I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense - Chapter 510
Chapter 510: Chapter 511: Who Isn’t a Young Hunk?
Half an hour later.
In front of the Zhang Family Mansion, Li Xiaobai and his entourage came to a stop.
Compared to the Zong Family Mansion, this place was many times more prosperous. Not to mention anything else, just the gates alone were several times wider than those of the Zong Family. Surrounded by clusters of trees, with carved railings and jade masonry, bamboo buildings sat scattered about, elegant and serene.
The cultivators of such a grand family really knew how to live. Ordinary people probably wouldn’t come across such a dwelling place in their entire lives.
“Young Master Li, do you find my mansion to your liking?”
The Zhang Family Patriarch said with a smile.
“The Zhang Family Patriarch’s mansion is hidden amidst bamboo groves, surrounded by mountains. It truly is a rare place of tranquility and elegance. I hadn’t expected the Patriarch to have such refined taste, to be able to live here. I believe that the descendants of the Zhang Family must also be of pure and kind-hearted nature!”
Li Xiaobai spouted flattering nonsense with his eyes wide open.
The Zhang Family Patriarch laughed heartily, “Young Master Li, you flatter me. As long as you don’t despise the simplicity of my Zhang Family, to be able to build a bathhouse in such an environment, that’s what truly complements the surroundings!”
“Excellent!”
Inside the Zong Mansion, in the grand hall.
The family disciples and the Elders had been waiting there.
Amidst the crowd, Zhang Ming and Zhang Xu watched the familiar figure before them with resentful gazes, a mix of fear and anger present in their eyes.
However, the thought that the other party would soon be at the Family Head’s mercy brought them a wave of satisfaction.
They were somewhat impatient to see the sight of the other party kneeling and begging for mercy.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the famous Young Master Li who has caused quite a stir recently. Today, I have specially invited him to our clan to compensate for the losses suffered by our family,”
The Zhang Family Patriarch said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, a sharp gleam flickering within them.
In his view, once inside the doors of the Zhang Family, leaving would not be so simple. The Zhang Family was his territory, and at this very moment, Li Xiaobai’s life and death were completely under his control, to be manipulated at will.
“I indeed had some friction with the Zhang Family today. Young Masters Zhang Ming, Zhang Xu, there are no hard feelings in the arena, and crippling your cultivation levels was an involuntary mistake on my part, as I didn’t control my strength properly. Please forgive me. After today, our debts will be wiped clean, how about that?”
Li Xiaobai looked at Zhang Ming and Zhang Xu in the crowd with a gleeful stare, having spotted their venomous gazes from afar.
The people of the Zhang Family were not good-natured, and they’d likely reveal their true colors soon enough.
But what of it?
Today, I’ve come to the Zhang Family to settle scores with you!
Zhang Ming and Zhang Xu’s faces were cold and sinister. This Li Xiaobai truly had no sense of death – daring to be so arrogant on the Zhang Family’s turf, openly provoking them, not knowing he was so close to the edge of doom.
“Hehe, as long as Young Master Li can walk out of the Zhang Family, consider it all canceled out. What’s the harm in that?”
Zhang Ming said with a sinister undertone.
“How dare you! How dare you speak to my young master like that?”
From the side, Elder Zhang rebuked fiercely, his brows raised in a fearsome manner.
“Enough, Young Master Li is a guest, and you must not be rude.”
“Someone, bring the tea!”
The Zhang Family Patriarch was exceptionally calm. Now that they were in the Zhang Family Mansion, everything was under his control; he was not in a hurry for the moment.
“Taste this, these are the finest Enlightenment Tea Leaves.”
The Zhang Family Patriarch said with a smile, taking a light sip from his cup, his expression filled with aftertaste.
“Hmm, it really is good tea.”
Li Xiaobai lifted the teacup and drained it in one gulp, licking his lips and casually complimenting as well.
The cultivators in front of the hall all sported dark lines across their foreheads—wasn’t this Enlightenment Tea, something nobody would guzzle so recklessly?
How could he taste anything by downing it in one shot?
It simply couldn’t be more perfunctory!
“Young Master Li truly has a free-spirited nature, drinking tea as though it were wine, how bold!”
The Zhang Family Patriarch was momentarily stupefied, with a fleeting look of disdain on his face, but he quickly returned to normal.
As he looked at the teacup in Li Xiaobai’s hand, a hint of surprise flickered through his eyes. The man was really full of himself, drinking his tea without any precaution. As a Family Head who always acted with comprehensive caution, he had already soaked the Enlightenment Tea with Binding Pill early on.
Once this elixir was ingested, the Spiritual Power in one’s Dantian would become as difficult to mobilize as getting stuck in a quagmire. Even for someone of his *Transcendance Tribulation Stage* cultivation level, to rashly try it was unthinkable, and to say one would be left without cultivation level for a short time was no exaggeration.
In this way, even if Li Xiaobai possessed heaven-defying abilities, he would still become nothing more than a prisoner at his feet.
Of course, Li Xiaobai was well aware of this—his *System* attributes had surged the moment the tea had reached his throat.
[Attribute Value +2000…]
This Zhang Family Head had invited him over to his place and had even dared to poison him, which was utterly shameless.
Certainly a bit too cautious, the poison’s power was not bad, equivalent to a move from a *Transcendance Tribulation Stage* cultivator. However, for him, it was merely a drizzle.
“Zhang Family Head, you flatter me.”
Li Xiaobai nodded in response, remaining silent.
“Not at all. Young Master Li is willing to build a bathhouse for the Zhang Family, a kindness for which I can’t thank you enough. However, constructing a bathhouse is a major undertaking and cannot be completed overnight. It’s inevitable that Young Master will have to stay at the Zhang Family for a few days,” said the Zhang Family Head.
“Naturally, having the chance to reside for a few days in the peaceful and elegant Zhang Family Mansion is indeed my good fortune!” Li Xiaobai replied with a light laugh, as a touch of surprise flashed across his eyes. The Patriarch was losing his restraint, ready to bare his fangs.
“However, I’m sure Young Master knows that many of the cultivators in our clan are young hotbloods. Hearing of your unfathomable cultivation, each one of them wishes to have a match with you to affirm their martial prowess,” said the Zhang Family Patriarch with a hearty laugh, as if he had just met an old friend.
“To meet the Zhang Family’s talented youth would be my honor. May I ask which young talent wishes to have a contest with me?” Li Xiaobai swept his gaze across the crowd in front of the hall, full of old heads, and couldn’t help but fall silent.
These dying old men are also considered talented youths?
Where is their shame?
“How dare you cripple my family’s young master’s cultivation? You have some nerve. I’ve heard of Young Master Li’s formidable cultivation, even Elder Zhang is no match. I, Zhang Ming, admire it greatly and wish to learn a thing or two. What do you say, Young Master?”
No sooner had his words fallen than a white-bearded elder sprang forth, barking out his words.
Those in the family knew what was going on—the Zhang Family Head’s scheming was no secret to them. At this moment, Li Xiaobai, with his cultivation sealed, had no choice but to accept their punishment.
In the elder’s heart, the decision was set—once he stepped on the stage, he would immediately search the soul and seize the other’s secrets.
“I’m willing to have a discussion; however, would Elder Zhang also be considered a talented youth?” Li Xiaobai raised his eyebrows, unable to resist asking.
“Hmph, why wouldn’t I be? I’m merely in my sixtieth year, in the prime of life, with excellent aptitude. Among many brothers, only I have held the position of Elder Zhang steadily for many years. The words ‘talented youth’ suit me well!”
“I simply appear a bit older. Surely, Young Master Li doesn’t judge a book by its cover?”
