Chapter 292: An apology in regards to underestimation
[Oh shit, I don’t remember our Lord being able to hit that hard before.]
[Probably…my…fault…]
[Oh right, you had a power bump recently…remind me to try and possess the next guy who’s on the verge of breaking through.]
=Oh calm down Pathos. Our lord got his point across anyways, even if he didn’t knock out Zhen Li’s teeth. He made it very clear that he was not to be trifled with. If they still remember the little performance he put on through the mirror, they should be associating him with that “mysterious Overlord” as we speak.=
=Probably. We ditched them in oasis with enough food and drink to last at least a week. By the time they’re found, they’ll either be freaking out still or taking this opportunity to just relax…hopefully.=
[On it.]
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‘Well then…it appears our intel about the branch family was woefully inaccurate,’ Zhen Wang realized in rapid succession as he watched the scene unfold before him.
To say that Zhen Wang and his team underestimated the branch family would be an understatement.
Based on a mix of rumors, finally meeting Zhen Shi himself and seeing them summon his armament, a chain of all things, Zhen Wang could confirm that the man had indeed only recently broke through to the Aether Lord stage.
However, the ease in which he used to summon and manipulate the armament, one could make the honest mistake that he had been an Aether Lord for several years as opposed to several weeks.
As for Zhen Liu…Zhen Wang knew he was freakishly strong…he didn’t know it was by that much. But also there was something… unsettling about him.
‘Hmmm. This should be the first I’m seeing this young man fight, so why am I feeling this familiar energy coming off him…’
That being said, the person that was most shocked by this freakish show of strength was none other than the intended target.
‘Wait…no…’
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‘That…that could have been me…,’ Zhen Li realized as he stared at the giant fist-shaped crater formed where he was standing just moments before.
A part of him wanted to lie to himself and say that he could easily block that attack with his own aether defensive skills…but a bigger part of him understood that had it not been for the interference of the Zhen Clan branch patriarch…he could have been as pulverized as the arena floor he was just standing on.
Zhen Li briefly moved his gaze away from the cratered ground and towards the cause of it.
<
He swore his eyes were playing tricks on him, because for a brief moment, the one known as Zhen Liu looked not like a human, but a monstrous demonic being with horns as sharp and jagged as a dragon from the Umbral Spider continent.
Zhen Li realized in this moment that he had greatly underestimated the abilities of this branch clan, or more specifically, the abilities of their so-called “crippled” puppet master. In his shock, his brain soon recalled a rather strange meeting he had not too long ago…and then something clicked.
‘The disciple that the Overlord mentioned…it can’t be…can it?’
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‘Ah crap,’ Zhen Liu groaned in mental disdain, ‘how the hell am I supposed to play this little moment off?’
It wasn’t until after he had pulverized the ground and seeing Zhen Li get yoinked out of the danger zone that was his fist by his grandfather, that Zhen Liu realized that he might have gone a little overboard.
The funny(scary?) part was, he didn’t know why he acted the way he did.
He saw that weird arrogant villain speech coming from a mile away, he definitely predicted the guy to say some insult involving his family’s origin and honor…so why the hell did he immediately think it was a good idea to essentially pulverize the man’s skull into dust?
‘Why did I…want to use [Chaos]…on him?’
It felt like the anger in that moment was all his, but it also felt like it wasn’t.
Perhaps it was some lingering resentment from the previous guy that was still present in the body? There were a few memories that involved a number of insults hurled his way because of his technically “half and half” origin…
Regardless, that was the past, he was quite literally a different person back then, he shouldn’t have let his temper get the better of him… especially in front of a couple bastards he had bluffed like a mother fucker just a few short days ago.
Either way, when he saw Zhen Wang come and check on Zhen Li, with grandpa Zhen Shi by his side, Zhen Liu immediately went into damage control mode.
Firstly, he recalled Razor Maiden back into her carry mode, as having his “technically” main mode of combat out and about was akin to having a sword perpetually drawn, it was a bad look.
Secondly, he quickly worked out a formal yet fast apology he could deliver to these two.
‘Its cool man, just say that it was your fault, that you went overboard and everything should be A-O-.’
“Young Master Zhen Liu, Patriarch Zhen Shi, I would like to formally apologize for my behavior this afternoon,” Zhen Li suddenly said as he bowed in shame.
“No, Zhen Li, as your master, the blame falls solely on me,” Zhen Wang added as he also bowed in shame.
‘Or ya know…that happens.’
Blowing his expectations out of the water, Zhen Li and Zhen Wang, a pair of representatives of the main clan, had unexpectedly taken the initiative to apologize for the former’s behavior. This was oddly refreshing to Zhen Liu, seeing as he came from a world where the guy who retaliated had to apologize while the guy who instigated usually got off scot free.
Evidently, even Zhen Shi was caught off guard by this sudden apology.
“Oh…uh…good,” Zhen Shi managed to reply, “there are…no hard feelings. It was just the passions of youth. I get how it goes. Right?”
Zhen Shi quickly shot a glance in Zhen Liu’s direction, expecting him to follow-up. Thankfully, he wasn’t dense…but he was kind of blunt.
“Oh…yeah! Don’t worry about that kind of thing. It was just a friendly exchange between youngsters trying to reach the top,” Zhen Liu laughed, “besides, y’all managed to land a pretty good hit on me.”
The moment Zhen Liu said that last sentence, everyone in the room that wasn’t Zhen Wang or Zhen Shi had a strange look on their face.
Zhen Liu tried his best to ignore the stares as he could practically hear the exact same sentence going through all of their heads.
“A pretty good hit? It didn’t do shit!”
Either way, the incident was now over and Zhen Shi and Zhen Li left the Zhen Clan estate, after confirming the details of their upcoming trip with the Zhen Clan patriarch one more time.
Once they had left the vicinity, Zhen Shi asked his grandson a simple question.
“So…is it safe to assume the fist shaped hole in the arena is your doing?”
“To be fair,” Zhen Liu defended himself, ” he started it.”
“So I can see…,” Zhen Shi sighed as he lookes over the wrecked arena floor, “I’ll get someone to look at it tomorrow.”
“Oh, no need,” Zhen Liu interjected as he prepped himself to summon Nepherage and Frosttusk, “we got this.”
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Zhen Wang and Zhen Li exited the Zhen Clan estate, looking a bit…frazzled after what had occurred.
Silence befell the two as they walked for a bit, until Zhen Wang decided to break the silence.
“Xiao Li…I sensed a rather large amount of remnant Aquarii aether when I entered that training ground with Zhen Shi…did you by any chance use the [River King’s Land Carving Palm] on that Fourth Young Master of theirs?”
“Yes sir.”
“Uh huh…and is it safe to assume that it didn’t do… anything, against him?”
“Yes.”
“And that giant…fist-shaped crater was…”
“His counterattack. Yes.”
“Okay…in that case-”
*BANG!*
“Whoa!”
Before Zhen Wang could ask Zhen Li further about what had occurred, a giant hornet stinger covered in lighting aether appeared out of nowhere and pierced the ground directly in front of the two of them. Tied to the hornet stinger was a piece of paper that appeared to be a surprisingly detailed yet crude map with an “X” draw on it, alongside a little note.
When Zhen Wang extracted the paper from the stinger, the note read as follows:
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Your men were ditched here.
No worries, they’re in one piece…for now.
XOXO
Passing Nightmare.
P.S. Thanks for sparring with my adorable disciple.
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Zhen Wang’s face had a weird look on it as he read over the note…but kept his feelings to himself for the moment as he instructed his disciple on their next course of action.
“Well then…come along, Xiao Li. It’s time to go pick up our men.”
“Of course, master.”
