Chà Chà Novel

“I’m telling you one last time—let go! Otherwise, don’t blame me for what happens!”

“Apologize to my master in front of everyone!”

Qin Du sneered, his spirit sword materializing in his hand.

He wasn’t bluffing. Though he had no desire to cause needless bloodshed, that depended on no one crossing his bottom line.

And his bottom line was Lin Huaiqing.

Seeing him draw a sword, the other Baqi Sect disciples could no longer remain seated. With one of their own being threatened, they immediately closed ranks and brandished their weapons.

“Let Senior Brother Zhang go!”

“Hmph! See that? We Baqi Sect disciples aren’t pushovers. Let go now, kneel, and apologize, and I might overlook this. Otherwise…”

Before he could finish, Qin Du struck him with a palm blow that sent him flying into a hardwood table.

The table shattered beneath him.

Zhang Ting’s agonized cries rang throughout the tavern.

Qin Du had used only thirty percent of his strength. But he had applied a palm technique from the Treatise on Immortals and Demons that combined spiritual energy with demonic energy.

To his surprise, it proved several times more powerful than a strike using spiritual energy alone.

One of the Baqi Sect’s outstanding disciples, Zhang Ting had already advanced beyond Foundation Establishment to early Golden Core at a young age.

He had considered himself impressive even among the disciples of the various immortal sects. Being casually sent flying like this was a humiliating blow.

Clambering up from the shattered table, he trembled with anger.

“You… You’re Lin Huaiqing’s disciple? What’s your name?! You dare attack someone from the Baqi Sect? Do you have a death wish?”

“A useless nobody doesn’t deserve to know my name.”

Qin Du lifted his chin, looking down on them as though they were dogs.

His arrogance knew no bounds.

Having seen Zhang Ting come off worse against him, the remaining Baqi Sect disciples dared not act rashly. They held their weapons ready, but not one stepped forward.

Furious, Zhang Ting cursed his useless fellow disciples.

“Fine! If you have any guts, don’t run! Wait right here! We’re leaving!”

At his command, every Baqi Sect disciple withdrew from the tavern.

The place was suddenly half empty, leaving only a few disciples from other sects watching the spectacle.

Fu’er kindly approached to warn him.

“Fellow Daoist, you should leave quickly. The Baqi Sect isn’t easy to deal with. They may come back for revenge.”

But Qin Du showed no fear whatsoever. He simply returned to his seat and continued drinking as though nothing had happened.

Realizing her well-meant advice had been wasted, Fu’er shook her head and returned to her table.

Her fellow disciples eagerly leaned closer.

“Senior Sister Fu’er, do you know him? He’s so handsome! Is he really Immortal Venerable Huaiqing’s disciple?”

“Yes. I saw him on the big screen.”

“Heavens, he’s so young, yet he defeated Zhang Ting from the Baqi Sect! His future must be boundless. I wonder if he has a cultivation partner…”

“Then is the man undergoing a tribulation with Senior Sister Yu’er his senior disciple brother?”

“His junior brother, actually. Fellow Daoist Mu is a few years older, but Fellow Daoist Qin is the Immortal Venerable’s eldest disciple.”

Qin Du waited in the tavern for another incense stick’s worth of time.

He had thought some free sparring partners would be just what he needed. He couldn’t have asked for better.

But after all this time, they still hadn’t returned. Apparently, they had only been making empty threats to frighten him.

The sun was about to set. He needed to get back to Lingxiao Peak before nightfall so his master wouldn’t notice.

He had no time to keep waiting.

After paying for his wine, Qin Du rose to leave.

Just then, a crowd of Baqi Sect disciples gathered outside the tavern.

The man leading them wore no disciple’s uniform. Judging by his age, he was probably one of the sect’s elders.

They surrounded the little tavern completely. With Zhang Ting and several other disciples behind him, the leader entered and closed in on Qin Du.

“Oh? You brought a grown-up?”

“Insolent! This is our Baqi Sect’s disciplinary elder. Why aren’t you kneeling before him?”

With someone backing him, Zhang Ting had become overbearing again, as though Qin Du were already beneath his heel.

“An elder?”

A mocking sneer curled Qin Du’s lips.

“Aren’t all the elders of any standing in the cultivation world up on the mountain attending the assembly? Since when did some nameless nobody turn up to fight your battles?”

Watching from the sidelines, Fu’er had to acknowledge the sheer force of Qin Du’s tongue.

After those few remarks, the richly dressed middle-aged man’s face had darkened thunderously.

“It’s only natural that a little rat like you wouldn’t know our elder’s name. You attacked someone from the Baqi Sect. Kneel and apologize! Otherwise, we’ll drag you up to the Xuantian Sect—and it’ll be your master who loses face!”

“Oh? You’ll need the ability to do that first!”

Qin Du summoned his bonded spirit sword and readied himself for battle.

The middle-aged man, silent until now, finally spoke.

“Utterly arrogant!”

In an instant, the two were fighting inside the tavern.

Tables, chairs, vases, and wine cups shattered across the floor.

The owner rushed out from the back, crying and pleading for them to take the fight outside.

If this continued, his little establishment would be demolished!

The Baqi Sect’s disciplinary elder had only recently been promoted and had just reached late Golden Core. Both men were sword cultivators, but an entire major cultivation realm separated them. Qin Du managed to hold his own at first, yet after five exchanges, he began losing ground.

“You have some skill for a brat. Unfortunately, the gulf between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core is considerable. Submit quietly!”

The middle-aged man sneered, channeled seventy percent of his power, and sent Qin Du flying more than ten meters with a palm strike.

Qin Du fell from the air and slammed into the dirt, leaving a large crater.

But he refused to concede. Bracing himself on his sword, he forced his way out of the pit.

Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, he glared at the man opposite him, raised his sword, and smiled.

“So this is all a Baqi Sect elder can do. What a laughingstock.”

Enraged by his words, the middle-aged man flew toward him with his sword, intent on delivering the final blow.

“Say goodbye to your path of cultivation!”

His strike was aimed directly at Qin Du’s dantian.

The dantian housed the sea of consciousness and spiritual roots. A single thrust through it could destroy a low-level cultivator’s spiritual roots—the very foundation required to cultivate.

From then on, he would be an ordinary mortal, forever barred from returning to the immortal path.

Such a vicious technique was hardly what one would expect from an elder of a respected orthodox sect.

But Qin Du had already seen plenty of these so-called righteous sects’ methods in his previous life.

He waited for the right moment, appearing to meet the attack head-on. Behind his back, however, he was gathering most of his demonic energy and spiritual power into his concealed hand.

He was preparing to strike back with everything he had.