Chapter 67 Bullying Others with Power

Suddenly, the door of the room was forcefully pushed open, and the entire door even crashed down onto the ground.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, everyone widened their eyes in utter disbelief, as they had never expected such a situation to occur.

In an inn like this, someone actually dared to come and stir up trouble, and it was none other than She Yuan, who had fled in panic just moments ago!

Lu Qingyun felt that this fellow was truly lacking in composure. When a family constantly harbors such individuals who go about stirring up trouble outside, even the most formidable clans would sooner or later slide into decline. This was not a curse, but a cold, hard fact.

The moment they appeared, Lu Qingyun and his companions became highly vigilant. She Yuan was putting on a thoroughly arrogant display, riding on the coattails of another's power.

Standing beside him was an elderly man with an ethereal disposition, looking much like an otherworldly sage. Judging by his aura, he was clearly a senior figure from their family.

His presence was overwhelmingly powerful. Gazing down at the people before him with an expression of utter contempt, he spoke in a deep, booming voice.

"It seems you failed to learn any lesson from the incident at the docks. If I recall correctly, you already spurned the Dragon family's goodwill and let them leave."

"The young master of the Dragon family was utterly furious at your behavior and has completely washed his hands of you. Yet you still attempt to throw your weight around and bully others under the guise of his reputation. Is the She family really someone you can push around so easily?"

Hearing these words, Lu Qingyun furrowed his brows deeply.

He felt utterly speechless regarding what the old man had just said. Originally, he had no desire to court any further conflict, nor did he wish to engage in the slightest dispute with them.

He felt that doing so would be utterly meaningless, serving only to waste his time and energy.

After finally carving out some time to relax and wanting to properly enjoy themselves here, there were always people trying to disrupt them and ruin their mood.

Lu Qingyun could only slowly shake his head and say, "When did I ever act as if you were easy to bully? When did we ever throw our weight around? When have we ever committed such despicable acts?"

"You are a man of advanced age, yet you come here demanding accountability without even bothering to figure out the cause and effect. Is this the grace of a great family? Is this your style of conduct? Is this your deportment?"

Facing such a formidable expert, Lu Qingyun's heart did beat a little faster.

After all, this fellow's strength was immense; he might be able to dispatch him with a single move.

Yet, even if he were to be killed, he refused to be wrongfully accused, nor was he willing to bear any undeserved infamy.

Clearly, they were the ones who came looking for trouble, and they were the ones who had spoken disrespectfully. Why should he be the one to endure their verbal abuse now?

No matter where one went, basic reasoning had to apply. If even reason ceased to matter, wouldn't the world plunge into complete chaos?

Even though the city of Hanhai permitted unbridled combat, it did not mean one could be bullied at will by others.

Clinging steadfastly to this belief and never wavering from it, for this was what he truly thought in his heart—that all men are equal was a conviction he consistently upheld.

Even if others looked down upon him with utter disdain, despising his approach and considering him far too arrogant to dare challenge such an expert, so be it.

She Yuan chimed in from the side, adding fuel to the fire. "Third Elder, I admit I may have been at fault initially, but I had already apologized and conceded my mistake to them. Yet he still chose to publicly humiliate me, pointed his sword straight at me, and threatened to kill me."

"I simply do not understand what has happened to our She family. How can even such people dare to be so insolent toward us? Is the She family truly finished?"

This fellow was blatantly fanning the flames. As a young master of a clan, he caused trouble outside without the slightest regard for the family's standing.

A fellow like this would sooner or later bring about a major disaster.

However, whereas Lu Qingyun might have once offered kind advice, since this fool was hell-bent on courting death, Lu Qingyun saw no further need to utter any words of persuasion.

He only spoke in an icy tone: "Judging by your stance, your intention today is simply to kill us and use us to establish your prestige, isn't it? If you want to make a move, do as you please, there is no need for any more useless nonsense!"

"There is no need to try and scare us either. If we were afraid, we would never have stayed in Hanhai City; we would have long since fled in panic."

"If you truly wish to save face for your family, I advise you to figure out the root cause before you make a move!"

The atmosphere instantly plunged into a state of hair-trigger tension. Faced with such a scenario, everyone felt a flutter of anxiety in their hearts and naturally experienced a deep sense of panic.

After all, the strength of this Third Elder was truly not to be underestimated; a moment of carelessness could cost them their lives at his hands.

No matter what, they had to exercise the utmost caution now, ensuring not a single mistake was made.

The She family maintained their utterly arrogant posture, completely indifferent to what he had just said. That deeply obnoxious attitude was truly repulsive to behold.

For the She family to have grown this powerful, they must have relied upon exceptionally rigorous heritage, otherwise, how could they have attained such high honors?

With the vile conduct of their clan, had they gone anywhere else, they likely would have been wiped out long ago.

From top to bottom, not a single one of them possessed any sense, and it could even be said they went about bullying the weak everywhere simply because their family possessed a shred of power.

Moreover, they were not truly unyielding; when confronted with powerful and formidable clans, they would invariably resort to bullying the soft and fearing the hard.

They had been scared out of their wits simply upon hearing the name of the Dragon family, but now, believing that the Dragon family would not step in to manage this affair, they had brought people back for revenge.

Such a style of conduct held no vestige of aristocratic grace; they could well be called the epitome of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Yet since ancient times, such clans had been countless. In the eyes of others, they were bullies of the weak.

In their own eyes, however, they were merely wise men submitting to the circumstances, avoiding battles with major clans as a brilliant strategy of theirs.

Lu Qingyun naturally despised such characters to the core, but there was nothing he could do; after all, people of their ilk were destined to be looked down upon.

Lu Qingyun slowly began to speak, "Very well, since you are so arrogant and domineering, any words spoken to you will simply fall on deaf ears, and you are bound to remain wretched anyway."

"You come here demanding accountability simply to make a move against us; why bother fabricating so many excuses and reasons? Whatever skills you possess, unleash them to your heart's content, and we shall take whatever you dish out!"

At this moment, Lu Qingyun finally released his Azure Dragon Martial Soul. Accompanied by a massive, cyan-lit phantom, it presented a truly terrifying spectacle.

The Azure Dragon winding behind him appeared lifelike, and its terrifying coercion filled everyone present with profound shock.

The Third Elder also sensed the immense pressure at that moment. He widened his eyes as he stared at the Azure Dragon Martial Soul before him, his gaze suffused with unconcealed greed.

Naturally, no cultivation technique capable of forcibly seizing another person's martial soul had ever appeared on this continent.

However, certain heterodox techniques could absorb the spiritual energy within a martial soul, or even refine certain attributes of the martial soul for one's own use.

Although such methods were widely despised, to a cultivator, being able to acquire greater spiritual energy and master more techniques was undoubtedly a rare and fortuitous blessing.

The She family happened to specialize in somewhat unorthodox cultivation techniques. She Yuan was still too young, and thus unable to master the core essence of those arts.

However, this Third Elder clearly possessed a deep understanding of the matter and had already mastered those secret arts.

Judging entirely by his present demeanor, it was evident he had conducted considerable research into this secret method.

Naturally, Lu Qingyun knew that such characters were not to be trifled with, but things had already reached this juncture, and a clash was imminent.

She Hai, the Third Elder of the She family, slowly stepped forward. With an aggressive posture and eyes still brimming with contempt, he coldly remarked:

"Hehehe, I must admit, you young man possess far more courage than others. Anyone else seeing me would never dare utter such words, nor would they dare show me such disrespect!"

"Though the She family may not compare to the Dragon family, killing the few of you is of no consequence whatsoever. Absolutely no one will pursue the matter, and the Cui family might even thank me for it!"

With that, he released his own martial soul. His soul was somewhat bizarre, resembling a cluster of black mist that coiled around his body and extended throughout the entire room.

They had never witnessed such a martial soul before. Facing something so eerie naturally evoked an uncanny sensation, causing them to instinctively take a few steps back.

At that moment, Lu Qingyun also drew his Azure Cloud Sword, having fully prepared himself for battle. Seeing his resolute expression, all his companions stepped forward as well, ready for a major showdown.

She Hai spoke with eyes full of disdain, "Just the few of you, and you wish to contend with me? You are simply indulging in wild fantasies!"

The battle was poised on a knife-edge, and everyone had readied themselves for combat.

Just as they were about to clash, a sudden, fierce gale swept in from the doorway, instantly cutting off their momentum.

A deep voice bellowed out with thunderous force:

"What do you think you are doing? Do you have any idea what place this is? The She family—have you all lost your minds? How long has it been since a fight broke out at the Penglai Inn?"

"Stop this instant, all of you!"

The person who appeared at that moment was none other than Guan Wang.

Lu Qingyun knew him to be a powerful expert, but he never imagined that his strength could reach such a terrifying degree.

One had to realize that the clash between them just moments before had already been fiercely explosive, and the Third Elder's strength in particular was not to be underestimated.

Under such intense pressure, he had managed to halt them with a single strike. What kind of terrifying power was that?

Having brought their actions to a halt, Guan Wang wore an extremely grim expression as he said:

"She Hai, regardless of how you look at it, you are the Third Elder of your clan. When you came here to stir up trouble, did you never consider the consequences?"

She Yuan shouted loudly, "Our Third Elder came here to demand justice for me, but he immediately moved to deal with us. What else could we do? He refuses to reason with us at all!"

Seeing this villain playing the victim first, Lu Qingyun naturally felt utterly disgusted, yet he did not immediately retort, choosing instead to quietly watch their performance.

Guan Wang saw that Lu Qingyun offered no explanation, but from his current composure, he could tell without a doubt that he had done nothing wrong.

Moreover, through their previous conversation, he had already gained a clear measure of Lu Qingyun's character.

Working here every day, Guan Wang encountered all sorts of people. He could tell at a glance what kind of temperament, strength, and moral standing someone possessed—whether they were good or bad.

If he lacked even this basic discernment, how could he possibly manage affairs here?

He could clearly see that Lu Qingyun was undoubtedly a person of upright character; from his very presence, one could sense a remarkably pure and formidable power.

Furthermore, looking at that cyan-lit Azure Dragon Martial Soul, he could clearly discern what manner of entity he truly was.

In fact, he had already reported upward, detailing the situation regarding Lu Qingyun. After all, a young man of such caliber was a rare find, encountered only by chance.

Possessing an ancient divine beast as a martial soul, coupled with such pure and overwhelming dragon coercion—this was not something an ordinary person could ever hope to attain.

Thus, extending goodwill to them now was entirely in the inn's best interest, otherwise, he would have had no reason to intervene, making such actions utterly meaningless.

Given the current circumstances, he understood the situation quite well. How could he possibly not know that the She family had proactively come looking for trouble?

It was simply inconvenient for him to openly point fingers just yet; after all, those who ran an establishment generally avoided offending people needlessly.

However, with instructions from above now in hand, he naturally felt grounded in his actions. He slowly began to speak:

"She Yuan, do not try to tell me this matter has nothing to do with you. Everyone knows what kind of person you are; some things simply require no excessive explanation."

"I have no wish for any unpleasantness with your family, but if you insist on pursuing this course of action, I cannot guarantee what might befall the few of you!"

Guan Wang's attitude was already considered remarkably polite, yet it carried a faint undertone of dominance. After all, managing a place like this required a certain level of majesty!

Lu Qingyun still remained silent. Naturally, it wasn't because he was afraid, but simply because he felt that certain matters were entirely unnecessary to argue.

Since they were capable of handling this affair themselves, all Lu Qingyun needed to do was place his trust in them.

She Hai's complexion turned dark and exceptionally grim. In a low voice, he muttered:

"Very well, let us leave for now..."

Then, turning his gaze back to Lu Qingyun, he threatened:

"You just wait! I will settle this score with you sooner or later!"

With that, he turned and led She Yuan away...

After they departed, Lu Qingyun looked at the chaotic mess strewn across the floor and said with a somewhat embarrassed smile, "Many thanks..."