Sixty years of blacksmithing, a single hammer blow forging a celestial being.

He first pretended to create some trouble, deliberately making things difficult for them.

After confirming that no one would uphold justice for these menial disciples.

He then began to act recklessly, releasing all the humiliation he had been suppressing for a month.

"You bunch of bastards, you bastards, you won't listen to me! You bastards, you won't obey my orders!"

He thought viciously to himself.

I'm not Xu if I don't kill you all half to death, hehe!

He was secretly sneering.

With a loud crash, one of the older handyman disciples finally gave out.

With a slight tremor of his hand, the water vat crashed to the ground and shattered into pieces.

Xu Yan was furious when he saw this.

Holding a long whip, he strode over.

"You beast! Who gave you permission to break the water vat? This is a public property of the sect! This constitutes unauthorized damage to public property!"

The elderly servant, soaked to the bone and looking disheveled, lay on the ground panting as he spoke.

"Manager Xu, I really can't hold on any longer, I'm completely exhausted."

"Pah! Who told you to give up? Who told you to be so weak?"

Without saying a word, Xu Yan raised his whip and lashed it twice.

The beating left two bright red welts on the servant's face.

The old handyman screamed in agony, clutching his bloodied face and wailing in pain.

"Oh, you dare to yell like that? Try yelling again! Try yelling again!"

Xu Yan grinned maliciously, brandishing his whip and lashing it across the elderly servant.

He was whipped until his skin was torn open and blood was dripping from his wounds.

Seeing this, all the servant disciples showed anger on their faces.

That bastard Xu Yan has become increasingly unscrupulous ever since Grandpa Li went down the mountain and never returned.

For nearly a month, they were treated like dogs and abused.

During this time, several handyman disciples couldn't hold out and ran away.

If this continues, their ancestral hall will fall apart.

"Hmph, you bastard, I'll teach you a lesson today, or you'll know what kind of tricks your Grandpa Xu has up his sleeve!"

Xu Yan was playing with increasing enjoyment.

Seeing the old servant's mangled and bloody appearance, he felt no pity whatsoever; instead, he became even more excited.

He swung the whip even harder.

At that moment, he wanted to see how many lashes he would need to beat this servant to death.

Of course, it wasn't really to kill them, since servants in this sect were considered lowly.

But that doesn't mean you can just kill them at will; the investigation could be quite tricky.

Just as Xu Yan raised his whip to continue lashing out.

Snapped!

A hand suddenly pressed down on his arm.

Xu Yan was slightly surprised and turned to look.

A young handyman disciple with thick eyebrows and big eyes stared intently at him, his expression full of anger.

"Manager Xu, if you keep hitting him like that, he'll die!"

"Hey! You brat! Long Yun, how dare you ruin my plans?"

That's right, the one who intervened was Long Yun, one of the menial disciples.

He is now at the seventh level of Body Tempering, making him one of the stronger disciples among the abandoned hall's disciples.

For the past month, Xu Yan had been abusing them, and Long Yun had long since reached his breaking point.

Now it's finally time to stand up and fight for the disciples of the abandoned hall.

"Kid, don't think you can be arrogant in front of me just because you're talented! Who gave you permission to put the water vat down? Who gave you permission to interfere with my management of the disciples? You're asking for death!"

Long Yun said, holding his breath.

"We are human beings, not animals! We have never offended you, so why are you treating us like this?"

"snort!"

Xu Yan roared, and his spiritual power erupted.

He flung Long Yun's hand away and then struck Long Yun in the chest with a backhand.

With a soft "poof," Long Yun was sent flying by the palm strike.

Blood even spilled from the corner of his mouth as he collapsed to the ground.

Xu Yan walked over from his elevated position, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"You haven't offended me, but blame that Li Ping'an guy. If it weren't for him, maybe I would have treated you better. But he offended me, so as his friends, you'll have to bear my wrath, hahaha!"

"You dare to disobey me in public today? Then I, the steward, will teach you a lesson about the sect's rules!"

As he spoke, he raised the whip in his hand.

Today, Long Yun actually dared to contradict him in front of so many people.

He made an example of someone to warn others, showing everyone what the consequences would be for those who went against him.

Just then, a steady footstep sounded outside the door.

A figure turned and entered the abandoned hall.

At that moment, Xu Yan's whip had just reached mid-air.

Upon seeing the person walk in, they were immediately stunned.

His face was filled with shock and disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.

"You...you...it was you!"

He was speechless, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

Li Ping'an looked at Xu Yan with some confusion, then glared at him and said.

"What's wrong? What happened to me? Haven't you seen anyone before? Ah, why are you so shocked?"

"You...you..."

Xu Yan swallowed hard and said, "Didn't you already... already..."

"What's wrong?"

Li Ping'an sneered.

"Are you trying to say I'm not dead? Right? Too bad, I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Uncle Li!"

The disciples of the abandoned hall were overjoyed to see the newcomer and wept with happiness.

The person who arrived was none other than Li Ping'an.

"Uncle Li, you're not dead!"

Long Yun was also quite surprised.

Everyone assumed that Li Ping'an had definitely met with misfortune.

Unexpectedly, he returned unharmed a month later.

And their aura seemed to have become even stronger.

At this moment, Xu Yan had recovered from his shock, and his mind raced.

He thought to himself that Li Ping'an had actually returned unharmed.

Did Manager Wang say he was going to kill him? In the end, Manager Wang disappeared again.

Could it be...? No, impossible!

Manager Wang is at the late stage of Qi Refining, possesses numerous magical treasures, and has astonishing combat power.

How could that be...?

His expression shifted between light and dark, eventually turning into a cold sweat.

"Li Ping'an, where have you been all this time? Leaving the sect without permission, do you even know what crime that is?"

Li Ping'an had no intention of paying any attention to Xu Yan.

However, as soon as he entered, he saw that Xu Yan was treating those disreputable disciples from the abandoned hall in such a way.

This truly ignited his anger.

During his time in the abandoned hall, he had formed good relationships with all the disciples of the abandoned hall.

Moreover, these disciples of the abandoned hall were all of good character and often openly supported him.

Seeing this, Li Ping'an felt a surge of anger rising within him and roared:

Why did you treat them like that?

Looking at Li Ping'an's fierce appearance, Xu Yan couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Why does it feel like this old guy's aura has become even stronger since I last saw him?

But as the manager, how could he possibly back down in front of Li Ping'an?

Said,

"You haven't answered my question yet, and you dare to question me?"

After saying that, he raised the black whip and lashed it across Li Ping'an's cheek with a crack.