Chapter 1756: I’ll Ask You One Last Time!

"What? I asked you just now, and it was you who didn’t want it!"

Yun Xiao’s soft words echoed in every corner of the Drunken Forest Garden, causing many to show strange expressions. They secretly thought, at this point, do you still dare to provoke Chang Shuo? Are you tired of living?

Some people looked toward the owner of the Drunken Forest Garden, Manager Zhou, but saw that he had no intention of stopping it. They were thoughtful, suspecting that this guy might also want to see the excitement.

For some reason, the drinkers who didn’t think much of Yun Xiao before, after he revealed the Blood-corroded Flame, began to feel something inexplicable rise in their hearts, thinking this young man might not be as simple as he appeared.

Too bad Chang Shuo’s mind was poisoned by fire, and he had lost his reason after being "played" by Yun Xiao twice. At this moment, he couldn’t think so much; he only knew he had to reclaim the Blood-corroded Flame that originally belonged to him.

"Kid, hand over what you have, and maybe I’ll leave you with a whole corpse!"

Chang Shuo’s eyes turned somewhat blood red. He didn’t care this was the Drunken Forest Garden. He violently stared at the young man in coarse clothes not far ahead, his words no longer veiled.

"What? Does this involve robbery, and no one cares?"

Upon hearing Chang Shuo’s threats, a strange expression appeared on Yun Xiao’s face. He then shifted his gaze to where Manager Zhou stood, and this inquiry also struck everyone as odd.

In previous Drunken Immortal Conferences, such situations couldn’t happen. If someone found a good wine, it’s not as if others could take it by force based on cultivation strength; otherwise, it would become a martial arts competition.

In those times, Manager Zhou would step up to stop such actions. Not only was he powerful, but he was also rumored to have strong backing. Even Supervisor Sima Nanfeng from the Emperor Palace wouldn’t dare cause too much trouble.

But today, Manager Zhou ignored Yun Xiao’s words completely. Watching this scene, everyone further confirmed their thoughts, knowing this man wanted to see the true nature of that coarse-clothed young man.

"Kid, stop dreaming. This stone was knocked down by me, so this Blood-corroded Flame rightfully belongs to me, Chang Shuo. Even if you talk until the sky breaks, it won’t change this fact."

Although Chang Shuo was overwhelmed by fire poison and anger lost his reason, these words seemed to have been calculated in advance. They sounded reasonable, leaving others with no room to argue.

Earlier, everyone clearly saw Chang Shuo swing a giant hammer, smashing the artificial hill into pieces, and the stone that turned into Blood-corroded Flame in Yun Xiao’s hand indeed came from those broken rocks.

However, who would pay attention to a piece of broken rock at that time? Even if the stone were placed in front of Chang Shuo, he wouldn’t recognize it as Blood-corroded Flame.

Especially since Yun Xiao had even asked Chang Shuo earlier, this guy refused to be fooled a second time, obviously admitting the stone belonged to Yun Xiao yet using this as a pretext now.

But tacit agreement doesn’t equal verbal acknowledgment, which gave no concrete evidence, so Chang Shuo’s unreasonable argument seemed to hold the upper hand, causing Yun Xiao’s expression to grow dark.

"I advise you not to provoke enemies you can’t afford to offend!"

Yun Xiao, being the reincarnation of the Long Xiao Battle God, naturally had a temper. Chang Shuo’s repeated provocation completely extinguished his last bit of patience.

"Ahaha, what did I hear? A wet-behind-the-ears brat speaks so shamelessly?"

Seemingly enraged by Yun Xiao’s arrogant words, Chang Shuo laughed angrily, pointing at the coarse-clothed young man two heads shorter than himself, his tone filled with extreme murder intent.

Already feeling indignant from being played with, this brat remained unaware, not only failing to hand over the jade bowl willingly but also daring to provoke him verbally—simply intolerable.

Not many echoed Chang Shuo’s words, but in their hearts, they didn’t believe the extremely young-looking coarse-clothed boy would be his match.

Even if the young man could cultivate to the Heavenly Realm Early Stage level, facing Chang Shuo, who had extremely formidable physical strength, he would likely be at a disadvantage. Didn’t they see the Heavenly Realm Early Stage Cultivator earlier retreat in defeat under Chang Shuo’s glare?

But people love a spectacle, and seeing Manager Zhou showing no signs of intervention, everyone made room in the middle, waiting to see a good show.

Meanwhile, the eyes of the Emperor Palace Supervisor Sima Nanfeng were fixed on the jade bowl in Yun Xiao’s hand. He decided that once the kid was killed, or the jade bowl was seized, he’d immediately step in to claim it.

Ma Nanfeng considered his position because the Blood-corroded Flame belonged to Yun Xiao. The only reason Chang Shuo could make a move was that the artificial hill was destroyed, giving him a justification.

Once the Blood-corroded Flame changed ownership, Ma Nanfeng would certainly not let go of something extremely useful to him. If Chang Shuo could seize it from another, surely he could seize it from Chang Shuo.

Then no one would say Ma Nanfeng broke the rules of the Drunken Immortal Conference. As the Chief of the Emperor Palace, Ma Nanfeng was confident Manager Zhou wouldn’t fall out with him over such matters.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Chang Shuo’s mind was entirely focused on recovering the Blood Erosion Intense Flame, not realizing that a Huangque had silently flown behind him, preparing to strike.

"Kid, I’ll ask you one last time, are you handing it over or not?"

The blood-red color in Chang Shuo’s eyes grew increasingly intense, his patience gradually wearing thin with time. This was the ultimatum he gave to Yun Xiao, and even a dense fire attribute aura had emerged around him.

"So that’s it!"

With Yun Xiao’s insight and sensing, from the fire attribute aura emanating from Chang Shuo, he immediately saw that the Fire Poison had entered his body, and he also guessed why the other party was so intent on clinging to the Blood Erosion Intense Flame.

However, Yun Xiao was not overly concerned with such reasons. The fact that this guy could still resort to crafty means and forceful actions under these circumstances clearly marked him as a violent person. Who knows how many innocent lives had been lost at his hands?

"Since you insist on seeking death, then I’ll fulfill your wish!"

Yun Xiao did not voice these words, yet his stillness seemed to respond to Chang Shuo’s earlier ultimatum. This caused the Heavenly Realm Early Stage strongman to explode on the spot.

"Go die!"

Unbeknownst to anyone, a massive iron hammer appeared in Chang Shuo’s hand once more, and combined with his shouted words, the impact was indeed astonishing.

Many people felt apprehensive, especially some Heavenly Realm Early Stage cultivators, who thought to themselves that they couldn’t possibly withstand such a powerful strike. If they were struck by the giant hammer, they’d likely shatter into pieces like that artificial mountain just now.

Chang Shuo held nothing back in this strike. To be honest, he feared that Manager Zhou might suddenly intervene, making it much harder for him to reclaim the Blood Erosion Intense Flame.

Chang Shuo’s plan was simple: as long as he swiftly killed this plain-clothed kid, the Drunken Immortal Restaurant wouldn’t turn against him over a dead person, would it?

After all, not only was Chang Shuo himself powerful, he also had backing. In Drunken Immortal City, cultivators bonded over wine; everyone had three or five friends. Even someone as violent as Chang Shuo had befriended a few stronger than himself.

Whoosh...

The massive iron hammer whipped up a fierce wind, carrying the formidable Meridian Qi of the Heavenly Realm Early Stage, as if it would burst through the air, aiming directly to smash Yun Xiao’s head.

And Yun Xiao at this moment, seemed stupefied by fear, unmoving. Seeing this, many people shook their heads in disapproval, silently chiding themselves for overestimating this kid moments ago.

As it turned out, Yun Xiao, who had exceptional skill in the way of wine, had such pitiful Meridian Qi cultivation combat power, being scared stiff by Chang Shuo’s first strike. The consequences would likely be him being turned into a puddle of flesh.

"I thought this kid had some skill, but turns out he’s a total moron!"

Naturally, Chang Shuo kept a close eye on Yun Xiao’s actions, worried that the kid might slip away like a loach. If he dodged the first blow and Manager Zhou intervened, reclaiming the Blood Erosion Intense Flame would become far more difficult.

Boom!

Under everyone’s gaze, the giant hammer in Chang Shuo’s hand finally struck Yun Xiao. Dust and debris flew as the impact was unbelievably startling.

But in everyone’s eyes, the plain-clothed youth who had performed quite impressively just a moment ago was directly hammered into nothingness, without even a spatter of blood.

"Something’s not right!"

Seeing such a bizarre scene, those with sharp minds finally realized that things weren’t as simple as they seemed. Although Chang Shuo’s hammer was powerful, it shouldn’t have struck someone into nothingness, should it?

The white-clothed youth seemed to have suddenly turned into an illusory shadow, leaving Chang Shuo’s hammer without a target, only to smash into the ground, creating a large hole.

"It’s an afterimage!"

The person in the field with the strongest sensing abilities was naturally Supervisor Ma Nanfeng of the Emperor Palace. Moments later, he lowly shouted with a grim face, clearly recognizing what was shattered.

Cultivators who had reached the Third Realm of the Heavenly Rank or above, skilled in speed, could create afterimages through speed to confuse enemies during battle or as a means of escape.

However, Yun Xiao hadn’t moved earlier and yet created such a lifelike afterimage, startling Ma Nanfeng. He began to redefine the power of the plain-clothed youth in his mind.