109: Chapter 107: When it’s Time to be Tough, Be Tough!

(Extra for every 30 votes) 109: Chapter 107: When it’s Time to be Tough, Be Tough!

(Extra for every 30 votes) Shihe City is a remote and small city in the Black Water Kingdom, and it is also a mountain city.

Shihe City is very close to the Yin Mountain Range, yet its mining industry is extremely developed.

The black iron and violet copper that are abundant here are top-quality materials for weapons and armors.

A tenth of the Black Water Kingdom’s ore for weapon manufacturing comes from Shihe City.

The prosperity of the mining industry has made Shihe City very flourishing, and it has also allowed one or two families with over a hundred years of inheritance to emerge.

The continuation of these families relies not only on wealth but more so on martial strength.

Without the protection of martial strength, wealth is as vulnerable as a stripped bare beauty.

The Che Family of Shihe City is such a mining family.

After a hundred or two hundred years of inheritance and management, over thirty percent of the ore of Shihe City comes from the Shi family.

What was passed down along with that was their martial strength.

Over a century or two, the Che Family has almost evolved into a small sect, continuously developing its own martial force and seeking opportunities to thrive among other major powers.

Today, the gates of the Che Family in Shihe City stood wide open.

The family patriarch, Che Tiejun, was anxiously looking out with his two sons at the entrance, while eight martial artists of various appearances, both old and young, stood impatiently inside the courtyard.

“Dad, today’s the last day, yet the disciples from Qiyun Sect still haven’t arrived.

This is too unreasonable,” said Che Qiang, Che Tiejun’s third son, with great dissatisfaction.

“Indeed, Dad, we’ve all waited two days for them.

So many prominent figures from the martial arts world are staying at home, being well-fed and well-cared for.

Those few old men even demand to be served by beauties every night.

Considering the silver we’re paying them, the expenses are quite substantial,” said Che Yuan, Che Tiejun’s eldest son, with a frown.

“Exactly, Dad, I really don’t understand why we had to issue the task to the Qiyun Sect when they’re so far from us?” grumbled Che Qiang.

“Shut up!”

Che Tiejun suddenly smacked Che Qiang on the head, “You brat know nothing!

Inviting people from Qiyun Sect is a matter of attitude, and it’s an investment, understand?”

“Dad, I understand the attitude part.

Since we invited disciples from the Lishui Sect, we should also invite disciples from Qiyun Sect.

If we invite one and not the other, the sect that was not invited will definitely give us trouble once they find out,” Che Yuan explained.

“Yuan’er, you’re right.

We small families are struggling to survive in the cracks, and it is not easy at all!

You must work hard to grow the family, so that our descendants won’t have to live at the mercy of these great sects,” the patriarch said.

Che Yuan nodded vigorously, “Dad, I will try my best.

But I don’t quite understand what you mean by investment.”

“You know about our ancestor’s cultivation level.

After the mine incident, he personally went to the mine once.

Not only did he fail to resolve the issue, but he also returned injured.

If the Demon Beast lurking in that mine could injure our ancestor, it’s definitely not simple.

If the people we’ve hired can’t handle it and something happens, especially with Qiyun Sect disciples around, wouldn’t the higher-ups of Qiyun Sect come to kill their way here right away?

Then no matter how big the trouble, it can be resolved for us,” Che Tiejun said with a self-satisfied expression.

His sons listened intently and nodded in agreement.

“Clan Leader Che, we’ve been waiting for two days.

Who exactly are you waiting for?

Doing nothing for these two days, we can’t even properly cultivate.

Isn’t this a waste of time?” a disciple from the Lishui Sect, wearing a blue robe with unique water-and-fire symbols on his sleeves, complained discontentedly.

“Yeah, who is so important that we’re kept waiting?” Li Kuang, whose face bore a scar from a saber and was known as Blood Saber in Jianghu, knocked impatiently on the hilt of his saber.

“He should be arriving soon.

It’s a master from Qiyun Sect, but since it’s quite far from here…”

While trying to keep a smile, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly approached.

A Silver-horned Horse dashed like the wind and came to a halt, rearing up at the entrance of the Che Mansion.

“The Che Mansion?”

Looking at the sign over the gate, Ye Zhen dismounted from the horse, his body covered in dust, and walked towards the entrance.

“Excuse me, is this the Che Family that posted the task to clear the ore veins?”

“That’s right, you are?”

The Che Family Patriarch, Che Tiejun, greeted him with a look of surprise.

This did not seem right; they had requested a high-level practitioner from the Spirit Summoning Realm of Qiyun Sect.

Why did a young man come instead?

“Ye Zhen from the Qiyun Sect, here to complete the task assigned by my sect, and this is the task certificate.”

The moment Ye Zhen introduced himself, the expression on the face of the Lishui Sect disciple, Xie Shao, changed dramatically—Ye Zhen’s name was incredibly well-known in the Lishui Sect.

During this year’s competition between the two sects, the top ten of the Lishui Sect’s outer disciples all died at the hands of Ye Zhen.

When this news reached the Lishui Sect, the inner sect disciples were seething with anger and ready to rush to the Qiyun Sect to challenge Ye Zhen, only settling down when Chu Jun intervened.

His expression turning stern and just about to act out, a cunning light suddenly flashed across Xie Shao’s eyes—this was not a good place to start a fight.

Once they entered the mountain, there would be plenty of opportunities.

“So young, you look even younger than me, huh?

Hey, what’s your cultivation level?

You’re not someone from Qiyun Sect who’s here to fool us, are you?”

Seeing what Ye Zhen looked like, Che Qiang was strongly displeased; they had invited a practitioner at the Spirit Summoning Realm from Qiyun Sect to help.

“True Essence Fourth Stage Late Stage!” Ye Zhen pondered for a moment before responding.

During the more than a month he spent living on Fairy Peak, Ye Zhen had been consuming six True Essence Pills every night.

With such relentless cultivation, his level had progressed from the middle stage to the late stage of the True Essence Fourth Realm.

Che Family had issued a mission to clear out the demon beasts entrenched in one of their mining veins, which required the existence of someone in the Spirit Summoning Realm to accept it.

However, due to Ye Zhen’s exceptionally high combat power and ranking on the Heavenly List, the Qiyun Sect allowed Ye Zhen to take on the mission.

“Just True Essence Fourth Realm, and you showing up here to freeload…”

The cursing Che Qiang was suddenly silenced as his father, Che Tiejun, covered his mouth and forced a smile at Ye Zhen, “Young Hero Ye, this mission is extremely dangerous…”

“The mission is dangerous, but it’s not dangerous for him to come and freeload?

If Clan Leader Che arranges a couple of beauties for him, he’d be making a fortune.”

Xie Shao couldn’t help but mock Ye Zhen, despite reining in his anger.

No matter what, it was better to vent some frustration first!

“Indeed, a little brat at True Essence Fourth Realm, what are you doing here?

Do you think this is a place for playing house?

Even I, at the Spirit Summoning Realm, have to be extremely cautious.

If you go in, aren’t you just courting death?” A red-clothed elder was also highly dissatisfied.

“Damn it, we’ve been waiting here for two days just to see you, you little bastard.

Even if you’re here just to freeload, you shouldn’t be wasting our time!” Blood Saber Li Kuang, who had been waiting impatiently, came out cursing.

Ye Zhen’s expression sharpened, and he immediately grew furious.

The Qiyun Sect was too far from Shihe City, a good five or six thousand li away, and the mission required arrival within five days.

After receiving the mission from the sect, he had been running desperately, resting for only three hours each day, rushing day and night.

Running six thousand li in four days had left him exhausted and fuming.

He had relaxed upon seeing the Che Mansion, thinking he could finally rest.

But upon arriving at his destination, before he even had a chance to stand firm, he faced confrontation and instantly saw red!

And Li Kuang, oblivious to his own situation, continued to walk and pointedly curse at Ye Zhen, “I thought some big shot from the Qiyun Sect was putting on airs, but it turns out to be just a True Essence Fourth Realm turtle…”

In a flash, the furiously enraged Ye Zhen made his move.

Chasing Star Step!

Whoosh!

Everyone only saw a blur before Ye Zhen appeared behind Blood Saber Li Kuang, his hands gripping the other’s neck like iron pincers.

Li Kuang sensed something was amiss and was about to resist when Ye Zhen, gripping his neck, gave a slight shake.

There was a light crack from Li Kuang’s spine, and like a muscle spasm, he trembled violently, letting out a pained scream.

“You swear at me one more time, see if I don’t break your spine and turn you into a spineless snake!”

Inside the courtyard, Li Kuang, who had just been disrespectful towards Ye Zhen, was now being held up helplessly by Ye Zhen as if he were a little chick, with no power to even talk back as his spine was seized.

His face flushed with red then black from the humiliation.

This was embarrassingly disgraceful.

He had just been mocking someone else’s cultivation level, and now, he himself was being held up like a little chick by Ye Zhen, even if he believed that Ye Zhen had ambushed him!

Hiss!

Everyone’s faces changed dramatically, all showing a look of surprise and uncertainty.

Even Xie Shao, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Lishui Sect who was already at the Spirit Summoning Realm, was shocked.

He hadn’t even seen Ye Zhen’s figure before Ye Zhen flashed behind Blood Saber Li Kuang and subdued him.

The Che father and son were outright stunned, with Che Qiang inhaling sharply.

Blood Saber Li Kuang was a well-known veteran within thousands of li.

He had been stuck at the peak of the True Essence Realm Fifth Stage for five or six years, and because he hadn’t broken through, constantly honed his blade technique.

Having endured for five to six years, even those who also were at the Peak of Fifth Stage of True Essence Realm didn’t want to provoke him lightly.

Yet now, he had been captured by Ye Zhen in a single move.

“Young Hero Ye, let’s not lose our tempers, we are all here for the same reason.

Hero Li has been anxious from waiting for these past few days…” Che Tiejun tried to smooth things over and pleaded with Ye Zhen, “Young Hero Ye, please release Hero Li!”

Outside the Che Family’s gate, there were continuous passersby; if people saw Blood Saber Li Kuang being held captive like a little chick by a teenager, he would be finished.

“Since Clan Leader Che has spoken, I’ll spare him this time.

But if he dares to be foul-mouthed again, I will make sure he suffers!”

With that, Ye Zhen released Li Kuang, and the cautious demeanor he had upon arriving at the Che Mansion vanished.

This moment had made Ye Zhen abruptly realize that in the Jianghu, one had to be tough when needed and show some dominance.

The meek are preyed upon by the strong!

Walking inside, Ye Zhen called out, “Clan Leader Che, prepare some water for me first, I need to bathe and change clothes!”

Almost immediately as Ye Zhen spoke, Blood Saber Li Kuang, now free and filled with shame and anger, drew his blade and a five-meter-long blood-red saber light swung toward Ye Zhen from behind.

“Little bastard, I’ll slaughter you!” (To be continued.

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