"Who the hell are you? Are we even that close?"
With a single sentence, Fang Chen completely scrambled Li Muxian's brains.
After staring blankly for a good while, Li Muxian asked with a face full of confusion, "Brother Fang, it's me! Li Muxian, the Holy Son of the Tianyan Sacred Sect. We were just drinking together a few days ago."
Fang Chen immediately delivered a triple denial: "Stop talking nonsense. It wasn't me, I didn't do it."
Li Muxian grew even more bewildered.
What on earth is Fang Chen playing at?
Just a few days ago they were sworn brothers for life, so why is he acting so bizarre today, desperately trying to distance himself?
Before he could say another word, Fang Chen had already hurried over to Jiang Lang's side.
Meanwhile, the man who had previously attacked Jiang Lang had recovered from his faint. Covered in blood, he ran up to Fang Chen and cried out, "Deacon... Deacon Fang, this guy was making trouble in the Xingbao Pavilion and beat me up! Kill... kill him!"
Fang Chen's expression instantly darkened.
Seeing this, the man glared at Jiang Lang with intense hatred and snarled, "I'll make you die wi—"
Before he could finish his sentence, *slap!*
Fang Chen swung the back of his hand and struck the man squarely across the face.
The man was sent flying through the air, landing four or five paces away, where he promptly passed out again.
Everyone's jaws dropped at this sudden turn of events.
What is going on here?
Fang Chen actually attacked his own man?
Yet, that wasn't all!
An even more mind-blowing spectacle unfolded.
Fang Chen, a dignified Deacon of the Xingbao Pavilion, bowed respectfully to Jiang Lang and said, "Young Master Jiang, my apologies. It was my negligence."
His words struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving everyone present with buzzing heads.
Li Muxian and Lin Yayin were frozen in place as well.
Young Master Jiang???
A dignified Deacon of the Xingbao Pavilion, a prominent figure in Lieyong City, actually addressed this good-for-nothing Jiang Lang as Young Master Jiang?
Are you kidding me?!
After a long while, Lin Yayin finally snapped back to reality, wearing an expression of utter disbelief. "Deacon Fang, he is Jiang Lang, just a useless good-for-nothing! Did you make a mistake?"
Li Muxian found it equally hard to swallow. "Brother Fang, what is the meaning of this?!"
Fang Chen turned to look at him. "Stop with the 'Brother Fang' nonsense. Don't try to cozy up to me. We really aren't that close."
The first half of the sentence was meant for Li Muxian, while the latter half was naturally directed at Jiang Lang.
As he spoke, he kept signaling to Li Muxian with his eyes, blinking so rapidly he looked like he might go blind.
Though still somewhat dazed, Li Muxian noticed the constant winking and realized there must be more to the story. Since he wouldn't get an answer right now, he would just have to figure it out later.
With that thought, he turned to leave.
Just then, Jiang Lang suddenly spoke up. "Hold on."
Li Muxian stopped in his tracks. "What else do you want?"
Jiang Lang took out the Seven-Color Star Treasure Token and asked, "Deacon Fang, Young Master Li Muxian here has doubts about this token of mine. Tell him right now whether it's real or fake."
Seeing the dazzling token flash with seven-colored radiance, Fang Chen hurriedly smiled and said, "It is naturally real. If Young Master Jiang's token were fake, there wouldn't be a single genuine one left in this world."
Li Muxian's expression shifted slightly. "How can it be real? Aren't there only four ranks of Star Treasure Tokens?"
Fang Chen explained, "The Seven-Color Star Treasure Token is the highest-grade Star Treasure Token. There are only ten of them in the entire world, and ordinary people simply don't know about them. Young Master Jiang's Seven-Color Star Treasure Token is as authentic as they come."
"What?!" Li Muxian wore a look of utter shock.
There were only ten Seven-Color Star Treasure Tokens in the entire world. How could such a precious item end up in the hands of a good-for-nothing like Jiang Lang?
Not just him, but almost everyone present shared the exact same question.
Lin Yayin blurted it out directly, "Jiang Lang, a good-for-nothing like you, how could you possibly possess such a supreme treasure? Its origin is unknown—did you steal it?"
Jiang Lang glanced at Lin Yayin. "I stole your mother."
As he said this, the image of the charming and graceful Xu Yunyun involuntarily flashed through his mind.
Lin Yayin was taken aback, then pointed at Jiang Lang's nose and cursed, "Jiang Lang, if you can't explain yourself clearly, then you stole it! Deacon Fang, this matter must be thoroughly investigated."
A sharp glint flashed in Fang Chen's eyes. "Miss Lin, food can be eaten carelessly, but words cannot be spoken recklessly. Watch your tongue."
Intimidated by Fang Chen's gaze, Lin Yayin's delicate body trembled slightly, and she immediately shut her mouth.
Right at that moment, Jiang Lang spoke up. "Li Muxian, you said earlier that if my token was real, you'd eat your own token. Now's your chance—go ahead and eat it."
Li Muxian said coldly, "And if I refuse?"
Jiang Lang's gaze turned slightly chilly. "If you don't eat it, don't even thinking about walking out the doors of the Xingbao Pavilion today. Deacon Fang, if he won't eat it, cripple him on the spot."
Fang Chen was startled and quickly tried to smooth things over. "Young Master Jiang, isn't that going a bit too far? After all, he is the Holy Son of the Tianyan Sacred Sect..."
Jiang Lang said calmly, "He brought this on himself; he has no one to blame. Forget about him being the Holy Son of the Tianyan Sacred Sect—even if he were the Sect Master himself, he'd still have to eat his token today. My word is final. Not even the highest deities in heaven could stop this."
To be honest, the current Jiang Lang truly did not hold the Tianyan Sacred Sect in his eyes. If they pushed him too far, he would simply wipe the Tianyan Sacred Sect out of existence.
Furious beyond measure, Li Muxian snapped, "Jiang Lang, you are too arrogant!"
Jiang Lang glanced at him and gave a direct order. "Deacon Fang, cripple him."
Fang Chen quickly urged, "Young Master Li, hurry up and eat the token. Given your cultivation, it won't kill you."
Li Muxian stared at Fang Chen. "Are you really going to help him?"
Fang Chen sighed. "He is someone you cannot afford to provoke. For the sake of our past friendship, I'm giving you a chance. If you don't eat it, I'm afraid I'll have to offend you."
As he spoke, his expression gradually turned icy.
Li Muxian might be the Holy Son of the Tianyan Sacred Sect, but offending him meant losing at most a drinking buddy.
Offending Jiang Lang, however, meant losing his entire family.
Li Muxian looked at Fang Chen in disbelief.
After a very long time, he crushed his Black Iron Star Treasure Token into shards and stuffed them into his mouth piece by piece. The sound of his teeth grinding against the metal was intensely harsh and grating.
With his cultivation, swallowing metal and chewing iron was a walk in the park.
Yet this was a blatant slap in the face!
It was an incomparable humiliation!
At that moment, he wished he could grind Jiang Lang to dust and scatter his ashes!
Watching Li Muxian swallow the Black Iron token piece by piece, Jiang Lang offered a mocking smile. "How does it taste?"
Gritting his teeth, Li Muxian muttered, "Jiang Lang, this isn't over!"
With that, he turned and strode into the depths of the Xingbao Pavilion.
Jiang Lang spoke up. "Did I tell you that you could go in? Deacon Fang, I don't like the look of these two. Throw them out."
Li Muxian's expression instantly darkened. "Jiang Lang, you've gone too far."
Jiang Lang looked at Li Muxian with indifference and let out a cold laugh. "Gone too far? I'm merely returning the favor by giving you back what you wanted to do to me. How is that going too far?"
"Li Muxian, are you really that hypocritical?"
Li Muxian's gaze turned completely freezing, the terrifying murderous intent in the depths of his eyes swirling like physical substance.
He gave Jiang Lang one deep, lingering look before turning on his heel and leaving.
Everyone knew this matter was far from over.
As the Holy Son of the Tianyan Sacred Sect, Li Muxian commanded an immensely noble status. Having his reputation dragged through the mud in full view of the public today, he would never let the matter rest.
Seeing Li Muxian leave, Fang Chen finally let out a breath of relief.
If things had truly blown up, he would have had a hard time cleaning up the mess.
Yet looking at Jiang Lang, who possessed not a shred of Spiritual Qi, Fang Chen harbored the exact same doubt as everyone else—
How on earth did this punk manage to acquire the Seven-Color Star Treasure Token? And how did he win the favor of the Grand Manager?
Could it be...
Is he the lover of the Eldest Miss, Jin Yao'er?
Yet, what kind of person was the Eldest Miss? How could she possibly take a fancy to a good-for-nothing?
He turned it over in his mind, but finding no answers whatsoever, he finally gave up.
He was just a beast of burden whose job was to follow orders; there was no real need to rack his brain over other matters.
While he was lost in these idle thoughts, Li Muxian and Lin Yayin had already left the Xingbao Pavilion.
*Boom!*
With nowhere to vent his pent-up humiliation, Li Muxian threw a punch that shattered a boulder by the roadside.
Seeing Li Muxian's ferocious expression—so vastly different from his usual gentle and refined demeanor—Lin Yayin felt a twinge of fear and timidly spoke up, "Young Master Li..."
With murderous intent written all over his face, Li Muxian gritted his teeth and asked, "You were previously engaged to him. Do you have any idea why he has the Seven-Color Token?"
Lin Yayin mused, "Perhaps it was left behind by his grandfather."
"His grandfather?"
Lin Yayin nodded. "The Lin family's engagement to him was arranged between his grandfather and my grandfather. His grandfather's background is quite mysterious and he must have been an extraordinary figure, but he suddenly vanished three years ago and never returned."
Li Muxian nodded. "So that's how it is..."
Seemingly recalling something, Lin Yayin suddenly clenched her fists and said with deep resentment, "In the past, he gave me everything. I never imagined he would still hold something back. To keep such an important item from me—I always knew he couldn't be trusted! If the Seven-Color Star Treasure Token had been in my hands, it might have already paved a prosperous path for the Lin family. What a bastard!"
Li Muxian said, "No matter. With me around, does your Lin family need to worry about finding buyers for your ore? By the way, the Tianyan Sacred Sect still needs to be lubricated with gifts. Have your father prepare some more funds."
Lin Yayin was stunned. "Didn't we just get a million?"
Li Muxian scoffed, "A million? What's a million? Once we grease the wheels at the Tianyan Sacred Sect, the profits will be a thousandfold. If you want to accomplish great things while trying to get something for nothing, how is that supposed to work?"
Hearing this, Lin Yayin nodded and said, "Young Master Li is right. Let's head back right now and get the money from my father. But what should we do about that good-for-nothing Jiang Lang?"
At the mention of Jiang Lang, a fierce murderous intent surged in Li Muxian's eyes. "That good-for-nothing will fall into my hands sooner or later. When he does, I will grind him to dust and scatter his ashes!"