Why Was It So Hard to Get Punished?

The flames raged, burning the entire Medicine King Palace to ashes.

Countless people who saw the flames soaring into the sky rushed to the Spirit Crane Palace from the various mountain peaks, but everyone who arrived was dumbfounded. The Grand Elder of the Spirit Crane Palace had issued an absolute order: no one was to fight the fire under any circumstances.

When the people who had come to help heard the news, they were all stunned.

What on earth was the Spirit Crane Palace up to?

Your Medicine King Palace was gone... and you still weren't putting out the fire?

Was everyone in the Spirit Crane Palace drunk?

Then everyone noticed that every person from the Spirit Crane Palace reeked of alcohol. Good grief, were they really drunk?

But soon, when the elders from the various peaks who had come to help reached the Medicine King Palace, they finally understood what had happened.

A gigantic Vermilion Bird loomed over the entire Medicine King Palace. Amid the endless sea of flames, a person enveloped from head to toe in crimson-gold fire floated in midair, while the Vermilion Bird swooped up and down around him!

Vermilion Bird Spirit Communion!

The new arrivals understood why the Grand Elder had forbidden them from putting out the fire. Was this merely a fire?

These were clearly the flames brought forth by Vermilion Bird Spirit Communion!

The Vast Heaven Sect's Medicine Saint Inheritance from four hundred years ago had actually appeared today. The great fire that had reduced the Medicine King Palace to ashes came from the Vermilion Bird Spirit Communion of the Medicine Saint Inheritance.

Good grief, everyone finally understood why they hadn't seen any anger or sorrow on the Grand Elder's face earlier. Instead, he had been wild with joy.

At first, everyone had thought the Grand Elder was so furious that he'd started laughing, but now they knew... furious, my ass... he was genuinely happy.

One Medicine King Palace had burned down, but in exchange they had obtained the Medicine Saint's inheritance. Never mind the Medicine King Palace—even if the entire Spirit Crane Palace burned down, the Grand Elder would have been more than willing.

The raging fire continued to burn, and the Vermilion Bird's inheritance was finally completed amid the flames. In the end, the Vermilion Bird turned into a streak of light and entered Chu Xinghe's forehead in its entirety. Flames surged behind Chu Xinghe, the crimson-gold fire forming a phantom image of the Vermilion Bird behind him.

The Vermilion Bird spread its wings and soared, as though it had given Chu Xinghe a pair of flaming wings.

Chu Xinghe also awoke from the inheritance, his head full of all kinds of knowledge about medicine refinement... it was almost a pot of porridge.

But the inheritance had brought Chu Xinghe unimaginable benefits...

This is what the markings on evening primrose look like... these are the veins of Moon Nether Grass... this is the faint glow of Moon Soul Grass... Everything Chu Xinghe had previously tried desperately to memorize was now perfectly clear whenever he wanted it, a simple search of his mind bringing it all up.

Chu Xinghe now realized what had happened too, but the problem was that this wasn't what he fucking wanted... I really don't want to be a medicine refiner... I want to become a Martial Emperor... if that really won't work, a Martial Ancestor will do for now...

Once the Grand Elder was certain that the inheritance was one hundred percent complete, he ignored the Vermilion Bird flames scorching him and charged into the fire himself. He grabbed the bewildered Chu Xinghe and carried him out of the blaze in an extremely embarrassing princess carry.

The Grand Elder's hair and beard had been burned pitch-black by the Vermilion Bird flames, but he was grinning now, baring a mouthful of pearly white teeth.

"Heaven blesses Vast Heaven!"

At that moment, whether they were from the Spirit Crane Palace or had hurried over from outside, everyone looked at Chu Xinghe, whom the Grand Elder had brought out of the flames, and shouted in unison.

Heaven blesses Vast Heaven again... Chu Xinghe wanted to cough up blood whenever he heard those words... Heaven only blesses Vast Heaven. When will it bless me for once? I just want to be punished. Why is that so hard?!

Someone found some clothes and draped them over Chu Xinghe. The flames had long since burned everything he'd been wearing to ashes, and he had been stark naked when he was carried out.

As soon as the clothes were draped over him, Chu Xinghe spoke with a long face. "Grand Elder... this disciple... accidentally blew... blew up the Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace... and set the entire Medicine King Palace on fire... this disciple is guilty!"

Chu Xinghe couldn't worry about much else now. Whatever the case, he had to make one last effort to get punished, right?

But when Chu Xinghe said this, the Grand Elder burst out laughing. "Good child... what a good child... today's event was Vermilion Bird Spirit Communion. How could you be blamed? Besides, the Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace is a divine artifact. How could it be damaged so easily? Look!"

The Grand Elder pointed toward the Medicine King Palace. Chu Xinghe looked over and nearly fainted with anger on the spot.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace, burning with terrifying flames, was floating in the air above the Medicine King Palace. The phantom Vermilion Bird flew gleefully around the fiery-red furnace. Where were the cracks? How did it look even remotely blown up?

The Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace now looked far more magnificent than it had before.

"This is the true Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace! Four hundred years, and today the Vermilion Bird Furnace has finally revealed its true form again!" The Grand Elder laughed wildly once more.

Chu Xinghe laughed along... but his smile looked worse than a crying face.

So what he'd blown up just now hadn't been the Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace itself at all? Not only had he failed to blow it up, he'd accidentally obtained the Medicine Saint Inheritance too?

Was this some kind of joke?!

The flames finally died out, and the Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace descended once more. It had turned fiery red and no longer resembled its previous form, but this was what the Vermilion Bird Divine Furnace truly looked like.

"Good child, did you just obtain the Medicine Saint Inheritance?" the Grand Elder asked Chu Xinghe impatiently.

"Yes..." Chu Xinghe answered weakly. He very much wanted to say he hadn't gotten anything, but not only had everyone seen him naked, they had also seen the inheritance unfold as clear as day. He didn't even have a chance to lie.

"Good! Good! Good!" Three more "goods." Now whenever Chu Xinghe heard the Grand Elder say "good" three times in a row, his brain hurt.

"Four hundred years... four hundred years! Our Vast Heaven Sect has finally regained the Medicine Saint Inheritance! Heaven blesses Vast Heaven!"

"Heaven blesses Vast Heaven!" At that moment, the people from the Spirit Crane Palace and those from the other peaks shouted together, their voices shaking the land in every direction.

"Pass down my order: from this day forth, Chu Xinghe is promoted to core disciple!"

As though he didn't think today had been exciting enough, the Grand Elder stabbed Chu Xinghe again.

Chu Xinghe clutched his chest, barely able to breathe. He hadn't even shed his status as an elite disciple yet, and now he'd gone straight to being a core disciple. What was this supposed to mean?

After congratulating the Grand Elder and Chu Xinghe, the people who had come from all over left one after another. The Grand Elder, seemingly still not reassured, held Chu Xinghe back and questioned him on all sorts of medicine-refining knowledge. In the past, Chu Xinghe might as well have been listening to an alien language, but now he could answer any question the Grand Elder asked off the top of his head. After all, this was the Medicine Saint Inheritance.

Finally, after becoming one hundred percent certain that Chu Xinghe had obtained the Medicine Saint Inheritance, the Grand Elder burst into wild laughter again. He told Chu Xinghe to rest well and not to feel burdened in any way by the destruction of the Medicine King Palace.

The Grand Elder then summoned Feng Fei. After giving him various instructions and the task of rebuilding the Medicine King Palace, the Grand Elder left laughing, surrounded by a group of elders.

After the Grand Elder left, Feng Fei and the others gathered around Chu Xinghe.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Xinghe!" a group of Spirit Crane Palace disciples said. But the way they addressed him had changed, from Junior Brother Xinghe to Senior Brother Xinghe.

There was no helping it. The Grand Elder had announced on the spot that Chu Xinghe had been promoted to core disciple, and elite disciples had to address core disciples as senior brother.

"Senior brothers, you absolutely mustn't... what virtue or ability does Xinghe possess to dare let you address me that way?" Chu Xinghe looked overwhelmed by the honor.

Hearing Chu Xinghe's words, the senior brothers of the Spirit Crane Palace were moved to tears on the spot.

Look... this was their Junior Brother Xinghe. Which of the others promoted to core disciple didn't look down their noses at people?

But look at Junior Brother Xinghe. He had been promoted to core disciple and might even have set the Vast Heaven Sect's record for the shortest time from joining the sect to rising from inner disciple all the way to core disciple. Yet even so, Junior Brother Xinghe wasn't the least bit arrogant and still showed the same respect to the senior brothers he'd had before.

What a broad heart he had!

"Senior Brother Xinghe is a core disciple now. According to sect rules, we must indeed address him as senior brother," Shen Chun stepped forward and explained to Chu Xinghe.

"Ah... there's a sect rule like that?" Chu Xinghe looked around at everyone in apparent alarm and spoke again. "Senior brothers, Xinghe has only made it this far thanks to your tremendous help. Without you, there would be no Xinghe of today. Though the sect rules say so, Xinghe joined the sect last. How could I dare let you address me that way? How about this... in the future, when outsiders are present, you may address me according to sect rules. But when it's just us, I ask that you address Xinghe as you did before."

When Chu Xinghe finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Feng Fei, a core disciple himself, looked at Chu Xinghe with appreciation.

The other elite disciples around them were visibly moved as well.

Listen... Junior Brother Xinghe called them his own people. Was this a matter of how they addressed him? He hadn't forgotten his roots!

Junior Brother Xinghe was so outstanding, yet he wasn't the least bit arrogant because of it. Where else could they find such an incredibly wonderful junior brother?

"Let's do as Junior Brother Xinghe says," Feng Fei finally said. Hearing him, the elite disciples nodded one after another, all looking at Chu Xinghe with immense affection.

"All right, all right... Junior Brother Xinghe has had the most tiring day. It's time he rested. You should all head back early too. We still have to rebuild the Medicine King Palace tomorrow."

"Thank you for your efforts, senior brothers. Because of Xinghe, you all have to toil as well. Xinghe truly feels terrible about it." As he spoke, Chu Xinghe bowed ninety degrees to all the elite disciples again.

Seeing Chu Xinghe like this, even those who had felt a little unhappy about rebuilding the Medicine King Palace now felt completely at ease.

After all, Chu Xinghe had become a core disciple, and a core disciple being so humble before so many elite disciples was something that had never happened before. For such an incredibly wonderful junior brother, what was wrong with doing some work to help him rebuild the Medicine King Palace?!

Amid the cheerful chatter and laughter of the senior and junior brothers, Feng Fei took Chu Xinghe away from the Medicine King Palace and back to his residence.

Seeing the bitterness on Chu Xinghe's face, Feng Fei assumed he was simply too tired from the day. After telling Chu Xinghe to rest early, he went to rest as well.

Once Feng Fei had left, Chu Xinghe's tears began to fall.

Why is it so hard to get punished...?