Chapter 1097: I Hate It When People Show Off in Front of Me

The old man appeared to be in his sixties, with graying hair and beard, and brows as sharp as arrows, exuding a strong aura of slaughter. One could tell at a glance that he had long experienced the battlefield. His cultivation was surging, already at the early stage of the Divine Realm's fourth level, the Primordial Spirit stage.

“It’s Dao Kou, one of the Twin Heroes of Jibei, known as the Falling Hero!”

Recognizing him, the attendant beside him turned pale with fright and quickly transmitted a message: “This Falling Hero is a particularly famous figure in Jibei, a veritable tyrant. Not only is he incredibly powerful, but most importantly, he disregards all rules—domineering, arrogant, and willful…”

Jibei was a region within the Qingyuan Enfeoffed Empire, vast in territory, even larger than the entire Hongyuan First-Class Empire. To become a tyrant here was a testament to his fearsomeness.

“What does it matter if he disregards rules? Vice President Xu has already accepted my spirit stones. Surely she wouldn’t go back on her word?” Zhang Xuan shook his head, unconcerned.

No matter the matter, there is a principle of first come, first served. That’s the rule. Even if he were a Primordial Spirit expert, in a place like the Master Teacher Pavilion, he couldn’t ignore this.

“That’s not what I mean. I’ve heard that he has a record of snatching others’ awakening opportunities. If a dispute arises, you’d best be careful. This man holds grudges and will retaliate for the slightest grievance…”

Before the attendant could finish, Vice President Xu shook her head: “I have indeed only awakened two people today, but this young master arrived first and has already paid the awakening fee. So, you’ll have to wait your turn!”

As the vice president of the Awakener Guild, she naturally had to abide by the rules.

Moreover, the person before her was a master teacher.

“Arrived before us? That’s simple!”

Dao Kou chuckled, stepped up to Zhang Xuan, and said with a tone of pressure and undeniable authority: “Young friend, give me your spot. You paid a hundred high-grade spirit stones, right? I’ll give you two hundred as compensation!”

With that, he flipped his wrist, and a pile of high-grade spirit stones appeared before him, exactly two hundred in number.

Doubling the price at the outset was considered a high offer.

Having said this, he raised his head and clasped his hands behind his back. Dao Kou expected the young man to pick up the spirit stones and leave—after all, a Saint Realm first level wouldn’t dare offend him over a spot. But then he saw the youth, as if not hearing him, turn to Vice President Xu and say: “You mentioned it’s somewhat difficult to restore it. What difficulties are there? Do you need my help…”

“Didn’t you hear my master speaking to you?”

Seeing this fellow ignore his master, the middle-aged man stepped forward with displeasure, raised his brows, and bellowed.

“If you think I don’t know much about awakening, I can go learn now…” As if not hearing him, Zhang Xuan continued.

“Learn?” Vice President Xu shook her head: “Although awakening is not a special profession, it’s not something you can master overnight. Learning now is certainly too late. Awakening a dormant consciousness involves the peculiarities of spirituality; it’s very troublesome, and I can’t guarantee success!”

“This…” Zhang Xuan frowned: “Then… if it fails, are there any harmful effects?”

Failure wouldn’t be a big deal, but he feared that if it failed, it might extinguish the existing spirituality, which would be a loss outweighing the gain.

“At worst, it just fails; it won’t harm the weapon’s original spirituality…” Vice President Xu smiled.

“Then I’ll trouble Vice President Xu to try. I will repay this great kindness!” Zhang Xuan bowed.

As long as he could awaken the Gold Origin Cauldron, any price was worth paying.

“No need to be so polite. I can’t say whether I’ll succeed, but I’ll do my best!” Vice President Xu nodded.

As a master teacher who casually produced such a valuable weapon, how could his identity be simple? Her tone held no hint of negligence.

But though she was not negligent, to the ears of Dao Kou and the middle-aged man, it seemed dismissive.

“Kid, didn’t you hear me talking to you?”

Not daring to vent his anger at the beautiful woman, the middle-aged man approached Zhang Xuan, his gaze filled with naked killing intent.

Ignoring him was one thing, but ignoring his master was unforgivable!

He was at the peak of the Saint Realm third level. Standing before him, even without attacking, his powerful pressure gave a sense of crushing force.

“Young man, if you had a better attitude and were more humble, I might have answered you!”

Ignoring the man’s force, Zhang Xuan lifted his eyelids.

“You’re asking for death!”

The middle-aged man’s face twitched, and he nearly exploded.

A twenty-year-old brat calling him ‘young man’ and speaking in a tone of an elder admonishing a junior… it drove him mad.

Boom!

He flipped his palm, about to strike down.

Vice President Xu’s face darkened, and she was about to intervene when she saw the young man not far away lift his eyelids and suddenly speak.

“Scram!”

Boom!

The sound exploded like thunder on the spot.

Staggering back!

As if struck by a heavy blow, the middle-aged man’s attack hadn’t even landed on the opponent when his face turned pale. He stumbled back seven or eight steps and spat out a mouthful of blood!

Although he was at the peak of the Saint Realm third level, Zhang Xuan, having achieved sagehood, had combat power invincible below the Primordial Spirit realm. Dealing with someone who wasn’t even a master teacher required no more than a shout to disrupt his mind and break his Dao heart.

“Yan Qi…”

Seeing his student severely injured by a single shout, Dao Kou’s face darkened. He stepped forward and infused a stream of true energy into his subordinate’s body to suppress his injuries. Then he looked up at the young man not far away, his gaze icy: “A Sound Master and a Illusion Master? Friend, striking so ruthlessly at the outset—isn’t that going too far?”

With his insight, he immediately recognized the techniques the other had used.

It was just a single word, but it contained the abilities of both a Illusion Master and a Sound Master, making it hard to defend against.

“If I hadn’t counterattacked, his attack would have landed on me, wouldn’t it?” Too lazy to answer his question, Zhang Xuan said.

“My student was a bit rash, but he wouldn’t have struck recklessly!”

Dao Kou sneered repeatedly: “You injured my student. As his teacher, seeking justice for him is not against the rules. So… I won’t bully the weak. I’ll give you three moves. If within three moves you can touch the hem of my robe, I’ll leave without another word. If not, then sorry—hand over the spot and get out immediately. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude!”

He was known as the tyrant of Jibei; when had he ever suffered such a loss!

“Three moves?” Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow: “Fine, you make the first move!”

“…”

Dao Kou was choked with internal injury: “I said I’ll give you three moves!”

Zhang Xuan looked surprised: “Are you sure?”

“Sure!”

Dao Kou was full of confidence.

A single shout had sent his student staggering back with serious injuries. Though it seemed formidable, he could tell that the opponent specialized in soul-based attacks.

Those skilled in soul attacks were necessarily weak in physical body and true energy—this was a well-known axiom, especially for someone so young. How strong could he be?

Thus, he deliberately proposed a contest of touching his robe within three moves!

If this were in Jibei, everyone would know he was deliberately bullying. His greatest strength was speed. Competing in his forte against a mere Saint Realm first-level brat… it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, bullying the weak.

“Alright!”

Ignoring his confidence, Zhang Xuan nodded. Before his words faded, his figure suddenly flickered and appeared before Dao Kou, as fast as lightning.

Although he had dismissed [Walker’s Boundless] for its many flaws and hadn’t practiced it, he hadn’t been idle over the past month. He had merged the Heavenly Way movement technique with the correct parts, greatly improving his speed. Now, when he activated it, even if it wasn’t teleportation, it was terrifying over short distances.

From the start of his movement to appearing before the opponent, it took less than a tenth of a breath.

Whoosh!

As he appeared before the man, his fist shot out.

“You…”

Not expecting the opponent to charge before he was ready, and so fast, Dao Kou turned pale with fright. Just as he was about to counter, he found the youth’s fist even faster than his figure, as if breaking the limits of time.

A pain in his chest, a cry of agony, and he flew straight backward.

Thud!

He slammed straight into the wall, collapsed like a pile of mud, his vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.

“One of the Twin Heroes of Jibei, Falling Hero Dao Kou, specializes in speed. When he uses his [Falling Splendor] movement technique, he’s like a ghost, impossible to locate. It’s best not to agree…”

The exchange between the two, though complicated to describe, took less than a single breath. The attendant who had entered with Zhang Xuan, hearing that the young master had agreed to the challenge, was anxiously transmitting a message. Before he could finish, he saw Dao Kou lying on the ground, and he stood dumbfounded, feeling like he was going crazy.

The young man before him was not much older than him. He had thought his strength was average, but never in his dreams did he expect that a shout could severely injure a Fetal Infant realm expert, and a single punch could defeat a Primordial Spirit realm expert…

Falling Hero Dao Kou, famous for his [Falling Splendor] movement technique, was hard even for peak Primordial Spirit experts to catch. Yet… before this opponent, he didn’t even have time to use his technique before being knocked out…

The attendant swallowed his saliva, his body stiff.

Fortunately, due to his weak strength, he hadn’t thought much about the mid-grade saint artifact. If he had… he would probably be dead by now.

“Master…”

The middle-aged man also snapped out of his daze and rushed over to save him.

Glancing at the unconscious Dao Kou, Zhang Xuan curled his lips.

Three moves…

One move and you’re done. With such little strength, why act like a big shot?

Making it seem so real…

I hate this kind of show-off with no substance…

How embarrassing! How embarrassing!

To be honest, with his current strength, if the opponent had communicated with his Primordial Spirit and exerted his full power, Zhang Xuan would still have been unable to defeat him.

But giving three moves… he was just asking for trouble!

His moves were not something to be given lightly!

Not to mention an early Primordial Spirit realm expert; even the early Out-of-Body realm Heavenly Leaf King hadn’t dared to give him moves, and he ended up being killed!

Although his combat power was below the Primordial Spirit realm, he had too many tricks. Killing Primordial Spirit experts was quite easy.

Sighing, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help shaking his head. He looked into the distance, his gaze drifting, seeking a worthy opponent.

“I hate it when people show off in front of me, but you had to come up. I’m really helpless too…”