Clear Conscience

"Madman!"

"Do you even know what you're doing?!"

"You're cutting yourself off from the martial hall!"

Cries of shock and fury rose one after another. No one had expected Zhang Feiyu, who had always been so meek around them, to have the nerve to do something like this!

Su Bei was briefly stunned, then a smile curled across his lips.

The road had just widened.

It was obvious that this group of rich heirs had been intent on humiliating Zhang Feiyu from beginning to end. As for him, he had merely been a tool for humiliating Zhang Feiyu, one part of their little game—they had never taken Su Bei seriously.

If there hadn't been a mission involved,

Su Bei truly couldn't be bothered to get involved in something like this. The nine hall masters each belonged to their own faction; put the nine of them together, and they could probably create eighty different group chats. That was why Wuji Martial Hall could only be considered a major force, still a fair distance from those truly top-tier powers.

Su Bei didn't do anything without benefits.

Unfortunately, they had made their requests once, twice, and again and again. Su Bei had been quite helpless, so he could only beat them into serious injuries.

The martial path might not have the concept of inner demons like cultivation, but it did have the notion of keeping one's thoughts unblocked.

It was like rowing upstream: if one did not advance, one retreated.

If even your thoughts were tangled, what martial arts could you possibly train?

At any rate, Su Bei's thoughts had become unblocked many times over.

As for the consequences, the Martial Artist Assessment was about to begin. Every Martial Artist Assessment was a grand event, and those top forces naturally would not miss it.

Now that Su Bei had the Emperor Sun Aura, if he couldn't take first place in the assessment, he should at least have no trouble taking the top spot. When the time came, he could simply choose a faction to join.

Of course, that wasn't entirely certain. There were plenty of Martial Artist Assessments held in different places every year, and talented people at the top of the rankings were as numerous as fish crossing a river. It was impossible for every one of them to be accepted. Besides, offending a Legendary Martial Artist over a single genius was a losing proposition no matter how one looked at it.

But Su Bei didn't really care.

If the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up. Zhang Feiyu's actions had clearly dragged the conflict into the martial hall itself.

They were all members of the martial hall, so Third Hall Master and Ninth Hall Master could fight it out themselves—after all, the best way to resolve a conflict was to make it bigger.

The more people dragged into it, the safer Su Bei would be.

While he was thinking,

Zhang Feiyu's hands did not stop moving. He ran over to another person lying by the wall and slashed him with another claw, once again cutting deep enough to expose bone. The sight made everyone's hearts pound.

Su Bei watched with great interest. They had known each other for barely more than half a month, but only today did he realize that Zhang Feiyu was quite an interesting fellow.

Only after finishing all that did Zhang Feiyu leisurely call toward the door.

"You two, come in."

The door was pushed open.

The giant man and Zhao Pei entered with puzzled expressions, only to see Sun Zicheng sprawled on the floor, his condition unknown.

Their expressions instantly shifted from confusion to shock, then terror.

"Young Master Sun?!"

The giant man flashed forward and arrived at Sun Zicheng's side. After checking his breathing, he hurriedly pulled out a vial from his robes and poured it into Sun Zicheng's mouth. Only after Sun Zicheng's breathing stabilized slightly did he sweep his gaze across the room.

"What happened?"

There had only been a wall between them, and barely any time had passed. How had his young master ended up like this?!

The Martial Artist Assessment was about to begin. If this delayed it, then as Sun Zicheng's guard, he would never escape blame!

"It was him!"

"I did it."

Zhang Feiyu spoke first. "The Martial Artist Assessment is coming up, and Brother Sun wanted to test my strength. I didn't expect him to be so unable to take a beating. It was indeed my fault."

"Bullshit! It was clearly Su Bei who attacked!"

The giant man's temples throbbed as he stared at his almost unrecognizable young master. He simply could not believe this had been a sparring match.

But everyone present was of high status. Even if he wanted to do something, he did not dare act rashly.

"Why aren't you taking Brother Sun for treatment?! If he suffers any lasting complications, can you bear that responsibility?"

The giant man also realized that this matter might not be something he could interfere with. He got up, scooped Sun Zicheng into his arms, and rushed outside.

"Senior Brother Zhao, please take the person by the wall for treatment as well."

When the two had reached the doorway, Zhang Feiyu's voice sounded from behind them. "These two are brothers as dear to me as my own flesh and blood. Be sure to use the best medicine!"

Both the giant man and Zhao Pei froze for a moment before leaving even faster.

"Senior brothers and sisters, I was a poor host today. After the Martial Artist Assessment, Feiyu will certainly host a banquet and properly entertain you all again." After the outsiders left, Zhang Feiyu cupped his hands toward the remaining group.

At that point, none of them had any desire to stay.

"Hmph!"

"Zhang Feiyu, I will report everything that happened today to the martial hall exactly as it occurred!"

"And Su Bei..."

"You'd better take care of yourself!"

As Zhu Xuan passed Su Bei, a trace of regret appeared in her eyes. She nearly spoke, but in the end merely sighed softly and left.

In her imagination, Su Bei fighting back would have made her see him in a new light. But she had never expected his retaliation to be so fierce, so explosively violent.

Yet when she recalled Su Bei's savage posture just now, her long legs could not help tangling together. If... if that had struck my body, what would it have felt like...

After everyone had left,

Of course, they had also politely closed the door behind them.

Zhang Feiyu plopped down on the floor, his face bitter as he looked at Su Bei. "Brother Bei, I've caused a huge disaster this time."

"Weren't you pretty ruthless just now?" Su Bei did not care in the slightest and even had the mood to tease him. "I thought you really meant to kill someone."

Zhang Feiyu's face remained miserable. "What else could I do? I'm desperate too."

"Tell me."

Ignoring his complaints, Su Bei asked curiously, "Your status shouldn't be low, right?"

Why did he stand before others like some lackey?

Of course, Su Bei did not say that aloud, but the expression on his face made it obvious enough.

"First, Sun Zicheng's father ranks above mine."

Zhang Feiyu sighed. "Second, I'm an illegitimate son, and for certain reasons, my mother isn't welcome in the martial hall either, so..."

Only then did Su Bei understand.

That explained it.

Just now, Su Bei had even guessed that Ninth Hall Master might already be dead, or perhaps gravely ill with something completely incurable. Maybe Chen Wansheng was some old friend entrusted with his dying wishes, taking his only son away from the center of power to train in obscurity and seek the position of chief hall master...

He had overthought it.

So Zhang Feiyu was simply completely unwanted. Well, that was fine.

As for being an illegitimate son, that was far too common.

In his previous life, even wealthy merchants could have more than one illegitimate child, let alone powerful people in a world where individual strength reigned supreme.

Having women on both arms was the norm; the term "illegitimate child" was what seemed unusual.

"But Sun Zicheng isn't like me."

Zhang Feiyu's expression became more serious. "Third Hall Master has more than one child, but Sun Zicheng was born to him in his later years and is his most favored."

"His older brothers and sisters are all quite strong as well, and they dote on this younger brother of theirs."

"After beating him up like that today, I'm afraid my days won't be easy from now on. Third Hall Master's family has a hereditary knack for holding grudges... sigh."

As he spoke, Zhang Feiyu could not help letting out a long sigh.

Su Bei was puzzled. "What are you afraid of?"

No matter what, Zhang Feiyu was still Ninth Hall Master's son. Even if he was unloved, they would not beat him to death over something so minor. At most, he would receive a small punishment.

Otherwise, Ninth Hall Master would become a complete joke.

Who would still dare work under him?

"Look, here's how I see it."

Su Bei tried to analyze the situation for Zhang Feiyu.

"Although you offended Sun Zicheng today, it may not necessarily be a bad thing for you. You yourself are unloved, but perhaps there are some conflicts of interest involved? Maybe your mother is an expert in factional struggles?"

"In any case, there must be quite a few people in the martial hall who want to harm you, which is why someone as skilled as Chen Wansheng follows you around so closely whenever you come out."

"But after what you did to Sun Zicheng today, you openly offended Third Hall Master's faction. That means they will be even less likely to attack you."

"Because if anything happens to you, they will be the prime suspects. You'll actually be safer."

"Huh? Is that how it works?"

Zhang Feiyu looked utterly confused. "Then if I call them back now and stab each of them once, wouldn't I be invincible?"

Su Bei: "..."