"Alright. If there's nothing else, then run along home and study like a good boy. Loitering about the streets like some idle ne'er-do-well, without the faintest awareness of what it means to be the scion of a great clan. Or could it be a matter of poor upbringing?"

Tang Yan's offhand words landed, every last syllable, in the ears of those paying close attention-Tang Ling and Uncle Mo among them. The two exchanged a startled glance. On the surface the boy was mocking Liu Yuan for poor breeding; deeper down, he was sneering that the Liu Family was nothing but a petty little household.

"Hmph. Tang Yan, weren't you so impressive last time? Do you dare to test yourself against me again? If I lose, I'll hand you another two thousand taels of silver. If I win, you kneel and kowtow to me once. How about it?" Liu Yuan forced down the urge to simply rush over and beat him senseless, and laid out why he had come.

"Two thousand taels and you think I'll lift a finger? You take my worth for that cheap? Get lost. This young master is going back to the manor." Short of silver as Tang Yan was, that youth in green robes was a real threat. He himself wasn't afraid, but if a true clash broke out, the secret that he could still cultivate would be laid bare.

"Heh. Quite the lofty airs." The green-robed youth finally spoke. "Today you'll fight if you want to, and you'll fight if you don't."

"Master, that green-robed boy is Liu Quan. Among the Liu Family's junior generation his strength is reckoned quite high. Shall we go out and take a look?" Uncle Mo said, worried.

"No hurry. Let's see how the boy handles it first." Old Master Tang waved a hand.

"And if I refuse?" Tang Yan asked, careless.

"Refuse?" The youth eyed him with amusement. "That's fine too. Just kneel on the ground and give me three good kowtows, and I, Liu Quan, will let you walk away."

"Oh? So now you mean to bind my freedom? This is Yun City, not your Liu Family estate. If you want to restrain me, even the City Lord himself would have to give his consent. Or has the Liu Family grown so mighty that it no longer holds the City Lord's Manor in its eyes?" Tang Yan cried out, laying it on thick. "Could it be that your Liu Family means to seize the City Lord's Manor and set yourselves in its place?"

Earlier Tang Yan had deliberately steered toward the busiest part of the street, and the commotion here had long since drawn the eyes of the crowd. Hearing Tang Yan's words, Liu Quan felt a jolt of alarm. This boy truly dared say anything. If a hat that large were ever pressed down on them, even the ever-neutral City Lord's Manor would come to resent the Liu Family.

"You bastard whelp. That mangy old goat Tang Ling truly couldn't raise anything worthwhile-nothing but sly, cheating little weasels, the whole lot of you." Liu Quan roared.

Bastard whelp... The instant Tang Yan heard the word, his heart sank, and a cold, frosty light flickered and died in the depths of his eyes.

In his last life he had been without father or mother, raised since childhood at his master's side. In this life he was again without father or mother. With great difficulty he had at last gained a grandfather. It could be said that family was Tang Yan's one true reverse scale.

Though barely a month had passed since he crossed into this world, he could feel the depth of Tang Ling's care for him without mistake, and in his heart he had slowly come to accept this old man as his own.

Two lifetimes had made Tang Yan smooth enough in his dealings, but that did not mean his temper ran soft.

A true man knew what he would do and what he would not. Now that his reverse scale had been struck, threads of killing intent began to coil up from the bottom of his heart.

Tang Yan understood well enough that Liu Yuan had come prepared today. Slipping away easily was plainly out of the question. And if he could not leave, then there was nothing left but to fight.

"Hey-Uncle Mo, I'm over here!" Tang Yan's eyes lit up all at once, his gaze flying to a point behind Liu Yuan and the others.

"Uncle Mo's here?" Liu Quan and Liu Yuan's hearts dropped, and both whipped their heads around.

"Fools!" Tang Yan cursed under his breath. His body became a streak of lightning, hurtling forward.

Still puzzling over why he couldn't spot Uncle Mo, Liu Quan suddenly felt a fierce wind come howling at him. His heart lurched-he remembered at once how this very boy had played Liu Yuan the same way last time. He flung himself backward, both hands thrown across his Dantian.

But with Tang Yan going all out, the unguarded Liu Quan had no hope of dodging in time.

Pa! Pa! Two crisp slaps rang out.

A scalding pain bloomed across Liu Quan's cheeks-though the humiliation cut far deeper. He, a proud expert of the Liu Family's younger generation, slapped across the face by some good-for-nothing of Yun City?

In that brief stunned pause, Tang Yan whipped his hand around for two more.

In the space of a single spark, Liu Quan had taken four slaps to the face.

"Courting death!" He was a Yellow Rank martial artist, after all. Four slaps in, Liu Quan finally came to himself, eyes gone bloodshot, and with a furious roar he drove a fist at Tang Yan.

The howling fist tore the air and hammered straight for Tang Yan's chest.

"Insolence! You dare harm my grandson!" Far off, Old Master Tang's eyes split with fury. He had never dreamed his grandson would strike the very moment the words left his mouth. The full might of Black Rank Seventh Grade unfurled, and like a tiger charging down the mountain he roared and rushed toward the scene.

But everything moved too fast. Tang Ling would never reach them in time.

Faced with a Yellow Rank martial artist's vengeful blow, Tang Yan gave no ground and swung his own fist up to meet it.

Seeing Tang Yan rashly pit his own raw strength against him, a cruel smile curled at the corner of Liu Quan's mouth. Boy, you dared slap my face. Today this lord beats you to death.

Killing intent ran cold in him, yet Liu Quan was no fool. He knew he could not simply beat Tang Yan to death here, or the Liu Family would surely bear the Tang Family's full wrath. Still, this punch carried eight parts of his strength-Tang Yan's arm was as good as ruined.

Among the onlookers were a few who knew Liu Quan, and every one of them waited for the moment Tang Yan would be sent flying.

Just as the fist was about to land, Tang Yan's body tilted faintly to the right at an angle that seemed impossible. Liu Quan's fist slid past, all but grazing the tip of his nose.

This... what was this? Young Master Tang had actually slipped the blow! Every eye went wide, no one willing to believe what stood before them.

"My turn." Tang Yan smiled at Liu Quan. His own punch, mid-swing, snapped to a sudden halt; within him True Qi tore loose and surged wild into his fist, then drove down hard at Liu Quan's Dantian.

Origin Rank Eighth Grade!

Feeling so savage a blow, Liu Quan's heart went cold to the very bottom. Hadn't they said this boy's Dantian was destroyed? Where had this strength come from?

Liu Quan's own force had just spent itself; there was no dodging now. That True Qi-laden fist drove straight into his lower belly.

Bang! Liu Quan's body went hurtling backward.

"Impossible!" Once more every eye went wide.

Only Liu Quan himself knew it was no simple matter of being knocked away. When that fist struck his Dantian, a hidden force had bored straight in after it.

Even if his Dantian was not crippled outright, it had surely taken grievous harm. His cultivation, from here on, would likely stall forever at Yellow Rank First Grade.

And Old Master Tang, whose blood had only just boiled over with rage, now stared wide-eyed at his own grandson as though he were seeing a ghost.

This little brat could actually wield True Qi? And Origin Rank Eighth Grade, no less!

His own identity already laid bare, Old Master Tang half wanted to throttle Tang Yan on the spot. You little wretch, if you'd come into your own strength, why not breathe a word to your old man? Made me fret for nothing.

But he was already out in the open; slipping away again would hardly do. Still seething to the heavens, he strode over and laid three vicious slaps across the stunned Liu Yuan's face.

"My grandson's Dantian is already ruined, and still you dare drag your kin here to bully him-do you take my Tang Family for having no one? I, Tang Ling, give fair warning to all present: from this day on, anyone who dares lay so much as half a finger on my grandson, I'll spend these old bones to see you slaughtered down to the last roof tile!" The words dripping with killing intent, Old Master Tang seized Tang Yan by the collar and started off toward the Tang Family.

Before he left, his gaze lingered long and deep in the direction of the City Lord's Manor.