The Tea Has a Problem
An Bulang's words caused the atmosphere in the great hall to fall slightly silent.
"Hm? You're saying there's something wrong with my tea?"
Upon hearing that, Xun Zilan's expression finally darkened.
Xu Linghui hurriedly said, "An Bulang, don't talk nonsense. This spiritual tea was produced by the Jade Sword Sect. How could there possibly be a problem with it?"
Another young general, Liu Peng, questioned him as well. "Besides, Xun Zilan is a Body Refinement Seventh Level cultivator. Even he didn't notice anything wrong. How could someone at the Profound Body Third Layer like you detect a problem with the tea?"
The others all voiced their agreement, and the way they looked at An Bulang changed considerably.
Clearly, some of them had already taken him for the sort of person who relied on a bit of cultivation to grandstand and win applause.
"This tea is fresh, sweet, and refreshing. We drank it without anything happening, and it even made our whole bodies feel comfortable. What problem could there be?"
"An Bulang, it's no big deal for a young man to say something wrong in his rashness. Just apologize to Xun Zilan, and we'll let this matter pass."
An Bulang found that rather amusing. "I didn't say anything wrong. Why should I apologize?"
He did not understand all those twists and turns. If he had something to say, he said it. Did he have to watch these people's expressions too?
Besides, when he said there was something wrong with the tea, he was not merely referring to a minor issue like it tasting terrible. There really was another, far more serious problem.
"Hmph, you truly don't know what's good for you. If Xun Zilan holds it against you, we won't be able to help you." The hot-tempered Liu Peng snorted softly.
Sure enough, Xun Zilan's gentle smile had vanished, and his tone became unfriendly. "An Bulang, then tell me. What exactly is wrong with my tea?"
Ji Hongxue looked at An Bulang nervously. She knew what he was capable of, and instinctively chose to believe him. But the tea Xun Zilan had brought was spiritual tea from within the Jade Sword Sect. If there really were a problem, it should have been discovered long ago. How could it have remained hidden until now?
An Bulang said, "Your tea has been corroded by yin energy. A powerful Yin creature must be lurking near your tea trees, and it cannot have been there for more than ten days."
"A Yin creature lurking in my Jade Sword Sect?" Xun Zilan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Absurd! My Jade Sword Sect is protected by a grand formation. What Yin creature could possibly pass through our sect's formation? Furthermore, our Jade Sword Sect has many elders with profound cultivation, and even a sect master at the Spirit Attunement Realm. None of them detected the yin energy in the tea leaves, yet a little cultivator at the Profound Body Third Layer like you dares to make such wild boasts here?!"
Xun Zilan's words carried a distinctive force that made everyone feel a wave of pressure.
"An Bulang, is it really so hard to lower your head? Don't anger Xun Zilan!" Xu Linghui urged in a low voice from the side.
Liu Peng spoke even more bluntly. "There's nothing wrong with young people being high-spirited, but someone like you, who doesn't know the depth of heaven and earth, spouts nonsense, says the wrong thing, and still refuses to bow his head afterward, will never achieve much no matter where he goes."
The others secretly shook their heads as well. Their impression of An Bulang had fallen to rock bottom. The fact that they had not started cursing him outright was already courtesy enough.
"Xun Zilan's master is Daoist Master Yuxu, the Jade Sword Sect's sect master. He's at the Spirit Attunement Realm and one of the Azure Kingdom's three greatest experts. Even he found no problem, yet a cultivator at the Profound Body Third Layer like you claims otherwise. You really are quite capable." A young master from an Aristocratic Clan could no longer resist sneering in mockery. Someone like this was not worth sparing any face for.
"The Spirit Attunement Realm is one of the Azure Kingdom's three greatest experts?" An Bulang looked somewhat surprised.
After the ninth level of the Mystic Body Realm, one opened a sea of qi in the dantian and could draw spiritual energy into it, thereby entering the Spirit Attunement Realm.
Seeing An Bulang's expression, everyone was stunned.
His words, inside and out, carried a tone of looking down on the Spirit Attunement Realm!
Who had given him the nerve to say such things with only the cultivation of the Profound Body Third Layer?
"But if your sect master really is only at the Spirit Attunement Realm, then you should be careful. Judging by the quality of the yin energy left in the tea leaves, that Yin creature is at least in the Heavenly Origin Realm..." An Bulang said seriously.
No one took him seriously. Some were even on the verge of laughing aloud.
"Princess, could you make your little guard shut up? The only reason Xun Zilan hasn't hit him yet is because of his good upbringing."
"Haha, there isn't even a single Heavenly Origin Realm cultivator in the entire Azure Kingdom. I really don't know where this brat gets the nerve to say such things."
"If that annoying little guard keeps prattling on, I'm leaving. Just seeing him irritates me..." someone said with an expression of utter disgust.
Ji Hongxue's gaze turned cold, and she pointed her slender hand toward the door. "Then why haven't you gotten lost yet?"
"Uh...!" The man was dumbfounded.
An Bulang had embarrassed the princess so badly, yet she was still protecting him?
"Enough, enough. Let's continue drinking tea. Tea won't taste good once it gets cold." Xun Zilan tried to smooth things over. "As for what certain people said, we can simply ignore it..."
An Bulang was not angered by this. He silently ate his Spicy Twisted Dough, then casually added, "When yin energy enters a mortal's body, such dense yin energy is not something you can resist. Your lives will be in danger."
Everyone chatted and laughed as they continued drinking tea, completely ignoring An Bulang's words. They had clearly taken him for a fool spouting nonsense.
"Sister Hongxue, come have some too," Xu Linghui invited.
Ji Hongxue shook her head. "No. I choose to believe An Bulang. I'll just wait here for my second brother to arrive."
No one could understand why a princess of an entire kingdom trusted that little guard so deeply—so deeply it seemed almost blind.
A trace more gloom appeared in Xun Zilan's eyes at the sight.
An Bulang ate his twisted dough and quietly watched everyone court death.
He had already done this much. Since the others did not believe him and even mocked him, there was no need for him to make himself unhappy by begging them to believe him.
Good words could not persuade a damned ghost. After all, this was their fate.
Look at Xu Linghui, that young girl. Earlier, she had been calling him Brother Bulang at every turn, but now she could not even be bothered to glance at An Bulang. She avoided him as though he were a plague, her eyes filled only with Xun Zilan.
"An Bulang, I'm really sorry. I didn't expect them to act like this..." Ji Hongxue looked at An Bulang with her beautiful eyes, afraid that the young man would be angry.
An Bulang smiled. "It's fine. I'm not angry. There are so many ignorant people in the world, countless beyond measure. If I got angry every time they showed their ignorance, how could I possibly be angry enough? As long as they don't hit me first, I won't hit them."
Ji Hongxue's face twitched uncontrollably. "If I didn't know how formidable you are, I would definitely scoff at those words."
An Bulang and Ji Hongxue chatted cheerfully off to the side.
Meanwhile, Xun Zilan, Liu Peng, Xu Linghui, and the others drank tea and chatted. From time to time, they glanced at the two whose style seemed so out of place, especially An Bulang, with several traces of disgust and dissatisfaction in their eyes.
"I truly don't know what kind of bewitching potion that brat fed Sister Hongxue. She's actually joining him in this nonsense." Xu Linghui took a small sip of tea, her pretty face filled with confusion.
"The Third Princess is simply eager to seek out talent. She couldn't bear to see a cultivator at the Profound Body Third Layer being neglected off to the side, so she kept him company to make sure he would not feel too embarrassed." General Liu Peng smiled as he spoke, as if offering an explanation, though disdain filled his eyes.
Xun Zilan gently shook his head, seemingly sighing. "Hongxue is simply too kind-hearted. That young man's character truly does not deserve such treatment from her. The Jade Sword Sect has talents more outstanding than him by the handful."
Everyone chimed in agreement and continued heaping praise upon Xun Zilan.
Xu Linghui sipped her tea and looked at An Bulang with some disappointment. Then, she suddenly felt a chill rise from her lower abdomen, instantly spreading through her entire body. "I-I feel... a little cold?"
Everyone froze.
At that moment, a sudden change erupted!
Liu Peng's robust body began to turn cold, and he even exhaled frigid breath like white mist.
"Me too. Th-this... what is going on?" Another young master from an Aristocratic Clan had gone stiff all over, unable even to speak properly.
The others also discovered in terror that an unknown Cold Power had erupted within their bodies and was rapidly spreading through them.
Xun Zilan's expression changed drastically as he discovered, in shock, that Cold Power had somehow erupted in his dantian as well, spreading through his entire body along his meridians.
The sudden calamity plunged everyone into panic.
"Cold, it's so cold..."
"What exactly is happening?"
"It's over. The cold energy can't be suppressed. What do we do..."
The crowd panicked. At that moment, they all recalled one person's words and, as if by prior agreement, turned their gazes toward the White-robed Youth.