One person: Senior Brother Zhang Zhiwei, who has mastered the Golden Light Mantra to its fullest lev

"This...this is impossible!"

Lu Ci and Wang Ai's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, their faces filled with disbelief, shock, and fear.

Their prized skills were as fragile as a child's toy in front of their opponent!

This is no longer a difference in strength, it's a crushing defeat on a dimensional level!

Zhang Yunyuan concealed his aura, and the two of them could not discern anything about his true intentions.

Otherwise, if he unleashed his full innate aura, those two exceptional individuals would be terrified on the spot!

Zhang Yunyuan slowly stepped forward.

This simple step felt like an invisible, ancient mountain pressing down on Lü Ci and Wang Ai's hearts, filling them with a suffocating fear.

They tried to back away, but found that their legs felt like they were filled with lead, and they couldn't move an inch no matter what they did.

An invisible aura had already locked them in place.

"Zhang Chulan is a member of my Celestial Master's Mansion."

Zhang Yunyuan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable decisiveness, resonating clearly in everyone's ears.

"If you want to invite him for tea next time, ask me, Zhang Yunyuan, first if he agrees!"

After saying that, he didn't look at the two completely dejected old men again, turned around and walked to Zhang Chulan's side, pulling him up from the ground.

"Let's go, go back."

"Alright! Young Master!"

Zhang Chulan answered with such decisiveness and a broad smile, as if he hadn't been the one who was scared half to death just moments before.

Zhang Yunyuan, holding his hand, strolled away as if taking a walk in his own backyard, under the horrified yet fearless gazes of dozens of experts from the Lü and Wang families.

All that remained was a deathly silence in the room, and two elderly people slumped in their chairs, their faces ashen, as if they had aged twenty years in an instant.

Chapter 167 The past is like smoke

On the way back, the cool night breeze dispelled the oppressive stench of blood and murderous intent within the building.

Zhang Chulan followed behind Zhang Yunyuan, his whole being as excited as a monkey just released from its cage, jumping up and down, his mouth never stopping.

The relief of surviving the ordeal and the excitement of glimpsing a corner of a new world fermented in his heart like a pot of boiling water, making every pore of his body radiate excitement.

"Young Master! Young Master! You were so cool just now! With just one move, 'biu', those two old geezers' attacks were gone!"

"What kind of kung fu is that?"

"It's way cooler than my Golden Light Mantra!"

He gestured wildly, trying to imitate Zhang Yunyuan's nonchalant press, but his attempt was a poor imitation, making him look ridiculous.

"Young Master, do you have a grudge against that old man from the Lü family?"

"The way he looked at you was like he wanted to eat you alive."

"And that old man from the Wang family, he's no good either, he's obviously full of bad intentions!"

"Young Master, they all say that my grandfather colluded with the Quanxing demons. Is that true?"

Like a curious child who has just opened the door to a new world, he bombarded the composed figure in front of him with a barrage of questions.

Zhang Yunyuan was getting a headache from his noise, but looking into his eyes, which were sparkling with excitement at surviving a disaster and intense curiosity about the unknown world, the tenderness in his heart, born from the memory of a deceased friend, ultimately prevailed.

This child's temperament is somewhat like that of his senior brother Huaiyi back then—equally unconventional and equally...unruly.

Although Zhang Huaiyi looks serious, he is an unconventional person at heart.

Otherwise, why would he risk the wrath of the world and become sworn brothers with Quanxing Wugensheng?

He slowed his pace, his voice sounding particularly distant in the cool night.

"This world is not as simple as it seems, nor is it just black and white."

Instead of answering Zhang Chulan's question directly, he brought up a long-forgotten story.

"During the Jia Shen Rebellion, those self-proclaimed righteous sects did just as many despicable things in secret to seize the Eight Extraordinary Techniques as those madmen from the Quanxing Sect."

"The Lü family and the Wang family are the two that are jumping the gun the most."

Zhang Yunyuan's tone was very calm, as if he were talking about an old story that had nothing to do with him, but Zhang Chulan could hear a hint of coldness in his voice.

"My feud with the Lü family is not something that started overnight."

Zhang Yunyuan changed the subject, a playful smile curving his lips.

"When I was a child, I went with my master to attend the birthday banquet of the Lu family patriarch."

"During the banquet, a genius from the Lü family, who was also Lü Ci's younger brother, named Lü Yan, took advantage of being two years older than me and having a higher cultivation level, and provoked me at every turn, trying to use me to establish his authority and make his Lü family look good in front of fellow practitioners."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chulan's eyes lit up instantly, his ears perked up, and he wore the excited expression of a bystander.

He looked like he was about to pull a handful of sunflower seeds out of his pocket.

"And then?"

"Young Master, did you beat him up?"

Zhang Yunyuan chuckled, his smile carrying a hint of youthful arrogance and disdain.

"It's too cheap for him."

"In front of everyone, I used only one palm strike to destroy all his meridians, turning him from a promising genius into a cripple who couldn't even gather Qi."

Zhang Chulan gasped in surprise, then felt a surge of excitement. His gaze toward Zhang Yunyuan was now filled with undisguised admiration.

"Holy crap! Young Master, were you this fierce even as a kid?!"

He counted on his fingers, "If Lü Yan were still alive today, he would be over a hundred years old, right?"

"Two years older than me."

Zhang Yunyuan's tone remained calm.

"It's a pity that after I crippled him, he could no longer gather Qi to cultivate, and his physical body became no different from that of an ordinary person. He was subject to birth, old age, sickness and death."

"Living to seventy or eighty years old is the end of the road. If you think about it, it was only twenty or thirty years ago."

Zhang Chulan was deeply moved, feeling that the image of this young master was becoming increasingly lofty, mysterious, and... terrifying in his mind.

He suddenly remembered something and asked cautiously, "Then...during the Jia Shen Rebellion, did Lü Ci also cause you trouble?"

"It's more than just trouble."

A cold glint flashed in Zhang Yunyuan's eyes.

“That old dog personally led a team of Lu family elites to ambush me on the way, trying to get the whereabouts of your grandfather out of me.”

"The results of it?"

Zhang Chulan pressed for answers anxiously.

Zhang Yunyuan smiled, a smile that carried an arrogant air of looking down upon the world.

"I crippled several of the men he brought with him."

"If he hadn't run fast, he probably would have died here too."

“From then on, he hated me to the core, but he was unable to find me, so he kept this hatred to himself until today.”

As the two traveled together, Zhang Chulan, having heard these thrilling stories, felt an overwhelming and unending surge of admiration for Zhang Yunyuan.

He rubbed his hands together, then approached with a fawning expression, his cleverness returning.

"Young Master, since you're so skilled, could you perhaps give me a couple of pointers?"

"I'm only half-baked at lightning magic; it just doesn't feel right to me."

Zhang Yunyuan glanced at him, his eyes seeming to say, "You know how to take advantage of a situation."

He stopped, turned around, and looked at Zhang Chulan with a leisurely air.

"You want me to give you pointers?"

"Show me your Yang Five Thunder technique first, and let me see what your grandfather taught you."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chulan immediately perked up.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show off in front of the young master!

He cleared his throat, took a few steps back, assumed a fighting stance, and looked smug.

"Young Master, you'd better watch carefully!"

He took a deep breath, and the Qi of the Golden Light Mantra within his body surged forth. Then he pushed forward with all his might!

"Thunder in the Palm!"

With a piercing explosion, a golden bolt of lightning as thick as a child's arm, carrying a violent and fierce aura, burst forth from his palm and slammed heavily into a rock half a person's height not far away!

A loud bang, and debris flew everywhere!

The hard rock was shattered into pieces by the blow, and the charred rocks still had flickering arcs of electricity and emitted a pungent ozone smell.

The scale and power of the event were undeniably impressive.

Zhang Chulan withdrew his hand and looked at Zhang Yunyuan triumphantly, like a peacock spreading its tail feathers, waiting for praise.

"How is it, young master?"

"Was my trick any good?"

However, Zhang Yunyuan's face showed no sign of approval; instead, he frowned slightly.

He shook his head, his tone revealing an undisguised disappointment.

The two chatted and laughed all the way, and Zhang Yunyuan casually gave Zhang Chulan a few tips on the use of thunder magic.

"Your Yang Wu Lei is strong but lacks variety."

"The wonder of thunder magic lies not in its grand scale, but in the word 'leading'."

"To harness the thunder of heaven and earth for one's own use is the highest level."

"You are merely transforming your own Qi into lightning, which is ultimately a inferior approach."