Who Comes First

Chen Xia never did business through coercion.

Since Li Yang, as a descendant of the Great Emperor, had come to find him, it proved that they were truly in dire straits, otherwise they would not have taken the action of giving Chen Xia spirit stones.

So Li Yang and Liu Qing really had no room to bargain with Chen Xia.

To help someone in need is good, but to kick someone when they are down can also be delightful.

Liu Qing pursed her lips, gazing directly at Chen Xia, and nodded heavily, "Okay!"

Chen Xia yawned, tidied his sleeves and asked in a plain tone.

"Didn't you ever think that maybe you are just grasping at straws, and what if I'm just a quack doctor who can't cure your illness?"

Liu Qing clenched her hands, pressed close to her pristine skirt, and said, "Didn't you say that if you can't solve it, you'll return the spirit stones to us?"

"What if I don't want to return them?" Chen Xia asked somewhat curiously, then added with a smile.

"You should know that people are fickle."

Li Yang strode forward, facing Chen Xia directly, craning her neck with fierce eyes.

"If you don't return them, then you will become my enemy. No matter what, I am a descendant of the Great Emperor, one in ten thousand!"

"Uh..." Chen Xia was slightly surprised for a moment, and replied, "So am I."

"Then you should know better the cost of becoming enemies with another descendant of the Emperor!" Li Yang's tone was somewhat somber.

"The cost?" Chen Xia's brows furrowed, then he slowly shook his head, "I really don't know what the cost is."

Then he asked somewhat curiously, "Haven't you heard of my exploits?"

Li Yang frowned her heroic brows in puzzlement. "I only came because of what others said. I really haven't looked into your exploits at all."

The elders had always refused to talk about Chen Xia's exploits, and even avoided mentioning Chen Xia's name, as if it was taboo.

"Let me introduce myself then," Chen Xia tugged at his collar and smiled.

"My name is Chen Xia, I specialize in beating up descendants of the Great Emperor. I love killing enemies from other realms. I also know a thing or two about the ways of tea, chess and alchemy."

When Chen Xia said this, Li Yang and Liu Qing both frowned, especially at the phrase "specialize in beating up descendants of the Great Emperor", which sounded deliberately aimed at Li Yang.

"If you are so powerful, how come you are still just an apprentice disciple?" Liu Qing asked puzzledly, arching her delicate brows.

Chen Xia lazily leaned against the door frame. "Is it possible that I'm still just an apprentice disciple precisely because I'm so powerful?"

If Chen Xia had been a bit more mediocre back then and hadn't killed Qiong Qi in front of the two elders, he would at least be ranked in the top ten formal disciples by now.

Chen Xia didn't want to explain too much more. In short, he put it simply:

"I'm awesome, you pay me."

Seeing his confident attitude, and since he was recommended by that elder, Li Yang and Liu Qing gritted their teeth and did not hesitate further. They handed all two thousand spirit stones over to Chen Xia.

"Those formal disciples have been standing guard outside our caves every day, trying to disturb our cultivation by any means. Please take care of them quickly."

Chen Xia nodded and said he would go after getting ready, telling them to go back and wait.

After the two left, Chen Xia returned to his cave, first storing away the two thousand spirit stones. Then he drank two cups of tea and stretched lazily, before leisurely flipping through two books on the art of chess.

Finally, feeling the time was right, he slowly sauntered towards the outside of Liu Qing's cave.

At this time, the calls of the suona horn were at their peak, with the formal disciple players turning red in the neck as they blew.

This was no ordinary suona, but a magic treasure that could disturb people's minds and disrupt the flow of spiritual energy.

Even if you didn't want to listen, there was no way to avoid it. The sound of the suona entered directly into your soul.

This was soul music.

Liu Qing was also standing at the cave entrance, her face ash gray.

Because today, in addition to the suona, there was also a bronze gong.

It was exactly the same setup as a funeral procession.

Leading these formal disciples was the black-robed supreme-grade Hei He.

There were always some apprentice disciples and junior elders watching around every day, mostly just to see the commotion. Of course, there were also some who came to appreciate the suona.

"Isn't this going too far, are you trying to send me to my death?!" Liu Qing gritted her teeth and asked.

Hei He said flatly, "The blower has no heart, the listener finds meaning. Don't get the wrong idea."

Liu Qing glared at Hei He, smiling on the surface but fuming inside. "What great impartial blowing!"

"That's just how it is." Hei He didn't want to say too much either, he was just here to complete his task and now was waiting for his replacement.

Liu Qing took a deep breath to calm her anger, glanced around outside expectantly, hoping Chen Xia would arrive soon.

Li Yang was also sitting silently to the side with her eyes closed. She would occasionally frown involuntarily when the suona sounded shrilly.

Once it started blowing, it would go on endlessly, disturbing the mind. Even after the suona stopped, the sound still seemed to echo in the mind.

The crowd of onlookers was also a common sight, though it was unclear if they were purely there to watch the commotion, or to see the two in misery.

Probably both.

Faint conversations constantly drifted out from the gaps between the suona blasts, laced with ridicule from the crowd.

Li Yang frowned, not wanting to listen.

Among the crowd, a lazy, thin figure in blue robes slowly approached. His leaning silhouette remained unhurried as he moved through the crowd. Right in front of everyone, he stood before Liu Qing, sleeves billowing, and called out plainly:

"I'm giving you three seconds to stop."

Everyone's eyes fell on Chen Xia, full of incredulity.

Hei He's pupils constricted, his gaze fluctuating. His previously impassive expression finally showed a hint of tension.

The formal disciple blowing the suona was likely too absorbed to hear Chen Xia clearly.

So the cultivators present only saw the blue sleeves flutter once.

Then the suona abruptly fell silent.

Chen Xia held the suona in one hand and the formal disciple who was blowing it in the other, still standing in the same spot.

The crowd's pupils shrank rapidly, chilled to the bone by this scene.

"Having fun?" Chen Xia asked the formal disciple he had grabbed.

The formal disciple was still confused. After carefully examining Chen Xia's face for a while, he suddenly felt terrified and hurriedly shook his head.

"No fun, no fun!"

"If it's not fun, why were you so absorbed you couldn't even hear me speak?" Chen Xia commented. But he didn't make things too difficult for the formal disciple. With a casual throw, he tossed the suona back to him and continued,

"You just stay here and watch. After I beat up a cultivator, you blow your suona a few times, got it?"

The formal disciple held the magic treasure suona, not fully understanding but still nodding.

"Got it, got it."

"Mm." Chen Xia nodded. Standing outside the cave, he looked towards the group of formal disciples. With a wave of his sleeve, his expression and tone were extremely plain as he simply asked:

"Who's first?"

Within ten square miles, among the thousands of cultivators, not a single person dared to speak up, not a breeze dared to blow.

Utter silence.