What in the world just happened?
Qin Hu, Qin Xue, and the brawny young man surnamed Fang were all wondering the same thing. Despite their cultivation levels, none of them had managed to see what had just happened.
This was their first reaction. Their second was shock!
Utter shock!
On the Celestial Essence Continent, all High-Level Martial Artists used their own Primordial Power as a foundation during combat. The more abundant their Primordial Power, the more formidable their martial techniques became.
This point had been proven time and again over thousands of years; no one would ever question it.
Yet, they hadn't sensed even the faintest fluctuation of Primordial Power from Qin Li!
What did this mean?
Aside from the young man surnamed Fang, who didn't know Qin Li well, both Qin Hu and Qin Xue were acutely aware that the Primordial Power within Qin Li's body didn't even amount to the First Level!
How had he sent a master with Fifth-Level Primordial Power flying with a single kick?
It all happened in a flash. By the time the guards outside realized something was amiss and charged in after Han Xue, they too were frozen in place, utterly dumbfounded.
When Qin Hu snapped out of it, his first instinct wasn't to confront Qin Li, but to run to his younger brother, Qin Feng. Qin Feng had collapsed and hadn't moved since. Even his groans were feeble, a clear sign that he was grievously wounded!
The brawny young man surnamed Fang shot Qin Li a complicated look, his face twisting into a helpless, bitter smile. 'This has gone too far,' he thought. 'I'm definitely getting dragged into this mess.'
Qin Xue walked over to Qin Li's side. Seeing him radiating a murderous aura, she asked cautiously, "Young Master, are... are you all right?"
Qin Li shook his head. He opened his mouth, and a spray of blood gushed out. He swayed slightly before taking a long breath. "I'm fine!" he said.
Inwardly, however, he grew extremely wary of the sheer power of the Martial Artists on the Celestial Essence Continent. 'I never thought a Profound Level master could be this strong. If I hadn't kept up my training all these years, if this body didn't have such an excellent foundation, and if I hadn't struck first... had any one of those three factors been absent, the one lying on the ground right now would have been me!'
'A single Profound Level Martial Artist already possesses such might. What about an Earth Level one? Or a Celestial Level one?'
Qin Li asked himself, 'If I ever face such a powerful opponent, will I really have to do as that young Fang said... and bow my head?'
'No, absolutely not! I'd rather die than bow my head to anyone!'
'Besides, this is a world where strength decides everything, and killing is as easy as slaughtering chickens! Most of the time, even if you're willing to bow your head, you still need your opponent to give you the chance!'
'Just look at the Qin Feng and Qin Hu brothers. They knew perfectly well that I'm about to marry into the Shangguan Family, and they knew this union affects the Qin Family's destiny for years to come. Yet, just to vent some petty frustration, they dragged me, an innocent party, into their mess.'
'Beat me up to blow off some steam?' Qin Li sneered internally. 'As long as I'm still breathing, you can dream on!'
"Feng, are you okay?" Qin Hu first checked his brother's body. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that Qin Feng hadn't been cut by any of the scattered weapons. But when he looked at his brother's pale, pain-wracked face, his forehead glistening with sweat, his own rage boiled over.
"Second Brother... My... my stomach hurts. I can't... muster any... strength. My... my Dantian might be injured!" After stammering out the sentence, Qin Feng's face twisted in agony again, and he clenched his jaw to keep from crying out.
"What!" Qin Hu shot to his feet, stunned. He roared at the guards, "Are you blind or just stupid?! Get the Third Young Master home for treatment, now! Tell them he was beaten by that little bastard, Qin Li!"
The guards were jolted back to their senses. They scrambled to lift Qin Feng, rushed him onto a carriage, and with a sharp CRACK of the whip that sounded like a firecracker, the carriage sped away.
Only then did Qin Hu slowly turn around, his eyes crimson. Seeing his own brother so grievously injured, the last vestiges of his reason vanished. He stared daggers at Qin Li and snarled, "Qin Li, I'm going to kill you!"
"Qin Hu, don't do something you'll regret!" Qin Xue stepped in front of Qin Li protectively, shouting, "Qin Li is about to be engaged to the Shangguan Family's Young Miss! If you dare harm him, the Patriarch will not forgive you!"
Hearing Qin Xue's words, the young man surnamed Fang froze, his eyes wide with disbelief. In the entire Shangguan Family, there was only one person who could be called 'Young Miss' at this time!
Shangguan Shiyu!
'Fuck! That bastard Qin Hu has signed my death warrant!' Fang Haonan was so furious he could have killed Qin Hu himself. It was clear the brothers knew about this but hadn't told him. Whether Shangguan Shiyu was called a prodigy or a monster didn't matter—the Shangguan Family... what kind of clan was that? How could his Fang Family possibly afford to offend them? If the Shangguan Family's not-yet-official son-in-law died in his martial hall, Fang Haonan was certain that no matter how important his own status was, the Fang Family would cast him aside as a scapegoat to quell the Shangguan Family's anger!
'No, I have to stop Qin Hu!' Thinking this, Fang Haonan strode toward Qin Hu and barked, "Qin Hu, calm down! Don't cause trouble for yourself!"
"Get the hell out of my way!" Qin Hu advanced slowly, each step thudding with immense weight. Qin Li saw it at once—Qin Hu was gathering his power!
He was like a tiger, the king of beasts, gathering its strength before the hunt. It would build its momentum, tuning itself to its absolute peak, and in that one perfect instant, it would pounce.
Qin Li gently pulled Qin Xue behind him and said softly, "A man shouldn't hide behind a woman."
Qin Xue froze. From the day she was born, she had been taught one thing and one thing only: the master's safety is always the number one priority! 'The great figures of this world,' she thought, 'if not all of them, then at least the vast majority, believe their own lives are what matter most. At the critical moment, subordinates are meant to be sacrificed!'
Qin Xue felt her nose begin to sting. She obediently moved to Qin Li's side, but her body remained coiled like a leopardess that had spotted its prey. She would have shielded him even without his words, but now, his casual remark had moved her beyond measure.
'For a master like this,' she thought, 'even death would be worth it!'
Qin Li's eyes were calm as he watched Qin Hu close the distance between them. His Innate Purple Qi Technique began to frantically absorb energy from the world around him, drawing in several times its normal amount in this high-stakes moment.
'No wonder they say combat is the best form of cultivation.' Qin Li remained on high alert. He was facing another expert from the Qin Family's younger generation: Qin Hu, a Tier Five Profound Level Martial Artist with Fifth-Level Primordial Power. He had no confidence in victory.
'However, if he wants to kill me, he'll have to pay a steep price!'
Qin Li's own eyes filled with killing intent, but his mind was perfectly clear. He had faced countless crises before and was no stranger to the concept of death. 'But within every person,' he thought, 'lies something more precious: dignity!'
'Even in death, I will not lose my dignity!'
The atmosphere in the hall grew heavy, as if it had frozen solid. Just as the tension reached its breaking point, a heaven-shaking roar echoed from the distance.
"Stop right the fuck now! Whoever dares lay a hand on my Shangguan Family's son-in-law, I'll slaughter their entire family!"