Profound Qi surged as Lai Mao swept a claw toward the nearby Ye Xuan.
"AWOOOO!"
Suddenly, Lai Mao let out a heart-wrenching roar. His claws froze two centimeters from Ye Xuan's body. His face was contorted, his mouth gaped open, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out. Tears and snot streamed down his face, which was flushed the color of boiled pig liver.
Looking down, he saw that at some unknown point, Ye Xuan's foot had already kicked him in the groin.
At the moment of impact, Lai Mao felt as if something down there had been shattered.
"AWOOOO! AWOOOO! AWOOOO!"
The intense pain made him scream like a pig being slaughtered, his facial features twisting together.
'This is too brutal.'
The onlookers wore strange expressions, and they all instinctively tightened their crotches. A chilling sensation ran through them, and goosebumps crawled up their skin. They had also heard the cracking sound; Lai Mao's balls had probably been smashed. This was a family-line-ending kick.
"You damn brat, I'll kill you."
Lai Mao endured the pain, his mouth twitching and his eyes bloodshot. He charged forward again like a madman, his voice becoming shrill.
Ye Xuan was expressionless. He took a small step, and his right foot kicked out again.
"CRACK!"
Perfectly on target, his right foot, as if guided by a ghost, once again struck Lai Mao's groin. It was as if Lai Mao had charged into it himself, while Ye Xuan had merely lifted his leg.
Lai Mao's second ball was also smashed.
The pig-like squeals echoed throughout the hall. The piercing sound was so sharp it made eardrums ache, making it easy to imagine the immense pain its owner was suffering.
The onlookers subconsciously covered their own crotches, a look of lingering fear on their faces.
"What's going on? This is too bizarre."
"This kid clearly has no Profound Qi fluctuations. How did he break through the Profound Qi of a First Layer Samurai like Lai Mao?"
"Did you notice? For those last two hits, it was like Lai Mao ran into them himself."
"This is just freaky."
Everyone looked at Ye Xuan with suspicion and astonishment. Accident or not, this kid was too vicious. From this day on, Lai Mao's family line would be severed, and he could no longer even be a man. This was a fate crueler than death.
"Damn brat, I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
Lai Mao writhed on the ground in pain, staring at Ye Xuan with venomous hatred. His glare looked as if he wanted to slice Ye Xuan into a thousand pieces.
"Brother Lai, are you okay?" Chen Yan asked, stunned by the scene as she went to help Lai Mao up.
"You damn bitch, get lost!" Lai Mao now hated Chen Yan as well. He shoved her away, and she fell to the ground, her face bruised and swollen. From now on, he wouldn't even have the right to be a man, so what use was a woman to him?
"Chen Yan, Lu Yue, what are you two doing here? What happened? Who laid a hand on you?"
Just then, a man in a black robe walked over. His robe was a typical Alchemist's uniform, and he wore a black badge on his chest. On the badge was an exquisite cauldron. Seeing the two waitresses who had both fallen to the ground, his sharp gaze swept over.
"It's Lord Zhou Huarong."
"The general manager of the Alchemist Association."
"Now things are getting interesting."
Upon seeing this man, the crowd stopped and bowed, showing expressions of respect. Their gazes were mostly fixed on the badge on his chest, filled with worship and envy, and even a hint of fanaticism, like servants seeing their master.
Ye Xuan squinted at the badge on the black-robed man's chest. A black iron badge with a cauldron emblem—this was the mark of a First-Grade Alchemist. With this badge, one could enjoy extremely high status and be revered by thousands no matter where they went on the continent.
"Lord Zhou Huarong, these two were fighting over a basic refinement room, which caused a conflict that implicated us," Chen Yan said hurriedly as she scrambled to her feet, her voice tinged with panic.
"Is that so?" Zhou Huarong nodded, his expression darkening. He barked coldly at Ye Xuan and Lai Mao, "How dare the two of you fight in my Alchemist Association."
The moment he spoke, a powerful pressure washed over the area. The surrounding air seemed to freeze, making it difficult to breathe.
"Lord Zhou, it was just an accident, just an accident." Lai Mao waved his hands frantically. In front of Zhou Huarong, a true First-Grade Alchemist, he didn't dare put on the airs of a high-level alchemy apprentice.
"An accident?" Zhou Huarong sneered. "Chen Yan, Lu Yue, who laid a hand on you? Speak up. No matter which one of them made a move in my Alchemist Association, I will make them regret it."
"Lord Zhou, just forget it." Chen Yan, having a guilty conscience, didn't dare let the matter escalate.
"Rest assured. Although you two are just waitresses at the Alchemist Association, as long as you are part of my Alchemist Association, no one is allowed to bully you."
"Lord Zhou, I'm really fine. There's no need to make a big deal out of this," Chen Yan said anxiously.
"Lord Zhou, I'm fine too," Lu Yue said, her head lowered. At this moment, she didn't dare say that Chen Yan was the one who had slapped her.
Zhou Huarong glanced at the two of them and then nodded. "Since you both say so, I'll let them off. You two, each of you hand over one hundred Profound Coins as compensation, then scram."
"Yes, yes." Lai Mao struggled to his feet, quickly took out a hundred Profound Coins, and turned to leave.
"Did I say you could leave?"
The cold voice made Lai Mao freeze. He turned his head and saw Ye Xuan take two steps forward and kick his left leg viciously. With a CRACK, his leg snapped.
"AH!" Lai Mao never expected Ye Xuan would strike again at this moment. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, completely unable to muster a shred of Profound Qi.
Ye Xuan continued to kick, breaking all four of his limbs. His movements were swift and decisive.
Everyone in the hall was stunned.
"Brat, what do you think you're doing?" Zhou Huarong couldn't believe Ye Xuan would dare to act in front of him. For a moment, he was too shocked to react.
"Not much. He wanted to break my four limbs, so I'm just doing to him what he wanted to do to me," Ye Xuan said flatly. Without even glancing at the wailing Lai Mao on the ground, he turned and walked toward the entrance of the Alchemist Association.
"Brat, you halt right there!" Zhou Huarong's face was ashen, his voice icy, and his gaze so grim it was as if he was about to kill someone. A terrifying aura, like a torrential gale, enveloped Ye Xuan. He roared, "To dare cause trouble in my Alchemist Association, you must have a death wish! Men, seize him!"
"Yes." The guards of the Alchemist Association stepped forward to apprehend Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan's gaze hardened. He remained calm under Zhou Huarong's aura and said coldly, "Me? Causing trouble? Is this how your Alchemist Association operates? I am so disappointed. You apprehend people without asking right from wrong. How impressive, what a show of power. I think this place shouldn't be called the Alchemist Association anymore. Call it the Robbers' Den Association. Let's see who will dare to come here to buy things or perform Alchemy in the future."
Ye Xuan's words echoed around, reaching the ears of almost everyone near the refinement rooms.
"Brat, what did you say?" Zhou Huarong's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on Ye Xuan, radiating a terrifying killing intent. "Where did this little brat come from, spouting such nonsense? For that sentence alone, I don't care what your status is. If you don't give my Alchemist Association an explanation today, you can forget about walking out of here in one piece."
"Give you an explanation? I'm the one who needs an explanation from you." Ye Xuan sneered and pointed at Lai Mao and Chen Yan. "Sir, you can ask around. I was peacefully performing Alchemy in the basic refinement room when this shameless pair broke the rules and kicked down my door. I'd like to ask you, sir, did we pay money to perform Alchemy here just to be disturbed at will? As a First-Grade Alchemist, you surely must know the consequences of interrupting an Alchemist during refinement, right?"
An inexplicable aura rose from within Ye Xuan. His cold gaze was like a sharp dagger, stabbing fiercely into Zhou Huarong's eyes.
'What a terrifying aura. Who on earth is this young man?'
Zhou Huarong felt a sudden chill in his heart. Being watched by Ye Xuan, he felt like a rabbit being stared down by a tiger. An inexplicable fear welled up inside him. Not daring to meet Ye Xuan's gaze, he turned his head and said coldly, "Chen Yan… what exactly happened?"
"My lord, he's slandering me!" Chen Yan's face turned pale with fear, all color draining from it.
"Everyone here knows whether it's slander or not."
Ye Xuan's eyes were cold.
A murmur of discussion instantly broke out in the surroundings. No one had expected Ye Xuan to be so aggressive in front of a First-Grade Alchemist like Zhou Huarong. However, as he said, the whole incident was entirely Chen Yan's and Lai Mao's fault. Any Alchemist, peacefully refining in their room only to be disturbed, would be furious.
Even an idiot knew that any sudden interruption could have a huge impact on an Alchemist. A failed refinement was a minor consequence; a moment of carelessness could even cause a backlash to the Alchemist's Profound Sense, turning them into a cripple.
If word of this got out, who would dare come to the Alchemist Association to concoct potions in the future?
Hearing the discussions around him, Zhou Huarong's expression grew even uglier. He turned his head and roared, "Lu Yue, what exactly happened?"
"My lord, he's right…" Although Lu Yue was timid, at the critical moment, she still recounted the entire event from beginning to end, including how she tried her best to stop them and got slapped for it.
"Chen Yan, you have some nerve!"
For a moment, Zhou Huarong had the urge to kill Chen Yan. If this wasn't handled properly, it would severely damage the Alchemist Association's reputation.
"Apologize to him at once!" Zhou Huarong said coldly.
"An apology won't be necessary. But let me offer a piece of advice to your Alchemist Association. Waitresses may not be important, but you shouldn't just pull in any trash. Otherwise, people might think your Alchemist Association is a garbage dump."
After speaking, Ye Xuan didn't even glance at Chen Yan and the others. He turned and left, as he didn't have so much time to waste there.
Watching Ye Xuan's departing figure, the crowd was dumbfounded. Although Ye Xuan was in the right, wasn't he afraid that offending the Alchemist Association like this would make it difficult for him to get by in Blue Moon City?
"Men, throw this piece of trash out! And Chen Yan, from this moment on, you are no longer a member of my Alchemist Association."
Zhou Huarong's voice was ice-cold. Amidst Chen Yan's cries, she and Lai Mao were thrown out of the Alchemist Association together.