Yang Kai snorted: "Lord Fengxuan, what's the rush? I never said you were the one who ambushed me. Could it be that Your Lordship has a guilty conscience?"
Fengxuan was instantly rendered speechless. As an Emperor Realm Third-Stage powerhouse, he at least had to maintain some dignity — he couldn't just trade barbs back and forth with Yang Kai like some common street brawler. That would be far too disgraceful.
At that critical moment, Feng Xi jumped out and shouted: "You brat, spewing nonsense and daring to insult our Wenqing Sect! Kneel down and apologize immediately, and we might spare your life!"
His expression was savage, his face twisted with a look that practically screamed he wanted to kill Yang Kai on the spot. He was clearly still harboring a grudge over the other night. That was hardly surprising — having grown up pampered and privileged, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? Every time he recalled it over the past two days, he felt like crawling out of his own skin. He wished he could tear apart Yang Kai's bones and drink every drop of his blood just to ease the hatred in his heart.
Yang Kai looked at him and chuckled. "Isn't this the Young Sect Master? The other night you were scared witless, crying and wetting yourself, and now look at you — strutting around like some mighty warrior? Found yourself a patron, did you? Oh, and stop glaring at me — you might just pop your own eyeballs out."
"You... you're talking nonsense! Nothing like that ever happened!" Feng Xi gnashed his teeth and stared at him, his face alternating between green and red as he denied it repeatedly.
Yang Kai snorted coldly: "The other night, the Young Sect Master was crying and begging me to spare his life. This young master, being compassionate by nature, mercifully let him go. Who would have thought that instead of being grateful, the Young Sect Master would repay kindness with treachery? Now tell me, how does that make any sense?"
When Hu Yuan and the others heard this, they all looked at Feng Xi with peculiar expressions. So that's how it was — there had already been bad blood between these two young men. They had no idea what had happened the other night to make the Young Sect Master of Wenqing Sect cry and beg that young man for mercy.
But with something like that in the past, no wonder they were at each other's throats.
Feng Xi was about to protest further when Fengxuan waved a hand, cutting him off.
Feng Xi's face turned crimson with rage, but he didn't dare defy his father's command. He could only swallow all his grievances, his eyes burning with accusations born of blood and tears.
Fengxuan regarded Yang Kai and spoke flatly: "Young man, being ambitious and spirited isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you should also read the situation. Blindly charging ahead with brute courage is nothing but the act of a brute."
"Bah!" Yang Kai spat on the ground and stood there with a lazy, carefree air. He cupped his fists toward Fengxuan in a half-hearted salute and said: "Your Lordship's teachings are etched in this young master's heart. However... what exactly are you trying to say?"
Fengxuan's brow furrowed: "I hear you stole two of my Wenqing Sect's space rings the other night?"
Stole two of Wenqing Sect's space rings? When Hu Yuan and the others heard this, their eyes went wide as saucers. One by one, they stared at Yang Kai as though he were some kind of divine being.
Before this, when they saw how fearlessly bold Yang Kai was, they'd assumed the kid was just some hotheaded fool. But now it seemed — this was far more than mere recklessness. This was outright madness!
Across the entire Northern Territory, who would dare steal from Wenqing Sect? And yet this kid had not only done it, he'd grabbed two rings at once! They had no idea which poor souls had lost their space rings, or what treasures might have been inside, to provoke Sect Master Fengxuan into personally addressing the matter.
This kid was finished. With just this charge alone, he'd be lucky to see the next sunrise.
Yang Kai straightened his expression and declared in a loud, ringing voice: "Your Lordship, one may eat indiscriminately, but one certainly cannot speak carelessly! What do you mean 'stole'? That's the language of bandits! This young master conducts himself with integrity, always upright and aboveboard. I never engage in such behavior. Using the word 'stole' to describe me is an affront to my noble character — I'm very displeased!"
He wore a solemn expression, his face darkening as though he were truly offended.
Hu Yuan and the others all reached up to wipe the cold sweat from their foreheads in unison.
These Emperor Realm cultivators had roamed the Star Boundary for thousands of years, but only today had they truly broadened their horizons. They felt that everything they'd witnessed in their lifetimes paled in comparison to the shock of this moment. Where on earth had this young man come from? He was an absolute marvel — facing an Emperor Realm Third-Stage powerhouse without showing the slightest hint of weakness, and still managing to speak with such eloquence and charm.
Yao Zhuo roared: "The space rings belonging to me and Xi'er — didn't you steal them? Don't you dare lie through your teeth, boy!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the fine beads of sweat that Hu Yuan and the others had just finished wiping away reappeared on their foreheads. So the two unfortunate souls who had lost their space rings were none other than the Vice Sect Master and Young Sect Master of Wenqing Sect!
This had spiraled completely out of control — there was no way to contain it now!
They had originally assumed Yang Kai had robbed some ordinary Wenqing Sect disciples of their rings. But that was far from the truth. Feng Xi was one thing — merely at the Dao Origin Third Stage — but Yao Zhuo was a publicly known Emperor Realm Second-Stage powerhouse. How could someone of that caliber be robbed of his space ring?
No matter how this ended, Wenqing Sect had lost tremendous face. If word got out that the Vice Sect Master and Young Sect Master of Wenqing Sect had both had their space rings snatched by a Dao Origin Third-Stage youth, how would Wenqing Sect ever hold its head up in the Northern Territory again?
Hu Yuan could almost foresee it — this absurd story would no doubt be turned into a satirical ballad by some busybody, then sung through every street and alley for years to come. Within a decade, no member of Wenqing Sect would be able to show their face in public.
"Oh, so we're talking about those two space rings..." Yang Kai's expression cleared as though he'd just awakened from a dream. Then his face darkened again and he snorted: "Vice Sect Master, you should speak from the conscience! Those two rings — how was I stealing them? One ring was the bargaining chip the Vice Sect Master offered in a trade with this young master, and the other was shoved into my hands by the Young Sect Master, who insisted I take it no matter what. I only reluctantly accepted because he wouldn't leave me alone. And now you're trying to turn this around on me?"
"You insolent wretch!" Yao Zhuo was driven nearly insane with rage, his Emperor Yuan surging violently as though he intended to tear Yang Kai to shreds.