Chapter 37: Fighting Lu Wubao.

Defiant Martial God

The waiter's trembling and terrified appearance instantly gave him away. Lu Wubao didn't even need to ask to know that the waiter was the one who insulted his sister.

“No, no, no, it wasn’t me…!” The waiter was absolutely terrified, as he frantically denied his wrongdoings. His legs turned into jelly, and he fell on the floor with a 'plop.' In a panic, the waiter prostrated himself on the floor, repeatedly kowtowing to Lu Wubao and begging for forgiveness. "Young Master Lu, please spare my life! I deserve to die for my foul mouth. I'll give myself a slap!"

The waiter ruthlessly slapped himself, and the echo of his slap resounded crisply through the upper floor of the teahouse.

For an instant, a trace of terror appeared on everyone's faces and nobody dared to speak. The people who had just been talking to the waiter took a few steps back, fearing that they would be dragged into the situation.

Lu Wubao ignored the waiter’s slap, his overbearing gaze sweeping across the crowd, intimidating several people into silence. With palpitating hearts, these cowards quietly moved back to their tables.

“Everyone, listen to Laozi’s words! That trash, Qin Yu, isn't even worthy to be matched with my Lu Family, much less my sister! My sister is a phoenix amongst women, and can only be paired together with a dragon—not lowly rubbish like Qin Yu. If anyone dares to speak such nonsense again, they will meet their end!" With eyes that ominously glinted with bloodlust, Lu Wubao looked at the waiter who slapped himself and coldly spat out two words: "Kill him!"

"Yes, young master!" One of the men behind Lu Wubao unsheathed his sword, intent on fulfilling the orders given to him.

“No, no, Young Master Lu, spare my life, spare my life…!”

The waiter's voice became fearful as he begged for mercy, screaming until his voice was hoarse. Yet, nobody paid attention to his cries. The sinister subordinate walked up, an evil grin etched on his face. He held the sword up high before slashing down fiercely.

“Ahhh—!”

A tormented scream rang out, causing everyone’s hearts to tremble. The waiter curled on the ground as the subordinate stumbled backward, his sinister face twisting into one of pain. His sword slipped out of his grasp and fell to the ground, and in its place was a chopstick that had stabbed through his palm. Although this place was a teahouse, it also sold some snacks, so every table had a pair of chopsticks.

“Huh? What happened?”

Only now did everyone realize that the tormented scream didn't come from the waiter but from the subordinate. Nothing seemed to have happened to the waiter, although he did faint from fear.

"Who are you? Do you want to die?!" Lu Wubao's cruel gaze landed on the figure sitting in an overlooked corner of the teahouse.

Following Lu Wubao's words, everyone in the teahouse stared at this man. He was dressed in plain gray robes and had on a conical bamboo hat that was pulled low to conceal his face, preventing his real appearance from being seen.

Nobody had paid any attention to the ordinary, unremarkable person who sat in an obscure corner of the teahouse. Yet, it was precisely this person who had thrown the chopstick into the palm of Lu Wubao's subordinate, saving the waiter's life.

The man's actions had naturally infuriated Lu Wubao, and he released a wave of killing intent in his anger. The spectators felt their chests tighten in the face of this ruthless killing intent.

It was rumored that Lu Wubao had reached the apex of the Origin Realm long ago. In Luosang City, a thirty-year-old cultivator at the peak of the Origin Realm was already considered a powerful figure. With the addition of the two subordinates behind him, how could the gray robed man possibly be his opponent?

"I'm asking you a question! Who are you?"

Lu Wubao released a deafening snarl, causing everyone to jump in fear again.

However, the gray robed figure still remained unmoving, calmly drinking his tea, as if Lu Wubao didn't even exist.

He was the grand and stately young master of the Lu Family and with a single glance, he could scare everyone here into trembling with fear. How could he possibly endure being ignored by this unremarkable peasant?

“You’re courting death!”

Lu Wubao unleashed a fierce punch. The wind whistled as his fist surged forth with a violent momentum.

The enormous power behind his fist left the spectators in shock.

*Bang* A noise rang out as the gray robed man jumped up and greeted Lu Wubao's frenzied attack with his own. In everyone’s eyes, his fist was much smaller than Lu Wubao’s and his body also looked a lot weaker compared to Lu Wubao's tall and muscular body. The difference between a youth and a thirty-year-old man’s body was incomparable.

Both men looked like they belonged in entirely different weight divisions, yet the gray robed man didn't seem like he was going to dodge, choosing instead to firmly stand his ground. Was he stupid?

*Bang*

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, the two fists collided against each other.

In the next moment, everyone was petrified. Nobody could believe what had happened.

Lu Wubao was sent flying with a *boom* as his body soared straight through the air, crashing through and crushing the chairs and tables that were behind him. He also knocked into a few unfortunate people along the way, giving rise to countless screams.

Meanwhile, the gray robed man who looked weak and scrawny only took a few steps back before he stabilized his stance. He stood firmly as if he was an unmovable statue. His sharp gaze under the bamboo hat caused everyone's hearts to tremble.

“This guy is really strong!” The surrounding people all felt a chill run down their spines as they gasped, trying to guess his identity.

“I’ll tear you apart!”

Lu Wubao finally collided with the floor. He was utterly enraged, and slowly crawled up with much difficulty.

He was the oldest young master of the Lu Family. He was grand, stately, and a famous character in Luosang City, yet he had been blown away by the fist of somebody who seemed weaker than him. It was an extraordinary disgrace!

“Bring me a sword!” Lu Wubao wasn’t an idiot and knew that his opponent was powerful. Therefore, he wanted to use a weapon.

One of the men accompanying Lu Wubao immediately ran out and brought back a sword for him. “Young Master, your sword.”

Lu Wubao took the sword and shouted, “Charge together and kill him!” He rushed out instantaneously, his sword gleaming sharply. Light gathered around the sword, merging into a single beam of powerful sword energy that was unleashed towards the gray robed man with a slash. The sword hadn’t even landed before its energy enveloped the gray figure.

Lu Wubao’s two subordinates also howled, and they followed closely behind him while they attacked from two opposite directions, acting with tacit understanding and mutual cooperation. It could be reckoned that they killed many others in the same way.

The three besieged the gray robed figure. With Lu Wubao’s aggressive and fierce bladework, [1. Bladework: “use or management of a bladed object (such as a knife or sword)” Definition provided by Merriam Webster.] the situation was quickly becoming dangerous for the gray robed man.

*Rumble*

The tyrannical sword swung down violently, crushing the tea table into flying fragments of dust.

Immediately after, Lu Wubao’s two subordinates also attacked the figure from both the left and the right.

The subordinate who had his right hand pierced through by the chopstick earlier was now grasping his sword with his left hand. His left-handed attack was equally as fierce as his right-handed attack would have been. The sword stabbed ruthlessly into flesh, and blood splashed onto his face. His previously sullen face was now brimming with satisfaction and pleasure.

However, the subordinate wasn’t even able to indulge in his happiness before an ice-cold blade plunged into his abdomen. Bright red blood sprayed out and stained the face of his assailant.

Both of them raised their heads, only to find themselves staring at the other’s familiar face. Their target had long disappeared.

“What’s going on? Is there some sort of internal strife?”

Everyone watching in the teahouse thought that something was wrong with their eyes and rubbed them hard before opening them again. Their eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on them. Lu Wubao’s subordinates had indeed stabbed each other.

Lu Wubao and the two men had been standing in a 品 shaped formation. Lu Wubao’s blade chopped down on the wooden floor between them, entering the wood. Even the back of the blade couldn’t be seen- the strike’s power was clear. Were it not for the sword reaching the floor before the two henchmen arrived, the sword would’ve directly chopped down on the two subordinates’ bodies.

Where was the gray robed figure?

Fast... too fast... unimaginably fast! The figure was so fast that it could hardly be caught with the naked eye.

Only now did everyone react. They started to look for the gray robed figure and it was then that they realized that the gray robed figure was standing behind Lu Wubao. His cone-shaped bamboo hat had already fallen off during the fight, revealing a shockingly young face.

It was a youth... a youth that only seemed to be in his teens! How could this be?

Everyone stared at the youth in surprise, their pupils contracting. Their eyes were filled with an incredulous light.

They truly didn’t expect that a fist from a teenager would be able to send Lu Wubao flying. What was even harder for them to believe was that this youngster was now standing behind Lu Wubao, his right hand holding a chopstick that pierced through the nape of Lu Wubao’s neck, with the other end sticking out through the front.

At this moment, Lu Wubao was still leaning forward slightly with both hands gripping his sword as if he was primed to swing his sword back up and deliver a second attack. But unfortunately, that chance never came, as his throat was already pierced by the chopstick.

Only now did he realize what a terrifying expert he had run into. It was a pity that it was already too late.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, three figures collapsed on the floor.

“Daring to…kill…kill me, the Lu Family… I...w—won’t let you off…!” As Lu Wubao took his dying breath, he used all of his strength and issued a hoarse threat before unwillingly leaving the world. Even as he died, he was unable to clearly see who had killed him.

The youth indifferently swept his eyes over the three men lying dead on the ground before leaving a few broken nuggets of silver as payment for the tea, and striding smoothly step by step down the staircase.

Everyone on the upper floor held their breath and nobody dared to make a noise as they watched him disappear down the stairs, causing the entire teahouse to become unsettlingly quiet.

It was only when the youth’s figure completely disappeared that everyone was able to let out a sigh of relief before looking at the three corpses on the ground as their hearts twitched fiercely.

He died... The famous eldest young master of the Lu Family, one of the four young evils, had died just like that! Now that the only son of the Lu Family had died, nobody could predict what the Lu Family would do in their anger.

With a trembling voice, somebody finally couldn’t help but break the silence. “I—I know who he is! He… he is the genius of the Qin Family, Qin Yu!”

“Qin Yu, didn’t he turn into a cripple?” somebody immediately asked, startled.

“Cripple my ass! Who the hell even made that damn rumor? Can there be such a powerful cripple in this world?”

“It is Qin Yu. I saw him in the qualifiers of the Martial Exam,” someone confirmed. “However, he was at the apex of Origin Realm while Lu Wubao was also at the apex of Origin Realm. Furthermore, Lu Wubao is thirty years old, so he is a lot older than Qin Yu, which means that his cultivation should be much stronger and more stable than Qin Yu’s. How was he killed by Qin Yu so easily?”

His words shocked everyone. Lu Wubao had three people and they all had weapons, yet Qin Yu who was alone only used a chopstick to defeat all three of them. This was all truly hard to believe.

“He seemed to have become a lot stronger since the qualifiers. I have to watch the Martial Exam. He’s my idol!”

A youngster along with a few others rushed out with a shout.

“I’m also going!” Behind him, countless others immediately called out and dashed down.