A Change in Attitude

The moment Our Lady of Wudang and Zhao Gongming appeared, they began reasoning with Meng Chen. This greatly pleased Meng Chen.

As long as there were still people in Intercepting Teaching willing to reason, Chan Sect and Intercepting Teaching still had a future. If everyone were like Daoist Duobao, blindly shielding their fellow disciples regardless of right or wrong, Meng Chen could only become invisible and let the timeline continue along its original course.

Intercepting Teaching had always been a mixed bag, and with Daoist Duobao acting as their umbrella, its disciples would become increasingly unscrupulous. An Intercepting Teaching like this might as well be destroyed, lest the world never know peace.

"Hehe, Dao Friend Wudang knows only one side of the matter, not the other. After I suppressed Yu Shuixian, you Dao Friends attacked me without distinguishing right from wrong or considering the circumstances, intending to put me to death. I may be insignificant, yet I was fortunate enough to earn my teacher's trust and was entrusted with enforcing Chan Sect's rules. It would not matter if your fellow disciples wanted to kill me, but if I were to perish, there would be no one to enforce Chan Sect's rules. Would that not trouble my teacher?"

"Therefore, your intention to kill me was equivalent to offending a Sage, and offending a Sage was defying the will of Heaven. In order to save them, I had no choice but to suppress them here. I was entirely acting for their sake. How could Fellow Daoist Wudang claim that my actions would damage the relationship between Chan Sect and Intercepting Teaching?"

The moment Meng Chen spoke, he was full of the mannerisms of a Chan Sect disciple. The many Chan Sect disciples were fired up by his words, and Guang Chengzi even took notes.

"Shameless! Meng Chen, what right do you have to speak for the will of Heaven?"

Upon hearing Meng Chen's words, Wuyun Xian's eyes widened in fury. He wished he could grind Meng Chen's bones to dust. Though suppressed, his voice boomed like rolling thunder, resounding through heaven and earth.

"We attacked you only to save our fellow disciples. When did we ever intend to kill you?"

Meng Chen smiled faintly and flicked his finger. A voice appeared in the void.

"Senior Brothers Pilu Xian, Jin Guangxian, Ling Ya Xian, hurry and save me! Someone has insulted our Intercepting Teaching! Hurry and kill him!"

The voice belonged to Yu Shuixian. Every word and every syllable was perfectly clear.

As Our Lady of Wudang and Zhao Gongming listened to Yu Shuixian's words, their expressions darkened. Their fellow disciples had failed in their scheme against Guang Chengzi's primal yang, then flew into a rage out of humiliation and sought to kill those who stopped them.

If this matter were brought before Sage Laozi, Sage Laozi would certainly side with Chan Sect.

"There's more."

Meng Chen snapped his fingers again.

"Junior Brothers, this man is exceptionally fierce. Quickly bring out your Magic Treasures and join forces with me to kill him!"

This voice was incomparably fierce. It lacked Yu Shuixian's seductive quality, but Our Lady of Wudang knew who it was the instant she heard it.

Pilu Xian silently lowered his proud head. He could not even attempt to argue.

Meng Chen had indeed acted against the Disciples of Intercepting Teaching, but he had done so in self-defense. Oh, no—he had done so to uphold Primal Sage's dignity.

"Fellow Daoist Wuyun Xian, and you as well."

Meng Chen flicked his finger, and a screen of light appeared before everyone.

On the screen, Wuyun Xian was brimming with killing intent, his eyes gleaming viciously. With a roar, he charged at Meng Chen.

"This..."

Even Our Lady of Wudang found herself in an awkward position upon seeing this.

In truth, it was not Chan Sect bullying Intercepting Teaching. Rather, Intercepting Teaching had relied on its superior numbers to repeatedly cause trouble for Chan Sect. Left with no other choice, Chan Sect had suppressed every Intercepting Teaching disciple who came looking for trouble.

Our Lady of Wudang did not know that within Three Pure Ones Palace, Master Tongtian's expression was even uglier than hers.

If one looked only at the course of events, Daoist Duobao and the others seemed very pitiful. But at the root of it all, they had brought this upon themselves.

Their sect's disciples had offended someone and landed in trouble, yet without even figuring out the other party's strength, they had wanted to kill him. Was that not simply courting death?

Fortunately, the people they had offended were Chan Sect disciples. Had they offended Western Church disciples instead and been ambushed and wiped out by them, all their Magic Treasures would have become Western Church's spoils of war.

"Third Brother, do you still think Meng Chen acted wrongly?"

Yuanshi Tianzun noticed the change in Master Tongtian's expression and took the opportunity to speak.

As long as one was a living being, one could not escape the word emotion. Sages had no romantic love between men and women, but they did have the bond between master and disciple. Yuanshi Tianzun had not expected Master Tongtian to be troubled by emotion.

Master Tongtian fell silent. His gaze passed through the void and saw the past.

Daoist Duobao had entered the sect very early, even earlier than Meng Chen. After Master Tongtian became a Sage, he traveled abroad and encountered a Duobao Rat undergoing its heavenly tribulation. Seeing that the Duobao Rat had talent and spoke pleasantly, he accepted it as his disciple.

Based on the time he entered the sect, Daoist Duobao could even be considered the first disciple of the Three Pure Ones. Unfortunately, his innate foundation was poor, and he had only been a True Immortal when he transformed. No matter how hard Daoist Duobao worked, he could not compare to Meng Chen, who had only just entered the sect.

Even so, Master Tongtian had still expended countless treasures to help Daoist Duobao improve his foundation and make up for its deficiencies.

Master Tongtian had practically raised Daoist Duobao as his successor.

But now, Master Tongtian realized that his judgment of people seemed to be flawed.

Daoist Duobao's character had a serious weakness: he was too calculating. As Eldest Senior Brother, Daoist Duobao would make an excellent one, yet he could not become a good leader of Intercepting Teaching.

Master Tongtian had handed power to Daoist Duobao, but Daoist Duobao had not used that power to govern Intercepting Teaching. Instead, he used it to win people over. Clearly, Intercepting Teaching had only one successor, yet Daoist Duobao still tried to please everyone, terrified of offending anyone.

When those above set a bad example, those below followed suit. With Daoist Duobao as their model, the Disciples of Intercepting Teaching imitated him. They began prattling on about brotherhood and loyalty while casting sect rules aside.

In merely ten thousand years, the Disciples of Intercepting Teaching had revealed their true nature in the Primordial Wilderness. Each was more aggressive and belligerent than the last, each more arrogant than the last. In the end, they had kicked an iron plate in Meng Chen.

"Second Brother, it should not be like this. They have only just entered the sect and have not yet adapted to the sect rules. Once enough time passes, I can enlighten them and cultivate them into pillars of Xuanmen."

Even at this point, Master Tongtian still could not make up his mind. He looked at Yuanshi Tianzun, wanting to confirm something.

Yuanshi Tianzun gazed calmly at Master Tongtian and slowly said:

"Third Brother, ten thousand years is not a short time. When they first entered the sect, they still showed some restraint. Yet the more time passed, the more of their wild nature they revealed. Speaking of which, your disciples are rather interesting. They keep claiming that my disciples look down on them because they are Hairy and Horned. But Third Brother, look at what they have done on Kunlun Immortal Mountain—eating raw flesh and drinking blood, cruelly slaughtering immortal beasts... It seems that the ones who truly look down on the Hairy and Horned are themselves, isn't it?"