Borrowed Sword

Chapter 28: Arrogant

After Niu Yuanshan arrived at the dungeon, he completely took control of the situation.

Liu Tianfeng was already that old—how could he not understand what he meant?

The old man immediately caught on.

“This old bull really thinks things through,” he thought.

He had injured someone from the Sixth Elder’s faction—how could he not show some form of apology?

If blamed for it, the consequences would be unimaginable!

In truth, even if Niu Yuanshan hadn’t reminded him just now, Liu Tianfeng would have realized it soon enough and brought gifts to apologize in person.

Because Old Bull had used a secret voice transmission earlier, only Liu Tianfeng could hear it.

So, his dear son and beloved nephew were completely confused at this moment.

“Father’s just letting him go?”

“Why does Uncle look so upset?”

Niu Yuanshan was the most junior among the nine Outer Sect Stewards—surely it wasn’t that serious...

But soon, they heard Liu Tianfeng speak: “It was all a misunderstanding, dear nephew, all a misunderstanding!”

Even the form of address had changed in an instant.

“All the fault lies with us.”

“But what happened today was too rushed, this old man was unprepared.”

“How about this—tomorrow I’ll bring generous gifts and visit dear nephew to personally apologize.”

“Dear nephew, what do you think?”

At this moment, the old man had none of his former authority.

This left Liu Chengqi and Liu Chenggong dumbfounded.

Chu Huaixu, however, accepted it calmly.

Come on now! He had taken the identity of the World Protagonist!

Niu Yuanshan, listening on the side, felt it was time to step in.

To be exact, everything he’d done so far had been a buildup for this.

This thick-browed, honest-looking fellow was sharp on the inside!

“I actually have a suggestion,” he said, a peacemaking smile appearing on his face.

“Please speak, Steward Niu!” Liu Tianfeng cooperated fully, his tone bold, as if he’d agree to any condition.

“Steward Liu, the 【Jade Token Fragments】 you obtained earlier—why not give each of them one piece?” Niu Yuanshan’s true intention finally surfaced.

As soon as he said that, the smile on the old man’s face froze instantly.

The atmosphere in the dungeon shifted in a flash.

“This...” Liu Tianfeng clearly didn’t want to agree.

Liu Chengqi panicked too when he heard this and exclaimed from the side, “Father!”

That was his opportunity!

Whether his damaged Blazing Fire Spirit Embryo could recover all depended on that!

Liu Tianfeng, who had his son late in life, always doted on his only child.

But even so, he couldn’t help glaring at him this time.

“Shut up!” he snapped.

All this trouble had started because of him—of all people, he just had to provoke someone from the Sixth Elder’s faction!

At first, Liu Tianfeng had felt it was humiliating that someone at the Six Orifices Stage lost to someone who had only opened two orifices.

Now he only felt relieved: thank goodness he lost...

Facing Niu Yuanshan’s outrageous demand, he hesitated for a few seconds.

Chu Huaixu silently watched him all along, only feeling that this old man gave off a vibe of being scheming yet clueless at the same time.

In the end, Liu Tianfeng waved his hand and took out two jade-like fragments from the storage space of his Steward Token.

They looked like mutton-fat jade, engraved with patterns and faintly emanating a spiritual aura.

The Liu father and son duo could only console themselves: “There are ten Jade Token Fragments in total—giving them two is still acceptable.”

The key was not to anger the Sixth Elder!

At the root of it all, Niu Yuanshan’s image as an honest man was too deeply ingrained.

“With Old Bull’s upright nature, the more outrageous his request, the more it hinted that this kid’s background is sky-high!”

Among the Outer Sect Stewards, this Young Bull had the strongest professional ability—he always handled matters thoroughly, and everyone thought he was reliable.

With a grand wave of his hand, Liu Tianfeng sent the two Jade Token Fragments floating in front of Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang.

“Keep them safe,” said Niu Yuanshan gently.

The two immediately stored the Jade Token Fragments into their Storage Tokens.

In that instant, Chu Huaixu heard a voice only he could hear.

“【Ding! You have successfully completed the mission—Revenge from Liu Chengqi.】”

“【You have successfully obtained 1000 Experience Points.】”

“【Congratulations, you have unlocked a Hidden Dungeon—Token of the Pill King!】”

...

...

Inside the dungeon, Chu Huaixu was inwardly delighted.

Everything had gone too smoothly.

The Grade-A mission had been completed successfully, and with the help of the insider Niu Yuanshan, he had even unlocked a Hidden Dungeon.

But for a typical newbie player, all of this was practically impossible to accomplish—so the Grade-A rating made sense.

Those three Liu bastards might as well be the Evil Final Bosses of the Newbie Village.

If Chu Huaixu didn’t have the protagonist aura of Xu Ziqing, relying on Niu Yuanshan alone would have barely been enough to complete the mission—and there would likely have been a string of follow-up troubles!

“Is this the thrill of being the World Protagonist?” Chu Huaixu thought to himself.

The Jade Token Fragment he had just obtained—he personally understood it as the key to unlocking the dungeon.

“【Token of the Pill King】? I’ve never seen this Hidden Dungeon on the game forums.”

“Looks like it predates the game’s official release.”

However, he had heard of the Pill King before.

In the Dao of Alchemy, the greatest achievement undoubtedly belonged to the Dao Ancestor.

The Dao Ancestor had created the Qi-Opening Pill, initiating a golden age of cultivation!

Second only to him was the Pill King!

Chu Huaixu still remembered how, when he played Borrowed Sword, the emergence of the 【Pill King’s Secret Realm】 had caused a sensation.

Because it involved the Pill King’s legacy, the entire Xuanhuang Realm boiled over, and all the major Game Guilds were gearing up to claim a piece of the pie.

“But could this 【Token of the Pill King】 be related to the 【Pill King’s Secret Realm】?” he speculated internally.

As of now, he couldn’t be certain.

A Hidden Dungeon in the Newbie Village shouldn’t be this high-level.

Today’s trip could definitely be called fruitful.

Niu Yuanshan turned to look at Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang and asked, “Are you two satisfied with this outcome?”

Liu Tianfeng increasingly felt that Old Bull understood the way things worked—this was essentially asking if they intended to report this to the Sixth Elder and whether this misunderstanding could now be resolved.

The old man was in great pain over the loss, but he couldn’t ask these things directly—Niu Yuanshan, on the other hand, was perfect for the role.

There was no choice—after all, they had just tried to take Chu Huaixu’s life!

If this wasn’t handled well, it would form a lasting grudge with the Sixth Elder.

Han Shuangjiang didn’t reply immediately, merely looked at Chu Huaixu.

As if to say: his opinion is my opinion.

Chu Huaixu stepped forward a few paces and came to stand before the Liu trio.

“Steward sir, this junior has one more question to ask,” he said politely, hands cupped in salute.

From beginning to end, his manners had been impeccable.

At this point, Liu Tianfeng no longer dared act high and mighty.

Seeing his posture, he actually felt relieved—it gave him a way to save face.

He quickly reached out a hand, wanting to help Chu Huaixu up.

But just as he extended his hand, Chu Huaixu moved.

Everything happened so suddenly that he couldn’t even react in time.

A cultivator of the Third Realm had spiritual energy circulating throughout their body, with keen senses—it was very hard to catch them off guard, and they would instinctively respond.

But the problem was—Chu Huaixu wasn’t attacking him.

Just as Liu Tianfeng started to react, a rock-like spiritual force blocked him.

It was Niu Yuanshan!

Chu Huaixu struck Liu Chengqi in the chest with a palm, just like earlier in the courtyard today.

Thanks to his perfect control over his body, his palm landed with precision on the exact same spot.

Those ribs, which had just been barely reattached with spiritual medicine, snapped with a loud crack!

Did I say you could reattach them? And you did it anyway!

—【Eight Wastelands Wandering Dragon】!

Liu Chengqi let out a heart-wrenching scream.

The same scene had played out twice in one day.

The excruciating pain from the same spot nearly caused him to faint!

After doing all this, Chu Huaixu slowly stood up and withdrew his hand.

This tall and upright young man was half a head taller than Liu Tianfeng.

He stared directly into the man’s eyes and said loudly:

“This disciple just asked the Steward: exactly which rule did I break?”

“Would Steward Liu kindly repeat it!”

“This disciple is all ears!”

...