Huang Shi, on the other hand, didn't say anything as his expression remained as cold as ice.
This time, he raised his right foot before stepping right on Tian Ju's head, forcing him to swallow a mouthful of dust from the ground as the latter roared in anger:
"You bastard! Let me go! Are you not afraid of punishment from the Disciplinary Hall? Even if you are the son of the sect master, you can't do this!"
When the onlookers, who were just staying behind expecting a one-sided beating, saw their mighty elder brother Tian Ju being punched into oblivion and having his head stepped on by the so-called wastrel "Huang Shi," they all suddenly shivered in fright.
"Wh-what? How is that possible? Could it be that young master Huang Shi was hiding his true strength this entire time?"
"Tha-that shouldn't be possible; we all know that young master Huang Shi has never seriously focused on his cultivation. In fact, from what I remember, he doesn't even have a cultivation base!"
"Then how do you explain the current situation, huh?! Clearly, young master Huang Shi has a powerful cultivation base! In fact, he is so strong that he's already at the 9th level of the Elementary Profound Realm!"
Despite the clamor that was happening in his surroundings, Huang Shi continued to remain silent as his mind rushed with numerous thoughts about how to deal with this situation.
Obviously, at the end of the day, Tian Ju did have a point; he couldn't just outright kill the bastard. Even though he was obviously trying to cripple him, if he did do something like that, then even with his status, he would be severely punished.
But if he didn't do anything right now, more and more people would try to test him over and over again, and quite frankly, he didn't have the patience for those kinds of useless things.
Like hell do I want to deal with these useless thugs over and over again! If I could, I would just kill all of them at once to get it over with!
After thinking for a few seconds, he finally had an idea that he was satisfied with as he once again looked at Tian Ju, who was still continuing to struggle beneath his feet while roaring:
"You bastard! Let me go! Do you have a death wish!"
BOOM!
Huang Shi suddenly kicked Tian Ju in the face, causing him to fly for a couple of meters before crashing on the ground.
Before he could even stand up and check on his injuries, Huang Shi once again approached him and held him by his throat, raising him up before looking him dead in the eyes with a sinister expression as he whispered softly:
"You wish to cripple me, yes? Someone asked you to do it for some sort of reward. Well, I don't care about what you idiots try to do, but if you dare try to cripple me, then you better be prepared to experience the same thing!"
Hearing the words coming from Huang Shi and seeing his ice-cold expression suddenly made Tian Ju shiver as his expression changed from one of anger and arrogance to deep fear.
"Yo-you, what do you think you're doing? Let me go!"
Without even bothering to explain himself, Huang Shi finally used his spiritual energy for the first time today as his hands suddenly started to glow with golden light before being lit aflame with flames of the same color.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Tian Ju started to scream in agony as the meridians in his body started to incinerate, turning him from one of the most prominent members of the younger generation of the Azure Dragon Sect to a worthless cripple.
"No! Stop! Help!"
He continued to scream in pain and misery as he started to beg for forgiveness from Huang Shi.
"Please stop! I-I'll tell you who it is that sent me! Just let me go!"
Hearing these words coming from Tian Ju's mouth caused Huang Shi to suddenly pause in thought, as he quickly realized that this was an opportunity for him to figure out the truth of the matter.
This was especially the case since Tian Ju was not completely crippled yet; this means that with enough resources, he could most likely recover his cultivation base, but his potential would be substantially reduced—he would no longer be a genius.
And yet, before Huang Shi could even open his mouth to respond, suddenly one of the onlookers who were watching this scene in fear suddenly moved with astonishing speed.
He suddenly appeared right next to Tian Ju and raised his hand as a dagger appeared within, before quickly stabbing it at Tian Ju's throat.
Huang Shi was shocked at this development as he quickly let go of his hand, while Tian Ju's body dropped to the ground and he started to choke on his own blood.
Before he could even ask why he was killed, despite Huang Shi seemingly about to give him a chance at life, he died right there in the middle of the street as pandemonium suddenly erupted.
"Dead! H-He's dead! Tian Ju is dead; someone killed him!"
"An assassin! There's an assassin here! Call the Disciplinary Hall!"
Huang Shi, who was in the middle of this entire mess, suddenly frowned as his expression changed into one of anger.
Fuck! They actually dared to assassinate the bastard just to prevent him from spilling the beans about who sent him? Whoever these bastards are, they are really damn ruthless.
After remaining quiet for a few seconds, he suddenly sighed as he waited for the members of the Disciplinary Hall to show up and prepared himself for questioning.
The assassin, on the other hand, was already nowhere to be found; it was clear from the fact that he disappeared as fast as he came that he was a very experienced and powerful assassin.
He's probably also at the 9th level of the Elementary Profound Realm, maybe even higher.
After waiting for a couple more minutes, a group of five people suddenly showed up in front of him wearing black robes and stoic expressions.
The person at the front quickly stopped in front of the corpse, staring at it for a few seconds before looking up at Huang Shi and speaking in a rough voice:
"Did you do this?"