“Debts?” Xu Yang turned his head upon hearing the voice, and saw several people walking into the courtyard quickly.

 “Who are you?” Xu Yang asked coldly. He felt uncomfortable about their action of intruding into other people’s houses without permission.

 The first person was a middle-aged man. A pair of triangular eyes were glittering under the thin eyebrows. His mustache was fluttering, and he twisted the corners with his fingers from time to time. He actually looked like a weasel. He was dressed as an apothecary, but the plain white apothecary’s robe did not seem to suit him.

 “He… he is the owner of Ji Min Apothecary, Mister Ma,” Xu Yu whispered and she grabbed onto Xu Yang’s clothes. She greeted the middle-aged man. “Mister Ma… how are you?”

 “I’m fine. I’m very good, but I’m not fine if someone were to owe me money but not return what I’m owed.” Mr. Ma twisted his mustache and sneered.

 Xu Yu lowered her head, with her voice as soft as a mosquito humming, she said, “Mr. Ma… My brother has just returned… Can you please give me some more time? We need a month. We will be able to pay the debts when my brother returns to the family after the Xu family’s Grand Family Tournament…”

 Xu Yang felt slightly bitter looking at her. The dead Xu Yang was so cowardly that this ten-year-old girl had to solve his problems for him. How much had she suffered all these while?

 Mr. Ma snorted and said, “The Grand Family Tournament? Hmm. How do you know your useless brother can be approved by the Xu family and return the family? Furthermore, you have promised to add on a compound interest when you bought that Fire Wheel Elixir. After one month, it will not be merely fifty Leopard Coins.”

 The few men behind said, “That’s right. You have to pay what you owe!'”

 “Mortgage the mansion if you can’t pay up!”

 “You’re right!”

 The three men spoke provokingly. Xu Yang could not bear to see Xu Yu tremble helplessly, as he said frigidly, “Do you think it is reasonable for four men to bully a child? Mr. Ma, come at me if you have any problem.”

 Mr. Ma was surprised as his triangular eyes flashed when he saw how the useless Xu Yang dared to resist. However, he would surely not hesitate. He smiled and said, “Young Master Xu, it is surely good if you are able to bear this responsibility. Your sister has bought a Grade-2 Spirit Elixir, the Fire Wheel Elixir, from me with a discounted price of fifty Leopard Coins half a month ago. She had no money that time. I was kind enough to sell it to her using your mansion as a mortgage. Now, I’m going to collect the debt that she owes. Are you going to pay by cash or by deed?”

 Xu Yang smiled coldly. He flipped open his palm and on it was the yellowish elixir. “This is what you call a Fire Wheel Elixir? Hilarious! This is a piece of crap that you have made by adding some spices for the aroma of the elixir. Mr. Ma, this Ji Min Apothecary of yours is really one of a kind. How dare you scam your customers using fake elixirs!”

 Mr. Ma’s eyes flashed, he was evidently taken aback. It was impossible for Xu Yang to identify the fake Fire Wheel Elixir in just one glance. However, he would assuredly not admit what he had done. He said, “Do you think you can fool me using a useless elixir by saying that it is the Fire Wheel Elixir that I sold to you half a month ago? You must have already swallowed the elixir and you want to ruin my reputation using this useless elixir! I, Ma Fuquan, swear right here, right now, if you can’t give me back one Fire Wheel Elixir, you have to pay me fifty Leopard Coins. Otherwise, I will kill you!”

 Xu Yang looked at the men behind Mr. Ma. The men were in their thirties and forties. Their cultivations were mostly in the Intermediate and Advanced Mystical Learner.

 1In the lower realms of Mystical Cultivation, the foundation of matter was the most important thing. It was hard to advance without adequate food therapy and elixirs. However, there were also some geniuses with excellent qualifications who could advance without those matters.

 Obviously, the men were not those who had good qualifications. They had no hope of advancing into Mystical Warriors since they were already in their middle-ages.

 There were a lot of people like them who never achieved the realm of a Mystical Warrior. Most of them were humble and lived on by doing physical hard work. There were also many of them who became gangsters and bullied others.

 “You and what army? The useless trash behind you?” Xu Yang leered at the men and said, “You can give it a try if you want to.”

 The stronger ones were more powerful in this world. If Xu Yang had the cultivation of a Mystical Warrior, Mr. Ma would not even dare take advantage of them, so it was not worth mentioning the gangsters he had brought along with him.

 Mr. Ma snorted, “I didn’t expect you to become so arrogant after your short adventure! Okay then, let’s see how long you can resist us.”

 Under his command, the gangsters took out their weapons such as iron rods and machetes. They rushed toward Xu Yang with thundering yells.

 Xu Yu’s face turned even paler than before and she shouted, “Stop…” However she was too young and weak, and she could not stop this group of gangsters.

 “We’re screwed…” Xu Yu closed her eyes desperately. The image of Xu Yang being beaten up badly emerged in her head. She was relieved as they were in Lin Yuan City and Ji Min Apothecary was not strong enough to kill a person. The most that they could do was injure Xu Yang.

 Bang, bang, bang! Several sounds of violent collisions came, followed by the sound of a rod meeting its target. Finally, there were thumping sounds of what seemed like sacks being dropped onto the ground.

 Xu Yu opened her eyes courageously. She rushed in front and yelled, “Stop fighting… stop…”

 Xu Yu halted mid-run and rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

 What she had imagined did not happen. In contrast, the three gangsters had fallen to the ground. Their faces were deformed and the arms of two of them had been twisted into unnatural angles. Their arms had obviously been fractured badly.

 Xu Yang was pushing the tip of the iron rod against Mr. Ma’s throat. He was standing and his eyes flashed frostily.

 “Please… please don’t kill me!” Mr. Ma’s voice was shaky. His face had turned pale and his legs were trembling.

 1He could not believe his eyes when he saw those gangsters being defeated by Xu Yang with their iron rod snatched in just two breaths. His moves were so smooth and he was not like the useless young master from before.

 ‘I must not kill him.’ Xu Yang knew that the golden age was dominated by the stronger ones. If one wanted to live in a city dominated by the stronger ones, one had to abide by the rules they had set up.

 1Who was the strongest person in Lin Yuan City? It would definitely be Lord Lin Yuan—Li Zhouping. He had the cultivation of a Mystical Lord. One of the rules he had set up was that no one could kill others freely.

 1If he were as strong as the head of the three families, nothing would happen if some people were killed by him. However, Xu Yang’s cultivation and status were too weak. It would only trouble Xu Yu and him if he killed Mr. Ma hastily.

 He would not kill him but he would not just let him go.

 1“Do you admit scamming my sister with a fake elixir?” The strength projected onto the iron rod was getting stronger and stronger as Xu Yang enunciated each word. He pushed the rod against Mr. Ma’s throat to the point where he could barely breathe. He could only nod his head vigorously as his face had turned into a darker shade.

 Xu Yang loosened the iron rod and commanded that Mr. Ma tear the agreement himself.

 “You should enjoy this Fire Wheel Elixir yourself.” Xu Yang sneered. He looked like a demon in the eyes of Mr. Ma. He pinched Mr. Ma’s jaw with his left hand and flicked the elixir into his mouth with his right hand. Soon after, the elixir entered Mr. Ma’s throat.

 “Ugh…” Mr. Ma’s face turned pale and his body was bent like a prawn after escaping from Xu Yang’s grip. He tried hard to cough up the elixir but it had already melted in his mouth. Mr. Ma felt bitterness spread all over his mouth and throat, and his chest and abdomen were extremely painful.

 Xu Yang did not let the three gangsters go. He crushed their Star Oceans with the iron rod one by one.

 “You have done many inhumane acts that hurt a lot of people in the neighborhood. Take this as a lesson that I’m giving you.” Xu Yang said stonily. He was not bothered by things like this as there were many people out there doing the same, but these people had the audacity to mess with him and his family.

 The three people were desperate. Their cultivation and physical strength were completely destroyed as their Star Oceans had been rendered useless. They were even weaker than a common person.

 “Scram!” Xu Yang yelled coldly. Mr. Ma was the first to flee and the other three scrambled to their feet and ran away.

 “Brother…” Xu Yu ran to Xu Yang and grabbed his arm. She examined his body carefully and said, “How do you feel? Are you hurt?”

 Xu Yang smiled and caressed Xu Yu’s unkempt hair. “I’m alright. Those useless things can’t hurt me.”

 Xu Yu was finally able to relax. She held onto Xu Yang’s firm arm and said, “How did you become so strong? They were all bad guys in the Intermediate and Advanced Mystical Learners. You defeated them all at once.”

 Xu Yang rubbed his head as it was hard to explain. He merely said, “I… don’t know. My strength has increased after I consumed a spirit herb at the Python Mountains.” He could only conceal the true reason with this kind of story.

 Xu Yu was surprised as she said, “You met a good opportunity, brother.”

 Xu Yu was still a child after all, after the danger had passed, she went on her merry way to cook porridge for them. Xu Yang was lost in his thoughts as he looked at the three iron rods on the floor.

 He was the only guardian of his younger sister. He must take responsibility and think hard about his current condition.

 Xu Yang wrote slowly on the ground using an iron rod. First, he wrote the Fire-Cloud Dojo, then he wrote Xu family beside it. He added the Vast-Gate Dojo after thinking for a while.

 These were three difficult problems that could not be bypassed on his way to survive in Lin Yuan City.

 Needless to say the Fire-Cloud Dojo would not forgive him as one of their guides at the realm of a Mystical Warrior had been killed. Lu Zhuo and Wei Haoshan would surely give him problems as they would put all the blame on him when reporting to their chief.

 The Vast-Gate Dojo was also a big problem for Xu Yang.

 The complete annihilation of the entire ascetic team was a huge blow to the reputation of the Vast-Gate Dojo. As the only outsider in the ascetic team who had escaped death, Xu Yang would definitely be noticed by the chief of the dojo as he was the only person who knew what had happened. He would inevitably be involved in the battle between the two dojos. Xu Yang would easily be crushed with his weak cultivation.

 The Xu family was not only worthless to rely on, but also another problem he would face.

 Xu Yang’s thoughts kept going back to the reason Mr. Ma had dared to bring those gangsters at the realm of a Mystical Learner to the mansion as he was still one of the members of the Xu family after all. Even if he had been overlooked by the Xu family, a shopkeeper of an ordinary apothecary would not have the guts to pick on him.

 The only explanation would be that someone had told Mr. Ma to do that. The person behind this was likely the Xu family members.

 Xu Yang scratched his head, and smiled bitterly.

 ‘My cultivation is still too weak. I must fully utilize my time to increase my strength through the special techniques in my memory.’ Xu Yang clenched his fists. His mind was set in stone.