Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
âSince this King wasnât the one who destroyed First Inn, why are you asking for repayment from this King?â Pei Bu Wan loudly pounded the table in front of him, shattering it into pieces. Then, he stared at Yang Kai with widened eyes, âBrat, do you think this King is easy to bully?â
âI wouldnât dare.â Yang Kai hung his head low and cupped his fists, âIâm just here to carry out my orders.â
Pei Bu Wan snorted, âLook for those who demolished First Inn then. What does it have to do with this King?â
Yang Kai replied, âShopkeeper Pei is quite right. In that case, Junior will take his leave. However, there is one thing I should mention before I go.â
âGo on.â Pei Bu Wan shot him a glance.
âBefore coming out to carry out my orders, my Proprietress said that it would be best if I could collect all the debts owed, and that if I couldnât, she would personally come over to discuss them with those shopkeepers who arenât willing to pay. If that still doesnât work, she would go to the headquarters of those great forces to seek repayment from them.â
Pei Bu Wan chuckled, âDo you think you can scare this King? Tell whoever she is to come here, then. Letâs see if that woman can get even a single pill from this King. If she can, this King doesnât mind calling her Great Aunt!â
Yang Kai shouted, âJunior will remember and pass on Shopkeeper Peiâs sentiments to our Proprietress word for word. Farewell!â
After cupping his fists, he turned around and left.
All of a sudden, Pei Bu Wan frowned as though he seemed to recall something, âWait.â
Hearing that, Yang Kai whirled around and stared at him, âWhat else does Shopkeeper Pei wish to say?â
The aggressive light in Pei Bu Wanâs eyes seemed to have weakened as he muttered, âYou just mentioned your Proprietress⌠As far as this King knows, most First Inns are managed by men. There are only a small number of female shopkeepers. Whatâs your Proprietressâ name?â
Although there werenât many female shopkeepers at First Inn, none of them were easy to deal with. In particular, there were two of whom especially shouldnât be messed with.
âMy First Innâs Proprietress is known as Madam Lan.â With a respectful look on his face, Yang Kai cupped his fists in the direction First Inn was located.
Pei Bu Wanâs face twitched hard when he heard that and asked, âMadam Lan? Which Madam Lan?â
Yang Kai replied, âIâm not sure if there is more than one Madam Lan who belongs to First Inn. It has only been a short time since I started working for her, so Iâm not familiar with First Inn; however, I have a Faith Token from our Proprietress. Do you want to have a look?â
âShow me,â Pei Bu Wan extended his large hand.
Yang Kai presented the Jade Token to him with both hands. After taking it, Pei Bu Wan infused his energy into it. The next instant, he gulped hard before he let out a hollow laugh, âOh, itâs that Madam Lan! En, this King is familiar with her. Several hundred years ago, I was a customer at First Inn, and she was quite⌠hospitable⌠Haha. A few hundred years have passed just like that. Those daysâŚâ
He wasnât even sure how he should keep going, so he decided to change the topic, âHas she arrived in this Star City?â
Yang Kai replied, âYes. First Inn has just reopened a few streets away from here.â
âI see,â Pei Bu Wan nodded.
âIs there anything else, Shopkeeper Pei? If not, Iâll take my leave now. The Proprietress is waiting for me to report to her.â
âThereâs nothing else,â Pei Bu Wan waved his hand and extended the Jade Token, but he refused to let it go when Yang Kai clenched it.
Staring at him, Yang Kai said, âWhat is the meaning of this, Shopkeeper Pei? A Jade Token is not valuable. If you want one, you can simply head to First Inn and get one from the Proprietress. Iâm sure she still has some to spare.â
An exasperated Pei Bu Wan refuted, âWhy would I need a Jade Token?â Then, he released the token, âThereâs no hurry for you to leave. Let this King think about this.â
Upon finishing his words, he rose from the chair and placed his hands behind his back before pacing around. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts as though he was pondering on an important issue.
Seeing that, Yang Kai admired the Proprietress even more. Even a thug like Pei Bu Wan became terrified at the mere mention of her name. Although Pei Bu Wan didnât let his emotions show on his face, Yang Kai would be a fool not to notice this abrupt change in attitude. Yang Kai began to wonder just what the Proprietress had done to make herself famous across the 3,000 Worlds.
A moment later, Pei Bu Wan stopped in his tracks and stared fixedly at Yang Kai, as though he had just made a difficult decision, âBrat, youâre here to collect a debt, right?â
Yang Kai replied, âYes, I am here to ask for compensation.â
âThey mean the same thing. Youâre here to ask for money.â Pei Bu Wan waved his hand and swept a glance over him, âI can see that your cultivation is not bad as youâve condensed your Dao Seal. Whatâs your battle experience like?â
Yang Kai frowned as this question was rather bizarre, but after giving it a thought, he simply replied, âIâm from an unknown, remote Universe World.â
In other words, he had fought his way to the Outer Universe, so his combat experience was unquestionable.
Upon hearing that, Pei Bu Wanâs eyes became visibly brighter as he put on a broad smile, âVery good.â Then, he pointed at the battle stage, âDo you see that guy over there?â
Yang Kai turned his head and saw that the young man, who won the battle earlier, was seated on the ground with his legs crossed. Apparently, he was trying to adjust his breathing and heal his wounds.
âShopkeeper Pei, what do you mean?â Yang Kai asked.
âI want you to fight against him.â
âI donât understand.â
Pei Bu Wan wrapped his arm around Yang Kaiâs shoulder and said in a hushed voice, âIf you can defeat him, Iâll repay the debt.â
A shocked Yang Kai asked, âAre you serious?â
âOf course Iâm serious.â
âHow much will you repay?â
âIâll repay the debt in full.â
[What exactly goes through this guyâs head? How bored must he be to have developed an interest in watching other people fight? I guess thugs like him really canât be judged with reason.] There was no doubt that Yang Kai was tempted by the suggestion. The amount of repayment was 10 million, and heâd get five percent of it, which was 500,000. It could be considered easy if he could get the money by simply fighting a battle. All the other shopkeepers had asked for a month to validate the incident, and it wasnât certain whether they would pay up after that point; therefore, Yang Kai was quite interested in Pei Bu Wanâs suggestion.
More importantly, Yang Kai had just borrowed some Open Heaven Pills from Luo Hai Yi the previous day. If he could get 10 million pills today, he would be able to repay her and free himself from at least one debt.
Yang Kai had watched the young man fight earlier, and although he admitted he was fairly powerful, his foundation wasnât solid. If they got into a one-on-one fight, Yang Kai was confident he would win.
He reckoned that Pei Bu Wan must be wary of the Proprietress. Earlier, the burly man had sworn that if the Proprietress could get even one pill from him, he would call her Great Aunt. Now, he must be trying to find a way out of this embarrassing situation.
Thinking so, Yang Kai nodded his head, âGood.â
âGreat!â Pei Bu Wan clapped his hands and guffawed, âJust wait a bit. That guy has just gone through an intense battle and exhausted himself. Let him restore some energy first.â
Naturally, Yang Kai didnât mind this.
Pei Bu Wan moved and appeared on the battlefield in an instant before speaking to the young man, who gazed at Yang Kai and nodded gently. Then, he passed the young man a jade bottle that should contain some healing pills. The young man directly fished out some pills and gulped them down before he continued meditating.
Following that, Pei Bu Wan returned to the platform and chuckled, âLetâs wait for one hour.â
One hour wasnât a long time, but in order to not make Luo Hai Yi worry, Yang Kai took out a communications artifact and informed her that his discussion here would take a little longer, so heâd leave the shop at a later time.
On the other hand, Pei Bu Wan told his subordinates to get a new table and cups of tea before having a small talk with Yang Kai.
One hour later, the young man got to his feet on the battlefield and beckoned to Yang Kai.
âShopkeeper Pei, Iâm going now. Please donât forget your promise.â
âDonât worry. I wonât,â Pei Bu Wan chuckled.
It was then Yang Kai leapt onto the battle stage, and upon reaching the centre, he cupped his fists at the young man, who was still tens of metres away from him, âYang Kai!â
The young man also cupped his fists, but as soon as he lifted his hands, he suddenly dashed forward and threw his fist towards Yang Kaiâs face. A blast was heard as a violent force swirled around his fist. It was as though he had some deep grudges against Yang Kai.
This was different from what Yang Kai had expected, so with a frown, he pushed out a fist as well.
Following a loud bang, two figures were seen stepping backwards. A tinge of surprise flashed across the young manâs eyes as he hadnât expected Yang Kai to be so tough.
Before he even came to his senses though, Yang Kai managed to stabilize himself and shoot forward. An image flashed across the young manâs eyes as he realised that Yang Kai had already reached him as a fist expanded rapidly in his eyes.
Flustered, the young man hurriedly raised his arms to parry the attack, but he immediately felt an unstoppable force coming from the other partyâs fist, which was even more forceful than the first clash. He was horrified, but it was too late for him to summon any artifacts. Following a loud crack, he felt excruciating pain as his forearm bones were broken.
The next instant, countless fist shadows rained down on the young man, turning him ashen.
On the platform, Pei Bu Wan appeared surprised at first, then his eyes brightened intensely as though he had just found a treasure. Hot breath was even seen puffing out of his nostrils.
Loud bangs were continuously heard coming from the battlefield as the young man could only defend himself without the power to counterattack. He was completely overwhelmed.
Yang Kai was used to fighting against opponents stronger than himself. He might not be able to defeat an Open Heaven Realm Master, who had split Heaven and Earth apart in his body, which allowed them to utilize World Force, but as long as his opponent wasnât an Open Heaven Realm Master, Yang Kai didnât fear anyone.
If the young man had been polite, Yang Kai wouldnât have oppressed him like this. The problem was that the young man directly made a move without saying a word, so Yang Kai replied in kind with a ruthless offensive.
Although Yang Kai was a Human, he had the brute strength of a 2,000-metre-long Half-Dragon. Therefore, the average Emperor Realm cultivator was no match for him when it came to raw power. If the other person had widened the gap and used artifacts or Secret Techniques, he mightâve lasted for a while longer; however, he decided to fight Yang Kai in close quarters, which was akin to courting death.
After just ten breaths of time, Yang Kai pushed out his fist for the last time. The young man became paralysed on the ground with his clothes drenched in blood.
Yang Kai didnât intend to kill him, but it would take the young man at least half a month to recuperate from such injuries.
Then, Yang Kai moved and appeared beside Pei Bu Wan, not even short of breath, as though he was just warming up earlier. With his fists cupped, Yang Kai said, âShopkeeper Pei, fortunately, I didnât disappoint you.â
The subordinates were amazed as they looked at him like he was a freak.
Pei Bu Wan placed his hands behind his back and paced around again for a bit before striding over and grabbing Yang Kaiâs shoulders.
His action made Yang Kai feel uncomfortable, and with a frown, he asked, âShopkeeper Pei, Iâve won the battle. Just like what youâve promised, will you make the repayment now?â
âRepayment? What do you mean?â Pei Bu Wan glared at him.
Yang Kaiâs face fell, âDoes Shopkeeper Pei want to go back on his word? You promised that as long as I could defeat him, youâd give me the repayment in full.â