All of the private booths had special formations that would isolate the sound and prevent probing by using divine sense. Sounds from within the booth were completely isolated. However, sounds from outside were only dampened. This was to provide a balance in terms of quietness and awareness for the people inside. The restaurant didn't want it's customers disturbed by random noises, however leaving them completely oblivious to the surrounding happenings was also not desirable in case of an emergency.
Some of the restaurant staff had already arrived, but they didn't interfere. Because this was a dispute between cultivators, they were not qualified to interfere. If by mistake they offended the family involved, they might end up dying, just for being a busybody.
More and more people started gathering and started gossiping amongst themselves. Liu Fengying was rather well known within the cultivator circle of the city and many immediately recognized her. Liu Fengying became somewhat nervous since the matter might become beyond control if not handled properly.
Mu Chen gave her a reassuring look as he glanced around at the onlookers. As one would expect, many of them were from established families or sects just based on their attire. The restaurant was one of the best in the city, so this was normal. The number of outsiders seemed to be much larger than usual this time. It should be because the Envoy was arriving today.
Mu Chen surveyed the crowd. There were several familiar faces among them. However, they did not greet Mu Chen. Mu Chen also didn't bother with them. He just wanted to see if Mu Yukong's backer would jump out to protect him. For Mu Yukong to refer to him as 'Big Brother', he must be pretty high status in the Family. Unfortunately, among the several Mu Family members present, Mu Chen didn't see anyone with status high enough to warrant his attention.
"Not here?" Mu Chen muttered to himself. Mu Chen once again looked at Mu Yukong, who had fainted. Mu Chen kicked him awake.
Mu Yukong groaned as he regained his consciousness.
"Hey, I don't see your 'Big Brother'...Did he get scared? Were you just bragging?" Mu Chen was sarcastic.
"Mu...Chen...cough...you bastard...You will not get...cough...away...with this...Big..Brother...will take revenge...for me...even...your women…"
"Stupid!" Mu Chen kicked Mu Yukong hard in his kneecap. There was a sound of kneecap shattering, followed by a loud pitiful squeal. "I was being merciful because we were once close...did you think I will continue to go easy on you because of that?"
Mu Chen let Mu Yukong scream for a while.
"Now...where was I? Ah...do you know why I kicked you?" Mu Chen asked.
"Cough...why?" Mu Yukong gasped.
"Did you become an idiot? Do you need to ask something so obvious?" Mu Chen ridiculed.
"You…!" Mu Chen's reply made Mu Yukong almost spurt blood.
Mu Chen smirked, "I will only ask once. Are there any more recordings?"
"No...there...aren't any more!" Mu Yukong hurriedly replied. But Mu Chen saw that Mu Yukong flicker imperceptibly towards his companions.
Mu Chen stepped Mu Yukong's other intact leg. "Think again! Maybe your 'Big Brother' will be generous enough to help you fix a leg or two, but can he help you fix every bone of your body? What do you think he will do?" Mu Chen said.
Mu Yukong trembled. His family jewels were already beyond redemption. Just this broken leg will take several months to restore. If several more were broken, there would be no way to heal and recover without any expensive pills. Although he revered his 'Big Brother', he wasn't delusional to the point where he couldn't see the truth. If Mu Chen really did like he said, his Big Brother would likely discard him instead of wasting so much money on him.
"Mu..Chen...you...do you dare to do it? The Elders will punish you!" Mu Yukong still put up a last-ditch effort.
"Elders? What about them? You think they will care about fights between younger generations? Besides I am still a core member, as for you…" Mu Chen sneered. He was also irritated at the Elders. He wasn't informed about such an important event. Even Liu Fengying's letter had been intercepted. Obviously, someone at the top level had used their influence against him. "At most I will be punished with solitary confinement for a few months, but you? Do you want to be bedridden for years?"
Mu Chen glared at Mu Yukong, who felt as if he was a mouse being stared at by a hawk. Finally.
"Give it…" Mu Yukong relented. He just wanted to quickly get back to Mu Family for treatment. Even if there was very little chance his family jewels could be saved, he had to try. Who knew if some Elder had a solution?
Upon hearing Mu Yukong's command, two of his companions each threw out a piece of recording jade in Mu Chen's direction. Mu Chen grabbed them without any expression.
"Is that all?" Mu Chen asked Mu Yuknong once again, making him panic.
"I swear! Those are all!" Mu Yukong pleaded.
"Hmm...I don't believe you!" Mu Chen narrowed his eyes as he increased pressure on Mu Yukong's leg.
"I swear! I swear! Those were the last!" Mu Yukong cried out. He looked like he could cry any time.
"Oh! I was just kidding, there is no need to be so scared. You see, I am a kind person. I don't like to hurt people…" Mu Chen said as he lifted his foot off Mu Yukong.
Hearing Mu Chen's words, several of the people including Liu Fengying who were watching the drama, had black lines on their forehead.
Mu Yukong however felt relaxed. But as soon as his nerves relaxed he fainted once again.
"Take him away." Mu Chen said to Mu Yukong's companions. They all looked at each other, none of them was willing to take a step forward.
"Hurry!" Mu Chen said in impatience.
Finally, two of them came forward and lifted Mu Yukong and took him away. The rest of them also followed those two.
At this point, the manager of the restaurant stepped in.
"Respected guests! We apologise for the disturbance. Please return to your booths and enjoy your meal. As compensation, the desserts will be on the house. We hope our patrons will continue to endorse our restaurant. Thank you for your understanding!" The restaurant manager bowed deeply and apologized in a humble manner.
Since the drama was already over, one by one, the people returned to their private booths. The staff also returned to their respective chores. After everyone disappeared, the manager turned towards Mu Chen and Liu Fengying, who had yet to move.
"Miss Liu, Mr. Mu...do you need something?" The manager was very nervous as he asked.
"You are smart! You should be able to guess what I want?" Mu Chen was the one to speak.
"Mr. Mu, I don't know what you are talking about." The manager pretended to be calm and ignorant and instead looked at Liu Fengying with a pleading look.
"Mu Chen! Let's go back..." Liu Fengying also felt there was no need to push things too far. But Mu Chen wasn't just willing to just let the matter go.
"Were Liu Dong and Mu Yukong in the same booth?" Mu Chen found it strange that Mu Yukong was present and ready just in time to record Liu Fengying's attack. It was too coincidental.
"Mr. Mu, this...I am sorry but it's against our policy to gossip about our guests." The manager said.
"So now it's against your policy, is it? Isn't it also against your policy to inform others about the booth your guests are in?"
If someone wanted to meet the person, the staff would first inform the guest about the identity of the visitor and seek their consent. Only then would the visitor be guided to where the guest was. Liu Dong barged in the booth without any hesitation. So someone from the staff must have informed Liu Dong.
"We...I...Mr Liu is also from a Liu family!" The manager argued.
"But he didn't have an invitation, did he? And his status is much lower than Fengying's...Manager Su, leaking private information about your guest, especially of someone as distinguished as the Young Lady of the Liu Clan...even if it was to someone from the same family, do you think you would be able to evade the responsibility?" Mu Chen said.
Manager Su started to perspire due to nervousness. Although Mu Chen was being aggressive, Manager Su knew his status was all but just a title now. So Manager Su didn't have to cater to his requests. So he glanced at Liu Fenying pitifully.
However, Liu Fengying's face had turned cold this time. She had already understood what Mu Chen was implying.
"I would like to know the answer as well, Manger Su. I remember, I requested not to be disturbed." Liu Fengying said.
"Manager Su, if you cooperate, I can convince Fengying not to pursue this matter…" Mu Chen offered a compromise.
Manager Su realized he had no way out. Although he was someone from the Su family, he didn't dare to put on airs in front of Liu Fengying. Although he was a cultivator, he had exhausted his potential a long time ago. So he could only do some odd jobs for the family, such as managing this restaurant. If he didn't handle this matter properly, the Su Family would rather discard him instead of offending the Liu Clan.
"Mr. Mu, Miss Liu...please understand, I am only trying to maintain the reputation of the restaurant." Manager Mu finally spilled the beans.
The one who leaked Liu Fengying's details was a waitress, the one who had served them. Mu Chen wasn't interested in punishing the staff member who had informed Liu Dong. She was just some small fry. But he could leverage the fact that one of the staff was collaborating against the guests, to coerce Manager Su to reveal some information to confirm his guess.
"...Mr. Liu Dong and Mr. Mu Yukong often dine together. There will be other members of the Mu and Liu Family. They will also often entertain cultivators from poor backgrounds. They were already feasting within one of the booths before you came..."
After sending off Manager Su, Mu Chen and Liu Fengying once again snuck back into their box. This time, Liu Fengying didn't forget to properly lock the door.
Mu Chen had a lot of catching up to do. During the several months when he was reclusive, a lot of things seemed to have happened.
Inside the box, Liu Fengying snuggled next to Mu Chen. The food had already become cold. Both of them no longer had the appetite to eat either way.
"What are you thinking?" Liu Fengying whispered after Mu Chen didn't speak for a long time.
"A lot seems to have changed in a few months…" Mu Chen sighed, "How long has Mu Yukong been harassing you?"
"He has been trying to make me join his Big Brother's side every time he saw me, but that only a few times...and he was polite. Not trying to use underhanded tricks like today…but I didn't imagine the one time he became forceful, he would lose his family jewels." Liu Fengying giggled.
"I thought he was harassing you for a long time...either way he deserved it." Mu Chen shrugged.
"Deserved it? Did he do something else to offend you?" Liu Fengying became curious.
"There's indeed something else...but...nevermind! What about this 'Big Brother'? Do you know who it is?" Mu Chen wanted to know who this 'Big Brother' was. He had a few guesses. But if Liu Fengying could tell him it would save his time.
"I never bothered to ask!" Liu Fengying said.
"That guy wanted you as his woman, didn't you want to know who he was?" Mu Chen chided. If he had known this earlier, he would have asked Mu Yukong.
"A lot of guys want me as their woman, do I have to know the names of all of them? This Miss doesn't have such a lame hobby." Liu Fengying retorted.
"Fair enough!" Mu Chen felt he couldn't argue against it. Then he looked at Liu Fengying and grinned.
"Why are you grinning like a fool?" Liu Fengying asked.
"Hey! I just realized...I am also one of those guys now..." Mu Chen brought his face closer to Liu Fengying's and whispered into her ear. "Will this Miss bother to remember my name?"
"Ahem...don't worry." Liu Fengying blushed but replied in a bossy tone. "This Miss will grant you that special privilege."
"But I think that's not enough. Maybe I should do something so that this Miss will never forget me…" Mu Chen lightly pecked on her cheek with his lips. His hands had already begun to roam across Liu Fengying's body causing her to blush.
"Like...what?" Liu Fengying gulped. She felt her body had been set on fire.
"Why don't I just show it to you?" Mu Chen whispered and lifted Liu Fengying and brought her to the sofa at the back of the compartment.
Liu Fengying's face began to blush furiously as she realized Mu Chen's intention. Her face had turned beet red and her breath turned fiery in anticipation. Mu Chen caressed her hair comparing it with her current face wondering which was redder, as he gently laid her on the sofa.
Soon the curtains fell and the lights burned. Although the food on the table got colder, the temperature within the room reached a boiling point.
A red flower bloomed.
Well her “flower” certainly bloomed?
Sigh.
I really thought this was going to be interesting with a cool-headed MC, the first and second chapter really gave that sort of vibe, the way he handled the Elder and all. How naive of me... All I can say is that this novel is just your average hot-blooded MC. Maybe I'm wrong, but even if I am, these past 3 chapters were handled so poorly that I lost all desire to keep reading it. Don't get me wrong, if you're not someone like me who has been reading webnovels since 2016, this type of novel may be actually really interesting, but to me it's just another cookie-cutter, below-average, run-of-the-mill story.
Exit is just a button away for people who scared by MC and his homies conducts.
I feel the MC comes out a bit unlikeable here.
For me, it's two things.
One, that he went for the kneecaps instead of just breaking the leg.
Two, that it was implied that these injuries might be hard to heal.
Basically, the fact he showed no remorse in potentially crippling the other boy rubs me the wrong way. He even laughs about it. Let's not even mention the ball crushing. It might be down to my perception, but I don't feel this is the kind of personality he's been shown to have thus far.
I understand there's some past blood between the two of them, but from what little we've seen of them interacting, this feels--to me--like something of an overreaction, maybe even cruel.
Are you being deliberately obtuse or what lol. Are you of the opinion that he should let his opponents grow stronger and let them take revenge instead? The guy barged in on a private moment and was going to blackmail his future wife into joining some other dude's harem. There is no benefit to letting a crony get away, I think it was a sound decision given his superior status in the family, which would prevent any serious repercussions (which the mc already mentioned in this chapter).
If we analyze it from the premise that he needlessly offended another character, then that is also unnecessary. Clearly there has been someone in the Mu family targeting the protagonist given that the discipline elder came after his ass & the servants all quitting. That paints the "big brother" guy as the prime suspect right now. There is also the point about them intercepting the letter and intending to harm his future prospects by indirectly denying him access to the secret realm opportunity.
I think you're looking at this from the lens of a happy western novel when you should be thinking about all the harmful consequences that occur from being soft in a xianxia novel.
@Lacrimosa My point is not that his actions are not logical. What I mean is that it clashes with the personality I felt the MC had. My complaint is more with how the author presented him so far than the character's course of action.
Basically, I was under the impression he was aloof and compassionate, and that maybe his "soft" personnality would be an obstacle to overcome. But suddenly he's ruthless and a little sadistic. It threw me off. That's all.
@DocteurNS Ah I see. Tbh I thought he would be a bit more ruthless than normal because this novel has the cliche MC gets crippled plot. I could see him being compassionate before he got crippled though.
Yeah, that criticizing was pretty ridiculous. Instead of ranting about someone else's work, you try writing something and wait to get flamed by others. You got nothing nice to say, zip it and move on to other stories.
This is seriously disgusting. She tried to burn her cousin with fire because he had a crush on her. Then the main character mutilates his own friend's jewels and leg after thinking about how he wanted to castrate her cousin. After this they joke about it and then have sex. This is not only highly unrealistic unless both of them are insane, but makes me question your sanity as the writer of this sickness. I don't care how much higher she out ranks him in the family or how distant a cousin he is... people don't just burn their cousins with fire or crush peoples jewels. Nothing that they did was worthy of the punishment they received. He is not even close to this girl he just started dating her 5 minutes ago and all they did was use weak methods to get her to date a 3rd party.
Further as you stated without proof the punishment won't stick and it wasn't a serious punishment anyway. He would have killed the main character in self defense at that point. With his injuries he can't go to the dimension anyway. And at this point in the story I actually want the main character and his girl friend to be destroyed. The things they do their their family members most people would not wish on their worse enemies, and they do it casually. Like it was nothing, but a joke.
I feel like you aren't reading and just skimming over.
First thing, Liu Fengying tried to burn Liu Dong because she was infuriated at having being interrupted during a private moment. It has nothing to do with Liu Dong having a crush on her.
Why Mu Chen was so ruthless with Mu Yukong-you will understand later, if you continue to read.
And Mu Chen and Liu Fengying haven't been just dating for five minutes, they have known each other for years.
Last, with or without injuries, Mu Yukong cannot enter the secret realm anyway, since he much older and doesn't meet the requirements in the first place.
@IDreamNovels It literally makes no difference. She didn't attack him because he interrupted a private moment, she didn't attack him until he insulted her boyfriend, due to having a crush on her. Furthermore, interrupting a kiss does not make someone who she "treated as a brother" worthy of being burned with fire. Even if he walked in there while they were having sex, it still would not make him worthy of being burned with fire. Even if he was a person that she was not close to or was her enemy, him walking in there and giving verbal insults does not mean he should be burned with fire. This why I am questioning the sanity of the characters and the author both.
I also don't care how well the main character treated his friend in the past or whether he feels betrayed. He humiliated and mutilated him, without mercy or compassion. He cannot even have children or a wife in the future. And the hormonal effects that this would cause his body alone would be extremely damaging. This would beyond a doubt cause warfare between his family and his friend's family and allies and could even endanger his sister. To be clear he is a merciless, thoughtless, idiot. There are some lines that you do not cross as a man, or a human being. And you definitely don't joke about them afterwards, while feeling no guilt or remorse, and then have s*x with your new girlfriend.
And my point still stands that he would have killed the main character, rather than obey the law of not using his powers because he had nothing to lose and everything to save.
Regrettably, I read every word even though it wasn't even worthy of skimming. And understand very clearly. Your main character is an insane person that desires to destroy the jewels of others. He wanted to castrate her cousin and was excited that he thought he got his chance when she was about to burn him. When that failed he crushed his friends jewels instead. He doesn't need a deep reason to do it. Insulting him or wanting the girlfriend that he got five minutes ago (whether he knew her for years or not) is enough. It is as if he is looking for an excuse. He wasn't upset that she wanted to burn her cousin and she wasn't upset that he mutilated his friend. They are a truly sick couple.
@leiowl2 LF was already angry when LD interrupted them. Plus, he also insulted her boyfriend. It's like pouring oil into fire. So her attacking LD is not surprising. You seem to miss the part that she wasn't attacking to kill, just to teach him a lesson. At most he would have suffered few burns. With medicine pills, he would be back on his feet in no time. This is not a novel based in modern world. Killing is rather common and you might get killed for less.
You are also overestimating MYK's background.
MYK was just his servant and an orphan, yet MC treated him like a friend and a brother.
Under normal circumstances, even if MC had killed him, there would be no warfare that would endanger him or his family. As long as MC had a proper explanation for his actions, the higher ups wouldn't punish him severely. That's how big the difference is in terms of status.
As for MYK killing MC, he was already wrecked in pain and doing his best to suppress it using his spiritual qi. He didn't have the convenience to launch an attack. He soon fainted which shows how severe the pain was.
On a side note, this is a work of fiction. You are welcome to critique my piece of work , but please refrain from launching personal attacks that question the sanity of the author.
@IDreamNovels If she was a normal human, even if she liked the main character she would also love her cousin who she treated like a brother despite his supposedly lower rank and female centered family (which I'm not even sure how that works since women get pretty high places of power even in patriarchal families, no body disrespects the mother or grandmotherly figures and no body burns their female cousin/sisters etc But doesn't sound like the reverse is the case here). The same goes for the main character and his friend. The friend even has the same last name so he is apart of the clan, even if not, it changes nothing. The family will not be okay with higher ranking members openly abusing and mutilating lower ranking members. A house that turns against itself cannot stand. The lower ranking members would rebel or leave. If it was realistic at all, the higher ranking members would protect the lower ranking ones or at least pretend to. Further none of that even matters. The main character was going to castrate the girl's cousin right in front of her if he got the chance. This wasn't a personal vendetta against his friend, at that point it's just his hobby. Despite all that, the tiny and petty betrayal of his friend to join a more powerful person after he didn't even bother to talk to him for a year was more than reasonable. Given the status that you say he has, he would need protection, which the main character clearly can and/or will no longer provide. Having a brain, the main character should understand that. Further the punishment does not fit the crime. Permanent mutilation to a cultivator that could live for hundreds of years just because he hurt your feelings.
If the main character is unreasonably violent and does evil pointlessly, not only can the readers not like him but he is even worse than the antagonists of the same story. Yet you painted him in a positive light that is unbefitting of his character. Even a villain would not be shown mutilating jewels and then two minutes later using his own on his girlfriend. The people usually painted as evil have more integrity than your main character.
@leiowl2 There are underlying reasons for the way characters behave, which have not yet been revealed.
First, LF is easily irritable and has a fiery temper. This not something that she can always control, due to her bloodline. She treats LD as her brother, but he keeps pestering her by trying to make advances. Even a normal girl would be annoyed, much less her. But she can't do much against him because he stays within the limit.
There are regulations in the Mu Family to prevent abuse from those at higher status. They can appeal to the Law Enforcement Hall if they think they are being unfairly treated due to the difference in status. MYK may or may not have officially reported what MC did as abusing his status.
Also MYK's betrayal isn't as simple as you think.
About MC being unreasonably violent:
MC looks fine on the surface, but deep down he is very frustrated since he lost his ability to cultivate. Although he found solace in practicing his sword, it's more of a palliative treatment/diversion than a complete cure, for now. So there are occasional outbursts. He also developed a subconscious desire to cripple his enemies, so that they can experience the same pain and anguish that he is going through. But as a mortal, he cannot cripple his enemy's cultivation, so that desire manifests as something else. Again, this is not MC's conscious choice.
As for MC kicking MYK's jewels, it was partly a tactical choice, since he wanted to incapacitate MYK without giving him opportunity to fight back.
@IDreamNovels Her having a genetic temper as an excuse is like a drunk saying that he beats his son because he has a genetic disposition to alcohol and happens to be a violent drunk. He can't help it. Now imagine if he burnt him with fire too, but don't worry because he wasn't going to kill him. Magic pills don't justify the pain and trauma, physical and mental of having someone close to you light you on fire. Also you are contradicting yourself, when you claimed that she attacked not because of his crush but because of the interruption. And the way you worded it makes it seem like she has been looking for an excuse to hurt him for a while, which is not what a temper is. Walking in on a kiss also isn't going over a limit that would justify violence and to that extreme.
The main character's unreasonable violence is equally without excuse. Misery loves company? He just got information that could easily lead to his recovery. He should be hopeful. Furthermore, the first strike was tactical. The rest was just unnecessary cruelty and down right evil. He made sure that there was complete damage and no hope for recovery. And he didn't do it for tactics when he wanted it on her cousin who is in the same cultivation realm as him and was about to be on fire anyway. He didn't need to attack his friend at all. If the girl couldn't go into the realm it wouldn't have mattered anyway. She is a genus cultivator and has a head start on those her age. Even if they out strip her she would catch up given time. If not, oh well. She is still the granddaughter of the matriarch of the clan. Her position doesn't change and all of the other members of her clan can still go. Furthermore, it was made clear her clan doesn't even really like him. Why should he care if they lose face?
They are both violent and evil people with one dimensional personalities. The only thing they could be attracted to in each other is each other's physical appearance. The fact that the only people that like either of them are the opposite gender make this even more clear.
Sword Immortal is an ironic name because ultimately "he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword." Violence begets violence. You reap what you sow. It's sad because the only thing that would motivate a continued reading would be to see the main characters get what they deserve, which isn't a power up. They deserve everything that they have given out and more. You try to justify it, but it's honestly unjustifiable even in a cultivation world.
@leiowl2 Now, you are just nitpicking.
@IDreamNovels Its not really nitpicking, my main points have remained the same from the beginning. You have just tried to excuse them away.
@leiowl2
LD has been bugging LF for long, and this incident just happen to be a trigger, because it was an important moment that was ruined.
MC got news, but it's just a hope. Yes he hopeful but it won't suddenly make all his frustration that has been bottled disappear. If you get a lottery ticket, will you forget about all your financial issues?
The secret realm is important. LF cannot miss it. The secret realms are left behind by cultivators who have reached the peak of cultivation in the current world. Just the experience alone would be worth it for their future cultivation.
MC tortured MYK to get the recordings. It was cruel. I won't argue against it. If you think this makes MC evil and merciless, feel free to think like that.
I didn't start out writing with the aim to make the protagonist a good guy or the antagonists bad. I just want to write MC's journey.
@IDreamNovels The point of writing a character's journey is that it is worthy of being told. The story of a cruel person that unreasonably hurts others in extreme ways, but yet still succeeds because he is a genius isn't only unrealistic, but it is not worthy of being told. Cultivators cultivate natural laws, many of which state that nature always punishes evil. This is why in many cultivation stories you will see that "righteous" or "lawful" cultivators hate or kill demonic cultivators on site.
At first you paint the main character in a positive light. He helps his sister. He isn't jealous that she can still cultivate, yet doesn't want to. He even protects her. A female friend is mentioned which he also seems to have protective feelings for. He is nice to old people. Then suddenly you find out that if you are a male and/or don't like him and are close enough in cultivation realm to him he wants to kill you with his sword or destroy your testicles. Even if you were his friend for many years he won't even care about you or show mercy. And the women he likes are almost if not equally violent.
Why did you think that, that was a story that should be told; or was worthy of being told? Because it's cool? What feelings are the readers supposed to feel from this story? What is the moral of this story? It's just unnecessary violence for violence sake.
@leiowl2
The events through chapters 1-17 take place in a single day. You are not even familiar with the MC yet. The only people MC has truly interacted with are either his family/lover or his rivals/enemies. So him being good to his close ones but thinking of ways to defeat/kill of enemies is normal. So it's not something sudden. It would have been abrupt if I showed MC in a positive light and suddenly a few months later, he act likes a evil person with nothing to explain the transition.
Besides, why should MC show mercy when MYK conspired in getting him killed? Even though MYK was just his servant, MC treated him like a friend and trusted him. But MYK back-stabbed him. It was not some petty reason that can just be glossed over. Anyone who tries to get you killed should not be considered a friend. So MC hurting him for revenge is not unreasonable. Or do you think, MC should still welcome him with open arms, pretend like nothing ever happened?
The characters have their flaws. And I've given an explanation to why they are the way they are. If you don't find it plausible, there is not much I can do.
@IDreamNovels That's not how writing, fiction, or real life works. Logically you should know what each character represents within one or two scenes of seeing them. What a person does in even one minute says a lot about them. What book or tv show have you read or watched that took you 17 chapters or episodes before you knew what kind of person an important character, let alone the main one, was even about? In stories and real life people have an overall personality called temperament or disposition. People who are kind and forgiving to their friends are kind and forgiving to their enemies within reason and only hurt them as much as they absolutely have to. People who are absolutely evil and merciless to their enemies are also ruthless to their allies, underlings, friends, and family. This is just a fact of reality. There is a solider that makes a "clean" kill so as to cause as little harm and suffering as possible and is still hunted by it later. And there is another that butchers, kills, maims, and rapes. Guess which one is nice to his little sister and the neighborhood old people.
And as a side note, because this is really secondary to the main point,: he does not even know that his friend has tried to kill him. All he knows at this point is that his friend has a new boss and that his friend's boss wants to date his girlfriend that he just got 5 minutes ago and thus neither his friend nor his friend's boss know about it.
@leiowl2
MC guessed it.
One key clue is hidden from the reader, but is revealed later.
2nd clue was MYK only met MC once after the attack. Then he never met MC again. MC holed up because he was depressed. But MYK himself never made any attempts to communicate with him. That not how things work. If your friend suffered a grievous wound, you would check up on his health on regular basis, but MYK didn't do anything of the sort. It shows how uncaring he was.
3rd clue was MYK's breakthrough. MC knows MYK's talent, it's pathetic, which is why he agreed to serve under MC in first place. Without any strong external help, he would never have broken through so fast. But who would help him and why?
4th was his attitude towards LF. MYK knows MC's and LF are close. Yet he is trying to blackmail her. Is this something a real friend would do, even if he is working for a new boss?
5th MYK's attitude towards MC himself. MC treated him as his friend. But after seeing him, MYK only had derision and contempt. Is this how a friend would behave even if they are meeting after a long time?
On its own, any one of the signs is not enough to jump to a conclusion. However, together they drive it towards one conclusion: For his breakthrough, MYK traded MC's life to someone else(his new boss).
MC put this all together when he saw MYK. He may have known it sooner if he hadn't become a recluse.
You could argue all these are just suspicions or what not and there is no proof. You might argue that MC shouldn't have dealt such a heavy hand just based on a suspicion-what if he was wrong? And you are right.
But MC is not police. He doesn't need such evidence, especially when MYK is being so hostile.
And once again LF is not just a five min gf. Both of them have known each other for several years and their relationship has always being ambiguous before this.
I laid out all the hints. But since you missed all that, I take that as failure as an author. Actually, this made me realize there is a minor contradiction in later chaps which I now have to fix. There was month gap between these two and I seem to have forgotten some stuff.
Maybe, my fiction deviates from what you expect. And I am sorry if it breaks your sense of immersion.
@IDreamNovels Him getting help from his new boss could easily be for any reason under the sun. It is a huge leap to think that it was because of a deal to kill him, especially since no one has up to this point tried to kill him. His friend was obviously busy cultivating and working for the new boss, he doesn't have time to visit him. Closed cultivation alone could take months. If it was as big a jump in cultivation as you are suggesting then that should have been his first assumption not that his friend tried to kill him. His friend's new treatment of him, especially after having complicated feelings shown on his face, would easily be explained as showing loyalty to the new boss right in front of the boss's other subordinates. How would it look if he said, "Hi my old friend. Are you two dating now? Guess this just means I have to tell my current boss who has helped me out and has a much stronger cultivation than either of us to screw off. She's your girl now." Then went to tell his boss and died.
You should think about how real people would react in real life while writing your characters and how each character would react based on their past showings of personality.
@leiowl2
The bandit attack itself was an attempt to kill MC. But it failed and left MC crippled instead. Mu Chen has always been suspicious of it. No one tried to get him killed afterwards, because MC was holed up in his residence there was no opportunity to kill him, even if someone wanted to.
Even if closed cultivation took months, it doesn't explain why MYK never looked for MC. Since according to LF he has been bugging her every time they met, so he is already out for quite a while even if we assume he indeed entered closed door cultivation. Assuming the present confrontation would have somehow been resolved peacefully, MC would have found out this fact from LF. While MC was depressed because he was crippled, MYK found a new boss and even broke through? But he still doesn't have time to check on his friend's situation? It sounds even more suspicious.
I think you are assuming MYK was still a friend of MC. And he would have sided with MC and instead defied his current boss. Unfortunately, at some point MYK's loyalty changed and he stopped being MC's friend and instead started acting as a spy for his new boss leading to an assassination attempt (which was disguised as a bandit attack). So he wouldn't just hand over the recordings and it would have still led to conflict between MC and him. There was no way to resolve the situation peacefully, unless LF decided to forego her opportunity to enter the secret realm, which was unacceptable.
@IDreamNovels If you were robbed violently and were in the hospital for a year and your friend only visited you once and one year later you see him and he completely disrespects you, would your first reaction honestly be to completely destroy his testicles and mercilessly mutilate him because you suspect that the robbery a year ago was suspicious? Honestly think. Human beings don't react like that. They do not do such things even to their enemies, unless they are insane. And they don't then joke about it and have sex. Their girlfriend doesn't just laugh it off then get in the mood to lose her virginity two minutes later, in a public restaurant might I add (door locked in a VIP room changes nothing, especially if she is the kind to be embarrassed from being seen kissing). She dumps him immediately.
I am well aware that the friend is now an enemy. That is not a question. But, that is not how human emotions work. They would both still have lingering feelings. You don't invest time into someone and help/protect them for possibly years, then suddenly on a suspicion completely violate and destroy them without mercy. The main character was not shown to be insane or evil, then suddenly he is. That's not how humans work. Unless this was supposed to show us that he has split personality disorder or is demon possessed it makes no sense.
I can see you don't want to acknowledge it, but it is poor writing not grounded in reality. The scene was meant to be cool and show off the main character's dominance despite being a cripple. It wasn't cool, it was disturbing yet painted in a light that indicated that it was suppose to be cool and impressive so much so that his girlfriend was eager and willing to sleep with him because of it. In real life, even a woman would appalled by his viciousness and violence, especially to that area of a man. No one would respect him, especially him being a man himself. He didn't just beat him down, he mutilated him for life.
@leiowl2
Let's take step back look at the scene in the novel:
First, for reasons I already mentioned, MC suspects MYK and soon become convinced. It's like when you find out about your spouse cheating on you. There were signs, but you were blind to them. But once you look at it from that angle, everything became clearer. Similar thing happened with MC.
MC is convinced that MYK betrayed him. In his mind, MYK is now an enemy. So he knows there would no peaceful resolution and he has to take the recordings by force.
MC knows cultivators will underestimate him because he is an average human in their eyes. So he can use that keep their guard low and get close. But he only has a single shot. If he failed to incapacitate the enemy, everything would go south. So where should he attack? The head, stomach or somewhere else?
What's the most vulnerable part of a guy who is facing you? Yes, it's the groin. So Mu Chen attacked there. Maybe he would have shown compassion if it was someone else. But MYK betrayed him and that infuriated him. Maybe he really wanted MYK to feel the pain. His action might cause MYK to lose his manhood, but he didn't care. MYK's betrayal almost got MC killed and it robbed him of his ability to cultivate. But what MC did only caused him to lose it his manhood. MYK can still continue to cultivate and live for hundreds of years, unlike MC.
The scene wasn't meant to show off MC's dominance-if anything, it was meant to show that just because you are a cultivator, you are not invincible. If you get careless, even a normal human might be able to kill you, because a cultivator's physical body is weak. Of course, this only applies to lower levels and younger cultivators. This was to let the reader know that MC might not be completely helpless in the secret realm, even if there will be true cultivators participating. MC even advised LF to do physical training in the next chap, but you may have missed it.
LF wasn't eager to sleep with MC because she thought what MC did was impressive. Of course she was happy that the situation was resolved, but it was not what led to sex. They were already getting in the mood before they got interrupted. Maybe it came off as unfeeling that they resumed with their flirting and foreplay, as if nothing happened. But fights/conflicts and killing are common occurrences and they are already used to it.
tbh, I am now tired with all this debate. I've made my case. Maybe it's poor writing. But I have already written the scene and I won't change it since it's not a plot-hole. But I will in keep in mind your suggestions.
@IDreamNovels I understand what you are saying. With an enhanced body he could have hit him anywhere, like in the throat or kidneys. Instead of showing how evil he was this was a good opportunity to show off his skills with his sword. You had already made the weaknesses of younger cultivators clear multiple times by outright stating it. Before this there was even a scene in which he mentions that he believed that he could draw his sword before one of his enemies could cast, but it was interrupted by this girl. If in this scene he pulled his sword and pressed the blade to the enemy's neck, it would have made that abundantly clear without ruining the mood of the story. Even if he cut off an arm or leg to send a message it could be reattached if it is a clean cut and in real life sword artists have practiced quick drawing and assassination techniques. It is called sword immortal not ball crushing immortal after all. But that's all I will say. Have a good day.
@leiowl2
If MC uses his sword he can only get rid of one of his opponents hand or go for the kill. Threatening by pressing the blade against the neck won't work, because once the element of surprise is gone, it's would be MC's turn to get rekt. Moreover, killing MYK is not really an option.
I indeed thought of having MC cut one of MYK limbs since it could showcase his sword skill but it was not enough to suppress MYK. And it not enough for revenge.
MC cuts off MYK's hand and then what? MYK can suppress his bleeding temporarily, distance himself by using footwork technique and then maybe use his flying sword or other technique. Trying to chop off the legs in first place is unrealistic because the angle is awkward slowing down the attack, giving MYK time to react.
Then MYK rekts MC, maybe LF saves him. But there are still guys recording. So MC fails to get initial recording and instead gives them more material to make an even stronger case. Later MYK gets his hand attached back with no lasting damage...
Don't worry! At this point, MC still hasn't truly stepped on the path of sword. Once he steps on it and grows, he will live up to title.
leiowl2 you're kinda of a dumbass ngl
And you even dare say that this is a "sickness" and "seriously disgusting". Do you even watch anime? Read novels?? Theres MUUUUUUUUUUUUCH worse sh*t out there, this is pretty tame in fact
@I_like_what_i_like You are saying I am a dumbass because you watch anime and read novels? There is worse stuff, so then this is okay? Saying this is tame is like saying cutting off someone's hand is tame because in another movie I watched they cut off the whole arm. Are you sure you aren't the actual dumbass? Not everyone's mind is as tainted as yours. Please consider that.
@leiowl2 My perception against yours, no one wins.
@I_like_what_i_like i think ur a dumbass, most irritating thing about this novel is the mc comes across as the wronged party making him extremely unlikeable, as summed up perfectly by @leiowl2.
@thickfoundationpillars ngl both of you guys are snowflakes and think this as a society with laws where we are teached about morals from young and h don’t have to fight for different resources to grow strong. The cultivation world is like a jungle where the jungle law reigns supreme , the stronger animal is the king and the rest are just food or you can interpret however you want it. Now you are gonna say that there are different laws , but those laws can only affect the weaker ones and in the end if you wanna make people follow your laws you need to be stronger then them, strong enough to kill them if necessary . If you are strong enough you can definitely defy those laws, an example if mc was at this point stronger then his whole clan, he could just force them to tell him who schemed against him and be done with that. As shown in a lot of cultivation novels there are a few things, which are necessary to grow stronger, resources,talent and status, there are different ways to say this thing, you can add a few more if you want but imo those 3 are the most important. Resources includes things from money to all different of plants , pools and even weapons or talismans . Talent includes things like physique, spirit roots in this case, comphresion or how it’s written, even luck tho that’s a separate category which could be considered a talent but I’m lazy to write it separately. By status I mean literally status, being a dos of an elder or a nobody in the sect/family is a big difference which I won’t tell you since I’m lazy and I wanna make you think a bit. This also includes like if you come from a powerful family , disciple of a famed cultivator, son of an emperor , it all depends on what kind of status you want your char to have, I’m this case our mc has the status of Core family or whatever, a very high status which brings guess what, resources which are important. As I said at the beginning this is not a world with the same kind of morals as ours, that’s why it’s fiction and ig if you can’t accept that then you won’t accept many things , cause even irl there are a few worse things that happens, some which you know ,ignore or just don’t know about it. The mc has been from started shown as being smart, smarted then a good part of cultivation mc for now, as he made use of the laws of the mu family agains the law enforcement elder to get what he wants, he was never portraited imo as a saint or good person, not some who kills without a reason (wouldn’t be a problem for me so yeah) since he didn’t kill anyone yet and at most he crippled someone’s d*ck which in some stories it’s an easy fix or not . Using the pills as a point that he will recover is not a problem since that’s what pills are for, and there are many types of pills, and in cultivation stories there are different power which could happen. Peace out since I’m tired of wasting my type with an idiot or someone who or started reading novels and whatnot or just always dislike them . Snowflake, getting angry about something logical, bullshit.