Chapter 176 An Outrageous Request
Real experts all knew the stream of fiery light was precisely the Natural qi described in legends.
The fundamental reason that the Natural Expert was so powerful was the Natural qi.
It was a kind of qi that could destroy any non-natural items.
During the entire practicing process in the Natural Realm, what a Natural Expert focused on was to polish their acquired internal qi into the Natural qi.
Once one hundred percent of the internal qi was transformed into the Natural qi, the Natural Expert would become a Deva, which belonged to a higher realm.
Well, all things were difficult at the beginning. For those who had entered the Natural Realm not long ago, producing the first wisp of Natural qi would cost them quite an amount of energy and time. But once the first jet of Nature qi came out, that meant they had taken a steady first step into the upcoming challenges in the Natural Realm.
Given the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being had already successfully created the first wisp of Natural qi in such a short time after he reached the Innate Stage, the profound strength he displayed left every spectator open-mouthed.
When everyone saw that jet of concrete fiery light gradually sank into the head of the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being, they seemed to have already known the result of this duel in that instant.
An intoxicated look climbed onto the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being’s face.
He slowly lifted his hands as if he could dominate the world.
On the audience stand, Li Gang, the magistrate of Chang’an, raised his eyebrows.
Ning Rushan, the great General and the owner of the Ning Mansion, now looked less relieved than before.
Cai Zhijie, Zhou Yiling, and several other seniors in the Great Master Realm also seemed a little discomfited.
It was beyond all question that a Natural Expert who had produced Natural qi would thoroughly upset the delicate power balance in Chang’an. The previous political structure would be broken. And the few Great Masters who had once treated the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being as their equal would have to curry favor with him and be ordered around by him. At that thought, they all felt as awkward as treading on a pile of s.h.i.+t.
“It’s all Li Mu’s fault. He is too naive to know the immensity of the universe. He acted too sluggishly, and that’s how he let the evil breed.”
“Right. If he could just kill the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being when he was in the middle of the leveling up, how come it would turn out like this?”
“Hum, what an idiot Li Mu is! He is drunk with his little triumph before and hopes to show it off. Now, the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being has been taken advantage of his arrogance and made a breakthrough under all the pressure… How dumb Li Mu is!”
“It’s the Natural Realm we are talking about. Even the royal family will give people in that realm special treatment.”
“Yeah. Once entering the Natural Realm, you will be knighted by the emperor.”
There were emotional murmurs and constant sighs among the audience. Some already could not bear the pressure and wanted to take off.
The result was unexpectedly horrible.
At first, most people were neutral about who the winner was in this duel. However, no one expected the event could take such a turn. That was truly… Well, the duel just brought a new Natural Expert into being. That was not a desirable outcome for anyone.
Because the already settled power structure in Chang’an would be shattered because of it.
Soon, there would probably be another reign of terror.
“Hahaha, everyone, we already have a winner. When this battle finishes, our Heaven Sword Martial Club will hold a grand feast. I hope you all could kindly go to the feast for the sake of the respectable senior of our Zhang Family,” announced Zhang Chengfeng at the top of his voice, who had already stood up and put on an unconcealable smile.
The disciples of the Heaven Sword Martial Club around him all burst into whoops and cheers.
A member of the Heaven Sword Martial Club had entered the Natural Realm who already could produce the Natural qi! From now on, the status of their Heaven Sword Martial Club in the city of Chang’an would soar up into the sky.
Facing the domineering Zhang Chengfeng, the others had to give him face in public and all agreed to go to the feast regardless of how reluctant they actually were. At this point, they already had no alternative but to go, even if the Heaven Sword Martial Club served them feces. After all, it was injudicious to upset a peerless master in the Natural Realm for such trivial.
“Course, of course. Mr. Zhang, congratulations!”
“After today’s fight, the Heaven Sword Martial Club will be the number one martial arts club in Chang’an!”
“Yeah, I go to the feast no matter what.”
“Certainly. I’m honored to!”
Rounds of congratulations and compliments were heard. The bigshots that seldom showed respect to others now all greeted Zhang Chengfeng with a broad smile. That made the owner of the Heaven Sword Martial Club so pleased that he could not help laughing out loud every now and then.
“My son, did you see that?”
“I’ll soon avenge you.”
“Being your dad, I’ll definitely put Li Mu’s head in front of your tomb to pacify your soul.”
A load of ideas crossed Zhang Chengfeng’s mind. Then, his eyes locked upon the nearby Li Gang, the magistrate of Chang’an, and an uncurbed thought simply suggested itself to him. Zhang Chengfeng immediately got to his feet and said respectfully, “Your Honor, I have a request that needs your approval.”
Void of expression, Li Gang asked, “What’s the matter?”
“A few days ago, Li Mu killed my only son, Zhang Chuixue, for a humble maid. That basically means my Zhang family has no offsprings now. So, my senior flew into a rage and came out to challenge him. As you can see, during today’s duel, my senior could have easily killed Li Mu by now. But even if Li Mu is gone, my son cannot come back. Hence, I beg for Your Honor’s approval of sending the other two maids living in the Shack of that Pig-Herding Alley to our Heaven Sword Martial Club. I’ll use their heads as sacrifices to comfort my wrongly dead son.”
Zhang Chengfeng took a little bow as a gesture of reverence when he spoke to Li Gang.
Upon hearing that remark, Zheng Cunjian, who was sitting next to the magistrate of Chang’an, slightly altered expression.
He was very clear that those maids meant much to Li Mu. Zhang Chengfeng was really cruel to come up with that request. Apparently, he was trying to amplify his retaliation by dint of the influence the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being gained after entering the Natural Realm.
Dong Xue, who was standing beside Ning Rushan, was terrified at those words. Her face instantly paled as she reached out to grasp the hand of his husband, Ning Jing.
“You cannot do that…” shouted Ning Jing without much thinking.
As an honest and simple-minded man, he shared the shock and fear of his wife. Since Chun Cao and Xia Ju were like sisters to Dong Xue, beheading them would certainly inflict immense pain on his wife. Plus, he felt Zhang Chengfeng was getting too carried away, so he subconsciously let loose of that shout.
“Since when do you have a say in our discussions?” Zhang Chengfeng’s face suddenly grew stern and he ruthlessly snarled, “Get out.”
Facing his harsh words, Ning Jing, who was usually a humble yes-man and seldom argued with anyone, now firmly held his wife’s trembling hand and raised his head as he stubbornly refuted, “Martial arts pract.i.tioners always decide the winner by battling one another and settle their conflicts and grudges on the fighting ring. You can’t drag other irrelevant people into this. Anyway, I’ve heard Great Master Li Mu talk about the death of your son. In truth, your son had killed Sister Qiu Yi first as a practice to hone his sword skills. An that’s why…”
“You shut up!” roared Zhang Chengfeng, cutting Ning Jing off. Then, he turned to the great general, Ning Rushan, and said, “General Ning, seems to me that the education of your place is not very good. How come a son of your concubine dare to loosen his tongue and spread rumors to create trouble here? Tut, tut…”
Sullen-faced, Ning Rushan answered, “The educating method of my Ning family is none of Mr. Zhang’s business. Well, surely your son was well-educated. But sadly… Humph.” Ning Rushan gave a sneer. The sarcasm in his remark was self-evident—sadly, Zhang Chuixue was already killed by Li Mu.
Ning Rushan’s crankiness was well known in the entire city of Chang’an. He was quite self-willed, a hard nut to crack. Meanwhile, he was also rather sensitive about his reputation. Naturally, the scornful words he just said was neither a way of showing his favor towards this humble son nor an attempt to defend him. He only did that to maintain his superiority in public before a man who only knew some martial arts like Zhang Chengfeng.
“You…” snapped Zhang Chengfeng, who looked furious. It came as a total surprise to him that Ning Rushan, a general with only an empty t.i.tle, still did dare to affront him under such a circ.u.mstance. He then declared darkly, “Well, fine. From now on, the Ning Mansion is an enemy of our Heaven Sword Martial Club.”
Ning Rushan’s face fell. But he simply snorted and did not retort.
Sure enough, an expert in the Natural Realm was something.
But if the Ning Mansion was still in its prime, Ning Rushan would not be much fl.u.s.tered by that threat. However, now it was… Well, as time flew, the glory era of the Ning family making great contributions for the foundation of the empire on the administration of Emperor Qin Guangwu had gone. At present, Ning Rushan only had the t.i.tle as the great general but was ripped of the military power. Gradually, he had been excluded from the core of the empire power system. And now, even a Natural Expert dared to humiliate him.
Truthfully, Ning Rushan was seething with rage inside, too.
Seeing Ning Rushan fell silent, Zhang Chengfeng glanced at Dong Xue and Ning Jing before plunging into cheerful chatters with the others in his vicinity.
With the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being taking the upper hand, Zhang Chengfeng’s gloomy mood was swept away. Now, he was as wanton as a calf with two dams and was very much enjoying his moment.
He felt quite delighted and at ease.
At the same time, Zhou Dedao, the president of the Dafeng chamber of commerce, forced a smile and inched towards him. Bowing as low as he could, he tried to strike a conversation with Zhang Chengfeng so as to cotton up with him. However, Zhang Chengfeng simply cold-shouldered him.
Only a few days ago, Zhou Dedao bustled to the Pig-Herding Alley to offer compensations to Li Mu, which meant he had succ.u.mbed to Li Mu’s side.
Therefore, there was no way that Zhang Chengfeng would pay him any attention at the moment.
That made Zhou Dedao rather embarra.s.sed.
…
“Wow, this is what it feels like in the Natural Realm. This is the power of the Natural qi. I feel like I’m able to crumble everything… Hahahaha… Little boy, I should thank you. Do you know why?” After he managed to create the first wisp of Natural qi, the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being sighed emotionally. Then, he slowly opened his eyes and stared at Li Mu teasingly.
But instead of being scared, Li Mu broke into a roar of laughter.
“It’s merely because you have improved your natural body with the help of the pressure my punch created and produced a little Natural qi within the shortest span. Haha, it’s nothing. No need to thank me. I’m always such a generous guy.”
Hearing those words, the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being went petrified for a second.
“What? You already know it?” uttered the Natural Expert, whose confident look was now mingled with a hint of shock.
Rather exhilarated, Li Mu said, “Yes. And I want to thank you for demonstrating the path leading up to the Natural Realm and solving the problems that have puzzled me for a long time. Heaven-Sword Celestial Being, to express my grat.i.tude, I decide, the same day the next year, I will offer you an extra piece of incense at your grave.”
Indeed, Li Mu had already made his mind to kill.
A Natural Expert had the power to create enormous damage. If Li Mu did not get rid of him now, there would be much more trouble brewing. Once the Natural Expert played some tricks in the dark, it was impossible to keep everyone safe. Although Li Mu himself had no fear of the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being, his new friends and a ‘family member’ were totally unable to throw off the attack of a Natural Expert.
Adding that the Heaven-Sword Celestial Being was not a good man, it would only do the folks good to kill him.