Menial Disciples, Lives Like Ants

"Lu Chen, you're utterly lawless! You dared to injure a fellow senior brother? I'll whip you to death!"

Manager Pang immediately raised the whip in his hand, about to strike Lu Chen.

"Stop!"

At that moment, two more people walked in from outside.

Hearing this, Manager Pang immediately stopped.

Lu Chen looked over and saw that the one in front was a young woman in black. She was none other than Senior Sister Su Qingqing, who had rewarded him with a Low-Grade Spirit Stone in the alchemy room that day.

Liu Heizi was following behind her.

The woman in black sized Lu Chen up.

"It's you?"

Su Qingqing recognized Lu Chen as well.

"Why aren't you getting over here to pay your respects to Senior Sister Su, the manager of the Outer Enforcement Hall?"

Manager Pang shouted at Lu Chen.

"This lowly one pays respects to Senior Sister Su!"

Lu Chen hurried forward and bowed.

He had never imagined that this inner sect senior sister was actually a manager of the Outer Enforcement Hall.

The Joyful Union Sect's Enforcement Hall was divided into the Inner Hall and the Outer Hall.

The Outer Enforcement Hall managed all outer sect disciples of the Joyful Union Sect.

If outer sect disciples committed offenses, they were all dealt with by the Outer Enforcement Hall.

Lu Chen looked at Liu Heizi behind Su Qingqing.

This fellow had some skills, all right. He had actually alerted a manager of the Outer Enforcement Hall.

"Was it you who broke Liu Heizi's hand?"

Su Qingqing looked at Lu Chen impassively.

"No!"

Lu Chen denied it without a second thought.

"Lu Chen, you dare to tell such barefaced lies before Senior Sister? You were clearly the one who injured me."

Liu Heizi said angrily.

"Lu Chen, what else do you have to say?"

Su Qingqing said coldly.

"No, Senior Sister. Everything requires evidence. It can't be whatever he says goes, right?"

Lu Chen thought, I simply won't admit it. What can you do to me?

"My injuries are the evidence."

Liu Heizi trembled with rage.

With Manager Pang and Senior Sister Su present now, he was no longer afraid of Lu Chen.

"Lu Chen, Lu Chen, you clearly knew that the sect forbids fellow disciples from fighting in private, yet you still dealt Liu Heizi such a vicious blow. You are utterly disregarding the sect rules."

Manager Pang said coldly.

This was a perfect chance to kill Lu Chen.

He could not let it slip away.

If outer sect menial disciples violated sect rules, the light punishment was having their cultivation crippled and being expelled from the sect; the heavy punishment was being beaten to death on the spot.

"Lu Chen, come back to the Enforcement Hall with me!"

Su Qingqing looked at Lu Chen solemnly.

Lu Chen had knowingly broken the rules. He was dead for sure.

Liu Heizi looked at Lu Chen with gloating delight.

Manager Pang also stared at Lu Chen with sinister eyes.

"Senior Sister Su, I'll say it again. If you want me to confess, there must be evidence, not merely Liu Heizi's one-sided claims. Moreover, I have reason to suspect that Liu Heizi is deliberately framing me."

Lu Chen said angrily.

"What... I'm framing you?"

Liu Heizi was so frustrated he nearly coughed up blood.

"Am I wrong? During a contest initiated by Manager Pang, I punched you so hard in front of everyone that you shat yourself. You publicly declared then that you would kill me. Do you dare say you never said that?"

Lu Chen looked coldly at Liu Heizi.

"I have heard a little about that matter as well."

Su Qingqing glanced at Liu Heizi.

The story of a disciple from the Yellow-Tier Alchemy Room being punched so hard during a contest that he shat himself, followed by everyone getting diarrhea, had long since spread.

Liu Heizi, the spraying warrior, had become a topic of conversation among the menial disciples after meals and over tea.

It had turned Liu Heizi into everyone's laughingstock.

Naturally, Liu Heizi wanted nothing more than to kill Lu Chen.

"No, Senior Sister, Lu Chen really did hit me! Look, even my hand is broken."

Liu Heizi panicked.

"Liu Heizi, words come from your own mouth. You can say whatever you want, but you had better produce evidence. Otherwise, I'll accuse you of framing a fellow disciple."

Lu Chen glared furiously at Liu Heizi.

"That's right, Liu Heizi. Do you have any witness testimony or physical evidence?"

Su Qingqing nodded.

Every word Lu Chen said made sense.

"No, this..."

Liu Heizi was so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood. Lu Chen had clearly beaten him, yet he could not produce a shred of evidence.

Who would ever come to Waste-Pill Valley?

At the time, only Lu Chen and he had been there.

Witnesses did not exist.

As for physical evidence, there was none either.

"Then could all these injuries on me have been caused by myself?"

Liu Heizi was both anxious and furious.

"That is not impossible. You should know that the distance from the alchemy district to Waste-Pill Valley is at least seven or eight li. There are occasionally fierce beasts roaming the mountain, and Liu Heizi, you have offended quite a few people in ordinary times too, haven't you?"

Lu Chen looked coldly at Liu Heizi.

"Liu Heizi, Liu Heizi, just to pin the blame on me, you actually dared deceive Senior Sister Su. Your nerve is truly enormous."

Lu Chen continued.

"How outrageous..."

Upon hearing this, Su Qingqing's willow brows shot up as she glared furiously at Liu Heizi.

"No, Senior Sister, it isn't like that. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare deceive Senior Sister."

Liu Heizi's expression changed drastically, and he collapsed onto the ground in terror.

"So, Manager Pang, are you an accomplice too?"

Lu Chen smiled at Manager Pang.

"What..."

Manager Pang's shock was no small matter.

How had this been dragged onto him?

Deceiving a manager of the Enforcement Hall was no trivial matter.

"Hm?"

Su Qingqing turned to look at Manager Pang.

"There is absolutely no such thing! Everything was Liu Heizi's doing. It has nothing to do with me!"

Manager Pang hurriedly said, washing his hands of the matter completely.

He had to protect himself.

"Senior Sister, Liu Heizi bears a grudge against this lowly one and falsely accused me. Please uphold justice for this lowly one, Senior Sister!"

Lu Chen said sorrowfully and indignantly.

He was inwardly delighted.

You two bastards want to kill me?

Dream on!

Manager Pang was also trembling with fear at this moment.

Even in his dreams, he had never imagined that Lu Chen would turn the tables on him.

He hated Liu Heizi to death.

If it were not for this fellow causing trouble, he would still be cultivating right now.

There were only a few days left until the Sect Grand Tournament.

He had intended to raise his cultivation and challenge for the position of manager of the Mysterious-Tier Alchemy District.

Who would have thought that Liu Heizi would come to complain, saying Lu Chen had beaten him and even broken his left hand.

He had not wanted to concern himself with this matter.

But Liu Heizi had been blinded by fury and had actually made a fuss directly at the Outer Enforcement Hall.

With the Sect Grand Tournament approaching, outer sect disciples were fighting in private?

How could that be allowed?

They had to be severely punished.

Thus, Su Qingqing, the newly appointed manager of the Outer Enforcement Hall, had called Manager Pang and Liu Heizi to accompany her to Waste-Pill Valley and hold Lu Chen accountable.

"Please uphold justice for me, Senior Sister!"

Lu Chen said indignantly.

"Liu Heizi, what else do you have to say? If you cannot produce evidence, then you are framing a fellow disciple. Do you know the consequences?"

Su Qingqing looked coldly at Liu Heizi, who was sprawled on the ground.

Only now did Liu Heizi realize that aside from his injuries, he could not produce any evidence at all.

"Manager Pang, say something!"

Liu Heizi looked pleadingly at Manager Pang. At this moment, he had suffering he could not voice.

"What you have done, what does it have to do with me?"

How could Manager Pang dare say anything?

He looked coldly at Lu Chen.

This fellow was not simple.

He had actually always harbored a question: why did inner sect senior sister Jiang Yurou want to kill Lu Chen?

Jiang Yurou was the sect master's personal disciple.

Could Lu Chen have some hidden identity?

At that thought, Manager Pang broke out in a cold sweat.

"How outrageous! You dared deceive me?"

Su Qingqing stared at Liu Heizi, murderous intent rising within her.

"No, no, no... Senior Sister, I really didn't deceive you..."

Liu Heizi was so terrified that he lay trembling on the ground.

"Please investigate the truth, Senior Sister, and restore my innocence!"

Lu Chen cried out again.

"Investigate my ass!"

Su Qingqing raised her hand and brought her palm down, striking Liu Heizi on the crown of his head.

Liu Heizi fell straight to the ground, dead on the spot.

A mere menial disciple dared play tricks before me. He deserved to die!

"..."

Manager Pang stood frozen in terror.

Menial disciples, their lives were like ants!

Lu Chen looked at Liu Heizi's corpse. He did not pity Liu Heizi.

This fellow had wanted to kill him.

So he had killed this fellow.

But Su Qingqing had casually struck down a menial disciple.

It weighed heavily on his heart.

The status of menial disciples was simply too low.

Within the sect, they were slaves to be ordered about by anyone.

"Throw this fellow into the mass grave."

After saying that, Su Qingqing turned and left.

Manager Pang gave Lu Chen a deep look, grabbed Liu Heizi's corpse, and dragged it away.

At that moment, Lu Chen yearned incomparably for powerful strength.

Only by becoming strong could he preserve his life, seize control of his own fate, and gain the right to flip the table and shatter this injustice.

Otherwise, Liu Heizi would be a warning from the past.

Before becoming sufficiently powerful, he had to keep his head down. He had to be even more careful.

After Su Qingqing and Manager Pang left, Lu Chen sat cross-legged in front of the small building and began cultivating.

Before he knew it, evening had arrived again.

After dinner, Lu Chen entered the depths of Waste-Pill Valley.

He opened the innermost Waste Pill Repository, then shut the door.

He intended to restore some Realm-Breaking Pills to raise his cultivation.

Realm-Breaking Pills could actually be divided into ordinary Realm-Breaking Pills and Nine-Turn Boundary-Breaking Pills.

Lu Chen took out some discarded Realm-Breaking Pills.

Restoring one discarded Realm-Breaking Pill required fifteen strands of Yin-Yang Essence.

That was the amount of Yin-Yang Essence required to restore an ordinary Realm-Breaking Pill.

Ordinary Realm-Breaking Pills could only raise minor realms within a major realm, and they were effective only for cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm.

To break through a major realm, only the Nine-Turn Boundary-Breaking Pill possessed such medicinal power.

He searched all of Number Eighteen Waste-Pill Room, yet failed to find even a single discarded Nine-Turn Boundary-Breaking Pill.

He did not know whether the other Waste Pill Repositories contained such discarded pills.

But ordinary Realm-Breaking Pills were already enough for him.

He took out the Yin-Yang Cauldron and directly tossed three discarded Realm-Breaking Pills into it.

Very quickly, he obtained three graded Realm-Breaking Pills.

A total of forty-five strands of Yin-Yang Essence had been consumed. He had previously possessed one hundred and forty-seven strands.

Now, he had only one hundred and two strands of Yin-Yang Essence left.

He stored the three Realm-Breaking Pills in a small jade bottle.

It was time to go down the mountain.

Lu Chen walked out of the Waste Pill Repository. Night had fallen, and the valley where the Waste Pill Repository stood was utterly silent.

Without hesitation, he left Waste-Pill Valley.

Yun Household, rear courtyard side chamber.

"Senior Sister, are you really going to meet that mysterious pill cultivator?"

Jiang Yurou looked at her eldest senior sister, Yun Feiyan, and asked.

"Of course. I want to see just what kind of person he is."

Yun Feiyan replied calmly.

"There is something I have thought over, and I still feel I should tell you, Senior Sister."

Jiang Yurou clenched her teeth and spoke to Yun Feiyan.

"You hid something from me?"

Yun Feiyan frowned.

"That fellow Lu Chen is still alive."

Jiang Yurou carefully watched Yun Feiyan.

"What? He is still alive? How is that possible? Didn't you say he opened the box containing the discarded Nascent Soul Pills? That was Pill Poison from discarded Nascent Soul Pills—even we would not dare endure it."

Yun Feiyan stared at Jiang Yurou in disbelief.

"Eldest Senior Sister, do you think perhaps Junior Sister still has lingering feelings for Lu Chen and secretly gave him a protective Spirit Artifact?"

Jiang Yurou said thoughtfully.

"That is highly possible. Who would have imagined that a lowly menial disciple in the sect was actually the fiancé of the Joyful Union Sect's Holy Maiden? Junior Sister is the hope of our Joyful Union Sect. Master told us to keep an eye on her. If Junior Sister had not secretly met Lu Chen in the back mountain, we would still have been kept in the dark. Junior Sister cultivates the Path of Severed Emotions. Men are stumbling blocks on her path to enlightenment. Lu Chen must die. But the Sect Grand Tournament is important now, so we will find an opportunity to kill him after it ends!"

Yun Feiyan said indifferently. Killing a mere Qi Refining Realm menial disciple would be easy, wouldn't it?

"Senior Sister is right. Then let Lu Chen live a few more days. As long as Senior Sister forms a Golden Core before the Sect Grand Tournament, no one will be able to shake your position."

Jiang Yurou nodded.

"Come, let's go to the House of Ten Thousand Beauties!"

Yun Feiyan rose as she spoke and headed out.

More than half an hour later, Lu Chen arrived near the House of Ten Thousand Beauties.

He put on a bronze mask, then swaggered into the House of Ten Thousand Beauties.

To his surprise, the main hall of the House of Ten Thousand Beauties was packed with people.

The moment he stepped into the hall, everyone's gazes snapped toward him in unison.

Yun Feiyan, the Joyful Union Sect's eldest senior sister, and her junior sister Jiang Yurou were also among the crowd.

Both of them wore light veils over their faces.

Naturally, Lu Chen did not know Yun Feiyan and Jiang Yurou's identities.

Even the veiled woman in white from last night, who had wanted to discuss pill refinement with him, sat quietly in a corner of the hall and looked toward him.

"This..."

Lu Chen had not expected so many people to be seated in the hall.

"Master, these people all came to seek pills from you!"

Zhao Hong came forward to greet him.

"What? So many people came to ask me for pills?"

Lu Chen was dumbfounded.