Painting of the Nine Immortals

Chapter 36: Overturned

Translator: /Tatienne Editor: Rundi

The next morning.

As promised, Ling Xian arrived at the Qi Zhen Pavilion in his black robe and hat. He was there to cause trouble, and he was determined to turn the entire pavilion upside down. He sure didn’t want his real identity revealed when he was not here with any good intentions in mind.

As soon as he entered the grand hall, an elegant lady greeted him.

“Are you here to meet Manager Qin?” The lady’s voice was crisp and pleasant to the ear. A smile of ridicule hung on her face.

It was obvious that she was directly sent by Qin Guang Zhi to stay here and wait for Ling Xian. She was definitely aware of the ugly businesses that happen behind doors.

Ling Xian nodded and asked, “Where is he?”

“Follow me,” the lady extended her arm and guided him towards the right direction.

Ling Xian marched alongside her. He was a little confused because he wasn’t sure what exactly Qin Guang Zhi planned for him. He remained composed, however, and did not show a single trace of fear. He was planning to turn the entire Qi Zhen corporation upside down. What’s there to be scared of if he was dealing with a lowly manager first?

Very soon, he arrived at a magnificent and incredibly luxurious garden.

Qin Guang Zhi was sitting on a chair made out of rosewood and was relaxingly drinking his fragrant tea. Two women dressed revealingly were again taking care of him by bringing spiritual fruits to his mouth. They chatted with him casually and occasionally said things that made him laugh.

Behind him stood 10 muscular men dressed in green. Each one of them had irritable looks on their faces, and their eyebrows were furrowed. They made the atmosphere seem heavy, and none of them appeared to be particularly weak. They were Qin Guang Zhi’s guards.

“Manager Qin, the way you have set up your guards is a little a scary.” Ling Xian lightly smiled.

“Since you know it’s scary, then why haven’t you screwed off?” Qin Guang Zhi slowly puts down his teacup.

“Screw off?” Ling Xian’s face was calm. “I know how to walk, how to run, how to jump, but I do not know how to screw off. How about you demonstrate for me?”

Qin Guang Zhi’s face darkened, and he snickered, “I’m not sure if you are too stupid, or if you are tired of living. Can’t you tell what is about to happen here? To tell you the truth, I never had the intention of giving you your stones. If you can recognize what is going on then hurry up and screw off. Or else I will ask my guards to beat you until you are disabled then I will throw you out!”

“You sure are ruthless…” Ling Xian’s eyes dimmed as well. “Manager Qin, you pocketed my Qing Hua Dan. Aren’t you scared that I will reveal what you’ve done to higher management?”

“Reveal what I’ve done?”

Qin Guang Zhi froze for a split second before he started laughing hysterically. The 10 buff guards behind him laughed as well.

Their laughter was a mixture of contempt, disdain, and ridicule.

They were ridiculing his innocence, his stupidity, and his over-confidence.

After a long time, Qin Guang Zhi’s laughter faded. He said mockingly, “You are a nobody with a Qi level of five. I can easily make you disappear from this world. Do you really dare to reveal me to others? Even if you do dare, you think the Qi Zhen Pavilion would choose to believe you, whose existence is no more significant than an ant, over me, who has been a manager for years?”

Ling Xian squinted his eyes, “I guess you are determined to pocket my Qing Hua Dans?”

“To tell you the truth, I can’t even recall how many times I have done things like this. There have been many low lives like you who have believed they could try and announce to the world about what I did. Do you know what happened to them?” Qin Guang Zhi chuckled as his eyes shone with cruelty. Slowly, he enunciated every word, “I threw all of them into the lake to feed the fishes.”

“It seems like you plan on trying to throw me into the lake as well.” Ling Xian’s expression changed into a merciless one.

“Ah, you finally realize what kind of a situation you are in now. If you leave right away, without causing any trouble, I’ll save my energy and do nothing to harm you.” Qin Guang Zhi sipped his tea, and his face turned more atrocious than ever. “If you really are looking to die though, then don’t blame me when it actually happens.”

“Is that a threat?” Ling Xian remained composed.

“It’s not a threat, it’s reality,” Qin Guang Zhi ridiculed. “With a Qi level of five, I could kill you as quickly as me stepping on an ant. Even though you are stupid, I believe you will make the right decision before life and death.”

“You really think I would go back nonchalantly and forget all of this?” Ling Xian’s heart was turning colder and colder, but his anger was starting to boil.

He thought of all those cultivators that Qin Guang Zhi had hurt before him. He could imagine the amount of desperation Ling Hu felt when his spiritual stones were stolen from him. Looking at his arrogant attitude, Ling Xian’s desire to kill him boiled inside of him, and he was ready to kill everyone there.

“Don’t tell me you are stupid enough to choose the latter option,” Qin Guang Zhi bellowed and glared at him. “If you really do choose the second option then I bow down to your stupidity. This is so funny. A low life who is like an ant dare to fight against me?”

“You keep on comparing me to an ant. However, I will show you, who here is the real ant!” Ling Xian’s stare was stone cold. He marched forward, and his robe danced behind him.

Like a god has descended, or an immortal has landed, a gush of spiritual energy flew out of his body like tidal waves. It engulfed the heaven and the earth and swept everyone off their feet!

This overpowering mana instantly trapped the entire Qi Zhen Pavilion and the imposing manner of this energy could break the ground and crack open the sky. Everything in the garden was destroyed, and nobody dared to step forward to try and stop it.

“This is…!”

Qin Guang Zhi’s facial expression transformed dramatically. Staring at the cultivator before him, whom he was sure was only an ant-like low life a moment ago, he felt an insane sense of fear. His body shook uncontrollably.

Under the spiritual energy that trapped him, he felt like a canoe in the middle of the ocean. He could only let the wave and the wind take control of him, and there was nothing he could do to resist these forces.

“Goddammit, he only has level five Qi. How could his energy be so imposing? Who are you!” Qin Guang Zhi’s eyes showed a massive sense of fear. He shouted in shock.

“I am someone who wants your life!” Ling Xian yelled. The mana he borrowed from Liao Cang Qiong morphed into the shape of a hammer. He sent it way up into the sky and with great force, it slammed down!

Bam!

After an earth-shattering noise, the hammer shaped mana pounded down, and the entire garden collapsed!

“Ah…”

Qin Guang Zhi’s guards all screamed out of pain. The gigantic hammer has smashed them into a puddle of flesh. They were all wiped out without much noise.

Just moments ago, they were laughing at Ling Xian for being too overconfident, and now they will never see the sunlight again.

“You… Don’t kill me, don’t kill me.” Qin Guang Zhi spat out a mouthful of blood. Looking at the numerous dismembered limbs on the ground, he was full of terror and desperation. He was also regretful. Regretful not over what he has done, but over his own incompetence for not realizing that he had offended someone who was mighty powerful.

A wolf can change its coat, but it cannot change its nature. Even during a time like this, he did not feel like what he did was wrong.

Ling Xian strutted forward slowly and sneered, “If I don’t kill you, how do I avenge those poor souls you have hurt?”

“Don’t come any closer. I… I am a manager of Qi Zhen Pavilion. If you dare to kill me, Qi Zhen Pavilion will not just let this slide!” Qin Guang Zhi stuttered out. Quivering, his legs finally gave out. He fell to the ground, terrified.

The reason why he only spat out a mouthful of blood and survived the hammering of the spiritual energy, was because Ling Xian never intended on killing him with that move. Ling Xian wanted to destroy the garden and get rid of those servants of his first.

“The Qi Zhen Pavilion, you say. I sure want to see if they really would be willing to battle against me for a piece of trash like you.” Ling Xian smiled lightly." Do you know why I haven’t killed you yet?”

“Because you are scared. The pavilion has a lot of power in this dynasty. If you kill me, you can’t run away from them!” Qin Guang Zhi really believed that he was afraid of the power the pavilion had in the society. He calmed down and said sternly, “I suggest you stop what you are doing right now. I will give you back your Qing Hua Dan, and we can call what happened today even. What do you say?”

“Call it even?” Ling Xian looked at him indifferently. “I didn’t kill you because I am waiting. I am waiting for all the upper management of the Qi Zhen Pavilion to arrive. Then I will kill you before all of them. I think by then, you will truly understand the feeling of desperation.”

“You are a monster!”

Qin Guang Zhi screamed out of dread. He was afraid to even think about the possibility of the other managers circling around him while having no ability to stop Ling Xian. To think he would have to slowly die while others watched helplessly, it was much worse than just killing him right away!

First, he was given hope. Then, he was told to be desperate, and finally, he will die. This was Ling Xian’s plan all along. Not only then would this situation be well known in the society, but he would also be able to destroy Qin Guang Zhi’s arrogance and let him feel the emotions of desperation and what it’s like to desire death.

He slapped Qin Guang Zhi’s face and stomped his foot onto Qin Guang Zhi's chest. He stared down at him.

Qin Guang Zhi felt humiliated. He too stared back at Ling Xian with anger pouring out of his eyes. He, however, had no power to resist. The overwhelming mana that engulfed the whole garden did not allow him to make a single move.

“Let me tell you, those people you have scammed and hurt, all of them want to skin you and crush your bones.” Ling Xian stepped down on his chest again with more force.

Crack!

It was the sound of bones breaking.

Qin Guang Zhi screamed in pain as tears filled his eyes.

“Qin Guang Zhi, you one trash of a man. Even if I kill you 100 times, it’s still not enough to calm the anger of those who passed away in your hands. Today, I promise to show you what it’s like to want to die. You will pay for all the wrongs you’ve done.” Ling Xian’s finger sliced across Qin Guang Zhi’s arm and instantly, his flesh was cut open, and blood gushed out uncontrollably.

“I am wrong. I admit I’m wrong. Please let me go,” Qin Guang Zhi begged.

“How does it feel? Are you enjoying this?” Ling Xian’s expression was still unchanging, and he did not feel like his actions were vicious at all. In his mind, only ruthlessness could bring justice to those lost souls.

“Stop!”

A voice appeared out of nowhere. Following that shout, 10 silhouettes showed up one by one.

The leader of the group was a gorgeous woman. She was wearing all red with patches of snow white skin showing. She had an hourglass figure, and her face was seductively charming. Right now, however, her expression seemed to be covered by a layer of frost.

“Finally.” Ling Xian stopped what he was doing and turned around slowly. Looking at the lady in red, he grinned. “You guys sure react slowly. I have been waiting for a long time.”

“I assume you intentionally waited for us.” the woman’s expression was cold, but it was also apparent that her anger was flaring. She stared at Ling Xian and said, “How presumptuous. You dare to ruin Qi Zhen Pavilion’s land and kill Qi Zhen Pavilion’s people. Do you really think this is a place for you to behave so atrociously? With what happened here today, no matter what kind of excuses you have, you are not allowed to step out of here.”

“This is the attitude of the Qi Zhen Pavilion? Without asking about what actually happened, you first threaten.” Ling Xian’s eyes darkened. “With such arrogance from you, I sure want to see if you really have the ability to make me stay.”

The woman frowned, and she felt the uneasiness of the situation. Without being able to truly observe and identify the real ability of Ling Xian, she didn’t dare to make a move. After all, she can’t let the pavilion lose face. She simply whispered, “No matter what, you must give me an explanation.”

“An explanation?”

The corners of Ling Xian’s lips curved up. Spiritual mana that was even stronger than before spewed out of his body and trapped the entire City of Qing in the snap of a finger. The demeanor of his actions was similar to when an immortal land into the mortal world, as this energy extended 3,000 miles long and 10,000 mountains wide!

“I, too, want an explanation. If you can’t give me an answer that is satisfactory, then… I will wash the ground with all of your blood.”