pertwk Chapter 113 The Quan Family
Chapter 113 The Quan Family
The vermilion gate was as tall as a two-story building, and above the gate hung a plaque with gold characters on a black background, which read "Quan Mansion" in sharp, knife-like strokes.
The two stone lions at the entrance are each ten feet tall. The golden-winged kite reliefs on their heads gleam with a faint golden luster in the morning light, exactly the same as the patterns that appear on Quan Feng's arms when he activates the beast patterns.
The courtyard wall extends to both sides, with broken porcelain shards stuck in it. Every few steps there is a crenellation, and behind the crenellations, one can vaguely see the figures of patrolling guards.
Two guards stood ramrod straight at the entrance, with knives hanging from their waists.
But their mouths weren't idle.
The square-faced guard lowered his voice.
"Young Master Quan Feng, who returned from Heyuan, is only at the Transformation Realm. Why does Elder Quan Xin value him so much?"
The tall, thin nurse raised an eyebrow.
"I heard that he suppressed the Golden-Winged Phoenix's restlessness when he was still at the Dark Force stage, and thus qualified as a fully-formed Golden-Winged Phoenix."
"He's currently in seclusion."
The square-faced guard gasped.
"A fully-formed Golden-Winged Phoenix? Only the ancestor of the entire Quan family has ever achieved that. Even Elder Quan Xin only achieved a half-fully-formed one back then."
"No wonder those guys from the other houses looked at Quan Feng with such daggers in their eyes."
As the two were talking, they caught a glimpse of Lin Mu approaching and immediately fell silent.
The square-faced guard sized him up, his gaze lingering for a moment on his coarse linen clothes and the oil stains on his cuffs, before turning his lips down in a smirk.
The Quan family is a distinguished family where "learned scholars gather and no commoners are allowed to visit." Not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come and go.
What are you doing?
Lin Mu took out the waist token that the Quan family had offered to him from his sleeve pocket and handed it over.
"I am a retainer of the Quan family."
The tall, thin nurse took the waist tag, turned it over, and looked up at Lin Mu's face, a faint sneer appearing on his lips.
"You, a mere Transformation Realm martial artist, are you worthy of the Quan family's offerings? Our head guard is already at the peak of the Transformation Realm."
He shoved the waist token into Lin Mu's hand and waved his hand.
"Go away, don't try to take advantage of this situation. You can't afford the consequences of fraudulently claiming the Quan family's offerings."
"Is it because the Quan family can't afford the offerings?" Lin Mu frowned.
The two guards were both taken aback.
Just then, footsteps came from inside the door.
An elderly man in a dark blue robe emerged from behind the screen wall. He was about fifty years old, with a thin face, a goatee, and eyes as sharp as knives.
He glanced at the two guards.
The two immediately lowered their heads and stepped aside.
The old man walked up to Lin Mu, looked him up and down, and spoke in a tone that was a few times more polite than that of the guards.
"Is it Young Master Lin from Heyuan County? Young Master Quan Feng already gave instructions."
Lin Mu nodded.
"My name is Lin Shan, the steward of the Quan family."
"Young Master Quan Feng is in seclusion."
"If you wish to receive offerings, please follow me."
Lin Mu followed the steward around the screen wall, through the front yard, and along a long corridor.
The Quan family's residence was more than twice the size of Xianzong's, but every part of it exuded a strict and orderly atmosphere.
The ground is paved with blue bricks, the pillars are freshly painted, and even the shrubs in the flowerbeds are trimmed neatly, with every leaf facing the same direction.
The maids and servants passing by walked lightly and silently, and bowed their heads to step aside when they saw the steward.
No one dozed off under the eaves, no one cracked sunflower seeds on the edge of the well, and not a single sparrow dared to perch on the railing.
At the end of the corridor is a very spacious training ground.
The ground was rammed loess, surrounded by wooden dummy stakes and stone locks, and the weapon racks on the side of the field were filled with knives, spears, swords, and halberds.
A dozen or so members of the Quan family were sparring on the field. The muffled sounds of fists colliding and the crisp sounds of weapons clashing mingled together, making the flags on the sidelines flutter in the wind.
Every movement of each person carried a restlessness—the unique excitement of the Golden-Winged Kite Beast Mark boiling slightly in their blood.
The steward led Lin Mu around the edge of the training ground, not wanting to disturb anyone.
But the gazes of those Quan family scions had already swept over, like a pack of beasts that had caught a whiff of something unfamiliar, all locking onto Lin Mu.
A young man dressed in a short, tight-fitting brown outfit, with his arms crossed, walked out of the crowd.
He was about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, with a slender figure, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Quan Feng's, but his eyes were colder and sharper, and there was a faint smile on his lips.
He tilted his head and sized up Lin Mu for a moment, then gestured with his chin toward his companions behind him.
"Is this the kid who came from Heyuan with Quan Feng?"
"It doesn't have three heads and six arms, does it?"
"Just an ordinary martial arts master, nothing special, just like that kid Quan Feng."
A few young people nearby let out a low chuckle.
Someone shouted something at the top of their lungs.
"Brother Qing, why don't you weigh him? I'll give you a Qi and Blood Pill!"
Another person chimed in, speaking in a lazy tone.
"We are all at the Core Formation stage, so even if we win, it would be an unfair victory."
"You Qing, you are at the peak of the Transformation Realm, which is just right."
Quan Youqing moved his shoulder blades, his joints cracking, and took a step forward.
"Alright, let me see just how much you're worth."
The steward tried to stop him, but Quan Youqing's arms trembled—the golden-winged phoenix's beast-like markings spread from the back of its neck to its arms, the pale golden lines gleaming with an extremely thin and sharp luster in the morning light.
The Golden-Winged Phoenix is the fastest among all the beast patterns in the Quan family.
Quan Youqing slammed his left foot into the ground, blasting a crater the size of a bowl into the yellow earth, and his whole body rushed towards Lin Mu like a golden afterimage.
The right fist strikes straight at the face.
The punch was as fast as a golden lightning bolt, leaving a sharp hissing sound in the air where the fist passed.
The cheers from the onlookers hadn't even had a chance to start.
Lin Mu then came forward to greet him.
The inch force was activated in an instant, and the fist force layer silently spread on the skin surface, with an extremely thin and dense layer of dark golden light film covering the whole body.
He let Quan Youqing's fist slam solidly into his chest.
At the very instant the fist strikes the barrier layer, the fist force rebounds with maximum power.
Quan Youqing felt as if the force of his punch had struck a mountain.
An extremely heavy and powerful force surged back from his fist, causing his entire right arm to go numb from his fist to his shoulder at the same time.
Then he was so shaken that his feet left the ground and he flew sideways.
His back slammed into the weapon rack at the edge of the training ground, scattering swords, spears, and halberds all over the ground.
He struggled several times amidst the pile of weapons before barely managing to prop himself up. His right arm hung limply at his side, the web between his thumb and forefinger split open, blood trickling down his fingers.
He even vomited two mouthfuls of blood.
The entire hall fell silent, save for the fluttering battle flags of the powerful families.
The disciples who were just making a fuss have now fallen silent.
The Quan family member who had mentioned needing the Qi-regulating Blood-blood Pill opened his mouth, but the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.
Quan Youqing is at the peak of the Transformation Realm, and is known as invincible below the Core Formation Realm.
He punched Lin Mu in the chest. Lin Mu didn't even take a step back. He himself flew backward, crashing into the weapon rack and spitting out blood.
Lin Mu looked at everyone present and raised an eyebrow.
He used all his strength, except for physical training techniques and some life-or-death moves, to teach this troublemaker a lesson.
Moreover, he noticed that when Quan Youqing made his move, the martial arts seemed to react.
Is it because of him that he achieved the Transformation Realm?
He had an urge to use his body-tempering technique to test how strong the Golden-Winged Phoenix was, and also to observe it further.