22: Chapter 22 Beating Zhu Yue

Lin Maomao's expression flickered, and after gritting his teeth, he prepared to take Spirit Stones from his Storage Pouch.

Although 110 Spirit Stones were a lot, it was still better than having his legs broken.

Just at this moment, Baili Yunche suddenly reached out and pressed down on his wrist.

"Senior Brother Maomao, this money cannot be given."

The cool and clear voice was not loud, but it instantly made the entire corner quiet.

Zhu Yue was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly as if he had heard some joke: "Hahaha! Newcomer, what did you say? Cannot be given?"

He looked Baili Yunche up and down, his eyes filled with disdain:

"A mere Qi Refining Fourth Layer Utility Disciple dares to say no in front of me? Do you know who I am? Do you know who is behind the Xiao Dan Alliance?"

Baili Yunche slowly stood up and looked calmly at Zhu Yue: "I don't care who you are, nor do I care who is behind the Xiao Dan Alliance. We will not hand over this money."

"Seeking death!" Zhu Yue's expression changed abruptly, and the pressure of a Qi Refining Seventh Layer Cultivator erupted overwhelmingly.

The spiritual power fluctuations of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer surged toward Baili Yunche like a tide, attempting to use Realm suppression to make him kneel and beg for mercy.

The surrounding diners retreated one after another, fearing they would be implicated.

However, the pressure that was sufficient to make ordinary Qi Refining Early Stage Cultivators find it difficult to breathe landed on Baili Yunche, yet it was like a clay ox entering the sea, not stirring up the slightest ripple.

Baili Yunche still stood there calmly, not even the hem of his clothes moving a bit.

"What?"

Zhu Yue's pupils constricted, and a trace of an ominous premonition rose in his heart.

But the arrow was on the bowstring and had to be fired.

A fierce look flashed in his eyes, and with his right hand clenched into a fist and his spiritual power fully exerted, he fiercely smashed toward Baili Yunche's face.

"Blazing Sun Fist!"

The fist wind whistled, stirring up scorching heatwaves.

If this punch landed solidly, an ordinary Qi Refining Middle Stage Cultivator would at least break a few bones.

However——

"Slap!"

A crisp and loud slap echoed through the entire hall!

Zhu Yue's lunging figure came to an abrupt halt, and his entire body spun around in place like a spinning top. A clear red palm print instantly appeared on his left cheek, swelling up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Time seemed to have stopped.

Everyone looked at this scene in dumbfounded shock.

Zhu Yue covered his face, taking two seconds to react before screaming: "You... how dare you hit me?!"

"So what if I hit you?" Baili Yunche flicked his hand, his tone indifferent, "You are allowed to strike, but I am not allowed to fight back? Where is such logic in this world?"

"Ahhhhh! I am going to kill you!" Zhu Yue was completely enraged, roaring hysterically, "Brothers, together! Beat him to death for me!"

Hearing this, the five or six Disciples behind him changed expression. Although they were somewhat fearful of the might of Baili Yunche's previous slap, they did not dare to disobey Zhu Yue's command, and they all circulated their spiritual power and pounced forward.

For a moment, fist shadows, palm winds, and leg forces attacked Baili Yunche from all directions.

Lin Maomao was frightened so pale that he wanted to step forward to help, but Baili Yunche gently pushed him behind his back.

Only to see Baili Yunche's footsteps move slightly, his figure shuttling through the gaps of the attacks like a swimming fish.

His attacks were extremely fast, and every palm and every finger accurately landed on the opponents' flaws.

"Bang!"

One Disciple was struck on the chest by his palm, flying backward and knocking over two tables.

"Crack!"

Another Disciple's wrist was gently pinched by him, immediately dislocating, and he fell to his knees in wails.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Three consecutive slaps sent the remaining three spinning in disorientation and circling in place.

The entire process took no more than three breaths.

By the time everyone regained their senses, the underlings brought by Zhu Yue were all lying on the ground, groaning endlessly.

As for Zhu Yue himself, he was held by the collar with one hand by Baili Yunche, while the other hand was slapping him with a "slap-slap" sound.

"St... stop! I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"

Beaten until his nose and mouth bled, Zhu Yue finally broke down and begged for mercy.

Baili Yunche stopped his movements and asked coldly: "What do you know you were wrong about?"

"I... I shouldn't have collected protection money! I shouldn't have been arrogant and domineering!" Zhu Yue cried out.

"Oh? I didn't hear clearly, speak louder." Baili Yunche made a motion to raise his hand again.

Zhu Yue trembled all over in fright, shouting at the top of his lungs: "I was wrong! In the future, I will never dare to collect your protection money again!"

This shout resounded through the entire Xianwei Pavilion hall.

After a brief silence, warm applause and cheers erupted around.

"Well hit! This Zhu Yue should have been dealt with long ago!"

"The Xiao Dan Alliance has bullied us for so long, finally someone has stood up for us!"

"This Junior Brother is awesome!"

...

Many Alchemy Boys in the hall who had long been bullied by the Xiao Dan Alliance clapped in satisfaction, looking at Baili Yunche with eyes full of gratitude and admiration.

Lin Maomao also recovered from his shock, pulling Baili Yunche excitedly: "Junior Brother Baili Yunche, you... you are too amazing! I didn't expect your combat ability to be so good!"

Baili Yunche smiled slightly, threw the limp Zhu Yue onto the ground, and said coldly: "Still not scramming? Staying here to affect my meal?"

As if granted a pardon, Zhu Yue scrambled to leave in a rolling and crawling manner.

"Wait."

Baili Yunche suddenly spoke again.

Zhu Yue's body stiffened, and he turned back tremblingly: "Sen... Senior Brother Baili, what other instructions do you have?"

"Leave your Storage Pouches behind." Baili Yunche's tone was plain, "As compensation for mental distress for disturbing my meal and frightening my Senior Brother Maomao."

"What?!" Zhu Yue's expression changed drastically, "This... this is impossible! The things inside the Storage Pouch are to be handed over to Senior Brother Fei, they cannot be given to you!"

"Senior Brother Fei?" Baili Yunche's eyes narrowed slightly, "Which Senior Brother Fei?"

Like a drowning man grasping a straw, Zhu Yue hurriedly said: "Of course it's Senior Brother Fei Yangyang! He is a Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer Cultivator, and will soon be a Grade 3 Alchemist! If you dare to touch Senior Brother Fei's things, he won't let you off!"

Hearing this, Baili Yunche instantly understood in his heart.

Fei Yangyang... As expected, this damn bootlicker was making trouble behind the scenes.

Wasn't it just a few days ago that he got a bit closer to Su Bingqing, and today people from the Xiao Dan Alliance came looking for trouble? How could there be such a coincidence in the world?

"So it's Senior Brother Fei." Baili Yunche looked at Zhu Yue with a half-smile, "Does that mean Fei Yangyang sent you to trouble me?"

Zhu Yue's eyes flickered for a moment, forcing calmness: "I... I don't know what you are talking about! Anyway, the things in the Storage Pouch belong to Senior Brother Fei, you cannot take them!"

"Is that so?" Baili Yunche stopped talking nonsense and reached out to grab into the empty air.

An invisible suction force came, and the Storage Pouch at Zhu Yue's waist flew up with a swoosh, landing steadily in Baili Yunche's hand.

The Storage Pouches of the other Disciples were also handled the same way, and he took them all away.

"You... how dare you!" Zhu Yue's eyes split open with rage, yet he did not dare to step forward to snatch them back.

"Go back and tell Fei Yangyang." Baili Yunche toyed with the Storage Pouch in his hand, his tone turning cold.

"If he wants to make trouble, let him come personally. Sending a few miscellaneous fish is not even enough to fill the gap between my teeth."

Zhu Yue glared resentfully at Baili Yunche, dropped the line "Senior Brother Fei will not let you off", and fled in a sorry state with a group of bruised and battered underlings.

After they left, Lin Maomao anxiously leaned over: "Junior Brother Baili Yunche, we are in big trouble now. Fei Yangyang is notorious in the outer sect for being ruthless and holding grudges over the smallest slights."

"How about... we return these Storage Pouches, and I'll go beg Senior Sister Su to step in and mediate?"

Baili Yunche patted his shoulder and smiled: "Senior Brother Maomao, no need to worry. Soldiers come, block with generals; water comes, earth covers. With me here, they won't dare to do anything to you."

He paused and added: "From now on, the Xiao Dan Alliance will no longer collect protection money. At least in front of you and me, they dare not."

Looking at Baili Yunche's confident and calm expression, Lin Maomao's inner unease inexplicably dissipated quite a bit.

He nodded heavily: "En! I believe you, Junior Brother Baili Yunche!"

The two sat down again and continued to enjoy the spiritual meal.

At this moment, in another elegant courtyard on Shendan Peak.

"Trash! A bunch of trash!"

Fei Yangyang fiercely smashed the jade cup in his hand, looking with a livid face at Zhu Yue and the others kneeling before him.

"Six people, beaten like this by a Qi Refining Fourth Layer little Utility Disciple? You still have the face to come back and see me!"

Zhu Yue covered his face and cried out: "Senior Brother Fei, that brat is extremely weird! Clearly he is only at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, yet the six of us combined couldn't beat him! He even... even robbed all of our Storage Pouches!"

"Storage Pouches?" Fei Yangyang's eyes turned fierce, "Where are the things inside?"

"All... all taken away by him..." Zhu Yue's voice became smaller and smaller.

"Scumbag!" Fei Yangyang kicked Zhu Yue over to the ground with one kick, his chest heaving violently.

Inside those Storage Pouches were not only the membership fees collected for this month, but also some of the accounts from his covert reselling of Medicinal Pills, totaling thousands of Spirit Stones in value!

More importantly, Baili Yunche's action was equivalent to slapping him in the face publicly.

If this matter spread, how could he, Fei Yangyang, mix around Shendan Peak?

"Good... Very good." Fei Yangyang laughed out of extreme anger, a sinister and venomous look flashing in his eyes.

"A Utility Disciple dares to oppose me. I want to see just how long you can be arrogant!"

He looked at Zhu Yue and said coldly: "Go, keep a close eye on that brat for me. When he leaves Shendan Peak, or when he is alone, notify me immediately."

"I want to meet this ignorant and arrogant stinky Utility Disciple in person."

Hearing this, Zhu Yue trembled in his heart and hurriedly replied: "Yes! Yes! Rest assured, Senior Brother Fei, I will definitely keep a close eye on him!"

Fei Yangyang waved his hand, signaling them to withdraw.

After everyone left, he walked to the window, looking toward the direction of Su Bingqing's courtyard, jealousy and murderous intent intertwining in his eyes.