Protect Our Patriarch

...

Just as Wang Shouzhe was lost in thought, a sudden burst of fiery energy erupted from the second floor of a tavern by the street. Following that, a figure leaped down from the second floor and landed like lightning in front of the two.

It was a woman of valiant appearance, clad in red, her aura blazing like fire.

Her black hair was tied up in a bunch, falling from the back of her head to her chest, giving her a particularly neat and tidy look. In her hand, she held a halberd that seemed too large for her frame, radiating an intense aura.

This woman was clearly Huangfu Feifei, as spoken of in the royal rumors.

Wang Shouzhe raised an eyebrow and subtly tapped the ground with his foot, drifting back a few feet like a gentle breeze, putting some distance between himself and Wang Shihai.

As the saying goes, "No good comes from uninvited guests," and it was clear that this girl had some business with Wang Shihai.

Sure enough, as Wang Shouzhe shifted his position, Huangfu Feifei made her move.

Crimson mystic energy spiraled up the halberd, and with a swing, it transformed into a fiery red dragon that roared towards Wang Shihai's chest!

The Crimson Dragon Art was a heritage technique of the Huangfu Clan from the southern deserts, known for its fierce and domineering style. Originally, Ancestor Huaye had used this technique to dominate in Longzuo Commandery with his combat prowess.

Now wielded by Huangfu Feifei, although it lacked the wild and domineering presence of Ancestor Huaye, it was still considered extremely powerful among practitioners of the Lingtai Realm.

The fiery dragon roared, its intense pressure causing the tables, chairs, and dishes at the street stalls to tremble.

Wang Shihai's face changed, and he quickly retreated backward.

At the same time, he summoned a spirit sword that shone brightly in his palm. Clearly, this was a spirit-grade longsword.

With a pinch of his sword fingers, sword lights howled out, forming a dense barrier of sword energy in front of him.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the mystic energy on his body was thick and orthodox, a typical characteristic of the "Wang Clan's Mystic Primordial Art."

Based on this mystic energy, the sword energy he wielded was even more substantial than usual.

The sword light flowed like an iron wall, protecting his entire body.

"Boom!"

A loud crash.

The red dragon collided with the sword light barrier, and fiery light mixed with shattered sword energy rolled out, sweeping across most of the street in an instant.

The force of the collision and the howling sword energy overturned many vendors' stalls, with pots and dishes crashing to the ground. It was only because Wang Shouzhe had acted quickly that he wasn't affected.

Passersby on the roadside were startled and scattered to avoid the fray.

Wang Shihai was also shaken back several steps, suffering a bit of a loss.

Taking a deep breath to suppress the churning blood in his chest, he cursed unhappily, "Huangfu Feifei, have you lost your mind? How dare you attack someone in the street?!"

"So what if I hit you? Who told you to bully Wanqiu?"

Huangfu Feifei's slender neck tilted slightly, her beautiful and fierce eyes glaring at Wang Shihai.

The crimson mystic energy wrapped around her halberd like flames, making her look like a war goddess stepping out of a blaze, full of domineering presence.

"What did I do to bully her?" Wang Shihai looked wronged, "I just heard she was back from the academy to visit her family and ran into her while shopping. I kindly asked how she was doing at Longzuo Academy. But that girl's temper has grown, and she attacked me on sight. She lost because she was weaker and ended up crying. How is that my fault?"

"Fine, I'll make you cry too! If you're weaker, don't blame me."

Huangfu Feifei sneered, lifting her halberd and sending a wave of firelight towards Wang Shihai. The firelight roared with tremendous force.

"Huangfu Feifei, you really think I'm easy to bully, huh?!"

Wang Shihai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly circulated the "Mystic Primordial Art," wielding the spirit-grade longsword in his hand to fend off Huangfu Feifei's relentless attacks.

The two started fighting on the street without further ado.

Onlookers scattered, running to a safe distance to watch the spectacle.

The local security patrol rushed over from afar, ready to reprimand them, but when they realized that the fighters were young prodigies from two Zifu Clans, they swallowed their words and began maintaining order, preventing bystanders from getting too close.

Wang Shouzhe also took the opportunity to step back and took out a package of local specialty "air-dried beef" and a packet of milk candies from his storage bag, enjoying his snack.

As for the Tianren Realm guardian puppet "Wang Shouzhe," he remained as still as a statue behind his master, only acting if his master or someone in the protection list was in danger.

Speaking of which, Wang Shouzhe was quite familiar with the "Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts," an extremely old and established Zifu Clan.

Over a decade ago, the Huangfu Clan of Changning, which was an enemy of the Wang Clan and ultimately destroyed by him, was a branch of the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts.

At a critical moment, the Huangfu Clan of Changning had traveled thousands of miles to seek help from their southern kin. Unfortunately, the two clans had long lost their kinship, and Longzuo Commandery was not under the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts' influence, so it wasn't worth sending experts to meddle in the affairs.

Thus, the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts only provided some emergency funds and a few Red Fire Dragon Scales, then sent them away.

It's likely that even the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts didn't expect the Changning branch to be so incompetent that they were quickly wiped out without a trace.

Afterward, the matter naturally faded away.

The two clans had been separated for a long time, and the elders who once shared bonds were no longer there. Even as a fifth-rank clan, the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts wouldn't want to travel far to Longzuo Changning to avenge a branch that had already been destroyed. The cost would be too great.

However, because of this "relationship," Wang Shouzhe always paid close attention to the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts, collecting and summarizing any relevant information.

Without a doubt, the Huangfu Clan of the Southern Deserts was an old and deeply rooted Zifu Clan, with an overall strength that surpassed the Wang Clan of the Southern Deserts.

In addition to a Zifu Realm ancestor, the clan also nurtured a mature seventh-order "Lihuo Red Dragon" as their clan's guardian beast.

In terms of strength, this red dragon was much more formidable than the "Xuanbing Lijiao" of the Longzuo Academy's Ice Lan Senior, and even a newly promoted seventh-order Seven-Tailed Fire Fox would likely not be its match in combat.

It was precisely because of this seventh-order Lihuo Red Dragon that the Huangfu Clan's foundation was incredibly solid, almost securing the top position in the Southern Deserts Commandery.

The only problem was that maintaining a seventh-order Lihuo Red Dragon was extremely costly.

This led to the Huangfu Clan always being somewhat stretched for resources, struggling to advance from a fifth-rank to a fourth-rank clan.

"This young lady is quite powerful, and her foundation is very solid," Wang Shouzhe commented while watching the fight.

Unexpectedly, both the Huangfu and Wang clans had produced prodigious talents among their younger generation.

And it seemed that in addition to nurturing Zifu successors, both of these individuals were kept at home as second or third reserve Zifu Realm practitioners.

After all, only when a clan could boast three Zifu practitioners could they qualify to be conferred the title of "fourth-rank clan" by the Daqian Empire. This was the goal most fifth-rank clans strived for.

"Hmm, Shihai is a bit haughty and arrogant, but his foundation is also very solid," Wang Shouzhe mused contentedly as he chewed on the air-dried beef. "A fifth-rank clan truly spares no effort in nurturing their kin."

No wonder, for a clan to continue for hundreds of years and grow stronger, they naturally couldn't afford to be lazy in cultivating their members. The enduring prosperity of a family ultimately depended on the support of generations of outstanding kin.

The exchange between Wang Shihai and Huangfu Feifei was lively and evenly matched. More and more onlookers gathered, cheering wave after wave.

Huangfu Feifei, known for her fiery temper, grew impatient as the battle dragged on.

Suddenly, she forced Wang Shihai back with a move and then whistled upwards.

The next moment, a clear and piercing bird cry echoed in the sky.

Then, a bird that looked like neither an eagle nor a hawk appeared high above, diving down amidst the roaring wind.

While still in mid-air, it spread its wings and extended its sharp talons towards Wang Shihai, its claws surging with energy powerful enough to split metal.

"A Spirit Blood Hawk?"

Wang Shihai's face paled as he quickly used the willow fluff technique to drift away, narrowly avoiding the Spirit Blood Hawk's claw.

However, he managed to dodge the attack, but the abrupt circulation of mystic energy caused some internal shock, making his face involuntarily pale.

He cursed loudly, "Huangfu Feifei, have you no shame? We're just sparring, and you're using a bird?"

"Who's sparring with you? I'm here to make you cry," Huangfu Feifei retorted mockingly, then, with the Spirit Blood Hawk flying overhead, she resumed her assault on Wang Shihai.

One Huangfu Feifei was already tough to handle, and with the addition of the equally threatening Spirit Blood Hawk, Wang Shihai quickly found himself overwhelmed and began to retreat in disarray.

Seeing that he might actually be reduced to tears if the fight continued, he finally couldn't bear it any longer and shouted, "Grandpa, save me~~ Save me~~~~"

Although he couldn't sense Wang Shouzhe's true strength, he instinctively felt that this Fourth Grandpa must be stronger than him.

Wang Shouzhe's mouth twitched.

This kid really lacked tempering, being beaten up by a girl and still having the face to ask for help? Even if he couldn't win, at worst, he would just get beaten up, right? Why not just train harder and take revenge later?

"Wang Shihai, go ahead and cry~~ If you cry, I'll stop hitting you," Huangfu Feifei laughed triumphantly, "Otherwise, I'll hit you every time I see you."

Wang Shihai's heart sank.

Crying was, of course, out of the question. Getting beaten up here would just mean some injuries, but if he actually cried, he feared his ancestor would kill him when he got back.

Fortunately, he was quite clever, using the willow fluff technique to dodge while moving towards Wang Shouzhe.

"Fourth Grandpa, you can't just stand by and watch~~" He ran while shouting, "That crazy girl Huangfu Feifei will really beat me to death!"

"Who's the crazy girl, who's the lunatic?"

Hearing this, Huangfu Feifei was instantly enraged, her beautiful eyes glaring as she swung her halberd furiously, sending a barrage of fire dragons towards Wang Shihai.

Wang Shouzhe was also caught in the crossfire.

Wang Shouzhe rolled his eyes in annoyance.

You could say Wang Shihai was clever, sometimes he really was quite sharp, giving away purple gold tickets... but if you thought he was just a simpleton, sometimes he was quite smart, managing to pull off tricks like luring enemies into traps quite smoothly.

Can't a man just quietly enjoy his air-dried meat and watch the show?

As the oncoming fire dragons were about to reach him, Wang Shouzhe had no choice but to casually wave his hand, sending out a powerful surge of mystic energy that blocked all the fire dragons.

"Boom boom boom!"

The fire dragons exploded, dissipating into nothingness, leaving only trails of smoke rising.

"Fourth Grandpa, you're really as formidable as I thought, hiding your true capabilities~~" Wang Shihai exclaimed joyfully, shamelessly taking cover behind Wang Shouzhe.

Huangfu Feifei didn't expect her killing move to be so easily countered. She paused, her eyes warily fixed on Wang Shouzhe, "Who are you, daring to meddle in my affairs?"

Wang Shouzhe smiled and gave a slight bow, "I am Wang Shouzhe, a distant relative of the Wang Clan of the Southern Deserts. Since Shihai has admitted defeat, let's call it a day."

Wang Shouzhe was naturally handsome, and with the increase in age, experience, power, and cultivation, he had become even more composed and confident, his charm surpassing that of his younger days.

Huangfu Feifei was momentarily stunned by his appearance, but she quickly regained her composure and huffed discontentedly, "Wang Shouzhe, don't think you can interfere in my business just because you're good-looking."

"If you want to meddle, let's see if you can handle me first."

With that, her eyes sharpened, and she dashed towards Wang Shouzhe like a shooting star, with her halberd wrapped in layers of flames, slicing through the air with a howl.

The force of her attack made Wang Shouzhe momentarily feel as if he were facing the once vanquished Huangfu Huaye. Of course, although this girl was a prodigy, she still fell short of Ancestor Huaye back then.

"Ah, young lady, why bother?"

Wang Shouzhe shook his head helplessly.

As the head of the family, aside from sparring with his beloved wife Liu Ruolan, it had been a long time since he had personally fought anyone.

With a casual flick of his hand, a batch of seeds from the Witch series scattered out.

Before the seeds even touched the ground, they sprouted green tendrils out of thin air, quickly forming a net of vines.

The "Witch's Long Hair" vine seeds he used were naturally not the ones that could be exchanged in the family treasury, but the latest results of generations of research and development.

Moreover, his extraordinary bloodline endowed his mystic energy with mysterious and unpredictable effects, naturally producing exceptional results.

"Boom!"

The halberd struck the massive vine net, and bright flames burst forth, scorching and breaking about a third of the net.

However, the remaining vines began to grow wildly at a visible rate, quickly enveloping Huangfu Feifei like a net from heaven and earth.

"Not good!"

Huangfu Feifei reacted swiftly, her body shooting backward even faster.

But before she could escape, her ankle was entangled by a blood-red vine.

The blood-red vine was incredibly strange, covered in hollow thorns. As it wrapped around her ankle, dense, needle-like thorns pierced into her skin, injecting a potent paralyzing toxin into her bloodstream.

"Ah~"

After a cry of alarm, Huangfu Feifei used her mystic strength to break free from the blood-red vine. But within a moment, she felt dizzy and weak. Soon after, the Witch's Long Hair vine net enveloped her.

The vines tightened rapidly like living creatures, binding her into a human statue.

To be honest, even though Wang Shouzhe had developed and executed this technique himself, the result made it difficult for him to look directly at it, his heart racing.

"Chirp~"

The Spirit Blood Hawk, seeing its master captured, screeched and lunged at Wang Shouzhe. But before it could get close, Wang Shouzhe repeated his trick and easily wrapped it into a bundle as well.

In just a few breaths, both the person and the bird were captured.

The scene fell silent.

"Fourth Grandpa, you can't be serious...?" Wang Shihai, hiding behind him, turned pale and swallowed hard. This Fourth Grandpa was too fierce, wasn't he? Huangfu Feifei, that fierce woman, was subdued so easily?

"Presumptuous!"

Suddenly, from a dark corner of the street, a powerful presence surged, and an old voice thundered, "Wang boy, how dare you bully our young lady?"

With the roar, a tall old man descended from the sky, his powerful palm strike like a tidal wave crashing towards Wang Shouzhe.

"Fourth Grandpa, be careful."

"Master Wang, be careful."

Both Wang Shihai and Huangfu Feifei shouted anxiously at the same time.

Wang Shouzhe remained calm and composed, showing no sign of nervousness. The ever-loyal "Wang Shouzhe" behind him moved, his figure flickering as he floated in front of his master and punched out.

"Boom!"

Fist met palm, and a shockwave spread in all directions, causing the buildings on both sides of the street to crack and break.

The tall old man was sent flying back several yards in the air, his face filled with shock: "A Heavenly Puppet!"

"What? A Heavenly Puppet?"

Wang Shihai's face became even more shocked and embarrassed. He had previously thought it was a Lingtai Realm puppet, and he had babbled on and on. But he never expected that it was an extremely rare and expensive Heavenly Puppet.

The key point was "expensive"!