Chapter 1116: I Hate It When People Show Off to Me

The old man appeared to be in his sixties, with white hair and beard, and sharp, arrow-like brows that exuded a strong martial aura. One could tell at a glance that he was a veteran of many battles. His cultivation base surged powerfully, having already reached the early stage of Saint 4-dan, Primordial Spirit Realm.

"It's Dao Kou, the Ground-Landing Hero, one of the Twin Heroes of Jibei!"

Upon seeing him clearly, the attendant beside Zhang Xuan turned pale with fright and quickly sent a telepathic message: "This Ground-Landing Hero is incredibly famous in Jibei, practically a tyrant. Not only is he formidable, but more importantly, he disregards all rules in his actions, acting arrogantly and recklessly..."

Jibei is a vast region within the Qingyuan Conferred Empire, even larger than the entire territory of the Hongyuan First-Class Empire. His ability to dominate such a large area spoke volumes about his fearsome power.

"What if he doesn't follow rules? Vice President Xu has already accepted my spirit stones; surely, she won't go back on her word?" Zhang Xuan shook his head, unconcerned.

No matter the situation, there was a first-come, first-served rule, and that was paramount. Even a Primordial Spirit Realm expert could not disregard these regulations in a place overseen by the Master Teacher Pavilion.

"That's not what I meant. I've heard he has a history of forcefully taking others' Spirit Awakening opportunities. If a dispute arises, it's best to be careful. This man holds grudges and always seeks revenge for the smallest slight..."

Before the attendant could finish speaking, Vice President Xu, standing nearby, shook her head. "I have indeed only performed Spirit Awakening for two people today, but this young master arrived earlier and paid the fee. Therefore, you'll have to wait in line behind him!"

As the Vice President of the Spirit Awakener Guild, she naturally had to abide by the rules. Moreover, the person before her was a Master Teacher.

"Arrived before us? That's simple!"

Dao Kou chuckled and took a few steps toward Zhang Xuan. His voice carried an oppressive, undeniable power. "Young friend, yield your spot to me. You probably paid a hundred high-grade spirit stones earlier, right? I'll give you two hundred as compensation!"

As he spoke, he flipped his wrist, and a pile of exactly two hundred high-grade spirit stones appeared before them.

Doubling the price instantly was considered a very high offer.

After speaking, he raised his head and clasped his hands behind his back. Dao Kou expected the young man to pick up the spirit stones and leave; after all, a Saint 1-dan practitioner couldn't possibly offend him over a mere spot. But then he saw the young man acting as if he hadn't heard him. He looked at Vice President Xu instead, asking, "You mentioned it would be difficult to restore it. What are the difficulties? Do you need my help...?"

"My teacher is speaking to you, didn't you hear?"

Seeing the young man disregard his teacher, the middle-aged man's face darkened with displeasure. He stepped forward, raising an eyebrow, and bellowed.

"If you think I don't know much about Spirit Awakening, you can go learn now..." As if he hadn't heard the middle-aged man, Zhang Xuan continued speaking to Vice President Xu.

"Learn?" Vice President Xu shook her head. "Although a Spirit Awakener isn't a special profession, it's not something one can master overnight. Learning it now would definitely be too late. Waking up a dormant consciousness involves complex spiritual intricacies; it's very troublesome, and I can't guarantee success!"

"This..." Zhang Xuan frowned. "Then... if it's unsuccessful, are there any adverse effects?"

Failure itself wouldn't be a big deal. He just feared that an unsuccessful attempt might instead extinguish the existing spirituality, making the effort counterproductive.

"At most, it will just be unsuccessful. There's no danger to the weapon's original spirituality..." Vice President Xu smiled.

"Then I'll trouble Vice President Xu to give it a try. Your great kindness will surely be repaid!" Zhang Xuan bowed.

As long as the Golden Origin Cauldron could be awakened, no matter the cost, it would be worth it.

"You're welcome. Whether I succeed, I can't say for sure, but I'll do my best!" Vice President Xu nodded.

As a Master Teacher who could casually produce such a valuable weapon, his identity clearly wasn't simple. Her tone showed no hint of neglect.

However, while she wasn't neglectful, her words sounded like a disregard to Dao Kou and the middle-aged man.

"My words, did you not hear them?"

Daring not to direct his anger at the beautiful woman, the middle-aged man came before Zhang Xuan, his eyes filled with killing intent.

Ignoring him was one thing, but ignoring his teacher was an unforgivable sin!

He possessed the strength of a Saint 3-dan pinnacle. Standing there, though he hadn't yet attacked, his formidable pressure alone gave a sense of overwhelming force.

"Young man, improve your attitude, be more humble, and I might just consider answering you!"

Ignoring the other party's power, Zhang Xuan lifted an eyelid.

"You're asking for death!"

The middle-aged man's face twitched, and he nearly exploded with rage. A twenty-year-old kid calling him "young man" and speaking in the tone of an elder lecturing a junior... it drove him mad.

*Boom!*

He flipped his palm, ready to strike down.

Vice President Xu's expression darkened, and she was about to intervene, when she saw the young man not far away lift an eyelid, and a voice suddenly rang out.

"Scram!"

*Boom!*

The sound was like an exploding thunderclap, reverberating on the spot.

*Thud, thud, thud!*

As if struck by a heavy blow, the middle-aged man's face turned pale before his attack even landed. He stumbled back seven or eight steps, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood!

Although the middle-aged man was at Saint 3-dan pinnacle, Zhang Xuan had successfully become a Saint, making his combat power virtually invincible below the Primordial Spirit Realm. Dealing with someone who wasn't even a Master Teacher, he didn't even need to make a move; a single shout was enough to throw their mind into disarray and break their mental defenses.

"Yan Qi..."

Seeing his student severely wounded by a single shout, Dao Kou's face darkened. He stepped forward, channeling a stream of True Qi into his subordinate's body to help him suppress his injuries. Only then did he look up at the young man not far away, his gaze icy cold. "Flicker Maestro? Demonic Tune Master? My friend, isn't it a bit excessive to be so ruthless with your very first move?"

With his discerning eye, he immediately recognized the techniques the other party had used. Just by uttering a single word, it contained the abilities of both a Demonic Tune Master and a Flicker Maestro, making it impossible to guard against.

"If I hadn't retaliated, his attack would probably have landed on me already!" Zhang Xuan said, too lazy to bother answering his words directly.

"My student might be a bit rash, but he wouldn't just casually attack!"

Dao Kou sneered repeatedly. "Harming my student, as his teacher, seeking justice for him is not a violation of rules. So... I won't bully the weak. I'll let you have three moves. Within three moves, if you can touch the hem of my clothes, I'll leave without another word. If you can't, then I'm sorry, but you'll give me the spot and immediately get out. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Three moves?" Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Alright, you make your move!"

Dao Kou was fuming internally. "I said *I'd let you have* three moves!"

Zhang Xuan looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

Dao Kou was full of confidence. A single shout had made his student retreat and suffer severe injuries, which seemed terrifying. But he had also seen that the opponent was skilled in soul attacks.

It was a well-known axiom that those proficient in soul arts were naturally weaker in physical body and True Qi. Moreover, being so young, how strong could he possibly be? Therefore, he deliberately proposed a challenge of three moves to touch the hem of his clothes!

If this were in Jibei, everyone would know he was intentionally bullying someone. His greatest strength was speed, and challenging a mere Saint 1-dan young man in his area of expertise... it was like using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken, a clear case of bullying the weak.

"Alright!"

Ignoring his confidence, Zhang Xuan nodded. Before he finished speaking, his figure flickered, and he had already appeared before Dao Kou, moving with lightning speed.

Although he had disliked the numerous flaws of "Boundless Traveler" and hadn't cultivated it, he hadn't been idle for the past month or so. He had integrated the Heavenly Dao Movement Art with its correct parts, significantly improving his speed. When executed now, even if it couldn't match true teleportation, it was terrifying over short distances.

From the moment he moved to appearing before the opponent, less than one-tenth of a breath had passed.

*Whoosh!*

As he appeared, his fist also shot out.

"You..."

Unexpectedly, the other party charged over before he was ready, and so fast that Dao Kou's face turned pale with fright. Just as he was about to retaliate, he found the young man's fist was even faster than his movement, as if it had broken through the limits of time.

His chest aching, he let out a miserable cry as he was sent flying straight backward. He slammed straight into the wall, slumping down like a pile of mud. His vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.

"Dao Kou, the Ground-Landing Hero, one of the Twin Heroes of Jibei, is skilled in speed. When he executes his 'Ground-Landing Grandeur Movement Art,' he's like a ghost, impossible to pin down, so it's best not to agree..."

The exchange between them, while sounding complex, actually took less than a single breath. The attendant who had come in with Zhang Xuan, frantically sending a telepathic message upon hearing his young master agree to the challenge, saw Dao Kou lying on the ground before he could finish speaking. He was dumbfounded on the spot, feeling as if he was going crazy.

The person before him wasn't much older than himself. He had thought his strength was ordinary, never dreaming that a single shout could severely injure a Embryonic Soul Realm expert, and a single punch could take down a Primordial Spirit Realm expert... Dao Kou, the Ground-Landing Hero, was famous for his "Ground-Landing Grandeur Movement Art"; even a Primordial Spirit Realm pinnacle expert would find it hard to catch him. Yet, before the other party, he didn't even have time to display his movement art before being knocked out...

The attendant swallowed, his body rigid. Fortunately, because of his weak strength, he hadn't thought much about the matter of the mid-tier Saint artifact. It seemed he really should have thought about it... He figured it would be him lying dead right now.

"Teacher..."

The middle-aged man also snapped out of his daze at this moment and quickly rushed over to help his teacher.

Glancing at the unconscious Dao Kou, Zhang Xuan curled his lip.

Three moves...

I finished you in one move. With this little strength, what's with all the swagger? Making it sound like a big deal... I really hate this kind of empty boasting... How embarrassing! So embarrassing!

To be honest, with his current strength, if the opponent had communicated with their Primordial Spirit and unleashed their full power, he still wouldn't have been able to defeat them. But to offer three moves... well, just wait for bad luck! Were his moves something one could casually yield? Not to mention an early-stage Primordial Spirit Realm cultivator, even King Tian Ye, who was at the early-stage Out-of-Body Realm, didn't dare to say he'd concede moves to him, and he still ended up dead!

Although his combat power was below the Primordial Spirit Realm, he had too many tricks up his sleeve, making it very easy to deal with Primordial Spirit Realm experts.

With a sigh, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but shake his head. He looked into the distance, his gaze drifting, feeling the loneliness of an undefeated master.

"I really hate it when people show off in front of me, but you just had to come forward. I'm really helpless..."