The Guard seemed determined to resolve the matter in the simplest way possible. “Why are you still standing here? Were you not listening? This is private property. No access is allowed without proper authorisation.”
Jack didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he could still make a rough guess. He assumed that someone had taken over this area by some kind of means, and he was now basically a homeless man. Not only that, but it seems that this rich person invested a lot of his funds in the past few months, enough to construct this little village.
“Did they really thought that I was dead? Should I go find Dai Jun? Looks like there is some kind of misunderstanding…” Muttering to himself, Jack withdrew from the two guards.
As he was walking alienated, he was forced to a halt when he came across a small pillar tomb. It was nothing impressive at first sight, evidently placed there without much care. However, it was still strange for a grave like this to appear out of nowhere.
From close range, Jack could see several hand-written messages scattered around it in a disorganised fashion.
“These are the remains of the strongest mortal cultivator, torn to pieces by demonic beasts.”
“In memory of the inner sect disciple who made the idiots, and the imbeciles, look smart.”
“I am a dumb man, so I now rest in pieces.”
“What a beautiful area we’ve inherited. Lord Yu shall be dedicating a fart every day in your admiration, as an appreciation of your kind generosity.”
Jack’s eyes were affixed as they filtered the offensive comments one by one. However, he soon lost the wish to continue, instead revealing a deep frown over his face.
If there was something he currently desired, it was a moment of tranquillity. For most, it wasn’t that important at all, maybe only for those who needed a brief nap, or for those who required some stress relief. But this word had eluded Jack his entire life. Whenever he thought he had obtained it, he realised that it was just a short-lived experience.
These people were complete strangers, and he had no beef with them. Why would they suddenly act so hostile towards him? Didn’t they have any respect for others? Even if they assumed that he was dead, they had no right to humiliate him in such a manner.
He had initially assumed that most cultivators of this sect were honest and upright people, at least when compared to the ones of his original world. But now he understood how wrong his judgement was back then.
His chest began swelling with anger as he returned his gaze towards the small village. When the Guard noticed the returning Jack, he grunted with disgust.
Jack wasn’t intimidated. Instead, he snorted with an even louder voice. “I am an inner sect disciple. I demand an audience with this Lord Yu.”
“Inner sect disciple? Who are you trying to fool kid?” The Guard was well aware of the appearance of all inner sect disciples. However, he had no way of recognising Jack after his bodily changes, not to mention that in his eyes that particular inner sect disciple was a farce who should have died long ago.
Irritated by the Guard’s hostile attitude, Jack was tempted to reveal his amulet and smack it inside the Guard’s mouth, but instead, he expressed a soft smile and strolled leisurely towards the gate.
These people had not shown any respect towards him, so why should he show respect towards them? If he wanted to survive in this world, he had to start making his own stance known.
If they wanted troubles, he was more than ready to comply.
And this was not Jack being overconfident or cocky. Thanks to the Creature, he had already a general idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the other sect disciples, and most importantly, his own power.
He knew that unless he would meet another inner sect disciple or a sect genius, he should be able to deal with them. In fact, a 3rd Qi Seeking Realm cultivator with an essence could fight on par with a cultivator of the 5th Qi Seeking Realm without any essence, albeit it depended on the strength of the said essence. Besides, the number of young cultivators who had severed an essence after ascending to the 3rd Qi realm could be counted on one’s hand.
Upon observing that Jack had utterly ignored his warning, the Guard immediately buzzed forward and raised his axe. “Challenging the house of Yu, eh? A smartass thinking you’re cool, eh? Sure, sure, try taking another step, and I’ll show you how much cooler my axe is!”
Jack paused, smiling for a moment. Then he casually took another step.
The Guard was clearly unfazed by this move, flashing his axe like a mad bull. However, before he even had the time to realise what happened, Jack had already dashed low and grabbed the axe from the middle of its shaft.
The stupefied Guard tried recovering his axe from Jack’s grip, but no matter which direction he pulled, the shaft didn’t move an inch.
A powerful qi blast followed, forcing the Guard to relinquish control of the axe, stumbling backwards by several steps until almost crashing into the gate.
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In the meantime, the other guard who rested against the wall seemingly daydreaming, immediately widened his eyes.
“You two are not my target. I only want a sweet conversation with the lord of this area. If you let me enter in without any further problems, I will act as if nothing has happened between us.”
The two guards blinked their eyes and looked at each other with incredulity. Retreat? Disobey orders? Act as nothing has happened between us? Who the hell does he think he is, sputtering such nonsense?!!
They had been hired as guards since the day Young Lord Yu was born; there was no way they would ever leave their posts! They had faced much bigger dangers in the past, why would they need to abandon their honours because of this arrogant brat? He was simply asking for death!
The heavily armoured guard, the one that had yet to make a move, began walking towards Jack with a grim expression. “Stay put. I’ll take care of him.”
From his appearance alone, this Guard was evidently stronger than his counterpart. However, he still didn’t dare to underestimate Jack. He carefully fitted two metallic plates over his fists, then charged towards Jack like a ferocious tiger.
Jack didn’t seem overwhelmed as he casually threw the axe backwards towards the stream, then charged forward with a fist of his own.
A mocking smile appeared on the Guard’s face. He was a peak 3rd Qi Realm cultivator, why should he be scared of some random brat? Moreover, when he noticed how this idiot had thrown away the axe and instead jumped to take his punch head on, he also began questioning the mental capability of his opponent.
The air waved as the two fists collided in the air with a soft bang, followed by several cracking sounds. The two men kept pressing their fists against each other for a while, before retreating in opposite directions.
Jack was the first to land. When he inspected his hand, it felt a little numb, but there were no signs of any injuries.
On the other hand, the Guard had his face turn white pale as the armour plate over his fist crumbled piece by piece. He cried a soft moan, unwillingly to believe that several of his bones had also been shattered by the impact.
The Guard appeared traumatised. Who’s this freak? Was he really an inner sect disciple, or was he a young genius from a rival house? However, there was no way he wouldn’t have heard about this young man before. He was completely at a loss.
He cursed at Jack as he positioned his body into a strange posture and began proclaiming some kind of martial art. His skin became vibrant and began emitting strange sounds, slowly changing colour to a reddish hue. A wild surging Qi exploded outwards from his body as his muscles began expanding at an alarming rate.
In a couple of breaths, the man quickly grew in size and was now a red giant, twice the size of Jack.
He roared like a mad demon as he powered his other fist, his intention clearly to obliterate Jack in a single move.
This sudden transformation took Jack by surprise, and he didn’t dare to act recklessly. He swiftly clamped his two fists together, preparing to receive the incoming attack from his fixed position.
When the terrifying attack descended over Jack, the ground below him began showing signs of caving in.
A small explosion resounded as a column of soil fired up in the air, alerting some of the cultivators who were partying inside.
The Guard’s expression was grim as he waited for the visibility to clear up. However, when he heard the cracking sound of bones, he burst out in laughter. “Where did your arrogance go now, kid? Provoking the House of Yu always results in certain death!”
“Not a problem. I’ve already died once accordingly to you. If I had to die again, I'd return back like I just did.”
The Guard opened his mouth as he watched Jack casually emerging from his previous attack completely unscathed. There were no signs of any brushes, let alone any injuries. Even Jack’s breathing didn’t show any signs of irregularities.
Jack casually smiled as he raised his right hand in the form of a fist, the cracking sounds gradually intensifying.
“What is going on now?” A sense of despair flashed inside the Guard’s eyes as he prepared to retreat.
However, Jack had already dashed forward, burying his punch onto the Guard’s chest, forming a sizeable depression. The Guard didn’t even have the chance to cry, slamming straight into his companion as they both crashed into the gate.
The duo kept rotating in the insides until their momentum died out, lying unconscious on the ground without even making a further sound.
This unexpected event triggered the attention of everyone present. The sounds of celebrations, like a towering wave that rolled over a beach until degenerating into small ripples, muted completely.
A sizeable crowd gathered, staring at the miserable guards in disbelief. Moments later, the shadow of a never seen before cultivator materialised in their sight. The young cultivator, however, appeared unfazed by the pairs of eyes which set locked on him, graciously walking uninterrupted towards the central area.
When he arrived, Jack surveyed the people in his vicinity until his gaze rested on a particular table located on an elevated podium. Two different dressed youths had their conversation cut short and showed no emotions as they glanced back at him.
One of them was a tall male and wore a stylish azure robe, a long sword hung slanting against his back. The other youth wore a white dress with fancy jewellery suspended around his neck. He had large lips and a thin face with slightly elongated ears, giving him the appearance of a fish.
The atmosphere remained silently tense for a long moment. It was Jack who finally spoke with a loud voice, making sure that everyone was able to hear him.
“Apologies for coming uninvited. However, when I heard that his eminence, Lord Yu, was celebrating his birthday, I just couldn’t refrain the excitement of my body. I hope nobody is offended by my sudden incursion? Haha, what am I even saying? How can a noble one like Lord Yu possibly be offended? After all, I only wanted to congratulate him for being a scumbag and for stealing the properties of others.”
The crowd couldn’t believe what they had just heard. Who was this guy? Has he gone crazy? Doesn’t he know how cruel the lord of this area can be? They whispered countless questions to each other, but none of them dared to butt in. In their eyes, Jack was already as good as a corpse.
The white-clothed youth stared quietly at Jack for several breaths. He then leaned his head towards the other cultivator, whispering something inside his ears.
The azure clothed youth nodded as he made a signal with his hand. In a span of a single breath, five shadows appeared behind them.
“Incapacitate him and then lock him inside our house’s dungeons. Make sure you don’t kill him though, the young lord wishes to personally torture him for every single remaining day of his miserable life.”
The five guards swiftly charged towards Jack with hateful eyes.
“Nice, nice. And here I was thinking that the lord of this place was a boring person.” Jack said as he revealed his sword hilt and pointed it to the incoming guards, much to the dumbfoundedness of everyone present.
“Come, come all of you, the more, the merrier. Let’s make this birthday celebration an unforgettable one for our young lord Yu!”