Chapter 91 - 88: So, Are You Still Fighting?

The surrounding crowd was equally astonished.

This masked middle-aged man was truly a tough nut to crack—he actually dared to call the members of the Ye Xiao Conglomerate dogs.

This feud, they feared, had just blown up into something massive.

"What did you say?" Li Shangyuan and his group erupted in fury.

"I said, I don’t make a habit of apologizing to rabid dogs," Mo Qianqian repeated.

"You..." Li Shangyuan choked on his anger.

The young men beside him seethed with rage as well.

The onlookers couldn’t help but secretly admire the masked man. He was genuinely gutsy.

"Haozi, beat him up for me! I’ll cover the ten first-grade low-tier pills!" Li Shangyuan shouted darkly.

"Starting a fight inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion... are you sure you can afford the compensation?" Mo Qianqian laughed.

"You..."

Li Shangyuan had only wanted to intimidate the man. To his surprise, the other party wasn’t the least bit afraid and could still laugh. Within this Imperial City, they were perfectly willing to throw down. But inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, they truly didn’t dare.

"All that big talk, yet it seems to be all bark and no bite?" Mo Qianqian continued to mock.

"You..."

Li Shangyuan was absolutely livid, yet he genuinely didn’t dare make a move inside the pavilion.

"Hmph, let’s see how long you can hide in there. We’re leaving!"

Having completely lost the mood to inspect the Spiritual Spear, Li Shangyuan spun around and stormed out in a huff. The group of young men beside him followed suit. The whole lot of them simply waited outside the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, ready to ambush him.

Mo Qianqian merely smiled. Treating the encounter as if nothing had happened, he crossed his arms, turned back, and examined the Spiritual Spear.

A bunch of lapdogs flexing their master’s muscle to intimidate people—he didn’t pay them much mind. As for acting like the surrounding crowd and backing down just to avoid trouble? If he didn’t even have that little bit of backbone, he might as well give up on cultivation altogether.

The attitudes of the bystanders varied. Some praised Mo Qianqian, even stepping forward to strike up a conversation. Others sighed for him in pity, while some made snide remarks, whispering endlessly as they continued to appraise the Spiritual Spear. Mo Qianqian ignored all of it.

Naturally, many people went ahead to write down their sealed bids, hoping to acquire this Spiritual Spear. But Mo Qianqian didn’t write anything. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to try; rather, he simply no longer wanted this Spiritual Spear right now.

He lingered inside, browsing for quite a while, before finally taking his time strolling out of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion. The moment Mo Qianqian stepped outside, the crowd that had been examining the Spiritual Spear surged out after him.

Clearly, they were all getting ready to watch a good show.

Just outside the doors of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, Li Shangyuan and his lackeys stood waiting. A dense crowd had already gathered around them. At the front of the crowd stood several men dressed in identical guard uniforms.

It was a no-brainer—that squad was the Imperial Guard, tasked with maintaining peace in the Imperial City and specializing in collecting the Combat Tax.

"I thought you were so damn good at hiding! Why aren’t you still hiding?" Li Shangyuan hollered in fury as he saw Mo Qianqian swaggering out of the pavilion. "Daring to block the path of the Ye Xiao Conglomerate, and even daring to call our people dogs! You mutt, let’s see if you still dare to act so arrogant now!

"If you’ve got the balls, hide in the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion for the rest of your life!

"You piece of trash, come out here and take your beating!"

Li Shangyuan’s lackeys eagerly joined in, hurling their own insults. The surrounding crowd pointed fingers and began to gossip among themselves.

"Is that the guy who offended the Ye Xiao Conglomerate?"

"To dare offend the Ye Xiao Conglomerate... I wonder what his background is?"

"He’s wearing a mask, so what kind of background could he possibly have? Members of the major families and the royal family all operate openly. He must belong to some minor faction, or he’s a Loose Cultivator."

"With no background, yet daring to offend the Ye Xiao Conglomerate, he’s in massive trouble. Does he really think no one would dare to lay a hand on him just because the Imperial City has a Combat Tax?"

"Exactly. This Ye Xiao Conglomerate is extremely wealthy. They’ve beaten up quite a few people in the city lately. They don’t even need someone at the Spirit Profound Realm or higher to strike. By just having a Spirit Vein Realm cultivator make a move and paying the ten first-grade pills for the Combat Tax, they don’t even feel the pinch."

Mo Qianqian entirely ignored the chatter of the crowd and Li Shangyuan’s group. Instead, he strode right up to within a short distance of them and smiled. "I won’t even lift a finger. Which one of you is stepping up?"

"You..." Seeing the smile still plastered across Mo Qianqian’s face, Li Shangyuan was infuriated enough to choke. "Haozi, hit him! Let’s see if he can still smile after that."

"You got it!"

A thin young man stepped forward, his aura erupting at the Spirit Vein Realm Fourth Level.

For the Spirit Vein Realm Fourth Level, the Combat Tax was ten first-grade low-tier pills. This was precisely why Li Shangyuan brought so many lackeys along—the lower the cultivation base, the cheaper the Combat Tax. Not everyone who entered the Imperial City had a high cultivation base. If they had high-level cultivators strike down every single person who crossed them, even the Ye Xiao Conglomerate wouldn’t have enough money to waste.

"Hmph, you piece of trash. I’ll make you regret this." The thin young man clenched his fists and prepared to charge at Mo Qianqian.

But in the next moment...

SMASH!

The thin young man smashed his own fist straight into his face. Blood sprayed out, and several teeth were sent flying.

"What?" The crowd stared in stunned disbelief.

Wasn’t he supposed to be hitting that masked middle-aged man? How did this young man from the Ye Xiao Conglomerate end up punching himself in the face?

Li Shangyuan and his group were absolutely dumbfounded.

SMASH! SLAP! SMASH!

The thin young man began swinging wildly with both hands. His left palm slapped against his cheek, and his right fist slammed into his face. In an instant, his mouth was overflowing with blood, and his face was battered black and blue. Then, his head spun, and he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Li Shangyuan’s group fell into a dead silence. The surrounding crowd was utterly speechless.

At this moment, an Imperial Guard walked up to Li Shangyuan’s group and stated, "Combat Tax. Ten first-grade low-tier pills, Spirit Vein Pills."

Li Shangyuan’s face twitched. They hadn’t even landed a hit on the enemy, and ten pills were already gone? He hurriedly handed over the ten pills. The Imperial City Guard accepted the pills, jotted it down in a ledger, and retreated to his post.

"You’re a First-Grade Spirit Master?" Li Shangyuan suddenly looked toward Mo Qianqian.

He had finally figured it out. To be capable of forcing Haozi to beat himself up, the other party absolutely had to be a Spirit Master.

Li Shangyuan’s gaggle of lackeys wore ugly expressions. A First-Grade Spirit Master! That was equivalent to the Spirit Vein Realm Ninth Layer. Combined with the capacity for sneak attacks, their combat prowess could potentially reach the Spirit Profound Realm First or Second Layer.

Sending a Spirit Vein Realm Fourth Level cultivator like Haozi up against that? How were they supposed to fight?

None of them had ever expected that this masked middle-aged man would actually turn out to be a First-Grade Spirit Master! A First-Grade Spirit Master’s status was vastly superior to theirs. However, they had the backing of the Ye Xiao Conglomerate!

"A First-Grade Spirit Master? He’s actually a First-Grade Spirit Master?" The onlookers were similarly shocked.

Mo Qianqian didn’t answer Li Shangyuan directly. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Are you guys still going to fight?"

Li Shangyuan’s face darkened as he scoffed coldly. "Hmph, we represent the Ye Xiao Conglomerate! So what if you’re a First-Grade Spirit Master?"

"That’s right! The Great Treasure Master of our Ye Xiao Conglomerate is a Second-Grade Spirit Master, Ye Xiao! Do you think you can just look down on us because you’re a First-Grade Spirit Master?"

"Don’t get cocky too early!"

Li Shangyuan’s lackeys began shouting curses again.

Mo Qianqian crossed his arms, the smile on his face growing even more profound. "So... are you still going to fight?"