Chapter 133: Zixuan at a Dead End (Part I)

To be fair, Zixuan was truly quite unlucky. After leaving the Fourth Galaxy, he began traveling between the various star systems. He started with the First Galaxy, and everywhere he arrived, his first priority was to sense the presence of space. Even when he failed to make a connection, he did not lose heart. Instead, he would meticulously explore the local markets to understand the regional customs and traditions, hoping that once he found Tang Wei, he could take her to see all the sights. He maintained a low profile, acting as a mere passerby, never seeking trouble; yet, he never expected that even this could lead to disaster.

The trouble began when Zixuan entered the Fifth Galaxy. The journey through the first four galaxies had been calm and uneventful, without even a minor scoundrel to cause a stir, which led Zixuan to lower his guard. Upon arriving at the high-level planet in the Fifth Galaxy, Zixuan proceeded as usual: after asking for directions, he avoided unnecessary meddling and headed straight for the largest bookstore in the area.

Inside the bookstore, Zixuan made a beeline for the section on local culture. Suddenly, a man who wasn't looking where he was going collided with him head-on. Zixuan initially intended to ignore him, but the man, despite his refined appearance, proved to be uncouth. After bumping into Zixuan, he began hurling insults. Seeing the man’s cultivation was so low yet his arrogance so high, Zixuan assumed he must have some backing. Still, adhering to his principle of avoiding trouble, he had no intention of bickering. To his surprise, the man took Zixuan’s silence as a sign of fear and began spewing even filthier profanities, insulting Zixuan’s entire ancestry. Zixuan’s face darkened, and finally, unable to restrain himself, he landed a punch on the man’s face.

The man clutched his bruised eye, pointing a finger at Zixuan while shouting, "You actually dared to hit me! Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Your mouth is foul, so I hit you because I felt like it. Who cares who you are? Even if you were the son of the Heavenly King himself, I would still hit you!" Zixuan replied calmly, casually rubbing his knuckles. Throwing that punch had made him feel much better. He had intended to be patient, but since the man insisted on being shameless, he had to be taught a lesson.

"You—you—! Fine! You think you’re something, don't you? If you have the guts, stay right here and don't move! I’m going to kill you today!" As more people gathered to watch, pointing and whispering, the man lost face. No one had ever dared to humiliate him like this; he wouldn't be satisfied until he had killed Zixuan. He would go home immediately and have his father send two experts to deal with this person. Zhang Zhi was a notorious neighborhood bully here; if he let someone beat him up like this, where would he hide his face? How could he continue to mix in these circles? His friends would laugh him to scorn. Ever since his elder brother had been recruited by a major sect, the Zhang family’s status had soared. People fawned over him daily, and he was always the one doing the bullying. It was his own bad luck today that, for the sake of playing freely, he had ditched his entourage halfway, leading to this humiliation.

Hearing the threats, Zixuan shrugged indifferently and spread his hands, a gesture that clearly meant, "Suit yourself." It wasn't that Zixuan sought conflict, but the boy’s mouth was too vicious. Insulting him was one thing—he could have just ignored it—but the boy had gone too far, cursing his parents, his wife, his children, and his ancestors. That was unforgivable. Punching him once was already a gesture of restraint.

Furthermore, Zixuan reasoned that if the Zhang family were truly a major power, they wouldn't be so lacking in class. People with real strength, even if they were rotten to the core, wouldn't resort to mere verbal abuse. In public, they would maintain a facade of decorum or simply resort to lethal force. Only families of mediocre status and poor upbringing would discard their dignity just to vent their petty frustrations.

This reaction turned Zhang Zhi’s face a liver-like purple. He turned and ran, shouting over his shoulder, "Just wait, I’ll be back to deal with you!"

As Zhang Zhi fled, a group of onlookers remained. A kind-hearted soul advised, "Young man, you should leave quickly! Don't let them block you in here."

"That's right! The Zhang family is famous for being unreasonable in this area. That Zhang boy, in particular, relies on his family’s influence to commit all sorts of evils. None of us ever dare to provoke him! A wise man knows when to retreat; you should find a place to hide for a while!" The speaker was an elderly woman, seemingly a mortal with no cultivation. She looked around cautiously as she spoke, terrified that someone might overhear and blame her.

"Thank you all for the warning, but I’m fine! You should disperse; I don't want you getting hurt when he brings people back!" Being a deserter was not in Zixuan’s nature. Given his current cultivation, he was confident he could escape even if two or three Golden Core cultivators appeared, provided they weren't above the Nascent Soul stage. Zixuan guessed that the people Zhang Zhi brought wouldn't be Nascent Soul cultivators; those experts were usually deep in meditation and rarely involved themselves in such trifles. Having traveled through five galaxies without seeing a single Nascent Soul cultivator, he knew these old fogies had their own circles and disdained dealing with those of lower cultivation.

Zixuan dismissed the crowd and turned to walk back inside, intending to find some books about this galaxy, but the shopkeeper stopped him. "Senior, please stay your hand. You have offended the Zhang family; our shop cannot afford to host you any longer. Please forgive us!" The shopkeeper had to bite the bullet to stop him. The Zhang family was a nest of vipers, and if he wanted to keep his business, he had to weigh the risks. If this senior had real power, the Zhang family might take their frustration out on him; if the senior had no power, the ensuing fight would destroy his bookstore. Neither outcome was acceptable, so he had to take this step.

Zixuan understood the shopkeeper's dilemma and didn't make things difficult. He nodded understandingly and turned to leave. Just as the shopkeeper breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the matter resolved, Zixuan turned back and asked, "Can I just buy one book and then leave?"

"This—this—this!" In truth, that wouldn't work either. The Zhang family held grudges, and if anything happened, his shop would be the scapegoat. However, the shopkeeper didn't dare say this, as the man before him appeared to have high cultivation. Since the man had already made a concession, if he remained stubborn, the man might get angry.

"Sigh, never mind then," Zixuan said, seeing his hesitation, and walked away.

When Zixuan reached the city gate, he was finally caught up to by the men Zhang Zhi had brought. "Kid, you think you can run? No chance!" Seeing Zixuan silent and looking at him with a strange expression, Zhang Zhi assumed he was terrified. He lifted his chin and said haughtily, "If you want to leave, you can, but you must kneel and kowtow one hundred times to me in front of everyone!"

Zixuan looked at Zhang Zhi as if he were an idiot. Did he look like he was trying to escape? He had walked slowly to the gate precisely so everyone would know his whereabouts. What kind of eyes did this kid have? He chuckled and said, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I thought if we were going to fight, we should go outside. It wouldn't be good to hurt innocent people in here. Let's make it quick; I have things to do."

"You’ve got a lot of nerve, kid! Let’s see if you’ll even be alive to get anything done today!" Zhang Zhi was infuriated by Zixuan’s attitude. He waved his hand and commanded, "Come on out!" A dozen burly men stepped out from the city gate, each looking vigorous.

Zixuan carefully assessed their cultivation. There were two Golden Core cultivators, three Foundation Establishment, and five Qi Condensation cultivators. It seemed the head of the Zhang family really valued this pretty boy; no wonder he could run wild here. Even so, winning this fight would be difficult, though he was confident in his ability to survive. Zixuan weighed his strength inwardly.

Seeing Zixuan silent for so long, the slightly fatter Golden Core cultivator lost his patience and lunged at him. "Why wait to go outside? I’ll send you on your way right now! I love killing people—if those mortals can't get out of the way, that’s their misfortune!" As the fat cultivator extended his claw, Zixuan saw it was a dark, menacing weapon shimmering with a terrifying light. He didn't know if the black sheen was poison, but not wanting to take unnecessary risks, he dodged and swiped his hand, knocking the man aside.

The fat cultivator, having suffered a setback, didn't engage directly. He scrambled up and waved his claw-shaped artifact, which split into five sharp spikes flying toward Zixuan. Zixuan calmly drew his flying sword and deflected them with a flick of his wrist. The fat cultivator attacked again and again with vicious moves, all of which Zixuan evaded with ease.

The other cultivators watching hadn't intended to intervene, but seeing the fat cultivator fail to land a single hit despite having the same cultivation as Zixuan—and watching Zixuan treat it like a game, moving with ease while occasionally casting mocking glances at them—they lost their composure. Another Golden Core cultivator waved his hand, signaling the other eight to attack together.