Chapter 437: Who Dares to Bully Yujia!

Hao Ren held the study material in his hands, stupefied.

"Was... was that a forced kiss?... He slowly stuck out his tongue and touched it with his finger.

Then, he looked at the blanket Zhao Yanzi hid under; she didn't even move a bit.

She had already taken the blanket, and Hao Ren was left outside in his robe.

"You are... asleep?" Hao Ren asked.

The blanket stayed still.

Hao Ren bit his tongue lightly, and that sensation seemed to have lingered from that moment.

"The middle-schoolers now days are quite something..." Hao Ren thought as he coughed twice on purpose. "If you are sleeping, I better get going."

There was still no movement under the blanket, so Hao Ren had no idea what Zhao Yanzi's facial expression was.

Happy? Shy? Or Sleepy?

Hao Ren slid to the side of the bed and put on his shoes.

"I'm leaving," Hao Ren repeated.

He was planning to go back after tutoring Zhao Yanzi; he never wished to stay the night.

Zhao Yanzi kept quiet under the blanket.

"Don't smother yourself!" Hao Ren walked out the door. Then, he flipped out six sword energies and extinguished all six candles before slowly closing the door behind him.

The grasses were green, and the flowers were blooming in the yard.

Hao Ren looked up. Instead of the moon, he saw dark blue ocean water.

Suddenly, he felt something was wrong. He turned around and saw Zhao Kuo lying on the roof of Zhao Yanzi's palace in a black robe. He was drinking by himself with a kettle of liquor in his hand.

"Third... Uncle?"

Hao Ren had a bad feeling about this.

"Humph!" Zhao Kuo landed with the kettle quietly. He grabbed Hao Ren and hopped over the fence.

The patrolling soldiers had just walked by them.

Zhao Kuo let go of Hao Ren and pushed him smoothly. "Son, if you dare to do anything to Zi, I will kill you!"

Hao Ren began to sweat and thought, "Zhao Yanzi's third uncle was spying on us. Thank god I was just tutoring her. Otherwise..."

"Come have a drink with me!" Zhao Kuo grabbed onto Hao Ren and hopped again onto another roof. Then, they jumped toward the Profound Cultivation Palace.

"Who is it!" the patrolling soldiers sensed the motion and shouted immediately.

"It's me!" Zhao Kuo answered.

The soldiers immediately bowed when they saw Hao Ren and Zhao Kuo. "Greetings, Commanding General!"

Hao Ren was in Zhao Kuo's hand, so he just waved in embarrassment. Zhao Kuo leaped into the sky, opened the array formation that was protecting the Profound Cultivation Palace, and went to the top of the roof.

The Profound Cultivation Palace was seven floors tall; it was the tallest building in the dragon palace. Since there were all kinds of precious techniques, regular cultivators were not allowed near it. Therefore, it was also the quietest place.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Zhao Kuo had one of his iron hands on Hao Ren's shoulder, and they reached the top of the Profound Cultivation Palace in several flips.

The design of the Profound Cultivation Palace resembled a seven-floor pagoda. The techniques were stored according to the grades, and they were color-coded into red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, blue, and purple. The top floor was the smallest in size, and its circular roof was only about six square meters.

Zhao Kuo sat on the glazed tiles and took out another kettle of liquor from his ring before throwing it to Hao Ren.

Hao Ren caught it and sat down.

They could see the entire East Ocean Dragon Palace from the roof of the Profound Cultivation Palace.

Palaces of different sizes looked magnificent under the lantern light.

Zhao Kuo leaned on the roof behind him with the drink in hand, and he said slowly, "This will all be yours in the future!"

Underneath them was the seventh floor where purple-grade techniques were stored. These techniques were dreams of all dragon cultivators.

Certainly, even Zhao Kuo wouldn't be able to come out alive if he barged into the incredibly powerful array formation recklessly.

Hao Ren looked around at the large East Ocean Dragon Palace; it was covered by mysterious golden light. He opened the kettle up and took a sip.

"What else did my dad say to you?" Zhao Kuo asked.

Hao Ren zapped his mouth; this liquor tasted even purer than the ones from the banquet.

He answered, "He said that I'm brave enough, but my temperament is not domineering enough to become an overlord."

"Well said!" Zhao Kuo drank a mouthful of the strong liquor.

"He said that Zi's father has the ambition but is not assertive enough, you are brave and powerful but not calculative enough, and Zi's second uncle is smart but can't cultivate, so he could only enjoy the wealth in the mortal world."

"Um..." Zhao Kuo was buried in his thoughts.

"He also said that Zi is not calm enough to become a leader, and East Ocean might be in trouble in the future. Therefore, he didn't want the Commanding General's position to fall into other people's hands. He would rather pass it on to an incapable man than a vicious schemer."

"Incapable man... humph!" Zhao Kuo looked at Hao Ren and said, "I don't see how you are an incapable man."

He knew that Zhao Haoran had good eyes; Hao Ren would never get this position if he were really incapable. How could an incompetent person guard the Commanding General's token after all?

Hao Ren didn't comment on that.

He continued, "He wanted to pass his cultivation strength to you, but you didn't come back. He thought it would be a waste to give it to Zi's father, and it was inappropriate to pass it to Zi as well. Therefore, he gave it to me."

"What else?" Zhao Kuo questioned.

"He said he had cultivated for more than 1,000 years, but his strong murderous spirit hindered him from breaking through to the Heavenly Dragon Realm. However, he had been on the throne all his life, so there were no regrets," Hao Ren said.

Zhao Kuo nodded and kept silent.

Hao Ren didn't say anything else as well.

"Anything he wanted you to tell me?" Zhao Kuo couldn't let go and kept asking.

"He just asked me to pass the sword to you; nothing else," Hao Ren answered.

Zhao Kuo gritted his teeth as he snorted through his nose. Then, he took a few more sips of the liquor.

He looked at Zhao Haoran's palace.

Zhao Kuo had too many memories associated with the large practice field in front of the palace. Zhao Haoran taught him how to stand on the ground when he first learned how to walk, and he taught him fist techniques and the Spirit Concentration Scroll... At that time, Zhao Kuo was a little kid, but he practiced extra hard.

Zhao Kuo sensed that his nose got a little runny, and his eyes watered.

"Are you ok, Third Uncle?" Hao Ren noticed the change on Zhao Kuo's face.

"I'm ok! It's the alcohol!" Zhao Kuo raised his kettle and toasted Hao Ren.

They both took a sip of their drinks.

"Kid..." Zhao Kuo put the kettle down and looked at Hao Ren.

"Um?" Hao Ren looked at him.

"Who is that Xie Yujia?" Zhao Kuo asked.

"She's my... classmate," Hao Ren answered after half a second of hesitation.

"It's not that simple, is it?" Zhao Kuo asked.

"What do you think?" Hao Ren posed the question back to him.

"I don't want Zi to be in an unfavorable situation. I don't care what kind of agreement Zhao Hongyu made with that girl; I am not ok with it," Zhao Kuo said.

He glimpsed at Hao Ren who did not respond and continued, "Sever ties with that Xie Yujia, or I am pushing you down."

Zhao Kuo put one of his hands on Hao Ren's shoulder.

Hao Ren looked at him quietly and responded, "I... won't."

Zhao Kuo suddenly pushed, and Hao Ren's body tilted as if he was about to roll down from the tower. However, Hao Ren took the opportunity to grab onto Zhao Kuo's arm, and he applied a simple Qinna technique and grabbed Zhao Kuo's wrist.

"Damn, Kid!" Zhao Kuo was pulled up by Hao Ren.

He dropped the kettle in the other hand and swung his bowl-sized fist toward Hao Ren's face.

Hao Ren stood still on the roof. He dodged Zhao Kuo's fist and swung his leg at him.

"Nice! You dare to fight me now!" Zhao Kuo kicked back at him.

Some glazed tiles were lifted, and the array formation of the Profound Cultivation Palace shook once.

The Profound Cultivation Palace was the most important palace in the East Ocean Dragon Palace. Qiu Niu, who temporarily lived there, was invited to set up the array formation himself. Even a Qian-level or Kun-level cultivator would be immediately killed if they triggered the array formation.

The roof was only about six square meters' large, but it was over 50 meters tall. Both Hao Ren and Zhao Kuo suppressed their nature essence, and they fought only with their physical power and martial art techniques.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Hao Ren kept defending himself, but Zhao Kuo still landed a fist on his face.

At the same time, Hao Ren's fist smashed onto Zhao Kuo's chest as well. However, it didn't bother Zhao Kuo at all since he was very sturdy.

Paw!

Another strike landed on Hao Ren's right cheek.

He might have been equally as powerful as Zhao Kuo if he used the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll, but if it was only physical strength and martial art techniques, he was nowhere near Zhao Kuo's level.

Boom!

Zhao Kuo hit Hao Ren's chest with his elbow, and Hao Ren slipped. His back crushed a few glazed tiles behind him.

Even so, Hao Ren didn't use his nature essence. It would be like exploding an atomic bomb if he did that so close to the Profound Cultivation Palace's seventh floor. The array formation here was way too complicated.

"Get up and keep drinking!" Zhao Kuo kicked Hao Ren's knee and picked up the kettle.

Hao Ren rubbed his injuries and picked up his kettle as well.

He toasted Zhao Kuo.

"If you ever make Zi sad in the future, I'll teach you a lesson, and it will not be as easy as today!" Zhao Kuo stared at Hao Ren.

Hao Ren sighed. He could neither defeat nor escape from this Third Uncle. He reached Dui-level in such a short time, and he was one generation older. Surpassing him in the future would be difficult.

"You better wish that I can't reach the Heavenly Dragon Realm," Zhao Kuo continued.

"Why?" Hao Ren asked immediately.

"I know that there is a Soul Formation Realm cultivator behind that Xie Yujia. Once I get to the Heavenly Dragon Realm, I will see who dares to bully Zi!" Zhao Kuo said fiercely as he raised his head.

"I would like to see who dares to bully Yujia!" A voice came from above the dragon palace.

An extremely strong power crushed the grand protection array formation of the East Ocean Dragon Palace in a second.Qinna is the set of joint lock techniques used in the Chinese martial arts