Chapter 228: Admiration
Translator: Pika
After saying his lines, Zu An even blew the tip of his finger, looking as if he had just fired a bullet.
Everyone’s mouth fell agape, and for a moment, there was an awkward silence lingering in the air.
How powerful did the Madam say the intruder was again? Eighth rank?
They had marched here with the resolve to lose at least half of their people, but such a powerful enemy was actually defeated by the young master with absolute ease.
“What kind of skill is the Six Pulse Divine Sword?”
The guards stared at one another questioningly, only to see the ignorance in each other’s eyes. So, they quickly directed their eyes toward their more knowledgeable leader, Yue Shan, instead.
“How am I to know?”
Yue Shan’s face heated up. He knew a lot of cultivation techniques and combat skills, but he had never heard of the Six Pulse Divine Sword before.
Even though he had never heard of this skill before, just the name itself hinted that it was no ordinary skill. At the very least, it should be an earth grade skill. Perhaps, it might even be a heaven grade skill, especially since it carried the word ‘divine’ in it.
Just like ki stones and weapons, the combat skills in this world could be divided into mortal grade, earth grade, and heaven grade too. The Elementary Swordplay of Brightmoon Academy was a mortal grade combat skill.
While mortal grade combat skill might sound weak, there was still a huge difference in the prowess of the cultivator whether he was using combat skills at all. In fact, the only places to obtain combat skills were major clans and the academies, such that the average cultivator without any significant background wouldn’t know any combat skills at all. Most of them were fully reliant on their instincts and combat experience.
Of cultivators in the same rank, those who had combat skills can dominate those without them.
Of those cultivators who had combat skills, most of them were mortal grade combat skills. Usually, only the prodigies of the academies and core members of major clans were able to learn earth grade combat skills. As for heaven grade combat skills, those were already things of the legend.
While the guards of the Chu clan were trying to figure out what kind of combat skill was the Six Pulse Divine Sword, Qin Wanru was still unable to recover from her shock.
The other guards had never fought with the mysterious black-clothed man—the other two who did were already dead by now. However, she had experienced the strength of the black-clothed man herself.
Despite being a sixth rank cultivator, she was still defeated in a single strike, and that was with the other party going easy on her. That showed that the black-clothed man was far stronger than her.
At the very least, he had to be at the seventh rank, very possibly an eighth rank too.
Yet, Zu An killed this powerful expert so easily?
How much time had passed? On top of that, there was no sound at all. All of these proved that Zu An defeated the black-clothed man with an overwhelming advantage.
But how could that be possible?
Zu An was still maintaining his Six Pulse Divine Sword posture. Usually, anyone who saw this posture would wonder if he had lost his bonkers, but at this very moment, he seemed to be shrouded in a mysterious halo.
“Hurry up and check that person’s identity!”
Qin Wanru soon snapped out of her daze and took control of the situation. She ordered the guards to check on the deceased before walking over to Zu An’s side.
“Zu An... are you alright?”
“I told you before, call me Ah Zu instead,” said Zu An as he struggled to his feet. It was honestly quite difficult to maintain that posture, and the slightest mistake might lead to him tugging on his balls.
“Oof oof! Help me up! My waist... waist...”
In order to show off, Zu An had assumed an incredibly difficult posture earlier, such that it ended up straining his muscles.
“...” Qin Wanru.
She had a whole bunch of questions she wanted to ask, but before she knew it, Zu An had reverted back to his usual self.
What was I going to ask again? Damn it! This fellow made me forget what was on my mind!
Qin Wanru stared at Zu An quietly for a moment before she finally managed to keep her emotions in check and asked, “Are you injured? How are you feeling at the moment? I saw that man striking you squarely in your chest...”
If the black-clothed man was really an eighth rank cultivator, even her husband, Chu Zhongtian, the number one expert of Brightmoon City, would have suffered severe injuries at the very least. Due to that, she was very worried that Zu An was in bad shape.
“Injured? Ah yes, I’m injured!” Zu An clutched his chest as he began shouting exaggeratedly and fell in the direction of her body.
But halfway through his action, he suddenly remembered that it was not his own wife in front of him, so he quickly stopped what he was doing in fright and scratched his head awkwardly.
“Bring some heaven grade ki stone right away! If there aren’t any heaven grade ki stones, the earth grade ones would do too. Also, prepare some top-quality medicine and nourishing medicinal herbs too! I need to recuperate from my injuries!”
“...” Qin Wanru.
Hearing Zu An’s ridiculous demands, Qin Wanru belatedly realized that he actually wasn’t injured at all. However, out of consideration that he had just made a huge contribution to the Chu clan, she knew that this wasn’t a good time to berate him, so she turned her attention toward Yue Shan instead.
“Have you found out the identity of the intruder yet?”
Yue Shan shook his head and replied, “Not yet. He doesn’t have any identifying objects on him. On top of that, his face...”
He glanced at Zu An fearfully before remarking, “The young master’s Six Pulse Divine Sword is simply too powerful that the intruder’s head seemed to have exploded. We can’t recognize him at all.”
Zu An suddenly felt incredibly disgusted. Isn’t Old Mi a little too vicious? It’s one thing to kill him, but you actually crushed his head as if it was a watermelon?
Zu An quickly wiped his hands on his clothes. In order to show off, he had placed his finger on Shi Lezhi’s head earlier. He realized that there was a sticky sensation on the tips of his finger, and he realized that it might just be blood or brain matter.
That being said, he still enjoyed the 10% shock, 20% fright, 30% admiration, and 40% reverence gaze directed toward him from the guards. He felt invigorated by their gazes, as if he had just eaten a pile of ginseng.
It feels so good to be strong! Well, even if it’s fake, it’s still something that I faked out with my own skills!
“Zu...” Qin Wanru was halfway through her words when she quickly remembered what Zu An said earlier and changed her method of address.” Ah Zu, do you know this person’s identity?”
Zu An hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m not sure. I was too worried about Chu Chuyan’s injuries and was unable to sleep, so I began walking around the place. However, this man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked me.”
Zu An didn’t reveal Shi Lezhi’s identity as he knew that it could cause a great deal of complications. Shi Lezhi was a renowned eighth rank cultivator, and if others were to know that Shi Lezhi had died in his hands, he would surely garner unwanted attention from the other powers in Brightmoon City.
That would likely cause a great deal of trouble for him, especially since he didn’t have the strength to protect himself from them yet. Besides, it wasn’t his style to stand out in the open. He would rather hide in the shadows and assault his enemies secretly.
I’d rather let Shi Kun remain unnerved about the death of his subordinate.
When Qin Wanru heard that he was worried for her daughter’s safety, she nodded her head in approval. At least you have a conscience!
However, Zu An’s account only intensified her doubts. “Why did someone suddenly pop out and attempt to take your life?”
Zu An shrugged calmly and replied, “How am I to know? Someone as outstanding as me tends to attract admiring gazes from beautiful women all around. Some men might have held a grudge against me due to that and sought me for revenge.”
“...” Qin Wanru.
“...” Yue Shan.
“...” The guards.
They suddenly understood that it was not anything weird for someone to be after his life. On the contrary, it would be weird if no one was trying to kill him.
Seeing the reactions of the surrounding crowd, Zu An knew that they harbored some doubts regarding his response. Haa, how ironic. You trust me right away whenever I’m lying, but as soon as I start speaking the truth, you immediately doubt me.
“How do you know he’s an eighth rank cultivator then?” asked Qin Wanru.
“I guessed it. He looks pretty strong,” replied Zu An with an innocent blink of his eyes.
Qin Wanru nodded in agreement. It would be impossible for an eighth rank cultivator to be killed by him so easily, so it was more likely for the black-clothed man to be at seventh rank or even just pinnacle sixth rank.
But regardless of which one it was, the black-clothed man still wasn’t someone whom Zu An could possibly deal with. So, she asked, “How did you kill him?”
“How? I was just stronger than him,” replied Zu An with a shrug. “Didn’t you see how cool I was on the dueling ring during the Clans Tournament? I’m also an expert too, so isn’t it normal for me to be able to kill another expert?”
Qin Wanru harrumphed upon hearing his response. She thought that he was simply unwilling to reveal his trump card to them, so she didn’t bother probing on.
“Speaking of which, where’s the woman?”
She suddenly remembered seeing Zu An pulling another woman’s hand, and her face immediately darkened.
“Ah, that woman ran off the first opportunity she got,” replied Zu An. Then, he smacked his fist on his palm as he remarked in realization, “Ah, I was just wondering how weird it was that someone would be after my life. Now that I think of it, that black-clothed man might have been after the woman. Haa, what a pity that she ran off too quickly. I didn’t even manage to ask her for her name! The least she could do is betroth herself to me for saving her life, right?”
Yue Shan stared at Zu An with eyes filled with admiration. What an incredible man our young master is. To think that he would be dreaming of having another woman betroth herself to him in front of his mother-in-law!
On the other hand, Qin Wanru’s thoughts went in a different direction. I was saved by him earlier too. Could he be trying to tease me here?
“Hmph! I reckon that he doesn’t have the guts anyway!”
Her thoughts left her feeling incredibly awkward, so she quickly turned her attention to the guards and began issuing orders. She instructed the guards to search the area to check if there were any other intruders in the area while assigning more guards to patrol the outer perimeters of the Chu clan.
Afterward, she summoned the members from the other branches, Yue Shan, Hong Zhong, and the other close aides of the Chu clan to discuss this matter.
Soon, the only one left in the courtyard was Zu An. After ensuring that everyone was gone, he carried Qiao Xueying out from the bushes, only to find that her body was searing hot, almost as if she had come right out of the furnace.
Worried that others would notice her, he quickly carried her back into his room.
It was fortunate that the guards assigned near his room had been dispatched elsewhere due to the sudden intruder, which made it easier for him to slip Qiao Xueying back into his room without getting caught by anyone.
He quickly poured out a cup of cooling tea and fed it to Qiao Xueying, but it didn’t seem to be working. He remembered how feverish patients in his previous world would usually have a cloth placed on their forehead to lower their temperature, so he headed out to fetch some water. However, before he could walk off, he suddenly felt something grabbing his arm.
He turned his head around, only to see that Qiao Xueying had woken up. Her eyes weren’t as clear as they usually were. Instead, they were glazed with amorous intent. “Don’t go~”
“I’m just heading out to grab some water to cool you down. Or should I bring you to the lake so that you can have a cold bath? That should help alleviate your effects of the poison, right?” asked Zu An anxiously.
However, Qiao Xueying shook her head and said, “There’s no way the Shi clan’s poison can be resolved that easily.”
“Ah, do you still have the Heartcalming Pill Xiaoxi gave you previously?” asked Zu An.
“I don’t have it.” Qiao Xueying shook her head while keeping her eyes intently on him.
“What do we do then?” Zu An frowned. “Should I carry you over to Xiaoxi’s place now?”
“You dummy, are you feigning ignorance?” Qiao Xueying’s usual sharp voice sounded incredibly sweet and pleasant, as if it had been mixed with honey.