Chapter 31: A Heavenly Warrior Emerges
Manager Su did not respond, but he did continue to step forward. It seemed slow, but every single step was taken right after another, and he constantly sped up.
There was no hint of martial arts behind his movements, and there was no gracious flair to the steps he took. Every single step was basic but seemed to contain a myriad of different powers.
Xue Wei looked on in shock before an excited and genuine smile spread on his face. Manager Su had broken through to the Heavenly Warrior realm.
It seemed that He Tong had finally grasped the same knowledge, and his eyes were filled with disbelief as he tried to back away from Manager Su; yet the entire aura had locked down upon him, making it near impossible to even make the slightest movement.
The higher one reached in rank, the larger the gap was between the realms. Although He Tong was in the last layers of the Sky Warrior rank, he was a realm below Manager Su, which in return caused the man to be like an ant in front of an elephant.
Xue Wei was excited. He did not believe in showing mercy to his enemies, and from the look on Manager Su's face, he did not look favorably on that subject either.
Just as Manager Su finally reached out his hand and was about to grasp He Tong's neck, a snort sounded out. Someone’s arm shot forward, grasping Manager Su's hand and stopping his advance.
Manager Su looked at the hand that had stopped him. His eyes traveled from the hand to the shoulder before it landed on Li Fang's face.
"What gives you the right to interfere?" Manager Su asked with a chill in his voice. "This man has hunted down my young master through all of Tiankong City. There are plenty of witnesses. I cannot allow such a person to continue living. Who knows when he will descend into madness again and once more try to attack my young master?"
Hearing this train of questions, Li Fang’s face turned ugly. "Well said!" Shen Bingwen appeared from the side. All of a sudden, all three Heavenly Warriors present in Tiankong City were gathered in one place.
"I sensed the fluctuations in the air; it seemed that a Heavenly Warrior was emerging. Who could have expected that it was old Manager Su?" Shen Bingwen said with a friendly smile, completely ignoring that Li Fang held his hand in a firm grip and that He Tong was standing trembling on the ground not far away.
He Tong seemed to have reached the end of his wits. His eyes were darting from one side to another, focusing briefly on Shen Bingwen, Li Fang, and Manager Su.
Li Fang's face was ugly. He too had felt the fluctuations in the air, indicating that someone was breaking into the Heavenly Warrior rank. Upon realizing that the man in question was the servant of Xiao Lei, he had felt uncomfortable.
Although Xiao Lei had never before wanted to engage in the fight for the City Lord's position, he had often supported Shen Bingwen. And now that his house had two Heavenly Warriors, it was likely that it would be even more difficult for Li Fang to take over.
Not only this, He Tong, although not the strongest supporter, was a supporter to Li Fang. The fact that he had done such unbecoming actions like hunting down a younger generation member – and even failed at it – proved that he and his followers would take a severe hit in their credibility.
All families within Tiankong City, nobles or not, earned their money from farms and fields outside the city, shops, and restaurants within the city.
The commoners were perfectly well aware of which shops belonged to which families, and they were very likely to decide not to support one faction if they did something unacceptable. To lure customers back, they needed to sell rare materials and items, or they had to lower the prices so that people would pick their shop for a bargain.
Either decision they made would make them lose money, and losing money meant that they would be unable to make a move on the City Lord position for some time.
If this continued, then more of Li Fang's supporters would support Shen Bingwen instead. Not to mention that the commoners would support Shen Bingwen since he had the backing of two Heavenly Warriors.
The appearance of a Heavenly Warrior was indeed something that brought great joy to Shen Bingwen and much agony to Li Fang.
"So we need to decide what to do with He Tong," Shen Bingwen said. He was partly depressed that they had arrived so fast, as there was no chance for He Tong to die now. However, at the same time, he also knew that if He Tong were killed, then uncertainty and disturbances would appear in Tiankong City.
"Take him to court," Manager Su sneered. "Lock him up and don't let him out. He aimed to kill my young master. With intent to kill a younger generation member who has yet to fight the Fierce and Primordial Beasts, I am sure that the charge is rather harsh. Crippling his dantian, perhaps?"
"He Tong is a veteran from the army. To cripple his dantian is rather extreme when the person in question is completely unharmed and standing right beside you," Li Fang intercepted, but Manager Su was having none of it.
Although Manager Su had a lower rank than both Li Fang and Shen Bingwen, both of these two had to acknowledge him now that he had reached the Heavenly Warrior rank, and he was well aware of this. Especially because Manager Su had a killing intent added to his aura.
Those with killing intent in their auras had climbed out through a mountain of corpses and had seen death as an everyday occurrence. As a result, their ability to fight was many times more formidable than others. Although he was only a one layer Heavenly Warrior, for now, he was not one to be taken lightly.
"It is shameful that a veteran of the army would stoop so low as to attack a member of the younger generation. If we do not make an example of this, I fear that in the future, others might try something similar," Manager Su protested, and Li Fang knew that there was not much he could say.
Shen Bingwen would side with Manager Su to get on his good side, and that would be two Heavenly Warriors against one. Even if he wanted to complain, he would not be able to do so.
"I will take my leave," Li Fang said through gritted teeth. He felt powerless, and although he had always believed in fighting fairly for the position he wanted, he could not help but feel that things were getting out of hand.
Shen Bingwen waved his hands, and a group of guards appeared to escort He Tong back to the City Lord's mansion.
"I will lock up He Tong for now," Shen Bingwen said with a friendly smile on his face. "We will look for witnesses who saw what happened later today, and then you two will act as witnesses too. When all information has been gathered, we will go to court to judge him. I will do my very best to ensure that you get justice," he promised Manager Su.
Although Xue Wei was important because Xiao Lei highly valued him, Manager Su was now even more important. To ensure that he was satisfied, Shen Bingwen would go to great lengths.
What wondered Shen Bingwen was why Manager Su suddenly looked at Xue Wei with such reverence. It was clear that he truly treated him as his young master now, and not just as he used to do in the past.
Shen Bingwen also left the mansion with He Tong in tow. They returned to the City Lord's mansion right away, leaving only Xue Wei and Manager Su in the Xiao Lei estate.
"To think that he was so brazen as to try and kill you right in front of me," Manager Su harrumphed with a bit of displeasure, but Xue Wei just grinned. "It was close this time, but it seems that the pressure was just what you needed to break through. Congratulation on becoming a Heavenly Warrior!"
Manager Su was no longer upset. His face flourished a great smile, and he nodded his head in approval. "Your herbal concoctions are truly able to do wonders. I have not had any progress the last twenty years, but the moment I tried your herbal concoction, I could feel energy flooding my body, and this last thrill surely ended my bottleneck!"
"I am grateful for the assistance that you and your uncle both have given me," Manager Su bowed deeply to Xue Wei, who quickly helped him straighten his back again. "Think nothing of it," Xue Wei said, his statement heartfelt, "now that uncle is not here, you are the closest to family that I have."
Although Manager Su had never really paid much attention to Xue Wei before, he had been willing to stay behind and look after him even though he thought he was trash. Not only this, he had been willing to fight for him repeatedly, and the consideration he showed was making him feel more at ease. To the orphaned Xue Wei, it felt a lot as if he had found himself a grandfather.
Both the young and the older man smiled at one another before they started snickering. "I wonder how the He family is going to manage now," Xue Wei could not help but grin. He was not usually one to find pleasure in others' despair, but considering that He Tong had almost killed him, Xue Wei had no positive emotions for their family at all.
On the other hand, the Jia family had stayed quiet. They had not said a word after their young master had been crippled, and they had not shown any kind of retaliation. This act made Xue Wei worried. He knew that they were as upset as He Tong, but their actions showed that they could endure.
"Due to the danger, from now on, I will follow you wherever you go," Manager Su declared, but it was no different for Xue Wei. He had already spent the last couple of weeks almost glued to this manager, so having the next couple of months be the same was no issue. As long as Manager Su did not interrupt him in his training, Xue Wei was satisfied.
The days went by, one after another. Xue Wei cultivated and trained. He would do everything in his power to gain strength, and he could feel that the chase he had experienced had also pushed his potential higher, allowing for him to have a minor breakthrough to the peak of seventh layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank.
He was just one step away from reaching the eighth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank, and he knew that he would reach it at any moment. Thus he did not rush it, and rightfully so. A few days later when he was training the Sacrificial Stab ability, he broke through naturally. When he did, it was as if a new world opened for him.
His body became lighter, his flesh and blood tougher. His eyes seemed to be able to notice smaller details than before, and the colors looked much more vivid in front of him. He could feel that the higher rank he came, the more in tune with nature he became and the more of nature's power he could wield.
His senses were enhanced, and he could absorb more Qi at a time than before. When looking at his body, he found that the pearl-like dantian of his had changed to become slightly azure and was growing in size.