No More Nonsense

The blocking cultivator acted as if he had found a savior. He quickly called out "Senior Brother" with forced intimacy while ushering Zou Yu down.

"Greetings, Formation Master Zou!"

Many cultivators on the first floor, seeing this, hurried to bow and offer their salutations.

Zou Yu looked down at Liu Zihao, descending the stairs with measured steps.

"The second floor of the Formation Pavilion requires appropriate status to enter. It has been a long time since you were last here, Brother Liu-have you forgotten the rules?"

Liu Zihao understood his intent. It was merely an attempt to trample him once more.

He had no desire to waste time on such trivialities. The Family Head was still waiting for his return to Pine Mountain.

Thus, he raised his voice again: "My business here today is to terminate my contract with the Formation Pavilion. Once that is done, I leave."

"Oh?"

Zou Yu raised a brow and paced toward him: "Brother Liu, I know you harbor resentment, but the fact that you have failed to secure a single commission in two years is not the Pavilion's fault, is it? Do you not understand the reasons yourself?"

"Are you deaf? Or are you simply incapable of understanding human speech?"

Liu Zihao's sharp retort froze the smug expression on Zou Yu's face.

He had never expected that Liu Zihao would dare to speak to him in such a manner now.

"You!"

"I have neither the patience nor the time to squabble with you. Send someone who is actually in charge."

Zou Yu's face flushed with humiliation and anger; his gaze burned with fury as he looked at Liu Zihao.

He had already lost his permanent status, yet he remained as arrogant and insufferable as before!

All this nonsense about terminating the contract-it was clearly just a ploy to threaten the Elder and reclaim his permanent seat!

"Do you truly think I do not know what you are plotting?"

Zou Yu said coldly: "Let me tell you, there is no place for you in the Formation Pavilion now. The Elder will not be swayed by these tricks. Do not think you can succeed!"

Liu Zihao looked at him with an expression of pure bafflement, as if he were observing a fool.

"Are you suffering from some affliction of the mind? Should I find a physician to examine you?"

"You!"

Zou Yu was so enraged that his face turned purple. He had arrived intending to strike Liu Zihao down and force him to acknowledge his diminished standing, but instead, he had only succeeded in infuriating himself.

"What is all this noise?"

An aged voice drifted down from the second floor.

Zou Yu and the other cultivator quickly stepped aside, bowing toward the staircase.

Liu Zihao swept his gaze over them. In the past, he would have done the same, but from today, such gestures were unnecessary.

An Elder in gray robes slowly descended. He nodded faintly to the pair before letting his eyes drift casually over Liu Zihao.

He took his seat at the desk and spoke: "Formation Master Liu, what business brings you here?"

"I am here to terminate my contract."

Having stated his purpose for the third time, his internal patience had long since evaporated.

The Elder chuckled at his words: "Heh heh, Formation Master Liu, you are still young. A person must experience hardship to grow. When one falls into a trough, one must learn to endure. When I was young..."

Clatter!

Liu Zihao's patience shattered. He raised his hand and overturned his Storage Bag, spilling four thousand Spirit Crystals directly onto the table.

The pile of crystals rose to half the height of a man.

"I shall say it once more: I am terminating the contract! No more nonsense! Take your payment, and return my contract!"

Four thousand Spirit Crystals lay heaped before them-the sight was genuinely shocking. Many cultivators in the Pavilion stood frozen, stunned by the display.

Even the Elder seated at the desk was momentarily disarmed. He had never expected that Liu Zihao's talk of termination was genuine!

"Impossible! You have not received a single commission in over two years! You have been hiding in that dilapidated alley on West Street, barely scraping by on formation diagrams-where could you have possibly earned this?"

Seeing the wealth, Zou Yu could not accept it; the thought escaped his lips before he could restrain it.

Liu Zihao turned his head and sneered: "Brother Zou seems quite concerned with my affairs. Your knowledge is truly detailed."

Zou Yu realized he had overstepped and fell silent, his face darkening.

The Elder finally regained his composure and ordered someone to retrieve Liu Zihao's contract.

Once he held the document in his hands, Liu Zihao spoke no further. He swept the Spirit Crystals back into his storage bag, slammed it onto the desk, and strode out of the Pavilion without once looking back.

It was a long time after his departure before the first floor of the Formation Pavilion resumed its usual pace.

Zou Yu retreated to his room on the second floor, his chest still heaving with indignation.

"Where did he get so many Spirit Crystals? By what right?"

"Does he truly believe he will fare better outside the Pavilion? He is daydreaming!"

Zou Yu grew angrier the more he dwelled on it. In the past, he had always lived in the shadow of Liu Zihao. He had come today to reclaim his dignity, but he had been humiliated once again!

How could he bear this?

"Very well! So your talent is peerless! So your Dao path is wide and bright!"

He stood up, flicked his sleeves, and after concealing his features, left the Pavilion for an unmarked, three-story shop in the marketplace.

Shortly after Zou Yu entered, two unremarkable men of average build emerged. After taking several turns through the market, they exited through the east gate.

"Finally, that is settled. I did not expect it to cause such a commotion."

Upon leaving the market, Liu Zihao headed straight for Pine Mountain: "Now I can truly be at ease. I shall never have to deal with those people again. My only focus now is to serve the Family Head."

As he contemplated his future, anticipation blossomed in his heart.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

At that moment, he heard a sound behind him.

He turned, and his expression changed in an instant.

Two Qi Gathering seventh-layer cultivators were closing the distance rapidly, and it was evident they were pursuing him.

"This!"

Liu Zihao felt a surge of panic and increased his pace.

Yet, due to the disparity in their cultivation, the pair slowly narrowed the gap.

He had never faced such a situation. Previously, he had always traveled accompanied by powerful factions. Around Wangyue City, his master's reputation had ensured no one dared to plot against him.

Now, with his master taken to Chongtian City and his status in the Pavilion revoked, he had immediately become a target for those with ulterior motives.

He had not yet connected this to Zou Yu, assuming only that displaying his wealth at the Pavilion had invited greed. He cursed his own impulsiveness inwardly.

Half a moment later, he was intercepted.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Little friend, do not panic. We do not seek your life," one of them stated.

The other nodded: "Indeed. Someone simply wishes to purchase your hands and feet. Surrender them, and we shall depart immediately. We have no desire to make things difficult for you."

Though spoken with casual tone, the words made Liu Zihao's hair stand on end.

"Not for wealth? Who sent you?"

"Little friend, we are bound by rules. We cannot divulge that."

"We are in a hurry. If you cannot do it yourself, we shall do it for you."

As they spoke, the pressure radiating from them shifted, and a murderous intent washed over Liu Zihao, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground in terror.

As a Formation Master, his life and energy had been poured into the study of arrays. His current cultivation was only at the sixth layer, while his technique proficiency remained at the second layer. His direct combat prowess was comparable only to an average fifth-layer cultivator.

Facing this sudden ambush, he was entirely defenseless and could only wait to be carved up like meat.

Whoosh!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Just as despair gripped his heart, a violent gust of wind erupted.

Several blindingly fast afterimages streaked through the air. In an instant, the bodies of the two seventh-layer cultivators were carved into pieces and tumbled to the ground.

While Liu Zihao stood frozen in shock, a figure landed lightly beside him.

Yang Lingrui had been concealing his aura, following Liu Zihao from the moment he left Pine Mountain to protect him from the shadows.

He had reached minor success in the "Mayfly Step" technique from the Mayfly Phantom Body Art.

It was a masterful technique; requiring only a sliver of spiritual energy, it allowed him to glide as silently as a mayfly skimming across a pond. Neither Liu Zihao nor the two attackers had detected his presence.

Yang Lingrui turned to steady him: "I feared there might be an ambush, so I waited until the final moment to strike. Please do not blame me, Master Liu."

"You are... Yang Lingrui!"

Upon seeing his face, Liu Zihao finally exhaled, his panic slowly receding.

Once calm, he studied Yang Lingrui with a sense of quiet astonishment.

Seven years ago, when he first arrived at the Yang family, Yang Lingrui had been barely ten years old. He had been a mere Qi Gathering first-layer practitioner, following behind him and handling menial chores.

Now, his cultivation had surpassed his own, entering the late stage of the seventh layer!

To kill two cultivators of the same rank in an instant-such power was enough to contend with an eighth-layer expert!

Could an ordinary Qi Gathering family truly produce a talent such as this?

After witnessing this strength, Liu Zihao became more convinced than ever that joining the Yang family was the wisest decision he had ever made.

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