Chapter 48: If you can’t stand me but can’t defeat me either

At that moment, Mu Cheng was struck by lightning, disintegrating into nothingness. He was completely oblivious to Fourth Miss Zhao’s derisive cold smile at the corner of her mouth, and the deep disdain in her eyes.

"I don’t treat you well, then whom should I treat well? Just wait, I will definitely avenge you! That playboy wastrel Mu Hanyan, Mu Feng and I will soon take care of him. Trust me, it will be very soon." Mu Cheng cooed to Fourth Miss Zhao,

"Achoo! Achoo!" Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Mu Hanyan sneezed twice heartily.

"Young Master, what’s wrong? Have you caught a cold?" Xixi asked anxiously by his side.

"No, there must be someone cursing me behind my back." Mu Hanyan waved his hand and snorted coldly, "Let them curse, I actually enjoy watching these people who can’t stand me but can’t do anything about me."

Xixi: "..."

After a moment of silence, Xixi could not help but smile again, Why did she feel like the Young Master has changed a bit? Become... cuter?!

Mu Hanyan couldn’t care less about who was cursing him behind his back; it was always the same few people, nothing to fuss about. Now was not the time to worry about who was speaking ill of him; what was most important was to urgently improve his strength.

That very night, Mu Hanyan began to diligently cultivate.

For several days in a row, Mu Hanyan stayed in his little courtyard and did not go out.

Strength, he had to quickly restore his strength. If he were to live as aimlessly as in his previous life, it wouldn’t matter, but having once possessed the strength of a Sword Saint Realm, Mu Hanyan found his current First Rank Swordsman strength utterly intolerable.

Furthermore, the duel he had agreed to with Mu Feng was drawing near. Having realized his father’s, mother’s, and brother’s care for him, even to the point of sacrificing their lives to protect him, he had sworn to never let them suffer any grievances or harm.

But after several consecutive days and nights of non-stop cultivation, his strength had not improved by much and remained at the realm of a First-level Swordsman.

Could it be that, just like in his previous life, he wouldn’t see a breakthrough until after his sixteenth birthday?

In his past life, before the age of sixteen, he was indeed what others called a good-for-nothing, with mediocre talent for cultivation at best. Even the so-called Second-order Swordsman status was because of his identity as the eldest son of Heishi City’s City Lord. His true strength was only that of a First Rank Swordsman, barely a beginner.

But no one knew that right after his sixteenth birthday, as if enlightenment poured into him, he had a breakthrough. In just a few months, his strength leapt over the threshold of a Ninth Rank Swordsman at its peak, reaching the Sword Master Realm. Then over a few years, he reached the Sword Saint Realm. Sadly, soon after, he was cruelly betrayed by his best friend, dying tragically and then reborn under strange circumstances—a memory he could never erase.

Following such a trajectory, he could still make a sensational breakthrough after the age of sixteen. With past experience, he could even become a Sword Saint earlier than before, but he did not want to wait. He did not want his parents and brother to be ridiculed because of him anymore. He wanted to become strong sooner, to protect them!

Once again feeling his strength that had hardly progressed, Mu Hanyan became somewhat restless.

A vibration came from the Star Compass in his arms, and his heart filled with a strange emotion. It was as if it were mocking him, yet that mockery seemed to hold a satirical note. On further reflection, perhaps schadenfreude was a more accurate term.

(I’ve seen book reviews where people are anxious about the cultivation progress. Everyone will soon understand why. Don’t hurry, have a little faith and give me some time, and I will present an even more marvelous story.)