A chill settled over Jingxiang Tower as Cheonyeong emanated a cold aura.

"Ah, no. Why are you all like this?"

The flustered Guo Xian tried to stop him, but Cheonyeong's expression remained only cold.

"Guo Baihuo."

"Speak."

"I think it's best you leave now."

"What do you mean?"

"The ruffian attack on civilians is already over, isn't it?"

"..."

"But he insulted the Tang Family right there."

At Cheonyeong's words, Guo Xian suddenly realized.

Officials do not interfere with civilian matters.

If it involved civilians, officials should step in, but Tang Cheonyeong had just clarified that what remained was a matter of pride between martial world factions.

"You bastard! Don't speak nonsense! You think I don't know you're trying to trap me with that three-inch tongue of yours!"

The panicked Zhuge Wuhui shouted urgently, but Cheonyeong's lips only held ridicule.

"Sigh, you really won't do."

"What?"

"Not only did you insult the Tang Family with unconfirmed speculation, but a mere second son dares to call his family head and me 'this one' and 'that one'... did your father teach you that?"

"What, what?"

"You just insulted me too."

"...!?"

At Cheonyeong's desolate smile, Zhuge Wuhui's heart sank.

Oh no, was that what he was aiming for?

Only then did Zhuge Wuhui realize he had no chance of winning.

All of that bastard's blatantly obvious actions had two justifications in mind.

Excluding official intervention, and a justification to fight him and the Zhuge family.

Damn it... why didn't I think of it?

You can't win a battle of influence with just ruffian cleanup.

Because one can't ignore the world's eyes.

Having lost his composure and become too excited, he had been swayed by emotion and forgotten the most important fact.

The surrounding gazes were unfavorable.

Not only the eyes of Jingxiang Tower's people beside him, but even Guo Xian's eyes were unfavorable.

That's not all.

There were many onlookers outside.

Because he was angry, his voice was loud and everyone had already heard.

The gathered onlookers' eyes held blame, and their murmurs were ominous.

It couldn't be otherwise.

Wasn't it the Tang Family that had suppressed the ruffian attack and even promised damage compensation, gaining the people's favor?

But he had appeared late and insulted the Tang Family head with a pointed finger... to anyone's eyes, he looked like the villain.

He had been caught. He had fallen squarely into the trap that bastard had carefully dug.

Words are like spilled water—there was no way to gather them back up.

He had to think.

How to break out of this situation...

"Guo, Guo Baihuo! Ask the ruffians! The ruffians will tell you!"

"Mm."

"If you capture them and interrogate them, the collusion with the Tang Family will be revealed...!"

"Heh, is that all you could think of?"

Cheonyeong smiled mockingly.

"What?"

"Where are the ruffians?"

"..."

"You don't seem to know much, but our Tang Family never leaves enemies alive on the battlefield."

"That, that's..."

At Cheonyeong's words, Zhuge Wuhui's eyes trembled with bewilderment.

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"On purpose? Sigh, are you going to push this narrative now?"

"..."

"We risked our lives for public security because we're of a prestigious family, and all you do is slander us."

"Shut up, you bastard! How dare you run your mouth! Slander? Wasn't that you doing it? Guo Baihuo, it's all that bastard's doing! He orchestrated everything and deliberately killed all the ruffians to destroy the evidence!"

Zhuge Wuhui could no longer maintain his composure.

Now it was difficult for Guo Xian to side with him.

The collusion with the Gunsan Faction, the purchase of the Gongsun estate, the ruffians...

Wasn't none of it consistent with Zhuge Wuhui's words?

And judging by the situation, whatever the truth was, the current situation was friction between martial world factions.

There was no more reason for officials to be involved.

"Ahem! The commotion has been resolved, and since the Tang Family will compensate for damages, it seems this is no longer a matter for me to involve myself in. I shall take my leave."

"What, what?"

As Guo Xian suddenly withdrew, Zhuge Wuhui's eyes twisted.

"Why are you doing this too, Baihuo?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you've received something..."

In his desperation, Zhuge Wuhui had crossed a line he shouldn't have and said things he shouldn't have mentioned.

"What are you saying now! You have no respect for others! Not satisfied with insulting the Tang Family, now you're trying to shame me too!"

"Guo, Guo Baihuo?"

"Tsk tsk, I shared friendship with you because you're of a prestigious family, yet you speak without bounds. The money the Zhuge family gave me for public security development—I haven't spent a single coin of it! I'll return it, so don't come looking for me again!"

With that cry, Guo Xian turned and left Jingxiang Tower, leaving Zhuge Wuhui staring blankly.

Tsk tsk, what good is intelligence if you can't control your emotions? That brilliant mind is all wasted.

With this, the Zhuge family had essentially given bribes to officials.

Now that the people had turned away and officials had left.

Have you heard of being completely trapped?

There was no way to escape.

"Heh, heh heh, hahahaha!"

But then Zhuge Wuhui, who had been standing blankly, suddenly burst into laughter.

"This, this. I've been completely fooled. Truly, there's nothing I can do."

After laughing for a while, he glared at Cheonyeong with bloodshot eyes.

"Your schemes are truly serpentine and cunning."

"..."

"From the beginning, you intended to create this situation. I didn't realize. That you harbored ambitions to take the south and then the north as well."

His voice, filled with self-mockery, echoed through Jingxiang Tower.

He had realized that the time for verbal combat was over.

Now that it had spread into a conflict between martial world factions according to Cheonyeong's intentions, ultimately it could only be resolved through force.

"Yes, it should have been like this from the start."

"..."

"From the moment I realized you were spreading malicious rumors about the Zhuge family, it should have been like this. Indeed, how could I win a battle of schemes against a cunning bastard using righteous methods?"

At Zhuge Wuhui's words, Cheonyeong chuckled.

Righteous?

What kind of mind must one have to speak such words without hesitation?

He had spread vile rumors first himself...

Anyway, this was a problem.

If you lose a battle of schemes, you should cleanly admit defeat and give up.

But there were so many excuses.

At least his father, Zhuge Changyun, was not like that.

He had fought as an enemy and had tormented him relentlessly, but that was because Cheonyeong had been an assassin then, wasn't it?

Considering that point, he was clearly a person suited to the righteous path.

Meticulous but not overreaching, skilled in cunning but not base.

But this son of his...

It seems there is indeed a worthless son under a worthy father.

"Fine, I disrespected you. I insulted the Tang Family and you. So what?"

"..."

"Just a rural bumpkin from Sichuan, and you dare compare yourself to the Zhuge family? Do you have confidence? You've been stuck in Sichuan and haven't heard of me. I am the Jade-faced Divine Dragon!"

At Zhuge Wuhui's words, Cheonyeong took off his outer robe and said.

"Jade-faced Divine Dragon? You look more like a red-faced little dragon. Anyway, are you done talking?"

"What's the matter?"

"Anyway, bastards who don't know their own faults have unnecessarily long tongues."

Cheonyeong interlaced his fingers, making cracking sounds as he twisted his head left and right.

"Jingxiang Tower owner."

"Yes?"

Startled by the sudden call, Zhang Segong answered.

"I'll compensate for the damages later, so take your staff and leave."

"Yes?"

"Leave."

"Yes!"

At Cheonyeong's words, Zhang Segong quickly came to his senses and hurried out.

The wine house, now empty.

Only two remained.

Looking at Zhuge Wuhui, Cheonyeong raised one corner of his mouth and smiled.

"You don't know, do you?"

"What?"

"I'm quite sensitive to the word 'cunning.' It brings back unpleasant memories."

"..."

"And the Tang Family never simply lets go of resentment. Whether you're Zhuge or whatever, since you started this fight, you'll have to take responsibility."

"Responsibility? You're asking me to take responsibility! Me, the son of the Zhuge family! How dare you!"

"Stop complaining about obvious things."

"You crazy bastard! You're truly reckless! You beat down a few ruffians and now your liver is hanging out! Fine! I'll face you! I'll show you what an empty dream you're having!"

Zhuge Wuhui glared with wide eyes, grinding his teeth.

Cheonyeong clenched his fist, filling it with the power of the Samyang Divine Skill, and smiled.

"Then bite down hard."

"You bastard! I am the Jade-faced Divine Dragon!"

Boom!

Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhuge Wuhui extended a palm strike with a fierce energy cry, his sleeve fluttering.

Pressing forward with an ominous aura was the power of the Great Heavenly Star, passed down to the direct line of the Zhuge family.

"Whoosh!"

Cheonyeong, who had taken a breath and stepped back slightly to wait, struck down Zhuge Wuhui's palm strike with all his might.

So he couldn't escape midway.

Crack!

With a fierce energy wave, Jingxiang Tower trembled.

"Ugh!"

Zhuge Wuhui, pushed back by the impact, grimaced.

A small sound heard in his ear amid the intense collision.

Crack.

Followed by a throbbing pain.

His wrist was broken in one exchange. Despite having internal energy wrapped around it...

"Well then, as an adult I yielded the first strike. Now shall we really begin?"

Before Zhuge Wuhui could even prepare, Cheonyeong's fist, pushing off the ground, rose diagonally.

"What... ugh!" 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

At the sound of the wind being cut, Zhuge Wuhui hastily bent his upper body backward.

Whoosh!

Though it didn't touch, the sleeve his fist grazed was torn upward.

"Ugh!"

Zhuge Wuhui unfolded the Heavenly Mystery Confusing Step, moving his hands chaotically toward Cheonyeong.

A technique called Congealed Blood.

Fingers raised like beast claws pressed forward with a fierce aura, trapping Cheonyeong like a wind.

Bang! Bap bap bap bap!

Inside Jingxiang Tower, the exchanges between Cheonyeong and Zhuge Wuhui crossed.

Though difficult for ordinary eyes to follow, the martial artists guarding outside could see it clearly.

The movements of the Heavenly Mystery Confusing Step that deceives even heaven, and the complex and difficult Congealed Blood technique.

But Cheonyeong evaded and blocked as if reading its trajectory, cutting off the momentum of the attacks.

Crack!

"Ugh!"

The groan that followed suggested Zhuge Wuhui's defeat.

Cheonyeong raised one corner of his mouth in a twisted smile.

From the start, there was no way this could be a fight.

He had already surpassed the Eternal Spirit, the final stage of dantian cultivation, and reached the Returning Spirit, approaching the limit of the Two Heavens needed to open the strong palace at the middle dantian.

In terms of internal energy alone, he was at the level below those called absolute, and his combat experience accumulated over long years was beyond imagination.

Jade-faced Divine Dragon?

I'm the Family Head of the Tang Family, you bastard!

Boom!

As Zhuge Wuhui was knocked down by the strike and crashed to the ground, Zhe Xian, waiting outside, could no longer hesitate.

A one-on-one fight.

Interference would be disrespectful, but they were Zhuge Wuhui's guards and couldn't watch their master's defeat.

Moreover, Zhuge Wuhui's defeat couldn't be seen as merely personal.

It was the Zhuge family's defeat before many people.

"Protect the Second Young Master!"

As Zhe Xian's commander Shen Jingfu shouted, the Zhuge family's martial artists rushed into Jingxiang Tower.

Whoosh! Bang!

But a massive iron ball struck the rushing martial artist's body forcefully.

"Is your head bad?"

"...?"

"Didn't I tell you before? If you have any sense, you should know your place."

Yongcheon, blocking the entrance with his iron ball, made a threatening gesture.

"You bastard! What are you all doing! Kill them and get through!"

At the commander's cry, Yongcheon grinned and spoke.

"So? If you come at me like that, I have no choice."

"...?"

"The Tang Family is now entering battle with the Zhuge family! Knock them all down!"

(End of Chapter)