Chapter 2153: Expert Sun Qiang (Part 1)

"When we arrive at Netherworld City, don't call me 'master' anymore. It'll be easy for people to figure out my identity. You should address me as 'young master!'"

Standing on the back of the flying divine beast, Zhang Xuan instructed, "You are a Scaled Beast, and you don't have a surname. So, you'll take my surname, Zhang, and be called Zhang Jia!"

"Yes!" the young Zhang Jia nodded.

"Also, I'm a low-key person. Once we're in the city, you absolutely must act discreetly and avoid causing trouble!"

"Don't worry, Young Master, I also prefer to keep a low profile!" Zhang Jia said with a determined expression.

As the most powerful divine beast within Netherworld City's domain, yet always staying within its own territory and never leaving, this was enough to show its temperament.

"That's good. Oh, by the way, who ambushed you earlier?" Zhang Xuan asked.

When he first encountered the beast, two individuals with formidable cultivation had launched a sneak attack on it.

"They were probably from the City Lord's Mansion. That Wu Fangqing has long wanted to tame me and make me his beast pet! He just hasn't succeeded," Zhang Jia shook his head.

Zhang Xuan frowned, "Since the City Lord wants to tame you, shouldn't he act openly and follow the rules? Why resort to a sneak attack?"

Taming such a powerful divine beast would greatly enhance the City Lord's prestige, so it was normal for him to covet it. However, having people ambush and sneak attack seemed beneath his status!

After all, everyone in the city operated according to the rules he established. As the esteemed City Lord, wouldn't he fear public criticism if he was the one leading the disobedience?

"Beneath his status? He's just a hypocrite!" Zhang Jia scoffed, "A sneak attack is considered mild. He's also poisoned me multiple times! If my defenses weren't strong and my detoxification abilities weren't excellent, I would have died long ago!"

"Poisoned you?" Zhang Xuan was stunned.

If that were true, he would need to be careful when dealing with this City Lord.

He had thought the City Lord would genuinely adhere to the rules and act reasonably, but now it seemed rules were made by the strong and could be arbitrarily trampled upon by such individuals.

Indeed, those who set the rules never intended for them to apply to themselves, because they already stood above the rules... This was reality.

The man and the beast conversed throughout their journey, riding the flying divine beast swiftly towards Netherworld City.

Meanwhile, a calling card was delivered to the courtyard where Zhang Xuan resided.

"Ying Fei?" Sun Qiang looked at the name on the card with a puzzled expression.

Since the Young Master was not home and everyone else was cultivating, only he was available to handle affairs.

"According to the person, he is a merchant from outside the city and has come specifically to see the Young Master," said the servant who delivered the card.

Although they had settled in a hurry, Sun Qiang had hired some servants to provide meals and other necessities for everyone. After all, they couldn't cultivate on an empty stomach.

"Let him in!" Sun Qiang nodded.

Soon, a middle-aged man entered. It was the same person who had previously left the City Lord's Mansion.

"Steward Sun..." Ying Fei said with a smile, having already gathered information before arriving.

"May I ask the purpose of your visit, Mr. Ying?"

After the host and guest were seated, Sun Qiang looked at him with curiosity.

"It's like this," Ying Fei said, getting straight to the point, "The beauty pill currently popular in the city, Young Master Zhang Xuan refined it, didn't he?"

"Beauty pill?" Sun Qiang was bewildered.

What had the Young Master been up to now? He hadn't heard anything about it...

"There's no need to pretend with me!" Ying Fei frowned, seeing that the stout man in front of him, though not highly cultivated, was quite good at feigning ignorance. "Since I dared to come here, I've clearly done my research."

"Well..." Sun Qiang stopped speaking and looked at him, "Then... what is your objective?"

The Young Master had too many tricks up his sleeve and usually did whatever he wanted without any prior notice. Given the current situation, Sun Qiang could only gauge the other party's intentions and react accordingly.

"Steward Sun, you're direct. Since you've asked, I won't hide it. My objective is simple: I hope you can sell me the method for refining that pill. The price is negotiable," Ying Fei stated.

"The pill formula? You want to buy the pill formula?" Sun Qiang frowned.

"Precisely!" Ying Fei replied.

Sun Qiang shook his head. "I'm sorry, but this pill formula was meticulously researched by my Young Master and cannot be sold! Someone, show our guest out!"

Even though he didn't know what the other party was talking about, anything created by the Young Master definitely couldn't be sold.

"I suggest Steward Sun reconsider and not answer so hastily," Ying Fei said. "Although Netherworld City adheres to rules, you've just arrived here and have already offended Inch of Ash. If anything were to happen, it would likely only make people hate the bandits even more..."

A smirk played on his lips as Ying Fei flicked his finger, sending a wisp of mist directly towards the stout man in front of him.

The City Lord had given instructions: if they sold, fine; if not, he wouldn't mind using force.

Since the other party had captured Inch of Ash, he could simply use the bandits' name as an excuse.

Sometimes, it wasn't that bandit suppression wasn't effective, but rather that the bandits needed to remain alive to better serve as a pretext for others' actions.

"Are you threatening me?" Sun Qiang narrowed his eyes, stood up, and took a step forward, exuding an astonishing aura. "I've followed my Young Master, traversed the world, and weathered countless storms. Do you really think I'd be afraid of threats?"

"Whether you're afraid, you'll soon find out..." Ying Fei smiled faintly, calculating that the poisonous gas he had just released had taken effect. He then stood up, hands clasped behind his back. "Are you feeling uncomfortable in your chest right now...?"

Before he could finish, a stinging pain erupted on his face as a slap echoed.

"Uncomfortable? You're the one who's uncomfortable, your whole family's uncomfortable!" Sun Qiang raised an eyebrow, seething with anger. "Stop putting on airs! When I was showing off, you were probably still playing in the mud somewhere! You're not welcome here, get out!"

"You..." Ying Fei's body trembled with rage. He had thought the other party was already poisoned and didn't expect him to act, caught off guard by the slap. Just as he was about to retaliate and strike the man dead, he forcefully restrained himself and flicked his finger again.

Another wisp of poisonous gas flew over.

The moment the gas entered the other man's face, a stinging pain flared on Ying Fei's face again. Sun Qiang, fuming with rage, narrowed his eyes. "What, my words aren't effective?"

"You... why aren't you affected?"

Ying Fei was appalled.

He could perhaps excuse the first use of poison as a misjudgment, but the second time, he had personally watched the powder enter the other man's throat, yet he remained full of vigor, completely unchanged... What was going on?

This poison couldn't harm the Scaled Beast, but even ordinary Upper-tier Deities couldn't withstand it.

The man appeared to not even be a Deity, yet his expression hadn't changed after two consecutive doses... Could it be that his strength was hidden, merely a disguise?

"I don't believe it..." Gritting his teeth, he flicked his finger again, sending several types of hidden poison powders flying out, all of them landing squarely on the other man.

Sun Qiang delivered another slap, utterly furious. "If you don't want to die, get out! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Are you taking my kindness for weakness? Sprinkling layers and layers of powder on me? What am I, a barbecue, for you to be sprinkling this stuff on me?

Although the three consecutive slaps weren't heavy, they felt like a profound humiliation. Ying Fei was so enraged he nearly exploded. If he hadn't been wary of the possibility that the other party was hiding his true strength, he would have attacked long ago.

"You're asking for death..."

His face twitched. Just as Ying Fei was about to return a slap to the man in front of him, his ear twitched, as if he had received a telepathic message.

Without further delay, his body swayed, and he shot out of the room.

Reaching the doorway, he immediately saw two figures appear before him.

They were the two who had previously ambushed the Scaled Beast.

"What is it?" he asked, frowning.

"Reporting, sir, our attempt to capture the Scaled Beast was interfered with... We failed!" one of the figures said, his face flushed with shame.

"Failed?" Ying Fei was stunned.

"Young Master Zhang Xuan suddenly appeared and rescued it, and... it seems he has already tamed it!" the figure reported.

"Zhang Xuan tamed... the Scaled Beast?" Ying Fei was filled with disbelief.

Others might not know how arrogant the Scaled Beast was, but he knew it very well. The City Lord, an Inferior Celestial Deity, had spent countless resources and made numerous attempts without success. Yet, the other party, merely an Inferior Deity, not only rescued it but also tamed it...

"Absolutely true! I suspect... he's hidden his strength," the newcomer affirmed.

Ying Fei's body swayed.

Previously, he had found it strange that Zhang Xuan, an Inferior Deity, could easily capture Inch of Ash, an Upper-tier Deity-level being. Now, he had tamed a divine beast that even the City Lord struggled to subdue...

Could he also be hiding his strength? Just like Steward Sun Qiang earlier?

Although he hadn't truly interacted with Zhang Xuan, he had just witnessed Steward Sun Qiang's capabilities firsthand!

Without strength, how could he be so confident? How could he dare to slap a powerful individual like himself so mercilessly?

Without strength, why did so many of his poisons have no effect whatsoever?

If he genuinely wasn't even a Deity, any one of those poisons would have killed him countless times over.

Furthermore, the steward's words... "traversed the world with my Young Master"... these Nine Heavens were not so easily traversed!

"Thankfully, I didn't make a move earlier..."

Cold sweat poured down Ying Fei's back, and his vision blurred.

Fortunately, he had endured the few slaps and didn't fall out with Sun Qiang. Otherwise, if he had forced the other man to reveal his true strength, he would surely have died on the spot.

Realizing this, he quietly turned his head to look at the courtyard he had just left. The gate hadn't closed yet, and he caught sight of the stout man standing in the yard with his hands clasped behind his back.

The man's head was slightly tilted, gazing at the sky, giving off an aura as profound as an abyss and as stable as a mountain. It seemed as though no matter how grave the matter, it wouldn't cause him to frown.

"On the surface, he's not even at the Deity realm... but in reality, he's unfathomable!" Ying Fei realized with a jolt.

He had repeatedly slapped an Upper-tier Deity like himself without showing any fear, and absorbed so many poisons without a scratch, his complexion unchanged... Anyone who told him this was just an ordinary person, he wouldn't believe it for a second!

Could a False God possess such an imposing demeanor? Could a False God absorb potent poisons that even Upper-tier Deities couldn't withstand, and remain completely unharmed?

He must be an unfathomable master! Otherwise, he wouldn't have such a composed mentality!

"Sir, what should we do now?" Seeing his expression, the figure opposite him quickly asked.

"Let's wait a bit longer. Perhaps we can wait for Young Master Zhang Xuan to arrive..." Ying Fei paused before speaking.

Although he had already guessed that the other party might be an expert, he was still uneasy and wanted to investigate further to understand what was truly going on.