"Was it my fault Yu Chen and Ru Chen were smiling at me? Did I do anything wrong for that bastard to grab hold of my neck?"
Xuan bitterly complained to himself while sweeping the court assigned to him by the sect. They were treating him like an outsider.
Of course, he understood why his uncle Han was upset at not seeing him for two days—it was because he had dual medicines to sell. The Library Sect was filled with geniuses who had created a medicine called Dual Medicine.
It increased the output of yin and strengthened a woman's ability to absorb even a stream of yin. But if the man didn't show up after taking the medicine, the woman would lose most of her yin as well as her beauty—a very big disadvantage.
He understood Han's frustration over the unsold medicines, but the part where his daughters smiled at him—how was that his fault?
Xuan sighed, his crippler's stick on the right and the long broom on the left.
"Even as a cripple, they still tell me to sweep. I need to repair my meridian quickly and teach Uncle Han a lesson."
While sweeping and complaining, Xuan noticed Li Zhi walking past the Library Sect. A drunk man was with her, along with two other men dressed in black.
Xuan kept watching Li Zhi while the drunk man babbled about how he would "turn Li Zhi in bed." Then Li Zhi noticed Xuan as well.
Xuan didn't know what she whispered into the man's ear, but when the man turned in Xuan's direction, his face tightened with anger.
Then the group began walking toward Xuan. When they reached him, the drunk fat man kicked the pile of dirt Xuan had swept together.
"You little thing, are you the one my Li Zhi is speaking of, ah?" he asked in a slurred tone, his breath reeking of black alcohol.
Xuan said nothing and looked at Li Zhi, then back at the man. All he could think of was his money and how Li Zhi had treated him.
"You still have the guts to look at her beautiful skin?" The fat man stepped forward and shoved Xuan hard to the ground. It was easy—Xuan wasn't stable to begin with.
While on the ground, Xuan stayed silent. Someone like him couldn't do anything against them, even if they hadn't yet crossed into Spirit Combustion.
"Now apologize to my Li Zhi," said the man. The foolish girl beside him chuckled.
But Xuan didn't comply. He looked at her with a hateful gaze and spoke. "Li Zhi, if you don't give me back my money, I swear, I'll cripple you," said Xuan.
He was bold when he said it, so confident that his demonic tone sent chills down her spine.
"What? You dare disobey and insult my Li Zhi? You filthy thing!" the fat man yelled furiously and dashed forward, veins bulging on his neck and fists.
Even though he was drunk, if that punch landed, there'd be no difference between Xuan and a corpse. Boom! As the man threw the punch, he was suddenly sent flying—away from the cripple on the floor.
Li Zhi and the two guards were stunned. They couldn't explain what had just happened. It was fast—the man had slammed into a tree.
When they turned back to look at Xuan, he still had his hand raised over his face and was sitting on the floor.
"Wha... wha... what are you staring at? Kill the bastard!"
At his command, one of the guards launched an attack on Xuan—a fist cloaked in red aura. Xuan could already tell this person was at the late Spirit Combustion stage, maybe around level 3.
But when he punched Xuan, it happened again. The attacker was sent skidding several meters away and dropped to his knees, coughing up blood.
Li Zhi saw it this time but couldn't believe what her eyes were witnessing. The man had punched at Xuan, who was shielding his face.
But the punch had never reached him. It was blocked by an invisible force that rebounded the attack, slamming the man away from Xuan.
Xuan didn't know what was happening. When he lowered his hand, he saw the guy bleeding from his nose—and the Taboo Cube was floating right in front of him.
Incredible. Is it blocking the attacks and striking back? thought Xuan. This time, he had the courage not to look away—he wanted to see it clearly.
"You mastered a defensive art?" the last man asked. But Xuan just shrugged and said nothing.
"Fool. It doesn't matter. I've reached Martial Realm 2, and I've crushed the mightiest defensive art masters."
As the last man dashed at Xuan—faster than him—he collided his raging fist against Xuan, and bam... kweuk—just as fast, he was sent flying, crashing into the fat man and cracking a tree with his ribcage.
Li Zhi couldn't believe her eyes. Xuan wasn't doing anything, yet his opponents looked like they had received the beatings of their lives.
Xuan now understood what was happening. He hadn't looked away and saw it—whatever attack was thrown at him, it rebounded, doubled in strength, and struck the attacker.
That explained why the Spirit Combustion guard only bled—the Martial Realm opponent was stronger, so the doubled rebound broke his ribcage.
Incredible. I better leave here before they stand up, thought Xuan. He stood up, picked up his stick, and walked away—but stopped an arm's length from the frightened Li Zhi.
"You've seen only a pinch of what I can do. And I am far stronger than this. Come after me, and I'll kill all of you," said Xuan. His words sent fear into the fat man's belly—someone who had been drunk was now completely sober after one hit.
"And as for you, Li Zhi, I promise you—I'll cripple you when the next full twin moon appears," said Xuan.
Xuan walked away, leaving Li Zhi in tears. She fell to her knees and watched him go.
All Li Zhi could think was that Xuan had been strong and pretending to be weak—but it was the exact opposite. Xuan's strength was only 0.4, and he was acting like it had reached 40.
Xuan believed that by the next red twin full moon, he would have already repaired his meridian.