Chapter 97: Speechless

“So, according to you, what benefit would we get from doing this?” Wen Xu stood straight as a young poplar. He was handsome and upright, a man who naturally inspired goodwill in others. “Entering a Foundation Establishment secret realm with only Qi Refining cultivation, do you think the three of us could sneak into the venue on our own, or do you believe the Suitian Sword Sect and Yonglu Mountain are colluding in some underhanded plot?”

Zhou Ji retorted, “Isn’t stealing the spotlight at the Five Sects Conference enough? The person who just impersonated me must have been arranged by you as well, right?”

Hidden in the shadows, Divine Venerable Wushan felt more disgusted hearing this than if he had been plotted against by a certain dragon! Out of over a hundred people, how on earth had he managed to pick such a blockhead?

Zhou Ji, however, felt his suspicions were perfectly reasonable. “Otherwise, how could you, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, possibly beat a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator?”

“For disciples of the Five Great Sects to publicly use the Five Sects Conference to gain fame… If I hadn’t happened to see you before the competition, the truth would have been covered up right before everyone’s eyes. Once you went out, you would naturally receive…”

“Shut up!”

“Did I hit a nerve? Angry because I’m right? The Five Great Sects are indeed powerful, but I’m not afraid of you!” Zhou Ji was certain that in front of so many onlookers, even the great sects wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him. And by causing such a scene, he would lose all utility to Father Zhou, who valued the family’s reputation above all else.

Zhou Ji was confident that even if he left his family, he could carve out a place for himself in the world. He had already found A-Yu, and this time, he would not let go no matter what.

“Young Master Zhou, has no one ever taught you to watch your tongue?” Wen Xu grabbed his two friends, one in each hand. Resorting to force under the watchful eyes of the crowd would be the height of folly. “If we were truly doing as you say, we would surely have a plan. If Yonglu Mountain really wanted to pull off such underhanded tricks, would they let a relatively obscure son of a noble family like you be the only one to see us?”

“Furthermore, the three of us followed our senior brothers and sisters here to broaden our horizons. When we arrived at the Suitian Sword Sect that day, countless eyes saw us. I am blind and wear a blindfold, and I flatter myself that my appearance is somewhat eye-catching. That day, beneath the Suitian Divine Sword, I even received the Shattering Heaven Sword Light. Everyone in the Suitian Sword Sect knows about this. If I wanted to make a name for myself, I could have simply publicized that. Wouldn’t that be much easier than coming in here to put on a show?”

Wh-what?! The Shattering Heaven Sword Light! The eyes of the sword cultivators who heard this instantly turned red with envy!

No wonder there had been rumors in the streets a few days ago that an outsider sword cultivator had gained the favor of the Suitian Divine Sword. They had thought it was fake news spread by the Suitian Sword Sect to build hype for the divine sword, but who would have thought? It was actually true!

What was more, this person was actually a Qi Refining disciple of Yonglu Mountain! Thinking back to the sword duel just now, they had almost been led astray by this guy named Zhou!

“I’m a sword cultivator. Don’t listen to this Zhou guy’s nonsense. In the sword duel just now, let alone a Qi Refining cultivator, even among Foundation Establishment disciples, those who could pull that off are few and far between! If I had his sword speed, I’d record it with a Shadow Retention Stone, hang it on my waist, and brag about it three hundred times to everyone I met!”

“Is that true? Still, on second thought, it makes sense. The two great sects wouldn’t risk their reputations for three Qi Refining disciples. It would be too easy to expose.”

“Then that begs the question: who exactly was that fake Zhou Ji just now?”

“Hiding his face like that, he must be a rat!”

…

Zhou Ji had not expected this person to have received the Shattering Heaven Sword Light either. That was a blessing from a semi-immortal artifact. If an ordinary person obtained such an opportunity, they would have made sure the whole world knew about it. But there was no turning back now. He couldn’t possibly back down at this point. “Then perhaps that, too, was part of your design?”

Excellent. First he dragged Yonglu Mountain into the mud, and now he was pointing his sword directly at the Suitian Sword Sect. Father Zhou’s face looked as though he were already in the grave. What a scourge! Truly a scourge!

“Mortals are easily lost in confusion. Cultivators break free from their mortal shells precisely to clear the fog before their eyes and see the light. As the saying goes, those who look for evil see evil, and those who look for good see good. Since coming to the Suitian Sword Sect, I have met a senior brother from Kudu Temple. He once shared a saying with me: ‘Like a monk with hair, like a layman free of dust; dreaming a dream within a dream, seeing a body outside the body.^[1]‘ I offer this to you as mutual encouragement.”

Bushi: …Excellent, now Kudu Temple has been dragged into this too. 🙂

To everyone else, it was just… this Qi Refining disciple from Yonglu Mountain was so emotionally stable, and his words were so pleasant to hear. In contrast, someone like him really had no need to take such a bizarre route if he wanted to become famous.

But Zhou Ji seemed possessed, refusing to let it go. “Don’t try to fool people with such platitudes! Your presence here today is…”

“As for our presence here today, the Suitian Sword Sect must give Yonglu Mountain an explanation. Since you saw us before the match, you should remember that we were in the spectator stands. We have never denied entering the secret realm by mistake, nor have we interfered in your Five Sects Conference or disrupted your competition. If you hadn’t been so aggressive, we would have left long ago.”

“On the contrary, you have been hounding us relentlessly. What exactly are you trying to achieve? There are two hundred and sixty cultivators in the secret realm today. Every single one of them, including you, is a genius in the spotlight. Do you truly believe you were the first to notice the three of us appearing in the secret realm?”

“The Five Great Sects have stood tall for so long because they are not as filthy and incompetent as you think. Although Yonglu Mountain ranks last, we do not need to sink so low as to tamper with the Five Sects Conference just to make our disciples famous. If you still don’t believe me, I can swear upon my Dao heart^[2]. In exchange, will you also swear upon yours that you have absolutely no selfish motives in doing this?”

Zhou Ji stepped back in shock. He had not expected this man to be willing to swear upon his Dao heart. The Dao heart was the very foundation of a cultivator’s path. If one swore a false oath, no one under the heavens could escape the punishment of the Heavenly Dao.

“I…”

“I understand. Fellow Daoist Zhou hates evil with a passion and has a pure heart. Your accusation against us was merely out of a sense of justice and public spirit. Yonglu Mountain naturally will not blame you. In fact, if the cultivation world had a few more clear-eyed people like you, it would surely be a blessing.” Wen Xu smiled faintly, his demeanor exceptionally elegant. “Very well, we won’t delay your competition any longer. I wish you all victory. We shall take our leave first.”

How savage. Wasn’t Zhou Ji just begging to be humiliated? Indeed, how thick-skinned could he be? Did he really think he was the first to notice these three appearing in the secret realm?!

With so many eyes watching them, the Five Great Sects weren’t stupid. Why would they ruin their reputation for three Qi Refining disciples? Besides, the man was willing to swear on his Dao heart, which meant it couldn’t be faked. So, did they really enter the secret realm by mistake? How did they do it? Did this secret realm automatically raise the cultivation level of those in lower realms? Wouldn’t that make it an excellent place for Qi Refining disciples to comprehend Foundation Establishment?

Suitian Sword Sect, give us an explanation! Everyone was dying to know.

Now that things had reached this point, even if Tang Ji wanted to cover for Divine Venerable Wushan, there was no longer any point. Besides, the old history between Divine Venerable Wushan and Venerable Chengwei was common knowledge five hundred years ago. There was no harm in letting it out.

Thus, the Suitian Sword Sect quickly provided an explanation. And how should one describe this explanation? It was quite… shocking.

“Good lord, this is just too…”

“A Mutated Wind Spiritual Root, a sword cultivation genius, and a Body Integration master. Is this kid the heavens’ favorite son or what? The most terrifying part is that he’s been cultivating for less than two years! That’s insane!”

“Now I completely believe it. A major sect would hide a genius like this at all costs; there’s no way they’d hype him up in advance! No wonder the matter of the Shattering Heaven Sword Light falling that day went quiet so quickly.”

“The last genius to cause such a stir must have been Sword Venerable Meixi of the Suitian Sword Sect, right?”

“And that cultivator who used the water ball spell, he’s only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining! He’s not even at the peak of Qi Refining!”

“I feel like I’m witnessing history!”

“…Am I the only one who cares about the grudge between the two Body Integration Divine Venerables? What kind of feud makes someone hate the other so much that they set up backdoors and place life-sized puppets in every secret realm they forge?”

Yes, indeed. Tang Ji had still tactfully fabricated a plausible explanation for Divine Venerable Wushan. After all, compared to a true body’s divine sense personally bullying the youngsters of another sect, a pre-programmed “frenemy” puppet mechanism sounded slightly more acceptable.

Still, Tang Ji couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy toward Gu Wufang. How wonderful it would have been if such an excellent sword-cultivation talent had ended up in the Suitian Sword Sect instead of falling into Yonglu Mountain’s Poyun Secret Realm.

Furthermore, this Little Martial Uncle handled things with great discretion. Even when facing such accusations, he hadn’t aired the dirty laundry between the Divine Venerables, nor had he even mentioned his status as a Disciple of the Divine Venerable. He was nothing like that… Dragon Venerable.

It was truly a case of a bad bamboo yielding a good shoot.

“Stop staring, he’s from our Yonglu Mountain,” Gu Wufang boldly reminded him. “And don’t forget the compensation for our Little Martial Uncle.”

Tang Ji’s mouth twisted in annoyance. Once again, the wicked thought of poaching the boy crossed his mind. Seeing such a promising talent rot in someone else’s pot made his conscience ache.

But the compensation naturally had to be delivered. The matter had already become public knowledge, and as the sect master of the Suitian Sword Sect, Tang Ji had to handle it… except, Divine Venerable Wushan had just summoned him.

Tang Ji didn’t really want to face the Divine Venerable. Going at a time like this, he could guess what the Divine Venerable wanted to say without even thinking. Ah, after five hundred years, that chest-tightening feeling was back.

Divine Venerable Wushan was furious, but he wanted to know even more how such a promising sword-cultivation talent had ended up at Yonglu Mountain. What made it even harder for him to swallow was this: “What did you say! I must be in an illusion. Yes, it has to be an illusion created by Chengwei! This is his favorite trick!”

…That Dragon Venerable was indeed highly skilled in illusions, but unfortunately, this was the reality.

Divine Venerable Wushan took a long time to compose himself, his ears red with anger. “Is that little fellow really Chengwei’s disciple?”

The sheer reluctance on the Divine Venerable’s face was painfully obvious. Tang Ji nodded solemnly. “Wen Xu is indeed the disciple of Dragon Venerable Chengwei of Yonglu Mountain. And this is not an illusion.”

Upon hearing this, Divine Venerable Wushan looked as if he were about to shatter.