#455 - He is no longer the little boy he was back then.

Xu Ming's voice echoed around everyone.

Listening to Xu Ming's words, Xu Yi and Xu Shan narrowed their eyes, looking very displeased.

They felt as if they were being looked down upon.

Or rather, there was no 'as if'.

Xu Ming was indeed looking down on Xu Yi and Xu Shan.

He was even deliberately looking down on them.

To make these guys behave, he needed to make them realize the gap between them and himself, and even needed to humiliate them appropriately.

So, a normal sparring match would definitely not work.

By humiliating them to a certain extent, he could also deter those with ulterior motives in the Xu mansion.

"Fifth brother seems a little too confident in himself," Xu Yi said with a fake smile, a hint of killing intent already in his eyes.

Xu Ming smiled: "Big brother will know once you try it yourself."

"Heh heh!"

Xu Yi sneered, and a talisman flew out from his sleeve.

This talisman ignited in the sky, then transformed into a fire dragon.

"Roar!" The fire dragon roared, and the temperature in the entire courtyard kept rising. The heatwave swept through the entire courtyard, and some people were already sweating.

Most of the people in the courtyard were ordinary people who had never seen cultivators fighting.

They just felt that the young master's fire dragon was very mighty and looked very powerful, befitting a great cultivator.

In comparison, the branch that the fifth young master was floating in the air looked very shabby.

However, just as everyone thought that the fire dragon was about to swallow the branch, the branch burst out a wisp of sword energy. Just a gust of sword wind blew, and the fire dragon dissipated in the air.

It felt like a kitchen knife had gently swiped and killed an earthworm.

Xu Yi was shocked.

Xu Yi knew Xu Ming's realm, which was nothing more than the Dragon Gate realm.

He himself was also in the Dragon Gate realm.

But the problem was, how could a sword cultivator in the Dragon Gate realm have such a sharp sword energy?

During this trip down the mountain, he had killed many cultivators who were above his realm, and had seen many Golden Core realm sword cultivators.

But no one could do this.

Unconvinced, Xu Yi sacrificed two more talismans.

One talisman transformed into a large hand, and the other talisman transformed into a fierce tiger, directly pouncing towards the branch.

However, the branch just slashed two more sword energies, and the large hand and the fierce tiger were once again completely destroyed.

Not only that, the branch seemed to be stimulated by something, and stabbed towards Xu Yi.

Xu Yi was shocked, slammed the table and stood up, dodging the branch.

Seeing this branch flying in front of him, Xu Shan found an opportunity and punched the branch.

The Flame Sun Fist was mixed with scorching flames.

In Xu Shan's heart, this punch had smashed a small hill before, how could it not break this branch?

But with this punch, not only was the branch not destroyed, on the contrary, Xu Shan flew out, fell to the ground, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Shan'er..." Seeing her son injured, Xu Shan's mother quickly stepped forward to help her son up.

Xu Yi flew into the air, and the talismans he sacrificed formed the image of an Asura.

The branch, like a sharp sword, stabbed towards Xu Yi.

The Asura behind Xu Yi held a long knife and slashed at the branch.

But the branch was like a celestial weapon, easily breaking through the long knife, breaking through the Asura's Dharma form, and stabbing towards Xu Yi's heart.

Xu Yi's pupils shrank, and he took out a protective talisman to block in front of him.

The moment the protective talisman shattered, Xu Yi fell from the air into a pool in the courtyard, looking very embarrassed.

Madam Qian was startled and quickly trotted towards the pool.

The branch was still floating in the air, stopping the attack.

Throughout the entire process, Xu Ming sat in his seat eating, without even lifting his head once.

But Xu Yi and Xu Shan tried their best, but could not break the branch.

"Old Ancestor, everyone, Ming still has some things to deal with, so please excuse me. Enjoy your meal."

Xu Ming put down his bowl and chopsticks, bowed to the Old Matriarch and the elders at the table.

He had finished his meal, taught the people a lesson, and had nothing else to do, so he should hurry up and deal with the matter of advancing.

"Ah, okay." The Old Matriarch then reacted and said to Xu Ming, "Ming'er, walk slowly, don't forget the ancestral ceremony tomorrow."

"That's natural." Xu Ming nodded, wearing his Tang horizontal knife, and walked straight out of the courtyard. Everyone looked at Xu Ming with more awe.

And it was when Xu Ming walked out of the courtyard that the branch floating in the air fell to the ground.

A naughty little girl jumped down from the chair and ran towards the branch.

"Wan Wan!"

The little girl's mother was startled and quickly called out to her daughter.

But the little girl had already ran to the side of the branch.

The little girl picked up the branch, and then gently used force to break the branch.

The little girl cheered and shouted to her mother: "Mother, mother, I did it, I broke this branch."

"..."

The men and women, young and old, in the courtyard were all silent, and no one dared to say a word.

Especially Madam Qian and Madam Lin's faces were very ugly.

If it was a normal loss, a back-and-forth fight, then it would be fine. At worst, they would say, "As expected, Fifth Young Master is worthy of being the second on the Azure Cloud List."

But their sons had completely failed.

A branch injured their sons, and that branch was an ordinary branch that could not be more ordinary. After Xu Ming left, a little girl could break the branch.

"I'm full too." The Old Matriarch stood up, glanced at Madam Lin sitting in her seat, and said nothing.

Xiang Ni quickly helped the Old Matriarch away.

"Don't think about doing anything." Xu Shuiyai took a sip of wine, "From today onwards, what Ming'er says is equivalent to what the Old Matriarch says, and the rules set by Ming'er are the family laws of our Xu mansion. Do you all hear clearly?"

The men and women of the Xu mansion at the main table all nodded in response: "Yes."

Xu Shuiyai stood up and walked away.

No one at the main table had an appetite, but no one dared to leave casually.

Madam Lin looked at Wang Feng in surprise, her charming peach blossom eyes seemed to be saying: "When did Ming'er become so powerful?"

"You're just finding out?"

Wang Feng smiled, looked out of the courtyard, and there was a sense of pride in her eyes, and even a trace of past memories.

"Our Ming'er is no longer the little boy he used to be."