Chapter 138: Is It Me

Ding Tianxiang’s body trembled. The spiritual power he was about to unleash was sharply withdrawn, and his mind instantly cleared.

Ding Xuhui and the other elders’ expressions changed dramatically. What they feared most had come to pass, and it was the worst possible scenario.

Ding Xuhui quickly stepped forward, attempting to defuse Qin Wenyuan’s anger, saying, “Master Qin, these juniors are just playfully bickering. Please don’t misunderstand.”

After speaking, he cast an imploring glance at Ding Wanping, begging him to let the matter rest and not escalate it.

But how could Ding Wanping agree? He loudly retorted, “It wasn’t just playful bickering! Ding Tianxiang wanted my life! He, and the Ding family, don’t respect me at all! And they don’t respect you, Master Qin, either!”

“Want your life?” Qin Wenyuan couldn’t help but shiver. It didn't matter much if they didn't respect Ding Wanping, but not respecting Jiang Fan, that was a huge problem!

A hint of anger appeared on his aged face, and he scoffed, “Patriarch Ding, are you perhaps dissatisfied with my lack of foundation as a newcomer to Yunyang City and no longer wish to cooperate? If so, you can just say it directly, Patriarch Ding. There's no need to hint at it in a roundabout way!”

Sweat beaded on Ding Xuhui’s forehead out of anxiety. This incident had indeed affected their cooperation.

The Ding family elders’ expressions kept changing. Just one sentence from Ding Wanping was enough to jeopardize their collaboration! Ding Wanping’s importance in Master Qin’s eyes was far greater than they had anticipated!

Ding Tianxiang’s hands and feet grew cold, and he deeply regretted his rashness. A moment of impulse had brought about enormous trouble!

Gritting his teeth, he proactively walked up to Ding Wanping, lowered his head, and endured immense humiliation as he said, “I’m sorry, Wanping! I shouldn’t have been impulsive, and I certainly shouldn’t have laid hands on you! Please forgive me, for we are both members of the same clan!”

As the pride of the Ding family, as the favored son of Yunyang City, and as a peerless prodigy who overlooked the entire Azure Cloud Sect territory, Ding Tianxiang at this moment had almost no dignity left!

However, Ding Wanping was not satisfied. He bared his teeth and sneered, “Is an apology enough? Do you know what crime it is to disrespect a superior? Kneel down!”

“Kneel?” Ding Tianxiang’s eyes widened, the humiliation in his heart reaching its peak! A formidable prodigy from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, forced to kneel before someone? This was unacceptable to him!

However, seeing Qin Wenyuan’s increasingly cold face and his anxious clansmen, he gritted his teeth. He heavily knelt on the ground and said with a trembling voice, “I was wrong! Please forgive me!”

The surroundings fell silent. The Ding family members couldn’t bear to look and averted their gazes. Yet, the anger in their hearts surged like a volcanic eruption, reverberating within their chests!

Even if Ding Tianxiang was in the wrong, he was still a member of the Ding family! How could his dignity be trampled upon like this? Did Ding Wanping even consider himself a member of the Ding family?

Although the Ding family didn't highly value Ding Wanping, had they ever treated him poorly? Without the Ding family's upbringing since childhood, would he have had the opportunity to be recruited by the Azure Cloud Sect? How could he repay their kindness with such enmity, treating the Ding family this way?

Seeing Ding Tianxiang kneeling, Ding Wanping finally breathed easily, and he scoffed, “That’s more like it! Just stay kneeling there and reflect properly!” Then, he smiled and cupped his hands towards Master Qin, “Thank you, Master Qin, for supporting me.”

Qin Wenyuan nodded slightly. He said no more. Since the matter had concluded with Ding Tianxiang’s kneeling apology, there was no need for him to complicate things further. After all, cooperation with the Ding family still needed to continue.

He patted Ding Wanping’s shoulder, preparing to leave: “If anything happens in the future, feel free to come to me anytime!”

These words sent a jolt through everyone in the Ding family. This was an unmistakable warning to the entire Ding family. It meant that Ding Wanping was under his protection! If anything happened, Ding Wanping could summon Qin Wenyuan at any time!

Ding Wanping was overjoyed. He smirked, looking around at the Ding family members. While Qin Wenyuan was still present, he deliberately intended to intimidate them, making them completely submit to him.

“Master Qin, please wait!” he called out. “There’s one more matter I need to handle, but the clan members aren’t being cooperative. Please, Master Qin, decide for me!”

Qin Wenyuan, whose expression had just cleared, darkened again. What was going on with the Ding family? Did he really need to explicitly state that Jiang Fan was a highly ranked Grand Soul Master? Ding Wanping’s ability to befriend him was akin to helping the Ding family lean on a towering tree! Instead of placating Ding Wanping, the Ding family repeatedly mistreated him! They were simply ungrateful!

Therefore, he angrily scoffed, “What is it? Speak! I’d like to see what exactly the Ding family is trying to do!” Perhaps he needed to have a serious talk with the Ding family members, to make them stop being so foolish!

With Qin Wenyuan’s statement, Ding Wanping felt even more at ease. He coldly scoffed, “There’s someone who stole my woman and repeatedly humiliated me. Just now, he even slapped me! I merely wanted to reason with him, but guess what he did? He actually used some sinister cultivation technique to injure me!”

“What?” Qin Wenyuan was greatly startled. Who dared to be so arrogant as to humiliate Ding Wanping in the Ding family? Not only slapping him, but injuring him too? If anything happened to Ding Wanping, his connection with Jiang Fan would be severed!

He secretly congratulated himself for staying to preside over this matter. Otherwise, Ding Wanping would have suffered such immense grievances, and he would have been kept in the dark!

He erupted in rage and shouted, “Are all the people of the Ding family dead? Was there no one to protect you?”

Ding Wanping showed a wronged expression and bitterly said, “They didn’t just fail to protect me! I told them to kill this person, but from the Patriarch down to the clan members, they all spoke up for the other party! Ding Tianxiang even turned on me, helping the other party to kill me!”

Bang— Qin Wenyuan felt his lungs explode from anger. He slammed a palm onto the stone table. In an instant, the stone table shattered into pieces! He roared at the Ding family members, “This is outrageous! Is this how you treat someone I intend to specially cultivate?”

The Ding family members, hearing the inverted accusations, trembled with rage. Ding Xuhui quickly explained, “Master Qin, it’s not that we were helping the other party. It’s just that the other party’s identity is extraordinary, and we wouldn’t dare!”

Hmph! Qin Wenyuan grew even angrier! Even now, they were still protecting the other person! What identity could possibly carry more weight than “Jiang Fan’s friend”?

“Speak! Who is the other party?” he demanded. “I’d like to see who this esteemed person is!”

Ding Xuhui’s face showed difficulty. He pleaded, “Master Qin, let’s just let this matter go. We cannot let it escalate further.” How could he dare to let Jiang Fan die in the Ding family? If that happened, Qin Wenyuan would simply leave, and the Ding family would bear the full wrath of the Azure Cloud Sect.

“Speak!” Qin Wenyuan’s hair bristled with anger. The more the Ding family tried to conceal it, the more he wanted to see who the other party was!

At this moment, a voice that made Qin Wenyuan’s soul tremble drifted lightly towards them.

“It’s me.”

“Master Qin, how may I help you?”