fight over a temporary victory or defeat.
But sometimes, he would act on impulse.
Just like now.
He was once a Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer Cultivator who wielded powerful Magical Artifacts and Secret Techniques. At his peak, he could fight on par with a Qi Cultivation Late Stage Cultivator.
He could have killed ten Martial Arts Innate Grandmasters at once with a single poke of his finger.
Therefore, he held a contempt for ordinary Innate Grandmasters that he himself wasn’t even fully aware of.
And now, to be suppressed by two people he looked down on... an unknown fire of rage began to burn fiercely within him.
