Hearing this, Luo Da started sweating nervously, “you are just a guy with a ninth-level of Qi Condensation Period cultivation. How could you be an inner-door disciple of Tai Hua Mountain?”
Luo Er told him, “brother, I heard that on Tai Hua Mountain, an inner-door disciple could be one who had reached Foundation Establishment Period within thirty years old, or one who is a gifted cultivator from the sect.”
Still remained suspicious, Luo Da unexpectedly received Li Xiuchen’s bold challenge, who said, “you guys don’t need to go easy on me. If you insist on taking this girl away, then you can do so over my dead body!”
The vibe went tense. Luo Jianqing leaned on a wooden pillar, watching the whole thing in calmness.
Luo Wu felt embarrassed. He stared at Li Xiuchen with hatred in his gaze. Li Xiuchen sensed it and lifted his sword pointing at Luo Wu, “Do you dare for a fight?”
The next moment Luo Wu threw himself towards Li Xiuchen. His shadow of blade manifested a brutal tiger ready to hunt his enemy down. Li Xiuchen brandished his sword and sealed the hand sign, “magnificent firmament, recondite sea, like a rising sun and drowning moon, this is my sword – Serene Void Sword, attack!”
A white sword-light whacked the tiger. Burst out a painful moan, Luo Wu lost his balance and hit the ground with a brutal gash on his chest. Li Xiuchen summoned back his sword and said condescendingly in a bluff, “anyone else?”
Luo Da and his brothers looked at Li Xiuchen in animosity. Dread of the power behind Li Xiuchen’s back, they left disgruntledly.
Luo Jianqing was still watching, and he, of course, saw the bleeding palm of Li Xiuchen caused by Luo Wu’s shadow of blade. Li Xiuchen’s been pushing himself too far. In this life, he was not practicing True Nine-pedaled Lotus Record. He maybe could defeat these rouge cultivators who didn’t have the access to abundant resource, but he definitely couldn’t do it that easily.
Now, Li Xiuchen found his way to Mu Ruorong and asked in a bland voice, “Miss, are you all right?”
Mu Ruorong didn’t really want to talk to him but still forced a smile, “I’m alright. Thank you for your help.”
Luo Jianqing chuckled and thought: oh she will be more alright if you can just hide half of your obscene stare.
Li Xiuchen peeked at Mu Ruorong’s breast again, “those thugs were just unreasonable. If they ever bother you again, just tell them you are under my protection. I doubt that these people will dare harass you again.”
Mu Ruorong nodded. She didn’t refuse his offer but didn’t accept as well.
Luo Jianqing belittled Li Xiuchen: under your or Tai Hua Mountain’s protection?
Li Xiuchen asked, “May I know your name?”
Mu Ruorong hesitated, but told him at last, “Mu Ruorong.”
“That’s a good name.”
Mu Ruorong didn’t reply.
Felt the conversation went down to a monologue, Li Xiuchen invited Mu Ruorong to have dinner with him. By the moment his hand was about to touch Mu Ruorong’s, the girl moved her hand away, “thanks again for your help. Your dinner is on me today, but I have to leave right now.”
Mu Ruorong turned her back on Li Xiuchen before she even finished her sentence. Li Xiuchen wasn’t prepared for this, he thought: why?! This is different from the book which wrote that Mu Ruorong would be very thankful for his help and have dinner with him. After two weeks, they will meet again in the Wan Shou Peak under the circumstances when Mu Ruorong is wounded and by that chance he saved her once again. Then, they will voyage together!
“Cultivator Mu! Why in such a hurry? Come and eat something first.”
Li Xiuchen tried to grab Mu Ruorong’s wrist, while the latter one squeezed her eyes and stepped back from him. Believing it was just a coincidence, Li Xiuchen didn’t think it over and reached out again as if Mu Ruorong was already his mistress. “there’s no need to treat me like a stranger.”
Mu Ruorong avoided him one more time.
Li Xiuchen tried for several times and finally felt something was wrong. At the moment his fingertips touched Mu Ruorong’s hand, a bleak sword-light stab through his finger.
“Ah!” Li Xiuchen screamed. He pressed his finger to stop bleeding while searching around, yelling “who is it!?”
Another beam of sword-light broke the air. This time, the sword-light didn’t hurt Li Xiuchen but cut his hairband instead. Li Xiuchen’s hair was disheveled, plus his bleeding hand, making him a drowned mouse.
“Who! Who is it that strikes a sneaky attack on me……”
“Shut up”, a boundless voice fulfilled the hotel’s atmosphere with powerful Coercion, “you are such an effrontery jerk. Can’t you see the girl don’t want anything to do with you? Leave her alone.”
The crowd was shocked.
“This power of Coercion……this man had reached at least the Nascent Soul Period!”
“I can’t believe it! A Nascent Soul Period cultivator came to our unheralded town!”
Still covering his finger, Li Xiuchen was stunned as well. He thought it over, figured that though cultivators of this level weren’t that abundant on Tai Hua Mountain, there were still lots of them. He relieved completely and peeked at Mu Ruorong, said to himself that he can never let down his mistress.
So he yelled to the void, “Sir! You get me wrong. Actually I saved her life.”
Luo Jianqing sneered, “you, as a ninth-level Qi Condensation Period cultivator, saved a Foundation Establishment one?”
Li Xiuchen felt somewhat confident, “yes, I did!”
Luo Jianiqng’s voice suddenly turned bleak. He scoffed, “you did nothing but using your identity of Tai Hua Mountain’s disciple. Since when did Tai Hua Mountain start to grant a position for a thug like you? I really wonder what your Master gonna say when he knows you harassed a girl using inner-door disciple as a bluff. You disgusted me!”
Li Xiuchen was irritated, “you!”
Luo Jianqing stretched out his fingers, mammoth sword-light emerged from air and knocked Li Xiuchen out of the hotel.
Blood came out of his mouth. Before he could even take a breath, he heard the voice said, “piss off.”
The other party didn’t want to give him one more word!
Li Xiuchen quickly got up and tried his way back to the hotel, but once he got to the gate, a powerful Spiritual Power would strike him away. After several times attempting, Li Xiuchen was already covered by mud. This drew lots of attention. People gathered to see his frustration.
Disgruntled, Li Xiuchen left as soon as possible.
Inside the hotel, Mu Ruorong finally relaxed. She bowed down to the air, “Sir, thanks to your help!”, but suddenly blushed as if she was embarrassed. She left the hotel with her head hung low.
Luo Jianqing didn’t miss a single thing. He sighed, got back to his room.
He silently passed a sentence to Mu Ruorong when receiving her gratitude: if you don’t respect yourself, how can you ask others to respect you?
As a rouge cultivator, Mu Ruorong had a difficult life. She made lots of efforts to achieve this level of cultivation at the year of twenty. In Seeking Immortality, Mu Ruorong was described as a sexy girl with a charming visage. She’s been hunting Demon Beasts since she reached fifth level of Qi Condensation Period, cultivating while making a living on hunting.
