Ao Quan felt an uncontrollable urge well up within him. “I’m looking at you, shithead!” he blurted out instinctively.

Naturally, his Soulspeak ability was interrupted.

What the hell was that?

Ao Quan was completely stunned. He had no idea why he would suddenly say such a thing.

Then again, it seemed like a perfectly legitimate thing to say, given the context, so he didn’t give it any further thought. He continued on with what he had tried to say earlier on. “Dragon Soulspeak…”

Again, he was interrupted before he could finish. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“I’m looking at you, shithead!” Ao Quan instinctively replied.

Ao Quan covered his mouth in disbelief, his eyes going wide. The first time could have been chalked off as an anomaly. However, there was no way he wouldn’t realize something was off after it happened twice in a row.

“Are you also a member of the dragon race? Are you capable of Dragon Soulspeak?” In a state of shock, he quickly studied Zu An, but saw no traces in his appearance that marked him as a member of the dragon race. He didn’t sense the slightest bit of dragon aura from him either.

Sang Qian cried out before Zu An could reply. “That’s right! He said that he was the reincarnation of some ancient ancestral dragon, and that even your dragon god had to bow in his presence!”

Heh, you’re screwed now!

“Brother!” Sang Qien couldn’t help but cry out in indignation. It was difficult to watch her brother kicking Zu An while he was already down.

Sang Qian sniffed. Women are all like this in the end. His sister hadn’t crossed paths with Zu An that many times, yet she was already speaking up for him!

Pei Mianman and Zheng Dan wore identically frosty expressions. However, this only served to further strengthen Sang Qian’s resolve to get rid of Zu An. The two of them could not coexist in this world, and he couldn’t be bothered with appearances anymore.

“A reincarnated dragon? Even the dragon god has to bow in your presence?” Ao Quan’s face seemed carved from ice. “How bold!”

You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 567 Rage points!

Since things had gotten to this point, there was little point in maintaining any further pretense. As such, Zu An gave up on his previous modesty, and returned to his usual cocky expression. “How do you know I’m not?”

“Of course I would know. If you were a dragon, I would be able to sense it.” Ao Quan punctuated his comment with a snort.

“Then how do you explain my Soulspeak ability?” Zu An said with a laugh.

“I do not know what kind of strange technique you possess, but it might not be our dragon race’s Soulspeak.” Ao Quan’s expression grew serious. “I was careless, and got taken advantage of. You won’t have another chance now.”

Zu An shrugged. “I guess you really were here to cultivate your Soulspeak. You only know how to blabber.”

Dark clouds raged across Ao Quan’s face. “Brat, you’ve successfully infuriated me! When the time comes, I… Dragon Soulspeak—Sink…”

He wasn’t sure what kind of sorcery Zu An employed, so he said all those things to deliberately make him drop his guard, before suddenly whipping out his Soulspeak.

Unfortunately for him, Zu An was completely prepared. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

He wiped some sweat off his brow. He almost let this old man use his ability! This old man had no sense of honor. They were right in the middle of a nice chat when he had suddenly launched an attack!

“I’m looking at you, shithead!” Ao Quan blurted out. His expression immediately turned awful.

He had already done his best to stop himself from being distracted, yet he still couldn’t prevent himself from saying this and interrupting his own Soulspeak.

He stared at Zu An. “Damned brat, just how…”

“Whatcha lookin’ at?”

Having learned his lesson, Zu An was worried that he might launch another surprise attack. He wasn’t interested in chatting anymore, but immediately cut off any chance of Soulspeak being used.

“I’m looking at you, shithead!”

Ao Quan ground his teeth in fury.

You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 999 Rage points!

He had never felt such injustice in his entire life! He had such an incredible ability, yet he couldn’t use said ability thanks to a stupid brat with low cultivation.

If Huang Huihong were still alive, he would have surely been clapping his hands in jubilation. He could fully sympathize with this old man’s torment! His powerful imperial edict had been sealed by that silencing Soulspeak, which ultimately led to his humiliating death!

“What are you…”

“Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“I’m looking at you, shithead!”

…

Ao Quan was on the verge of crying. Not only could he not use his Soulspeak, he couldn’t even complete a simple sentence.

“Wait, let me…”

“Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“I’m looking at you, shithead!”

He wanted to bang his head against a tree.

You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 666… 666… 666…

Sang Qian was completely stupefied. What the hell is this?

Isn’t this dragon elder supposed to be extremely powerful? He stopped Huang Huihong earlier with just a single word. How is he the one who can’t do anything now?

I placed all my hopes and dreams on you! You’re a bloody disappointment!

Pei Mianman and the other girls were completely stupefied as they watched the two of them going back and forth, one yelling “Whatcha lookin’ at” and the other replying “I’m looking at you, shithead”. They couldn’t help but burst out laughing. This didn’t seem like a battle between powerful cultivators—rather they looked like two idiots cursing each other on the streets.

A tinge of red blossomed on Sang Qien’s face as well. As expected, this Zu An was just as shameless as her intelligence had stated. He dragged his opponent down to his level, and then used his wealth of expertise to destroy them.

A few more moments passed before Ao Quan quickly stretched out his hands. “Stop!”

Zu An didn’t continue shouting. His throat was starting to get dry from all the talking.

Seeing that he didn’t say those three demonic words again, Ao Quan sighed in relief. “Don’t you know how to use your fucking mouth?!”

He was already quite old, so he was already quite used to exercising self-restraint. He was always treated with respect, and had no problem acting aloof and proud. It had been many, many years since he last cursed like this, but he really couldn’t hold himself back.

Zu An chuckled and said, “I only need to say three words, but you always need to say more. Since we’re really going there, I’m sure your mouth is capable of much more.”

Ao Quan was at a loss for words.

You make so much bloody sense, I don’t even have a good retort.

You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 703 Rage points!

Ao Quan’s face grew ashen. He had already given up on using Soulspeak, because those three goddamned words would always stop him, no matter how hard he tried. There was no way he would put himself through that again.

“Do you think this old man is that helpless?!” Ao Quan said with a cold snort, and swung his dragon-head walking stick.

Even though he mainly trained his Soulspeak, his close-quarters combat strength could only be considered weak when compared to others of his race. He had more than enough strength to deal with a simple fifth rank human.

Zu An didn’t dare face the oncoming walking stick head on. He quickly used his Sunflower Phantasm to dodge the blow. However, Ao Quan’s cultivation was far above his own, and he wasn’t seriously injured like Ding Run was. It was easy enough for him to keep up with Zu An’s speed.

Zu An couldn’t shake him off, but Au Quan couldn’t land a hit either. The two of them moved faster and faster, quickly entering a stalemate.

Pei Mianman and Zheng Dan both grew worried. They wanted to help, but the two were moving way too fast. They couldn’t distinguish who was who, which left them both at a loss as to what to do.

Sang Hong sighed, seemingly impressed. “The dragon race is indeed a race blessed by the heavens. Their physical strength is naturally superior to the other races! This Ao Quan primarily cultivates Dragon Soulspeak, so his actual physical strength should be poor, yet he still seems to possess the strength of an eighth rank human cultivator. That truly is quite frightening.”

“What? Even this is equivalent to eight ranks?” Sang Qien cried out in alarm. “Isn’t his real strength much greater, then?”

“Indeed.” Sang Hong nodded. “If he can use Soulspeak, then his strength would be comparable to a master. From a certain perspective, he would be even stronger than a master. Luckily, Zu An was able to cripple his most powerful ability. If not, none of us stand a chance against him.

“I didn’t expect so many powerful experts to be lurking in this world! It seems like the various powers are finally beginning to stir restlessly after decades of peace.”

Meanwhile, off to the side, Sang Qian couldn’t help but grumble, “The emperor should have sent more experts! We’re constantly being pursued by so many different enemies!”

Sang Qien offered her take on the situation. “His majesty probably didn’t expect Zu An to publicly reveal his Phoenix Nirvana Sutra to the world. The force that he dispatched would have been sufficient for an insignificant drafted son-in-law.”

Sang Hong’s eyes lit up. “Qien’er, your analysis is quite good. I was the one who was muddle-headed! This is clearly the underlying reason. To be honest, I really do have a good amount of admiration for Zu An. Even in the face of absolute death, he has managed to fashion a chance for survival.”

“He has nothing but blind luck! He is garbage that crawled up from the lowest rungs of society, and will undoubtedly throw a tantrum as soon as things don’t go his way. There’s no way he’s thought that far ahead.” His father’s constant praise for Zu An only made Sang Qian feel more awful inside.

Sang Qien didn’t share his opinion. “That’s what I thought at first, but after interacting with him these past few days, I think there’s more to him than meets the eye.”

Sang Qian snorted. “That fellow is good at nothing but deceiving women! You are to stay far away from him!”

Sang Qien struggled to maintain her cool.

A loud draconic cry echoed through the sky. After so many missed attacks, Ao Quan finally lost his patience. He revealed his true form, transforming into a massive green dragon a hundred zhang in length.

“Despicable human, you have truly incurred my wrath!” Ao Quan turned his massive head towards Zu An. His eyes burned with fury, glowing like lanterns.

You have successfully trolled Ao Quan for 1024 Rage points!

Zu An cursed inwardly. None of these fellows know how to take a joke. If you’re going to fight, then just fight. Why the need to change forms? So annoying.

“Can you just shut up already? Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“I’m looking at you, shithead!”

Ao Quan didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

“I’m going to kill you!” Thoroughly provoked, Ao Quan let out a roar and swooped forward. The very foundations of the earth seemed to shake, and even the surrounding air seemed to have been sucked away.