Invincible Soul Emperor

Feng Yuan looked at Ye Qingchen arrogantly, his eyes full of disdain.

Feng Yuan had every reason to be proud. He had reached the First Layer of the Martial King Realm at a young age, and among the younger generation in Northern Barrier City, he was considered a formidable expert. Furthermore, his status as the City Lord’s son emboldened him to act without restraint.

Ye Qingchen glanced at Feng Yuan and spoke nonchalantly, ”What do you want? To steal it openly? Since you couldn’t win the bid, you’ve resorted to robbery. You certainly live up to the reputation of a pampered heir.”

Hearing Ye Qingchen’s mockery, Feng Yuan grew even more infuriated. He pointed at Ye Qingchen and cursed, ”Who says I couldn’t outbid you? I just didn’t want to be a sucker. Fighting isn’t allowed in the city, but you’re a stranger of unknown origin carrying a large amount of Spirit Stones. I have the right to take you to the City Lord’s Residence for investigation.”

Liu Wan’er tugged at Ye Qingchen’s sleeve and whispered, ”Master Ye, it’s best not to antagonize him. The City Lord and the Deputy City Lord will be out soon, and they will surely make a fair judgment.”

Ye Qingchen nodded. In a city as large as Northern Barrier City, it would be difficult for City Lord Feng Xiao to maintain public trust if he couldn’t be impartial. Therefore, Ye Qingchen believed this was all Feng Yuan’s own doing.

Ye Qingchen’s only objective was to find Xia Chengkai and ask for clues about the Saint Heir. Although First-Rate Pavilion wouldn’t give him the seller’s information, he hoped they might make an exception for the Deputy City Lord and reveal the details to him. If these formation flags truly belonged to Qin Yue, finding her would be much easier once he identified the seller.

With this in mind, Ye Qingchen decided to ignore Feng Yuan and turned his head away.

This enraged Feng Yuan even more. Believing Ye Qingchen was ignoring him, he lashed out in a fit of rage, throwing a punch charged with thunderous power straight at him.

Liu Wan’er grew anxious. She hadn’t expected Feng Yuan to be so unreasonable as to attack in the middle of the street. Ye Qingchen was facing her, seemingly oblivious to the attack from behind. Feng Yuan was incredibly fast, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. It was too late for Liu Wan’er to shout a warning. All she could do was pull at Ye Qingchen, intending to shield him with her own body.

Liu Wan’er knew Ye Qingchen was powerful enough to kill a Sixth-Layer Martial King Realm Golden Star Lion, but in her panic, she still feared he would be injured by the sneak attack. Her concern, however, clouded her judgment. With Ye Qingchen’s alertness, how could he have possibly failed to notice Feng Yuan’s attack?

As Liu Wan’er pulled him, Ye Qingchen had already sidestepped, moving her behind him. He effortlessly dodged Feng Yuan’s attack and, with a raised palm, gave Feng Yuan a light pat on the back.

Although Ye Qingchen hadn’t used much force, it was enough to make Feng Yuan lose his balance and tumble to the ground in an embarrassing face-plant.

Feng Yuan’s fall elicited roars of laughter from the bystanders. However, the laughter quickly died down when someone pointed out that the one who fell was the City Lord’s son. This only made Feng Yuan feel even more humiliated. He scrambled to get up, eager to retaliate against Ye Qingchen.

At that exact moment, City Lord Feng Xiao and Deputy City Lord Xia Chengkai finished their business and stepped out of First-Rate Pavilion, just in time to witness Feng Yuan fall.

Feng Xiao stared at Ye Qingchen coldly and said, ”To humiliate my son on the street… are you showing me no respect at all?”

Ye Qingchen smiled indifferently. He had held back. If he had used his full strength, given Feng Yuan’s cultivation, the outcome would have been far worse than a simple fall.

Ye Qingchen was about to explain. After all, I came to Northern Barrier City to ask for Xia Chengkai’s help. Making an enemy of the City Lord now would be counterproductive. Still, if the City Lord refuses to distinguish right from wrong, it’s not like I’m afraid of him.

Before Ye Qingchen could speak, Xia Chengkai, who stood behind Feng Xiao, held him back. ”Brother Feng,” he said, ”I don’t think the dispute between your son and this young gentleman is so simple. If you don’t mind, I have a few questions for this friend.”

Feng Xiao nodded. Xia Chengkai had always been level-headed and was highly respected in Northern Barrier City. Even he, the City Lord, had to give his words some weight.

Xia Chengkai took two steps forward, bowed slightly to Ye Qingchen, and asked, ”Might I ask if this friend’s name is Ye Qingchen?”

Ye Qingchen nodded. He had never met Xia Chengkai, but he had already guessed his identity from their conversation. What surprised him was that Xia Chengkai somehow knew his name.

Seeing Ye Qingchen nod, Xia Chengkai looked somewhat surprised but patiently asked, ”Do you have any proof of your identity?”

Xia Chengkai’s question perplexed Feng Xiao and the others. Was there something special about the name ’Ye Qingchen’? Why else would Xia Chengkai be so serious?

Only Ye Qingchen understood. Xi Jianwei must have told Xia Chengkai I was coming, which explains why the man is being so serious.

Realizing this, Ye Qingchen didn’t hold back. He directly took out the token Xi Jianwei had given him and handed it to Xia Chengkai.

Xia Chengkai inspected the token briefly and confirmed that this was indeed the person his martial brother had mentioned in his message.

Once certain, Xia Chengkai bowed deeply to Ye Qingchen. ”It truly is you, Mr. Ye,” he said respectfully. ”Please, accept my deepest gratitude. If not for your great righteousness, my martial brother would have likely been killed by those villains.”

Ye Qingchen helped Xia Chengkai up, indicating that such formalities were unnecessary.

Feng Yuan was completely dumbfounded. Feng Xiao furrowed his brow and asked Xia Chengkai, ”Brother Xia, you know this young man?”

Xia Chengkai nodded and sighed. ”Mr. Ye is my martial brother’s savior. I never imagined the Huanyue Sect could be so vile, or that Huan Yuehua could be such a heartless and ungrateful man. My martial brother served the sect diligently for decades, only to become their prisoner. If Mr. Ye hadn’t set aside past grievances to rescue him, my martial brother would be long dead by now!”

Feng Xiao nodded silently. If Ye Qingchen is the savior of Xia Chengkai’s martial brother, a man who acts without holding a grudge, he wouldn’t deliberately humiliate my son. After a brief inquiry, Feng Xiao understood the whole story. He turned to Ye Qingchen and said politely, ”Mr. Ye, my son was greatly out of line just now. Please, forgive him.”

”You are too kind, City Lord,” Ye Qingchen said with a smile, shaking his head. ”However, for your son to attempt robbery in broad daylight… I’m afraid that could seriously damage your reputation.”