"Hey, old man, give me a copy of that technique of yours." Qin Li walked up to the incredibly scruffy Elder Qi and held out a hand.
"Kid, you have a death wish..." Hu shouted from behind him. Many people in the Hunter Guild's main hall were now looking their way.
From a distance, a few richly-dressed young men were sizing up Qin Li with suspicious eyes. One of them frowned and said, "Isn't that the little bastard? I thought he latched onto the Shangguan Family. What's he doing here?"
"Hmph, who knows. All I know is that this little mutt has been stirring up all kinds of trouble for our Qin Family lately. I've never liked that brat Qin Feng, always swaggering around like he's the greatest in the world, but he really is the future hope of our Qin Family! And he was almost ruined by this little mutt. When you compare them, I hate this mutt even more!"
"The little mutt is definitely unlikable, but his mother... heheh!"
Perverted smiles simultaneously appeared on the young men's faces. They were all disciples from a branch of the Qin Family. Since the Qin Family was the number one Hunter Clan in Yellow Sand City, it was perfectly normal to see them here.
"Say, should we go over and mess with that little mutt? It looks like he's interested in Elder Qi's Divine-level Combat Skill!"
"Tch, why bother with him? He's an insignificant nobody. Don't lower ourselves to his level. Only a couple of dumb 'geniuses' like Qin Feng and Qin Hu would do something like that." The man deliberately emphasized the word "geniuses," and the others laughed again.
"Exactly. Ignore him. If he dares to cultivate Elder Qi's technique, it won't be long before he goes to meet his maker! Hmph. When that happens, we can help 'take in' his old mother for him, haha!"
The young men weren't speaking loudly at all. To outsiders, it just looked like they were whispering among themselves. Qin Li was a good dozen meters away from them, so they weren't worried about him overhearing. Besides, in their minds, even if that little mutt did hear them, what could he possibly do about it?
But to their surprise, the renowned Iron Fist Hu of the Hunter Guild suddenly strode toward them, his face dark. The few Qin Family disciples were stunned. They knew each other, but only enough to nod when they passed by. Hu's strength was plain to see, and he didn't necessarily give most people the time of day. As for these Qin Family disciples, they relied on the family behind them and naturally looked down on a lone wolf like Hu. So they couldn't imagine why Hu would be approaching them.
"Hey, if it isn't Hu! What brings you here today? Taking a break from missions?" one of the Qin Family disciples, who considered himself somewhat familiar with Hu, asked with a cheerful smile.
"You lot, talking about people behind their backs, spouting such filth, insulting a man's mother... you're worse than animals!" Hu said, his voice low as he stared coldly at the Qin Family disciples.
The disciples from the branch of the Qin Family were stunned. First, they couldn't believe they'd been overheard in such a noisy hall. Second, they were genuinely dumbfounded. 'Is there really such an idiot in this world? Is he crazy?' The disciple who had greeted Hu earlier was the first to recover. His face turned cold, and he sneered, "So what if we said it? What's it to you? Don't think you can look down on everyone just because you've got a bit of a name in the Hunter Guild. Let me tell you, there are some people... you can't afford to provoke!"
"Oh, is that so?"
Hu laughed too, looking quite pleased. Suddenly, he swung his thick arm and viciously slapped the Qin Family disciple across the face. The blow was so fast and heavy it sent the disciple flying several meters. His face instantly swelled up, and when he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood, along with a tooth.
SLAP!
SLAP!
Two more slaps sent the other two Qin Family disciples flying as well.
The bustling hall of the Hunter Guild instantly fell silent. Everyone stared in astonishment at the scene. Most people were familiar with both the attacker and the victims. While many couldn't stand the arrogance of the Qin Family disciples, the family had the power to back it up, so most who were bullied could only swallow their anger. They had no idea what the disciples had done to offend Iron Fist Hu today. Although they were worried for Hu, they felt a sense of satisfaction more than anything.
"Animals!"
Hu spat on the ground and walked toward the first young man he had slapped. The pitiful Yellow Level, sixth-rank youth hadn't even managed to get up before Hu pinned him to the floor with his foot. Hu sneered, "You scum. Besides using your family's name to scare people and bully others, do you know how to do anything else? Fucking hell! Remember this: if you want revenge, come find me. I'd love to see how the Qin Family musters its full strength to get even for a few shameless dogs like you!"
At first, Qin Li was also confused by the scene, not understanding why Hu would attack someone for no reason. But after hearing Hu's words, Qin Li's expression darkened as well. 'Those bastards must have been talking shit about me behind my back.' He just didn't understand why Hu had suddenly stepped in.
The scruffy old man, however, acted as if he hadn't seen the commotion at all. He spoke to Qin Li in a secretive whisper, "Young man, you made the right choice grabbing this. Believe me, as long as you can enter Phoenix Lake and find the recipe for the Celestial Profound Pill, you'll definitely become a peerless expert! This is a Venerable Combat Skill, after all!"
Qin Li sneered internally. 'Bullshit Venerable Combat Skill. The key is the elixir recipe, isn't it? Without that elixir, this technique isn't worth a damn. Phoenix Lake? Phoenix my ass! To hell with that. With my current level of strength, am I supposed to go there just to get myself killed?'
Seeing right through Elder Qi's intentions, Qin Li didn't even consider thanking him. He nonchalantly stuffed the Divine-level Combat Skill into his shirt and walked over toward Hu. 'Anyway, hundreds of copies of this thing have already been handed out. There probably isn't a single person in the Hunter Guild who's interested in it. Forget Divine-level or Venerable-level, no one would bother snatching it even if it were Pangu Level!'
Elder Qi shouted after him, "Hey, kid! If you get anything from the Phoenix Lake ruins, no matter what it is, I'll buy it at a high price! A high price... Oh, damn it. Kids these days have no manners..."
Qin Li walked over to Hu's side. The Qin Family disciples were all on the ground, wailing in agony. It was clear Hu hadn't held back.
Qin Li wasn't some goody-two-shoes, and he felt no sense of belonging to the Qin Family. Naturally, he felt nothing seeing these disciples get beaten up. He looked coldly at the pathetic young men on the ground and said flatly, "No backbone. You're the ones who've completely disgraced the Qin Family!"
Hu laughed heartily. "Little brother, I like the sound of that! Haha, come on, let's go get a drink!" Then he yelled over to a few young people sitting nearby, "He Laosan, Yunyan, Leng Yao, and Li Jian... let's go!"
The group over there stood up with nonchalant expressions, showing not a hint of fear over Hu's recklessness. Qin Li smiled to himself. 'They're true people of the Martial World. It seems Hu's team is a fearless bunch. It was just bad luck for those Qin Family disciples to run into them.' The Qin Family would never have a major falling out with Hu and his group over something so minor. A single Hu wasn't terrifying, but the problem was that behind him stood countless Adventurers representing smaller factions.
The greater the family, the more cautiously they had to handle such matters, because a single misstep could incite public outrage.