Chapter 21: I Hate It When People Don't Pay Their Debts

Dozens of people in the room stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing as they gazed at the low-grade green jade slab in Sikong Jing's hand.

"Impossible..."

The thought echoed in everyone's minds, but the martial aura radiating from the green jade slab was undeniably real.

The breathing of everyone in the room grew rapid and shallow.

Young Master Chu Bo's lofty, condescending smile had long since vanished, replaced by a look of sheer astonishment.

"Now, isn't it time you honored our bet?" Sikong Jing's voice broke the silence, directed straight at Chu Bo.

The crowd began to whisper among themselves, their gazes slowly shifting toward Chu Bo.

A sharp voice rang out from the beautiful shop assistant. She pointed an accusing finger at Sikong Jing and said petulantly, "Are you joking? Do you have any idea who Young Master Chu is? How dare you demand he honor a bet?"

Sikong Jing replied expressionlessly, "I don't know, and there is no need for me to know."

He certainly didn't know who Chu Bo was; to him, those who insulted him were simply met with equal insult.

The beautiful assistant puffed out her chest and introduced him coldly, "Then I shall be kind enough to tell you: Young Master Chu is the eldest son of the Chu family, one of the four great families of Yunye City. It is not too late for you to start sucking up to him."

As soon as these words were spoken, the way the crowd looked at Sikong Jing changed again, filled with mockery.

Some even stepped forward to say, "I must say, your luck is incredible. You actually stumbled upon a once-in-a-century successful inscription. However, I advise you not to mention the bet again."

The crowd shrugged. This fool might be lucky, but he had unfortunately run into Young Master Chu Bo. No one took the bet seriously anymore, and no one believed Sikong Jing had succeeded through sheer strength.

As they said, the success rate for inscribing on such a low-grade green jade slab was nearly zero.

"Brother, know when to quit while you're ahead."

"Some people are not meant to be provoked. Keep your head down and watch your mouth."

"Indeed, be careful, or you might face a death sentence."

"Since you managed to inscribe a martial technique, you should be grateful you don't have to kneel. Hurry up and thank Young Master Chu for the grace of gifting you the stone."

Many onlookers offered what seemed like "kind" advice to Sikong Jing.

*Snap!*

Chu Bo closed his folding fan with a casual motion and said with a hint of sinisterness, "How disappointing. There is no need for thanks."

He was in a foul mood. He had originally intended to play with a fool out of boredom, but he hadn't expected to be slapped in the face like this.

"I'll buy this green jade slab for one silver crystal coin."

As he spoke, Chu Bo turned to the servant behind him and commanded, "Give this fool one silver crystal coin, then smash his jade slab, and make him crawl out from between my legs."

With one foot resting on a stool, he pointed at Sikong Jing, sneering incessantly.

Chu Bo's servant immediately stepped forward. A silver crystal coin was slammed violently at Sikong Jing's feet, and the servant reached out, saying coldly, "Hand over the slab."

Sikong Jing's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly spoke, "I... hate people who break their word!"

*Boom!*

The moment the words left his mouth, true qi erupted from Sikong Jing's body. With a backhand strike, he sent Chu Bo's servant flying. While the man was still screaming, Sikong Jing flashed forward to stand before Chu Bo.

He delivered a heavy kick to Chu Bo's abdomen.

Chu Bo, who had been expecting the humiliation of being crawled under, was caught completely off guard. A strange cry escaped his throat as he was sent flying from the Tianwu Pavilion out into the street, but Sikong Jing pursued him with rapid strides...

*Thud! Thud!*

Two rapid kicks landed squarely on Chu Bo's knees.

*Thud...*

Chu Bo fell straight to his knees in the middle of the street, letting out wails of agony.

Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the people in the Tianwu Pavilion had reacted, Chu Bo was already kneeling there with a distorted face.

And Sikong Jing stood before him, upright and imposing.

Ignoring the astonishment around him, Sikong Jing asked fiercely, "Young Master Chu, do you still remember the terms of our bet?"

After a long pause, Chu Bo regained his senses, his eyes bloodshot. "You bastard! You dare hit me?"

As Chu Bo attempted to scramble up, a piercing, heart-wrenching pain shot through his legs at the slightest movement.

"Don't move, or your knees will be ruined."

When Sikong Jing had struck Chu Bo's knees, he had infused a bit of true qi into the bones and tendons; that was the source of the intense pain. Such a minor trick was effortless for the former Invincible Divine General.

Naturally, Chu Bo tried to defy him, but as the pain intensified, his face turned bright red and he broke into a heavy sweat.

"Honor the bet, and I will help you relieve the pain," Sikong Jing reminded him.

However, in the next instant, a low voice drifted from the direction of the Tianwu Pavilion: "Little brother, show some mercy. Pushing too hard will bring you no benefit. This is, after all, Yunye City."

A middle-aged man walked out from the center of the pavilion entrance.

Surrounding the middle-aged man were, naturally, those "kind-hearted" onlookers.

At the same time, the beautiful shop assistant stood beside the man, pointing at Sikong Jing. "Kid, didn't you hear Pavilion Master Lu? Hurry up and help Young Master Chu up, or you're dead!"

Sikong Jing turned his head and asked the middle-aged man, "Are you the branch pavilion master of Yunye City's Tianwu Pavilion?"

"Indeed. My surname is Lu, and my name is Zhao."

The middle-aged man introduced himself calmly before continuing, "Your accent suggests you are from elsewhere, little brother. Take my advice: with your strength at the sixth level of the Bright Realm, you are not enough to run wild in Yunye City."

The aura Sikong Jing had just displayed made it very clear that he was only at the sixth level of the Bright Realm.

Though Yunye City was not large, there were countless people capable of killing him.

Today, he had simply run into the profligate and aimless Chu Bo. Had it been any other son of the Chu family, he wouldn't have even had the chance to stand there and speak.

"Chu Bo is the eldest son of the great Chu family. It might not be too late to stop now and apologize," Lu Zhao reminded him again.

Shrugging, Sikong Jing instead stepped toward Lu Zhao and held out the inscribed green jade slab. "Since you are the branch pavilion master of Tianwu Pavilion, then you set a price for this slab."

"You..."

Lu Zhao had not expected Sikong Jing to be so stubborn. Did he really have the mood to haggle over a price right now?

Exhaling sharply, Lu Zhao said coldly, "Fine. But before I appraise the value of the slab, I shall appraise you: you won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise."

Since the young man before him refused to listen to reason, Lu Zhao saw no point in further words.

Lu Zhao immediately channeled his true qi into the green jade slab, his expression remaining as calm as water. A martial technique inscribed by such a lucky amateur would, at most, be a low-grade Yellow Rank, and its price would not exceed ten silver crystal coins.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Lu Zhao's expression froze.

The true qi within his body began to riot uncontrollably.

His face grew increasingly red, bloodshot veins surfaced in his eyes, and his entire body looked as if he were being boiled alive bit by bit.

"Pavilion Master, why are you angry?"

"Did this fool cheat? Did he tamper with the green jade slab?"

Seeing this, the beautiful assistant immediately asked. It was obvious the Pavilion Master looked like he was about to explode with rage; otherwise, his face wouldn't be so red. She added fuel to the fire, saying, "I knew it! There's no way this fool could have succeeded!"