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nXuan Lingzi, whose face was as pale as a sheet of paper, did not reply until Yu Qingzi suddenly yelled, “Jianqing hasn’t gone far. Let’s take back that half primordial life”. Hearing that, Xuan Lingzi mustered what strength he had left to stop Yu Qingzi by standing in front of her.

nLooking as elegant as ever, Xuan casually said, “Sister, he is my disciple. If you dare do anything to him without my consent, I will make sure your disciple Mu Tianxin would pay the price.”

nYu Qingzi widened her eyes in astonishment and for a while words escaped her.

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nA quarter of an hour later, a group of disciples followed Master Shan and left the Tai Hua Mountain.

nIt was a long way from the Tai Hua Mountain to the Liu Yan Valley. Even with the help of Master Shan’s flying tool, it still took them ten days to arrive at the Liu Yan Valley. At that time, many cultivators had gathered there. Some were from famous schools, but most of them were rogue cultivators.

nWhen the Liu Yan Valley was open, anyone below the Nascent Soul level could get in. But for most rogue cultivators, the chance of getting precious items there was really slim, as most of them usually couldn’t survive the experience. Those from various schools, on the other hand, usually teamed up to improve their odds, and so they usually got the bigger prize.

nAfter Luo Jianqing and the others made it to the Liu Yan Valley, Master Shan quickly found his way to the only tavern in the town and took away the number plate that read Tai Hua Mountain.

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nThe lord of Liu Yan Valley ran this tavern exclusively for travelling cultivators. Even though the tavern had not been open for fifty years, this one-time operation could bring enough profits to sustain it for another fifty years. Every time they opened, they would have rooms reserved for cultivators from “One Mountain, Four Sects, Eight Clans and Sixteen Schools.” What few rooms left were to be distributed among rogue cultivators through fierce competition.

nAs the Tai Hua group entered the tavern, the masters of the Four Sects came up to greet Master Shan and together they began a joyful conversation. In the meantime, Luo Jianqing started arranging accommodation for his fellow disciples. He gave each female disciple a single room, whereas two or three male disciples were to share a room. Even himself was no exception, as he had to share a room with Xie Zizhuo due to the lack of available rooms.

nUpon hearing this arrangement, Xie Zizhuo quickly waved his hand and said, “Brother, why don’t you have the room for yourself? I have something to talk with little Nineteen anyway, and so I thought maybe I could crash over there together with him and little Eighteen. Isn’t that right? Little Nineteen?”

nThe little Nineteen snickered, “Yeah, Brother Luo. Brother Xie and I have a lot to talk to each other.”

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nLooking at their wicked smiles, Luo Jianqing raised his eyebrow and said, “That’s fine. But you must not go out at night.”

nXie Zizhuo suddenly put on a downcast face and said “Brother, we hardly get a chance to come down the mountain. How could you ground us?”

nLuo Jianqing replied with a sneer, “You really think I don’t know what you guys are up to? Don’t cross the line, otherwise your master will be informed.”

nXie Zizhuo and others were immediately disheartened after hearing what Luo Jianqing said.

nMeanwhile at the other side, Master Shan was still talking with the four masters of Zoarium level. Then, after entrusting Luo Jianqing with the rest of the affairs, he went upstairs to exchange information of Liu Yan Valley with other masters. They discussed about how they would find that evil cultivator of Nascent Soul level and kill him after all the disciples were inside the valley.

nLuo Jianqing sat everyone down and ordered a few dishes for them to eat. Though the likes of them could live without eating grains when they reached the Foundation level, the food ingredients this tavern served were the best and so one could hardly say no to those dishes.

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nLike the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Luo Jianqing found those dishes to be quite appetizing and couldn’t help but eat a few more.

nHardly had they finished eating when they heard clanking sound coming from the lobby. While Xie Zizhuo and the other curious disciples were looking at the direction where the sound came, Luo Jianqing was still busy picking up food in front of him with lowered head. Then a soft voice broke the air, “So, there is no more room available?”

nThe man spoke in a slightly high-pitched voice that sounded both feeble and feminine. He ended each word with a slightly raised voice, just like a feather brushing over people’s hearts.

nXie Zizhuo exclaimed in a low voice “Brother, I wonder if there ever exists such a pretty man like this one. He is as beautiful as a woman!”

nAs soon as he finished those words, a gust of wind whizzed towards Xie Zizhuo.

nXie Zizhuo was for a while struck dumb. Luo Jianqing raised the chopsticks and caught a flying needle. That man chuckled “What an impudent man. The man beside you are more beautiful than me. Why don’t you make any comment on him?”

nLuo Jianqing looked up at him.

nWearing a scarlet robe embroidered with dark red texture, that man held his hair with a white jade hairpin. He fixed his flirting gaze on Luo Jianqing with his pretty, curved eyes. What with his red, seductive lips and his slim body, this man looked very much like a woman from all possible angles. However, it was impossible to fool a cultivator over something as basic as one’s gender.

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nThis was a man, or rather, a man whose appearance was as delicate as a woman.

nXie Zizhuo finally come to his senses. As a feared cultivator of the Tai Hua Mountain, he had never been treated like that. With a thump on the table, he growled, “What do you mean? My brother naturally looks better than you, but he is not in any way as sissy as you.”

nThat man squinted his eyes and tried to say something. Before he could open his mouth, Luo Jianqing spoke up in a casual tone “It’s my brother’s fault. He shouldn’t have talked about you like that, but you used a poisonous needle. Don’t you think that’s too much?”

nThat man in the red robe sneered, “Well, pretty. Your brother said I was a sissy.”

nXie Zizhuo wanted to talk back, but Luo Jianqin stopped him before he could finish the word “sissy”.

nMoving his fingers, Luo Jianqing cast the needle back, which immediately turned into a beam of light and flied towards its owner. Seeing this, that man in the red robe raised his sleeve to retrieve the poisonous needle. Luo Jianqing then clasped his hands to make a salute and said, “I apologize to you on behalf of my brother, but you also have to explain what you just did with the poisonous needle. Although you are a late-stage Gold Core expert, Tai Hua Mountain would never be bullied.”

nThat man asked in an odd voice “Tai Hua Mountain?”

nLuo Jianqing replied, “Exactly. What do you say to that?”

nInstead of being infuriated by those words, that man laughed. He looked Luo Jianqing up and down with a pair of seductive eyes. Luo Jianqing didn’t care about this rather insolent behavior, but others like Xie Zizhuo were irritated. Wei Qiongyin even took out his sword, looking furiously at that man.

nThe man in red laughed and said, “By the look of you, you must be Luo Jianqing, the eldest disciple of the Tai Hua Mountain and the core disciple of Sir Xuan Lingzi, Right?”

nLuo Jianqing ignored his question and asked, “Who are you?”

nMo Qiu.”

nLuo Jianqing froze for a moment, and the man in red leaned his body against the table and continued, “Mo Qiu of the Mo Clan.”

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nLuo Jianqing turned his head to Wei Qiongyin, but Wei Qiongyin shook his head and said, “The Wei Clan aren’t on friendly terms with the Mo Clan in the past. I don’t know much about them, brother.”

nThe Eight Clans were ranked under the Tai Hua Mountain and the Four Sects and they included the Bai Clan, the Yun Clan, the Cang Clan and the Mo Clan; the Que Clan, the Yu Clan, the Wei Clan and the Geng Clan.”

nThe Bai Clan was the most powerful of the Eight Clans with two ancestors of the Da Sheng level. The Mo Clan was also one of the top four clans with an ancestor of the middle Da Sheng level. Although Luo Jianqing knew those who were the best among the younger generation of the Eight Clans, he had never heard of the name Mo Qiu before and fancy him being a late-stage Gold Core expert, no less.

nBy the look of him, his spiritual bones must be well under fifty years old. Were he known to the cultivation world, people would definitely label him as a genius.

nAs if seeing right through Luo Jianqing’s mind, Wei Qiongyin whispered, “Brother, the Mo Clan has a lot of branches. I have heard that one branch committed a crime and was sent in exile to the cold wasteland. They are stipulated to stay there until they reach the Nascent Soul level. Maybe this Mo Qiu is one of them.”

nHearing that, Luo Jianqing slightly nodded and then turned nonchalantly to Mo Qiu. He casually said, “Your apology, sir?”

nObviously surprised by this question, Mo Qiu mumbled, “My apology?”

nLuo Jianqing said in a cold voice, “Seeing as you are the one who delivered the lethal blow, you owe us an apology. If you don’t apologize, then I am afraid there must be a fight.”

nHearing that, Mo Qiu curved up his lips and smiled, “Pretty, are you sure you want to fight me? You are a middle-stage Gold Core expert.”

nLuo Jianqing raised his eyebrows, “So you won’t apologize?”

n“What a joke. Anyone who thinks he can comment on my appearance and survive the experience is a moron. That said, seeing as he is a disciple of the Tai Hua Mountain, I will let him go this time. If I ever see him again, I would skin him alive and …”

nA beam of green light suddenly sprung up from the floor!

nMo Qiu’s retort was cut short by this sudden attack, and immediately he formed a scarlet whip on his hands. With a sweep of the whip he managed to block Luo Jianqing’s onslaught.

nAs the clash between the sword and the whip dragged on in this little tavern, spiritual energy kept colliding with each other, sending waves upon waves of energy out into the air.

nJust when the dispute between Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu started to flare up, some perceptive rogue cultivators had already stayed clear of them. Those disciples from the four sects were watching from the sidelines. The four cultivators of the late Gold Core level had been observing Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu since the beginning. Now that the dispute had turned into open conflict, they squinted their eyes, carefully assessing the situation.

nThere was a succession crisis going on at the Tai Hua Mountain. In contrast, the younger generations of the four sects and other schools were in a much better shape, with virtually all of their best disciples being the late-stage Gold Core experts. Those four were the eldest disciples from the four sects.

nThe green light projected from the sword was freezing cold and every slash of the scarlet whip was meant to kill.

nThose two were locked in a dog fight with neither side gaining obvious advantage. However, Xie Zizhuo was not worried, as he knew that although his brother was a middle-stage Gold Core expert, he could very well make up for it with his Nascent Soul skill. Cultivation base was important, yet what constituted a cultivator’s basis was his strength. Sir Hao Xingzi had said a long time ago that Luo Jianqing’s supreme spiritual bones had given him unparalleled strength, allowing him to kill those who were above his level.

nHowever, as time passed, those four onlookers all knitted their brows, watching cautiously at both Luo Jianqing and Mo Qiu. Xie Zizhuo was very much astonished, as he didn’t expect a man from a branch family of the Mo clan could fight Luo Jianqing to a tie.

nSlap!

nSlash!

nLuo Jianqing wobbled a bit and came to a halt. There was a trail of lash mark on his face.

nOn the other side, Mo Qiu was panting with a slash wound on his left arm.

nThey all looked at each other with cold eyes. After a while, Mo Qiu broke an untraceable smile and said, “This is the first time people try to force me to apologize.”

nLuo Jianqing raised his sword and pointed it at his forehead, “You want to do this again?”

nMo Qiu squinted his eyes to observe this young man in white like a cobra looking at its prey. After a long while, he sneered and turned to Xie Zizhuo, “I shouldn’t have used that poisonous needle. My bad. But the next time your little friend sees me coming, he had better go the other way. I’ve never spared anyone before. You’d better not antagonize me again.”

n‘What a condescending bastard! You didn’t win over there!’ Xie Zizhuo wanted to talk back, but he was still muted by Luo to utter a timely rebuttal.

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