The boisterous youth immediately shrank back when Qianye appeared. Realizing his loss of composure afterward, he shouted, “This is the Bai clan! D-Don’t act recklessly!”
The tall leader was both furious and humiliated. He dragged the man back and glared at Qianye. “How dare you appear in the Empire! A vampire…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when Song Zining cut him short. “We come from the neutral lands, participating in the void-continent war, and taking first place in contributions! You plebeians with no accomplishments to your name want to question our identity!?”
This tall young man was no idiot. Realizing the trap in Song Zining’s words, he glanced toward one of the old men playing chess. Still holding a chess piece, the elder waved his hand ever so slightly.
The young man understood the signal. “The seventh young master’s accomplishments are resounding, we, of course, respect that. I was a bit too rash just now, so allow me to apologize. But! Since you dared come into the Frozen Jade Manor, many people remain dissatisfied. How will we solve that problem?”
Song Zining glanced at Qianye, who said, “Fight if you’re not satisfied. What’s with all the blabbering?”
The Bai clan’s hot-blooded youths saw that the two on the other side weren’t much older. That was actually the case, and in fact, they were even younger than most of the people in the other group. How could those people endure the provocation under such circumstances?
“This is the Bai clan’s territory you’re on!” One of them uttered word-by-word.
“So you guys can be shameless and unruly just because this is your territory?” Song Zining had never feared anyone in a debate.
That person stomped his feet. “What do you mean by that!? Don’t think about leaving if you don’t make it clear!”
Song Zining laughed disdainfully. “Seek revenge if you must, fight if you have complaints! Who are you trying to scare with that lineup? Even aristocratic families aren’t shameless enough to swarm an opponent. I have nothing to say if your Bai clan has fallen that low?”
The youngsters from the clan cursed furiously. The leader said calmly, “It’s not like we don’t know the rules. Since you were the ones who came to our Frozen Jade Manor, I don’t think I need to explain your side of the rules, either.”
“Whatever you want is fine, as long as it’s one-on-one.”
“Very well! The seventh young master really underestimates our Bai clan.”
Song Zining didn’t leave him any face. “After Bai Aotu, there’s no one in your Bai clan worthy of my respect.”
Bai Aotu was the strongest among the younger generation of the Bai clan. Back when she was more powerful than Zhao Jundu, she had also hunted Qianye down until he had his back against the wall. Now that her combat strength had fallen, the Bai clan could not find anyone else to compete with Zhao Jundu.
Bai Kongzhao couldn’t be considered a true Bai clan member. They would still hold onto this much face, at least.
The Bai clan army had also sustained great damage under the Iron Curtain back then. It could be said that the clan had suffered quite a bit in this duo’s hands. Now that Song Zining had exposed this fact, the group found it difficult to retort.
After a lapse of awkwardness, the young man laughed. “Very well! Since the seventh young master has said so, how can we disappoint you? I don’t see a need to pick a location, let’s just do it here.”
“Fine.” Song Zining agreed readily.
“Men, prepare the equipment, clear the area!”
The young men scattered in all directions to perform their duties. An arena was soon set up outside of the gates, and the ground was covered with armor plates for protection. Several crates were brought to the scene—one was filled with all kinds of melee weapons, while the other was filled with origin guns. The others were all loaded with defensive equipment, ranging from plates as thin as a cicada’s wing to whole-body armors.
As one of the four major clans, the Bai clan’s foundations were indeed deep. The equipment provided were all high-grade armaments, many of which could not be bought for money. Song Zining watched the young man with a smile. How quick and thorough this preparation was!
The young man pretended not to see. “Please feel free to use any weapon. Our Bai clan disciples will also pick from them.”
Providing weapons for the combatants was a tradition of the nobility. After all, those who come to challenge the clan might not have everything they need. This was the perfect time to put the clan’s bearing on full display.
There was also a different unwritten rule that the challenger would face serial opponents, a significant home-field advantage for the challenged. There was usually a limit to this, however, and the competition would end at three consecutive losses. For the aristocracy, the outcome of a fight was just a temporary status; face was the most important.
When Song Zining had agreed just now, he even removed this limitation. The Bai clan could send as many people as they wanted. Such insolence naturally infuriated the youngsters of the clan.
The first to take the field was a stout man at rank-fifteen cultivation, fully-armored and holding a heavy shield. Apparently, he was equipped for endurance—his objective was to drain the opponent’s origin power instead of winning.
This kind of clumsy, shield-wielding opponent was Song Zining’s favorite. His Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art could toy with the opponent until the man begins to suspect his purpose in life.
Song Zining adjusted his clothes and was just about to enter when Qianye pulled him back. He said with a wooden expression, “I’m not in the mood to play with them.”
“Okay, take care.” Song Zining reminded again out of worry. “Go easy on them, don’t go too hard.”
Qianye nodded. “I will.”
The mocking conversation between the two was exchanged with great seriousness, greatly angering the people from the Bai clan.
The warrior in the arena banged on the shield with his hammer, indicating his displeasure.
Qianye wasn’t about to pay attention to the man’s mood. He jumped into the ring and walked toward the opponent in large strides, swiping at his chest right off the bat.
The burly man let out a sinister laugh as he counterattacked with both shield and hammer, striking ruthlessly at the incoming arm. This attack was powerful enough to shatter an ordinary expert’s limb, but Qianye made no movement to dodge. He allowed the shield and hammer to connect—almost as though he couldn’t feel anything—and lifted the opponent up by the throat.
That strong body fell limp in Qianye’s grasp, unable to move a single muscle. He threw a square slap with his left hand, which knocked the warrior out and sent him flying dozens of meters away.
All of this happened in mere moments. The people hadn’t even reacted when their hopeful warrior was lying unconscious on the ground. Some of the quicker youths ran over to check the injured and said in relief, “No serious injury, he’s just out cold.”
The relieved crowd glared angrily at Qianye, while the stronger ones remained in frowning contemplation. It looked like Qianye never used his origin power at all during the entire process; how did that man lose? The ease with which he had claimed victory seemed even easier than killing a chicken.
The leader said furiously, “Qianye, what’s the meaning of such a malicious attack?”
Qianye smiled coldly. “I didn’t touch his vitals. What do you mean malicious?”
The person was stopped up. The face wasn’t a vital area, but such a slap hurt more than being struck in the vitals.
Song Zining wanted to say something but ultimately just shook his head. He knew Qianye was angry after seeing Bai Aotu’s current state and would not leave the Bai clan any leeway. Even against the elders of the Song clan, Qianye had never blocked the other party’s way out like this.
Qianye viewed everyone who had fought alongside him in battle as his brethren, and he had never been afraid of making enemies for his brethren.
At this point, a dark expression appeared briefly on the young man’s face. He said with a gloomy laugh, “Good! Very good! Since you’re willing to teach us, our clan definitely can’t disappoint you! Bai Longfei, go up and learn from Sire Qianye!”
Bai Longfei was a well-groomed man in his thirties. He floated into the field with a pair of daggers in hand, not kicking up any dust despite his speed. This slow movement was a display of his talents in speed.
Having learned from the previous combatant, this Bai Longfei avoided close combat with Qianye. He instead moved swiftly around Qianye, hoping to gain a gradual advantage with roaming attacks. At the very least, he would be able to drain Qianye’s origin power a bit more.
He circled thrice around Qianye in the blink of an eye, his movements as fast as wind and lightning. Just as he was feeling satisfied with his display of skill, a big hand suddenly appeared in front of him. The hand seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, catching him entirely off-guard and unable to evade. Thus, the shocked man was caught by the throat and lifted off the ground.
“How could he be so fast…” The thought had just appeared in his mind when his vision went dark. There was a hand, a slap… and nothing more.
As the bystanders saw it, all Qianye did was reach out, and Bai Longfei had slammed into the hand on his own. He was then slapped and tossed out of the field.
The leader was livid, but he clenched his jaws and shouted, “Bai Longjing!”
A short-haired man took to the field. This short-haired man looked tough, formidable, and used no fancy movies. Apparently, he was a true expert with ample battlefield experience.
This so-called experienced warrior was also lifted up and knocked out with a slap.
“Bai Longyu!”
“Bai Huyi!”
“Bai Chengtian!”
“Bai…”
Whoever came into the arena would be slapped out and rendered unconscious. During this entire process, it felt as though he never even used his origin power. Very soon, there were over a dozen men lying near the arena, all swollen and unconscious.
More and more Bai clan descendants had gathered at this point, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard. Those with good judgment had already figured out that Qianye was on a completely different level compared to these scions. That was why he was making such light work of them, downing them in one slap.
The injuries weren’t serious, but all of them were on the face.
The young man could no longer maintain his elegance. He said with an unsightly expression, “Are you going to go against us to the end!?”
