“Someone’s coming?” Zu An jumped in fright. “Hey, come back! Is it a person or a wild beast?!”

But Mi Li was already gone, and didn’t respond to him no matter how hard he tried. 

“You fall asleep as soon as you say you will… Are you a pig?!” Zu An snorted angrily. She’d only said that someone was coming, but she hadn’t said anything else. 

I'm in the depths of Hidden Dragon Mountain right now! What if some crazy beast came after my ass?

He gripped the Tai’e Sword tightly, his entire body going taut.

Soon, a figure emerged from not far away. It was a person!

Zu An grumbled inside. Those other protagonists always ran into some random goddess or beauty in the wilderness. Why did he have to run into some dude? This dude was old and ugly too.

His clothes were tattered like a beggar’s, but his eyes were still pretty bright. He was definitely a cultivator, and a strong one at that.

His shoddy appearance was most likely because he’d spent too much time in the mountains, and did not have a spare set of clothing. The man himself didn’t seem to care too much about his appearance.

“Brother, are you out for a stroll in the mountains as well?” After considering his options, he decided to greet this man first. After all, he wasn’t one to judge.

The middle-aged man was stunned when he saw Zu An. Then, he laughed loudly and said, “Look who decided to suddenly show up! Brat, count yourself unlucky for running into me here!”

Zu An frowned. “Do I know you? I think there’s something wrong with your mind.”

The middle-aged man flew into a rage. “Do you know what I had to go through because of you? And yet you don’t even recognize me?”

You have successfully trolled Wu Di for 666 Rage points!

Seeing the name appear in his notifications brought the events of the Clans Tournament to Zu An’s mind. He blurted out, “Weren’t you the one whose mom was calling him home for dinner?”

Wu Di gritted his teeth and stared daggers at him.

You have successfully trolled Wu Di for 999 Rage points!

Wu Di spoke, his voice a dark cloud. “I lost to that brat Chu Chuyan because of what you said during the Clans Tournament. A glorious sixth rank cultivator like myself lost to someone at the fifth rank! Not only did I become the laughingstock of everyone around me, I was sent to the mountains to pick herbs! Battered by the winds day after day, my prospects are in ruins…”

His anger intensified when he thought about what his life had been reduced to.

You have successfully trolled Wu Di for 1024 Rage points!

Zu An blinked. He replied subconsciously, “I’m not gonna lie, but losing to a fifth rank junior as a sixth rank senior is honestly kinda embarrassing.”

Wu Di stared at him, speechless.

He expected Zu An to be frightened by his words, or at least feel some remorse or subconscious embarrassment.

Yet this kid was laughing in his face!

He felt as if his lungs were going to explode.

You have successfully trolled Wu Di for 444… 444… 444… 

“Damned brat, there were eyes everywhere during the Clans Tournament, and the Chu clan was protecting you as well, so I couldn’t do anything to you. But the heavens have shown pity for me! They have granted me a chance encounter with you in the wilderness! Hahahahaha…” Wu Di’s laughter grew more and more chilly.

He suddenly focused his gaze. He noticed the corpses of Old Mi and Wei Dan next to Zu An, as well as the storage pouches in his hands. A greedy glint appeared in his eyes, and his breathing immediately sped up. “Damned brat, hand over those storage pouches! Who knows, if my mood is good, I might even leave you with your life.”

Zu An nodded and said, “Sure!”

With that, he tossed the two storage pouches over to him.

Wu Di was stunned. He fully expected Zu An to refuse, or at least negotiate with him. How could he have predicted that he would just throw them over?

This kid really didn’t act normally at all!

He was afraid that the two pouches might explode, or contain some other nasty surprise, and he put up his guard immediately. He wrapped himself in ki before catching the pouches. However, when he examined them, he didn’t detect any hidden tricks.

Excitement flooded through his veins. “This aura… these are master rank storage pouches!”

He tried to open the pouches using all kinds of different methods. He even tried using elemental fire, but nothing worked.

He put the two pouches away and looked at Zu An. “Brat, I didn’t expect you to be this cowardly! You surrendered them without even putting up a fight!”

Zu An frowned. “What, are you going back on your word now?”

He actually felt a twinge of regret. He had tossed them over in the hope that this dude might actually have a way of opening them. He was much older, after all, and he was also at the sixth rank. In the end, however, he turned out to be completely useless! He wouldn’t have bothered if he’d known that things would turn out this way.

“So what if I go back on my word?” Wu Di’s lips spread in a sinister smile as he closed in on Zu An. “I’m going to teach you an important lesson today! You shouldn’t be so naïve when you’re in the outside world.”

Zu An sighed. “Can’t you tell that I’m not scared of you at all? At least take a moment to think about why I’m acting like this. Who is the naïve one?”

Wu Di was shocked. He stopped in his tracks and looked all around him. Could it be that the Chu clan had set up an ambush?

He looked around but didn’t see a single person. He snorted and said, “You had me scared for a moment there. I received a report not long ago that something major had happened in the Chu clan. How could they afford to send men into the wilderness like that?”

However, he couldn’t shake Zu An’s cold and disdainful gaze. He seemed as though he was looking at a dead person. Wu Di’s mood grew darker and darker. “Damn you, kid! You will learn today that you are absolutely nothing without the Chu clan’s protection!”

He thrust out a hand as he spoke. He had witnessed Zu An’s style of fighting during the Clans Tournament. This kid was only at the beginning of the third rank. Only an idiot like Yuan Wendong could be done in by this little bastard.

He had six ranks of cultivation! He could crush this brat like an ant!

Seeing the careless way in which Wu Di was reaching towards him, Zu An had confidence that he could behead him in one move.

However, he had just risen a rank, and he wanted to test out his strength. Wu Di’s cultivation would make him the perfect punching bag.

As such, he put away the Tai’e Sword and threw out a fist as well.

This kid is courting death!

 A mocking look flashed across Wu Di’s face when he saw that Zu An had no intention of dodging. The difference between sixth rank and third rank was much too vast! His arm might just explode as soon as they made contact!

Why did the Chu clan choose such trash to be their son-in-law? I’m clearly much better.

The two fists made contact. He subconsciously exerted just enough force to break Zu An’s fingers. He didn’t want this victory to be decided too quickly. Instead, he wanted to slowly torture Zu An. Only then could he vent all his resentment!

*Crack!*

There was the sharp sound of bones breaking, and a miserable scream echoed throughout the forest.

Wu Di looked at his fingers, which had bent ninety degrees. His expression was one of sheer horror.

How… how is this possible?!

“You’ve been going on and on from the start. Do you really think you’re anything special? Are you really at the sixth rank?” Zu An didn’t seize the initiative, instead remaining exactly where he was. He looked at Wu Di in puzzlement.

The scorn and contempt in his voice almost made Wu Di puke blood.

You have successfully trolled Wu Di for 458 Rage points!

He had a similar question of his own.

 Was this kid really at the third rank?

Am I dreaming or something?

He didn’t dare show any more carelessness, and immediately drew his blade. Red flames covered its surface.

With a roar, he launched a cleaving strike at Zu An. He was ambidextrous, so using his off-hand did little to hamper his fighting ability.

Zu An suddenly recalled the Sunflower Finger that Old Mi had passed on to him. He hadn’t had a chance to test it out yet. This was the perfect chance to practice.

When he saw Zu An raise a finger to ward off his blade, Wu Di’s lips spread in a malicious smile. 

I am going to chop off your fingers one by one! If not, I will disown my own name!

Zu An could feel the heat of the flames before the blade even made contact.

He shivered inwardly. He was facing an opponent at the sixth rank, after all. Even though he was strong enough to go toe to toe with an opponent at the sixth rank, Wu Di’s elemental power was still a force to be reckoned with.

A light bulb went off in his head. He summoned Blue Mallard, gathering all of the nearby water elements towards him.

There were many trees in the forest, so water was naturally plentiful. He quickly collected a large amount of elemental water. The sensation of scorching heat immediately reduced considerably.

As he watched, the flame blade moved ever closer to him. Zu An’s finger moved. He thrust it forward, directly towards the approaching blade.

Wu Di felt as though a strange energy vortex had run along the length of his blade, and he almost lost his grip on it. The raging flames were scattered instantly. Fortunately, he immediately regained his focus, and the blade was again wreathed in gouts of flame.

He was horrified. “What kind of skill is this?”

Zu An raised his finger to the edge of his lips and blew off the smoke rising from its tip. “This is the result of a thousand years of… Ahem, ahem, a skill I created on my own. I call it the Golden Finger. Are you impressed?”