Standing by the staircase, Su Yueli raised an eyebrow at the scene.
This guy was indeed full of righteous chivalry.
Carrying a blood feud on her back, she acted with restraint and would not easily meddle in such affairs.
But in all honesty, she didn't dislike someone as warm-hearted and chivalrous as Lin Ye.
In such a corrupt world, it wasn't a bad thing for a few fearless, hot-headed youths to stand up.
Su Yueli stopped her steps, quietly standing in place to watch.
In the lobby, the burly man paused, slowly turning his head. His eyes, glinting with ferocity, locked onto Lin Ye.
“Where did this stray dog come from, daring to meddle in my business?”
The brute cracked his neck, his bones making a popping sound.
Seeing someone stand up, the onlookers who had shrunk into the corners began to whisper in hushed tones.
“This young man is too bold. He's asking for death!”
“He probably has no idea who he's dealing with! That's Pang Hu, the second young master of the Pang family from the Great Li Imperial City! I heard Pang Hu is naturally brutal. A few years ago, the head of the Pang family threw him into the border army to temper his killing intent. Now, with the Martial Arts Tournament approaching, he was recalled to the imperial city to compete!”
“Now that he's offended the Pang family, this kid's life is as good as over!”
Hearing the fearful whispers around him, the flesh on Pang Hu's face twitched, revealing a savage, satisfied grin.
He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of these ants fearing him like a tiger.
Releasing the young girl's arm, Pang Hu walked over to Lin Ye and sneered, “Kid, did you hear that? Since I'm in a good mood today, kneel down and kowtow three times right now, then get the hell out of this inn. I might just let you slide.”
Lin Ye spat, his eyes burning with fury.
“What bullshit Pang family! Does being from the Great Li Imperial City mean you can ignore the law? Bullying a defenseless woman—do you even deserve to be called a martial artist?!”
“You're courting death!”
Pang Hu's face instantly darkened.
Lin Ye wasted no more words. His blood qi erupted violently, revealing his foundation as a peak Third Realm martial artist.
Drawing the long saber from his back, the blade glinting under the inn's lanterns, he executed a mighty downward chop. With a fierce, whistling wind, the blade aimed straight for Pang Hu's face.
He had originally wanted to show off his strength in front of Su Yueli.
Clang—!
The next instant, the sound of clashing metal echoed through the room.
Pang Hu hadn't even drawn a weapon. He merely raised his iron-armored right arm and forcefully blocked Lin Ye's full-strength strike.
Lin Ye felt a violent jolt in the web of his thumb, and his long saber nearly flew out of his hand.
“Peak Third Realm? Is this the confidence behind your heroic deeds?”
Pang Hu let out a cruel laugh. The blood qi within his body instantly overwhelmed Lin Ye's, and he threw a heavy backhand punch straight into Lin Ye's chest.
Lin Ye didn't even have the chance to dodge. He was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, smashing through two tables before crashing to the floor and spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
It was an absolute, one-sided crush.
The martial path, much like the immortal path, was a journey where each step was a world of difference.
The gap between the Third Realm and the Fourth Realm was like an insurmountable chasm, something that hot-blooded passion alone could never bridge.
Lin Ye curled up on the ground, feeling several of his ribs snap. He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with unwillingness and despair.
Through his blurring vision, he instinctively looked toward the staircase.
Su Yueli was still standing there quietly. Lin Ye's heart clenched.
Staring at her, he desperately tried to signal with his eyes: Don't make a sound! Don't come over! Run!
He had failed to show off, and if he died, so be it, but he absolutely could not drag this girl into this.
However, his inadvertent glance did not escape Pang Hu's notice.
Following Lin Ye's gaze, Pang Hu looked up at the staircase.
In the next breath, Pang Hu's eyes went wide and rigid.
A pale green dress, a peerless, ethereal face, and a cold, aloof temperament that was far more captivating than any of the noble ladies in the imperial city.
“Hehe...”
Pang Hu licked his lips, a greedy, lustful light flashing in his eyes.
Turning back to Lin Ye on the ground, he grinned. “Not only do you have guts, kid, but you've got incredible luck with women too, traveling with such a top-tier beauty.”
“Since you're going to die, I'll take this beauty off your hands!”
With that, Pang Hu didn't even bother to look at Lin Ye again as he began walking toward Su Yueli.
“Stop! Don't touch her!”
Lin Ye's eyes nearly split from rage. He screamed inwardly that it was over—he had doomed Miss Su!
Summoning strength from god knows where, he lunged from the floor and tightly hugged Pang Hu's thigh.
“Miss Su! Run! Just run!” Lin Ye roared at Su Yueli, blood continuously spilling from his mouth.
His steps halted, Pang Hu frowned, a trace of killing intent flashing in his eyes.
“Annoying fly, die!”
Pang Hu didn't hold back this time. Veins bulged on his right fist as it swelled with the terrifying blood qi of a Fourth Realm martial artist, slamming directly down toward Lin Ye's head.
If this punch landed, Lin Ye's head would undoubtedly explode like a watermelon on the spot.
By the staircase.
Su Yueli observed the fluctuations of Pang Hu's blood qi—mid-stage Fourth Realm.
Judging by his appearance, Pang Hu was at most in his early thirties.
To reach the mid-stage Fourth Realm at this age, combined with his own talent and the resources of the imperial city, was indeed very impressive.
After all, Tie Tu of the Iron Bone Dojo had practiced martial arts his entire life, and at sixty-five years old, he had only barely reached the late-stage Fifth Realm, unable to break through to the Sixth Realm, and was already nearing the end of his lifespan.
In the mortal world, this Pang Hu could certainly be considered a true genius.
Unfortunately, he had crossed the wrong person.
“Sigh.”
Su Yueli sighed helplessly in her heart.
She hadn't wanted to meddle, but she couldn't just stand by and watch this righteous fool get his head smashed in.
Besides, the man had targeted her as well.
Just as Pang Hu's punch was about to land, Su Yueli's figure vanished from the staircase.
Almost at the exact same instant, a fair, slender hand caught Pang Hu's fist.
Bang!
A muffled explosion of colliding blood qi erupted in the lobby, kicking up a gust of wind that sent the surrounding onlookers stumbling backward.
Pang Hu's expression changed drastically.
He felt as if his punch had struck an iron mountain. Not only did he fail to budge her in the slightest, but a surge of blood qi, even heavier and denser than his own, rebounded from that seemingly delicate palm!
“Get lost.”
Expressionless, Su Yueli slightly turned her wrist, and the short-range force of Mountain Splitter's first style suddenly erupted.
Pang Hu's feet slid flat against the floor as he was pushed back nearly eighty feet, only managing to steady himself after crashing through the inn's front doors.
His right arm trembled violently, and the blood qi inside him churned restlessly. He stared at the cold young girl before him, his face filled with utter horror.
The entire inn lobby fell into a deathly silence, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.
Sprawled on the floor, Lin Ye stared with wide eyes, looking at Su Yueli as if she were a monster.
His mind went completely blank.
This was the... Miss Su he wanted to protect?!
Forcing back the mid-stage Fourth Realm Pang Hu in a single move? What kind of monster was she?!
After a brief, stunned silence, the crowd of onlookers instantly erupted.
Shock was written all over everyone's faces, but once the initial shock passed, their gazes shifted in unison.
No one cheered. Their eyes were filled only with fear and pity.
“She's crazy... She actually dared to strike Pang Hu!”
“Though this girl's strength is astonishing, she's too impulsive! So what if she forced Pang Hu back? That's the Pang family of the Great Li Imperial City!”
“Exactly! The head of the Pang family, Pang Jinbiao, is a genuine Eighth Realm expert! He has countless martial artists under his command!”
“It's over, it's all over. No matter how strong she is, can she really stand against an entire noble family of the imperial city? She disgraced the Pang family today. Once she reaches the imperial city, the Pang family will have a hundred ways to make her wish she were dead!”
“What a pity for such peerless beauty and talent. She ruined her own path before even entering the imperial city...”
The surrounding chatter was filled with certainty of Su Yueli's tragic end.
In their eyes, no matter how strong an individual's martial power was, they could never hope to contend with the deeply entrenched giants of the imperial city.
Listening to the doom-mongering around him, Pang Hu shook his numb right arm. The shock on his face gradually faded, replaced by an even more frenzied, cruel grin.
“Good! Very good!”
Pang Hu stared at Su Yueli as if she were the most delicious prey.
Rate on N.U.
