113 Chapter 113. Arrival at the Jade Empire

"In the Jade Empire, the kingdoms are split into eight parts with each being somewhat equal power to each other and are unified under the holy Jade Emperor," Eupheme spoke to Leo.

"Which kingdom are we in right now?" Leo asked.

"The kingdom that we are in is the closest to the Lapis Empire, the Lotus kingdom which is ruled by the Immortal Woman, Queen Lillian," Eupheme replied as he raised one finger, speaking like a sage.

"I see... Do you know where the Drunken Kingdom is located?" Leo asked, hoping that they could see Lex before the competition.

"That's actually quite close, it's east of this kingdom," Eupheme replied after a short pause.

"Interesting..." Leo spoke with a smile as he placed his hand on his chin as he began thinking. He suddenly raised his head to Edric and asked, "How long until the competition starts?"

Surprised by this question, the king took a second before answering, "We have about three weeks left."

'Hmm... Three weeks... New Year's celebration is in about fifteen weeks... Everything should be fine,' Leo thought with a smile as he presented a new route for them to take.

"Okay, Edric, Eupheme, I want to take a small detour and head over to the Drunken Kingdom before making my way over to the Central Kingdom. So would it bother you guys if I went alone?"

Hearing this, Eupheme immediately agreed as he also had some stuff he wanted to do at the Capital as he had some friends at Jade City but the face of the Lapis King froze for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, seeing that the king was somewhat conflicted.

"Nothing..." Edric spoke after a long pause.

"Okay then, let's move," Eupheme spoke as they got up from their chairs and each paid for their meal and prepared to leave the scene.

But before they could leave, the doors of the inn suddenly burst open with a loud bang and a young man was sent crashing into a table. Blood pouring out of his mouth as he screamed out in pain and clutched his stomach.

"Son!" an alarmed shout came from the kitchen as an old woman ran out. Seeing the sight of the man, the old woman immediately lifted up the man and put him in her arms.

"What happened?" she asked as worry filled her eyes.

But before he could answer, a series of shadows appeared covering them. Feeling uneasy, the old woman slowly raised her head and looked towards the inn entrance, she saw an arrogant looking man with a creepy smile on his face walked into the inn with a group of swordsmen, his eyes fixed on the man and his smile grew even larger as he seemed to enjoy the look of pain on his face.

Upon seeing the man's face, her eyes suddenly filled with fear as she looked at the man and immediately bowed, "Young Master! I beg you to forgive whatever sin that my son has committed."

Hearing this, the smile on the man's face changed into an annoyed expression before turning into a cold smile as he looked at the old lady and spoke, "This peasant dared to steal something that belonged to me."

"Bullsh*t!" the young man shouted in anger, "I was doing some deliveries when you guys decided to attack me for no reason and mph!-"

Before he could continue speaking, the old lady immediately covered her son's mouth and a panicked expression appeared on her face as she bowed again, "Young Master! I beg you please forgive my son for his insolence. May I know what he has stolen so that I may return it to you?"

A smile began to appear on the young master's face as he spoke, "The Jade necklace that he is wearing belonged to me. He stole it from me when he was delivering it to my residence."

"Even more bullish*t! This Jade necklace was given to me by my father!" the young man barked.

But seeing how perilous their situation was, the old lady's face grew extremely ugly as she grew conflicted. She looked towards her son and took the jade necklace while apologizing, "I'm sorry, my dear son. We can't do anything right now."

She then turned her head towards the young master and offered the necklace, "Here it is, young master."

An even colder smile appeared on the young master's face spoke, "Well done. I will spare your life."

After saying this, he then looked towards the man and coldly spoke, "But you will not be spared. No one dares to raise their voice against the Yingsu Clan!"

Upon saying this, the swordsmen behind him charged forward, planning to kill him here and now.

"Noo! Please spare him!" the old lady screamed as she stood in front of her son, shielding him.

However, this did not stop them and they simply continued charging and all slashed down at the poor duo while others watched.

"Looks like even the great Jade Empire is not exempt from vile creatures who abuse their power," a voice suddenly sounded from the table at the farthest corner of the inn.

And as everyone's eyes moved there, they saw that the old lady and the man had seemed to have been teleported there.

Looking back at the swordsmen and the place where they attacked, the dust from the debris slowly cleared and only an even more destroyed table was seen, meaning that they were just saved.

"Who are you?" the young master asked cautiously as the smile on his face froze.

"Eupheme, Edric, go ahead of me. I'll be a tad late," Leo spoke as he waved Eupheme and Edric off as they left the inn through the window.

"You dare to ignore me?!" the young man shouted in anger as he signalled for his swordsmen to come forward to him.

However, Leo continued to ignore them and he turned over to the boy, "You did extremely well. There are things in a man's life that cannot be humiliated. There's no need to bow down when the truth is in favour of you."

He then turned to the woman, "What does your husband do?"

Still in shock, the woman slowly spoke, "He's a soldier working at the Lotus palace."

"I see," Leo spoke with a smile.

"You still dare to ignore me?! Men, get him!" the young master shouted in anger and the men charged off at Leo.

The swordsman at the front raised his sword and slashed down first but as he struck Leo, his face changed into one of caution.

Leo had caught the sword in his fingertips and a cold terrifying smile had appeared on his face as he stared at the man and spoke only two words to him, "leave now."

Immediately, the man tried to pull his sword of Leo's grasp but he was unable to so he let go of his sword and retreated backwards.

"Normally, I would pay a visit to your family and ask for an explanation but it seems like I will have to use some unnecessary energy as I'm in a rush," Leo spoke and he stood up straight and walked over to the man and asked, "Are all the members of your family this unreasonable or is just you?"

"Savior Saint, everyone in their family is the same as him," the young man replied immediately.

"I don't feel bad then," Leo spoke as he took the chair that he was standing on and broke one of its legs.

"Men, attack!" the young master shouted as he felt a chill crawling up his spine.

Immediately, all the men rushed forward.

"Boring..." Leo commented as he struck the wood on his hand and he broke it into seven pieces and pushed each of them forward and they all flew at an impossible speed straight at the men's forehead.

Each wood piece firmly lodged itself into the foreheads of the swordsmen and they all fell to the ground, not knowing how they had died as blood flowed out of their forehead.

Shocked appeared on everyone's faces, including the young master, as they witnessed this scene.

'Oh no. I've provoked someone I shouldn't have...' thought the young master as a heavy feeling of impending doom was sent down his spine.

"Now, tell me where your family is located or else you will die here," Leo spoke as he walked over to the man.

"It-Its two kilometres north from here," the young man replied shakily as his voice began to lose control.

"Good," Leo spoke as he grabbed the sword of one of the swordsmen and stabbed the man in the abdomen.

"You..." shock appeared on the man's face as he thought that answering so would have spared hum but Leo just looked down at him and coldly spoke, "I never said I wouldn't kill you. Your death will be at your clan."

After saying this, Leo's grip on the sword changed as he bent his thumb inwards and cracked it. Immediately, a sudden boom of black energy burst out from his hand, into the sword and a terrifying amount of killing intent began radiating to the point where everyone within two meters, subconsciously retreated.

The burst of nether energy was also sent into the young master's body and this caused even more pain to course through his body and he fell to the floor.

"Now the next part," Leo spoke to himself as he dragged the body outside the inn. And once he was outside, he looked up at the son and judged from there and turned his head towards a certain direction, "North."

He then injected a large amount of energy into his arm and grabbed the young master by the leg and spin him around like how one would do the hammer in the Olympics and once he left like he had enough momentum and energy, Leo let go of the leg and the man was sent flying northwards with a large boom as the ground cracked from the force.

Once he had done this, Leo then walked back in towards the inn and everyone looked at him cautiously. But he paid them no mind and immediately began healing the man.

Both the mother and her son did not utter any words as they laid there in shock, not only had he saved them but he was also healing them. Paying no mind to everyone else, Leo spoke to them, "Their family should not find any more trouble with you guys but I can't guarantee your safety here."

After saying this, Leo had finished healing him and while the man was busy laying there amazed at what had just happened, Leo had turned and began to leave. Not wanting to let the chance pass by, the man quickly ran in front of Leo and bowed down, "Please teach me how to cultivate and defend myself!"

Seeing him, Leo's face revealed a warm smile as he asked the man, "Why should I do something like that? Isn't your father a soldier in the Lotus Palace? Why don't you learn from him?"

"Sir, my father's rank in the palace is not high and he is not allowed to teach the Lotus arts to anyone who is not a part of the palace. As I am not a soldier, my father would be charged with treason if he tried to impart it to me," the man answered truthfully and without a shred of hesitation.

"What is your name and why do you want to learn how to cultivate?"

"I am Li Qiang, son of Lotus Palace guard, Li Jun, and I want the power to defend myself and I despise all the nobles and people in this world who look down on others because of status," the man loudly declared.

Happy with his answer, Leo then turned his head towards the mother and asked, "What do you think about this?"

"I will stand by my son's decision," the woman spoke immediately.

Hearing this, Leo's face revealed a big smile, he spoke, "Rise."

"If you want to learn how to cultivate then head over to the Lapis Kingdom in the Crystal Empire. Go to Shenghuo Village in the Southern Mountain Ranges and say that 'Leo sent me,'" he spoke as he turned around and walked out the inn and just before disappearing from their sight, he spoke, "It's all up to you if you want to go, Li Jun. It's a small place but you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you find there."