Li Fang Ren and Li Juntian were still deep in conversation when Ling Feng appeared from behind them. Her sudden arrival made Li Fang Ren jump in surprise.
"Holy son, Lord Zhuang Jian from the grand palace requests an audience outside."
Li Fang Ren's heart was still racing from being startled.
"You scared me. How could you just appear out of nowhere like that?"
Ling Feng remained casual as always, completely unbothered by his reaction.
"Didn't you say to treat this place as my home?"
Li Fang Ren sighed, shaking his head.
"You sure are taking my words to the bone, aren't you?"
He sat down again, trying to calm himself.
"Who did you say wanted to meet me again? Zhuang Jian? Who's that?"
Li Juntian sighed, clearly frustrated that his grandson didn't know the names of the clan members.
"He's the master that Yunling follows. Remember that girl from the martial arena who was bragging about her master?"
Li Fang Ren thought for a moment, trying to remember.
"Who was Yunling again?"
Ling Feng responded without hesitation.
"It was that irritating girl in the martial arena. The one who kept talking nonstop."
"Oh, it's that one," Li Fang Ren said, finally placing the name. "That girl who was chattering constantly about her master and everything else."
He thought about the connections for a moment. He hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy to invite such attention from someone so suddenly.
"So what does this clan brother of mine want?"
Ling Feng's expression remained neutral.
"I dare not assume, young lord."
You know it but won't tell me, right? Li Fang Ren thought with slight frustration.
"Alright, alright, let's go see what this is about," Li Fang Ren said, standing up.
Both of them made their way toward the grand palace. When they arrived at their destination, the scene before them was absolutely horrific. Zhuang Jian stood near a large log that had been buried deep into the ground.
But what made the scene so disturbing was what was tied to that log. It was Yunling, and her entire body was covered in deep scars. Her face and arms showed the marks of repeated whipping, and her body looked completely broken. Both of her arms were bound with heavy spiked chains that dug into her skin.
Her face was completely lifeless, staring downward without any hope in her eyes.
Li Fang Ren felt an immediate surge of anger. His qi began leaking into the air around him, creating visible waves of energy.
Zhuang Jian smirked as he looked at the holy son's reaction.
"I heard that one of my disciples had acted arrogantly toward brother while I was in seclusion. So today I brought her to apologize with a token of humility."
What token of humility? He's clearly trying to say not to challenge him, using that girl as an excuse, Li Fang Ren thought, seeing through the act immediately.
Zhuang Jian took a step forward, his expression confident.
"I hope you can forgive this young disciple of mine as fellow brothers of the clan."
Pathetic. This shit has the balls to do something like this, Li Fang Ren thought, barely containing his anger.
He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Let's talk inside."
Inside the grand hall, Li Fang Ren had specifically asked Ling Feng to bring out low-class tea as a subtle insult. He gestured to the seating area.
"Sorry brother, your arrival wasn't known so we couldn't prepare properly."
Zhuang Jian sat down gracefully, completely unbothered.
"Not at all, it's me who was abrupt after all."
As Zhuang Jian observed Ling Feng serving tea, a thought crossed his mind. To actually use one of the top talents from the branch clans as a servant, this kid is not to be scoffed at.
Li Fang Ren noticed Yunling still kneeling behind them, her head pressed to the floor due to her master's orders. He looked directly at Zhuang Jian.
"How long do you plan to keep her kneeling like that?"
Zhuang Jian's expression remained calm.
"I have asked her to do this until you forgive her. Please, let her do it."
Li Fang Ren smirked, finally understanding what was really happening.
"You don't need to satisfy your own pathetic fetishes with my name as a guise."
Ling Feng let out a short laugh but immediately stopped when she realized what she was doing.
"Please don't mind me. You carry on."
Zhuang Jian understood in that moment that he wasn't dealing with someone simple to play with. This six-year-old was far more perceptive than he'd anticipated.
"It seems like brother doesn't like my way of apology. Even his servant is laughing at me. I should dispose of this girl then."
Without warning, Zhuang Jian drew a dagger and threw it directly at Yunling's head with killing intent behind it.
"Feng'er!"
Ling Feng moved instantly, running to Yunling and using her strength to break the spiked chains that bound her. The dagger flew past where Yunling's head had been moments before, embedding itself in the wall behind her.
Ling Feng helped Yunling to her feet.
"So this is the master you wanted me to come to? See what he just did?"
Yunling started crying uncontrollably. She had only become his disciple because her parents had wanted her to, and Zhuang Jian had never done anything like this to her before. This was a complete betrayal of her trust.
Zhuang Jian's face darkened as his plan fell apart.
"Tsk, bitch."
Li Fang Ren stood up slowly, his aura becoming visible as waves of red and orange qi started to pour out from his body.
"You're quite heated, huh? But you're doing this in front of the next potential clan head, and you're doing it inside the grand hall. Are you provoking me?"
Zhuang Jian immediately understood the gravity of his situation. Even if he was one of the prodigies of the clan, he still wasn't strong enough to challenge someone with his position. To become the head of a clan, you either had to be born of the main bloodline or do something so meritorious that the clan would nominate you as worthy. Li Fang Ren had both—a supreme body and the bloodline.
"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding," Zhuang Jian said quickly, his confident demeanor crumbling. "I'm not provoking you. How dare I try to fight the young master of the celestial palace of the Li clan?"
Li Fang Ren's expression remained cold and unforgiving.
"Really? I don't quite believe you."
He pulled the table in front of him and flipped it directly onto Zhuang Jian with a sudden burst of strength.
Enough of your bullshit. You think you can scare me because of my age? Dude, I'm thirty years old in my real mind, Li Fang Ren thought as he watched Zhuang Jian struggle to block the falling table.
Zhuang Jian managed to defend himself, pushing the table away, but Li Fang Ren followed up by kicking toward him while channeling his qi. Zhuang Jian crossed both his arms to defend himself from the blow.
"Is this the strength of a six-year-old?" Zhuang Jian said, clearly shocked by the power behind such a young child's attack.
"Let's have a brotherly spar, shall we?" Li Fang Ren said with a slight grin.
Zhuang Jian hesitated, weighing his options carefully.
"Are you scared?" Li Fang Ren taunted, taking a step closer.
Relax, I just missed that one. He's still a kid, Zhuang Jian thought, trying to convince himself.
"I shall oblige then," Zhuang Jian said, reaching into his storage space.
He pulled out a token that gleamed with a faint light.
"I will only use half my strength. If you defeat me, this grand treasury token is yours."
"A token?" Li Fang Ren asked, not immediately understanding what it meant.
"Of course," Zhuang Jian continued with confidence returning to his voice. "If you lose, you will beg me to forgive you."
What is that token? Li Fang Ren thought, suddenly curious about what this man was offering.
A mental voice suddenly appeared in his mind, and it was distinctly Ling Feng's.
You should take that token, young lord.
Li Fang Ren's eyes widened slightly at this strange new sensation. He responded back, testing it.
"Can you hear me now?"
Ling Feng was visibly surprised by the sudden connection.
"How did you... no, never mind that. You should definitely take that token. It could help you get some supreme-grade treasures."
Supreme-grade treasure? Those exist too? Li Fang Ren thought, genuinely curious now.
Ling Feng continued explaining through their mental connection. "Supreme-grade treasures are those left on battlefields by high-level cultivators hundreds and thousands of years ago. They're incredibly valuable and rare."
[MENTAL TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUE ACQUIRED]
So that's how it is. This is so cool. I want to do it like the pro cultivators I've read about, Li Fang Ren thought with childlike excitement.
"So you're willing to give me such a valuable treasure just like that?" Li Fang Ren said with a greedy smile spreading across his face. "You're so generous, brother. I thank you for your gift."
Zhuang Jian immediately shivered when he saw that expression. He suddenly realized he might have made a terrible mistake.
"What gift? You have to defeat me to get it," he said, trying to maintain control of the situation.
He doesn't know the holy son of the celestial Li family is just a money grubber after all,
The spar began, and it went exactly as anyone with eyes would have expected. After Zhuang Jian was pushed back for the fourth time, confusion and desperation filled his voice.
"What's going on? What's happening? I'm a highly trained disciple of one of the Fifth Principle users. I'm a recognized genius, so why am I being suppressed by a six-year-old?"
Li Fang Ren stared at him with an increasingly greedy expression.
"Hang in there, brother."
Li Fang Ren didn't perform any formal techniques or moves. In fact, he'd never really been trained in the clan's combat forms other than the Zeroth Principle itself. The Sixteenth Ancestor had only taught him how to sense and predict movements, and apparently, that was more than enough.
"Why are his moves so... disordered?" Zhuang Jian muttered, trying to understand the pattern of attacks.
People had started gathering around the sparring ground, watching what they thought was a friendly match between two talented disciples.
"The holy son and the Fourth Principle user Jian are fighting?"
"Isn't Jian the disciple of the Fifth Principle user?"
"A spar? Isn't this more like a bullying match?"
"Hehe, you don't know the young master then. He's been winning from the very start."
After taking another hard hit, Zhuang Jian finally seemed to understand the situation he was in. His expression shifted to something more serious and resolute.
"I've been taking this too arrogantly. Let's fight properly now."