Chapter 99: Chapter 98: Outburst
"This..." Shangguan Buhui despised Qin Li. ’Why the hell did you have to show up now and cause trouble?’ he thought. He also felt a hint of resentment toward Shangguan Hongfei. He knew Hong Fei was in league with his own father and was very dissatisfied with his decision to break off the engagement. However, he was even more unsure of the Crown Prince’s intentions. He stammered, "Your Highness, this isn’t a good idea, is it? That boy’s status..." As he spoke, he suddenly recalled Zhao Longteng, the founding emperor of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom, and immediately swallowed the rest of his words.
Zhao Xinghe waved his hand casually. "It’s no matter. I’ve heard he’s the one cultivating the ’Only I am Venerable’ combat skill. Heh, to be honest with you, the Royal Family has been studying this skill for a long time. It’s a genuine Divine-level Combat Skill—fierce and domineering. Unfortunately, no one has been able to survive three stages of Nirvana with it so far. So, I want to see if a miracle might happen with him. Besides, I heard the entire Qin Family was wiped out. Sigh, the Qin Family was a great and powerful clan in the Cyan Dragon Kingdom. It’s truly a shame. The Qin Family’s two young masters are with my second brother now. Heh, so this Qin Li could be considered a scion of the Qin Family, couldn’t he?"
Shangguan Buhui’s heart tightened. The Crown Prince’s words seemed casual, but they revealed a critical point: the Imperial Capital was a great distance from Yellow Sand City, yet he knew the minor details about an illegitimate son with such clarity. And he mentioned that Qin Feng and Qin Hu were following the Second Prince... ’There’s a deeper meaning to his words!’
From the very beginning, Shangguan Buhui had never treated the Crown Prince as a child. Born into the Royal Family, the center of everyone’s attention, and receiving the finest education from a young age—how could his intellect possibly be lacking?
"Your Highness, Qin Li has already been expelled from the Qin Family. In fact, before the family was annihilated, they even put a bounty of one hundred thousand taels of silver on him. It’s said that six months ago, Qin Li sowed discord between the Mo Family and the Qin Family..."
"Enough. Just bring him here. I won’t make things difficult for him," Zhao Xinghe said, frowning slightly.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s displeasure, Shangguan Buhui had no choice but to reluctantly have someone summon Qin Li. He was deeply anxious, having no confidence in Qin Li whatsoever. Back at the grand banquet, Qin Li had dared to act so brazenly in front of all the upper-class figures of Yellow Sand City. Just because the person before him was now the Crown Prince, would he really behave himself?
’He’d better behave!’ Shangguan Buhui’s expression was grim. He was the one calling the shots in the Shangguan Family now, and he would not tolerate anything that might disrupt his plans! ’If he knows what’s good for him, fine. Otherwise...’ A murderous glint flashed in Shangguan Buhui’s eyes.
Inside the vast and opulent dining hall, there were seven or eight tables. More than half were occupied by legitimate descendants of the Shangguan Family, while the rest were the Crown Prince’s trusted retinue. They had been sitting together, chatting and laughing, but now they all fell silent, their eyes fixed in this direction, wondering what was happening.
A moment later, guided by Shangguan Hongfei, Qin Li arrived at the dining hall. On the way, Shangguan Hongfei had warned him repeatedly, terrified that Qin Li would cause trouble.
As soon as Qin Li entered, he felt several gazes land on him. One of them was particularly sinister—it belonged to Shangguan Buhui. Qin Li gave him a cool glance before turning his eyes to the Crown Prince Shangguan Hongfei had mentioned. He saw the prince sizing him up with curiosity, his eyes free of any disdain or mockery.
’He certainly looks the part,’ Qin Li thought to himself.
"Qin Li, greet His Highness the Crown Prince!" Shangguan Buhui’s voice was low and laced with a warning. He immediately made the Crown Prince’s identity clear, lest the boy play dumb.
"Oh?" Qin Li smiled faintly, looked at Zhao Xinghe, and said, "Hello, Crown Prince."
"Audacious!"
"Insolent!"
"Kneel before the Crown Prince!"
"What an ill-mannered bastard!"
"The old master must have been senile to have approved of someone like him."
Aside from the initial "Insolent!", which was shouted by Shangguan Buhui, the "Audacious!" came from his eldest son, Shangguan Xuanyu. This heir of the Shangguan Family was desperate for his sister to marry into the Royal Family. He had been studying at the Imperial Academy and had graduated this year. At eighteen, he possessed the strength of a third-rank Profound Level warrior. He had been personally decorated by His Majesty the Emperor and ennobled as a Baron. Although the title wasn’t hereditary, he now held noble status in the Cyan Dragon Kingdom and was considered a talented and promising young man.
He was more excited than anyone about the Crown Prince’s visit. If this marriage alliance succeeded, he would become an Imperial Uncle! This was why he was so utterly disgusted by Qin Li.
As for the noisy insults that followed, they all came from the legitimate members of the Shangguan Family. The Crown Prince’s trusted aides, on the other hand, hadn’t said a word—the Shangguans had already done the shouting for them.
"Qin Li, do you have any idea who you’re facing? How dare you act so absurdly!" Shangguan Buhui rebuked him angrily.
"It’s fine, it’s fine," Zhao Xinghe said, a sincere smile on his face. Ignoring everyone else’s reactions, he looked at Qin Li and chuckled, "I like people who are genuine!"
Qin Li also smiled. "But I don’t like smiling tigers."
Zhao Xinghe’s smile instantly froze on his face.
"You, Qin! Don’t push your luck! Get out of my Shangguan Family!" Shangguan Xuanyu slammed his hand on the table with a CRACK and shot to his feet, glaring at Qin Li. "Did you hear me? You’re not welcome here!"
"Who is he? Why is he so ill-mannered?" Qin Li asked Shangguan Buhui in a gentle tone, a guileless look on his face.
"You little beast! Believe it or not, I’ll have someone break your legs and throw you out right now!" Shangguan Buhui could no longer be bothered to keep up appearances in front of the Crown Prince. This boy wasn’t even showing the Crown Prince any respect. If he stayed, things would only spiral out of control.
"Throw me out?" Qin Li was still smiling. "Shangguan Buhui, let’s get this straight. By what right do you interfere in the marriage between Shiyu and me? Who the hell do you think you are? Huh? You announce that the engagement between Shangguan Shiyu and Qin Li is void? Who the hell are you to announce anything! You think you’re somebody? Break my legs... throw me out? Shangguan Buhui, you just try it!"
"Ah! You... You dare speak to me like that! You’re infuriating me! Guards! Guards!" Shangguan Buhui was fuming, roaring with rage. "Get over here, break this brat’s legs, and throw him out!"
"I’d like to see who dares!"
With a thunderous shout, a blue light flashed around Qin Li. A powerful aura erupted from his body, instantly flooding the entire banquet hall. The few people closest to him, including Crown Prince Zhao Xinghe who was at the ninth-rank of the Profound Level, all flushed red and staggered backward.
The Crown Prince’s retinue of Guards reacted with extreme speed, instantly releasing their own auras to shield Zhao Xinghe. They stared menacingly at Qin Li, ready to kill him on the spot if he made the slightest move.
These men were shocked. They hadn’t sensed the slightest fluctuation of Primordial Power from Qin Li before. To their surprise, he was an Earth Level Martial Artist!
Furthermore, his aura was exceptionally strange. He clearly had the strength of an early-stage Earth Level warrior, yet his presence was nearly on par with that of a Celestial Level expert!
It wasn’t that the Shangguan Family had no Celestial Level experts, but they were all in seclusion at this time. They would not emerge unless the clan faced a crisis of life and death.
Therefore, the Crown Prince’s Earth Level Guards were all nervously watching Qin Li’s every move.
"Qin Li, you’re too arrogant! Don’t forget, in the next twenty years, my Shangguan Family will produce ten Celestial Level experts! You should leave some leeway so we don’t have to be enemies in the future!" From a distance, a young Shangguan disciple, unable to bear the pressure of the aura, impulsively blurted out the family’s greatest secret.
Shangguan Buhui immediately thought, ’This is bad!’ As expected, a strange light flashed in the eyes of Crown Prince Zhao Xinghe, who was surrounded by his Guards. Shangguan Buhui was just about to turn and scold the young man for spouting nonsense.
But then he heard Qin Li chuckle. "That’s right, your Shangguan Family has Upper Grade Elixirs. You can produce ten Celestial Level experts in twenty years and even rival the Royal Family. But... so what? You haven’t produced them yet, have you?"
"Qin Li, stop spouting nonsense! My Shangguan Family is innocent. When have we ever possessed such elixirs? Forgive my impudence, Your Highness, but if our family truly had that kind of elixir, would we still be in our current position?"
Zhao Xinghe’s expression shifted slightly, but he had to admit that Shangguan Buhui’s quick-witted response had somewhat dispelled his doubts. He now thought it was possible the young disciple had just been spouting nonsense to intimidate Qin Li.
"Qin Li, what exactly do you want? Do you intend to make an enemy of the Shangguan Family?" Shangguan Xuanyu stared coldly at Qin Li. "Even if you have some decent strength, don’t forget... this is the Shangguan residence! You goddamn mongrel! If you have the guts, just try and touch anyone here! If I don’t tear you to shreds, my name isn’t Shangguan!"
SLAP!
A loud, crisp slap landed squarely on Shangguan Xuanyu’s face!
No one, not even the Guards beside Zhao Xinghe, saw how Qin Li had moved. They only saw a blur, and then Qin Li was standing in the same spot as before. Shangguan Xuanyu, however, was clutching his face, staring at Qin Li in utter disbelief. He opened his mouth and spat a bloody tooth onto the floor, then said dazedly, "Qin Li, you goddamn mongrel, you dare—"
SLAP!
Another slap landed viciously on the other side of Shangguan Xuanyu’s face!
"You ill-bred creature!" A chilling light shot from Qin Li’s eyes as he spoke with cold indifference. "If it weren’t for Shiyu, I would have killed you for that foul mouth of yours! Instead, I’m just teaching you a lesson with two slaps on behalf of your equally ill-mannered father. Understand?"
With that, he glanced at Shangguan Buhui and sneered, "Master Shangguan, do you understand what I want now? If not, then think hard! A bunch of scumbags like you dare to meddle in my affairs? You dare to make decisions for me and my woman? Who the hell do you think you are! When Shiyu was suffering from her hidden illness, you cast her aside like a worn-out shoe and feared her like a venomous snake. Now that her status has changed, you all come crawling back, suddenly treating her as a member of the Shangguan Clan again, trying to suck up to the Royal Family. You’re nothing but a bunch of blind, power-hungry sycophants!"
