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Tian Xianzi clicked his tongue and sighed.

He was even going to use his family's influence to make his little disciple submit? Just wait—your parents will beat your legs straight off, you little brat.

"So what if he's from the He Family?"

Pei Ji merely gave a cold laugh, gloom weaving into dense clouds in his eyes. "Hurting innocent people for no reason—is that how these great Aristocratic Clans behave?"

Ji Yunkai, who came from an Aristocratic Clan, clenched his fists.

Of course not! That brat He Zhizhou just had something wrong with his head!

After being rebuked without mercy, He Zhizhou's face flushed. "You dared defy me today... Sooner or later, I'll make you kneel beneath me and beg for mercy! Pei Ji, you'd better remember that!"

Sword Venerable Zhenxiao's ears turned red.

Beneath him... begging for mercy.

Yikes, that was not healthy.

Night shrouded the scene in the Heaven-Peering Mirror. Pei Ji stepped into the courtyard, then turned slightly before closing the door, the corner of his mouth curling into a lazy smile.

"Why don't you pull up your pants first, Senior Brother He?"

Only then did He Zhizhou realize that his belt had come undone during the earlier scuffle, leaving his pants sagging in a most indecent fashion.

—But what kind of villain pulled someone's pants off in the middle of a confrontation? That was just embarrassing.

So he gave a cold snort, stretched his lips into a smile that was nearly frozen in place, and raised an eyebrow with the air of an overbearing CEO. "What, is Junior Brother Pei too shy to look?"

What a greasy sleazeball. He was almost appetizing enough to eat with a bowl of rice.

The Qingxiao Hall was as silent as a grave.

Several pairs of eyes stared at the mirror, where He Zhizhou's face had been blown up to enormous proportions.

His smile was so wicked and unrestrained, his voice echoing through the great hall. "You're my prey. You'll never escape me. Ha ha, hahahaha!"

That was way too perverted.

The elders fell silent as one. No one said another word.

Finally, Sect Leader Ji Yunkai broke the silence, speaking hesitantly. "The child's still young and doesn't know any better... Don't beat him to death outright."

That night, He Zhizhou, a disciple under Li Wangsheng, was summoned to the Qingxiao Hall.

At the same time, a rumor spread like wildfire through the sect:

Shocking! He Zhizhou tried to force himself on Pei Ji, only to be mercilessly killed in return! Was this the collapse of morality or the distortion of human nature? Unbearable to watch, unbearable to hear!

—Word had it that when passersby found He Zhizhou, his red mandarin-duck belt was still hanging from that ruffian's head!

Ning Ning stared at the message on her gossip Communication Talisman for a long while.

No way.

He Zhizhou's "impossible-to-fail mission"...

Was that it?

No wonder he'd once been a top courtesan. Wild, bro.

Chapter 12

The Xiaochong Mountain Secret Realm was located within Liuming Mountain. When the Xuanxu Sword Sect's floating immortal boat arrived at the mountain gate, it was high noon.

Liuming Mountain was one of the great immortal sects. Unlike the Xuanxu Sect, which focused on the sword, or Fanyin Temple, whose monks devoted themselves to Buddhist cultivation, Liuming Mountain brought together a great many different cultivation sects, rather like a comprehensive university.

Immortal clouds drifted through the mountains, and lakes dotted the landscape. Sunlight fell into the water, rippling into countless crystalline glimmers, as if the sun had shattered and fallen into the mortal world. The mountain streams shimmered beneath the empty sky.

Cranes wandered leisurely through the woods, while jeweled towers stood atop layer upon layer of peaks. Scales of rippling water reflected white walls and glazed tiles, like an immortal paradise on earth.

"This place is enormous!"

He Zhizhou jumped off the immortal boat and, overcome with excitement, rattled off a trio of twenty-first-century straight-man slang: "Badass! Unbeatable! Six-six-six!"

After the elders had summoned him to the Qingxiao Hall, he'd gone to great lengths to explain that he'd only sensed devilish energy on Pei Ji and wanted to investigate his identity; as for the so-called "big, black, thick thing," it had just been the little Devil-Breaking Blade.

Ji Yunkai had been left speechless. Shi Jingyi had nearly wept.

He'd heard that the elders had all fallen silent for a long time, until Tian Xianzi finally cleared his throat and pretended nothing was wrong. "That's right, exactly! We called you here to discuss this—we can't discriminate against someone for having Devil Race blood! Pei Ji hasn't done anything wrong. Who can help it if he got stuck with a father like that? Zhizhou, you have to understand our good intentions!"

And with that, the matter was settled. When He Zhizhou complained to Ning Ning, he said those people shouldn't eat food—they could get by on scouring powder.

"The Xuanxu Sword Sect has arrived!"

The middle-aged man standing before the mountain gate smiled warmly and strode forward to greet them. Several disciples with impressive cultivation, dressed in blue with their hair tied up, followed behind him. "It's been so long since we last met. Forgive us for not coming out to welcome you sooner!"

The visitor was none other than He Xiaochen, Sect Leader of Liuming Mountain.

He had barely finished speaking when a male voice rang out beside him, calm on the surface but brimming with excitement. "When will the sect leader have time to cross swords with me?"

To everyone's surprise, He Xiaochen didn't turn him down. He immediately looked toward Zhen Xiao, who had issued the challenge, a glint flashing in his dark eyes. "Right now! Come on, I'll take you somewhere good!"

"Sect Leader."

A disciple behind him spoke up. "The various sects are arriving right now. If you leave..."

He Xiaochen waved a hand. "Tell them I've gone mad from welcoming guests and am on the brink of death. I'll be resting in my room."

Then he turned back to Zhen Xiao. "Let's go!"

Two streaks of sword light shot away.

Who would have thought that Sect Leader He, with his refined scholar's appearance, was a battle maniac just like Zhen Xiao?

"Please don't mind that."

The blue-robed disciple who had spoken earlier smiled with polite embarrassment. He stepped aside and raised a hand, revealing a broad, magnificent mountain path. "I am Xie Junming of Liuming Mountain. The secret realm opens tomorrow. Our sect has prepared a banquet for everyone today. Please follow me this way."

The Xuanxu Sword Sect had brought fifteen disciples. Among them, Ning Ning knew Lin Xun, Pei Ji, He Zhizhou, and Qin Shu.

The banquet had been arranged at the summit of Xuanji Peak. Amid billowing clouds, delicacies filled the eye, lending the feast a touch of heavenly grandeur.

The two unlucky souls, Ning Ning and Lin Xun, were so used to eating dirt that they hadn't seen such a spread in ages. Ning Ning in particular had come from another world, so every dish seemed especially novel to her. Without a second thought, she dug in.

Xie Junming paused, slightly taken aback.