After Niu Yuanshan arrived in the dungeon, he completely took control of the rhythm.
Liu Tianfeng was an old man; how could he not understand what he meant? The elder immediately got the message.
"This old ox really is thorough," he thought.
I've injured the Sixth Elder's person. I have to show some form of apology, right? If he were to blame me for this, the consequences would be unimaginable!
In fact, even if Niu Yuanshan hadn't reminded him right now, Liu Tianfeng would have come to his senses after a while and brought gifts to his door to apologize.
Because Old Niu had used a secret sound transmission, only Liu Tianfeng could hear him. Therefore, his beloved son and beloved nephew were currently completely bewildered.
"Dad is just letting him go?"
"Why does uncle's face look so awful?"
Niu Yuanshan has the least seniority among the nine deacons. This shouldn't be happening...
As it turned out, they soon heard Liu Tianfeng speak. "It's all a misunderstanding, worthy nephew, all a misunderstanding!"
His form of address had changed in an instant.
"The fault lies entirely with us."
"But what happened today was all too sudden, and this old man was not prepared."
"How about this? Tomorrow, this old man will prepare a lavish gift and come to your door to apologize to my worthy nephew."
"Worthy nephew, what do you think?"
At this moment, where was the imposing authority the old man had before? This left Liu Chengqi and Liu Chenggong completely stunned.
Chu Huaixu, however, accepted it with composure.
Me! I'm taking the place of a World Protagonist!
Niu Yuanshan, listening from the side, felt it was his turn to step up. To be precise, everything he had done before was merely laying the groundwork. This thick-browed, large-eyed man was incredibly shrewd!
"I have a suggestion," he said, a peacemaker's smile appearing on his face.
"Deacon Niu, please speak!" Liu Tianfeng was extremely cooperative, his tone quite magnanimous, as if he would agree to any condition.
"Deacon Liu, how about you give them each a piece of the [Jade Tablet Fragment] you acquired earlier?" Niu Yuanshan revealed his dagger after unrolling the map.
As soon as he said this, the smile on the old man's face instantly froze. The atmosphere in the dungeon also changed in a flash.
"This..." Liu Tianfeng was clearly unwilling.
Hearing this, Liu Chengqi became anxious. "Father!"
That's my opportunity! Whether my damaged Blazing Fire Spirit Embryo can be restored depends on it!
Liu Tianfeng, who had his only son late in life, had always doted on him. But even so, at this moment, he couldn't help but glare at him.
"You, shut up!" he roared.
This whole thing started because of you! Of all the people to provoke, you had to provoke someone belonging to the Sixth Elder!
At first, Liu Tianfeng had felt it was quite embarrassing that his six-aperture son couldn't defeat someone who had only opened two. Now, he just felt lucky. It's a good thing he couldn't win...
At this moment, faced with Niu Yuanshan's exorbitant demand, he hesitated for several seconds.
Chu Huaixu watched him silently, feeling that this old man gave off the impression of being calculatingly profound but not quite able to calculate things correctly.
Finally, Liu Tianfeng waved his large hand, and two jade-like fragments appeared from the storage space of his deacon token. They looked like mutton-fat jade, with patterns carved on them, exuding a faint spiritual charm.
The Liu father and son could only console themselves. "There are ten fragments in total. Giving them two is still acceptable."
The key was not to anger the Sixth Elder!
Ultimately, it was because Niu Yuanshan's established persona was too deeply ingrained in everyone's minds.
"With Old Niu's thick-skinned, honest nature, the more outrageous his demand, the more he's hinting to me that this kid's background is sky-high!"
Among all the outer sect deacons, this willing ox was the most competent. He had always been thorough in his work, and everyone considered him reliable.
With a wave of Liu Tianfeng's hand, the two Jade Tablet Fragments floated in front of Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang.
"Take them," Niu Yuanshan said gently.
The two immediately stored the Jade Tablet Fragments in their storage tokens.
In an instant, a voice that only Chu Huaixu could hear sounded in his ear.
"[Ding! You have successfully completed the quest—Retaliation from Liu Chengqi.]"
"[You have successfully obtained 1000 experience points.]"
"[Congratulations, you have successfully unlocked the hidden dungeon—Pill King's Token!]"
...
...
Inside the dungeon, Chu Huaixu was overjoyed. Everything had gone too smoothly. The Grade A quest was completed just like that, and with the help of the insider Niu Yuanshan, he had successfully unlocked the hidden dungeon.
But for a normal player in the novice period, this was basically an impossible mission. The Grade A rating was very reasonable. These three vile Liu bastards could be considered the evil final bosses of the starting village.
If Chu Huaixu didn't have Xu Ziqing's protagonist halo, and had relied only on Niu Yuanshan, at most he would have just completed the quest, and would likely have faced a series of troubles afterward!
"Is this how awesome it feels to be a World Protagonist?" Chu Huaixu thought to himself.
The Jade Tablet Fragment he had just obtained, he personally understood it to be the key to opening the dungeon.
"[Pill King's Token]? I've never seen this hidden dungeon on the game forums."
"Then it seems this happened before the game's open beta."
However, he had heard of the figure known as the Pill King. In the path of pill refining, the one with the highest achievement was definitely the Dao Ancestor. The esteemed Dao Ancestor had created the Aperture-Opening Pill, ushering in a prosperous age of cultivation! Second only to him was the Pill King!
Chu Huaixu still remembered the sensation when the [Pill King's Secret Realm] appeared when he was playing "Borrowing a Sword". With the Pill King's legacy at stake, the entire Xuanhuang Realm had been in an uproar, and all the major player guilds had been rubbing their hands together, wanting a piece of the pie.
"But could this [Pill King's Token] and the [Pill King's Secret Realm] be related?" he speculated. He couldn't be sure for now. The scale of a hidden dungeon in the starting village shouldn't be that high.
Today's trip had been quite fruitful.
Niu Yuanshan turned his head to look at Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang and asked, "This result, are you two satisfied with it?"
Liu Tianfeng felt more and more that this Old Niu was a savvy man. This was equivalent to asking them if they would go and complain to the Sixth Elder, and whether this misunderstanding could be considered over. The old man was in extreme pain over the loss right now, but it was inconvenient for him to ask these questions. Niu Yuanshan, however, was the perfect person to do so. There was no helping it; after all, what they had wanted just now was Chu Huaixu's life! If the matter was not handled well, they would have made an enemy of the Sixth Elder.
Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang didn't speak, but just looked at Chu Huaixu, as if his opinion was her opinion.
Chu Huaixu walked a few steps forward, coming before the three members of the Liu family.
"Deacon, this junior has one more matter to ask," he said, still polite and courteous, clasping his hands in a salute. From beginning to end, he had been full marks for politeness.
At this moment, how could Liu Tianfeng dare to be arrogant? Seeing his posture, he actually felt a sense of relief, as if he had been given a way to step down gracefully. He quickly extended his hand, wanting to make a gesture of helping up the bowing Chu Huaixu.
However, just as he reached out his hand, Chu Huaixu moved.
It all happened so suddenly, so suddenly that he didn't even have time to react at all. A third-realm cultivator had spiritual energy circulating around their body and had keen senses. It was very difficult to launch a successful sneak attack, as they would subconsciously react.
The problem was, Chu Huaixu wasn't attacking him.
By the time Liu Tianfeng reacted, a rock-solid spiritual power blocked him. It was Niu Yuanshan!
Chu Huaixu's palm slammed into Liu Chengqi's chest, similar to what had happened in the courtyard today. Because he had perfect body control, his palm strike was very precise, landing in the exact same spot.
The ribs that had just been set with spiritual medicine instantly snapped with a crack!
Did I say you could set them? And you went and set them!
—[Eight Desolates Roaming Dragon]!
Liu Chengqi immediately let out a heart-wrenching scream. The familiar scene had occurred twice in one day. The sharp pain from the same location made him nearly faint!
After doing all this, Chu Huaixu slowly straightened up and retracted his palm.
This tall and straight young man was half a head taller than Liu Tianfeng. He stared straight into the other's eyes and said in a clear voice:
"This disciple just asked the Deacon which rule I broke."
"I must trouble Deacon Liu to explain it again!"
"This disciple is all ears!"