"REN LEI!" The Ren Family Patriarch let out a thunderous roar that made the already terrified mortals shake even more.
Yun Lei, however, remained completely unfazed. The Patriarch's aura rushed towards him but his own aura was fully unleashed as well. As the two auras came in contact, it was as though the Patriarch's had lost all will to fight.
Ren Patriarch was far too enraged to notice this. In fact, seeing that a smug smile still hung on Yun Lei's face only infuriated him further.
How dare that cripple look down on me! Filled with equal parts rage and disbelief, he watched his useless cripple son with bloodshot eyes.
He couldn't believe that the little brat that didn't even dare to raise his head in his presence was staring straight into his eyes. But the brat's eyes were filled with neither fear nor respect. It was filled with a mocking gaze.
It was as though that cripple was provoking him. Go ahead, try me, was what his eyes seemed to be saying.
"Impudent brat!" Ren Patriarch said through gritted teeth. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been so thoroughly angered.
"Watch your tone, Patriarch of the Ren Family. You're talking to the son-in-law of the Governor." A cold, emotionless voice could be heard by everyone in that street. The person who had spoken those words had a small smile on his face.
"Ren... Lei..." The Patriarch slowly squeezed out the words as he was shaking. He was actually shaking with anger. "I'm warning you—"
"No, let me be the one to warn you, Ren Feng. You are speaking to Yun Lei, son-in-law of the Yun Family, sole owner of the Thunder Cloud Company. You are not talking to a member of your Ren Family. Act with decorum or you'll be taught how to."
The Young Master's voice was even colder than it previously was. The way he looked at the Ren Family's Patriarch was no different from how a human would look at an ant.
"Good. Good!" The Patriarch let out a laugh. "It seems that my son is all grown up."
Although he was laughing, the viciousness in his eyes wasn't very hidden. Without saying anything further, he attacked. He had to teach that arrogant brat what fear meant.
Profound energy exploded from the Patriarch's body as he directed it towards Yun Lei with a punch. It wasn't enough energy to kill the young man. He just wanted to see that cripple brat in pain. He wanted to fill those arrogant eyes that were looking at him with the deepest sense of despair.
Yun Lei unsheathed the sword at his hips. The sword was light, so light that even someone as weak as him could move it around with no difficulties. The edges were dull and the hilt looked more like a decorative art piece than the handle of a weapon.
It was a weapon that was never meant to be used, a sword that was never meant to cut anything.
He looked at the beautiful sword in his hand with a fond smile. He found the thing to be oddly reminiscent of his own self. Just like a sword with dull edges, he too was useless and worthless, only pretty to look at. He was always taught to think this. He himself thought so too.
But in the end, a sword was a sword, after all. Is it not better to have a dull sword than have no sword at all? So, what if he was a cripple? So, what if he couldn't cultivate? He was still a human; he was still a man. And as a man, how could he let himself surrender before even putting up a fight?
The aura surrounding the Young Master swiftly changed. At first, it was barely noticeable. It protected him from the Patriarch's aura but it was murky; shapeless and unclear as though it was confused about what it was meant to be. But like a carp that had become a dragon, the dull and useless aura had turned sharp.
Ren Feng's eyes turned into pinpricks as he watched his profound energy part in two as soon as it came in contact with Yun Lei's sword. It wasn't just the profound energy, even his aura was being ripped apart.
Step.
It was merely a single step but it made the Ren Patriarch's eyes violently shake. Tremors were travelling through his hands but anger was no longer the cause.
Step.
The pitch-black eyes of his cripple fourth son slowly turned a menacing red.
Step.
His heart was pounding in his chest, his hands were getting sweaty, he could feel his entire body beginning to tremble.
Step.
Fear. He finally understood what he was experiencing. He was experiencing fear. Every part of his body was on high alert, all of his instincts were screaming at him to get away but he couldn't. Those red eyes were peering into his very soul, trapping him in a cage of terror. He couldn't even feel his legs anymore.
Step. Step.
Yun Lei was standing merely an arm's length away from him. It's just a cripple, you can kill him with a single flick of your hand! Some part of his head was trying to stop him from losing all of his senses but it clearly wasn't working. Those red eyes of his only made one thought appear in his head.
Is this what it feels like to be a prey?
With unsteady eyes, Ren Feng looked at the sword that was slowly and gently pressed against his throat. That dull blade which should have had trouble cutting through even a slab of butter was digging into his flesh. He could smell his own blood, dripping down the edge of the blade.
"You should be thankful that I do not wish to commit the sin of patricide. However, if the people protecting me were to attack you, I would not stop them. Consider your actions carefully, Ren Feng."
The profound energy that should have protected his body was acting like Yun Lei's loyal dog, swiftly getting out of the way of the blade that was eating into his flesh, further and further.
With a soft snort, the Young Master removed the sword on his father's neck. His face was full of annoyance upon seeing that some of the blood had gotten on his white robes.
Yun Lei briefly glanced towards his step-brothers, who were completely frozen on the spot before turning around and leaving. As the young man's footsteps faded into the distance Ren Feng fell to his knees.
A cripple had made the Patriarch of the Ren Family fall to his knees. If people heard such a thing, not only Ren Feng but the entire Ren Family would be reduced to a laughing stock. Only those who had witnessed that scene would understand that it wasn't so simple.
Yun Lei's aura wasn't even pointed towards them and they still couldn't stop their hearts from trembling. The Patriarch had faced the full brunt of that suffocating sharpness.
Scary! That was what everyone observing that scene had thought. Young Master Yun was extremely scary!
Among those watching was a young lady, peeking out of the window on the third floor of the Flower Garden Pavilion. She was surrounded by guards and servants as always. She was, of course, the owner of the restaurant and the most beloved daughter of the Zhang Patriarch, Zhang Fenfang.
The gentle smile that always remained on her lips was nowhere to be found. She did not look very happy at that moment.
At first, the commotion had drawn her eyes. A cultivator in the 9th stage of Energy Sensing Realm, while weaker than her, was still a significant force. If they were fully releasing their aura, their opponent was bound to be strong. All of this didn't matter to her much. The only reason she had even looked out the window was that their battle might have affected the restaurant.
But contrary to her beliefs, the opponent didn't have a shred of profound energy in them. She found it unbelievable that a cultivator would stoop to the level of attacking a mortal, let alone a cripple.
The unbelievable things didn't stop yet, however. First, the cripple unleashed such a scary aura that even she had begun sweating a little. Then she had seen the cripple drive a dull blade into a cultivator's neck as if it was nothing.
Even then, she would have only thought of that whole thing as an amusing scenario and moved on, had she not caught the annoyed look on the young man's face.
She recognised that face. It was rare for her to remember people's faces but she remembered the annoyed face of the young man who had left half-eaten food on his table before departing from her restaurant.
She then recalled the conversation the two people on the street had, causing a frown to appear on her face. 'Son-in-law of the Yun Family and the sole owner of Thunder Cloud Company'. Those words were the reason for her unhappy expression.
The Zhang family were one of the oldest noble families that lived in Ether Cloud. As such, their information network was one of the best in the entire city. Naturally, Zhang Fenfang had heard reports about the Thunder Cloud Company that had quite easily brought down the Ren Family's business.
She wasn't particularly interested in the business of the other families so she had just skimmed over the report before forgetting all about it. That was, until a certain rumour reached her ears.
"Thunder Cloud Company will be opening a restaurant."
Zhang Fenfang had immediately asked her sources to verify the rumours and found several instances of the Thunder Cloud Company hiring chefs. The fact that the building next to the Thunder Cloud Apparels was being renovated wasn't hard to find out. After all, they weren't even trying to hide it.
There were no doubts about it. A new restaurant would appear in the commercial district soon and it would be a direct competitor to the Flower Garder Pavilion.
It was at this point that Zhang Fenfang had asked for every bit of information they had on the Thunder Cloud Company to be delivered to her. To win, you needed to know the enemy first.
But the more she had read, the more worried she had ended up being. Seeing how ruthlessly the Ren Family had been handled had made her very wary.
She had seen the numbers and while she couldn't be completely sure about it, she could tell that Thunder Cloud Apparels didn't generate a lot of profit. She didn't want to go up against lunatics who would harm themselves to make their enemy bleed.
However, after looking into the situation a bit more, she saw how heavily the commoners preferred the Thunder Cloud Company over the Ren Family. This had led her to a conclusion.
If her restaurant went against theirs, hers would lose.
This conclusion of hers had weighed on her mind for days as she thought of a way to come out on top. Yet she could think of nothing. She couldn't think of a way to win. It was the second time in her life that she saw no path to victory.
She had questioned why the Thunder Cloud Company were creating a restaurant specifically when there were loads of other businesses they could start.
Now she knew the answer.
Their restaurant had fed the owner of the Company terrible food. This was his retaliation.
She let out a frustrated sigh. She had felt quite angry that her customers had not been served properly. Angry enough to have all those responsible executed. But with hindsight, she knew, a simple death had been far too easy for them.
Those incompetent fools had invited in a disaster with open arms and wide smiles on their faces.
"I would like to visit the son-in-law of the Yun Family. Get it arranged." She told one of her guards before letting out another sigh.