With a sword at his waist, a thousand taels of silver notes in his pocket, and powerful Qi swirling inside his body, Xue Yi was very confident as he acted in the role of a personal attendant to the young mistress of Holy Might Manor!
Passing through several corridors and halls inside Holy Might Manor, he walked out of the front gate.
Outside the gate was a wide avenue, located at the northernmost part of Ling Prefecture City.
Ling Prefecture was an important city in the eastern region of the Ancient Divine Dynasty, with only a few hundred thousand people, not very big. But due to its special geographical location, connecting border passes and vast plains of the Dynasty's heartland, it was actually equivalent to a strategic pass, and so was valued highly.
Martial arts flourished in Ling Prefecture, with over a dozen training clans and factions.
Holy Might Manor was one of the leaders among them. However, over the past few hundred years, Holy Might Manor had shown signs of decline, with no "Sages" to oversee it anymore, and its actual influence had long faded compared to before.
Fortunately now there was Xiao Qingruo, a monstrous genius of astounding talent, giving the manor's older generation renewed hope of rising again.
Otherwise after a few more centuries of decay, they were afraid it would become a second-rate power.
"The shops selling medicinal herbs are mainly concentrated on East Street, which happens to be on the way to Green Jade Dew," Xue Yi thought.
Dressed in Holy Might Manor's attendant uniform, he looked quite prestigious walking down the avenue, with passersby all making way and not daring to provoke him.
Jogging quickly, he soon arrived at the eastern market.
Xue Yi found a pharmacy and immediately asked upon entering, "Shopkeeper, do you have Ice Whisker Grass for sale?"
The shopkeeper shook his head. "Ice Whisker Grass doesn't keep well, so only large herb shops dare to stock it. You can try Immortal Grass Hall, or see if any herb gatherers are selling it on the street stalls."
"Immortal Grass Hall? Alright, thanks shopkeeper."
Xue Yi exited the pharmacy with a slight frown on his brows.
Immortal Grass Hall was also located in the eastern market, the largest pharmacy in Ling Prefecture City, backed by the Jianghu force "Dark Robe Tower".
And this Jianghu force did not have good relations with Holy Might Manor.
"Let's go take a look first," Xue Yi thought. "I'm here to buy medicine, not make trouble. They shouldn't do anything even if they recognize me."
Jogging quickly again, before long, a majestic three-story building appeared up ahead.
Immortal Grass Hall.
This pharmacy was bustling with people coming and going, with extremely high customer traffic.
Going in and out were not just common folk, but many cultivators too.
Xue Yi walked up to the entrance.
Seeing him dressed in Holy Might Manor's uniform, the two guards at the door immediately blocked his way and scolded, "What are you here for?"
"Coming to a pharmacy is obviously to buy medicine," Xue Yi glanced at the two men. Their strength wasn't high, one at the ninth layer of Tiger-Dragon, the other at the eighth. Not enough for him to take care of with one move.
Although the guards could tell Xue Yi's strength was quite strong, they were not afraid of him either, speaking coldly, "Our Immortal Grass Hall does not welcome people from Holy Might Manor, please go somewhere else."
Mere door guards normally would not have the authority to turn customers away like this.
That they dared speak so meant they clearly had obtained instructions from Dark Robe Tower backing Immortal Grass Hall.
"Then nevermind if you're not selling, you're not the only shop around," Xue Yi was disinclined to beg these people. Not far across from Immortal Grass Hall was another shop, Spring Return Hall, also selling herbs and pills.
He turned to leave.
Just then, a voice suddenly called out from inside Immortal Grass Hall,
"Yo, isn't this Xue Yi, personal attendant to Holy Might Manor's young miss? What's wrong, not following your young miss today?"
The voice was mocking and vulgar.
Xue Yi looked back to see it was none other than Fang Jie, whom he had punched out two teeth yesterday.
Fang Jie was with a few other youths, standing off to the side, clearly just tagging along.
The one leading them looked to be in his early twenties, holding a foldable fan, dressed like a dapper young master. His energy felt quite strong, having reached the pinnacle of Qi Condensation, on par with Xu Lingzhi. The others were also not weak, all at the seventh and eighth layers of Qi Condensation.
Seeing this group, Xue Yi was unconcerned, speaking sarcastically, "I was wondering who it was, turns out to be you. How come your speech is still whistling, have you not gotten your teeth fixed yet?"
"You--"
Fang Jie was immediately incensed upon hearing this. He said to the youth in the middle, "Cousin, this is the brat who hit me yesterday! With Xiao Qingruo around, my sister can't do anything to him. You have to stand up for me today at Immortal Grass Hall!"
Right after he finished speaking, Xue Yi mocked, "Tsk tsk, yesterday it was big sister, today there's a cousin too. Fang Jie, how do you have relatives everywhere? Don't tell me tomorrow you'll recognize an auntie or wet nurse too?"
"Shut up!"
Fang Jie was furious, but didn't dare fight Xue Yi, so could only pin his hopes on this "cousin" backing him up. "Cousin, you see..."
This "cousin" shook his fan, gesturing for him to calm down.
Seeing Xue Yi in attendant's garb, he spoke contemptuously, "Little one, don't think you can be arrogant just by clinging to Xiao Qingruo's coattails. In my Luo Hongfei's eyes, you are nothing but a lowly attendant. Fang Jie is my brother, you'd best kneel and kowtow to apologize to him right now, otherwise... hmph!"
With someone backing him up, Fang Jie immediately regained his confidence, looking disdainfully at Xue Yi and arrogantly ordering, "Did you hear that? Kneel and kowtow immediately!"
Xue Yi had an "are you idiots" expression on his face. "Did you guys forget to take your medicine? If not, then turn around and grab a couple handfuls from the counter back there."
Luo Hongfei, he had heard a little about him. Seemingly the young master of a middling cultivation clan in Ling Prefecture, with a barely respectable status. But as for his strength...overrated.
"Seeking death!"
Luo Hongfei was used to being arrogant, and had never seen anyone dare show such contempt for him before.
He was immediately furious, pointing at Xue Yi and shouting, "Seize him!"
"Yes!"
The few youths with him immediately acted, their Qi surging as they rushed at Xue Yi to grab him.
There were four in total, two at the seventh layer of Qi Condensation, two at the eighth.
If this was yesterday, it would've been a minor hassle without using any techniques. But today's Xue Yi was stronger by more than just a level compared to yesterday!
The four rushed over in unison, and he lashed out four lightning fast kicks.
Bang bang bang bang!
The muffled impacts rang out in quick succession. The four had barely gotten close before they were sent flying back by Xue Yi's kicks, crashing to the ground with pained cries.
"What a pity, couldn't seize him," Xue Yi shook his head helplessly, his expression very punchable.
"Hm? Ninth layer of Qi Condensation?"
Luo Hongfei's pupils constricted, only now noticing that Xue Yi's energy was not much weaker than his own, and not at the eighth layer like Fang Jie claimed.
But he quickly relaxed again.
So what if it was the ninth layer? Still one level below him. And a mere attendant must have very poor martial arts quality, not on the same level as him!
"Kneel down!"
Luo Hongfei shouted in a low voice, snapping his fan shut and wielding it like a sword, stabbing swiftly at Xue Yi's chest.
Three feet of Qi sprayed forth, containing force of at least ten thousand catties. It could easily pierce a gaping hole through someone's body.
Yet facing this wrathful strike from someone at the peak of Qi Condensation, Xue Yi did not retreat but advanced!
With a stomp of his foot, a burst of brute force surged from his soles up to his waist, then passed through his right arm as he unleashed a fierce punch!
Tiger Descending the Mountain!
Boom!
Fist and fan collided.
In martial arts quality, Xue Yi was far superior!
In Qi quality, having cultivated the Five Spirits Imperial Command, he was not much inferior to Luo Hongfei despite being one level lower.
This clash between the two immediately produced a crisp "crack" sound.
Luo Hongfei's fan was sent flying from his hand, while his right arm that took Xue Yi's punch head-on was twisted and deformed from the direct impact.
That crisp sound was the shattering of bones.
Facing someone at the peak of Qi Condensation with only the ninth layer, Xue Yi was victorious!