Ye Bufan noticed that Zhuang Qian had called the old man before him Elder Zhang, which clearly indicated the old man's unusual status.
"Hmph! Kid, do you know how much effort I put into raising Si Jie? Today, no matter what, I must avenge my disciple." The old man, Elder Zhang, spoke.
"In that case, I truly pity you. You spent so much effort cultivating a disciple who turned out to be a scumbag that pollutes society. Doesn't your disciple deserve to die?" Ye Bufan retorted.
At the same time, a hint of domineering pressure emanated from him. Just as the old man was about to speak, Ye Bufan interrupted, "The Analects says, 'If the son is not taught, it is the father's fault. If the teaching is not strict, it is the teacher's laziness.' Looking at it now, Zhuang Si Jie's heinous deeds cannot be separated from the responsibility of you two."
"You! You! You!" Zhuang Qian, hearing Ye Bufan's words, was so enraged that he didn't know how to retort.
"Well said, you eloquent young child. Even though you are a prodigy of Da Xia for breaking through to Martial Venerable at such a young age, I will make you pay with your life for my disciple!"
The old man snorted coldly, his body erupting with power. Zhuang Qian, standing beside him, was forced back several meters by the surge of energy.
"Elder Zhang, you absolutely must not spare him!" Zhuang Qian did not forget to shout at the old man.
The old man ignored Zhuang Qian behind him, fixing his cold gaze on Ye Bufan and saying, "Kid, I'll tear your mouth apart first. I'll make you understand the price of not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth. I'll also show you that even if you are a Martial Venerable, there are still vast differences in strength among Martial Venerables."
The old man clenched his fists, his hands constantly shifting through various stances, creating layers of afterimages.
"Showy but useless techniques." Ye Bufan said coldly, watching the old man.
Hearing Ye Bufan's tone, the old man felt that he was not being taken seriously and a fire of anger ignited within him.
"You'll know if it's useless soon enough." The next second, the old man appeared behind Ye Bufan, and from within the afterimages of his hands, a fist slammed down towards Ye Bufan's heart.
Ye Bufan vanished from his spot in the next instant. The old man's punch missed, and he quickly tried to sense Ye Bufan's precise location.
"Where is he? He didn't run away, did he?" the old man mused silently.
"Ah—"
Unexpectedly, a dull pain resonated from his back the next moment. Ye Bufan had appeared behind the old man and delivered a powerful kick to his back. By the time the old man reacted, he was already flying through the air.
"Bang—" The old man crashed heavily into the outer wall of Tianxing Martial Hall, creating a hole.
"You brat, you're using underhanded tactics." The old man pointed at Ye Bufan and shouted indignantly.
"It's your own lack of skill that's the problem, and you're blaming me for attacking you from behind?" Ye Bufan sneered and summoned the broken sword from his spatial jade pendant.
"What's going on? Who's fighting..."
At this moment, Wu Cheng rushed out from the training grounds of Tianxing Martial Hall. Early in the morning, he had heard from a disciple of Tianxing Martial Hall reporting that someone was fighting Ye Bufan at the entrance of the training grounds.
To his surprise, the person fighting Ye Bufan was Zhang Meng, another esteemed elder of the Martial Alliance.
"Zhang Meng, why is it you?" Wu Cheng exclaimed upon seeing Zhang Meng.
"Wu Cheng, you've arrived just in time. Let me ask you, as fellow elders of the Martial Alliance, my disciple was killed by this Ye Bufan. Let's join forces and take him down together!" Zhang Meng declared.
"What?" Wu Cheng could not believe his ears. When did Ye Bufan kill Zhang Meng's disciple? He didn't even know about this.
Wu Cheng looked at Ye Bufan and asked, "When did this happen?"
"Yesterday," Ye Bufan replied. "Yesterday, his disciple Zhuang Si Jie encountered me on the road. He had improper intentions towards Meng Yao and Xin Yan. He then instructed his subordinates to abduct Meng Yao and Xin Yan. I intervened. He claimed that since they were High-level and Mid-level martial artists, he could do as he pleased. I merely intended to teach him a lesson. In the end, he threatened me himself. When his threats failed, I killed him. I detest being threatened the most."
Hearing this, Wu Cheng inwardly groaned: You little ancestor, killing anyone else would have been fine, but you had to kill Zhang Meng's disciple.
Among the elders of the Martial Alliance, Zhang Meng was the strongest and also the most ill-tempered. Everyone had a consensus: don't provoke Zhang Meng. He acted without restraint and was often completely unreasonable.
"Elder Zhang, as you've heard, your disciple provoked the incident first," Wu Cheng said. "Furthermore, if Ye Bufan really killed someone, we should let the police handle it."
Zhang Meng looked at Wu Cheng with displeasure and cursed, "Old Wu, are you planning to help this Ye Bufan? Fine, then don't blame me for being impolite."
With that, Zhang Meng attacked again with incredible speed, arriving beside Ye Bufan in an instant. By the time Wu Cheng reacted, it was too late.
But Ye Bufan was no pushover either. As Zhang Meng approached, Ye Bufan vanished from his spot.
Zhang Meng was greatly alarmed and a realization suddenly dawned on him. He turned around, and Ye Bufan's kick landed squarely on Zhang Meng's abdomen.
"Oof!" Zhang Meng grunted, flying through the air. He used a nearby tree to propel himself upwards, performing a somersault and landing steadily on the ground.
"Insidious scoundrel!" Zhang Meng roared in fury, surprised to be repelled by Ye Bufan using the same method twice.
Seeing Zhang Meng's state, Wu Cheng chuckled slightly but quickly suppressed his smile.
The training grounds of Tianxing Martial Hall were, after all, the venue for the Martial Arts Tournament. The crowd that was coming and going stopped, wanting to see what was happening.
"What are you looking at? Get out of here." Zhang Meng roared at those who were about to take out their phones to record.
Seeing this, Wu Cheng quickly intervened, "Alright, alright, the Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin. Everyone, quickly go inside. Today is the round of sixteen into the quarter-finals."
Hearing Wu Cheng's words, the crowd reluctantly put away their phones and prepared to leave.
As soon as they left, Zhang Meng launched a surprise attack, appearing behind Ye Bufan and slashing fiercely at Ye Bufan's waist.
Ye Bufan was also becoming somewhat annoyed by Zhang Meng and decided not to engage him further.
"Too slow." Ye Bufan's voice echoed. Before Zhang Meng could react, Ye Bufan moved, leaping up and forming a hand seal, descending from the heavens.
Zhang Meng scoffed disdainfully, his killing intent surging. He gathered all his internal energy into his palm and unleashed a powerful strike towards Ye Bufan, who was descending from above.
"Zhang Meng!" At this point, Wu Cheng could no longer stand by. From yesterday's situation, Ye Bufan had a good relationship with Ji Feiyang. If Ye Bufan were to be harmed, Ji Feiyang might seek retribution from the Martial Alliance. After all, Ji Feiyang represented the military.