Jiang Ya saw that Fang Yuan intended to go out, and hurriedly stopped him —"Lord Fang Yuan, a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him. This Man Shi is very strong, one of the few people who managed to escape for their lives from Bai Ning Bing, he cannot be underestimated."
"Using his loss as a glorious fame, what fear is there for these kinds of people?" Fang Yuan laughed lightly, stretching his hand to put it on Jiang Ya's shoulder, "Just sit here and drink away."
"Lord…" Jiang Ya was about to urge again, but he met with Fang Yuan's icy gaze.
The chilliness in Fang Yuan's eyes caused his heart to stop.
He was tongue-tied, helplessly sitting on the chair again while Fang Yuan took a few strides and left the partitioned room, walking towards the main hall.
He saw that at the center on a square table, a Rank two Gu Master had one foot stepping on a stool while another stepping on the table.
His body was slightly short, but his arms and waist were thick. With a thick black beard, extending downwards from his cheeks to meet at his chin, his body emitted a strong aura of ferociousness.
The ground near him had broken wine pot fragments, and most of the liquor had seeped into the ground along the concrete cracks on the floor.
Only two or three puddles of wine accumulated on the surface, or in the broken pots.
The shopkeeper old man bowed his head low as he apologised in trepidation, "Lord please be appeased, if this wine is not to your satisfaction, the shop will give you another brew free of charge!"
"Hmph, I don't want wine! Your wine tastes like shit, why are you opening a shop. Compensation, I must be compensated! My good mood was ruined by you guys, you have to compensate me at least five hundred primeval stones!" Man Shi demanded a ridiculous amount.
"This is the third time already, it seems this wine tavern has offended some people."
"Sigh, let's not drink here anymore."
"Quick, go, when Gu Masters fight, we mortals suffer."
The surrounding people frantically left their seats, only a few Gu Masters remained and continued their chat.
"I heard this tavern is opened by Fang Yuan, who is it that is finding fault with him?"
"Oh! The one whose parents died and inherited their fortune, the lad who got rich overnight?"
"No wonder people are doing this, even if it is me, I'd be jealous. Just think, we fight for our lives out there for these fortunes to live a stable life. But he Fang Yuan is merely a newbie, what rights does he have to obtain these things!"
"That's right, even if his ancestors are taking care of their future generations, times have changed. The clan's resources are limited. Everyone can only get a small piece of the pie. How can he, a C grade talent, enjoy such fortune at this age? Preposterous!"
"Is Man Shi trying to anger him into a duel? If they had a Gu fight, he might be able to get a piece of the pie."
Someone shook his head, "Heh, you think those clan elders are fools?"
Someone nodded, "Could be true. The clan policies are there, haven't you guys understood from all these years? To a degree, they allow us to compete, the strong should get more resources, isn't that right? If the weak cannot protect their assets, they would have to give it up. It is all for the clan's prosperity!"
"Mm, makes sense. Let's see first. There's something going on here. I heard that Man Shi has a retired elder behind him," someone suppressed his voice and said.
"Who dares to leave, all of you stand there, no one is to leave!" On the table, Man Shi suddenly shouted.
Those mortal drinkers were already at the doorstep, but did not dare to disobey, they all stood at the spot in horror. Some of the pedestrians found that there was drama going on and they went to the doorstep, stopping to watch the show.
"Purely here to find trouble!" Fang Yuan upon seeing this scene, his face was emotionless, but his eyes glinted with cold light.
Man Shi saw him.
"Oh? You are that Fang Yuan right. Junior, your wine tavern is cheating my money with your horrible wine. However, since you are a newbie, I'll give you a chance to repent and apologise in public. If not others will say that I, Man Shi is bullying a junior with my status. Hahaha!"
Man Shi laughed loudly, "As long as you apologise and bow to me, this matter will be over. I walk my talk, I will do as I promised!"
He patted his chest in thunderous volume, showing an air of magnanimity, but his intention could not lie to the surrounding Gu Masters.
"What a bastard move."
"That's right, If Fang Yuan apologised, he would no longer be able to raise his head, and anyone would come over and step on him and bully his weakness. But if he does not apologise, that is disrespecting a senior, and with such an attitude, the entire community will keep him away."
"Yeah, he's stuck with two difficult decisions… oh my, what the fuck!!!"
The Gu Masters whispered, but suddenly someone's mouth went wide open, able to swallow a duck's egg.
The remaining Gu Masters were in a similar state.
Some stared until their eyeballs almost fell out.
Some choked and spilled out the wine in their mouths.
Some stared in utter disbelief, like statues.
They were here to watch a show, an enjoyable show.
In the end, Fang Yuan not only satisfied their wish, but also gave them a great "surprise". The young man instantly flicked his wrist and shot a moonblade out.
Pew!
The moonblade of the Moonglow Gu!
The eerie blue crescent fang flew in the air, as large as a face. Trailing along a square desk, it was quickly cut like tofu into two halves.
"Eh?!" Man Shi's laughter stood, his pupils dilated as the moonblade became increasingly larger in his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, the eerie blue moonblade was already near his face, showing every single strand of his moustache with its glow.
Facing strong feelings of death, at the very last moment, Man Shi screamed out in panic, "Monolith Gu!"
Immediately, his entire body had a deep grey light. His skin turned and became rock skin.
But before it had fully grown, the moonblade had already hit his chest.
With a light sound, the rock skin tore open and Man Shi's chest became a large diagonal injury. Blood spilled and poured out of his large wound.
"Ah—!" Intense pain rushed through his nerves as Man Shi shouted out in horror, his voice full of disbelief and shock.
He had never expected Fang Yuan to attack immediately without a single word.
He dared to attack!
In the village, directly using a Gu worm and attacking a clansman?!
Not to say Man Shi, even the onlookers showed utter disbelief, and were lost for words.
"What situation is this, is this lad crazy?!"
"Not saying a word and immediately going for a fatal attack! Isn't he afraid of killing Man Shi and being arrested by the punishment hall, paying for his crimes?"
"Young men are way too rash."
"Did you guys see that moonblade? It is definitely not the Moonlight Gu but the Moonglow Gu, to think Fang Yuan succeeded in his fusion already."
"Fang Yuan, what are you doing?!" Man Shi stood on the square table, tearing his throat and screaming in a thunderous volume with a face full of ruthlessness.
His entire body's muscles bulged, growing into rock skin at a deeper intensity. The injury was also covered by the rock skin, but large amount of blood still poured out, although less of a fountain.
Fang Yuan's face was calm as he continued his walk. He did not talk, or rather, he did not have the intention to talk.
He made another move to reply to Man Shi.
Another moonblade!
Pew.
The moonblade flew across the short distance and shot out.
"You!" Man Shi had no time to talk, but raised his arms and protected his brain and chest.
His limbs were covered with a thick deep grey coloured rock, as if arms made from a statue, sturdy and thick.
The moonblade hit his arms, cutting a deep wound, numerous small rock fragments flying out.
The moonblade's strength caused Man Shi's body to fly backwards.
His entire body was made of rocks, causing his weight to rise drastically. Finally, the table under him could not bear the weight, and with a crack, it collapsed completely.
Man Shi lost his footing and fell on the ground, his defenses revealing a weakness.
Fang Yuan walked slowly, his eyes shining in cold light as he captured the weakness, and fired another moonblade at it.
The moonblade tore through the air and emitted a swooshing sound of the wind.
Man Shi hurriedly raised his hands, but he underestimated Fang Yuan's intense battle experience. Although the moonblade was moving straight, it tunneled for an angle not parallel to the ground.
Man Shi's arm could block half of the moonblade, but the other half hit his chest.
Injury on top of injury, Man Shi's chest had even greater blood loss now.
"Is, is he going to kill him?" The Gu Masters who were originally sitting on the seat could not stand it any longer, and they all got up.
The mortals did not dare to make any noise. They watched in fear and anticipation.
Gu Masters killing each other, it triggered something that had been repressed in their hearts all along.
Man Shi breathed heavily, wanting to climb up. But due to his injuries, the intense pain caused his hard work to be wasted as he crashed on the ground once again with a thump.
Fang Yuan walked over slowly.
Man Shi lost a lot of blood, and his face was pale. He stared at Fang Yuan in horror. Fang Yuan was walking slowly with a cold expression, getting closer, bringing him greater pressure by the second.
"Fang Yuan, you cannot kill me! Killing me, you will be arrested by the punishment hall!" Man Shi pushed against the floor, trying to move backwards.
He was still bleeding, and along with his body, carved a bright red line on the concrete.
The gallery was silent.
Everyone was stunned by Fang Yuan's cold aura and held their breaths as they wanted. Nobody felt that Man Shi was a worthless piece of shit. Without any composure, they would not have fared any better if they were in his shoes.
Fang Yuan walked to Man Shi, raised a leg and harshly stepped on his chest injury.
The pain caused Man Shi to draw in a cold breath.
Fang Yuan continued to stomp, and Man Shi began to feel immense pain; like a wild boar charging around was trampling him repeatedly.
He could not endure it any longer, screaming loudly. Even with the thick rock skin's protection, his chest was still enduring great pressure from Fang Yuan, and the injury area was still overflowing with blood.
More importantly, Fang Yuan's right hand was covered in an eerie blue moonlight, held in place but not fired yet.
This was the symptom before a moonblade attack. Man Shi thought this worriedly as he did not dare to move a muscle.
"You, you cannot kill me!" He stared with his eyes wide open, growling in difficulty.
"I won't kill you." Fang Yuan said the first sentence since he arrived.
His tone was flat, and in the dead silent wine tavern, it reverbed into everyone's ears.
"But I can cripple you, breaking one of your arms, or a leg. According to the clan rules, I have to compensate you a number of primeval stones and be imprisoned for some time. But what about you? Your remaining life would be spent in bed, your injury would reduce your battle capability greatly, and you shall no longer be able to execute missions.
Do you think this result is acceptable for you?" Fang Yuan stared down at the sprawling Man Shi, slowly reasoning.
The emotionless voice travelled into Man Shi's ears, causing his heart to stop and his body to shudder.
He opened his mouth, breathing heavily, his brain becoming more chaotic. Fang Yuan's leg exerted strength that made him feel like he was being crushed by a rock, making him feel harder to breathe.
"Damn it, damn it! If I was on guard, if I was not caught off guard and were injured at the start, how could he… Urgh!"
Man Shi's voice came to an abrupt stop as his gaze met with Fang Yuan's eyes.
He lay on the ground, staring upwards.
Fang Yuan's half-narrowed eyes, dark and eerily looking down on him.
Just what sort of pair of eyes was that?
If it was full of killing intent, Man Shi would not be afraid. However, this pair of eyes was filled with indifference.
This indifference was like arrogance towards reality, the disdain towards people of the world, the trampling of life and the abandonment of rules!
"This pair of eyes, this pair of eyes…" Man Shi's eyes shrunk into pin-size as the deepest memory in his heart played.
The nightmare of his life!
Two years ago, at night in the bamboo forest.
A young man in white clothing, similarly trampling him under his feet.
"Damn it, god damn it! If I had refined the Monolith Gu, how could you break my defense?" Death was impending. He screamed with his life, full of indignance.
"Oh, in that case, I shall not kill you." The white-clothed young man's lips curled, revealing a smile full of interest, "Go back to the village and cultivate harder. Refine the Monolith Gu and let's have a match again. Hehehe, I hope that in the future, you can bring a tint of excitement to my life." Saying so, the young man lifted his feet, sparing him.
Man Shi breathed roughly, lying on the ground, not expecting this turn of events.
He stared at this white-clothed young man in shock.
The young man looked at him like an ant, saying indifferently, "Why aren't you scramming?"
Man Shi's body shook as he hurriedly got up and made his escape.
This white-clothed young man was none other than Bai village's number one genius, Bai Ning Bing. Back then, he was only Rank two, but could already kill Rank three clan elders!
Man Shi escaping from him and preserving his life caused his fame to shoot up.
Through the two years, Bai Ning Bing's facial expression had become a blur in his memories, and he could only remember those eyes.
Eyes that looked at the common life, the world with indifference. The high and mighty iris, hiding an unbelievable pride that mortals cannot comprehend.
To think...
To think!
To think that in his own village, he could see these eyes!
At this moment, Man Shi's heart was filled with terror, the indignance and anger in his heart dissipating without a drop of fighting spirit left.
Fang Yuan closely observed Man Shi's facial expression.
The young man was slightly shocked, not expecting Man Shi to be so cowardly.
But, nevermind… just a cowardly mouse.
Fang Yuan's objective was achieved, and he let go of his leg, "You can scram now."
Man Shi felt like he had heard a divine mantra as he rolled and climbed out of the tavern with a pale face.
The audience were stunned.
Fang Yuan stood on the spot, his gaze sweeping the area.
The surrounding Gu Masters, Rank one and some Rank two, avoided his gaze subconsciously.
The shopkeeper and clerks were all terrified and excitedly worshipped him. Who did not want a strong backer?
Behind him, Jiang Ya was staring dumbfounded.
He heard a commotion and ran out, but saw Fang Yuan chasing away Man Shi.
That is Gu Yue Man Shi...
His heart was shocked to the limit, and his gaze towards Fang Yuan changed.
Jealousy had vanished.
At this point, Jiang Ya understood why Fang Yuan had such an achievement.
"Because he was never the same kind of person as myself!"