Got a great show for you
At the center of Wei City, at the end of the long main street, the factions of Lingxiao City and Yaoguang Peak stood face to face, the atmosphere so tense it felt like a single spark could set off an explosion at any moment.
This time, Ling Fengqing had fully learned his lesson from the last time Shu Fu had charged straight into his camp and stolen his base right at the start of the fight. He brought along a full company of people, and even invited two Nascent Soul stage elders to back him up, fully intending to give his rival a humiliating show of force.
In just a few short days, he had had a disastrous run of bad luck, losing the two key allies of the Flower Child Temple and Demon Lord Ninglu one after another. He was already simmering with unspent rage, desperate to make up for his losses somewhere else. Wei City's Flower Festival wasn't exactly a formal competition, but it was the perfect public stage to humiliate his rival in front of the entire cultivation world.
He couldn't wait to put Shu Fu on public display for punishment, just as Shu Fu was rubbing her hands together, equally eager to do the exact same to him.
If you asked where Ling Fengqing got his confidence, it was simple: as the son of the wealthiest man in the cultivation world, he was born into immense wealth. His father could casually hand over a hundred million spirit stones for him to splurge however he wanted, so he never ran short of hired muscle.
Looking over at the Yaoguang Peak side, Jiang Xuesheng wasn't even there in person, Wu Yao was still badly injured from his last fight, and Liu Ruyi had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage not long ago, her realm far from stable, nowhere near a match for a long-established powerful elder. The rest of his junior and senior fellow disciples had the highest cultivation level at the late Golden Core stage, so Ling Fengqing didn't spare them a single glance, convinced he had the win in the bag, and could pop open a celebratory jar of wine ahead of time.
But what he never expected was that in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Shu Fu had somehow struck up a close connection with the king of the Heavenly Fox clan of Qingqiu!
Everyone knew the Heavenly Fox clan was proud and aloof, never deigning to associate with other races, let alone form close friendships with outsiders.
Especially their new clan leader Xiao Tieyi, whose name fit him perfectly—he had an unyielding, iron backbone, and once beat a spy Lingxiao City had sent to infiltrate their territory so badly the spy's entire body was shattered, both sides of his body paralyzed, so high up the damage went he was half paralyzed even up to his eyebrows.
Ling Fengqing couldn't wrap his head around it: how on earth had the notoriously unapproachable Heavenly Fox clan ended up on such good terms with Yaoguang Peak?
One could only imagine that if he learned the whole thing was all thanks to Ye Shusheng's "pulling the red thread of marriage across a thousand miles", and Yaoguang Peak had won this ally completely by sheer luck, he would be so furious he'd have a brain hemorrhage right on the spot.
Fate, truly works in mysterious ways.
"Long time no see, Ling Big Dog."
Shu Fu, still marveling at how wonderfully strange fate could be, stepped forward to shield Ling Qingyue behind her, her long sword pointing straight at Ling Fengqing's forehead, opening her mouth with that familiar insult comparing him to a dog.
Speaking of which, she hadn't exchanged any secret signals with Xiao Tieyi beforehand, and right now she was just as shocked as Ling Fengqing. She couldn't help turning her head to ask the young fox king, "Your Majesty the Heavenly Fox King... what's all this for? I have a deep, bitter grudge against the Ling family. If you don't have a special reason, there's no need to pick a fight with them for my sake. Those mangy dogs aren't a threat by any means, but it'd be a real nuisance if they decide to hound you later out of spite."
"Woof woof!"
Ling Fengqing's face darkened, before he could even open his mouth, the Samoyed that had just arrived alongside Ji Shaoguang barked in protest, tugging at the hem of Shu Fu's robe back and forth.
"Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"
It went without saying that this was the actual dog, protesting against Shu Fu's insult that had lumped it together with Ling Fengqing.
"Sorry, sorry!"
Shu Fu immediately pressed her palms together, bowing apologetically to the dog, "It's my bad, I was being careless and couldn't think of a new creative insult just now. I'll practice more later, I promise I'll come up with better lines."
"..."
Xiao Tieyi turned to look at her, a faint, almost unnoticeable smile tugging at the corner of his eyes, "Just call me Tie Yi, and I'll call you Shu Fu. You don't have to worry. I wouldn't step in if I didn't have my own reasons."
Shu Fu looked confused, "Reasons?"
Ling Fengqing, wary of the might of the Heavenly Fox clan behind Xiao Tieyi, toned down his arrogant attitude a little, putting on a fake smile as he cupped his hands in a greeting, "I would be most obliged if you would enlighten us."
Xiao Tieyi frowned, stepping aside sharply as if he had just brushed up against something filthy, avoiding his fake courteous gesture, and said bluntly, "In the last match, Young Master Ye deliberately lost the fight to keep this young Miss Ling from coming to harm. If I let you harm her now, wouldn't that betray all the kindness he showed?"
"I swore a heavy oath that I would never let Young Master Ye's good intentions go to waste right before my eyes."
Ling Fengqing: "......"
Who even understands what you are talking about!!!
Shu Fu: Is this what sweet romance feels like? I'm so jealous, when is it my turn?
Back on Shu Fu's side, the whole Yaoguang Peak crew had gathered—plus Old Qing, a total straight man, and the straight man's future female family member. Even though they weren't many in number, as soon as Jiang Xuesheng and Liu Ruyi stepped to the front, the powerful spiritual sense of high-level cultivators spread out like a landslide, the invisible pressure as heavy as a towering mountain. All the lackeys from Lingxiao City were trembling with fear, none of them daring to step forward a single step.
Only Ling Fengqing seemed unafraid, his face calm and collected as he turned to the carriage behind him, "Two elders, Jiuhua Sect is trying to meddle in Lingxiao City's internal affairs. They are being completely unreasonable and overbearing, bullying us far too much. What do you two suggest we do?"
"Hmph, as if that even needs to be asked!"
A familiar old voice came from behind the woven silk curtain hanging on one of the carriages. "Anyone who insults Lingxiao City must be made to regret ever being born."
Right after that, a gnarled, eagle-claw-like bony hand lifted the curtain, revealing a dark, wrinkled face dotted with age spots, two flat lips that looked just like a duck's bill, and a pair of small eyes that glinted with sharp light, almost squeezed shut by the surrounding wrinkles.
Shu Fu stared, dazed for a second as if she had traveled back three years in time, "Elder Homophobe... no wait, Elder Kongtong?"
"No."
Jiang Xuesheng said lazily, sounding like he wasn't even putting the slightest bit of effort in as he corrected her casually, "This is Elder Kongtong's junior fellow apprentice. He practices the same dual cultivation path that Elder Kongtong does, but his style is a bit more wild. He follows the 'take what you lack' path of 'cultivating male essence to supplement male essence', which only preys on young male cultivators who have never lost their primordial yang."
Shu Fu: "......"
I really, really do not want to know the details of that.
Comparing him to the one she remembered, the two fellow apprentices really did look almost identical, both with that dry, wrinkled, dark face, only a slight difference in shade if you looked closely. If Elder Kongtong was a dried purple sweet potato, this elder was definitely a burnt roasted sweet potato.
Shu Fu snickered, holding back her laughter, "So what's his name? Elder Homophobe's junior fellow apprentice, Elder Commitmentphobe?"
"I think his name is... Weak Yang... Remnant Yang... Missing Yang..." Jiang Xuesheng furrowed his long brows, pretending to be deep in thought, rattling off a whole list of deliberately mean-sounding names, "No wait, I think it's Broken Yang..."
Every time he said a new name, Elder Sweet Potato's face turned a darker shade of black, until finally it was so dark only his teeth and the whites of his eyes stood out. He blew up in a rage, "Shut up! I am Elder Shengyang of Lingxiao City, a famous and respected figure in the cultivation world. I will not tolerate you insulting me like this!"
Shu Fu immediately picked right up where he left off, "Oh, Elder Shengyang, my apologies, my apologies. That's such a grand, resounding title, it really fits that whole 'supplement what you're missing' vibe perfectly."
Elder Shengyang had just started nodding proudly as he heard her first half of the sentence, only to be choked so half to death by the second half he could barely breathe, "Insolent little brat!"
The deafening shout of "How dare you!" rang out, and Elder Shengyang's surging palm qi crashed down like a thunderclap right toward Shu Fu's crown chakra.
Shu Fu had long been on guard. She twisted her body to dodge the blow in an instant, and the long sword in her hand flicked upward smoothly, twirling a delicate sword blossom in midair that effortlessly dissolved the leftover ripples of the palm wind. Right then, Liu Ruyi leaped forward to meet the attack, while Shu Fu never paused her sword momentum. In the blink of an eye, she swung three streaks of sword qi — one vertical, two horizontal — straight for Ling Fengqing, who had been standing by watching the fray.
"What?!"
Ling Fengqing never expected that she could sneak attack even while under the pressure of an elder. There was no time to dodge, so he could only channel his spiritual power to take the hit head-on, and the three streaks of sword qi landed right on him.
He was a Golden Core cultivator. Even if his hand-to-hand skill was slightly inferior to Shu Fu's, his cultivation level far outstripped hers, so he should never have been wounded so easily.
But Shu Fu never played by the rules. Those three streaks of sword qi did not cut a single mark on his flesh, yet they hurt him more deeply than any physical blow could, in the most humiliating way possible.
Behold —
One streak of sword qi looped around Ling Fengqing's scalp, slicing off half his hair cleanly in an instant, crafting a postmodern punk hairstyle for him. The other two streaked past his body one after another, with the tearing sound of fabric ringing nonstop. They ripped two giant gaps in the embroidered robe he treasured as if they were rending great rifts in the earth, turning his robe emblazoned with a golden phoenix into a tattered mess that looked like a plucked, decapitated white poached chicken. They even tore through the silk undergarment beneath, leaving the front of his outfit like an open-front sweater and the back like a sexy low-back top, exposing half of one pale white butt cheek.
Ling Fengqing: "You...?!!"
He was about to fly into a torrent of curses, but Shu Fu spoke even faster than he could:
"Ugh, come on? With your scrawny, white-poached-chicken-like frame, you actually dare to swagger around showing off? You don't seriously think you look handsome and impressive, do you? No way, no way, no way!"
"Ye Shusheng has a bigger chest than you, and Mink Gu has a rounder ass than you. If they gave you to Demon Lord Ninglu as a male consort, she'd probably think you aren't even sultry enough."
"..."
In the cultivation world, the strong rule over the weak, and unlike the mortal realm, slut-shaming is rarely seen here. But Ling Fengqing was a low-class, vicious-minded male cultivator who saw women as nothing more than playthings in his palm. Whenever he encountered a firm, unyielding female cultivator, he would often pretend to slip up and deliberately slash open their clothing in public, then taunt them with vulgar words just to savor the sight of their burning, humiliated rage.
And if he came across a pretty, unprotected female cultivator who caught his eye, he would not hesitate to use another, more twisted way to assert his power, forcing them to submit to him beneath him.
But no matter what, he never could have predicted — that he, Ling Fengqing, the heir of Lingxiao City who had always seen himself as a superior figure holding the power of life and death over countless people, would one day stand in public half-bald, his chest exposed and his butt half out, looking like a total nonconformist punk. Worse, some snot-nosed little girl with no respect for her elders was looking at him with undisguised disgust and judging his chest and his butt!
"Elder Shengyang..."
Ling Fengqing was too afraid to face Shu Fu head-on and bring more shame on himself. He could only grind his teeth and turn to look at Elder Shengyang, begging him to spare even one finger to grind Shu Fu into a cloud of ash.
But Elder Sweet Potato was already tightly tangled up by Liu Ruyi, whose cultivation level was lower than his. He was too busy fending off the flowing, endless music of the konghou harp that wrapped around him, he did not even have a single fingernail to spare, let alone a whole finger.
And the key figure, Jiang Xuesheng, had not even made a move. He stood calmly in the same spot with his hands tucked in his sleeves, looking completely uninvested as he offered "guidance" from the sidelines:
"Ruyi, last time you fought Elder Kongtong at the Qi family, I stepped in to help you. Now that you are already a mature Nascent Soul cultivator, you should learn to solve problems by yourself."
Liu Ruyi: "..."
— The logic checks out, but why does it make me want to smack him so hard I send him flying halfway into the dirt?
As for the rest of Ling Fengqing's lackeys, they were already locked in a chaotic brawl with Zhao Yun, Si Fei, Ye Shusheng, and the fox sisters. Colorful spells and sword qi shot straight up toward the sky above Wei City. This cultivation-world-style massive brawl was burning fierce, with neither side able to gain an upper hand, and the Lingxiao City side was already showing faint signs of collapse.
"..."
Ling Fengqing had to admit, even with superior individual power, he was outmatched by their numbers. He had come out this time hoping to show off his strength, but the people he brought along still were not enough to take a beating from that ragtag bunch of freaks from Yaoguang Peak.
One group of those obnoxious, universally hated weirdos was not enough to bring down — you'd have to bring an entire regiment to stand a chance.
Right then, he heard a soft, wispy call drifting to his ears. The voice was clear and gentle, as if fairy music from the Jade Pool had descended to the mortal world.
"Young Master, step aside for a moment."
Ling Fengqing's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed happily: "Hua..."
That was Elder Huayue from Lingxiao City, whose real name was Xie Fangnian. He knew everything that happened under the sky without ever stepping out of his door, and he was a master of the mystic arts who could draw on the power of all creation. A flick of a flower or a flying leaf from his hand was enough to kill a man.
But this elder was very reserved. He had always stayed by the side of the city lord Ling Shanhai, rarely appearing in public, and he would never fawn over Ling Fengqing or grovel to him like the Purple Sweet Potato Brothers who were so easy to buy off.
Ling Fengqing had spent endless time and effort trying to win him over to his side, to get him to offer advice and step in to help at critical moments.
If he made a move, he would definitely be able to wipe out this whole group of people —
But that flicker of glee had barely sprouted in Ling Fengqing's chest, not even having time to rise to his heart, when a shower of pale red flower petals swept up from the ground. The petals did not fly toward Shu Fu at all. Instead, the moment Xie Fangnian said "you step aside for a moment," the entire shower charged straight at him.
The timing was so tight, it was like someone saying "I'll shoot you when I count to three" and then yelling "three" and blowing your brains out before you even finished processing the words.
"...!!!"
Ling Fengqing's actual combat skill was far beneath his cultivation level. He threw himself forward in a messy dive, but he still could not avoid this "dampening shower" — which was, in fact, "dampening with blood." The other half of the hair on his skull was sliced off completely, leaving only a tiny tuft in the center barely clinging on, turning his punk hairstyle into an even edgier mohawk that looked ready to debut on a stage.
Shu Fu, meanwhile, used Ling Fengqing as a human shield, stepping casually to the side to avoid the attack without a single scratch.
"Young Master, are you alright? I apologize, I moved too fast."
Xie Fangnian sighed softly. His voice was still soft and gentle, like a light crimson petal landing on your shoulder, carrying a wisp of refreshing, intoxicating fragrance.
No one would ever guess those petals were blades sharp enough to slice through hair and cut through steel, capable of taking a man's head off with a smile.
"But I thought you'd be able to dodge. Just a moment ago, you were saying you wanted Yuanchu to become the 'head of all living things.' How is it that you can't even avoid a few flowers, and can't even keep a few hairs on your head?
"Your second brother lost his bloodline, and your third brother has a pure bloodline but a brain that looks like it was picked up from a chicken coop. Young Master, since you claim you are different from them, you should carry yourself like a proper Heir of the Five Phoenixes. I still had a sliver of hope for you... But now it seems, you might need to go home first and practice your 'Five Animals Play' martial arts for a while."
