"Chu Yuanlang, what did you say!?"

Shang Ying's beautiful eyes widened as she glared at Chu Yuanlang, her brows furrowed. "Qin Heng is my friend. What are you trying to do?"

"Friend?" Chu Yuanlang's face darkened considerably. "Shang Ying, so you like this kind of pretty boy, huh!"

"You! What are you saying? Shameless!" Shang Ying seethed, her face flushing red. "You're at least from the Legitimate Line of the Chu family! How can your words be so foul?"

"Exactly!" Li Jiao nodded, looking disdainfully at Chu Yuanlang. "How can you talk about Yingying and Qin Heng like that!"

"You're the ones being shameless. Am I not allowed to point it out?" Chu Yuanlang said, his face ashen.

"You, you, you! Chu Yuanlang!" Shang Ying completely erupted. With a fierce shout and a flash, her fingers formed a blade as she slashed towards Chu Yuanlang with all her might!

"Chu Yuanlang, you asked for this!" Li Jiao also grew furious, her pretty face turning bright red. She raised her delicate fist and struck at Chu Yuanlang, skillfully channeling her Internal Force.

Both of them were young, unmarried ladies from prominent families who had never been in close contact with men. Now, having been insulted so crudely by Chu Yuanlang, their fury was uncontrollable.

"Stop!"

However, at that very moment, a sharp command cut through the air as seven or eight guards approached. These were the guards tasked with maintaining order at the Martial Dao exchange event. All of them were Martial Artists at least at the Open Force level.

The lead guard glanced at Shang Ying and Li Jiao, then at Chu Yuanlang. "What's going on here? Fighting is prohibited at the exchange event! What do you think you're doing?"

"He's spouting nonsense and insulting us!" Shang Ying and Li Jiao retorted, reluctantly halting their attack and pointing angrily at Chu Yuanlang.

"I'm merely speaking the truth," Chu Yuanlang replied indifferently. He then pointed at Qin Heng. "By the way, guards, you should investigate this person. I suspect he's not a Martial Artist but an intruder who sneaked in!"

"Kid, you're quite arrogant!" The lead guard's eyebrow twitched as he glared at Chu Yuanlang. "Who do you think you are, speaking to us like that?"

The guards' authority was not insignificant. They possessed a degree of law enforcement power, were formidable in strength, and had strong backing. Consequently, even ordinary Hidden Force Martial Artists wouldn't easily provoke them.

SLAP!!

But Chu Yuanlang struck the guard across the face, roaring, "You motherfucker, open your damn eyes and see who I am! Even your direct superior would have to greet me respectfully as Young Master Chu!"

"Young... Young Master Chu?!" The guard was instantly dumbstruck. Staring at Chu Yuanlang, he stammered, "Y-You are Chu Yuanlang, the eldest son of the Chu family, one of the three great families of Suzhou-Hangzhou?!"

SLAP!!

Chu Yuanlang struck the guard again, sneering, "Now do you understand what you should do?"

THUD!!

The guard immediately dropped to his knees before Chu Yuanlang, kowtowing repeatedly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Young Master Chu! It's all my fault! I was blind and failed to recognize Mount Tai! Men! Seize the person Young Master Chu indicated and throw him out immediately!"

Without any hesitation or even a cursory investigation, he ordered Qin Heng to be seized and thrown out of the valley where the Martial Dao exchange event was being held. This was because the Chu family was truly too powerful! They not only controlled thirty percent of Suzhou-Hangzhou's economic lifeline but also boasted three Half-step Grandmasters. Furthermore, one of them was rumored to be on the verge of breaking through to the Transcendence Realm and becoming a true Grandmaster.

Truly, a power they couldn't afford to offend!

"What do you think you're doing?!" Li Jiao and Shang Ying were furious. They stepped in front of Qin Heng, glaring at the guards. "Do you know who invited him here? It was Xue Yi of the Xue family!"

"What? The Xue family?!"

The guards were instantly dumbfounded. First the Chu family, and now the Xue family? This was getting dangerous! Although the Xue family wasn't one of Suzhou-Hangzhou's great clans, Old Master Xue was also a Half-step Grandmaster. His strength was formidable, his prestige high, and ordinary Martial Artists couldn't afford to provoke him either.

"Xue Yi? That loser dares to be mentioned in the same breath as me?" Chu Yuanlang retorted with disdain. "That good-for-nothing is a disgrace to our circle! Guards! What are you waiting for? Seize this pretty boy for me immediately!"

"Move!" the lead guard bellowed. "Follow Young Master Chu's orders!"

As guards here, they might swagger before ordinary Martial Artists, but when faced with major powers, they had to choose their allegiance carefully. Between the Xue family and the Chu family, the choice was clearly the Chu family. After all, the Chu family was undoubtedly stronger than the Xue family!

"Ladies, please step aside!" the guard said sternly to Li Jiao and Shang Ying. "Do not obstruct us in the performance of our duties!"

"W-what should we do?" Li Jiao and Shang Ying began to panic.

They were merely ordinary Martial Artists from relatively wealthy families. However, mere wealth granted them no standing at this Martial Dao exchange. Among Martial Artists, strength commanded the utmost respect. A fortune of over a billion was worth less than a single word from a Half-step Grandmaster.

"Chu Yuanlang, is it?" At that moment, Qin Heng, who had been silent, finally spoke. He looked at Chu Yuanlang and said, "I'll give you two choices. One: kneel and kowtow in apology to me, Shang Ying, and Li Jiao. Do that, and I might spare your life."

"What? What did you say?" Chu Yuanlang was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Are you out of your mind? Me, kowtow and apologize to you? It seems you're not just a loser, but an idiot too!"

"Qin Heng, what are you saying? You'll only enrage him further!" Shang Ying and Li Jiao grew anxious.

In their eyes, Qin Heng was, at best, an ordinary martial arts enthusiast with no real combat skill. If he further infuriated Chu Yuanlang, he could be seriously injured!

The guards stared at Qin Heng as if he were a complete fool. In Suzhou-Hangzhou, demanding that the eldest son of the Chu family kneel and beg for mercy? That was the biggest joke they'd ever heard.

"Don't worry," Qin Heng said with a smile to Shang Ying and Li Jiao. "Whether it's Chu Yuanlang, the Chu family, or even the entire Suzhou-Hangzhou Martial Arts World, in my eyes, they are all insignificant ants, hardly worth mentioning. You have nothing to fear."

The Chu family, mere ants?!

The entire Suzhou-Hangzhou Martial Arts World, also just ants?!

Hardly worth mentioning?!

"Y-you... Have you been drinking?" Shang Ying and Li Jiao were utterly dumbfounded, staring at Qin Heng in disbelief.

Although they were good friends with Qin Heng, they never imagined he would utter such words. It was too arrogant! And to say such things in Suzhou-Hangzhou—if word got out, he would immediately become the target of public criticism! The repercussions would be enormous!

"Hahaha! Who do you think you are? Qin Xuantian? How dare you say such things!" Chu Yuanlang sneered at Qin Heng. "Kid, you're the most arrogant person I've ever met—arrogant to the point of idiocy! Right, you said I have two choices. What's the second one? Let's hear it. Is it as outrageously arrogant as the first? Hahaha!"

"The second choice is very simple." Qin Heng flexed his fingers, looked at Chu Yuanlang, and stated calmly, "I'll simply kill you."