#4 - My brother will always protect you

Xiao Chen sneered disdainfully.

Jun Wuxie actually dared to attack him. Even at his peak, Jun Wuxie was, at most, his equal.

Immediately, he threw a punch to meet the attack.

With a boom,

the moment the two fists collided, Xiao Chen's expression drastically changed. He felt as if he had been hit by an iron ball. His fist ached, and a massive force surged over him, sending his body flying.

"To kill the young master is treason!"

Jun Wuxie stepped on his neck, his eyes as cold as knives.

"You… what do you want?"

Xiao Chen was terrified. He saw intense killing intent in Jun Wuxie's eyes.

The guards, witnessing the scene, were all too frightened to move.

"Jun Wuxie, think about the consequences! Xiao Xu is a peerless genius, now an existence you can never hope to reach!" The Third Elder threatened, "Release this elder immediately, or Xiao Xu will personally kill you, even if the elders come out of seclusion, they won't be able to save you!"

"I'll wait for him, but unfortunately, you probably won't see it!"

Jun Wuxie stomped on Xiao Chen's neck, breaking it. Xiao Chen's expression froze instantly, his eyes wide open, not closing even in death.

"Murder! Jun Wuxie killed the Third Elder!"

The guards cried out in alarm.

"Anyone who doesn't want to die, shut up!"

His gaze swept over the crowd like a blade, and for a moment, the area fell silent.

"Yueyao, who else here has bullied you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen servants knelt on the ground, crying with snot and tears, "Young Master, spare us! We were wrong! Please have mercy!"

"It was Young Master Xiao Xu. He told us to give Miss Yueyao only one bun a day, saying that you were crippled and living was a waste of food…"

Jun Wuxie swung his hand and slapped each of the dozen servants, sending them flying.

Thinking of Yueyao being so young, taking care of him every day, not having enough to eat, and being bullied by these beasts, his heart seethed with killing intent. He snatched a knife from a guard.

"No… don't… Young Master, spare us… have mercy…"

Pfft!

The sound of flesh tearing and blood splashing rang out as a servant's head rolled to the ground. Blood gushed from the headless neck, splattering everywhere.

The other servants were instantly terrified, wailing in despair.

The more they hated bullying little Yueyao in the past, the more fear they felt now.

Jun Wuxie ignored their pleas and, with a wave of his hand, beheaded them one by one.

Some servants tried to escape, but before they could take a few steps, their heads flew high into the air.

In a short time, he slaughtered everyone in the kitchen!

"Xiao Xu! Envoy of Destiny? I will settle the debt you owe me and Yueyao soon enough!"

His eyes flashed with cold light. Above Xiao Xu's courtyard, the stars began to dim, but the central star grew increasingly brighter, his natal star shining even more brilliantly.

"Wuxie-gege, run, run away! The family head will find out and bring people to arrest you!"

Little Yueyao looked at the Third Elder in the pool of blood and the headless servants all over the ground, tears welling up in her eyes, and she pushed Jun Wuxie with all her might.

"Don't worry, gege will be fine. Gege will protect you forever."

He smiled and gently pinched Yueyao's little nose.

"Really? But…"

"It's okay, trust gege."

He went to the kitchen, fetched a large bucket of hot water, and took little Yueyao back to his dilapidated courtyard.

As he wiped the dirt from little Yueyao's body, Jun Wuxie's heart ached and he shed tears.

Her little hands were swollen and covered with frostbite, cracked and bleeding.

She was so young, yet she endured the pain, hunger, and grievances every day with those hands, risking danger to gather herbs for him.

For half a year, he couldn't imagine how much bullying little Yueyao had suffered in the Xiao family.

She said that the kitchen gave them two buns every day, but in reality, there was only one, and she gave the only bun to him.

What had she been eating for the past six months? He dared not think about it, he couldn't bear to think about it…

"From today onwards, gege will never let anyone bully you again, not let you suffer even the slightest grievance! Whoever touches you, I will tear them apart!"

Jun Wuxie quietly watched over little Yueyao until she fell asleep, then he set off for the family's resource chamber.

When he arrived, the steward was gazing at the starry sky in the courtyard, his expression excited.

"Young Master Xiao Xu is a peerless genius! Our Xiao family will surely become a wealthy and noble family in the future!"

Hearing footsteps, the steward turned around, his eyes widening in shock. "You… how could it be you?"

He couldn't believe it. How could someone who had been paralyzed for half a year suddenly recover?

"I'm here to get Initial Spirit Pills. How many do you have in stock?"

"None!" The steward calmed down, thinking of Xiao Xu, and his expression changed immediately. He said coldly, "Initial Spirit Pills are important family resources. Only the young master and elders are qualified to allocate them. What are you…"

Slap!

Jun Wuxie slapped him hard, knocking him to the ground, his face covered in blood. Then, he grabbed the steward's neck and lifted him up, "Do you have them or not?"

"Jun Wuxie, how dare you hit me! You're being presumptuous! Young Master Xiao Xu is now…" Before the steward could finish speaking, Jun Wuxie's fingers suddenly tightened. The steward heard the cracking sound of his own neck bones. The intense pain and near suffocation terrified him so much that he almost wet his pants. He coughed and said in fear, "Yes, yes, yes, I'll give them to you!"

"Worthless trash, I had to use my fist to reason with you!"

He released his hand, and the steward coughed violently, took a few deep breaths, and hurriedly brought out all the Initial Spirit Pills. There were only thirty in total.

Jun Wuxie took all thirty Initial Spirit Pills, and also took some swelling-reducing and skin-regenerating cream to treat the frostbite on little Yueyao's body.

Then, he went to the family's accounting room and used his fists to persuade the accounting steward to give him all the withheld monthly allowance from the past six months.

"Even with a tenfold absorption rate, I'll need over a hundred pills. Buying them from the Jubaosai Merchant Guild will cost at least ten thousand gold coins…"

Jun Wuxie frowned slightly, looking at the brilliantly shining natal star in the starry sky. He had to find a way to get the gold coins to buy the Initial Spirit Pills as soon as possible.

Xiao Xu, who had fused with the Heavenly Destiny Spiritual Vein, had an extraordinary bloodline, and his growth potential was far beyond that of ordinary martial artists.

Now Xiao Xu was already at the Initial Stage of Qi, and could cultivate martial skills!

If he didn't make a breakthrough, he would still be at the mercy of others!

Money!

He needed a lot of money!

Jun Wuxie had never desired money so intensely!

After thinking for a while, it seemed he had to go to the Hunter's Guild in the city.

The only way to make quick money right now was to be a bounty hunter.

Taking on some high-star-level difficulty bounty missions might make it possible to raise this huge sum of money in a short time.

……

At the same time, in front of the Xiao family's council hall, the family head and all the elders gathered, each gazing at the brilliant stars above Xiao Xu's courtyard, their excitement overflowing.

"Xu'er has soared to the sky this time. Our Xiao family will surely suppress the three major families and the City Lord's Mansion in this Qingyang City!" The family head, Xiao Xing, said with high spirits, laughing loudly, "If Xu'er wins the Great River Selection Token and becomes a member of the sect, then our Xiao family will also rise steadily, and will surely become a wealthy and powerful family in the future!"

"The family head is absolutely right. There are two elders in the Elder Council who still feel sorry for that little bastard Jun Wuxie, and even hope that he can recover. It's laughable!" The Great Elder said with disdain, "In front of a bright moon like Xu'er, that little bastard isn't even worthy of being a firefly!"

……

In the City Lord's Mansion, the high-level figures of the three major families of Qingyang City gathered, all looking at the Xiao family's sky, their expressions solemn.

The Bi family head sighed, "A peerless genius has been born. The Xiao family's momentum is unstoppable. It seems we have to tell our family members to deliberately avoid the Xiao family's disciples in the future, and not to have any conflicts with them."

The Ji family head shook his head and said helplessly, "I'm afraid there is no hope for the talent selection competition. That only Great River Selection Token must be in Xiao Xu's pocket…"

"What a pity." The Jiang family head said unwillingly, "I heard that, in addition to the Great River Selection Token, they will also bestow a Qi Gathering Pill! That is a top-grade spirit pill that can allow martial artists in the Initial Stage of Qi to condense their true qi into liquid, thereby breaking through to the Qi Condensation Stage, worth a million gold!"

"It's not just your three families." City Lord Jiang Cheng sighed, "With the appearance of such a figure as Xiao Xu in the Xiao family, I'm afraid even my City Lord's Mansion will have to rely on the Xiao family in the future…"

"We should now band together to keep warm, hoping that the Xiao family won't be too excessive. But right now, we should quickly prepare congratulatory gifts and personally go to the Xiao family to congratulate Xiao Xu!"