Chapter 3.
1614 Words
After an entire day of exhaustingly running without pause, Luo Xiang immediately sat cross-legged in the front courtyard of his own residence, thoroughly inspecting the condition of his ruptured Dantian.
Meanwhile, a battered and bruised Han Fei had left the premises and returned to his lodgings, utterly humiliated by his defeat at Luo Xiang's hands. As the second young master of the Han Clan, Han Fei immediately reported the incident to Han Lu.
"Brother, are you really not going to teach him a lesson?!" Han Fei protested, deeply disappointed by his brother's apparent indifference to his plight.
"You foolish boy! He cannot cultivate, so what exactly are you afraid of? And furthermore, how on earth did your face end up looking like a pig's?" Han Lu asked, entirely uninterested yet slightly bewildered.
A sly, manipulative smile flashed across Han Fei's lips to provoke his brother.
"Brother... H-he cheated! He used a specialized poison powder to blindside me... and this is the result!"
Han Lu was slightly taken aback. Even if caught off guard by poison, it should have been impossible for his brother—who was at the Three-Star Early Dao Realm—to be battered so easily.
"Are you absolutely certain he cheated?" Han Lu’s expression shifted, turning chillingly cold.
Seeing that his provocation had worked, Han Fei continued to stoke his brother's anger, desperate to have his defeat avenged.
After thoroughly examining his crippled Dantian, Luo Xiang let out a long, heavy sigh. To heal it, he would require three incredibly rare ingredients that undoubtedly commanded astronomical prices. In fact, one might even have to pay with their life to obtain them.
"In this Continent, how am I supposed to find the God Leaf Root, Heaven's Tears, and the Eternal Ginseng?" Luo Xiang muttered, sighing deeply.
Amidst his dismay over the extreme scarcity of these three ingredients, which were notoriously difficult to find on the Sky Continent, Han Fei and Han Lu suddenly marched into Luo Xiang's residence, accompanied by their entourage.
"Trash... Look here, I have brought my elder brother! Are you willing to drop to your knees and beg for my forgiveness now?!" Han Lu demanded arrogantly.
"Beg for forgiveness? Do you honestly think I would ever do that?" Luo Xiang replied, finding Han Lu’s face vaguely familiar.
‘Why am I unable to access the memories of this body's original owner?’ Luo Xiang wondered, feeling perplexed.
"Trash Xiang... Do you still remember how I rendered you completely paralyzed? And now that you are suddenly healed... is this where you gather the courage to bully my younger brother?" Han Lu asked calmly, though his gaze was razor-sharp.
"Oh, so he was the one who inflicted those wounds upon this original vessel..." Luo Xiang murmured to himself, instantly shifting into a guarded stance.
"Why so quiet... Are you afraid I will turn you back into a piece of garbage who can only lie helplessly in bed?" Han Lu's voice grew dangerously cold.
"Hahahaha... I utterly despise being called trash... Even if you bring those rotten elders standing beside you... I still dare to s*******r you," Luo Xiang began to provoke him back.
"Miserable wretch, you court death!"
Swuuuuush!
Han Lu was the type of person who was easily provoked. With his temper instantly exploding, he threw all caution to the wind, dashing forward at lightning speed to strike Luo Xiang with his palm.
Swuuuuush!
A massive palm print forged from Qi energy whistled through the air straight toward Luo Xiang. Just as Luo Xiang was about to evade the strike, Luo Lan materialized in front of him, effortlessly deflecting the concentrated Qi energy with a single flick of her finger.
Baaaaams!
Violent shockwaves of Qi energy rippled outward into the surroundings as Luo Lan firmly stood her ground before Luo Xiang.
"My son, are you alright?" Luo Lan asked, before immediately locking a piercing glare onto Han Lu’s entourage.
"I am perfectly fine, Mother!" Luo Xiang replied.
Luo Lan nodded, her focus shifting entirely toward the elders standing behind Han Lu.
"Have you come all the way to the Luo Clan just to bully my son?!" Luo Lan threatened in a chilling tone.
"Pah! You arrogant wench! If you have the guts, fight us instead! Do not interfere in the matters of the younger generation!"
One of the Elders shot forward, stopping directly in front of Luo Lan. Luo Lan merely curled her lips into a faint smile upon witnessing the sheer audacity of the Elder before her.
Swuuuuung!
"If you had come with good intentions, I would have gladly welcomed you... Unfortunately, I just recalled that your young master was the one who grievously harmed my son! Now, scram from this place!"
A massive torrent of energy violently erupted from Luo Lan's body. Feeling the suffocating pressure of a Five-Star Dao Ling Realm cultivation, the group of elders instantly shuddered in sheer terror.
"D-d*mn it... Young Master, even if we charge together, it is absolutely impossible for us to defeat a Dao Ling practitioner!" one of the elders stammered under his breath.
"Tch! Utter useless trash..." Han Lu muttered, feeling highly irritated.
While the elders recoiled in fear from Luo Lan’s overwhelming aura, Shen Luo Xiang's reaction was entirely different. He knew that if his mother forced her Qi energy to erupt like this, it could cause the hidden poison within her body to violently detonate.
"Mother, calm down... I know my own limits," Shen Luo Xiang whispered softly.
"Leave this instant! If I catch sight of you within the Luo Clan grounds again... I will personally annihilate you," Luo Lan threatened coldly.
"Heh! If the Patriarch were present, would you still dare to act this arrogant?" Han Lu retorted before turning to leave, his face darkened with bitter disappointment.
Seeing them retreat, Luo Xiang suddenly halted the Han Clan entourage's departure.
"Wait!"
Han Lu instantly turned back, a smug smirk playing at the corner of his lips.
"What? Do you intend to hide behind your mother again?" Han Lu sneered.
"HAHAHAHA! Of course not. Because I intend to challenge you to a duel one month from today!"
Luo Xiang's sudden declaration instantly caused Han Lu and his entourage to burst into mocking laughter. Luo Lan, however, reacted with sheer panic.
"My son, are you joking?! You cannot cultivate... You might have been lucky against Han Fei earlier, but it will not be the same against Han Lu, who is at the Five-Star Dao Dan Realm!"
"Mother, do not worry..."
"Very well, I accept your challenge! Come to the Han Clan in a month, and I will be sure to give you a proper welcome!" Han Lu replied, resuming his walk. "But remember... when the day of the battle comes, I hope you won't hide behind your mother's skirt!"
"..." Before Luo Xiang could even respond, Luo Lan grabbed him and dragged him straight inside the house.
Once they were in the living room, a deeply worried Luo Lan immediately tried to convince Luo Xiang to call off this perilous duel.
"My son... Are you absolutely certain about this?"
"Mother... Xiang'er will do his utmost. I only ask for your blessing to train outside the clan... Will you grant me your permission?"
"But my son, with your current condition..." Luo Lan knew all too well the extreme dangers that lurked beyond the safety of the clan.
However, just as she was about to continue her lecture, a voice deeply familiar to both of them echoed through the room.
"Lan'er... Destiny will surely aid him. If this is truly his desire, there will undoubtedly be a glimmer of hope for Xiang'er... so you need not worry yourself."
"Father, but..."
Swuuuush!
An elderly man materialized inside the room, gently stroking his long white beard. Observing his completely unpredictable appearance, Luo Xiang knew for certain that his grandfather was an exceptionally powerful cultivator within the Sky Continent.
"Grandfather..." Luo Lan and Luo Xiang greeted him in unison.
"Enough... Besides, sooner or later, Xiang'er will have to take up your struggle and his father's burden in the future... Do you still wish to hold him back?" Luo Jin asked gently.
"Very well... Mother will agree to it... Oh right, Xiang'er, since we have important matters to discuss, go and pack the necessities you will need out there..."
Luo Xiang nodded, then headed straight to his room to prepare the clothes and belongings he needed to bring along.
A few moments after finishing his packing, Luo Xiang accidentally overheard a snippet of the conversation between his mother and his grandfather.
"Grandfather, I am still unable to uncover any leads regarding the whereabouts of Xiang'er's father... Do you have any clues?"
"It appears that the faction that launched the assault back then was the Dark Army... But this cannot be confirmed for certain just yet."
Luo Xiang was deeply shocked to hear the name of this particular faction. Even in his past life, this army had once fought alongside the Heavenly hosts to eradicate the Demons.
‘If that is the case, doesn't it mean the Luo Clan is actually a massive clan? And the father of this original vessel was a highly revered figure?’ Since he knew absolutely nothing regarding the origins of the Luo Clan—compounded by the total absence of the original owner's memories—Shen Luo Xiang knew this would weigh heavily on his mind as his journey commenced.
"Sigh... I cannot be selfish and only care about my own vengeance... Whether I like it or not, I must uncover the path this body was truly meant to walk..." Luo Xiang murmured to himself before finally stepping out of his room.
- Writer
