"I wonder which restaurant in Qiu Yang City is the best?"
"Why, Ascension Pavilion, of course! But, Junior Brother Shi, there are sixteen of us in this courtyard. Ten taels of gold might not be enough to fill our bellies at Ascension Pavilion!" Yin Tieyan said.
"That expensive?" Shi Feizhe asked.
"Their banquets change with the seasons, and there's no upper limit on the price. Usually, a meal for three or five people costs several taels of gold. Imagine what it would cost for more than a dozen of us."
"...Then let's eat something else!" Shi Feizhe said helplessly. He hadn't expected the wealth gap in this world to be so enormous.
An entire courtyard's worth of people couldn't afford one meal!
So he bought a few sheep, along with seasonings, charcoal, wine, fruit and vegetables, and other odds and ends, then started roasting whole lambs in the courtyard.
The Sun Moon Radiance Sect sent food to the courtyard every day, but it was only one meat dish and one vegetable dish. How could that compare to unlimited roast lamb? And there was wine, too.
Martial artists had hearty appetites. When they ran out of sheep, they had a few more brought over. Nearly everyone ate an entire sheep. Even with the wine, it only cost a dozen or so taels of silver—about one tael of gold.
"Brother Shi, you're a real friend!" Fan Jianqiang said, sitting beside Shi Feizhe, his arm around Shi's shoulder as he ate a roast leg of lamb and drank wine.
Sure, you're a plant, but you treated me to roast lamb, so I'm going to sing your praises!
Yang Yang and Qian Xin had both arrived at the courtyard with Shi Feizhe the day before. They eyed him enviously.
How the hell had they gone from arriving yesterday to eating roast lamb paid for by a fellow disciple?
Ten taels of gold really sounded so tempting!
They had to train hard, too!
"Ahem... At this moment, I'd like to say a few words!" Yin Tieyan said, his face red from drinking.
"Go ahead, Senior Brother Yin!" a dozen or so people egged him on.
"First, congratulations to Junior Brother Shi Feizhe on succeeding in his cultivation and becoming a sect disciple!" Yin Tieyan declared loudly, his words slurred with drink.
"Congratulations, Brother Shi!"
"Congratulations, Brother Shi!" the dozen or so people shouted over one another.
After eating roast lamb and drinking wine, how could they not congratulate him?
"Second, we must thank the sect and Sect Leader Leng! It's thanks to Sect Leader Leng's leadership that our Sun Moon Radiance Sect has flourished, and that we have more than ten..."
Yin Tieyan began loudly praising Sect Leader Leng. His words were so sickeningly sweet that the crowd just drank and ate, treating his speech like a fart.
"Let's drink to Sect Leader Leng!" Yin Tieyan said, raising a bowl of wine.
"Drink!"
"Anyone who doesn't drink is a coward!" a few people shouted as they drank.
"Lastly, everyone should work hard. You all have a chance to become sect disciples! The benefits and treatment at our Sun Moon Radiance Sect are first-rate throughout Qiu Yang City! As long as you're loyal to the sect, there'll be plenty of rewards!" Yin Tieyan said, sounding thoroughly drunk.
"Drink! Drink!" Shi Feizhe hurriedly interrupted.
The hell? I'm the one paying, not you. Why are you going on like that? I should've known better than to invite you!
They drank from the afternoon until night. At last, the meat was gone and the wine was drained, and the whole crowd staggered off, dead drunk.
Several days later, Yin Tieyan reported his observations from the past few days to Hua Wushuang.
"So you're saying that, aside from treating you all to a meal, he spent the rest of his time cultivating in his room?" Hua Wushuang asked, setting down the book in his hands.
"Exactly. If anyone asked him for guidance on the Sun Moon United Heart Art, he'd gladly share what he knew. From what I've observed, there's nothing suspicious about him," Yin Tieyan said.
"Hmm..." Hua Wushuang pondered for a moment before saying, "In that case, come with me and report this to the sect leader."
The two headed to Autumn Fragrance Garden. Before they could even enter, they heard Leng Qingqiu shout furiously, "I'm the sect leader!"
A rather young voice replied, "Elder Brother, we recognize you, so you're the sect leader. We don't recognize you, and you're no sect leader!"
"Outrageous!"
The words were followed by the sounds of a fight. Yin Tieyan could only see the sunlight and moonlight inside Autumn Fragrance Garden alternating back and forth. Hua Wushuang hurried inside, hoping to stop the two of them.
One was the sect leader, Leng Qingqiu; the other was the vice sect leader, Leng Qianye.
They were brothers, too!
"Senior Brother Hua, let's wait a little," Liu Cheng, the Law Enforcement Elder, said, stepping in front of Hua Wushuang.
"You..." Hua Wushuang glared at Liu Cheng, his face dark with anger. "Brothers turning against each other—why let it come to this?"
"Hmph!" Liu Cheng snorted. "You're talking about brotherly affection now? Where was it when you were suppressing Vice Sect Leader Leng?"
"That was business! We were dealing with the matter, not the person!" Hua Wushuang snapped.
"Dealing with the matter, not the person? When it benefits you, you make exceptions. When it doesn't, suddenly you're just dealing with the matter!" Liu Cheng said with a cold laugh. "You think we don't see through those tricks?"
"We can sit down and talk!"
"There's nothing left to talk about!"
They were about to say more when Leng Qianye came flying out of the room, struck by Leng Qingqiu's palm. But Buddha Light rippled faintly around his body, and he wasn't hurt at all.
"You... You've taken up Buddhist cultivation?" Leng Qingqiu emerged from the room, his face livid as he stared at the Buddha Light around Leng Qianye.
Leng Qianye looked quite like Leng Qingqiu, only much younger. "The Golden Buddha Temple truly lives up to its reputation as a thousand-year-old sect. Just one scripture has taught me so much!"
"Colluding with outsiders and sowing chaos in the sect—you deserve to die!" Leng Qingqiu's expression turned cold. One of his hands shone like the great sun, the other like the bright moon. He pressed his palms together, sun and moon shining as one, and struck at Leng Qianye.
Leng Qianye recognized their Sun Moon Radiance Sect's signature art at once: the Cosmos Sun Moon Palm!
"Elder Brother, you're behind the times!" As he spoke, a Buddha gradually emerged behind him. One of its hands held the great sun, the other the bright moon. It was using the Cosmos Sun Moon Palm, too!
The same move, but a different palm!
With a boom, their palms collided. A massive wave of force erupted from the point of impact, tossing Autumn Fragrance Garden into chaos! The famous flowers and rare plants that Yin Tieyan wouldn't dare touch were pulverized by the blast!
Leng Qingqiu didn't budge an inch, while Leng Qianye staggered back several steps. After all, he was only at the Qi Sea realm, while Leng Qingqiu had reached the Zhoutian realm.
"Let's go!" Leng Qianye said to Liu Cheng.
"Elder Brother, I advise you to step down and make way for someone worthy while you can, and save yourself some dignity!" He left them with those words and walked away without looking back.
"Sect Leader!" Once Leng Qianye was gone, Hua Wushuang hurried forward to support Leng Qingqiu.
"Cough..." Leng Qingqiu coughed up a mouthful of blood. He had forced himself not to retreat just now to drive Leng Qianye away.
As long as he stood his ground, Leng Qianye would think there was still a gap between them. If he gave way, Leng Qianye might force him from his position today!
"I didn't expect him to suddenly make his move today!" Hua Wushuang helped Leng Qingqiu back inside.
The room was a complete mess, too. After sitting down, Leng Qingqiu asked, "What brings you here?"
"There's something we'd like you to decide, Sect Leader!" Hua Wushuang said. He had Yin Tieyan explain the situation with Shi Feizhe, then added a few points of his own.
After listening carefully, Leng Qingqiu said, "You were right to be so cautious. You handled it well. This is simple enough: just have him demonstrate and explain it once!"
Have Shi Feizhe demonstrate and explain it? This sect was doomed!
Before you continue