Chương 181: The Duel

Handsome moved first and his jade sword cut through the air leaving behind trails of light as he traced out what looked like some ancient constellation pattern that clearly took years of dedicated cultivation to master. The spiritual pressure alone was enough to crack several of the nearby spirit stones that had been placed around the area and that alone was enough to tell anyone watching that this wasn't going to be a simple exchange between disciples.

"Heaven's Jade Lightning Strike!" There were sharp intakes of breath from the crowd and even Su Yue, who almost never looked impressed by anything, straightened up slightly when she heard the technique's name called out.

Anyone who had spent any real time in the cultivation world knew exactly what that technique was capable of doing to a person, the air itself began to crystallize around Handsome as his qi converted itself into hundreds of bolts of jade colored lightning that converged on Liu Chang from every possible direction at once.

Each individual bolt carrying enough power to completely paralyze a Stage 7 cultivator, and he had summoned hundreds of them at the same time, turning the space around Liu Chang into a cage that left no room to dodge or escape from. The younger disciples in the crowd already looked satisfied, like the match was already decided and done with before it had really even started, but the more experienced cultivators in the crowd were watching Liu Chang very carefully and the reason was obvious once you noticed it.

He wasn't even trying to dodge. He just stood there looking almost bored, and then he stamped one foot down onto the ground sending a ripple through the earth that made my formation senses tingle in a very distinct way, like when you can feel that a mountain is about to come down on top of you.

"Immutable." Just that one word changed everything. Liu Chang's skin turned to living stone that was grey with patterns spreading across his flesh that looked like mountain ranges carved into the surface of his body. I could sense his entire qi transforming from the inside out becoming as solid and immovable as the very core of the earth itself, it was the type of transformation that you read about in ancient records but never actually expect to see with your own eyes.

The lightning struck him from every single angle at the same time. For a moment he disappeared inside a blaze of jade colored light, then the light faded away and he was standing exactly where he had been standing before with not a single mark on him anywhere. The hundreds of lightning bolts had dissipated like they had never existed in the first place.

Someone in the crowd whispered "impossible" and based on the direction it came from it was probably one of the Heavenly Jade disciples who had only ever seen that technique succeed against every opponent it had ever been used against until today. Then Liu Chang took a step and sent out a punch. I could feel the qi condensing around his fist as it compressed down so tightly that the air groaned under the weight of it. When it struck Handsome, "devastating" was too mild of a word for what happened.

One moment Handsome was standing there, the next moment he was going through the tavern wall, his jade sword went spinning off in the opposite direction and buried itself blade first into the street outside. The Heavenly Jade disciples in the crowd looked like they couldn't decide between horror and disbelief as they stared at the person shaped hole.

"How did you..." the other Heavenly Jade leader started to ask without finishing the sentence.

"The Immutable Titan Scripture," Yan Li said, "An ancient technique from the once great Liu Family." Liu Chang tensed at that, just for a moment, just a slight shift in his shoulders that most people watching would have missed but I caught it, he had flinched at the mention of his own family's name.

The Liu Family's Immutable Titan Scripture was the sort of cultivation method that showed up in ancient records and legends and I had read about it multiple times, technique like that got entire dedicated chapters written about its history, and practitioners used it to reshape geography and accomplish things that seemed mythical. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

So he was one of those, the heir of a fallen noble clan with some tragic history involving betrayal and impossible choices that he clearly carried around with him everywhere he went. For a moment I wondered if he was another protagonist because it really did fit the pattern, the mysterious background, the Heaven Rank technique, and the complicated relationship with a young noble from an opposing faction.

But I shook my head because I had to stop seeing protagonist flags in every cultivator I met, the cultivation world was vast and tragic noble heir backstories were more common than any of the novels I had read would have you believe.

"Master, the villagers..." Azure's voice drew my attention away before I could finish the thought. The villagers weren't amazed by the display of power at all, they were staring at their damaged tavern with a devastated expression. In most of the novels that I had read, cultivators causing collateral damage was normal, but as for how that affected regular people, that wasn't something the author usually addressed, they're usually left forgotten.

I wasn't going to allow my people to be forgotten here, so I walked over to where Handsome was lying in the rubble.

"You'll be paying for the repairs," I said looking down at him as he coughed up dust, his robes were torn and he was definitely going to need healing pills, but nothing looked permanently damaged except for his pride.

"Full compensation including lost business while they fix it." He started to scoff with that typical cultivator arrogance.

"It's just a mortal building…"

"In my village," I cut him off before he could finish, "Where my family lives. Where people work hard every day just to get by. So yes, you will be paying for it, unless you would like me to demonstrate some of the more creative applications of formation techniques on you right now." I wasn't actually worried about any serious retaliation against my family, even the most arrogant young master in the world wouldn't start a blood feud over being asked to pay for property damage.

That would be a special kind of stupid even by the standards of arrogant young masters, and more importantly than that, the Heavenly Jade Sect was one of those famously righteous sects that took their reputation seriously. A cultivator from their sect who killed mortals over wounded pride would be expelled and have their cultivation crippled before the day was even over.

That was the thing about righteous sects that people sometimes forgot, they could be arrogant, wasteful, and insufferable to deal with, but they did stick to certain core principles, and protecting mortals was one of the fundamental ones, it was written into the sect's founding documents right alongside rules about proper conduct and maintaining appearances in public.

Besides the more likely form of revenge from someone like Handsome was trying to defeat me in some future tournament setting rather than attacking my family directly, righteous cultivators love their formal duels.

"Your righteous indignation seems very practiced, Master," Azure commented.

"I've read enough cultivation novels to know how these scenes are supposed to go," I thought back, "And did you see the tavern owner's face? Someone has to actually stand up for the regular people when things like this happen." Handsome had already pulled out a jade bottle that probably cost more than the entire tavern combined and drank down what I recognized as a high grade healing pill.

I noticed several villagers looking at that bottle with barely concealed bitterness because a single pill like that could probably feed entire families for a full year if it were sold instead of casually consumed to fix bruises from a fight that the cultivator had started himself.

"I believe that settles the leadership question," Liu Chang said mildly as his skin returned to normal.

"Now shall we discuss actual defense strategies? Preferably somewhere inside, assuming our friend here is finished redecorating the architecture." Handsome pulled himself to his feet with his dignity somewhat restored by the healing pill and he reached into his storage ring with obvious reluctance but one look at my face and then at Liu Chang standing directly behind me made him reconsider whatever protest he had been about to make.

"This should cover it," he said stiffly as he produced a bag of spirit stones that clinked when he practically shoved it toward the tavern owner rather than handing it over properly, managing to make what should have been a straightforward act of compensation somehow look like an insult in the way he did it.

The tavern owner was a stocky man with greying hair who I recognized from the original Ke Yin's memories though they had never actually spoken directly to each other, and he caught the bag with trembling hands and his eyes went wide when he felt how heavy it was.

"This... this is too much," he stammered and actually started reaching out to return some of the spirit stones because that was what people like Old Lu did, they worried about fairness even when dealing with people who had no problem wronging them.

"Keep it," I said.

"You'll need the extra to cover lost business while the repairs are being made. And maybe make some improvements while you're at it to help prevent future incidents." Handsome's face tightened noticeably at that, but he managed to hold his tongue which was impressive given his personality.

"Young Master Ke," Old Lu bowed deeply while clutching the bag like it might vanish if he loosened his grip even slightly, "This old Lu wants to thank you. Most cultivators..." he trailed off without finishing but we both understood what he meant without him having to say it directly.

"Most cultivators aren't from here," I replied.

"Ah," he straightened back up and there was pride in his eyes when he looked at me, "Your father raised you well. Always said Ke Hong's boy would do great things, but who could have imagined this? A proper cultivator who stands up for us common folk!"

"Just make sure the repairs are done properly," I smiled at him, "And maybe consider stocking some better wine? If we're going to have this many cultivators passing through for a while..."

"Already sent my boy to the nearest Way Station for a special shipment," he laughed, "Can't have prestigious guests drinking the regular stuff, eh?" He hurried off to start organizing the repairs and I caught Liu Chang watching me with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he shook his head and smiled slightly as he took a seat, "Just thinking that maybe there's some hope for the younger generation after all."