The words hung in the air for what seemed like eternity. Many in the area seemed to be touching their ears as though there was something wrong with it. Did they hear that right? Did he just say “Are you done?”

  Li Yu did not nod like so many thought he would.

  He didn’t bow back. He didn’t smile at Cyrus at all. He looked at Cyrus with the same bored, hungry expression he had worn for Valen. The look of someone who thinks the other is a fool and has grown tired of their actions.

  The silence returned, sharper than before. Many were surprised at the path that Li Yu decided to take. Many thought it was suicide while others were hoping he would succeed.

  Cyrus paused, his smile freezing for a fraction of a second before recovering. “I beg your pardon?”

  “I asked if you were done talking,” Li Yu said without even looking at him. He was still trying to see where he would eat once this was over. “Because that was a very pretty speech. ‘Zeal.’ ‘Passion.’ ‘Mistake of words.’ You have a talent for fiction, old man. You should write novels instead of being Patriarch."

  Li Yu dropped his hand and looked Cyrus in the eye.

  “Words,” Li Yu said softly, “are like weapons. Some would say they can be even more dangerous than a weapon. You can’t just draw them, wave them around and then say ‘oops’ when you realize the other guy has a bigger sword. A single wrong word could cause the downfall of a house, don’t you agree?”

  He took a step toward the Patriarch of the Crimson Fang. The five elders behind Cyrus bristled, their hands twitching to take out their weapons but Cyrus held up a hand to stop them. Credit where it's due, the elders did not have any out bursts.

  “You think because you showed up with a light show and a few polite lies that everything is fixed?” Li Yu asked. “You think you can just say ‘my bad’ and walk away after your dog tried to rob me in front of everyone here? To threaten me?”

  Li Yu shook his head. “You think too highly of yourself, old man. Just because you’re the Patriarch doesn’t mean your face is big enough to cover this mess. This is not going to end how you think it will.”

  Gasps erupted from the crowd. No one spoke to Cyrus like this, or at least no one here had ever heard it. This was a man who had ruled over his area and had influence across the entire Eastern Continent for hundreds of years. He was a titan in his own right. He was at the Eighth Level of Soul Formation. A realm that most cultivators could only dream of.

  Cyrus’s eyes narrowed. The grandfatherly mask nearly slipped, revealing the cold predator beneath. However, he still maintained most of his composure from before and continued.

  “Young friend,” Cyrus said, his voice dropping in temperature. “I have offered you an apology. I have offered you peace. Do not mistake my kindness for weakness. It would be wise to accept the bridge I have built before it burns.”

  Li Yu laughed out loud. It was a genuine and happy sound.

  “Weakness? That was a bridge? Do I, Little Crab of the Crab Cult, look like a beggar to you?” Li Yu looked at Cyrus while scanning him up and down.

  Li Yu’s spiritual sense could detect Cyrus’s cultivation. He knew it from the moment he appeared. Soul Formation, Eighth Level. Not only could Li Yu detect it through most kinds of hiding techniques, his soul strength was simply monstrous at this point. Cyrus was not trying to hide it at all.

  It was impressive. On this continent and the other two that Li Yu has been to, he was likely one of the top five strongest individuals. His energy was dense like a coiled viper waiting to strike. He stood on equal footing with Shen Tu.

  But Li Yu had also scanned up at the fading tear in the sky with his spiritual sense. When they had arrived and later after the fissure had closed.

  He saw the residual energy fluctuations and he understood it. He probed the burn marks on the fabric of space. It wasn’t created by the power of a cultivator.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  ‘He didn’t tear that open with his own power,’ Li Yu thought. ‘He used a tool. A special talisman that can warp space or maybe an array. It was sloppy. Crude. If he can’t do that, then I have nothing to fear from him.’

  This detail changed everything. If Cyrus had torn the void with his own understanding, Li Yu might have been more cautious and tactful. A cultivator who mastered space was hard to kill and even harder to escape from.

  But a cultivator who relied on tools to travel?

  Li Yu smirked. ‘I can leave whenever I want. He can’t catch me. He can’t trap me. And if we fight… I still haven’t gotten a chance to test the limits of my powers. This might be a good chance.... I also have Tekton now as well. And I have an empty stomach that is making me very cranky.’

  “I don’t think you’re weak,” Li Yu said cheerfully. “I just think you’re cheap.”

  “Cheap?” Cyrus repeated as the vein in his temple began to throb.

  “You wasted my time,” Li Yu listed on his fingers. “You delayed my lunch. You stressed me and my beast out. And you insulted my intelligence. If you want to walk away from here, Cyrus, you need to pay a price.”

  Li Yu extended his hand with his palm up.

  “Compensation. For emotional damages. For time lost. And for the annoyance of listening to yours and that guy over there bad acting. Sorry, I forgot his name.”

  The crowd was petrified. He wasn’t stepping back at all, he was stepping forward and demanding! The boy was demanding money from the House of Crimson Fang? He was openly insulting them now? It was madness. It was complete suicide.

  Several of the elders behind Cyrus were visibly furious but they didn’t speak up. They continued to stand there and let their leader speak.

  “And if I refuse?” Cyrus asked softly. The air around him began to warp. His aura flared even more, heating the entire square up. People knew when things were past the point of no return. They scattered and got far away from this area, afraid they would be caught up in things. Shen Tu stood where he was and so did a few others who were confident in their own abilities.

  The five elders behind Cyrus finally acted after their leader’s words. They drew their weapons.

  Li Yu didn’t flinch at all. It was as though he wasn’t being threatened at all but being asked out for some food. He just smiled with a dangerous glint in his eyes. He too was ready and waiting.

  “Then we do what I told that man over there,” Li Yu said. “We fight. Right here. Right now. You, me, and your five cheerleaders. That one over there too if he has the guts to. And let me tell you, Cyrus… if we fight, I’m going to charge you a lot more than just spirit stones when I’m done.”

  The ultimatum slammed into the square like a physical blow and with the auras flared the ground cracked and crumbled as if it was hit. No one had seen such a scene before. The mighty Crimson Fang was being extorted by a single person. The thing that the Crimson Fang had done to countless others through the years was now being done to them.

  Most people had expected Li Yu to walk away and let things end. He was able to stand up for himself and not be walked over. That was a win in most people’s eyes when dealing with the Crimson Fang.

  Others expected him to thank the heavens that the Patriarch hadn't decided to crush him right, as soon as he appeared. They thought the standoff with Valen was dangerous but a standoff with Patriarch Cyrus? That was insanity. He wasn’t even here by himself, he had brought 5 additional incredibly powerful elders.

  Torben, who was still watching from the back, felt his jaw drop slightly before a wide grin split his face.

  ‘By the frozen hells,’ Torben thought. ‘He’s actually doing it. He’s shaking down the Crimson Fang. I like this kid more and more. Perhaps I should help him if things really get dangerous. I can’t bear to see such a genius and one with an attitude that I like so much.’

  Shen Tu, too, felt a flicker of genuine surprise ripple through his stoic composure. He had expected Li Yu to be arrogant, yes. He saw through a part of Li Yu’s plan and what he was trying to do. But to be this fearless?

  He thought that with the arrival of Cyrus, Li Yu would back off and leave it here for now. But to look at an Eighth Level Soul Formation expert and see nothing but a walking wallet? Even he did not have the confidence to ask for money in this way from Cyrus, probably no one on this continent did.

  Cyrus stood frozen with indecision. Many expected him to explode forward and attack. However, for the first time in centuries, he was unsure. The script he had written in his head—arrive, look benevolent, scold Valen, leave with dignity—had been shredded.

  He looked at the boy. He looked at the beast. And he realized that the iron plate his subordinate had kicked was actually a wall. And the boy standing in front of it was waiting for him to crash into it.

  ‘Where is his confidence coming from? That beast is strong but it is alone. We could distract it or lock it down and then kill the boy. But I can’t tell how strong that boy is. Why can’t I detect at all his cultivation?’

  “Well? The crowd has scattered, we are free and open to fight. Of course, we won’t fight here, I don’t want to damage anything around here and hurt innocent people. Shen Tu would probably scold me afterwards if I damage his prosperity, no, he would take it out of my merit points that he owes me. I can’t have that now.” Li Yu spoke with a calmness that did not fit the current situation.