Chapter 124: First Meeting with Prince Fuling

Chapter 124: Chapter 124: First Meeting with Prince Fuling

This was just Chu Fan’s personality: if you respect me an inch, I’ll respect you a yard. But if you treat me like an ant and still expect me to be pleasant? You’re dreaming.

Forget a mere Commandery Prince; even if the Emperor of the Hua Xu Empire himself were standing before him, Chu Fan wouldn’t necessarily show him any respect.

’I don’t live under your protection, so what gives you the right to act so high and mighty?’

When Chu Fan spoke those four words, Shen Yidu was secretly delighted.

Prince Fuling leisurely stared into Chu Fan’s eyes. A man behind him took a few steps forward, raising a hand to slap Chu Fan.

Yao Zhi stepped forward and pleaded, "Commandery Prince, he’s from the Eastern Domain and doesn’t understand our Hua Xu customs. You are a magnanimous man; please don’t hold it against him."

"What? Are you trying to tell me, this Prince, how to do things? So what if he’s from the Eastern Domain? A man from an uncivilized land should learn some manners. If he doesn’t know, this Prince can have someone teach him."

"Xinghua, teach him a lesson," Prince Fuling ordered the man who had wanted to slap Chu Fan.

"As you command!" The man named Xinghua shoved Yao Zhi aside and swung his hand toward Chu Fan’s cheek.

SLAP!

Everyone else thought the sound was to be expected.

But when a miserable shriek rang out, they noticed that the man named Xinghua was the one clutching his own swollen cheek, while Chu Fan still stood in the same spot, as if nothing had happened at all.

Li Xinghua glared at Chu Fan with venomous hatred, immediately drew a Long Sword from his waist, and snarled through gritted teeth, "I’m going to kill you!"

Chu Fan remained completely unfazed. He simply took two steps back, looked at Prince Fuling, and asked, "Your lackey wants to kill me. What’s your official take on that?"

Prince Fuling waved a hand to stop Li Xinghua, then clapped his palms together as he walked toward Chu Fan.

"Not bad, not bad at all. In over thirty years, you’re the first person who’s dared to speak to me, this Prince, like that."

"Oh? Is that so? What about your parents? Are they meek and submissive in front of you too?"

"You..." Prince Fuling was thoroughly enraged by Chu Fan’s retort. He ordered, "Seize him for me—now!"

At his command, the four men in Guard uniforms behind him, in addition to Li Xinghua, all closed in on Chu Fan.

"Chu Fan, why haven’t you apologized to the Commandery Prince yet?" It was Luo Qingling who spoke, a genuinely worried expression on her face.

"That’s right, Chu Fan. The Commandery Prince is a magnanimous man; he won’t bicker with a minor figure. Just apologize and it’ll be fine." Yao Zhi’s words were ostensibly urging Chu Fan to admit fault, but they were also flattering Prince Fuling. If Chu Fan were to actually apologize, the Commandery Prince might show leniency because of that very statement.

So his true intention was still to help Chu Fan.

Chu Fan’s estimation of Yao Zhi rose once again.

’This is someone worth befriending.’

He made his judgment.

"Brother Yao, this has nothing to do with you. All of you, stay out of it. I’m not a citizen of your Hua Xu Empire to begin with. Prince or not, it’s all the same to me. A Commandery Prince is still just a man, no better than anyone else. Since this Commandery Prince is so indignant, I’ll just have some fun playing with a few of his subordinates."

"Yao Zhi, stop worrying about him. Since he doesn’t know what’s good for him, it’s better if he learns a lesson," Bian Wanru said from the side, tugging on Yao Zhi’s sleeve with an expression of disgust and contempt for Chu Fan.

"Truly a man from the barren lands of the Eastern Domain. A barbarian is a barbarian," a man next to Yao Zhi named Zhu Songyang said with disdain.

The idea of the "Eastern Barbarians" was deeply ingrained in the minds of the Central Domain People.

Chu Fan was already clashing with the five men. However, he held his Sword in his right hand but kept it reversed behind his back, fighting them with just the fists of his left hand.

Among this group of Central Domain prodigies, the one with the highest cultivation was the man with the little moustache standing silently beside Prince Fuling with a cold expression. He was likely at Tier Seven of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Prince Fuling himself, meanwhile, was at Tier Four of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Most of the others were still at Tier One or Tier Two. Among the five men currently fighting Chu Fan, only two were at Tier Three.

Aside from Li Xinghua, who was at Nascent Soul Realm Tier One and using a Sword, the other four were all using palm or fist strikes.

Therefore, given Chu Fan’s Realm, even without using his Sword and fighting with only his left hand, he handled the five of them with ease.

In truth, Chu Fan was not proficient in Fist Techniques or Palm Techniques. He had learned a Fist Technique set back at the Lingyun Sect, but that was a long time ago.

But on the path of the Martial Dao, to master one thing is to understand all things. What mattered was one’s ability to react and adapt, as well as one’s control over power.

Although he wasn’t an expert, he had no problem whatsoever suppressing these five with his superior Realm.

After several exchanges, they hadn’t even managed to touch the corner of Chu Fan’s robes. In contrast, Chu Fan had landed a punch or a kick on each of them.

This outcome was completely unexpected to everyone watching.

Of course, Chu Fan’s performance was merely standard; he wasn’t fighting ruthlessly. Otherwise, after all this time, the five of them would have long been beaten to the point they couldn’t get back up.

But this very performance made them think Chu Fan was nothing special, and the other four men drew their swords as well.

Moreover, they were now incensed from being struck by Chu Fan, and the moment their swords were drawn, they unleashed exceptionally sharp Sword Techniques.

Seeing this, Chu Fan gave a cold sneer.

’Whether in terms of cultivation or the Sword Dao, I’m far beyond them. Do they really dare to use swords in front of me?’

However, before Chu Fan could even unleash a Sword Technique of his own, someone in the crowd began to gloat.

"Who doesn’t know that the Sword Array of the Four-Gazing Swordsmen from Prince Chen’s Mansion can be used to fight above their tier? This kid sees the four of them draw their swords and he’s not even running? He’s practically courting death!" Ding Xun sneered mockingly.

"He even impersonated a Secret Realm Guardian before. He’s just an Eastern Barbarian who doesn’t know his own limits. If I had known he was one of the Eastern Barbarians, I would have killed him long ago," Yan Jin chimed in from the side.

’The Sword Array of the Four-Gazing Swordsmen? Is it that impressive?’ Chu Fan muttered to himself. Sure enough, he saw Li Xinghua withdraw from the fight.

The four men took positions in four directions and executed the same Sword Technique.

The Sword Technique itself was unremarkable, but in the instant their Sword Qi converged, it formed a Sword Qi Net that enveloped Chu Fan.

Chu Fan was inwardly surprised. ’Swords can be used like this, too?’

From the moment they drew their swords, Chu Fan could tell they were all at the Second Heaven of the Sword Dao.

He stood in the middle of the Sword Qi Net. As the four men continuously moved their Long Swords, the net of Sword Qi grew denser and denser.

Chu Fan weaved and dodged within it, but the Sword in his hand remained still.

He wanted to see exactly how this Sword Qi Net was formed and whether it could offer any insights for his own Sword Dao.

However, Chu Fan’s inaction led the others to mistakenly believe he was frozen with fear.

The sounds of scorn and ridicule around him grew louder.

After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Chu Fan finally understood the truth behind their Sword Net.

In fact, he couldn’t help but want to slap his own forehead. ’How could I not have thought of something so simple?’

This Sword Qi Net, while it looked profound, was completely useless against Chu Fan. Or rather, his Walking Dragon Sword Shadow and Yifeng Sword Technique were a hundred times more sophisticated than this net.

To put it bluntly, these four had neglected the fundamentals of the Sword Dao for a trivial trick.

’Since you all keep calling me an Eastern Barbarian, and you all think these four’s Sword Dao is so incredible, then I’ll show you what it really means to use a sword!’

Chu Fan directly executed the First Technique of the Walking Dragon Sword Shadow—the Wind-Defying Cloud-Surging Dragon Shocking Technique.

With a light flick of the Juntian Sword in his hand and a twist of his wrist, a Dragon Shadow lunged forth. Baring its fangs and claws, it tore the Sword Net to shreds.

Then, the dragon’s head lunged forward, and its tail whipped around.

The four men were sent flying backward, each trailing a spray of blood.