Chapter 96. Xu Qingyue
The portly middle-aged man slowly swept his gaze across the surrounding crowd, a smug smile spreading across his face as he noticed the fear and hesitation in their eyes.
He placed both hands behind his back and lifted his chin proudly.
"It seems there are still a few people here who don’t recognize Young Miss."
His voice carried effortlessly through the marketplace.
"Allow me to introduce her."
He gestured respectfully toward the silent young woman beside him.
"This is Young Miss Xu Qingxue, the sole heir of the Xu Family of Southwatch City."
The moment those words fell, the marketplace erupted into hushed whispers.
"The Xu Family?"
"My heavens... the Xu Family from Southwatch City?"
"I heard they’re a Rank Seven clan!"
"Rank Seven..."
Several people instinctively drew in sharp breaths.
Although most ordinary citizens had never left Azure Willow City, the reputation of Southwatch City had long spread throughout the surrounding regions.
It was a flourishing cultivation city located far to the south, countless times larger than Azure Willow City.
The forces capable of establishing themselves there were naturally far beyond anything found in this remote corner of the kingdom.
"If it’s really that Xu Family..."
A middle-aged merchant swallowed nervously.
"Doesn’t that mean the Lin Family can only watch from the sidelines?"
"What else can they do?"
Another man sighed bitterly.
"No matter how powerful the Lin Family has become recently, they’re still only a Rank Nine clan. Offending a Rank Seven clan would be no different from courting destruction."
The surrounding crowd gradually fell silent.
Even those who had been indignant for the young boy lowered their heads, unwilling to invite disaster upon themselves.
Listening to the fearful murmurs, the portly man’s smile widened further.
His chest unconsciously puffed out with pride.
Just a few months ago, he had merely been a lowly servant working beneath the Huang Family, someone who wouldn’t even qualify to stand in the center of this marketplace without being ignored.
Yet fortune had smiled upon him.
When Young Miss Xu had expressed interest in touring Azure Willow City, the Huang Family had selected him to accompany her as her guide and attendant.
To someone of his status, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Every fearful glance from the crowd, every respectful whisper, every hesitant expression directed toward the young woman beside him....
He shamelessly accepted a portion of that reverence as though it belonged to him.
For the first time in his life, he understood what it felt like to wield power and he found that he quite enjoyed it.
Just as the atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive, a clear voice suddenly rang out from within the crowd.
"This is still the Lin family’s stall."
The surrounding spectators instinctively parted, revealing a young boy dressed in the Lin family’s robes as he calmly walked forward.
Lin Zhaowen stopped a few steps away from the pair, his expression resolute.
"You don’t get to behave like this here."
His gaze settled on the portly man.
"Apologize."
The entire marketplace fell deathly silent.
It was as though the air itself had frozen.
Many people stared at Lin Zhaowen with widened eyes, unable to believe what they had just heard.
One elderly woman hurriedly waved her hands.
"Young man, don’t say anymore."
Another elder anxiously stepped forward.
"They’re from the Xu Family! You can’t afford to provoke them."
"That’s right."
An old merchant whispered urgently,
"Just let your Family elders handle this. Don’t take another step forward."
Lin Zhaowen heard every word, yet his feet remained firmly planted where they were.
For the first time since arriving in Azure Willow City, Xu Qingxue showed the slightest reaction.
Her indifferent eyes slowly shifted toward the young disciple standing before her.
She remained silent, quietly observing him.
At the same time, Lin Zhaowen was also sizing her up.
His heart sank.
Having recently broken through to the Fifth Layer of the Qi Refinement Realm at the young age of twelve, he thought he was a bit of a genius himself.
Yet when he tried to size the girl up, he realised the aura surrounding the young woman was like a vast, tranquil ocean.
He couldn’t perceive its depth at all.
He had only ever experienced such a feeling once before, the young Miss Lin Zhaoyue.
A bitter smile almost appeared on his face.
Young Miss had already overturned everything he thought he knew about cultivation.
She was only eleven years old, yet she had already stepped into the Golden Core Realm.
The young woman standing before him felt no weaker than Young Miss.
She couldn’t have been any older than Lin Zhaoyue as well.
Another Golden Core Realm genius.
The realization sent a chill through his heart.
He knew full well that the young woman before him was an existence he couldn’t possibly contend with.
The portly man looked Lin Zhaowen up and down before letting out a contemptuous laugh.
"So, a little brat from the Lin Family dares bark at me?"
His eyes narrowed as a mocking smile spread across his face.
"Has the Lin Family grown so arrogant that it no longer fears the word ’dead’?"
Without waiting for a reply, he took a slow step forward, his voice turning icy.
"What is your name?"
Already tense from the oppressive atmosphere, Lin Zhaowen instinctively answered the moment he was questioned.
"My name is Lin Zhaowen, and I am the First Guard of Young Miss Lin Zhaoyue!"
A wave of astonishment immediately swept through the crowd.
"Lin Zhaowen?"
"The talented disciple who awakened a Seventh-Grade Mortal Rank Martial Spirit?"
"I heard the Lin Family has been personally nurturing him."
The portly man frowned before giving Lin Zhaowen another careful look.
"Lin Zhaowen..."
A puzzled expression appeared on his face.
"Aren’t you that talented disciple who awakened a Seventh-Grade Mortal Rank Martial Spirit?"
He shook his head in disbelief.
"Why would someone like you become the First Guard of a little trash who only awakened a First-Grade Mortal Rank Martial Spirit?"
The instant those words left his mouth, the nervousness in Lin Zhaowen’s heart vanished.
"You call Young Miss trash..."
His gaze gradually turned cold.
"...yet the real trash standing here is you."
The portly man’s expression immediately darkened.
Before he could speak, Lin Zhaowen continued.
"I remember you."
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
"Two months ago, you harassed one of my junior sisters and ended up getting beaten so badly by my junior brother that you fled with your tail between your legs."
His gaze shifted briefly toward Xu Qingyue before returning to the man.
"So this is where your confidence comes from now, you’ve found a stronger backer."
"You—!"
The portly man’s face immediately flushed crimson.
His chest heaved violently as humiliation and rage surged through him.
"Guards!"
He pointed furiously at Lin Zhaowen.
"Break his legs! Kill him if he resists!"
The guards instinctively began moving when a voice came from the back halting their steps.
"Enough."