Chapter 8: To Help or Not? A Dilemma!

"Second Father, Ranran is scared." At this moment, Xia Ran shrank into the corner behind them, her eyes filled with fear. Why were those uncles so fierce? They wanted to hit Ranran and Second Father—sob, sob.

Xia Jiuxuan turned his head. "Ranran, from now on, if you follow Second Father, you will sooner or later witness extraordinary things. Today, watch closely how Second Father deals with those who wish to bully you. No blinking allowed."

Xia Jiuxuan had made up his mind.

Rather than shielding her and hiding all scenes of bloodshed, it was better to let her face them boldly and accept them early.

At five years old, it was the perfect time to embark on the path of cultivation.

Let everything that happens today become Xia Ran’s first lesson on her journey of training!

Hearing Xia Jiuxuan’s words, Xia Ran nodded through her tears, her wide eyes staring ahead.

Across from Xia Jiuxuan, Zhou Wenyang’s attack had failed, and he was forced back, his anger erupting.

"Very good. Even a piece of trash can have its day. It seems you care a lot about that little brat—if you dare to kill my precious pet for her, then I’ll kill her first!"

To Zhou Wenyang, not even a thousand or ten thousand human lives could compare to his beloved beast, let alone a little girl.

"Brothers, help me restrain this fellow. I want him to witness my methods firsthand."

"Brother Zhou, rest assured. That guy is nothing before us."

Upon hearing this, the killing intent in Xia Jiuxuan's heart boiled over.

Zhou Wenyang intended to kill a five-year-old girl, and the three at his side not only offered no objection but were eager to help.

These three were cut from the same cloth as Zhou Wenyang.

They must be eliminated!

On the upper floor,

Liu Weiyu and A Yao watched the scene unfold, both surprised.

"Fourth stage of Innate, and he’s refined the intent of the spear?"

"Sister, you said he’s useless? With talent like this, there aren’t many in our imperial capital."

"It’s been years since I saw him—I wouldn’t know."

Just moments ago, both had expected Xia Jiuxuan’s certain death.

Who would have thought that Xia Jiuxuan, with a single move, would force back Zhou Wenyang, who was seventh stage of Innate.

For such a miracle to occur in a place as humble as Longxue City was truly beyond their expectations.

Defeating the strong with the weak was not unheard of for them.

But those victories relied on better weapons and equipment.

For instance, Liu Weiyu had seen a seventh stage Innate defeat a ninth stage Innate—the seventh stage had a profound-grade armor for protection and wielded a superior spiritual sword, while the ninth stage was a commoner with no remarkable weapons, and was ultimately slain.

She recalled another, even more memorable event—a youth at fifth stage of Innate who, with a single sword stroke, cut down a master of ninth stage.

Both sides were scions of powerful families, with little difference in weapons and equipment.

The real gap lay in talent and martial skill.

That fifth stage youth had refined the intent of the sword!

The ninth stage young man relied mainly on pills to force his cultivation higher—their true combat abilities were worlds apart.

Thus, defeating the strong while weak was not rare; what amazed them was that Xia Jiuxuan, at only fourth stage of Innate, had refined spear intent.

Such talent—there were only a handful under their teacher who could compare.

"Sister, if you introduce him to the teacher, she’ll be delighted. Are you sure you won’t intervene?" A Yao asked.

Liu Weiyu hesitated.

If she brought a prodigy who had grasped spear intent to her teacher, it would be a significant achievement, and her teacher would naturally be pleased.

But her heart felt uneasy—among peers from Longxue City, if someone stood out too much, wouldn’t it overshadow her own brilliance? Wouldn’t that be a loss?

Besides, that fellow had embarrassed her just moments ago.

More importantly, helping him would offend all four major families of Longxue City—is that worth it?

"Forget it."

After weighing it, Liu Weiyu decided it wasn’t worthwhile.

Merely for the teacher’s praise, risking so much was simply not worth it.

"Alright, alright—even if he’s refined spear intent, his cultivation is low. It might just be a stroke of luck, hardly worth calling him a genius. If he dies, so be it—though it’s a pity for that little sister," A Yao said, glancing at Xia Ran, who trembled with fright, a hint of compassion stirring in her heart.

On the street below, the confrontation had begun.

The Young Masters of the Bai, Li, and Su families, together with Zhou Wenyang, were known as the Four Young Lords of Longxue City.

Apart from the heir of the City Lord’s mansion, no one dared challenge them.

To ordinary families, these four were akin to princes or royal grandchildren!

"You brat surnamed Xia, don’t blame us for being ruthless. If anyone’s to blame, it’s you and that little girl for having worthless lives—less noble than my pet. In your next life, make sure to be born as a dog; it’s better than being a useless human."

Swish, swish, swish—

The three moved in unison, true force surging forth, intent on subduing Xia Jiuxuan.

Zhou Wenyang leaped high, flying toward Xia Jiuxuan’s rear—his target was Xia Ran.

A wave of killing intent surged forth, nearly palpable.

Boom!

Xia Jiuxuan swept his spear horizontally, unleashing a series of spear intents and shadows that collided with the attacks of the Bai, Li, and Wang Young Masters.

At the same time, Xia Jiuxuan retreated, thrusting his black iron spear upward.

"So fast!"

The three never expected spear intent to block their assault. When they tried to strike again, they saw Xia Jiuxuan’s black iron spear already poised beneath Zhou Wenyang.

"Hmph, a petty trick."

Zhou Wenyang sneered, utterly disregarding Xia Jiuxuan’s thrust. The battle blade in his hand erupted with a fiery glow, slashing down toward Xia Ran in the corner.

His aim was clear: kill the little girl, make Xia Jiuxuan feel the agony of losing his dearest, then capture him and torment him slowly.

As for Xia Jiuxuan’s attack?

Simply ignore it.

As a Young Master of a great family, he had all the resources he needed—protective treasure armor was naturally among them!

The Profound Ice Armor guarded Zhou Wenyang’s entire body. He would take Xia Jiuxuan’s blow head-on—what could Xia Jiuxuan possibly do?

This was Zhou Wenyang’s confidence in disregarding Xia Jiuxuan’s attack.

Xia Ran stared with big, watery eyes. She was terrified, wanted to cry, wanted to close her eyes—but Second Father had told her, no blinking.

Yes, she could only obey Second Father. Ranran wasn’t scared, Ranran wouldn’t cry...

"Ah!!"

A scream, as pitiable as a slaughtered pig, rang out.

Zhou Wenyang’s blade stopped three inches from Xia Ran’s forehead, unable to advance further.

Because his entire body had been pierced from below by Xia Jiuxuan’s black iron spear!

"Brother Zhou!"

The other three Young Masters were shocked.

"Brother Zhou’s protective armor—how could it be breached!"

"That fellow's spear—it must be no ordinary weapon!"

"Damn it, we underestimated him. Quickly, kill that guy and save Brother Zhou’s life, or none of us will be able to explain ourselves to the Zhou family!"

The three composed themselves, no longer careless. Their attacks were now meant to kill.

"Eightfold Ghost Annihilation Ring—kill!"

The Bai Young Master summoned his divine weapon. The ring had been forged by a master smith, of extraordinary grade. Combined with his family’s chain battle technique, it could defeat even eighth stage Innate opponents, showing he was now using his full strength.

The other two did the same, unleashing their strongest martial skills and deadliest attacks upon Xia Jiuxuan.

Their intent was clear: Xia Jiuxuan must be killed in a single strike.