Chapter 173: The Expert's Insight

Everyone was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

Initially, they wondered if he had made a mistake or if they had misheard. It was only after he repeated it that they realized this fool genuinely meant what he said.

Insulting Master Liu's entire family... And doing it with such self-righteousness and overwhelming confidence! Seriously, fatty, where do you get such audacity?

Master Yuanyu, in particular, stood frozen, tears streaming down his face. "I just said one casual remark, who did I provoke? Now this is a mess. If Master Liu gets angry, he'll surely create a scene. And if Yang Xuan truly is a Master, then a confrontation is inevitable, and after that, I'll be finished..."

Everyone was wide-eyed with shock. Sun Qiang, however, believing his words had hit their mark, stood proudly. This was the very method his master had once used to intimidate Ling Tianyu; with just one sentence, the opponent would immediately kneel. He had perfectly emulated Zhang Xuan's past demeanor, appearing aloof and insightful.

He tilted his head back, his eyes subtly glancing over, expecting to see them sincerely convinced, bowing down and calling him 'Master.' Instead, he saw the other party's face turn ashen, and their guards drawing long swords.

"Master, I'm going to kill him!" a guard roared, ready to charge forward.

"Huh? Why isn't this working?" Even Sun Qiang, foolish as he was, realized something was amiss when he saw the guard's reaction. His heart skipped a beat: "Could what I said be wrong?" Yet, he knew he couldn't lose his composure and dignity at this crucial moment. Every time his master spoke, people would indeed get angry, but once the intimidation was successful, the other party would immediately back down.

With that thought, he regained a surge of confidence: "Alright then, let me touch your wife... Oh, no worries if your wife isn't here. You... you're an animal, bloated and worthless..." After a long moment of thought, he recalled a few more of his master's lines.

The surroundings fell silent.

"Brother, we already thought you were incredibly bold just for that one insult, but we never imagined that was far from your limit..."

Now he wanted to touch Master Liu's wife, call him an animal, and say he was bloated and worthless... "We've seen brave people, but never anyone this audacious..."

Master Liu's face was also ashen, his facial muscles twitching uncontrollably, and he looked on the verge of collapsing. Had it not been for his exceptional self-control, he might have long since slapped this imbecile to death.

"Master, please permit me to kill this insolent fool who has insulted you!" Guard Ayun could no longer restrain himself; he raised his head and clasped his fists in a salute.

"Tell him who I am!" Master Liu flicked his sleeve decisively. He actually wanted to kill the man before him, but the sheer arrogance of the other party made him wary. If he weren't a Master, how could a mere butler dare utter such words? If the other party truly was an even more formidable Master, he wouldn't dare incur their wrath by killing their butler. Therefore, caution was advisable. He decided to reveal his identity first, let the other party know, and observe their reaction.

"Fatty, our master is Lord Liu Ling, a visiting prince and Master from the Northern Martial Second-Grade Kingdom..." Ayun announced, stepping forward.

"I don't care what kind of prince you are..." Sun Qiang began, but his corpulent body suddenly trembled mid-sentence. "What did you say? A Master? He's a Master?" He might dismiss princes from other kingdoms, but a Master — that was terrifying.

"Precisely. Our master is a One-Star Master. To dare utter such insults is a capital offense!" Ayun gritted his teeth. A Master cannot be insulted. To openly curse his entire family, propose to touch his wife, and call him an animal... any one of these offenses would be enough to warrant death a hundred times over.

"A capital offense?" Sun Qiang's mouth twitched, and he nearly collapsed from fright on the spot. He had merely intended to quietly show off while his master was away, hoping to impress him, but he never dreamed he'd end up making a complete fool of himself. His master had also acted this way, yet why did others immediately kneel in terror, hardly daring to breathe, while he had stumbled directly upon a Master...? How could the difference between people be so vast? Insulting a Master... wasn't that just asking for death? What was he to do? Sun Qiang's plump face crumpled like a ball of crumpled paper; he was on the verge of tears.

"Go inform your master that Master Liu Ling, Zhuang Xian, and Zheng Fei have come to visit. As for your transgression, I will personally discuss it with your master!" Seeing the portly butler, who moments ago had been so arrogant, now trembling with fear, Master Liu Ling waved his hand dismissively. If the other party truly was a Master, then not punishing his subordinate for insulting him would be a sign of respect and could earn him a favor. If not, he could then unleash his anger, capture the imposter, and avenge the humiliation.

"Our master left early this morning... I'm not sure when he'll return..." Hearing that they wouldn't act immediately, Sun Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. Now aware of their identity, he no longer dared to be as arrogant as before.

"You don't know when he'll be back?" Liu Ling and the others frowned. They couldn't possibly wait here indefinitely, could they?

"Yes," Sun Qiang confirmed with a nod.

"Alright, take this our visiting card. Once your master returns, we will come to visit again." Liu Ling gestured, and his guard, Ayun, immediately stepped forward to hand over a visiting card.

"Understood!" Sun Qiang didn't dare waste another word. He took the visiting card, and his eyebrows twitched repeatedly as he stared at the prominent 'Master' characters inscribed upon it.

"Let's go!" With the master absent, the three Masters saw no point in arguing further with a mere butler, so they turned and departed.

Watching them leave, Sun Qiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow and returned to the courtyard. The moment he stepped back into the courtyard, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. It seemed that showing off wasn't something to be done lightly; otherwise... one might die without even knowing how. From now on, he vowed never to show off again, no matter what.

"Master Liu, why didn't you simply kill this fellow who insulted you?" As the group walked back, Guard Ayun couldn't hold back his curiosity and spoke up. Those who become Masters are naturally not soft-hearted individuals, and Master Liu had always been decisive. How was it that he endured such insults from this fatty today?

"Brother Zheng, what are your thoughts?" Without answering him directly, Liu Ling turned to Master Zheng Fei, who was standing nearby.

"The person residing in this mansion is no simple individual. If he truly is a Master, his rank is likely not inferior to ours," Zheng Fei stated, nodding with a solemn expression.

"Indeed!" Master Zhuang Xian, standing beside them, also nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"But... didn't we not even see the owner of the mansion?" Hearing these remarks from the three Masters, everyone was somewhat confused. "You didn't even see the 'master' the fatty spoke of, did you? Without seeing the person in question, how can you determine that his rank is not inferior to yours?" Even Yuanyu, who was following behind, looked on with a bewildered expression.

"We didn't see the person himself, but we saw his butler," Master Liu explained.

"That fool?" Ayun couldn't help but interject, "What's so strange about that idiot?"

"You only saw the surface!" Master Liu shook his head. "This butler, I just observed his physique; not only is it poor, it's actually quite dreadful. Normally, for someone with his constitution, reaching the peak of the True Qi realm, Martial Artist Triple Layer, would be considered extremely fortunate. But did you notice just now? How high was his cultivation?"

"Late-stage Skin-and-Bone realm, Martial Artist Fourth Layer..." Ayun replied after a slight hesitation.

"Precisely. His cultivation has reached the late-stage Skin-and-Bone realm. Furthermore... judging by his barely controlled true qi, he must have broken through very recently. Combining this with what Master Yuanyu said earlier—that Sun Qiang was simply recruited on a whim and used to be just a common merchant—it strongly suggests that his cultivation improved significantly after being guided by the mansion's owner..." As Master Liu spoke, a grave expression appeared in his eyes: "With such a poor physique and a mediocre cultivation technique, the true qi within his body would undoubtedly have long since stagnated and congealed, effectively blocking all his meridians. For him to not only break through in just a few days but also directly advance by nearly an entire major realm... such a method of elevating someone's cultivation is something even I would find exceedingly difficult to accomplish."

As Masters, skilled in guiding cultivation, they could naturally discern Sun Qiang's unique situation at a glance. Sun Qiang's meridians were indeed congested, and his true qi had stagnated. Logically, reaching the peak of the True Qi realm would have been impressive for him. Yet, he was now at the late-stage Skin-and-Bone realm. Even an imbecile could deduce something from that. If Zhang Xuan had heard their conclusion, he would undoubtedly have been amazed. Truly worthy of being Masters; their insight was indeed formidable. No wonder it was a profession universally admired and feared across the entire continent; their discerning gaze was simply unparalleled by ordinary people.

"If my guess is correct," Master Zhuang, who had been silent, finally spoke, "the other party must have used the purest true qi to clear the blockages within his body and even dissolve his stagnant true qi, enabling him to break through in one swift go and even make rapid progress, reaching the late-stage Skin-and-Bone realm!" If Sun Qiang had been present, he would surely have been startled, for his experience was indeed precisely as this Master described.

"To be able to dissolve stagnant true qi and help someone reopen meridian blockages, this person's true qi level must have reached at least the mid-tier Third Grade, or... their cultivation has reached the Grandmaster realm!" Master Liu also nodded, then looked at Ayun again: "Whether it's a powerhouse who has cultivated mid-tier Third Grade true qi or a Grandmaster... even if this individual isn't a Master, they are certainly not someone we can afford to offend. And if they are a Master, even if their rank isn't higher than ours, their potential is far greater. Had we truly killed his butler just now, it would have been akin to openly declaring hostility, leaving no room for future reconciliation. It's better to do them a favor. He's just a minor figure; I'm sure he's already scared witless now that he knows our identities."

"Understood!" Ayun nodded in acknowledgement. He knew his master possessed astonishing insight, capable of discerning crucial truths from the smallest details, so he said no more.

"Incredible!" Master Yuanyu, standing to the side, heard these deductions and was so stunned his mouth hung open for a long moment. No wonder Masters could become the noblest profession. To analyze so much just from a single glance—their perceptive ability was simply astounding.

"Then, Master, since this person isn't at the mansion, what should we do?" Ayun pressed on.

"His absence from the mansion doesn't mean we can't verify his identity. Here's what we'll do: inform Emperor Shen Zhui to summon the individuals Master Yang Xuan has treated over the past few days to the royal palace. I want to observe them personally..." Master Liu instructed.

"Understood!" Ayun nodded. Master Yuanyu, standing nearby, heard this and secretly admired their ingenuity. It didn't matter that the person wasn't there. Master Yang Xuan had helped Ling Tianyu, Du Miaoxuan, Luo Chong, and Alchemist Chen Xiao—these were not secrets. As long as these individuals were brought in for careful questioning and investigation, much could be revealed. Whether he was a true Master would then be clear at a glance.