A Slap in the Face on the Spot

Chu Zeming looked at Scabby Head grinning smugly at him and immediately understood why disciplinary disciples had come for him the moment he emerged from seclusion. That useless Lu Benxiong had actually called his father over to seek justice for him.

Seeing Chu Zeming standing there in silence and ignoring him, Ling Yunzi felt slighted. His expression darkened as he repeated himself, "Wicked disciple, why are you not kneeling to apologize?"

Chu Zeming raised his eyes to Ling Yunzi and asked openly, "Apologize for what?"

He had not expected Chu Zeming to dare contradict him. Ling Yunzi's frost-clear face abruptly sank.

He slammed his palm against the armrest beside him and barked in a low voice, "Do you not know what wrong you have committed?"

Lowering his gaze, Chu Zeming replied, "This disciple does not know. That is why I respectfully ask Master to enlighten me."

Chu Zeming's words could be considered respectful and polite. 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, yet his disciple had questioned him, the sect leader and his master, to his face. That was no different from challenging his status and authority.

Suppressing the fury in his heart, Ling Yunzi said coldly, "In Cangzhou City, you plotted against Young Master Lu. In the Divine Wood Realm, you targeted him and caused him to lose his qualification to compete for treasures. Do you admit these charges?"

Elder Lu sat in one of the guest seats. Hearing Ling Yunzi's questioning, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, then said in a pretentious manner, "Sect Leader Ling, do not blame your disciple too harshly. Presumably, he did not do these things intentionally. This old man merely hopes that he will apologize to my son, and then this matter may be put to rest."

Ling Yunzi said coldly, "Did you hear that? Apologize at once. The Heavenly Remnant Sect has been magnanimous this time. If you dare behave this way again next time, I will not spare you."

As soon as he spoke, an exceedingly terrifying pressure bore down upon Chu Zeming.

Ling Yunzi had risen to fame in his youth. Now, at only a little over one hundred seventy years old, he already possessed the strength of the Out-of-Body Stage. With a cold expression, he stared at Chu Zeming and forcefully demanded that he kneel and apologize.

Chu Zeming had endured the oppressive pressure of the ancient remnant will on the tenth floor of the Divine Wood Realm. Now, facing Ling Yunzi, who was merely one major realm above him, he felt nothing at all. His long legs remained straight and unbending.

Seeing that Chu Zeming showed no fear, Ling Yunzi could not help but feel 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 everything I had set my eyes on before I could. How can that be called my plotting against him? As for the contest grounds in the Divine Wood Realm, it was not that I targeted him. He led Fu Hongchen and the others in targeting 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 this. You truly are a person of reason and wisdom."

Elder Lu set down his teacup, cast a sidelong glance at Ling Yunzi seated above the reception hall, and said airily, "Sect Leader Ling, your disciple has no respect for his elders. It seems he has never placed you in his eyes."

Ling Yunzi had already been greatly angered by Chu Zeming's mockery. Hearing Elder Lu's words, a faint flush immediately rose on his usually composed face. He shouted in a low voice, "Insolent wretch! If I say you are wrong, then you are wrong. You still dare argue? Kneel!"

"Do not kneel!"

All of a sudden, an authoritative voice rang out from outside the reception hall.

Ling Yunzi froze and looked toward the sound. Qin Elder, his face filled with anger, hurried in from outside with two disciples and immediately shielded Chu Zeming behind him.

Chu Zeming could not help but be taken aback.

Then the two junior brothers who had participated in this sect tournament and followed 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 at his own expense and threw money around like dirt. Why should Eldest Senior Brother apologize?"

"We can testify that everything Eldest Senior Brother said is true. It was not sophistry!"

Elder Lu glanced sideways at everyone, then asked his son quietly, "Was it like that?"

Lu Benxiong lowered his head and did not dare speak. To trick his father into coming to stand up for him, he had painted himself as terribly pitiful. Now, things were rather awkward.

Qin Elder raised his eyes and said coldly, "Elder Lu, setting right and wrong aside for the moment, this is a matter between young juniors. You are several thousand years old, yet you involved yourself and forced someone to kneel. Is that not rather disgraceful? Is this the bearing of the Heavenly Remnant Sect, the tenth great righteous sect of the cultivation world? Do you not know shame?"

Elder Lu, dressed in flamboyant robes, shot Lu Benxiong a glare. Then he lightly brushed his sleeve and only spoke slowly after straightening it. "This old man has not used his status to oppress anyone. I heard that my son had been deprived of his qualification for the Joint Grand Tournament through improper means. I merely had some doubts and came to your honored sect to take a look. If this was a misunderstanding, then it was not done intentionally. As for kneeling, I never once mentioned it."

Qin Elder turned his gaze toward Ling Yunzi on the high seat and questioned him in a low voice, "Sect Leader, Zeming did nothing wrong. Why should he kneel?"

Being questioned by one of his own elders in this manner, Ling Yunzi was momentarily embarrassed. He tightened his grip on the armrest, then quietly released it and forced himself to remain calm. "I did not understand the truth of the matter at first and wrongly blamed Zeming. Had Zeming explained the truth earlier, such a great farce would not have occurred."

Hearing Ling Yunzi's words, Chu Zeming could not help finding them amusing.

Even at this point, he still had not forgotten to leave himself a way down?

The moment he had entered, he seemed to have already explained the truth. Had Ling Yunzi listened?

No.

This habit of pulling out some random foot soldier to take the blame whenever something went wrong for himself was truly much like those minor bosses in certain workplaces.

If it had been an ordinary sect disciple, upon hearing Ling Yunzi's words, for the sake of everyone's harmony, he would have swallowed his anger and accepted it. But Chu Zeming was different.

He wanted to raise the matter high and set it down lightly?

Dream on.

Stepping out from behind Qin Elder, Chu Zeming suddenly raised his head and looked at Ling Yunzi.

Then the clear, hard voice of the young man in black robes rang through the reception hall—

"Master, I still call you Master out of respect, but may I ask whether you have ever fulfilled the duties of a master even once? You accepted this disciple into the sect, yet neither taught nor cared for me. I understand that, as the sect leader, you carry heavy responsibilities and are occupied 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 alone. May I ask what qualifications you have to serve as a teacher and example? From the Extreme Sea Secret Realm onward, you have favored the new disciple. I do not know what Master was thinking when you made me hand over, with both hands, what I had won through risking my life to someone else. May I ask whether your conscience can bear it? Not to mention that today, after hearing my explanation, you still forcibly unleashed your pressure to make me kneel. I do not believe I have ever received even half a scrap of benefit from Master. Today, I will call you Master one 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 eldest 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 people from another sect. Everyone in the hall was so shocked that they held their breath.

As for the people from the Heavenly Remnant Sect, who had originally come to seek justice, their roles changed in an instant. Sitting in the guest seats, they watched the black-robed young man standing upright in the center and the sect leader on the high seat, trembling with rage. Their faces displayed the expressions of people enjoying a fine show.

Ling Yunzi could no longer maintain his image of a gentle breeze and bright moon. He had never believed himself to be in the wrong. Hearing Chu Zeming accuse him like this, he was so enraged that his chest began to ache. He raised his hand, intending to slap Chu Zeming from afar, but Qin Elder suddenly stepped in front of Chu Zeming. Then Qin Elder dropped to his knees in agitation. "Sect Leader, please do not be angry. Zeming has suffered grievances. 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 shall punish you by making you an outer sect servant! From today onward, move out of your residence!"

A farce came to an end.

Before the sect could even learn that Chu Zeming had broken through and become the foremost Nascent Soul cultivator, he had been punished and sent to the outer sect.

Standing before the dilapidated bamboo house, Chu Zeming felt that it was quite good.

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 lost nothing, but Ling Yunzi had been angered badly. A man who loved face as much as he did had had his master-disciple relationship severed in public by his disciple. For the next several days, his face remained ashen.

Xuan Mo arrived at Chu Zeming's residence carrying a stack of books. Following behind Chu Zeming, he placed the books inside the room before saying admiringly, "Eldest Senior Brother, you actually dared speak to Master like that. I would not dare."

Without even raising his eyes, Chu Zeming said, "He is not a good person."

Xuan Mo nodded like a chicken pecking rice. "Eldest Senior Brother is right."

Then he lowered his head and began sorting through the books. Having followed Eldest Senior Brother for so long, he had finally realized that Eldest Senior Brother seemed to be half-illiterate. Over the 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 lifting his head, Xuan Mo said, "Senior Brother, do not joke. The sect's brothers are all very good, and the elders are good too. How could you bear to leave?"

Chu Zeming smiled.

He neither confirmed nor denied it.

Casually picking up a book from the table, Chu Zeming began carefully reading the words on its title page.

Something something... Complete Guide to Artifact Appraisal?

Chu Zeming furrowed his brows, about to ask Xuan Mo what the first three characters were, when he heard Xuan Mo's next words—

"If Senior Brother truly has a day when he leaves the sect, Xuan Mo will definitely go with Senior Brother."