Chapter 17

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Tong Qiang was still in the air as he grabbed while still a good dozen meters away from Gao Peng. In an instant, the air around Gao Peng seemed to have been drawn out like a vacuum and compressed around him. The air condensed into the shape of a giant palm and wrapped around him like an adult closing their palm around a chick.

Divine power, only someone who had reached the Divine Power Realm could do this.

“Peng… peng…” Gao Peng switched up his steps many times in an instant as his body was repeatedly dealt with blows. With just a raise of his hands he had made a hundred over flicks with his fingers, all aimed at the gigantic Divine Power Palm that was grabbing at him.

Even though the flicks caused many explosions, the effect was mediocre as it only slightly delayed the palm but did not allow him to escape from it, much less destroy the Divine Power Palm.

How powerful indeed, this Tong Qiang was the captain of Ren Tianxing’s personal guards and had reached the Divine Power Realm many years ago. Now, he might even be beyond level-six and was much more powerful than any of the elders of the Ren family. If this was just any other Divine Power Realm he would be able to break his way out, but if he were to do so with Tong Qiang, then he would reveal his true powers and…

Gao Peng had not expected this. Ren Jie and Gao Ren had been muttering to themselves and when Tong Qiang arrived, he did not say anything and simply asked him to capture him, and in such a place too. Tong Qiang and the rest did not care what about it and simply heeded the command, paying no regard to where they were at. In only an instant, the people behind Tong Qiang had surrounded him and the Gaos had not even arrived yet. Even if he were to force his way out, he would still reveal his true abilities.

Gao Peng’s heart sank as his power was unleashed, reaching the peak of the level-right of the True Qi Realm.

“BOOM!” The power at the peak of the level-eight of the True Qi Realm was astonishing, but due to Tong Qiang’s suppression, it instantly vanished, but the collision of the two forces still caused the surrounding stones to explode and turn into powder.

“Peng… argh…” Gao Peng was suppressed by Tong Qiang’s strength, and when he landed he was immediately grabbed by Tong Qiang. Due to his violent resistance, he vomited blood.

F*ck, that was fierce. How could he immediately order them to strike!

Gao Ren was unhappy with what Gao Peng said and wanted to help Ren Jie retaliate by speaking ill of Gao Peng, but he did not think that Ren Jie would heed his advice and have someone strike. How cool was that! He had not realized that Ren Jie had the guts in the past, could it be that they had been spending too much time together and Ren Jie was influenced by him?

When he heard Ren Jie said to get into action, Tie Ta had already taken a step forward and a fierce aura poured off of him. With the appearance of that aura, the muscles on his body also expanded and looked like blocks of stone. Even though he was only at level-nine of the Body Refinement Realm, those of the True Qi Realm still looked on in shock.

What’s going on? Wen Zihao was stunned. While he had seen all kinds of brawls between the wealthy sons in the Jade Capital… they were in front of the palace! They were here for the imperial feast!

“Ren family head, this is not the Ren’s residence.” The Second Prince was tasked to welcome the guests. Seeing that Ren Jie had ordered people to attack with no regard to his presence, he frowned lightly.

“I would have knocked out his teeth and broke his leg if we were at the Ren’s residence. This is none of your business, so stand aside. He was just spouting nonsense and challenging me earlier, why didn’t you say something then? The hell are you doing trying to show off your authority now.” Ren Jie threw the Second Prince a look of disdain before he headed towards Gao Peng who was still under Tong Qiang’s control.

What… what did he say? The Second Prince thought he had heard wrongly and stood there stunned.

He blinked a few times but still had yet to come back to his senses. Was he talking to me?

He was a member of the most upper class of the Clear Jade Dynasty, a prince. Nobody had dared speak to him like that ever since he was young.

He’s crazy, this fellow is crazy. Wen Zihao and Fang Yan were also stunned as they listened at the side. He was already crazy enough to order someone to capture Gao Peng, how dare he speak to the Second Prince like that…

“Fang Yan…” The Second Prince was livid and turned to Fang Yan, intending to have the Imperial Front Guard interfere.

“The Gaos are here, let them see to it themselves. I believe His Majesty would wish for you to handle it like this too.” Just then, Fang Yan’s voice appeared in the Second Prince’s mind.

The Second Prince immediately halted his words, but his expression was still sour as this was the first time he was chided by someone apart from his father. Moreover, this was done in front of so many people. If it had been someone else, he would have…

“Ergh…” There was blood in Gao Peng’s throat as he coughed heavily and spat out a lot of blood before turning up to look at Ren Jie, who walked over to him then.

“Now you know what is qualifications, right? As I said, I’ll have you kneel and cry, so you better kneel down and cry now!” Ren Jie walked over to Gao Peng’s side. Even though there was blood in his mouth, he still maintained a calm smile, irking Ren Jie even more.

“Haha…” Gao Peng suddenly burst out laughing before he looked over at Ren Jie incredulously. “Ren Jie, the Ren family head, you’re something now, aren’t you. I have been enlightened. So what if you have someone get hold of me? I am a direct descendant of the Gaos and the five family clans have made a pact when the Clear Jade Dynasty was founded. There may be internal conflicts, but you cannot hurt the children of the five family clans. For a thousand years, the five family clans have had their peaks and their lows, but none of them were for long. Moreover, while my grandfather goes into seclusion often, he’s still the Grand Priest, and my father, the Gao family head, the Treasurer.”

“So what if I offended you with my words? The most you can do is to humiliate me, what else can you do?”

“What can I do? What can I, pom!” Ren Jie landed a heavy punch on Gao Peng’s face.

The impact made him fall backward and land on the ground as blood spurted out of his nose, but the smile on his face was still there.

“The most you can do is beat me up, what else? You want me to kneel and cry? Perhaps in the next life!” Hatred was building up in Gao Peng’s mind as he continued to suppress his urge to kill. Ren Jie’s crazy actions were unexpected, but he did not mind as he would soon return this to him by tenfold, or even hundredfold.

“Let my son go at once.” Just then, an angry voice could be heard from afar. Another troop of guards that did not pale in comparison to the Ren’s personal guards but rather triumphed in numbers came rushing over led by Gao Zhanyuan, the Gao family head. He had already heard of this when he was far away and immediately used his divine sense to find out what was going on since he was still outside of the palace. Hence, they could hear his voice even before they could see him.

“Get in your positions, defend.” Tong Qiang grabbed Gao Peng in one hand and, seeing that the Gaos were rushing over, he ordered his men to circle around them.

And from another direction, the three Elders of the Ren family, Ren Junyang, Ren Hanlin, and Ren Wenxu rushed over as well.

“What… what is he doing? He must be crazy, crazy!”

“What happened to him? Why is he causing a ruckus outside the palace?”

“Ren Jie, stop it this instance!”

The three of them also realized what was going on and quickly exchanged their thoughts using their divine sense. They panicked as they tried to contact Ren Jie, but he ignored them.

“Alright, so you refuse. Then, I shall kill you… someone, pass me a knife.” Ren Jie stretched out his hand as he spoke, and one of the guards immediately passed him a knife. These personal guards frequented the outside of the palace, and because the four family clans only brought the people they brought to the feast with them into the palace, these guards all carried weapons as they did not have to enter the palace anyway.

Ren Jie slowly placed the knife at Gao Peng’s neck, but Gao Peng was still smiling calmly. “If you kill me, then you will definitely die as well. Even the Rens will not do anything to save you. Moreover, you’re doing this outside the palace, His Majesty would never let you go, so killing me is as good as killing yourself.”

“Gaos, listen up. If you dare come closer, I’ll kill him instantly. He thinks he’s very impressive and doesn’t believe that I’ll dare kill him. Gao Zhanyuan, if you don’t believe me, you can try me.” The Gaos were already rushing over, and just as they were about to strike, Ren Jie slightly pressed down on the blade at Gao Peng’s neck.

It was not where the arteries were, but the sharp blade still cut through the skin and blood trickled down.

“Ren Jie, if you dare harm Peng-er, you will not be spared by the law and we will also spare no cost in getting even with you. Stop!” Gao Zhanyuan’s angry voice boomed as his men alighted from the spiritual beast carriage. However, even though he shouted angrily, he still did not dare take the risk.

Gao Zhanyuan fumed with anger. He didn’t expect Ren Jie would dare do this in the palace with no regard for the law at all. Moreover, the person he was threatening to harm was a direct descendant of the Gaos.

Gao Peng continued to smile as he raised his head to look at Ren Jie. He originally intended to test Ren Jie’s reaction, but he did not expect Ren Jie to lose his mind like that. Even though it had already come to this, he still did not think that Ren Jie would have the guts to really kill him.

Even though the Gaos did not have as much military strength as the Rens, they were still one of the five major family clans. If Ren Jie really dared to kill him here, even the Emperor would back the Gaos on this matter. The other family clans would also take the opportunity to suppress the Rens and Ren Jie would definitely have to face the consequences unless Ren Tianxing suddenly reappeared. Hence, Gao Peng was not convinced that Ren Jie would not really kill him.

His simple testing of Ren Jie’s reaction was blown out of proportions by Ren Jie’s crazy actions, but Gao Peng was still confident that this was all within his plan. The most he could do was to humiliate him and beat him up, what else was there that he could do?

“This is the palace. While we may be able to engage in some illegal actions in private and even murder each other, that can only be done in private. How can you do this so openly? If you kill me here, then His Majesty will not forgive you in order to ensure that the country can continue to function normally. No matter how powerful the Rens are, surely you can’t go against the other family clans all at once?”