Chapter 689: Stealing from the Wall!
When they saw Old Qin step forward, many of the famous figures and big shots present didn't recognize him and looked confused, wondering if this old man's status was so high that even the Yu family's Crown Prince, Yu Guanying, had to bring him out to support them.
However, a chilling realization dawned upon some of the major figures in Hangzhou, those with deep roots and long memories. Their expressions tightened, their faces paling, for they knew exactly who Old Qin was—and the terrifying strength he represented.
He was the undisputed number one expert in Hangzhou.
Even though he had vanished into seclusion for over two decades, that fact remained absolute. No one in the city, no matter how powerful or wealthy, dared to challenge his authority.
He was a true Heavenly Human expert, a Martial Arts Giant whose legend was whispered in the city's most exclusive circles.
The current generation of the Qin Family might be a parade of mediocrity, their descendants unremarkable and talentless, but with a titan like this standing behind them, their family wielded an influence in Hangzhou that was utterly disproportionate to their visible assets. They were a hidden dragon, and this old man was their coiled, sleeping power.
"The Yu Family… they actually managed to convince Old Qin to come out of a seclusion that's lasted over twenty years?" Zhang Yunhai's face contorted with shock and a deep, gnawing worry. He, too, was privy to the legends surrounding Old Qin. The fact that even Hangzhou's richest man had once bowed his head and offered a humiliating apology to the Qin Family spoke volumes about the old man's terrifying might.
Twenty years ago, Old Qin was already a peak Heavenly Human. After two more decades of secluded cultivation, what monstrous level of power had he attained?
Could Shen Anyu, as gifted as he was, truly stand against such a seasoned monster?
A knot of apprehension tightened in Zhang Yunhai's stomach. He found himself genuinely concerned for the young man who had so thoroughly impressed him.
'Qin Haitian has appeared; Shen Anyu is doomed!' In a shadowy corner of the grand hall, Zhou Yunhu, the feared boss of the Yunhu Association, watched the scene unfold with a vicious sneer twisting his lips. His expression was a mask of pure schadenfreude, delighting in the impending disaster.
Though the outside world crowned him the Emperor of Hangzhou's underworld, and he had the formidable Tianshi Sect as his backer, Zhou Yunhu knew his limits. He was acutely aware that there were a select few individuals in Hangzhou who he could never, ever afford to provoke.
Old Qin, Qin Haitian, was at the very top of that list.
He estimated the old man's cultivation had likely broken through to the Heavenly Human Late Stage. How could a young upstart like Shen Anyu, barely out of his teens, possibly contend with that?
Even if Shen Anyu was a heaven-defying prodigy, could his twenty-odd years of life possibly stack up against Old Qin's seventy years of brutal experience and accumulated power?
A lifetime of martial skill, seventy years of killing intent and condensed inner strength, all contained within a single punch—that was not a force to be taken lightly.
"Old Qin?" Ling Qingcheng's stunning face grew solemn, her usual confidence replaced by a rare flicker of concern. She had heard the whispers and legends of Old Qin's prestige. She immediately leaned closer to Shen Anyu, her voice a low, urgent murmur. "Shen Anyu, be careful. Old Qin is incredibly powerful!"
She continued, her phoenix eyes dark with worry, "My grandfather once mentioned him. He said that even though Old Qin has been in seclusion for over twenty years, his foundation is terrifyingly deep. More than a decade ago, the richest man in Hangzhou somehow offended the Qin Family. The fallout was so severe that he had to personally visit their estate and offer a profound apology, not daring to show the slightest bit of disrespect."
Yet, faced with this living legend and his implicit threat, Shen Anyu merely smiled. He looked directly at Old Qin, whose aged face demanded deference, and let out a soft, dismissive scoff.
"Show you Face? Are you even worthy?"
The words, spoken so casually, landed like a bomb in the silent hall. Even Wu Shenyun, the peerless Goddess who had dominated Southern Jiang as a mighty Land Immortal, had been humbled and turned into his Yun Slave. What was a mere Heavenly Human Late Stage fossil like Old Qin in comparison?
This was the trump card Yu Guanying was so proud of, the ace he was even willing to secure through a political marriage? In Shen Anyu's eyes, he was nothing. Completely and utterly insignificant.
Tian Yunzi of the Tianshi Sect, the Sea Dragon King from the Martial God Hall—powerful experts he had personally executed—were in no way weaker than this old man.
At Shen Anyu's current level of power, the only thing that could even begin to pique his caution were the hidden, unbelievably fortunate Children of Destiny. What were these so-called top noble families and transcendent powers to him? They were just slightly larger, more bothersome grasshoppers waiting to be crushed under his heel.
His casual dismissal, however, sent a wave of utter horror through the assembled guests. The expressions on every face—from the seasoned tycoons to the arrogant young masters—shifted from tension to sheer, slack-jawed disbelief.
That was Old Qin! The number one expert of Hangzhou! A man of profound foundation and immense power! How could Shen Anyu treat him with such utter, contemptuous disregard?
"What an arrogant young man!" Old Qin's face, already stern, flushed a dark, furious crimson. He laughed, a harsh, grating sound born of extreme anger. "Even your maternal grandfather, An Youmin, wouldn't dare to look down on this old man like this! Yet you… you say this old man is not worthy?"
He stared coldly at Shen Anyu, his gaze lingering on the young man's impossibly handsome features, which sparked a flicker of a long-buried memory. It felt like yesterday… An Youmin standing before him, just as unyielding, refusing to give him Face as he brought judgment upon his eldest son. The memory replayed in his mind, the words echoing with chilling clarity:
Brother Qin, it is not that I won't give you Face, but your son actually colluded with a Sakura Country spy to steal state secrets, which absolutely cannot be forgiven!
That day, he had lost his heir. Now, that man's grandson stood before him with the same infuriating defiance. A cold, murderous light surged within Old Qin's cloudy eyes, and a trace of evident Evil Qi began to bleed from his pores.
"Since that is the case," he snarled, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl, "then let this old man witness the impressive moves of you, the Shen Clan's Young Master. Do you dare to fight?"
Boom!
The instant the challenge was issued, the aura of a Heavenly Human Late Stage Giant erupted without restraint. It was not a gradual rise in pressure; it was a detonation. A deafening concussion of pure power slammed through the banquet hall, a thunderclap ripping through the very fabric of the air. A horrifying, grinding sound echoed from the Void Realm as his unrestrained might vented in all directions.
The immense pressure crashed downwards like a physical weight. The pristine marble floor beneath his feet didn't just crack—it exploded, spiderwebbing outwards in a web of fractures as stone dust plumed into the air. Across the room, the magnificent champagne tower, a monument of glass and golden liquid, disintegrated with a sound like a thousand shattering crystals. Amber wine and razor-sharp shards of glass sprayed outwards in a deadly shower, eliciting terrified screams from the guests.
The famous figures, the powerful big shots, the pampered young masters and misses—all of them were thrown back, their faces ashen with terror. They stumbled over each other, gasping for breath, their lungs burning as if the air had been stolen from them. This was only the spillover, the mere shockwave of Old Qin's focus. Had he directed even a fraction of his true intent at them, they would have been reduced to bloody mist on the spot.
Yu Guanying and his sister, Yu Guannan, stood closer to the epicenter. Despite being formidable Martial Arts Grandmasters, they felt like helpless dinghies caught in the heart of a raging tsunami. The oppressive force slammed into them, making their Inner Qi churn violently and their blood freeze in their veins. They could barely remain standing, every muscle screaming in protest against the crushing weight.
"Is this… the strength of a Heavenly Human Late Stage Giant?" Yu Guannan's beautiful eyes were wide with shock. She had always known the gap was large, but this was not a gap; it was a chasm. The theoretical knowledge she possessed was utterly useless in the face of this reality. Just a sliver of his aura, an insignificant leak of his power, was enough to suffocate her, a proud Martial Arts Grandmaster. He was simply too strong.
'Indeed, roping in Old Qin was a brilliant move!' The initial shock that seized Yu Guanying quickly morphed into a surge of savage excitement. A triumphant, manic energy pulsed through him. This was the power he needed. This was the weapon that would crush his arrogant rival. With Old Qin at his side, suppressing Shen Anyu would be as easy as stepping on an ant.
Shen Anyu was only in his twenties! Even if he had started cultivating in his mother's womb, he couldn't possibly have accumulated the power to match a seventy-year-old monster like Old Qin!
If I can cripple Shen Anyu here and now, he thought with a surge of vindictive glee, even starting a major conflict with the Yanxia's Shen Clan would be worth it!
Yet, under the stunned and fearful gazes of everyone present, Shen Anyu, the direct target of that cataclysmic aura, remained perfectly still. A calm, almost lazy smile never left his lips. More astonishingly, Ling Qingcheng and He Yiyi, the two women standing right beside him, showed no signs of distress whatsoever. They stood in the eye of the hurricane, utterly untouched.
Old Qin's pupils contracted to pinpricks. He saw it then—an invisible, shimmering wall of Qi that had formed a perfect sphere around Shen Anyu. His overwhelming might, an aura that could pulverize steel and shatter stone, crashed against this barrier and simply… vanished. It was like a tidal wave breaking against a monolithic, immovable cliff, dissipating into harmless seafoam. He immediately sneered, his voice booming with renewed force.
"Young man, do you dare to fight?"
Ling Qingcheng's composure finally broke. She reached out, her fingers tightening around Shen Anyu's sleeve. She shook her head, her beautiful phoenix eyes filled with a desperate plea. She had never expected things to escalate to this point. From the beginning, she knew Yu Guanxiong was a predator, that his intentions were vile. Her plan had been to navigate the treacherous social waters carefully, to deflect his advances without openly offending him—to achieve the best of both worlds.
But he had tried to drug her. And what surprised her even more was Shen Anyu's fierce, uncompromising defense. He was willing to openly confront the entire Yanxia's Yu Clan, one of the most powerful families in the country, just for her.
How could she let him face a monster like Old Qin because of her? How could she let him risk his life for her sake?
Shen Anyu gently patted Ling Qingcheng's soft, jade-like hand, his touch reassuring. He then turned his amused gaze back to Old Qin.
"If you want to fight, and I simply agree, wouldn't that mean I lose Face?"
"What do you want?" Old Qin frowned, his patience wearing thin.
Shen Anyu's gaze drifted past the old man, landing on the tense figures of Yu Guanying and Yu Guannan. A wicked, charming chuckle escaped his lips.
"How about this: I agree to fight you. If you win, I will let Yu Guanxiong go and offer a formal apology. If you lose… Yu Guannan will be my concubine. How about that?"
"Impossible!" Yu Guannan's beautiful face turned to ice, her voice sharp with fury as she immediately refused.
"Shen Anyu, stop your pipe dream!" Yu Guanying's expression was just as gloomy, his features contorted in a mask of rage. The direct daughter of the Yu Clan, becoming the concubine of the Shen Clan's Young Master? The insult was unimaginable.
"Then how about this," Shen Anyu continued, his smile never wavering as he looked directly at Yu Guanying. "We bet with the life of you, the Yu family's Crown Prince?"
Yu Guanying's face was as dark as a thundercloud. How could he possibly agree to use his own life as a gambling chip?
"Fine, I agree. If you win, I will be your concubine!" But at this moment, a clear, cold, and dignified voice suddenly rang out, and it belonged to Yu Guannan...
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