Wang Dong Makes Friends

In the mud, Zhou Hu bared his teeth in pain. After struggling for a long while, he barely managed to climb back to his feet.

Clutching his bruised arm, his face filled with shock and fury, he glared fixedly at Shen Yuan. "You... you dared to fight back?!"

That strike had looked light and effortless, yet the strength contained within it was absolutely not something a cripple with shattered bones could possess. Zhou Hu was both panicked and enraged, unable to understand where Shen Yuan had found such strength.

The surrounding servants erupted in uproar, whispers rising and falling one after another.

"Did I see that right just now? Zhou Hu was sent flying by Shen Yuan?" "Didn't they say Shen Yuan's bones were already shattered? How could he still have so much strength?" "Could his injuries be slowly recovering?"

All kinds of speculation rang out.

Liu Er's face darkened until it seemed ready to drip water.

He stared fixedly at Shen Yuan, his mind racing.

Shen Yuan was clearly supposed to be a cripple. It was one thing that he had survived falling off the cliff, but now he could even drive Zhou Hu back. Could his bones be slowly recovering?

The moment that thought surfaced, a trace of wariness arose in Liu Er's heart.

If Shen Yuan truly recovered, it would not be so easy to keep him under his thumb in the future. Yet with so many servants watching, he had no pretext to openly harm him. If he forcibly ordered people to gang up on Shen Yuan, it would only give others something to talk about.

Liu Er forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart.

"Fine. You dared to injure someone even while seriously wounded." Liu Er raised his voice, trying to seize the moral high ground. "Zhou Hu was carrying out the steward's punishment, yet you dared to refuse punishment and injure him!"

Shen Yuan spoke calmly. His voice was not loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears. "Steward, he came up and threw a punch straight at my face. I was merely defending myself. There is no rule in the Servant Compound saying one must stand still and take a beating, is there?"

His words were neither servile nor overbearing.

Quite a few of the watching servants knew in their hearts that Liu Er had always deliberately made things difficult for Shen Yuan. Many of them secretly nodded now.

Liu Er was choked speechless.

If he continued arguing in public, he would only make the matter bigger.

"Fine, what fine self-defense." Liu Er gritted his teeth and shot Shen Yuan a vicious glare. "Yesterday's firewood task will be noted for now. Though you may escape death, you cannot escape punishment. For the next three days, you will be responsible for sweeping the rocky shore behind the mountain. If you dare cause trouble again, you will not be spared!"

He did not wish to waste any more time here. After declaring the punishment, he flung his sleeve sharply and left with the unwilling Zhou Hu.

Having watched the spectacle, the servants also dispersed in twos and threes. However, the looks they gave Shen Yuan were now utterly different from before. There was fear, curiosity, and a measure of wariness.

The entrance to the wood shed finally quieted down.

Shen Yuan slowly withdrew all the strength in his body, and his aura returned to its weak appearance.

He had deliberately held back the force of that strike, only sending Zhou Hu flying without seriously injuring him. If he had beaten Zhou Hu severely, Liu Er would have had ample reason to use the Servant Compound's punishments to deal ruthlessly with him.

He could not lose the big picture for the sake of a small gain.

"Brother, not bad. That move just now was really something."

A plump figure stepped out from behind a nearby pillar.

The youth was round and chubby, with a fleshy face. Even his gray servant's uniform looked tight on him, and he still held half a coarse grain cake in his hand. It was Wang Dong.

Wang Dong was one of the few people in the Servant Compound who had not kicked Shen Yuan while he was down. He was usually smooth and quick-witted, with good relations among the servants, though his cultivation talent was ordinary.

He moved close to Shen Yuan and looked around. Only after confirming that there was no one nearby did he lower his voice.

"I saw everything just now. Zhou Hu usually throws his weight around because Liu Er has his back, bullying plenty of people. Today, he finally hit a wall." Wang Dong took another bite of his coarse grain cake and spoke softly. "But you'd better be careful. Liu Er is petty. Since he suffered a loss today, he'll definitely look for trouble with you behind your back."

Shen Yuan looked at the fat youth, warmth rising in his heart. In the Servant Compound, where everyone avoided him like the plague, there were truly not many willing to come and warn him.

"Thank you for the warning," Shen Yuan replied softly.

Wang Dong scratched his head and smiled honestly. "What are you thanking me for? Back when I was being bullied, you secretly lent me a hand too. I remember."

As he said this, Wang Dong's eyes shifted. He looked Shen Yuan up and down, then tested the waters in a low voice. "Say, Shen Yuan, you... is your body slowly getting better? That strike just now wasn't something a person with shattered bones could throw."

Shen Yuan's heart stirred. He did not reveal everything, answering with a mixture of truth and falsehood. "When I fell from the cliff, I happened upon a bit of fortune. My body improved slightly, but I am still far from recovering my cultivation."

He did not mention the Martial Arts Heavenly Stele in the slightest, simply attributing it to the opportunity he had encountered after falling from the cliff.

Wang Dong did not pry further. He was tactful and knew that everyone had their own secrets.

"It's a tremendous blessing as long as you're getting better!" Joy appeared on Wang Dong's face. Then, as if recalling something, his eyes lit up. He leaned close to Shen Yuan's ear and lowered his voice. "Right, I heard some other servants chatting about some news. In another half month, the sect will open the Outer Sect Assessment! As long as you pass, you can shed your servant status and become an official outer sect disciple. You'll receive cultivation resources allocated by the sect and never have to put up with the servant stewards again!"

The Outer Sect Assessment!

Shen Yuan's pupils narrowed slightly.

This was precisely the opportunity he needed.

Trapped in the Servant Compound, he would never escape the control of people like Liu Er. Only by becoming an outer sect disciple could he gain a larger platform and obtain cultivation resources, giving him a chance to investigate the truth behind his bones being crippled all those years ago.

"The Outer Sect Assessment—can servant disciples sign up as well?" Shen Yuan asked.

"They can." Wang Dong nodded, but then his face fell as he earnestly advised, "But it's extremely difficult! Out of tens of thousands of servants, only a handful can ultimately enter the outer sect. And I heard that outer sect disciple Zhao Kun will also be one of the core disciples overseeing this assessment. The very Zhao Kun you had a grudge with back then! You must weigh the risks carefully."

Zhao Kun.

At the sound of that name, a flash of coldness passed through Shen Yuan's eyes.

His enemy was right before him.

In half a month, the Outer Sect Assessment.

It was an opportunity, but likewise, a dangerous whirlpool.

Shen Yuan had already made up his mind in secret.

No matter how difficult it was, he had to participate in this Outer Sect Assessment.