140: Chapter 140 Heavy Rain

The Buzz-cut Strongman was arrogant and unscrupulous.

This person was a martial artist body cultivator, and with that fierce look, an ordinary person would truly be intimidated.

But how could Li Xiuyuan and Zhou Yan be ordinary people? Zhou Yan didn't even need Li Xiuyuan to act; he already had his hands in his pockets and stepped forward slowly.

"Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall..." His voice was not loud, but carried a chill, "Did your master not warn you to be careful when entering the Dragon King Temple?"

Zhou Yan specifically emphasized the words "be careful".

The Buzz-cut Strongman heard this, and a sinister smile appeared on his face: "The master did say that. But then again, even if I smashed this Dragon King Temple, could this so-called Lord Dragon King actually manifest?"

He looked around, his mouth curled in mockery.

"You tell me, is it more likely that this Lord Dragon King manifests, or that I have an epiphany right now, skip two stages, and become a Fifth-stage Martial Artist?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the lackeys from Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall behind him immediately chimed in: "I think it's more likely that you, Master Lin, will skip two stages and become a Fifth-stage Martial Artist!"

"What a joke! This so-called Lord Dragon King is just a Rising Beings, does he really think he's the Lord Dragon King?"

"Lord Dragon King, indeed. Does he even have the means to reach here?"

"Even if we raze this Dragon King Temple to the ground today, the Chi Dragon in the water wouldn't be able to notice."

The group chimed in one after another, faces full of disdain.

The Buzz-cut Strongman sneered: "Since you want to meddle in other people's business, today, you'll have to leave an arm here."

Before he finished speaking, he kicked off the ground fiercely, his whole body like a cannonball fired from a chamber, crashing towards Zhou Yan!

Before the fist arrived, the wind reached first, and a muffled, thunder-like explosion burst in the air.

The martial art taught by Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall is called the Rushing Thunder Fist. This is their signature skill, passed down since the establishment of the martial arts hall.

Rushing Thunder Fist, as the name suggests, has a powerful and fierce momentum. One punch thrown actually carries a hint of thunder.

This Buzz-cut Strongman is a Third-stage Martial Artist, and this punch was thrown with full force, the wind from the fist whipping up the scattered incense ash on the ground high into the air.

He wanted to cripple the meddlesome buzz-cut youth in front of him with one punch, so he would never dare to meddle again in his life!

The fist carried the sound of thunder, heading straight for Zhou Yan's face.

Zhou Yan stood in place with his hands in his pockets. The moment the Buzz-cut Strongman's fist was about to make contact, he pulled his right hand out of his pocket.

He clenched his fingers into a fist, veins bulging on the back of his hand, delivering a Rushing Thunder Fist as well.

The two fists collided, emitting a dull, thunderous boom, like two iron hammers clashing in mid-air.

The sneer on the Buzz-cut Strongman's face suddenly froze. A force like a landslide and tsunami surged from his fist, traveling up along his finger bones, making his entire arm go numb.

His body flew backward uncontrollably, feet leaving the ground, tracing an arc in the air before crashing onto the threshold of the temple door, then rolling several times down the stone steps outside.

The lackeys on the side were horrified, frozen in place as if someone had cast an Immobilization Technique on them.

The Buzz-cut Strongman lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time, his voice filled with incredulous shock and anger: "This is also Rushing Thunder Fist! Where did you learn it?!"

Zhou Yan retracted his fist: "Your mastery is far from enough."

The lackeys looked at each other, and the Buzz-cut Strongman roared from the ground: "Kill him for me!"

The few men gritted their teeth and swarmed forward.

But their cultivation was clearly even worse. Zhou Yan strolled leisurely amidst the fist winds, like a butterfly weaving through flowers, knocking everyone to the ground in a few moves, leaving them wailing.

The old temple keeper stood on the side, holding his old waist, watching this scene with his mouth open wide enough to fit an egg.

The men struggled to get up from the ground, not daring to say a word of threat, and scrambled out of the Dragon King Temple.

The youth who had been chased and beaten only had some superficial injuries. The old temple keeper helped him aside, took out an ointment, and applied it carefully.

Zhou Yan had already received a call from a friend, saying some clues had been found. However, it seemed this friend's connection wasn't very reliable; the other party indicated that money would be needed to get these clues.

Hanging up the phone, Zhou Yan came to Li Xiuyuan's side: "I'm going to take care of something, you can just wait for me for about half an hour."

Li Xiuyuan had heard everything from the phone call. He nodded slightly and responded indifferently.

Zhou Yan was indeed someone who could hang out with Gu Xiao and the others; one could tell from that pretentious act just now. However, Zhou Yan would naturally have to pay for this money himself, so before Zhou Yan left, Li Xiuyuan took a small golden bead from the sleeve of his robe.

"Take this, it should be enough." Li Xiuyuan said.

Throughout this journey of exploring the many Ancient Grotto-Heaven of the Lord River God, besides obtaining spiritual energy, Li Xiuyuan had also collected some rare treasures and gold and silver jewelry left behind by the Lord River God in the grotto-heavens.

Zhou Yan was taken aback, but he didn't stand on ceremony. After taking it, he said: "I'll try to come back early."

After saying this, he ran out of the Dragon King Temple.

'Boom!' A muffled thunder suddenly sounded in the sky outside, followed immediately by bean-sized raindrops pouring down, pattering loudly on the ground.

Zhou Yan hailed a taxi on the side of the road, and the red light of the taillights soon disappeared, obscured by the rain.

The Dragon King Temple quieted down, leaving only the dense sound of raindrops hitting the green tiles. The rain was heavy, as if someone had poked a hole in the clouds, causing the heavenly river to pour down.

Li Xiuyuan found a stool and sat by the door. The old temple keeper was still applying medicine to the youth, chatting with him intermittently in his broken Mandarin.

"What did you do, kid, to get beaten so badly?"

The youth remained silent.

The old temple keeper kindly reminded the youth to be careful when going home later, as those people didn't seem like they would let it go.

As soon as he finished speaking, dense footsteps came from outside the temple door. In the curtain of rain, several vans stopped at the entrance of the Dragon King Temple, their headlights shining blindingly in the rainy night.

The car doors opened, and a group of people climbed out, wearing uniform black sportswear, with the four white characters "Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall" printed on their chests.

The Buzz-cut Strongman from before got out of the second car, his right hand already wrapped in bandages and hanging in front of his chest.

He walked to the car behind, respectfully opened the door, and a middle-aged man in his fifties stepped out.

This person was not tall, but very sturdy, standing there like an iron block.

"Uncle-master, this is it." The Buzz-cut Strongman pointed at the Dragon King Temple, "The person who hit me is inside."

The middle-aged man looked up, glanced at the Dragon King Temple in front of him, his mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't say anything and walked into the temple.

A dozen people behind him immediately surrounded the Dragon King Temple.

Seeing this, the old temple keeper wanted to stand up, but his legs went weak, and he sat back down.

The Buzz-cut Strongman scanned the hall, but didn't find Zhou Yan. His gaze paused on Li Xiuyuan for a moment, then he walked over and stood in front of Li Xiuyuan, looking down at him.

"Where is that bastard who hit me just now?"

Li Xiuyuan looked up, his gaze calm as he looked at him. The Buzz-cut Strongman felt a tremor in his heart from being stared at by those eyes, but he quickly suppressed that feeling of discomfort.

With his uncle-master backing him up, and a dozen martial brothers there, what was there to fear?

"He left." Li Xiuyuan said.

The Buzz-cut Strongman's face twitched. He turned and walked to the middle-aged man's side, lowering his voice: "Uncle-master, he ran away, but he is in the same group as that person. If we catch him, that person will definitely come looking."

The middle-aged man didn't speak immediately, sizing Li Xiuyuan up. With waterfall-like long hair hanging down and draped in a moon-colored robe, this appearance and attire were a bit strange, but in this day and age, it was also quite normal.

Furthermore, he couldn't tell that this person looked like someone with high cultivation or strength.

The middle-aged man glanced at the Dragon King statue inside with some apprehension, "Take him away."

The Buzz-cut Strongman grinned, turned around, and waved at the martial brothers outside the temple. Several people were about to rush in from outside.

Seeing this, the old temple keeper actually controlled his trembling legs and stood in front of Li Xiuyuan.

"What is wrong with you! They didn't provoke you, why are you arresting people? Is there no law anymore?"

The Buzz-cut Strongman pushed the old temple keeper aside. This palm pushed against an ordinary person would be enough to push them two or three meters away, but the old temple keeper stood still, not moving an inch.

Instead, it was the Buzz-cut Strongman himself who seemed to be rebounded by an invisible force, falling to the ground, rolling his eyes, and fainting.

The air in the temple suddenly solidified.

Everyone froze in place, and the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Li Xiuyuan.

"What school of cultivator are you?" The middle-aged man asked.

Li Xiuyuan glanced at him indifferently, not speaking.

The rain intensified suddenly at this moment.

The middle-aged man suddenly felt as if a great mountain was pressing on his shoulders, getting heavier and heavier.

He gritted his teeth, urging the spiritual energy in his body to resist with all his might, but the pressure not only didn't lessen, it became heavier, until he couldn't hold on any longer, his legs bent, and he knelt directly on the ground.

The dozen or so apprentices from Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall had also long since knelt on the ground, heads bowed.

Only at this moment did the middle-aged man suddenly realize that his brainless, bastard nephew-disciple had definitely provoked an extremely powerful cultivator!

Damn it, it is said that in this era, you can't judge a book by its cover, and you must never underestimate those wearing strange clothes. He had only taken it as a joke on the internet, never expecting to encounter such an outrageous thing himself!

"I am the deputy master of Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall, Liu Guodong. The master is my own brother."

The middle-aged man's voice was trembling, and rainwater streamed down his face; for a moment, it was impossible to tell if it was rain or sweat.

"We have been operating in Wudu for over twenty years and have connections high and low. Today's matter is our fault. Please be merciful and let us go. If there's ever a place where Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall can be of use, just say the word."

Li Xiuyuan didn't speak, not even looking at him.

Liu Guodong knelt in the rain, the hard stone slabs under his knees. The rain made it impossible for him to open his eyes, and at the same time, this rain seemed to carry an indescribable power, pressing down on him firmly.

The dozen or so martial arts hall apprentices behind him didn't even dare to breathe loudly. A few were already lying in the puddles, shivering all over, not knowing if it was from the cold or fear.

The rain grew heavier, the water from the temple eaves pouring down like a waterfall, crashing onto the bluestone slabs, splashing up a vast white mist.

The old temple keeper stood in the Dragon King Temple, eyes wide round, looking at Li Xiuyuan, then at the people kneeling all over the ground outside, his lips trembling a few times, not daring to make a sound.

The youth lay on a bamboo bed, his right eye looking out from the swollen slit at the person kneeling in the rain, his eyes full of satisfaction.

Time passed bit by bit, and the rain showed no signs of letting up, instead falling faster and faster.

Liu Guodong's legs were already numb, feeling as if they had been sawed off from the knees down, with no sensation at all.

He gritted his teeth, cursing the Buzz-cut Strongman's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.

After muddling along for so many years, he ended up falling into the hands of an unobservant nephew-disciple!

Just then, a pair of headlights turned from the street corner, cutting through the curtain of rain and stopping in front of the Dragon King Temple.

Zhou Yan climbed out of the taxi, opened an umbrella, first glanced at the few vans parked at the temple entrance, then looked at the people kneeling all over the ground.

His gaze swept over each face, finally stopping on Liu Guodong, his figure pausing as he recognized the other party.

During his years in Wudu, Zhou Yan hadn't joined any martial arts hall, but he had almost stepped over the threshold of every martial arts hall in Wudu.

Each time, he would use the excuse of sparring and making friends to do some dojo storming, and his talent was exceptionally outstanding. After the dojo storming ended, he could actually comprehend the content and moves of the other party's martial arts from the sparring battle.

For example, the Rushing Thunder Fist of Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall was something Zhou Yan had comprehended after sparring.

Liu Guodong certainly recognized Zhou Yan. He really didn't expect to meet him here today.

Suddenly, Liu Guodong's pupils shrank suddenly. That bastard nephew-disciple, he didn't provoke Zhou Yan, did he?!

Zhou Yan held the umbrella, walked to Liu Guodong, crouched down, and looked at his face, which was pale from being soaked by the rain: "Isn't this Deputy Master Liu? What a coincidence."

Liu Guodong looked up, licked his lips, his voice slightly hoarse: "That bastard nephew-disciple of mine, the one he provoked was you?"

"He provoked me just now, but it's not me anymore. He didn't go back to Weiyuan Martial Arts Hall to find you to stand up for him, only for you to find nothing, but instead provoke the one inside, did he?"

Zhou Yan glanced at Li Xiuyuan sitting by the door in the temple.

Liu Guodong nodded with a complex expression.

"Zhou Yan, help me this once."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan sighed and stood up: "Tsk, I can't help. I don't have that much say. If you had only provoked me, maybe I would have let it go, considering we are all working hard to make a living in Wudu, but you provoked him, so I can't do anything."

He paused, then added: "And, that brainless nephew-disciple of yours said, right to his face, that even if the Dragon King Temple were smashed, there would be no consequences."

Leaving these words behind, Zhou Yan turned and walked towards the Dragon King Temple.

Liu Guodong, kneeling on the ground, felt a buzzing in his brain, his whole person instantly struck by lightning, completely stunned.

The one sitting inside was actually the one worshipped in the Dragon King Temple?!

"I'm fucking ruined!"

Liu Guodong gritted his teeth, a bone-chilling despair welling up in his heart.