After explaining the purpose of his visit, the storekeeper took out a vintage-looking invitation card.
Then, he took out a brush and ink, opened the invitation card, and wrote “Mr. Tang” on it.
“Here’s your invitation, Mr. Tang. On the day of the event, you can enter the venue with this card. Please remember that it is May 1st, in River Delta City. The address is written inside.”
The shopkeeper bowed and handed the invitation card over.
“Thank you!”
Tang Hao took the invitation card, briefly glanced at the contents, then left Octagon Alley.
Three days later, he drove to River Delta City.
He arrived at his destination at around five o’clock in the afternoon.
The conference was held at a villa in the suburbs. It was built in the Republic style and looked quite old.
After driving through the gate, he saw many cars parked in front of the villa, some of which were luxury sports cars.
He got out of the car and walked to the gate. A man in a traditional Chinese suit was standing there.
When he saw Tang Hao, he cupped his hands and greeted him as a fellow cultivator.
Tang Hao showed his invitation card and was ushered in.
He walked through the door, passed through the front hall, and arrived at the courtyard behind the villa.
Melodious music could be heard in the courtyard. Many people were dressed up and walking around. They gathered in twos and threes and chatted enthusiastically.
A quick count revealed that there were about seventy people.
“Mr. Tang, please make yourself at home!”
The person bowed and walked away.
Tang Hao walked into the courtyard. His arrival did not attract much attention. Some people looked at him, saw that it was a young man in his twenties, and turned away.
Tang Hao glanced around, but he did not find anyone familiar.
The Taoist masters, the heavenly masters, and the families from the Capital had not arrived yet.
He took a cup of liquor, walked to the side, and sat down.
“Have you heard? The entire Liu family has been crippled, and even the precious grandson of the Liu family has died! How tragic!”
Not far from him, someone whispered.
Then, there was a burst of exclamations.
“That can’t be! That’s the Liu Family we’re talking about!”
“Ha, it’s true! A few days ago, I was discussing business with the Qi family, and they mentioned it,” the person said in a low voice.
“Who did it? Has there been a new villain?”
“No! I heard from the Qi family that it was that half-step Perfected Person.”
“Perfected Person? Oh my god! is the Liu family crazy? They provoked a Perfected Person!”
“Who knows! Speaking of which, in the past three years, interesting things have been happening in Huaxia. I was nearly arrested in that operation by the Agency. That frightened me!”
“Yeah, these are interesting times! Oh, right, that operation should have something to do with that Perfected Person! I heard that it was him who turned the tide, killed the thirteen elite vampire and werewolf families, and brought glory to Huaxia.”
“That’s him alright! I wish I could meet this senior. He’s my idol! Too bad that I’ve never had the chance to meet him.”
Following that, the group of people sighed.
Tang Hao sat there with a strange expression on his face.
After a while, several more people came into the courtyard from the villa.
The person leading the group was a middle-aged man, followed closely by a young man.
“Hey! Ol’ Yuan, you’re here too!”
Immediately, many people came forward and greeted him.
The middle-aged man named Yuan started chatting with them, while the young man took a cup of liquor and walked around.
At that moment, Tang Hao finished his cup of liquor and stood up to take another cup. When he reached out his hand, he inadvertently revealed the blood jade bead on his wrist.
The young man happened to glance at it. His gaze was transfixed on the bead.
“Stop!”
Seeing that Tang Hao was about to leave, he shouted.
Tang Hao did not care and continued walking.
“F*ck! I told you to stop, you brat! Are you deaf?” The young man shouted annoyedly.
In an instant, the surroundings became quiet, and everyone turned around to look.
Tang Hao stopped and turned around. “Are you calling me?” He asked curiously.
“Nonsense! Who else would I be calling?” The young man’s tone was impolite.
Then, he pointed at Tang Hao’s wrist and shouted, “I want that thing. Name your price!” His gaze on the blood jade bead became eager.
He could tell that the blood jade bead was not a mundane item. It was most likely an Artifact.
In the modern cultivation world, Artifacts were extremely precious. Even he, the eldest grandson of the Yuan family, did not have one.
He did not recognize that kid. In other words, he was not from a cultivation family. There were only about a dozen cultivation families in Huaxia, and they were quite familiar with each other. He recognized all of them.
If he was not from a cultivation family, and he was not dressed in Taoist robes, then he must be an unaffiliated cultivator. He must have had a fortuitous encounter and tried to cultivate on his own.
Without a proper cultivation base or any background, unaffiliated cultivators were on the lowest rung in the cultivation world. What right did he have to own an Artifact?
Seeing that Tang Hao did not respond, he said, “Kid, I’m from the Yuan family!”
He sounded boastful and threatening.
“Yuan family? What’s that?” Tang Hao said.
The young man was surprised. “You don’t even know about my Yuan family?”
“Are you someone famous?”
“Haha!” The young man immediately burst into laughter.
‘This kid is really interesting! If he doesn’t even know about my Yuan family, he must be some complete rookie in the cultivation world!’
Around him, there was also a burst of laughter.
Those people looked at Tang Hao with contempt.
Chapter 680 - The Hua Family Is Here
‘He’s just a rookie!’
Everyone was laughing up their sleeve.
They took a closer look and noticed that the qi aura on the kid’s body was so weak that it was negligible. That further confirmed their initial guesses.
Then, their gazes fell on the blood jade bead.
Their eyes flashed with greed.
“It’s a treasure!”
“Dammit! Why can’t I be as lucky?”
They whispered to each other and discussed in low voices.
“Let me tell you, kid. My Yuan family is very famous. Our ancestors have been cultivating since more than a hundred years ago. Everyone in the Huaxia cultivation world knows about my Yuan family!”
That young man lifted his chin and looked arrogant.
“If you know what’s good for you, hurry up and sell me that treasure. It’ll be a waste in your hands!”
Tang Hao grimaced, then smiled. “What if… I don’t plan to sell it?”
“Ha! You talk big, kid! How dare you talk back to me? You ought to think through your decision!” The threat in his tone was very obvious.
The people around them shook their heads. They looked at Tang Hao with pity in their eyes.
‘What a stupid kid! Not only did he not conceal his treasure, but he flaunted it in public. Does he have a death wish?
‘Now that it had caught someone’s eye, he won’t be able to keep it.’
They were in Octagon Alley territory, and so the Yuan family dared not act recklessly. However, once he was outside, he would definitely be robbed. If the Yuan family did not snatch the treasure, the others would.
�
��I’ve thought it through very clearly. I’m not selling it!” Tang Hao said coldly.
Instantly, the surroundings exclaimed in surprise.
“What a gutsy brat!”
“Ha! Gutsy? He’s more like a fool!”
Many people in the crowd jeered.
The young man became agitated. “You’d better appreciate the fact that I’m talking nicely to you, kid. Just you wait until we’re outside!”
Tang Hao grinned mockingly. “I think we don’t have to wait until we’re outside. Let’s settle this here and now!”
Everyone was stunned by those words.
‘Has this brat gone mad?’
That was the first thought in everyone’s minds.
Otherwise, how would an unaffiliated rookie dare to provoke the young master of the Yuan family?
“Haha! Did I hear wrongly? !” The young man laughed loudly as if he had heard a joke.
The kid sounded as though he was about to get physical! How dare a mere rookie cultivator stand up against him? Did he have a death wish?
“Check this kid out. Isn’t he amusing?”
He laughed heartily and said to the people around him.
Everyone laughed along with him.
At that moment, Tang Hao stepped forward and waved his hand at the young man’s face.
Slap!
The crisp ring of a slap.
The young man staggered from the slap and fell sitting on the ground.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard seemed to have frozen.
In the next moment, everyone exclaimed in surprise.
“He’s really crazy!”
The people were in disbelief.
“How dare you hit me?” The young man sat on the ground and covered his red and swollen face with his hand. As he got up, his expression contorted and he shouted, “I’ll kill you, you brat!”
Tang Hao rolled his eyes and stomped on the young man’s chest.
“You’re… still hitting… I… I’ll fight you to the death!”
The young man was losing his mind.
Tang Hao kicked him again and said coldly, “Shut up!”
“Stop!”
The Yuan family members looked at Tang Hao with fire in their eyes. They had some reservations about wielding their sorcery, so they rolled up their sleeves and rushed forward.
They thought that it would be easy to gang up on one person.
Eventually, they all lay sprawled on the ground.
“You have guts, you brat! You’re the first person who dares to beat up my family members in front of me.” Yuan Guotao could not contain his anger.
“Kill him, Dad!” The young man roared.
“Don’t worry, Yifan. Only death awaits anyone who provokes the Yuan family,” Yuan Guotao said viciously.
“How pretentious, old man. I’ll beat you up too.”
Tang Hao grunted coldly, rushed forward, and beat him up.
If the young one behaved that way, the old one was not going to be anyone good either.
Yuan Guotao originally wanted to use sorcery, but that kid was unbelievably fast. A punch landed on the bridge of his nose and dazed him.
After a series of punches, he fell to the ground.
‘This is utter humiliation!’
He wailed in his heart and almost popped a vein.
The people around him were stunned. They could not believe their eyes.
‘Are those people sprawled on the ground really from the Yuan family?
‘Oh my god! The kid had stirred up a hornet’s nest. The Yuan family would definitely kill him!’
“Tell me your name if you have the guts, you brat!”
“Just you wait, you brat!”
The members of the Yuan family got up, covered their faces, and shouted fiercely.
Tang Hao flicked his wrists and glanced at them coldly.
“You’re still so arrogant? Very well!” Yuan Guotao said angrily. Then, he shouted, “Help, help! You all saw what happened, right? This brat is a lunatic. Hurry up and drive him out!”
A middle-aged man in a traditional Chinese suit walked out from the crowd.
He had a troubled look on his face. After looking around, he walked toward Tang Hao and said, “This way please, Sir!”
As he said that, he gestured toward the exit.
Many people were secretly happy when they saw that.
Once the kid stepped out, that would be the end of him.
“What, is it my fault?” Tang Hao smiled coldly.
“Well…” the man in the traditional Chinese was taken aback and revealed a troubled expression.
Strictly speaking, what happened just now could not be considered totally his fault. If Young Master Yuan had not insisted on claiming the treasure, none of that would have happened.
However, that was the Yuan family after all!
On the other hand, the kid was a mere unaffiliated cultivator. It was obvious which side he should take.
“I’m sorry! You were the one who got physical first. Don’t blame us for breaking the rules! This way, please!” The man said.
Tang Hao glanced at him coldly and said, “Very well then…”
The man was taken aback. He seemed unhappy.
He was giving the kid an opportunity to make a graceful exit, yet the kid remained arrogant.
“Leave now!” He shouted coldly.
“What lousy conference is this? I shouldn’t have wasted my time!” Tang Hao coldly grunted and was about to walk away.
“Poor kid!”
Everyone started to laugh mockingly.
At that moment, a group of people walked into the courtyard from the villa. The leader was a white-haired old man dressed in a traditional Chinese suit. He was none other than the patriarch of the Hua family.
The group of people was surprised when they saw the situation in the courtyard.
“What happened?”
Old Master Hua asked the people who were watching the unfolding drama.
“Ha! There’s an ignorant kid causing trouble here. He even beat up the people from the Yuan family!”
The people from the Hua family were surprised again. Then, they laughed.
“Haha! This is interesting! Where did this kid come from?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him before. He must be a rookie!”
“Haha, he sounds powerful! Let’s go and take a look!”
Old Master Hua laughed heartily. He stroked his long beard and led his people over.
“Excuse me, let me take a look!” He shouted and squeezed through the crowd.
When he looked at Tang Hao, his entire body trembled as if he had been struck by lightning. The smile on his face froze.
In the next moment, he opened his eyes wide, and his eyeballs almost popped out.
Chapter 681 - Extreme Shock
‘What the hell?
‘The kid is a rookie? What kind of a sick joke was that?
‘He’s a great villain! No… he’s not a villain. He’s a senior!’
Old Master Hua cursed in his heart. His face was burning with pain as he recalled the events of that night.
That night was a nightmare for him. It was unbearable to recall!
In fact, he considered himself to be traumatized. Whenever he saw that senior, his legs would tremble, and he would start to panic.
He turned around and prepared to leave.
“Go, go, go! We’re not staying here!” He said hurriedly.
The other members of the Hua family were all stunned. They had just arrived, so why were they leaving?
They swept their gazes over, and their bodies trembled as if they had been struck by lightning.
‘F*ck! It’s that freak of a senior!’
Their expressions became extremely interesting. They turned around abruptly and were about to leave.
Seeing that, the people around them c
ould not help but be curious.
They took a few steps before they encountered another group that was stepping into the courtyard.
“Hey! Isn’t this Ol’ Hua? What are you doing? You don’t look too good!” The people from the Qi family could not help but laugh when they saw the flustered looks of the Hua family members.
The people from the Hua family ignored them and directly walked toward the exit.
“What’s going on?” The Qi family members were puzzled.
As they continued to walk forward, they happened to meet Tang Hao, who was walking away from the crowd.
In an instant, the Qi family members were petrified.
Then, their expressions changed in unison into one of fear.
They finally understood why the Hua family members had such a reaction.
‘Dammit, those bastards! They didn’t even warn us!’
They cursed in their hearts and hurriedly turned around, preparing to leave. Old Master Qi was even muttering, “You can’t see me, you can’t see me!”
As he muttered, he walked faster and faster. His legs were unbelievably agile.
Seeing that, the people in the crowd became even more puzzled.
‘What’s going on?
‘The Hua family members reacted the same way earlier, and now, the Qi family members are doing the same thing. They look as though they have seen something terrifying!’
The man in the traditional Chinese suit also became anxious.
“Hey! Senior Qi, Senior Hua, why are you leaving?”
He hurriedly shouted and chased after them.
When the two families heard that, they almost blurted out curses.
‘Dammit, keep your mouth shut! Also, are you blind? Can’t you see that we’re running away?’
They walked away even faster.
“Hey, hey! Don’t go!”
The man in the traditional Chinese suit became even more anxious and ran after them.
The Hua and Qi families were famous and important families in the cultivation world. The conference could not go on without them!
When the two families at the front turned around, their expressions changed drastically.
‘Dammit, you’re still chasing after us! Stop!’
The Mightiest Little Peasant c1-799 Page 301