Chapter 54: A Panicky Tang Yuan

“Is that your fellow outer disciple?” Shang Quan asked after they left.

Shang Xia chuckled, “Yeah. He was one of my opponents in the outer division.”

“Looks like you improved quite a bit. He couldn’t even take a single strike from you!” Shang Quan muttered.

Shang Xia laughed in response and a trace of contentment flashed in his eyes.

As they chattered with each other, they quickly arrived at the main hall.

Shang Quan sniggered under his breath when he saw that there wasn’t a single guard at the entrance. However, he quickly suppressed his amusement.

“This is absolutely disgraceful! Are all of you stupid or something?! How dare you frame Junior Brother Yuan?! With your guts, are you going to slander me in the future?!” A roar rang through the air as the two of them approached the main hall.

A soft cough followed by a weak response could be heard. “Senior Brother Yuan, please calm down. They’re too young and don't think through their words… Let’s stop here. We have guests coming and it wouldn’t be nice to embarrass ourselves in front of them.”

Silence filled the air for some time, but a loud yell soon filled the air. “Your position of vice captain is stripped and I’ll dock half a year of your pay! Get out! Are you trying to embarrass yourself by staying here?”

A sorry figure limped out of the hall and his expression changed when he saw Shang Quan and Shang Xia standing outside. He quickly scuttered away.

Shang Xia could see that the person who was kicked out of the hall was Jiang Changyu who was throwing all sorts of accusations at him the other day.

Looking at his sorry figure, Shang Xia tapped Shang Quan’s shoulder and whispered, “Uncle Shang, do you know what’s going on?”

When Shang Xia saw the shit-eating grin on Shang Quan’s face, he understood everything…

When the two of them entered the hall, they saw a figure sitting in the main seat. He had a narrow forehead and large chin, and his nose was unusually big for his face. It was none other than the head of the patrol squads, Tang Yuan!

Another middle aged expert was sitting on his right. From his robes, Shang Xia recognized that his position was comparable to Yuan Zilu. He was probably another deacon from the Protection Division.

Several captains stood behind him and Shang Xia recognized three of them. Ji Sheng, Tang Youqian, and Yu Shenglong were people he had seen before.

On Tang Yuan’s left was a man who was coughing lightly. His complexion didn’t look too good, and he was Yuan Zilu who held the experts of the Wind Swallow Race back during the raid.

“Haha, I wonder what wind managed to blow the great manager of the Shang Pavilion over to my humble hall! Your presence brings light to our tiny little Patrol Hall… Please, take a seat!”

Tang Yuan released a hearty laughter and he gestured for them to sit. Shang Quan might only be at the Martial Extremity Realm, but he was the person who held the authority of the Shang Clan when Shang Ke was absent.

Since Shang Quan requested an audience, Tang Yuan should have greeted him at the entrance. Even if he didn't, he should have stood up when greeting the man. From the looks of it, he wasn’t showing Shang Quan much respect.

Of course, Shang Quan turned a blind eye to his actions. He looked for a random seat in the hall and laughed, “I wouldn’t dare to receive your compliment! I’m here because my nephew wishes to meet Master Tang Yuan.”

After he spoke, he greeted Yuan Zilu before drinking his tea nonchalantly. He threw Shang Xia over to do whatever he wanted.

“Oh?” The smile on Tang Yuan’s face started to fade as he got comfortable in his chair. He looked at Shang Xia and sighed, “Alright, speak your mind. I’m a little tired from the battle against the members of the Azure Spiritual World.”

As if on cue, he released a long yawn to show that Shang Xia was interrupting his rest.

Cupping his fist, Shang Xia asked, “I wonder if Master Tang Yuan can contact Deputy Patriarch Ji. This junior has something serious to report!”

“Heh…” Tang Yuan seemed to have heard the greatest joke of his life and he snorted, “Looks like this old man is merely a messenger in your eyes… What’s so serious that you can’t tell me?”

Shang Xia replied, “Indeed… The matter is extremely serious. I hope that Master Tang Yuan will listen to my request.”

Tang Yuan finally snapped. He sneered in contempt, “Deputy Patriarch Ji is busy defending the Tongyou Peak! Do you really think you can disturb him with any little request you want?! Hmph. I don’t even know what you have to say to him… How am I supposed to request for an audience with him?! Even if you’re someone from the Shang Clan, you can’t do as you wish here!”

The corners of Shang Xia’s lips curled upwards and a trace of amusement flashed in his eyes. An ‘awkward’ expression soon appeared on his face and he sighed, “Does Master Tang Yuan really wish to know? I haven’t even told Uncle Quan what happened… Can I really say it in front of everyone here?”

He swept his gaze across everyone in the hall with a worried look on his face. It was as though they were not fit to listen to what was going to come out of his mouth.

Snorts left the lips of the various captains and those in the hall.

“Alright… I’ll really say it…”

“Hehe…” Tang Yuan’s second in command couldn’t control his laughter and neither could the captains behind him. All of them revealed mocking expressions while looking at Shang Xia.

“The Rose Party sent the cultivators of the Azure Spiritual World a secret report that our patriarch, Kou Chongxue, is seriously injured and missing!”

Shang Xia didn’t speak too quickly. He looked at everyone in the hall with a mysterious expression on his face.

Even so, his words were like a massive storm that swept through the hearts of those present.

As for Tang Yuan, he realized that things were going south the moment he heard the name ‘Rose Party’.

When he heard the words ‘secret report’, he grabbed his armrests to get up, but he crushed them into dust in a fit of anxiety. As his body shook unsteadily, the greatest bomb was released.

Tang Yuan leaped to his feet with all his might as the chair he was sitting on crumbled to dust.

When Yuan Zilu heard the news, his already weak body trembled violently and the cup in his hand crashed into the ground.

“Pui!” Shang Quan spat out the tea in his mouth. He didn’t expect Shang Xia to actually say something like that.

The captains and deacon sitting opposite him were completely dumbstruck.

“Preposterous!” Tang Yuan roared as he released his aura completely. The strength of a cultivator at the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm was on full display as a formless pressure came crashing down on Shang Xia.

“How dare you spread rumors like that?! Do you think this is something you can joke about as you please?” Shang Quan yelled at Shang Xia all of a sudden, but his figure appeared in front of his nephew as he resisted the pressure coming from Tang Yuan.

His face turned pale, but he stood his ground.

The captains and deacon came back to reality and started to yell at Shang Xia in unison.

With Tang Yuan’s aura crushing him, Shang Xia found it hard to speak. For an expert at the Martial Intent Realm, they could suppress cultivators weaker than them with their divine sense alone!

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

If ordinary cultivators at the Martial Intent Realm could do that, there was no need to speak for Tang Yuan who was at the grand completion stage of the Martial Intent Realm. He was an existence who was headed towards the Fourth Order of the Primary Realm!

Luckily for Shang Xia, Shang Quan came over to share the pressure with him. As the Yin Yang Diagram in his dantian rotated violently, it started to grind away at the pressure crushing him. He only managed to speak after some time.

Shang Xia might be a cultivator who just broke through to the Martial Extremity Realm and his words didn’t carry much weight, but Tang Yuan knew what he was saying was the truth.

There was no way he could have made it up. After all, even Martial Intent Realm cultivators in the Tongyou Peak might not have heard of the name ‘Rose Party’ before. There was no way in hell Shang Xia would know about them unless he heard some reliable news.

As the head of the patrol squads, Tang Yuan was considered part of the upper echelons of the Tongyou Peak even if he wasn’t considered to be the core of the organization. Everything that was going on seemed to back Shang Xia’s words up.

That was exactly the reason he didn’t wish for Shang Xia to continue talking.

The rage he was displaying was merely a facade to hide the panic brewing in his heart.

If what he said was true…

Tang Yuan didn’t dare to imagine what would happen next!

When he released his aura to pressure Shang Xia, he expected Shang Quan to interfere. Even so, he had half a mind to punish the uncle and nephew pair. However, something unexpected happened. He discovered that Shang Xia’s inner qi was flowing a little strangely. Not only could it grind away his aura, it was using the pressure to strengthen his will!

It might seem minuscule, but he could feel his martial intent slowly disappearing.

There was definitely something weird about the brat!

The thought flashed through his mind, but he was interrupted by a soft voice.

“Master Tang, if I were you, I’ll report this immediately! Regardless of the validity of the news, you no longer have the authority to suppress it.” Shang Xia spat word by word.

Shang Quan stared at him incredulously, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

“You…” Tang Yuan was raging in his heart, but he knew that whatever Shang Xia said was true. Regardless of whether what Shang Xia said was a rumor, it was out of his reach. He could only swallow his unhappiness.

“No one in this hall is allowed to leave!” Understanding the severity of the situation, Tang Yuan locked down the place instantly.

The deacon sitting on his right snapped back to reality. Even though he was extremely flustered, he knew how serious things were. He glared at Shang Xia and snapped, “Who else knows about this?!”