Outside the courtyard gate.
A middle-aged man in his forties stood quietly waiting.
He wore a long blue robe, a long sword with a sharkskin scabbard slung across his left waist, and his hands clasped behind his back. With an upright posture and a steady breath, he exuded the imposing aura of a grandmaster standing like an abyss and gazing like a mountain.
This person was none other than Ding Le, who had come to pay a visit.
Hearing the unceremonious summons from within, Ding Le's expression darkened. Instead of flying into a rage immediately, however, he walked through the courtyard gate.
There he saw a young man with the air of a prodigal son, slouching lazily against a stone table. Behind him stood a pretty, blushing young woman who was turning sideways to adjust her clothes.
"Consort Yu?"
Although Ding Le had long heard that this Consort Yu was exceptionally young, he had not expected him to be *this* young. He looked to be barely in his early twenties, yet he was already a Martial Grandmaster rumored to have captured Chen Xiao, an Xiantian Mid-stage expert.
"It is me."
Yu Xian did not even lift his eyelids. How could he have any pleasant expressions for someone who had interrupted his mood?
"Who are you? Coming to see me without even bringing a gift—do you have any manners?"
"The one lacking manners here is presumably Your Excellency, no?" Ding Le's voice dropped. "This Ding considers his etiquette to be rather thorough. Upon coming to pay a call, Your Excellency first spoke rudely and dismissed this Ding as a nobody. When this Ding entered, not only did Your Excellency fail to come out to greet him, but you couldn't even be bothered to stand up. When has Your Excellency ever shown any manners?"
Yu Xian was momentarily stunned, then retorted, "So I have no manners, but do you?"
Ding Le: "..."
Damn it! A miscalculation!
Facing this rogue tactic of dragging one's manners down to the exact same baseline, Ding Le chose to bypass the sharp edge of the argument and cut straight to the point.
"I have long heard that Consort Yu possesses formidable martial arts, but I never expected your tongue to be just as sharp. However, this Ding has indeed come today to discuss a matter. The scenery of Building Number Two of the Heaven Tier is lovely, and this Ding is quite fond of it. I must ask Consort Yu to yield it to me."
Hearing this, Yu Xian pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked:
"Is this Prince Fu's idea?"
He had thought the Prince's Estate was beginning to grow dissatisfied with his slacking off.
Even if he did not do any work, as a dignified Martial Grandmaster, surely he was worth at least two hundred taels a month?
Discontent stirred in Yu Xian's heart, and the thought of changing employers crossed his mind.
That Sun Family Pharmacy wasn't bad. When they came to deliver silver last time, they had even subtly hinted at welcoming him with open arms, and the perks were exceptionally generous.
Instead of answering directly, Ding Le sneered:
"The Prince told this Ding to choose his own residence within the Consort Courtyard, and as it happens, this Ding has taken a fancy to Your Excellency's courtyard. If Your Excellency is unwilling, then let us test our true skills with our fists. In this Consort Courtyard, the dwellings should naturally belong to those with virtue."
Yu Xian finally caught on. "You're the new Heaven-tier consort from the Prince's Estate, and you've come here to establish your dominance over me?"
Having his intentions exposed, Ding Le did not deny it. He simply continued to sneer, "If you dare not fight, then I must ask Your Excellency to yield Building Number Two."
Yu Xian scratched his head and sighed helplessly:
"If you liked it, you should have just said so boldly! Why must you resort to violence?
How about this? Give me two thousand taels of silver, and I will pack up and leave immediately. I remember Building Number Three is still vacant; I can go over there just as well."
Thinking that Yu Xian was scared, Ding Le felt even more emboldened and said, "What if I don't want to give it?"
Yu Xian crossed his arms and replied as a matter of course, "If you don't give it, I won't move."
"What if this Ding insists on taking it?"
"Uh, well... eighteen hundred taels would be fine too. That's a special friendship price."
"You are, after all, a Martial Grandmaster. Bellowing about silver at every turn—isn't that a bit beneath your dignity?"
"Fine, fine! Aren't you just trying to bargain? Consider me scared of you: fifteen hundred taels, not a single coin less."
"I am not here to rent a house!"
*Clang!*
A flash of cold light appeared, and a beam of sword Qi erupted from the tip of the sword, striking the osmanthus trees in the courtyard. A flurry of branches and leaves cascaded down in rustling whispers, and the fragrance in the air grew even more intense.
No matter how top-tier Ding Le's breath-cultivation skills were, at this moment he was provoked to the point of drawing his sword to speak.
"Consort Yu, spare me your evasions! If you are afraid to fight, just say so directly, and this Ding will turn around and leave!"
Yu Xian finally stood up, looking rather indignant.
"Damn it! I don't even have a clue who you are, yet you show up out of nowhere wanting to pick a fight with me, and you want to live in my house without even coughing up any silver. Who's being unreasonable here, you or me?
Want to fight, do you? Come on! Taste this palm strike from me!"
He relied on this reputation to freeload and make a living; ruining his reputation was cutting off his livelihood!
Qi condensed in Yu Xian's palm, forming a crimson palm print. The air was warped by the intense heat, and the temperature in the courtyard rose abruptly.
As Yu Xian's sole offensive spirit spell, Fireball Art had not quite reached the grandmaster realm of returning to simplicity, but it had certainly entered the inner chamber; he could freely manipulate the shape of the fireball, giving it somewhat the flavor of Pyromancy.
Right now, the fireball had transformed into the shape of a palm, looking incredibly lifelike, as though it were condensed from glowing red jade with a translucent texture.
"You launched a sneak attack!"
Recognizing this palm technique as Consort Yu's signature ultimate skill, the Scarlet Flame God Palm, Ding Le's internal alarm bells rang wildly, and his face revealed sheer terror.
This palm strike possessed far greater might than he had ever imagined.
Daring not take it head-on, he tipped the toes of his feet and spread his arms wide like a roc spreading its wings, retreating backwards at extreme speed.
But what Yu Xian wanted was to catch him off guard.
The Scarlet Flame God Palm—transformed from the Fireball Art—suddenly exploded in mid-air. Failing to dodge in time, Ding Le was tainted by a small fraction of the sparks, and his clothes instantly caught fire.
This Fireball Art was formed from spiritual Qi and could not be compared to ordinary fire; once it stained a target, it clung like bone-eating maggots and would not stop until it burned everything to ashes.
Ding Le could only feel a searing, fiery venom drilling wildly all over his body. True Qi surged from within him as he struggled bitterly against the flames.
He had no idea how much time had passed.
Long unable to spare any attention for his surroundings, Ding Le only felt his True Qi rapidly depleting. The might of those flames was utterly unreasonable; almost ten parts of his True Qi were consumed just to suppress a single part of the fire.
By the time seven or eight tenths of his True Qi had been burned away, the flames finally slowly extinguished.
At this moment, more than half of Ding Le's long hair was scorched black, and his outer blue robe had become a disaster zone. Covered in soot from head to toe, he no longer retained a shred of his earlier grandmaster bearing.
"You can't even take a single palm strike from this consort—what qualifications do you have to talk about swapping rooms?"
Yu Xian stood with his hands behind his back, looking down his nose at people.
He did not seize the opportunity to kill the man; after all, they had merely engaged in a verbal conflict and harbored no deep enmity. Moreover, the man was a consort of the Prince's Estate, and he had to give him a chance.
However, if there were a next time, he would have to resort to his three-step process: slipping a sack over the head, delivering a beating with a sap, and sinking the victim in a pond.
Besides, regardless of whether this was Prince Fu's tacitly approved probing or not, today he had once again displayed his strength. If they did not give him a satisfactory explanation, the matter of changing employers would have to be scheduled.
With his strength, he wouldn't suffer grievances anywhere.
With this thought, Yu Xian's mind stirred, and a crude status window appeared in the lower half of his vision.
[Name: Yu Xian]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 6 (83/130)]
[Dao Companion: Yulan (1/1)]
I'll push a little harder recently and strive to break through to the late stage of Qi Condensation within a month.
Yu Xian thought to himself.
On the other side, Yu Xian's arrogant attitude left Ding Le—who had been proud for half his life—burning with inner rage, almost making him want to go up and fight to the death.
Yet, recalling the terrifying might of that palm strike a moment ago, he quickly calmed down.
This was definitely not a level of strength an Xiantian Early-stage expert should possess. Even within the crouching tigers and hidden dragons of the Changle Sword Sect, probably only the First Elder could match him.
A true hero knows when to yield and when to stand firm.
Ding Le quickly found an excuse for himself, cupped his fists in apology toward Yu Xian, and said:
"Consort Yu possesses formidable martial arts, which this Ding deeply admires. As for the matter of swapping rooms, consider it nothing more than idle nonsense from this Ding; I shall never mention it again!"
With that, he turned and walked away.
"Hold on!"
Yu Xian called out to Ding Le, pointing at the osmanthus petals drifting all over the ground as he said:
"You can't just say it's nothing and walk away. How are you going to compensate me for smashing my flowers and plants?
I won't fleece you either. These are osmanthus trees I cultivated with meticulous care; just toss me a thousand or eight hundred taels of silver as a token."
"Consort Yu, spare people where you can. Leave a thread of leeway today so we can meet amicably in the future." Ding Le's fists clenched.
Yu Xian turned his palm over to inspect the lines on it, looking completely ready to deliver another palm strike at any moment.
"Then do you believe I can make sure you don't *have* a future starting right now?"
"You dare?!"
Ding Le swallowed covertly, putting up a brave front with a trembling voice.
"I am also a consort of the Prince's Estate. If you dare kill me, the Prince will not let you off lightly."
"Shall we make a wager on that?"
Yu Xian flashed a grin, his demeanor at that moment carrying quite a bit of youthful spirit.
"I don't have silver on me right now. I will have it sent over another day."
Ding Le wisely chose to concede. This wasn't a matter of whether he wanted to gamble or not—this was about his own life.
"Fine. You're from that Changle Sword Sect or whatever, right? I'll give you three days. If you don't send the silver over, I'll go straight to your sect to collect it."
When it came to silver, Yu Xian's memory suddenly became exceptionally sharp.
"Take care, I won't see you out."
Ding Le had arrived full of high spirits and departed like a soul bereft of its master.
This didn't match the script he had in mind at all! Weren't they saying this Consort Yu only had mediocre strength and relied solely on sneak attacks?
That he relied on sneak attacks turned out to be true.
But if *this* kind of strength could be called mediocre, what on earth should he call himself—trash?
Yu Xian watched Ding Le leave, but he remained standing in place for a moment in deep thought before finally speaking to Yulan:
"Go call Chen Yi here. I have something for her to do."
Having witnessed her master's divine might, Yulan was a mix of nervous and excited. Eager to try, she piped up:
"Master, Sister Xiaoyi is cultivating right now. What do you need? Can I help you?"
"You have a different task." Yu Xian rubbed Yulan's cheek and chuckled, "Go on. She just freeloads here all day; it's time she pulled her weight."
"Oh."
Yulan showed a hint of disappointment, but she obediently went off to find Chen Yi.