Xu Tao's words weren't just said to escape from that situation. Rather, he truly had "business" to attend to.

After leaving his room, he reappeared in the sky roughly three kilometers away from the mansion, at an altitude of about a hundred meters from the ground. It wasn't too high, but that wasn't a place someone should be staying in.

"Who are you?"

As soon as Xu Tao appeared, the man who was there beforehand asked.

"That should be my line," he replied, raising a brow while walking closer... mid-air. "Who are you? Why are you spying on that mansion?"

The urgent business that Xu Tao had to attend to was this very person. As soon as he came out of the VR Pod, he quickly noticed his presence and sharp "gaze" toward Henrietta and her people. Taking into consideration the case of her brother, who tried to attack without asking questions, Xu Tao wondered if this man was here on a similar mission.

"Oh?"

But the man, hearing Xu Tao's question, simply combed his red hair back, his lips curling into an interested grin.

"To think you'd still be able to talk back while bathed under my killing intent... You're quite promising. It'd be a waste to kill you here, so you better fess up now. Who the heck are you?"

Xu Tao smiled, chuckling at his words.

"Bloodlust? This isn't any better than a weak breeze." He scoffed. "And I have no reason to name myself first, when you're the one trespassing into my domain."

"YOUR domain? Hah! This place is my domain! This entire country is my domain!"

But the red-haired man wasn't losing out in enthusiasm. "Anyway, since you refuse to name yourself, then you shall take your name to your grave," he said, grinning as he waved his hand.

The air shook.

Xu Tao saw the vacuum blade rushing toward his neck, loaded with thick Qi, despite being a casual attack. Although he didn't feel any threat from it, to others like Yifa or Henrietta, this much alone was more than enough to kill them!

"You call this an attack?" He huffed, blowing air just a little forcefully out of his mouth. "Too weak..."

When he did, the vacuum blade... lost momentum, disappearing mid-flight. Like a bubble popping, vanishing in an instant.

"...What?"

The red-haired man didn't even detect Qi from Xu Tao's "attack," but his invisible blade was canceled out completely!

"Hah! A fluke, for sure!" But the man wasn't losing heart that easily.

He waved his hand—no, two hands simultaneously. He sent forward a flurry of vacuum blades, ensuring this time that Xu Tao wouldn't be able to handle them all in time. But the same as his initial attack, these ones too weren't really loaded with his full power—basically still just testing the waters.

Xu Tao stared at the incoming barrage, but rather than moving to evade it, he remained still in place, floating in the sky. Arms crossed behind his back, lips curled into a thin smile, as if he were simply out on a stroll.

The next instant, all the void blades landed on point. The dozens of attacks hit without a single one missing, causing a cloud of smoke to cover the scene.

"Hmm... Not even worth talking about." He scoffed, thinking that Xu Tao had died, shredded into a hundred pieces.

"Yeah. You tell me that."

"...!"

But the next moment, his voice echoed right where he had stood previously!

When the smoke cleared, Xu Tao remained where he was, still smiling casually. His robes, his skin, even his hair—nothing looked damaged at all. It was as if he hadn't been hit by dozens of vacuum blades in the first place!

"No way!" He gasped. "You took those head-on, and you're unscathed?!"

"Oh, I wasn't unscathed."

Xu Tao shook his head before pulling on one strand of his bangs. "See? You cut off a fraction of one strand of my hair."

"Fuck...!"

Of course, to the man, Xu Tao's words were nothing but gloating; a deliberate taunt. However, Xu Tao was seriously amazed.

Currently, although he wasn't actively protecting himself with Qi, someone managed to cut a part of his body... Although it was just a little more than a millimeter of his hair. But that was still an achievement worthy of praise, when thinking of the gap between their strengths.

"You... are quite good." Xu Tao nodded, finally taking the fight seriously. "So good that it's a pity to kill you here. As such, with respect to your promising future, I will spare you today. Scram!"

He raised his voice ever so slightly, but that caused a powerful shockwave to spread out.

"Hah! You think you can get me with this?!"

But as if learning from Xu Tao's example, the red-haired man didn't back down. He took the shockwave on, slashing his arm forward, as if swinging an invisible sword.

"HAAAP!"

And with brute force alone, he managed to push it back.

"Ohh!"

Xu Tao didn't expect him to block, much less cancel out his "attack." Such an achievement required extreme accuracy and timing, earning the man another point for his ingenuity and boldness.

"You've overstayed in this world already! DIE!"

And the next moment, the man appeared right behind Xu Tao, waving his arm down as if performing a karate chop.

His execution was perfect.

Arriving at a blind spot in a flash, striking without wasted movement, and even loading it with his full power in a split second. There was no way he could imagine Xu Tao surviving this full-power strike!

BAM!

But after the side of his palm hit Xu Tao's head, he felt an anomaly.

Instead of chopping the enemy in half, like in his imagination, it was the bones in his hands that cracked instead! The strike was too powerful, and when it didn't work, its rebound had injured him!

"Ugh! You... hard-headed fucker!"

Still, he didn't give up. Seeing his fist was unusable, he launched a kick this time. He didn't hold back on strength, loading all his Qi into the attack. "Elephant Stomp!" And he kicked Xu Tao's back, right where his heart was.

This technique wasn't a simple attack either.

Like an elephant's step, the vibrations upon striking the target would spread rapidly, damaging their internal organs—the heart in this case!

BOOM!

The hit landed squarely once more, making the man's lips curl up slightly. "I win...!" he thought.

GRAB!

But the next moment, a large hand moved so fast he couldn't even react. By the time he realized it, his entire face was already held in an iron claw.

"Too bad, your attacks don't work on me."

Xu Tao smiled, showing composure despite receiving multiple attacks in a row. He wasn't showing any signs of injury either. Even his Qi flow wasn't disturbed in the slightest!

'Fuck... Did I pick a fight I can't survive from?'

The man thought.

Of course, he struggled as much as he could. Moving his free hands to try and pry the hand off his face. Flailing his legs, kicking whatever he could reach.

Xu Tao didn't bother dodging. Such attacks didn't even damage him, other than slightly dirtying his robe—not something he couldn't deal with using a simple cleansing technique.

However, despite being one squeeze away from victory, Xu Tao didn't move. Instead, he spoke.

"I'm a benevolent man. As such, I'm asking you one last time... Either you scram, or you die here and now."

"...!"

The man's eyes flickered with hesitation. Faint groans escaped his lips as he seemingly thought long and hard about it. However...

"I'd rather die...!"

His answer wasn't what Xu Tao expected.

"...Well, your choice." He sighed, feeling bad about what he was about to do.

His fist tightened slowly, but that alone was enough for both of them to hear the red-haired man's skull release creaking noises.

"UGH!" He groaned in pain.

But despite death being just a moment away, his pride refused to let him give up.

"Fuck...!" He cursed under his breath. "Henrietta... my daughter... Sorry..." And whispered words filled with regret.

"...Huh?"

But at that moment, Xu Tao's hold on his face loosened—no, it was completely released!

Confused, the red-haired man regained his posture mid-air, before moving a short distance away. His eyes glared at Xu Tao, filled with confusion and wonder.

"You... Are you Henrietta's father?" Xu Tao asked without delay, trying to confirm.

The man, however, spat back in a tone filled with thorns. "Huh? And what if I am? You're going to kill her too?!"

Xu Tao sighed, various emotions mixing together. "No..." He shook his head. "Henrietta... She's my disciple, actually. Rather, didn't you see me coming from her mansion earlier?"

"Disciple...? Then, her master is..."

The red-haired man's eyes widened, pointing a trembling finger over. "You're that mysterious Master she's been talking about? That Venerable Xu Tao?!"

Of course, it's not like he heard it directly from Henrietta. Rather, he just read it in the report she herself sent after their family dinner.

That short letter was also the reason why he was here in the first place.

"So it's you...!"

The man's atmosphere changed. Gone was the prickly attitude, and now, he was smiling from ear to ear.

"I've got a lot of praises for you, Master Xu Tao! However, this isn't the place for such talks. How about coming with me? I'll take you to a great place!"

Xu Tao wanted to refuse at first, but realizing that he actually almost killed Henrietta's father out of a misunderstanding, he relented.

"...Alright. I shall indulge."

And just like that, two men who had just met moments earlier headed toward the crowded city in the dead of the night.

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