Gal Martial Saint

"Senior Brother, stop playing with the bird. Something's happened."

Liu Enchuan walked into the courtyard, looking at his senior brother's leisurely, carefree demeanor, and spoke helplessly.

Ren Wencai didn't turn around, still cheerfully teasing the Spirit Crane:

"Junior Brother, your temperament is too impatient. This immortal cultivation—what you cultivate is the state of mind."

"Gu Chengming beat up someone from Daoning Gate."

"Oh, so what if he beat them up? Young people have hot tempers... Hm?"

Ren Wencai's hand paused, and the Spirit Crane took the chance to peck him, flapping its wings and flying away.

He wasn't annoyed. He dusted off his hands and stood up:

"What happened?"

Liu Enchuan repeated the situation Jiang Lu had reported.

The more Ren Wencai listened, the stranger his expression became, and by the end, he couldn't help but burst out laughing:

"Good! What a fine 'Robber Cultivator'! What a fine 'strike first to gain the upper hand'!"

Liu Enchuan looked at his senior brother, who clearly relished watching the world burn, and felt a bit helpless:

"Senior Brother, now's not the time to praise him. Daoning Gate probably won't let this go. Those two female cultivators suffered such a loss; they'll definitely go back and complain. If Daoning Gate's elder comes knocking to demand an explanation..."

"Demand an explanation?"

Ren Wencai sneered.

"What face do they have to demand an explanation?"

He clasped his hands behind his back and paced a couple of steps in the yard:

"Enchuan, you're too honest. You let those rules and regulations tie you down."

"Think carefully. Are we in the wrong here?"

Liu Enchuan was taken aback: "Well, he did knock them unconscious..."

"So what if he knocked them out?" Ren Wencai interrupted. "First, they were the ones who blocked the road, right?"

"Second, and most importantly."

Ren Wencai held up one finger, wagging it in front of Liu Enchuan, a sly grin curling at the corner of his mouth:

"Gu Chengming is only at First Realm Level Four!"

"Two Senior Sisters at First Realm Mid Stage teamed up to intercept a Junior Brother at First Realm Early Stage, and ended up getting beaten by him instead."

"If this gets out, who loses face? Is it our Huiyuan Gate?"

"No, it's their Daoning Gate!"

Ren Wencai grew more animated as he spoke, spreading his hands:

"Daoning Gate wants to cause trouble? Let them come! We have the upper hand no matter what. If they really show up, I'll make sure they lose all their dignity and pride!"

Seeing his senior brother so confident, almost itching to go pick a fight, the heavy stone in Liu Enchuan's heart finally settled.

Since the Great Elder had spoken, the matter was settled.

That kid Gu Chengming wasn't at fault this time—he'd actually done a good deed.

"Alright, relax."

Ren Wencai crouched back down, picking up the spirit grass:

"If someone from Daoning Gate really comes, just tell them to come straight to me."

Liu Enchuan smiled too: "I was waiting for you to say that."

Chapter 34: Thirty-Third Chapter—What Do You Mean the One Who Hit Them Was Jiang Lu?

A few days later, Daoning Gate.

As she slowly came to, a faint, calming scent of incense lingered at the tip of her nose.

Su He felt a sharp, unbearable ache in the back of her neck. Even the slightest movement sent pain throbbing through her skull.

She struggled to open her eyelids, and her vision was met with the familiar green gauze canopy and the glazed palace lantern hanging from the beam.

This was the side hall of Daoning Gate's alchemy room.

Memories flooded back like a tide. At the entrance to the Marketplace, that handsome man spouting nonsense, that earth-shaking shout of "How dare you, Robber Cultivator!", and that absurdly fast Wooden Sword...

"Awake?"

A cold, authoritative voice rang out beside her, instantly dispelling the last traces of Su He's grogginess.

Her whole body stiffened. She instinctively tried to rise and bow, but heard a groan from beside her.

—It was Li Miao.

Su He turned her head to look. Her Junior Sister was curled up on another soft couch, both hands clutching her abdomen. Clearly, that Inch Strength had left her with quite a psychological and physical trauma.

In front of the two soft couches, a middle-aged beauty in an intricate dark green Daoist robe sat upright in a Grand Tutor Chair, holding a cup of Spirit Tea in her hand, the swirling steam half-hiding her face.

The Steward Elder of Daoning Gate, and also their teaching master—Elder Liu.

"Disciple... greets Master."

Elder Liu sighed. "No sword wounds, no traces of Mystical Arts. All blunt force trauma."

"Tell me, which expert did you run into?"

Li Miao was timid by nature, and now, crushed by her master's aura and still nursing a sore stomach, her mind went completely blank.

She stammered for a long while, her eyes darting, not daring to lift her head: "Mas... Master, actually... well... we..."

She simply couldn't say it.

Was she supposed to say: Master, we went to corner a First Realm Level Four, and before we could even finish our words, he took us out with a Wooden Sword?

Too humiliating.

Elder Liu's brows furrowed slightly, her gaze shifting to the slightly calmer Su He: "Su He, you speak."

Su He knelt on the ground, cold sweat trickling down her back.

Tell the truth?

Absolutely not.

Getting countered by a First Realm Level Four—how would she ever hold her head up in Daoning Gate again? Those senior and junior sisters who already had it out for her would turn this into a joke and tell it over tea for a Hundred Years.

She had to come up with a reason.

Her mind flashed through the scene at the time.

Gu Chengming... Wooden Sword... ambush...

And who else?

Right!

That young man who had been following Gu Chengming all along!

Su He's eyes lit up instantly.

She remembered that young man was named Jiang Lu. He might not have looked too bright, but his Spiritual Power fluctuations were solidly at First Realm Level Seven!

If she said they lost to a First Realm Level Seven, and that too when the other side had a numbers advantage and had launched a despicable sneak attack...

Then the whole nature of the incident changed.

This wasn't being bad—this was being outnumbered, being ambushed!

Su He gritted her teeth, putting on a reluctant expression: "Today, Junior Sister and I were strolling through the Marketplace when we happened upon that Gu Chengming. Because of the recent rumors about Senior Sister You circulating in the market, I thought to step forward and ask a few questions, to seek justice for Senior Sister You."

"Who would have thought... that Gu Chengming was utterly unreasonable. Not only did he speak frivolously, but he had also already laid an ambush with an accomplice!"

At this point, she secretly glanced at Elder Liu's expression. Seeing the other's brows knit, she boldly continued fabricating: "There was an Outer Sect Disciple named Jiang Lu by his side, whose cultivation had already reached First Realm Level Seven!"

"The two of them joined forces, and they struck first with a sneak attack. I was caught off guard, and that's why..."

Li Miao beside her was a bit stunned. If you ignored the process and only looked at the result and the lineup, her senior sister's words weren't wrong.

There really had been Jiang Lu there. Jiang Lu really was at First Realm Level Seven. And they really had been knocked out.

As for who actually did the hitting... did it matter?

That Jiang Lu had been present at the scene anyway. Rounding up, he was an accomplice!

"Bang!"

A sharp crack rang out.

The tea cup in Elder Liu's hand slammed heavily onto the table. The fine celadon shattered into pieces, and scalding tea spilled across the surface.

A terrifying Spiritual Pressure instantly filled the entire side hall, pressing down on the two until they could barely breathe.

"Outrageous!"

Elder Liu shot to her feet. "What a fine Outer Sect Disciple! What a fine First Realm Level Seven! Two grown men, joining hands to ambush two women, and striking so viciously!"

The more Elder Liu thought about it, the angrier she got.

In her eyes, this was no longer a simple scuffle between disciples. This was a slap in the face to Daoning Gate!

If the other side had defeated Su He and the others in an open fight, she, Elder Liu, was not one to refuse defeat. If your skills weren't up to par, you went back and trained harder.

But a sneak attack, and with a higher cultivation level?

What kind of skill was that?!

Elder Liu snorted coldly, sweeping her wide sleeve. A gentle surge of Spiritual Power lifted the two kneeling figures to their feet.

"Let's go!"

Su He was stunned, a sudden ominous feeling rising in her heart. "M-Master... go where?"

"Where?"

Elder Liu's brows furrowed sharply, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. "To the Huiyuan Gate to demand an explanation, of course!"

"I want to see who gave them the nerve to beat a Disciple of our Daoning Gate like this in broad daylight!"

Su He and Li Miao were instantly dumbfounded.

This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!

According to their expectations, after hearing them out, their Master would most likely scold them for "lack of skill," then order them to reflect behind closed doors and train harder to reclaim their honor later.

After all, it was just a minor scuffle between Disciples. For an Elder to personally intervene would be far too undignified.

"Um... Master..."

Su He panicked, cold sweat pouring down instantly.

If they really went to confront Gu Chengming and Jiang Lu...

"Master! There's no need!"

Su He quickly grabbed Elder Liu's sleeve:

"Actually... it's really not that big a deal. This Disciple can just go back and recover. Why trouble you to personally..."

"Not that big a deal?"

Elder Liu shot her a glare of disappointment. "You were knocked unconscious, and it's not that big a deal? Where's your backbone? Where's your Dao Heart?"

"Haven't I taught you all this every day? If someone bullies you, fight back! If you can't win, come to your Master!"

"If you swallow this anger today, how will they look at you tomorrow?"

"But..."