157: Your sword is not worthy of my drawing.

The tavern was very noisy.

In the air, the sour stench of low-quality Demonic Wine mingled with the burnt smell of roasted meat and the metallic tang of dried blood.

Beside every table sat Demonic Cultivators, some with faces full of scars and others with sinister expressions.

They boasted loudly about who they had killed yesterday and whose Magic Treasures they had stolen.

Coarse laughter and the clinking of wine cups were woven together.

When Ye Chenfeng walked in, the entire tavern fell silent for a brief moment.

All sounds seemed to have been choked off by someone.

He was too clean.

Dressed in green robes, he was spotless.

His face was handsome and calm.

His eyes were clear and serene.

He carried a sword on his back, an ancient longsword wrapped in coarse cloth, its material indiscernible.

He did not look like a Cultivator.

He looked more like a Young Master from a wealthy family who had wandered into the wrong place.

After the brief silence came even more unrestrained laughter.

"Hahaha! Look! Where did this Pretty Boy come from?"

"Tsk tsk, this fair and tender skin is even more delicate than the girl I ordered at the Hundred Flowers Tower last time!"

"Is he here for the Demon Child Assembly too? Don't tell me he's here to be a Human Cauldron for some Lord Demon Child?"

Malicious and greedy gazes, like slimy venomous snakes, coiled around Ye Chenfeng.

Ye Chenfeng ignored them.

His gaze calmly swept across the tavern, searching for a vacant seat.

Just then.

A figure, carrying a strong scent of alcohol, blocked his path.

It was a burly young man, shirtless, with a ferocious Black Fire Scorpion tattooed on his chest.

His cultivation was at the Mid-stage Heavenly Immortal realm.

Behind him followed several lackeys with similarly hostile auras.

"Kid."

The young man grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by Devilish Qi.

He looked Ye Chenfeng up and down, his gaze like that of someone looking at a lamb to be slaughtered.

"You have a decent skin on you."

"And that sword on your back looks quite interesting too."

He reached out and said in a tone that brooked no refusal.

"Take the sword down and let me have a look."

Ye Chenfeng stopped in his tracks.

He looked up and stared calmly at the man.

"I'm here to drink."

His voice wasn't loud.

Yet it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.

The young man froze for a moment, then burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Hahahaha!"

"What did he say? He's here to drink?"

"Kid, do you fucking know where this is? This is Dry Bone City! It's the territory of the Black Flame Demonic Sect!"

"Here, if I tell you to stand, you can't sit! If I tell you to die, you fucking have to slit your own throat!"

The lackeys behind him also laughed arrogantly.

"Young Master Mo, stop wasting words on him! He looks like a greenhorn who doesn't know the rules!"

"Just cripple him and take the sword!"

The young man called Young Master Mo waved his hand.

He enjoyed the thrill of this cat-and-mouse game.

He walked up to Ye Chenfeng and patted his face.

The action was filled with extreme humiliation.

"Kid, I'm in a good mood today."

"How about this."

He pointed to the sword on Ye Chenfeng's back.

"Offer this junk sword to me."

"Then, kneel on the ground and lick my boots clean."

"I'll show some mercy, take you in as a dog, and spare your life."

"How about it?"

Everyone in the tavern watched the scene with the eyes of spectators waiting for a show.

They recognized this Young Master Mo.

Mo Yan, the nephew of the Black Flame Demonic Sect's Outer Sect Steward.

Relying on his uncle's influence, he had always acted tyrannically in Dry Bone City.

This reckless Pretty Boy had certainly run into a brick wall today.

There was still no expression on Ye Chenfeng's face.

He simply tilted his head slightly, avoiding Mo Yan's filthy hand.

"Your hand is very dirty."

He said indifferently.

The smile on Mo Yan's face froze.

He didn't expect that even now, this lamb to be slaughtered would dare to resist.

A violent Killing Intent erupted from his body!

"You're fucking looking for death!"

He roared, his fingers forming a claw, and lunged at Ye Chenfeng's throat with Devilish Qi strong enough to tear through metal!

He wanted to crush this Pretty Boy's neck in front of everyone!

However.

Just as his hand was about to touch Ye Chenfeng.

Ye Chenfeng moved.

He didn't draw his sword.

He merely extended two fingers.

Index and middle.

Using them as a sword.

His movement was slow.

So slow that everyone present could see it clearly.

With those two fair and slender fingers, he lightly tapped toward Mo Yan's lunging claw.

"Chii."

A faint, almost imperceptible sound.

Mo Yan's claw, covered in black Devilish Qi and as hard as iron, the moment it touched Ye Chenfeng's fingers...

...was like snow touched by a red-hot iron.

The layer of black Devilish Qi hissed and instantly dissolved!

Immediately after.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound of bone breaking!

Mo Yan's hand folded backward at a bizarre angle!

"Ahhh—!"

A pig-slaughtering scream echoed through the entire tavern!

Mo Yan clutched his hand, which had been twisted like a pretzel, rolling on the floor in agony!

The smiles on his lackeys' faces instantly froze.

They stared blankly at the scene, their minds going completely blank.

All the Demonic Cultivators in the tavern were also dumbfounded.

They hadn't even seen clearly what had just happened.

A single finger.

Just like that, a Mid-stage Heavenly Immortal Demonic Cultivator was crippled?

What kind of sorcery is this?

Ye Chenfeng withdrew his finger.

He didn't even spare a glance at Mo Yan, who was wailing on the ground.

He walked straight to a vacant table in the corner and sat down.

He beckoned to the waiter, who was already scared witless.

"A pot of wine."

The waiter jolted back to his senses and scrambled to get the wine.

Just then.

"Kill him! Kill him for me!"

Mo Yan roared from the ground, his face contorted!

His lackeys finally reacted!

They exchanged glances, a flash of ruthlessness in their eyes!

"Form the array!"

"Black Flame Scorpion Killing Formation!"

The four of them roared and instantly took their positions!

Four strands of cold Devilish Qi soared into the sky, interweaving in mid-air to form a lifelike, giant black scorpion phantom!

The black scorpion brandished its two giant claws, and the poisonous stinger at its tail shimmered with an eerie green light!

A terrifying pressure far exceeding the Mid-stage Heavenly Immortal realm instantly enveloped the entire tavern!

"It's the Black Flame Demonic Sect's Combined Attack Battle Formation!"

"That Pretty Boy is dead for sure now!"

The surrounding Demonic Cultivators were all gloating.

They could feel that the power of this Formation was already infinitely close to the Early-stage True Immortal realm!

How could an Early Stage Heavenly Immortal Sword Cultivator block this?

Ye Chenfeng picked up the bowl of murky Demonic Wine the waiter had just brought.

He gently blew on the foam at the rim of the bowl.

Then he looked up and glanced at the black scorpion phantom brandishing its claws in mid-air.

A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"A Formation?"

"If my Third Junior Brother saw this, he would probably be quite interested."

He set down the wine bowl.

Still, he did not draw his sword.

He merely extended his right hand.

And flicked his finger.

"Ding."

A crisp sound, as if a zither string had been plucked.

A gray, unremarkable strand of Sword Qi flashed from his fingertip.

That Sword Qi was very small and thin.

Like a needle as fine as a cow's hair.

It did not shoot toward the majestic black scorpion phantom.

Instead, it shot toward the leftmost of the four Demonic Cultivators forming the Formation.

It shot toward the unremarkable floor tile beneath his feet.

"Chii."

The Sword Qi sank into the tile and disappeared.

Nothing happened.

"Mystifying nonsense!"

Seeing this, the Demonic Cultivator leading the Formation sneered!

"Die!"

He activated the Formation, and the giant black scorpion phantom suddenly raised its stinger and lunged fiercely at Ye Chenfeng!

However.

Right then.

A sudden change occurred!

"Crack!"

A crisp sound!

The floor tile hit by the Sword Qi actually split open without any warning!

Immediately after!

"Buzz—!"

The entire Black Flame Scorpion Killing Formation trembled violently!

The black scorpion phantom, which had already reached the top of Ye Chenfeng's head, instantly became illusory and blurred!

"What's going on?!"

The face of the Demonic Cultivator leading the Formation changed drastically!

He was horrified to find that a fatal break had appeared in the energy flow between himself and the Formation!

It was as if a surging river had been cut in half!

"The Formation core! He attacked the Formation core!"

He finally realized, letting out an incredulous cry!

But it was too late.

"Bang!"

A muffled sound.

The giant black scorpion phantom burst apart like a punctured balloon!

It turned into a sky full of black Devilish Qi!

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

"Puff!"

The four Demonic Cultivators all spat out a mouthful of blood!

With the Formation broken, they suffered a backlash and were instantly severely injured!

One by one, they collapsed to the ground, their auras weakened to the extreme.

Quiet.

The entire tavern fell into a deathly silence once again.

If Ye Chenfeng crippling Mo Yan with one finger earlier was a surprise...

...then now...

...breaking the Black Flame Scorpion Killing Formation with one finger was absolute dominance through strength!

And it was dominance in the field of Formations!

A Sword Cultivator.

Not only was his sword dao cultivation unfathomable...

...but even his attainment in Formations was this terrifying?

What the fuck kind of monster is this?

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the man in green who, from start to finish, had done nothing but sit in his chair and move a finger.

In their eyes, there was no longer greed or malice.

Instead, there was deep fear.

Ye Chenfeng picked up the wine bowl and drained the murky wine in one gulp.

Then he stood up.

He didn't look at the terrified Demonic Cultivators on the ground again.

He walked straight toward the tavern's entrance.

Just as he was about to step out of the tavern door.

A playful voice slowly drifted down from a private room on the second floor.

"My friend."

"You think you can just leave after beating my dog?"

The voice wasn't loud.

Yet it carried a heart-pounding pressure.

The faces of everyone in the tavern changed.

They recognized the voice.

It was Mo Kui, an Inner Sect Deacon of the Black Flame Demonic Sect!

A true Golden Immortal Expert!

It's over.

That Pretty Boy is really finished this time.

Offending Mo Yan would at most result in broken limbs.

But offending Mo Kui meant having one's Divine Soul utterly destroyed!

Ye Chenfeng's steps stopped.

He didn't look back.

He simply said indifferently.

"Your dog was biting people randomly."

"I helped you discipline it a bit."

"You should thank me."

"Gegege..."

A cold laugh came from the second floor.

A gaunt figure in black robes slowly descended the stairs.

With every step he took, the temperature in the entire tavern seemed to drop a few degrees.

That terrifying pressure belonging to a Golden Immortal Expert surged toward Ye Chenfeng like a tide!

"What a sharp-tongued kid."

Mo Kui walked up behind Ye Chenfeng and stood still.

His gaze, like a venomous snake, scanned Ye Chenfeng up and down.

"An Early Stage Heavenly Immortal, yet you could break my Black Flame Demonic Sect's battle Formation with one finger."

"You must have quite a few secrets on you, right?"

A greedy light flickered in his eyes.

"How about this."

"Hand over all the secrets you have."

"Then, cripple your own cultivation and become my Medicine Slave."

"I might consider leaving you an intact corpse."

Ye Chenfeng slowly turned around.

He finally looked directly at this Golden Immortal Expert.

His eyes were calm, like a bottomless well.

"You ask for too much."

He shook his head.

"I only have one question for you."

"What question?" Mo Kui asked with interest.

"At your age, you are still only an Early Stage Golden Immortal."

Ye Chenfeng's tone was as if he were stating the simplest of facts.

"Don't you think you're quite a failure?"

"..."

The air froze.

The smile on Mo Kui's face also froze.

In those sinister eyes, boundless rage and murderous intent slowly surfaced!

"Little beast!"

"You. Are. Looking. For. Death!"

He squeezed those words out from between his teeth!

The pressure of a Golden Immortal erupted without reservation!

The entire tavern trembled violently under this pressure!

Tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks all turned to dust!

The Cultivators with weaker cultivation were even directly forced to their knees, spitting blood!

However, in the center of that pressure.

Ye Chenfeng still stood perfectly straight.

Like an unparalleled sword standing firm in a violent storm!

Motionless!

"It seems you haven't realized."

Ye Chenfeng sighed.

He reached out and gripped the hilt of the ancient longsword on his back.

"Qiang—!"

A clear sword cry rang out, as if it could cleanse the Soul!

The longsword was unsheathed!

There was no dazzling sword light.

There was no earth-shattering Sword Qi.

There was only a hazy shade of Chaos.

"Your sword is very noisy,"

Ye Chenfeng said calmly as he looked at Mo Kui.

"So, it is not worthy of me drawing my sword."

"But you."

His gaze instantly became incomparably sharp!

"You are."