Chu Zeming watched Scabby Head grin smugly at him and immediately understood why disciplinary disciples had come looking for him the moment he emerged from seclusion. So the useless Lu Benxiong had really called his father over to seek justice.
Seeing Chu Zeming stand there in silence without responding to him, Ling Yunzi felt somewhat humiliated. His expression darkened as he repeated himself, "Unfilial disciple, why are you not kneeling to apologize at once?!"
Chu Zeming raised his eyes to Ling Yunzi and asked with utterly frank composure, "Apologize for what?"
He had not expected Chu Zeming to dare talk back to him. Ling Yunzi's frost-clear face abruptly sank.
He fiercely slapped the armrest beside him and barked in a low voice, "Do you not know what wrong you have committed?"
Chu Zeming lowered his gaze and replied, "This disciple does not know, which is why I respectfully ask Master to enlighten me."
Chu Zeming's words could be considered respectful and courteous. Yet to Ling Yunzi's ears, they were especially grating—people from the Heavenly Remnant Sect, one of the cultivation world's first-rate sects, were present in the reception hall, and yet Chu Zeming was questioning him, his sect leader and master, to his face. This was no different from challenging his status and authority.
Suppressing the fury in his heart, Ling Yunzi said coldly, "You plotted against Young Master Lu in Cangzhou City and targeted him in the Divine Wood Realm, causing him to lose his qualification to compete for treasures. Do you admit this?"
Elder Lu sat in one of the guest seats. Hearing Ling Yunzi's questioning, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, then put on an act as he said, "Sect Leader Ling, do not blame your disciple too harshly. Surely he did not do these things deliberately. This old man merely hopes that he will apologize to my son, and then this matter shall be settled."
Ling Yunzi said coldly, "Did you hear that? Apologize at once. The Heavenly Remnant Sect is being magnanimous this time. If you dare behave this way again, this Venerable One will not spare you."
As soon as he finished speaking, an exceedingly terrifying pressure bore down upon Chu Zeming.
Ling Yunzi had risen to fame in his youth. Now, at barely over one hundred and seventy years old, he already possessed the strength of the Out-of-Body Stage. His face was cold and stern as he stared at Chu Zeming, forcibly demanding that he kneel and apologize.
Chu Zeming had endured the pressure of the ancient remnant will on the tenth level of the Divine Wood Realm. Now, facing Ling Yunzi, who was only one major realm above him, he felt nothing at all. His long, straight legs remained upright and unbending.
Seeing that Chu Zeming showed no fear whatsoever, Ling Yunzi could not help being startled.
When had his eldest disciple grown to such a terrifying extent?
Ignoring Ling Yunzi's oppression, Chu Zeming looked up at him and sneered. "In Cangzhou City, he bought up every single thing I had my eye on before I could. How could that be called me plotting against him? As for the competition grounds in the Divine Wood Realm, it was not I who targeted him—it was he who brought Fu Hongchen and the others to target me first. I did not kill him in the secret realm and instead spared his life; that was already broad-minded of me. Yet Master blames me for it. You truly are a person of reason and wisdom."
Elder Lu set down his teacup and cast a sidelong glance at Ling Yunzi seated above the reception hall. "Sect Leader Ling, your disciple seems rather disrespectful toward his elders. It appears he has never held you in his eyes."
Ling Yunzi had already been greatly angered by Chu Zeming's mockery. At Elder Lu's words, a thin flush immediately rose to his usually composed face. He snapped in a low voice, "Insolent wretch! If I say you are wrong, then you are wrong! You still dare quibble? Kneel!"
"Do not kneel!"
All of a sudden, a dignified voice rang out from outside the reception hall.
Ling Yunzi froze and followed the sound with his gaze. Qin Elder, his face full of anger, hurried in with two disciples and immediately shielded Chu Zeming behind him.
Chu Zeming could not help but be stunned.
Then the two junior disciples who had participated in this sect tournament behind Qin Elder spoke up.
"We were browsing in the shop when Lu Benxiong came in and mocked Eldest Senior Brother for being poor. Then he puffed himself up by spending money like water. Why should Eldest Senior Brother apologize!"
"We can testify that everything Eldest Senior Brother said is true. It was not sophistry!"
Elder Lu swept a sidelong glance over them, then quietly asked his son, "Is that so?"
Lu Benxiong lowered his head and did not dare speak. In order to deceive his father into seeking justice for him, he had made his own plight sound miserable. Now, he was rather embarrassed.
Qin Elder raised his eyes and said coldly, "Elder Lu, leaving aside who was right and who was wrong, this is a matter between younger generations. You, a person several thousand years old, have involved yourself and forced someone to kneel. Is that not rather unbecoming? Is this the bearing of the Heavenly Remnant Sect, one of the ten great righteous sects of the cultivation world? Do you not know shame?"
Elder Lu, dressed in flamboyant robes, shot Lu Benxiong a glare. Then he lightly dusted off his sleeve, adjusted it, and only then said slowly, "This old man has not used his power to oppress others. I heard that my son was deprived of his qualification for the Joint Grand Tournament through improper means. I had some doubts, so I came to your sect to take a look. If it was a misunderstanding, then it was not intentional. As for kneeling, I never mentioned it."
Qin Elder turned his gaze toward Ling Yunzi on the high seat and questioned in a low voice, "Sect Leader, Zeming did nothing wrong. Why should he kneel?"
Being questioned like this by one of his own elders, Ling Yunzi was momentarily embarrassed. He tightened his grip on the armrest, then silently released it and forced himself to remain composed. "I did not understand the truth of the matter at first and wrongly blamed Zeming. If Zeming had explained the truth earlier, such a huge farce would not have occurred."
Chu Zeming found Ling Yunzi's words somewhat amusing.
Even at a time like this, he still did not forget to leave himself a way out?
The moment he had entered, it seemed he had already explained the truth. Had Ling Yunzi listened?
No.
This way of pulling out some random foot soldier to serve as cannon fodder and take the blame whenever something went wrong was truly much like certain petty managers in the workplace.
If it had been an ordinary sect disciple, hearing Ling Yunzi's words, he would have swallowed his anger for the sake of harmony.
But Chu Zeming was different.
He wanted to raise the stick high and let it fall lightly?
Dream on.
Stepping out from behind Qin Elder, Chu Zeming abruptly lifted his head and looked at Ling Yunzi.
Then the cool, hard voice of the young man in black robes rang through the reception hall—
"Master, I address you respectfully as Master. May I ask: have you ever once fulfilled the duties of a master? You accepted this disciple into the sect, yet you neither taught nor cared for me. I understood that you were the sect leader, burdened with responsibilities and busy with countless affairs. Whether it was my own cultivation or the cultivation of my fellow disciples, I never troubled you for even half an incense stick's worth of time. Everything was handled by Xuan Mo and me. May I ask what qualifications you possess to be a teacher and an example to others? From the Extreme Sea Secret Realm onward, you have favored the newly admitted disciple. I do not know what Master was thinking, asking me to hand over to another the things I risked life and limb to obtain. May I ask whether your conscience can bear it? Not to mention how, today, you heard my explanation and still forcibly released your pressure to make me kneel. I do not believe I have ever received the slightest benefit from you. Today, I shall call you Master for the last time, as repayment for the title of eldest senior brother of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect that you once bestowed upon me. Zeming is not fortunate enough to bear the title of your foremost disciple!"
Every word was a blade that pierced the heart.
In the vast reception hall, only Chu Zeming's voice remained.
No one had expected Chu Zeming to be so unyielding, humiliating Ling Yunzi before outsiders. Everyone in the hall was so shocked that they held their breath.
Meanwhile, the people of the Heavenly Remnant Sect, who had originally come to seek justice, instantly changed roles. Seated in the guest seats, they watched the black-robed young man standing straight in the center and the sect leader on the high seat, trembling with rage, and expressions of delight at the spectacle appeared on their faces.
Ling Yunzi could no longer maintain his image of a gentleman as pure as a clear breeze and bright moon. He had never believed himself to be in the wrong. Hearing Chu Zeming accuse him like this, he was so furious that even his chest began to ache. He raised a hand, intending to slap Chu Zeming from afar, but Qin Elder suddenly stepped in front of Chu Zeming. Then he knelt down emotionally. "Sect Leader, please do not be angered. Zeming has suffered injustice; these are not his true feelings. Sect Leader, please do not punish him!"
Ling Yunzi withdrew his hand, clutched his chest, and looked at Chu Zeming. His voice trembled as he said, "Fine, fine, fine! Since you are so dissatisfied with your treatment, then I sentence you to serve as an outer sect menial! From today onward, move out of your residence!"
A farce came to an end.
Before the sect even had time to learn that Chu Zeming had broken through and become the foremost Nascent Soul cultivator, he was punished and sent to the outer sect.
Standing before the dilapidated bamboo hut, Chu Zeming felt that it was rather nice.
This would be his home from now on.
The spiritual energy in his former residence had not been abundant anyway, and the surroundings here were even more pleasant.
Chu Zeming had suffered no loss, but Ling Yunzi had been angered greatly. A person who cared so much about face had had his master-disciple relationship severed in public by his disciple, and his complexion remained iron-blue for the following several days.
Xuan Mo carried a stack of books to Chu Zeming's residence. Following behind Chu Zeming, he placed the books inside before saying admiringly, "Eldest Senior Brother, you actually dared to speak to Master like that. I would not have dared."
Without even raising his eyes, Chu Zeming said, "He is not a good person."
Xuan Mo nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. "Eldest Senior Brother is right."
Then he lowered his head and rummaged through the books. After following Eldest Senior Brother for so long, he had finally realized that Eldest Senior Brother seemed to be half-illiterate. These past few days, he had been preparing to teach him how to read.
Chu Zeming sat down at the low table, glanced at Xuan Mo, and suddenly asked, "Xuan Mo, if one day I leave the sect, would you... leave with me?"
Without raising his head, Xuan Mo said, "Senior Brother, do not joke around. The fellow disciples in the sect are all very good, and the elders are good too. How could you bear to leave?"
Chu Zeming smiled.
He neither affirmed nor denied it.
Casually picking up a book from the table, Chu Zeming began carefully reading the words on its title page.
Something something... Comprehensive Guide to Artifact Appraisal?
Chu Zeming furrowed his brow and was about to ask Xuan Mo what the first three characters were when he heard Xuan Mo's next words—
"If there truly comes a day when Senior Brother leaves the sect, Xuan Mo will definitely leave with Senior Brother."
Before you continue