Chapter 216: Stubborn Xu Jie

“This is your wage for this month. Take it and leave quickly.”

“No, please give me another chance! Please!”

“Oh my dear girl, should I kneel down and beg you?”

“Just let me go! You offended that man earlier. If I keep you here, I might as well shut down my restaurant.”

The owner of the restaurant pushed the girl out, visibly troubled. “You should think about the consequences before doing something brave. Just now, she was merely being bullied. That nobleman wouldn’t dare do anything to her in public. However, now that girl has lost her livelihood.”

Li Tan swirled the wine in his cup. “But isn’t it wrong to just stand by and do nothing?”

Morally speaking, that was indeed wrong. When Li Tan was young, he would often get worked up about such matters. However, after over a thousand years of ups and downs, he had long become accustomed to such situations and dealt with them more rationally.

“I didn’t say that was right, but there are many ways to resolve a problem, and you chose the worst one.”

“Oh? Please elaborate.”

“Dear friend, think about it. Although that man was stubborn, he was still from a respectable family. If you had intentionally mocked him a bit, would he still have the nerve to keep pestering that girl?”

The handsome young man showed an expression of admiration and realization. He stood up, respectfully bowed, expressing his gratitude for the lesson. He settled the bill and then strode in the direction the girl had left.

“Alright then, let’s go.”

Li Tan, feeling uninterested, put down his cup and left the restaurant.

His purpose in coming to Luoshui was very straightforward, involving only three things, which strictly speaking, amounted to just one thing. At this point, his first step was to join the Taixue Academy.

The Taixue Academy had existed for about as long as the Xia Dynasty, established and rigorously implemented by the founding emperor as a system.

Indeed, rather than being a mere academy, the Taixue was more accurately described as a system—an entirely new system that had never existed before.

As previously mentioned many times, becoming a cultivator required more than just passion and extraordinary talent; resources were equally crucial. These resources were not limited to pills and spirit stones; mentors and cultivation techniques were equally important.

But how could ordinary families afford such valuable cultivation resources?

For a long time, talented youths from common backgrounds could only sigh helplessly at the prospect of “cultivation.” Because of this, dynasties throughout history indirectly lost countless talents and often faced oppression from certain powerful sects. The emergence of the Taixue Academy completely changed this situation.

Established directly by the imperial family of the Xia Dynasty, the Taixue Academy had branches throughout the cities of the dynasty, excluding the most remote areas. Its reach was extensive. Unlike ordinary sects, the Taixue Academy conducted recruitment year-round. Those with talent would be given generous treatment, including spirit stones for cultivation at home, with formal admission to the academy the following year. Most students who graduated from Taixue felt gratitude and served the Xia Dynasty. Over time, the Taixue Academy helped make the Xia Dynasty the strongest dynasty in this region in history.

Li Tan was one of the beneficiaries of the Taixue Academy. Unlike Feiyu Gate, the Taixue Academy held immense significance for him. The reason he came to Luoshui was to rescue the Taixue Academy and his former teacher from the hands of villains and change their tragic fate.

Now, only a few days remained until the annual official recruitment of the Taixue Academy.

It was already evening, and the streets were bustling with activity, so Li Tan lingered a bit longer. Unfortunately, he accidentally bumped into someone.

Li Tan stood firm, while the other person, a commoner, fell flat on the ground.

“Sor—” the man hadn’t even finished saying “Sorry,” when he angrily shouted, “Who dares to bump into me? I’m already in a bad mood—you’re dead!” His voice sounded somewhat familiar. Li Tan stopped his apology mid-way and looked down, realizing that the man was the same stubborn individual who had harassed the girl at the tavern earlier. Instantly, Li Tan lost all intention to apologize and simply turned to leave.

“Stop right there! Who said you could leave?”

The stubborn man scrambled to his feet, pointing at Li Tan and shouting, quickly drawing a crowd of onlookers who started gossiping and pointing fingers.

“Oh my, isn’t that Xu Jie?

This young man is doomed!”

“Auntie, is it really that serious?”

“Hey, I heard Xu Jie just got beaten up at the tavern. With his temper, tsk tsk, this young man will probably be crawling home later.”

Li Tan couldn’t help but mutter internally: “Such a trivial matter has already spread everywhere. The aunties of Luoshui are indeed formidable.”

“I’m talking to you! Answer me!”

Xu Jie glared furiously at Li Tan.

Li Tan’s lips twitched slightly, showing signs of impatience as he asked, “So what do you want me to do?”

Xu Jie snorted coldly, “Naturally, you must compensate me for my losses.”

“How exactly should I compensate you?”

“Just one hundred gold coins.”

Xu Jie asked for an exorbitant sum, causing an uproar among the surrounding crowd, shocked at his audacity.

Xu Jie shamelessly justified his unreasonable demand: “Just an ordinary commoner. If I wanted you dead, it would only take one word. One hundred gold coins is actually a bargain for you.”

He quickly changed his tone, “What? Can’t afford it?

Well, I won’t make it too hard for you. Just leave one of your legs here. Don’t worry, the hooligan who was drinking with you earlier will crawl home with you.”

So this was retaliation?

Li Tan looked amusedly at the fist rapidly approaching his head and disdainfully curled his lips. “The world really is full of all sorts of birds.”

Bang! Xu Jie’s swift punch stopped mid-air, effortlessly caught by Li Tan with one hand.

“I’ve already reached the early stage of the Innate Realm—how could this guy possibly block me? Could he also be an Innate expert?” Xu Jie was shocked and desperately tried to pull his hand back, but it felt as if it were locked in place, not budging an inch no matter how hard he struggled.

The situation was now quite clear: Li Tan was stronger than him.

Yet Xu Jie showed no fear at all and remained as arrogant as before, “Let go of me, or I’ll make you regret it!”

Silently, Li Tan increased the pressure in his hand, and Xu Jie immediately howled in pain, though he still refused to back down verbally, “My father is…”

Before he could finish saying what his father was, Li Tan, already quite impatient, forcefully twisted his hand. Xu Jie was sent spinning through the air with a 360-degree flip, his entire arm twisted into a spiral, his face contorted in pain as he screamed.

Li Tan casually tossed him aside and coldly said, “Scram!”

“You… My father…” Seeing that he was still trying to invoke his father’s name, Li Tan glared fiercely. The effect was immediate. Xu Jie fled as if he had seen a ghost, tumbling and scrambling away.

The crowd stood in stunned silence for five seconds before erupting into loud exclamations.

Li Tan didn’t bother to listen to what they were saying. To avoid trouble, he quickened his pace and rapidly left the scene.