At this moment...
Pan Shan Village entrance.
Several villagers were crowded near the wild beast’s dead carcass. They were armed with hoes, their faces filled with hatred and reluctance as they stared at a group of men on the opposing side.
The dozen of men across them didn’t look like local Pan Shan villagers and the head of the group was a tough and stocky built man— his hand held a big wood chopper. He resembled a devilish fiend.
Facing the Pan Shan villagers, he shouted: "If you all don’t get out of the way, don’t blame me, the Big Panther, for being ruthless!"
Pan Shan villagers rebuked, "You Water Back villagers are too much. We, the villagers brought the Tiger-Ox beast down and you people dare to claim it as your kill?"
Big Panther sneered, "You are asking me why do I dare to claim this kill? Let me tell you people, this Tiger-Ox beast ran here from our village and was by all means our village’s responsibility. Now that it’s been killed by you people, you all are lucky that I didn’t ask for any compensation. Yet you still dare to claim it as yours?"
"What a load of shit! The mountains are full of the Tiger-Ox. What proof do you have that it came from your village? You people are open-snatching our kill."
"Hehe… So what if I am snatching? I will definitely do it and those who don’t agree can fight me!" Big Panther laugh sarcastically and waved the big chopper aggressively, creating sounds from slashing the air.
The Pan Shan villagers momentarily blanked out and inevitably retreated a few steps.
This Big Panther was from the neighbouring Water Back village. He was the son of the village’s chief. He possessed godly latent talent, trained in a Martial arts school and learned the Kung Fu. His skills were top notch.
The Pan Shan villagers who were up against him were slightly terrified.
"Hehe… are you all scared? Just obediently hand over the beast and save the beating." Big Panther mockingly laughed.
Still, the Pan Shan villagers were insistent on not giving way and stood their ground in front of the beast carcass.
One of them timidly spoke out, "The tribute day is only in a few days and if this time we don’t meet up to the immortal elders expectations, we will be duly punished. We absolutely cannot afford to give way."
"That’s right. We’ll all die anyway. Might as well fight it out with Big Panther."
"Right! Men, let’s hold the front and quickly go find others to help us."
"Yes." One of them immediately nodded, turned and dashed towards the inner village.
Big Panther couldn't care less and jeered at the fact that one of them dashed to ask for backup.
"Hehe... it’s no use even if you ask for help."
"You Pan Shan village have less than 20 men and you people are obviously no match for Panther boss. Why do you all resist?"
"Argh! You all are such ignorant fools!"
The Water Back villagers ridiculed them continuously.
Big Panther also followed with grim laughs. He waved his large knife, rested it on his shoulder and said:
"You people dare to call for help? Looks like you guys don’t know my prowess unless I show you my blade skills."
Without another second’s delay, Big Panther dashed towards the defenseless villagers.
That big chopper looked at least 50 over kilograms but did not affect his speed in the slightest bit.
In a split second, he rushed in front of the villagers and swung his sword towards them.
The few villagers’ expression fell as they hurriedly lifted up their hoes and positioned it in front of them.
However, with Big Panther’s natural god strength, he swung his blade, causing a loud "Bang" sound, breaking the villager’s hoes and knocking all of them flying off their feet.
"Pom!"
Akin to being knocked back by a wild beast, the few villagers landed on the ground with a thud. Their faces became pale and coughed out fresh blood.
A mere blade was able to cause these few able-bodied men to sustain heavy damage.
The Water Back villagers momentarily cheered together.
"Nice! Boss Panther, nice shot!"
"What earth-shaking power!"
"Haha! Pan Shan villagers don’t know what’s good for them. With our boss’ godly powers, he can even take down God or Buddha."
"Yeah! We tried to be nice but you all didn’t take the offer. We guess that all of you had incurred our boss’ wrath?"
Big Panther loved the ongoing flattery by his fellow villagers, growing complacent by the minute.
"Screw your dog shit of a mother! What kind of trash dare to make trouble at MY Pan Shan Village? Is he courting death?"
Angry yelling could be heard. The Water Back villagers’ boastful celebration was ended prematurely.
Big Panther’s expression changed and directed his attention towards the village entrance.
What he saw was a figure with a coarse hemp clothing with a head wrapped with a white towel, resembling that of a handsome looking young man advancing towards them.
Xu Que has arrived!
While on his way, he had already seen Big Panther clashing with the few villagers and saw them fly. He was furious.
Damn you! How dare you bastards bully these humble villagers. And you are doing it infront of me, Xu Que.
"Little Doll, were you scolding me?"
After witnessing Xu Que’s skinny frame, Big Panther moody expression momentarily revealed a sinister grin.
Xu Que laughed sarcastically, "Don’t worry, it wasn’t only you. I was referring to the whole lot of them too. Utter trash."
The scene was oddly familiar.
The injured villagers were stunned and while staring blankly at Xu Que, they felt thankful.
What a mouth on this little guy! He is able to scold someone with such sincerity.
Following was the group of Water Back villagers bursting out in anger, pointing at Xu Que while cursing.
"Bitch!"
"Son of a bitch! Where did this little doll come from, is he looking to die?"
"Boss, this chap is asking for it. Let us take care of it."
While scolding, they pulled up their sleeves, ready to brawl with Xu Que at any minute.
"Young… Young master, don’t be rash!"
A petite silhouette can be seen scurrying towards the entrance and worriedly shouting from afar.
Xu Que turned and looked. It was Xiao Rou.
The Water Back villagers saw Xiao Rou and were stunned.
"What a fresh-looking lady!"
"What the hell? Since when did Pan Shan village have such beautiful women?"
"The person who marries this lady is damned lucky."
The Water Back villagers were discussing amongst themselves.
Big Panther’s eyes glittered and thirstily stared at Xiao Rou, "Heheh... turns out that Pan Shan village have such a fresh lady hidden. I must take her back to my village."
Xiao Rou was frightened pale and instinctively hid behind Xu Que. Pulling his sleeves, she whispered, "Young… Young master, don’t be rash. Someone had already called second brother Leng and others for help."
"Don’t be scared!"
Xu Que warmly smiled. He reached out his hand and gently rubbed the top of her head. He replied softly, " These people were spouting bullshit. Let me teach them a lesson!"
"Ba-dum, ba-dum.", Xiao Rou froze and her tiny heart was beating quicker by the second.
When she regained her composure, she found out that Xu Que had already sped off, moving further and further.
"Don’t!" Xiao Rou cried out.
Still, Xu Que was already waving his fists in front of Big Panther, bearing a cold, icy grin at the side of his lips.
Initially, I was wrecking my brains on where to test the prowess of my Soaring Dragon Nine Transformations and since you people have shown up looking for trouble, I might as well test it.
"Boom!"
Upon fully releasing the the Soaring Dragon’s Nine Transformation skill, Xu Que’s body abruptly emitted a ‘Bang’ sound, with Water-element spiritual Qi activating all over his body. A dragon was shaped and sent upwards from the dantian.
"Hmph! Ignorant little prick, I’ll destroy you!"
Big Panther let out a war cry, lifted his big chopper and dashed in Xu Que’s direction.
The next moment, he was scared stiff.
He could only see a faint, blue light aura rushing from Xu Que’s body hovering into the air, forming a gigantic, blue dragon. The dragon was baring its fangs and branding its claws while circling above Xu Que in a spiral motion.
A tremendous feeling of dominance and arrogance emitted from the dragon, enveloping the whole area.
"Soaring Dragon Nine Transformations, first form!"
Xu Que deeply groaned, clenched his fist and sent it towards Big Panther’s big chopper.
"Wail~"
Along with the power of the dragon, his fist landed heavily at the tip of the blade.
Next, a trembling "Dang" could be heard and the chopper broke on the spot.
Like a broken kite, Big Panther was sent flying. He spat out fresh blood, flew in a parabolic motion before finally landing heavily on the ground. He twitched twice and stopped moving.
Everybody was flabbergasted. The scene was in a gloomy state as everything went silent.
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ on defeating Big Panther and successfully acting tough. The reward is 10 act tough points."
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ on defeating Big Panther. The reward is 400 experience points."
The system beep sounded in his head.
Xu Que froze.
What the, I… killed someone?
Xu Que felt rather astonished as he only wanted to test the power of Soaring Dragon Nine Transformations. He was surprised at the fact that it took merely one punch in the first form to brutally kill Big Panther who had a natural God-like strength.
"Dragon… This… This is a dragon alright!"
Suddenly, a feeble, trembling voice filled with an expression of fear, could be heard.
Then, the group of Water Back villagers uniformly knelt on the ground with terrified looks as they tremble in fear. They faced Xu Que and pleaded:
"Ah! Immortal elder, immortal elder! Please have mercy!"
"We were ignorant, immortal elder, please forgive us and let us live!"
Eh? What’s this?
Xu Que froze for a moment.
"Puff!" "Puff!"
Before he even knew it, he could hear muffled sounds coming from behind him.
Xu Que turned around to look and was stunned.
Several Pan Shan villagers, without a care for their injuries, also knelt down along with frightened faces and begged for mercy.
Back at Xiao Rou who froze in her tracks, she had her eyes filled with utter fear.
How could this be?
Xu Que couldn’t swallow the dramatic turn of events. It was understandable that the Water Back villagers were kneeling down to him but witnessing the Pan Shan villagers kneeling to him was intolerable.
Especially Xiao Rou whose eyes were filled with fear. Xu Que was crushed.
"Fellow villagers, what are you all doing, get up! I am only dealing with these bad guys. I have no intention to harm you people!"
He quickly dispersed his Qi, followed by the abrupt disappearance of the dragon figure around him. He faced the Pan Shan villagers and called out.
The villagers continued to kneel with the same petrified faces. All of them are too scared to speak.
Xu Que panicked, looked at Xiao Rou and said, " Wh-What is happening? Tell the villagers to rise! I don’t mean any harm."
Xiao Rou regained her attention. After that, she looked at Xu Que with fright and replied, "You… You are an immortal cultivator…"
"What immortal cultivator!? I am the same as you people. We are all human!"
Xu Que was astonished. Was being a cultivator this scary? It seemed like they were worshipping an entity of deity of some sort."
"Xiao Rou, don’t be afraid. I really mean them no harm. Tell me, what exactly is happening?"
"Really?" Xiao Rou spoke timidly.
"Of course!" Xu Que nodded.
Upon the reply, she became less pale from being frightened and regained her composure.
Following that, she explained to Xu Que regarding the immortals.
It turned out that to the east of the Pan Shan and Water Back village, there was a group of cultivators called the Celestial Sect.
It also turned out that in a hundred kilometer radius, all villages, including the Pan Shan and Water Back villages were under protection by the Celestial Sect.
However, the villages had to offer ration once a month. If a particular village had killed a wild beast, they can use the core of the beast to replace the ration tribute.
If under any circumstances, they have neither enough demon cores nor ration to tribute, the village will come under punishment.
Celestial Sect’s people will personally come to the village and capture several men and bring them up into the mountains. No one will know how and when they died, without any trace.
That was the reason the villagers were so afraid of cultivators.
After hearing the explanation, Xu Que was brimming with rage.
It was clear to him that the Celestial Sect were bullies. They took advantage of the fact that they were cultivators to extort from the villagers, causing them to live in fear.
"You people never thought of revolting before?"
Xu Que couldn’t help but ask but when the words came out of his mouth, he felt that he just gave himself a slap in the face.
It was a stupid question. No matter how weak, the people of Celestial Sect would at least have trained and went through the Qi Refining Stage and would have honed their skills to a certain level. The villagers wouldn’t have a chance to defeat them.
"We wouldn’t dare…" Xiao Rou nodded and replied. She did not— in any way, thought that Xu Que’s question was stupid.
Feeling disappointed with himself, Xu Que leaned towards Xiao Rou and said, "Xiao Rou, I’ll go back home first. Please help to tell the villagers that I am unapproving of the Celestial Sect people. Tell them to get up and not be afraid of me. I really mean no harm to the village."
On his way, he met the several men along with the rest. They were late.
They saw him and panickedly asked, "Little brother, are you hurt? What happened to Big Panther and company?"
"Ah, I believe you!" Xiao Rou nodded profusely and not as afraid of him as before.
This made Xu Que heave a sigh of relief. He looked ahead at the Water Back villagers briefly and said, "Oh yes Xiao Tou, continue to let those Water Back people kneel. Tell them not to go until the Sun has set."
After telling her what to do, Xu Que left for the inner part of the village, where men were gathered ready to deal with the Water Back Villagers.
Xu Que blocked their path and shouted out, "Fellow villagers, there is no need to go anymore. I have already taught them a good lesson and ordered them to kneel and reflect on their actions."
"Ah, really?" the villagers shockingly asked.
Xu Que laughed and replied, "Of course, it’s true. I can even defeat the wild beast. Big Panther is nothing!"
The villagers became cheerful by the minute and exclaimed, "That’s Little brother for you!"
"Eh ya! I’m flattered." Xu Que laughed widely. He loved these moments of subtly acting tough.
Back to Xiao Rou’s home, Xu Que immediately laid on the small, wooden bed and let out a perplexed sigh.
He supposed that he cannot talk on such relaxed terms with the men after they discover his identity. They would be too scared to speak with him casually.
"Hai, never mind, I suppose. I won’t be here forever anyway. After I help them on this tribute issue, I will be out of here. I have to explore this vast realm."
"Xu Que regained his spirit and immediately sat up on the bed.
He rolled his eyes to signal the system.
Immediately, the character information interface popped up in front of him.
Host: Xu Que
Cultivation Stage: Foundation Building Stage Level 1 (Small progress)
Experience Points: 600/2000
Acting Tough Points: 15 points
Skill Path: <<Ancient Five Elemental Arts>>, Beginner’s Level
Ability: <<Soaring Dragon Nine Transformations>> (Progress 0.1%, Control up to First form)
Job class: None
Position: Consort Prince of the East Wilderness, Fire Country
"Eh, the progress of Soaring Dragon Nine Transformations became 0.1%? Is it because I just used it?"
Xu Que let out a shocked expression. Apparently, the skill could be progressed via usage. However, the speed of progression is rather slow. He was unpleased with it.
After feeling down for a bit, he immediately opened his deposit space and shifted his attention to the bunch of magic and skills he had stolen from the Celestial Sect safe.
"A good time to give the recycling function a try." Xu Que thought aloud and started scanning through the skill descriptions.
"Lightweight art, eh. I could use that. Shall keep it." The first skill book he saw was Celestial Sect’s foundational skill <Lightweight Art>. Xu Que recalled that he had yet to train on a martial stance type of skill and became excited in the moment.
He continued browsing and saw many Celestial Sect related skills.
"Fire Cloud Fist, Flame Slash, Dark Fire Sword Art… None of them looks useful!"
He browsed ten different skills and shook his head in disapproval one after another.
After all, I am in the Fire Country and cultivators here mostly have fire-nature spiritual root. People mostly train with fire-related skills.
However, Xu Que felt that all these skills were too common and weren’t Celestial Sect’s real deal. He decided to keep the Lightweight art skill book and the rest were recycled by the system.
"Ding! Recycling of <Fire Cloud Fist> successful. Acquired 3 points of Skill Essence."
"Ding! Recycling of <Flame Slash> successful. Acquired 5 points of Skill Essence."
"Ding! Recycling of <Dark Fire Sword Art> successful. Acquired 8 points of Skill Essence."
"Ding! Recycling of…"
…
Comentário de parágrafo
O comentário de parágrafo agora está disponível na Web! Passe o mouse sobre qualquer parágrafo e clique no ícone para adicionar seu comentário.
Além disso, você sempre pode desativá-lo/ativá-lo em Configurações.
Entendi