Chapter 21: A Humiliating Submission

Liu Feng turned to face the Liu clan members, their eyes pleading for him to do the unthinkable. He could feel their desperation, begging him silently to kneel and kowtow to Li Wei.

'No one among you will oppose this!' The Liu clan patriarch was inwardly outraged by the lack of guile amongst the ranks of his clansmen, in particular the younger generation that were previously barking out like dogs in a kennel.

When his gaze shifted to his wife, her helpless expression nearly broke him. Beside him, his daughter, Liu Mei, stood rigid, her anger a mirror of the fury he buried deep within. Liu Feng had wielded power in his day, but never with the callousness Li Wei displayed now. Never this brazen.

"Hurry up! Or are you trying to test patience" Li Wei's brash tone left the seasoned patriarch no room for refusal, as he aggressively demanded a display of piety. The collective group of Liu clansmen were nearly numbed by the turn of events rapidly transpiring within their estate.

This Li Wei character had the reckless attitude and foolhardy tendencies of a random vagabond from a backward state, but he somehow possessed deep pockets and had a formidable backer. A mid-sized clan like the Liu's could easily be swept off the map by a bigshot that just happened to appear in their midst, a mere notion had actually manifested into reality

'The heavens are my witness', he thought bitterly, as he slowly lowered himself into the kowtowing posture Zhou Wen had demonstrated earlier. His movements were stiff, his pride resisting every inch. He stopped short of fully bowing, refusing to arch his back in complete submission. 'The cruelty of this brat has no bounds...'

"This is a historic moment in the history of our clan, its a shame that the image of our patriarch has suffered a tragic blow." One elder grumbled his breath and was clearly holding some bottled up grievances with Li Wei, but he didn't dare speak out lest he receives a vicious beating that could leave him crippled for life.

From his seat of power, Li Wei smirked. It was enough. He'd made his point. Any further degradation would cross the line into pointless cruelty, and even he could see the futility in that. Besides, the Liu clan's shame would be confined within their own walls, sparing his reputation in the city.

He waved a dismissive hand. "You, the servant dog. Help your patriarch kowtow properly. Show him how it's done." Instead of just slinging mud at the reputation of one person, Li Wei decided to test the limit of Zhou Wen's shamelessness.

Gasps rippled through the elders. Some shook their heads in silence.

"Ruthless. Truly ruthless. This young man has no heart." A purple robed elder was deeply distressed by the pathetic display of the clan Patriarch, who he had witnessed being handed the position by the long dead founder of the Liu clan.

Zhou Wen, however, looked eager to comply, taking a step forward. But before he could reach Liu Feng, Li Wei yawned and stopped him with a lazy gesture. "Never mind. Stop. It goes against my kind and magnanimous nature to hold grudges," he declared, his voice dripping with mock sincerity.

Li Wei had already witnessed this elderly man prostrate himself numerous times in the past few minutes alone, it was safe to say that he had grown tired of this pitiful display. The system had given him a rather interesting task that he had no qualms completing, and fate would have it that the path towards this goal was not littered with obstructions.

Lady Chen Xi forced a brittle laugh. "Hero Li Wei truly is an upright man of great character," she murmured, her voice trembling ever so slightly. The Liu clan Matriarch was slightly frightened by the humiliation her own husband had been put through, what made her feel more concerned was the unhinged manner this strange man went about doing things. 

"That I am," Li Wei replied, utterly unbothered. He stretched theatrically. "I'm tired. Lady Chen Xi, lead me to my quarters, and sing for me while I rest." Once again, the Liu clan collective were utterly dumbfounded by the bold words that were freely flowing out of Li Wei' mouth.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. Around them, the room fell deathly quiet. Liu Feng's face contorted with barely restrained fury, his bloodshot eyes glaring daggers. Yet, he said nothing. 'The nerve of this runt!!!!!' Liu Feng had already conjured a hundred different ways to kill Li Wei, ranging from stabbing, bashing, burning, skinning and hanging him.

The elders exchanged uneasy glances. One quietly slipped away, muttering something about closed-door cultivation. As a weathered member of the Liu clan, he understood that they were times that a counsel was not needed.

Even the top sects don't produce characters this arrogant. It's... unbelievable, an elder thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could hardly believe that a youth that didn't even look half the age of the Patriarch was making advances on his beloved spouse, which Liu Feng feeling like a green hat was hovering above him.

'Even now, you still do nothing...' Lady Chen Xi glanced at her husband, as though seeking defiance or strength. She found neither. Lowering her head, she said nothing. 'He really is a coward' it was quite a shame for the Patriarch Liu Feng that his spouse had begun to despise him based on circumstances beyond his control.

Li Wei, unfazed by the tension, turned to Leng Yue. "Leng Yue, give Mei Yu, Jia Lin, and Ning Xue five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. They'll fetch the best food and ingredients for a grand feast in my honor."

Leng Yue nodded briskly and handed over the stones. Li Wei added with a grin, "Anything left over is yours to keep. This city's goods are pocket change, anyway."

At this, one elder coughed violently, clutching his chest. A youngster was flashing money around like a crowned prince, while the Liu clan youngsters were staring wide-eyed looking like chickens in a barn.

"Elder Liu Shen! Are you alright?" someone cried, rushing to his side.

Another elder quickly explained, "His cultivation technique requires a harmonious state of mind. His peace has been... disrupted."

It wasn't hard to guess why. Li Wei's expression remained unmoved. He tilted his head toward Leng Yue.

"Do you have anything for this... weak constitution?"

Sighing, Leng Yue produced several bottles, each brimming with Heaven Grade pills. "These will help, depending on his technique."

Li Wei waved dismissively. "I don't need to know how the poor pick their medicine. To me, these are just candy. In fact, give me two bottles."

Leng Yue, anticipating his theatrics, handed over the pills without hesitation. Li Wei took one bottle for himself, tossing the other casually toward the elders. One of them caught it gingerly, pulling out a pill with trembling hands.

"Heaven Grade... high-quality..." the elder whispered, awestruck.

Li Wei, now thoroughly entertained, wrapped an arm around Lady Chen Xi's waist. "As for you, lead the way."