As soon as Zhao Chen stepped foot into the main hall he could feel the piercing and threatening gazes coming from almost everyone inside the room. Though he didn’t find them too shocking nor was he at all scared, he did feel that for a supposed congratulatory party for him, the gazes were a little out of place.

Just as Zhao Chen was about to speak up in an attempt to break the silence, the loud cry of a drunk man was heard throughout the entire hall.

“Haha, good good! My son has arrived! Now we can really start the festivities!” Of course the drunk man was none other than Yuxuan Chen, who had already had one too many drinks that night, but his son had accomplished something so great, why shouldn’t he get a little out of hand?

“Dear please calm down, I think you’ve gone through enough of the festivities for all of us.” Haoran appeared behind him and softly pushed him back into the chair he had just sprung up from, before briskly walking over to Zhao Chen. Despite her words to Yuxuan she felt even more happy, what more could a mother ask for? Her son had really made her proud today.

“Chen-er come pay respect to the elders first”, Haoran lightly grabbed Zhao Chens hand and guided him to the end of the hall where four old men in white robes sat on opposing sides next to a middle aged man in purple robes.

Naturally Zhao Chen recognized these 5 men as the elders and the patriarch of the Duan Family. From the sheer pride these people were expelling from their bodies, it would be hard for a regular person to discern them as a simple branch family.

Zhao Chen naturally didn’t want to show respect to any of these men, seeing as how they had largely mistreated him and his family these past few years, but on account of parents ' face he still showed the proper etiquette.

“Zhao Chen greets the elders.” Zhao Chen cusped his hands at each old man before turning to face the patriarch and gritting his teeth before greeting him too. The patriarch was the man whom Zhao Chen detested the most, as his aloofness to the family's affairs is what allowed everyone else to treat Zhao Chen's family as trash.

At that moment a young man in emerald green robes walked out from behind the patriarch. His long hair had been tied up, and his pale face had no expression, but his aura was very calm with no fluctuations. A regular passerby could mistake the youth for one of them.

But when the youth showed his face Zhao Chen's killing intent almost completely spewed out of him. He quickly hid it but he noticed the expressions of the elders flicker, as if they had sensed the killing intent. But Zhao Chen paid them no mind, it was for a mere half a second, they couldn't harm him. Instead Zhao Chen had his eyes locked on to the youth, who sneered at Zhao Chen when he saw his gaze.

The youth was none other than Yuan Ling! The man who a few days prior had almost killed Zhao Chen, and the person who had made almost every day for Zhao Chen and his family hell. Yuan Ling was the adopted son of the patriarch, so he wasn’t allowed the family name, but he still acted as though he was already the lord of the Duan family.

Yuan Ling also changed his expression and exuded a pressure full of rage before pointing his finger at Zhao Chen in a huff.

“Impudent! How dare you only bow to the patriarch! Get on your knees and show proper respect!” In reality Yuan Ling cared very little about all of these etiquettes and what not, but rather he was searching for a reason to lash out at Zhao Chen.

But Zhao Chen just smiled before calmly responding.

“And who is going to make me? You? Don’t forget Yuan Ling me and you are at the same stage of the qi gathering realm now, so your days of bullying me are over. And as for kneeling, don’t even think about it. I kneel only to my parents, so you can piss off!”

Zhao Chen didn’t intend on showing up and offending anyone, but Yuan Ling had come to provoke him the second he entered the hall. He had given everyone their face already but now his own was being slapped. So naturally he would have to speak up.

“You, you bastard! Do you think cultivation means everything!? Come fight me if you dare, you worthless trash!” For the first time in his life someone had provoked Yuan Ling in such a way. Coincidentally it was the first time he ever felt like he was going to lose.

Increasing cultivation by two minor stages after being at death's door only two days earlier? Zhao Chen was truly a monster!

But naturally Yuan Ling wouldn’t show any of this. If he had rolled over and shut up then where would he put his face. In the end he just had to believe in himself.

“Haha, you think you have the capital to fight with me? Hilarious, truly hilarious. Oh great patriarch, are you going to allow your only son to fight a losing battle, or do you still want some face?” In the midst of speaking Zhao Chen had turned to face the patriarch.

After allowing a little bit of his anger out on Yuan Ling, Zhao Chen could no longer hold it in. These people of the Duan Family were truly infuriating to the extreme. So now that he’d started, Zhao Chen would not cower in fear but rather go directly for the tigers head.

‘It’s too late to think about using them anyways, I might as well vent some of my anger before leaving.’ Zhao Chen thought to himself while giving Yuan Ling a provoking smile.

“Hmph, let’s see if you're cocky in a few seconds.” Yuan Ling turned to face the patriarch and bowed before saying. “Patriarch, with your permission I'd like to compare notes with Zhao Chen and show him how to behave.”

The Patriarch had a look of confusion on his face but it passed quickly. Why was Yuan Ling asking for permission? He had never done that before. But in the patriarch's mind he didn’t think much of it and just simply nodded to show he’d given his permission.

When Zhao Chen saw this he was overjoyed , now if he wanted to kill Yuan Ling or cripple him for life, no one could stop him, since this fight would be overseen by the patriarch.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

However Yuan Ling sneered inwardly.

‘Shit! I thought he’d step in and tell Zhao Chen off for being discourteous and that he would be punished. … Whatever. I'll just beat the trash up myself’ Yuan Ling had thought that his adoptive father would notice the worry on his face, but nonetheless he regained his calmness and turned to face Zhao Chen.

“So you broke through and you think you're invincible now do you? Come let me show you the difference between a genius and a piece of trash” Yuan Ling immediately helped up both palms and waited for Zhao Chen to also make a move.

“Please go easy on me senior” Zhao Chen replied sarcastically and turned his body sideways with one fist behind his back and the other facing Yuan Ling. He knew the difference between a person who had just reached a stage versus one who had been there for a while.

But just by looking at Yuan Ling, Zhao Chen could tell how unstable his foundation was, he had guessed that he only reached his current strength by gobbling up cultivation pills.

‘And he calls himself a genius? Truly laughable’ Zhao Chen didn’t even bother to pay attention to Yuan Ling, which infuriated the already red youth.

“You bastard! Take this then! Great Lion Toppling Palm” , Yuan Ling gave a shout and released a furious palm which materialized into the shape of a lion, flying over to Zhao Chen.

“No way! Young Lord Yuan has already cultivated the Great Lion Toppling Palm to middle grade! That's an earth level technique!”

“Looks like that brat Zhao Chen bit off more than he can chew!”

“Yeah he’s done for now!”

The crowd exploded with cheers when Yuan Ling made his move. For such a young man to be able to cultivate an earth level technique to middle grade, this was never before seen.

However on Zhao Chen’s side, Yuxuan and Haoran had solemn faces, Yuan Ling's move had the opposite effect on them, they were greatly worried for Zhao Chen now.

Zhao Chen stood there motionless, allowing the palm to fly over to him. When the great lion had reached a half a step in front of him he punched out a fist and watched as the spirit scattered into nothingness.

The entire hall went silent. Was this really the trash that couldn’t even get past the first minor stage of the qi gathering realm? There’s no way right?

Over on the side of the elders, all of the old men sat with their mouths wide open. At that time even the motionless patriarch was staring at Zhao Chen with his eyes wide open. How was this possible? Even if they were both at the same minor stage, Zhao Chen shouldn’t be this domineering.

Zhao Chen also stood silently before shooting Yuan Ling a furious gaze.

“That was it? That’s where your arrogance comes from? You think you can sit on everyone's head with that little amount of strength? Are you joking?” Zhao Chen had only been so angry a few times in his life.

In his memories Yuan Ling was a domineering and insurmountable wall, but now Zhao Chen was able to essentially ignore his attack. If this weakness didn’t make Zhao Chen angry what would?

The youth in front of him had mercilessly tormented Zhao Chen and his family and almost killed him too. But then something happened in Zhao Chen's face and his expression changed.

Zhao Chen shot Yuan Ling a wide grin.

“Oh great senior, that wouldn’t be all your strength right? Please continue with your attacks”, Zhao Chen put on an innocent expression but in reality he was only trying to goad Yuan Ling into attacking again.

What Zhao Chen had realized was that now was the perfect opportunity to get his revenge. This fight was being held by the patriarch, meaning no matter how the fight went, Zhao Chen wouldn’t have to stop his attacks.

Yuan Ling quickly regained his cold expression and let out a small snort.

“It’s good that you realized, trash, that was merely the start. Now this young lord will get serious, just don’t regret too much.” Yuan Ling himself knew he was lying, but if he gave up and surrendered in front of all these people, to Zhao Chen no less, where would he put his face?

“Good, good, stop talking and come then.” Zhao Chen gave another provoking gesture waiting for Yuan Ling to lurch once again.

“Then take this, Nine y-”

Phwark! Mrrk! Ahhh!

Before Yuan Ling could even let out another attack Zhao Chen exploded with power and quickly appeared next to Yuan Ling before striking a fist into his stomach. Following up by smashing his foot in Yuan Lings chest.

Immediately the youth spewed out a mouthful of fresh blood, and toppled over. However Zhao Chen didn’t stop there, rushing over towards Yuan Ling and raising his fist to finish Yuan Ling off.

But all of a sudden Zhao Chen felt a cold sensation run down his spine, and in the next moment his momentum was stopped and someone was holding his wrist. It was none other than the patriarch.

“You shameless brat! You already beat Yuan Ling to a pulp and now you intended to kill him!? Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you on the spot!” The usually silent and distant patriarch was beyond angry at this moment.

The son he took in and spent all of his time grooming and nurturing was beaten to a bloody mess by an insignificant ant that the main family had dumped on him years ago.

“Shameless? Have your eyes and ears gone after living for so long? That idiot of a son you have and the rest of these Duan family bastards have ruined my parents' life as well as mine. It had gotten to a point where even the servants started to join in. My parents could’ve easily stopped you bastards but decided not to because they didn't want me to feel discouraged!” Zhao Chen grabbed onto Patriarch Duan's wrist with his free hand and dug his fingers in before continuing.

“And worst of all, this only happened because you decided it wasn’t your problem. You could've told them all to stop at any moment. But did you? No! So now that you tell me to stop, tell me one reason why I should?”

Patriarch Duan stumbled back again, but quickly regained his posture and tightened his grip on Zhao Chen's wrist before allowing the full aura of a third stage Foundational Harmony Realm cultivator was released.

“I said nothing because your life means nothing! My son will have a great future and you will be stuck as an ant forever. But don’t worry I’ll help you with that, by killing you right now!” Patriarch Duan raised his palm, allowing the energy to build up before he was suppressed by an equal pressure.

“WHO DARES TO KILL MY SON!” Yuxuan Chen appeared next to Zhao Chen and sent patriarch Duan flying with a fist. But Zhao Chen was shocked when he looked at his father.

Fourth stage Foundational Harmony Realm!

How was this possible? Yuxuan Chen wasn’t this powerful a few days ago? Was his cultivation speed that horrifying? Or was he just concealing his strength all this time? These questions weren’t just being thought by Zhao Chen but by everyone present, even Haoran!

When patriarch Duan rose to his feet and saw he had been sent flying by Yuxuan Chen, his expression changed from fear to confusion and finally to anger. Did everyone plan on throwing dirt at his face today?

“Yuxuan Chen! What is the meaning of this!? I allow your family to stay here when no one else would take you and this is how you repay me? Your son almost cripples my son and I am not allowed to avenge him?” Even though he was angry, the patriarch wouldn’t make a move rashly. He wasn’t Zhao Chen, jumping a minor realm to battle wasn’t easy.

Not to mention he was only an early stage foundational harmony realm cultivator whereas Yuxuan Chen was at the middle stage!

“Shut up for this lord! I’ve had enough of your stupid Duan family. You know your crimes so I will not stay here and defame you! I am taking my wife and son and I would like to see who stops me!” The killing intent was carried in every single one of Yuxuans words, no one dared to breathe at that moment.

“You!”

“I said shut up, Zi Duan! Or do you want to die as a measly branch family patriarch today? Do you think anyone will avenge your death?” Yuxuan did not wait a single second more before picking up Zhao Chen and grabbing Haoran before stomping out of the main hall.

Not a single person attempted to stop the family. In fact not a single motion was detected in the hall for several minutes.

“Patriarch, w-what should we do? Should we follow after?” Finally the first elder, Guo Duan spoke up.

The patriarch finally snapped back to reality and corrected his stance before surveying the room. When his eyes swept over the room, everyone averted their gaze. Today Zi Duan had lost all face.

He cured the entire Chen family in his heart but kept a calm tone when speaking.

“No, let them leave, it’ll be less of a burden keeping that trash here. Grab Yuan Ling and bring him over to physician Mei. I want to make sure he hasn’t been badly hurt.” The anger Zi Duan felt was immeasurable, but if he went to go chase after Yuxuan Chen, wouldn’t he lose that final shred of credibility he had left.

Everyone dispersed from the main hall quietly and Yuan Ling was rushed over to the physician by the first elder. An unforeseen calamity had descended upon the Duan family.

Inside Zhao Chen's room, a youth and his father conversed.

“Father, I'm sorry. I planned on not provoking anyone, but just seeing that bastards face made me so angry, I just-”

“That's enough Chen-er, father isn’t mad. But you cannot stay here any longer, quickly pack your stuff and get ready.”

“But father, what do you mean? I can’t leave you and mother!”

“Chen-er don’t worry, me and your mother will stay with your mothers family for a while. You just need to be ready.”

“Ready for what? Where are you sending me father?”

“Long Shui Academy.”

Yuxuan did not say another word, he hugged Zhao Chen and left Zhao Chen's room.

Zhao Chen did not regret his actions, but he did not want to leave his parents after only spending two days with him. Remembering his fathers drunk and happy face at the start of the day and then thinking about the solemn expression Yuxuan had when he left the room, a feeling of guilt welled up in Zhao Chen's stomach.

But if his parents were so adamant on sending him to this Long Shui academy, then he wouldn’t refuse. Zhao Chen swore to himself that he would get stronger as soon as possible and completely destroy the Duan family.