"What? You want to beat me up?"
Yang Xiao sneered.
His haughty, contemptuous expression made every one of Yang Zhentian's adopted sons want to fly into a rage.
"Yang Xiao, don't get so cocky! If Father didn't spoil you, what right would you have to boss us around!"
Yang Ying scoffed.
Hearing this, Yang Xiao glanced at him and chuckled. "You're absolutely right. Because Father spoils me, I get to boss you around. But by that same token, how has my father treated all of you? I don't need to spell that out, do I?"
"But how did you treat his son? You had a grand time calling me 'waste' over and over, didn't you? Now, I'm calling you wastes. Why aren't you enjoying it?"
At these words, the expressions of all nine men changed.
"Perhaps you'll say that in this world, the strong are revered and the weak are enslaved. Because I couldn't cultivate, it didn't matter that I'm your Adoptive Father's son. Even though your Adoptive Father showed you kindness as great as a mountain, I was still a waste. You all still looked down on me. You'd even want to kill me, like Yang Lang, or blame his betrayal on me, like Yang Xiong!"
"But I'm here to tell you—you're not qualified!"
"Now, I'll give you a chance. Don't you all think I'm a waste? Then come at me together. Let's have a fair and open fight and see who the real waste is. Do you dare?"
Yang Xiao practically roared the last sentence.
'He actually didn't dislike these guys. After all, they had sacrificed a lot for his sake—some had even given their lives. But, just as he'd said, they made those sacrifices out of gratitude for his father's kindness, not for him. If he didn't give them a wake-up call, another Yang Lang or Yang Xiong was bound to appear in the future. That was why he'd walked in here and called them wastes. He had to make them see who the real waste was!'
"You... what did you say?"
Yang Ying and the others couldn't believe what they were hearing.
'What was wrong with this waste today? He was usually so timid and insecure. How dare he make such a bold claim. Telling them to attack him all at once? To see who the real waste was? He must be an idiot.'
"Yang Lang wanted to kill you, and he deserved to die! Yang Xiong betrayed Adoptive Father, and he deserved to die too! But those two don't represent us, and that's no reason for you to call us wastes!"
"However, it's rare for you to show such backbone today and challenge us. We are heavily indebted to our Adoptive Father, so of course we won't refuse. Yang Ying, you lost a hand for this kid. You go. Let him see if you're a waste!"
Yang Biao erupted.
'Even though he felt that Yang Xiao was right, hearing those words come from his mouth made them all the more grating. So, even if he agreed with him deep down, Yang Biao still had to teach this arrogant brat a lesson. He had to restore their honor. Just like Yang Xiao was trying to do.'
"Yang Xiao, don't be a crybaby in a minute!"
Yang Ying smirked coldly.
Yang Xiao, however, just scoffed. "Just you? That won't be enough. You should all just come at me together. That way, no one can say that I, Yang Xiao, am bullying a bunch of cripples!"
"What did you say!"
Yang Ying's eyes instantly went bloodshot.
It wasn't just him. Yang Hua, Yang Songg, and the others reacted the same way.
"Talk is cheap. Beat Yang Ying first, and then we can talk."
Yang Biao had spoken.
Everyone fell silent.
"Yang Ying, teach Young Master Xiao a good lesson, so he doesn't go thinking he's invincible."
"That's right. Teach him a lesson so he stops causing trouble for Adoptive Father."
"Go on. Enough talk. Actions speak louder than words."
...
Yang Ying nodded. "Yang Xiao, don't start begging for mercy too soon!"
With that, he moved like lightning, appearing before Yang Xiao in an instant. He threw a punch straight at Yang Xiao's nose.
He seemed intent on taking him down in a single blow.
But the moment he moved, Yang Xiao moved too—only faster.
He also threw a punch, aimed at the very same spot: Yang Ying's nose.
The difference was...
Yang Ying attacked first, but his fist met nothing but air.
Yang Xiao attacked second, but his punch landed squarely on its target.
CRACK!
Yang Ying saw stars and stumbled back several steps before he could stop.
He touched his nose and his hand came away covered in blood.
"Yang Songg, you're up!"
Just as Yang Ying was about to charge back in, Yang Biao spoke.
Yang Songg, who had been waiting, leaped to his feet.
Frustration gnawed at Yang Ying, but he had no choice but to back down.
"You have some skill, but Yang Ying is seriously injured. He can't even use thirty percent of his full strength. You got off easy!"
Yang Songg sneered.
"I knew it would be like this if you came at me one by one. Seriously, just come at me together. I don't have the time to fight you all individually."
"Arrogant! Take my fist!"
Yang Songg roared and threw a punch.
'In his eyes, Yang Ying had just lost a hand. His strength was severely diminished, and he hadn't adapted yet. He couldn't even maintain his balance properly, so he probably couldn't even use thirty percent of his full power. His loss meant nothing. But he was different. He, Yang Songg, was a proper Seventh-Layer Martial Master. His injuries weren't severe. Even at his worst, he could still display the strength of a 4th-Layer Martial Master. Dealing with a waste like him would be child's play. He probably wouldn't even be able to take a single blow.'
But was that really the case?
CRACK!
Apparently not.
In a near-identical repeat of Yang Ying's defeat, his fist missed Yang Xiao, while Yang Xiao's struck home.
The immense force of the blow sent him flying.
The power behind that punch was at least that of a typical 4th-Layer Martial Master.
Moreover, the fist carried a scorching hot aura.
It made Yang Songg extremely uncomfortable.
"4th-Layer Martial Master? Fire Attribute True Qi?"
The color drained from Yang Songg's face.
"Impossible! Even if the Heaven Repairing Pill is miraculous, he only just started cultivating! How could he have reached the 4th-Layer Martial Master realm so fast? And even refined True Qi?"
The rest of them were all in disbelief.
They all rose to their feet.
"I told you, you have to come at me all at once!"
Yang Xiao's cold words once again ignited their anger, turning their shock into fury.
"Don't think you're so great just because you can cultivate now! We are not people you can afford to look down on!"
Yang Biao roared.
"Oh? And why is that? Do you think I'm only able to cultivate because of you?"
Yang Xiao smiled faintly.
This time, however, Yang Biao remained silent.
But Yang Songg spoke up. "That's right! Without us, how would you have gotten the Heaven Repairing Pill? How dare you act so high and mighty in front of us!"
"The Heaven Repairing Pill? You mean this thing?" Yang Xiao sneered, then threw a small vial onto the ground. "How laughable. You really think I needed to eat this to be able to cultivate? Let me tell you, I've reached this point all on my own!"
It was the Heaven Repairing Pill.
"And what's more, this isn't even a real Heaven Repairing Pill. The thing you risked your lives for is just a wasted pill, and it's poisonous. If I had eaten it, I'd probably be dead by now. Now, do you still have a problem with me calling you wastes?"
"No, that's impossible!"
"But that really looks like the vial for a Heaven Repairing Pill!"
"Could it be... we completely misjudged him!"
"I don't believe it!"
Faced with their doubts and disbelief, Yang Xiao let out a cold laugh.
"Whether you believe it or not, these are the facts. I didn't rely on you to be able to cultivate. You, on the other hand, relied on my father to get where you are today!"
"And yet you went behind my back, calling me a waste. So tell me, who is the real waste now?"
His words left them all dumbstruck.
'So everything they'd believed was just their own self-righteous assumption. It turned out all their sacrifices had been in vain. Now, what right did they have to call Yang Xiao a waste? What right did they have to feel that Yang Xiao had been a burden to them, a burden to their Adoptive Father?'
"Looks like you're not just wastes, but a bunch of spineless cowards, too!"
But Yang Xiao wasn't about to let them off the hook. His next cold words stoked their anger once more.