This skinny, pockmarked fellow was named Mu Zhengfeng, and he too was a disciple of Overlapping Peaks.
However, although Mu Zhengfeng had a fine name, his conduct had thoroughly sullied it.
It would have been one thing if his looks were an insult to the audience—that was something he could blame on his parents. But Mu Zhengfeng's every word and action in daily life made people sick to their stomachs. Whenever he met cultivators with greater talent, strength, or backing than his own, he wished he could lie flat on the ground and bark like a dog. Yet when he encountered menial servants beneath him, he freely slapped and cursed them.
Mu Zhengfeng and Hu Donghan had joined the Yin Soul Sect in the same batch. His talent could practically be called the worst among those disciples who had entered the sect alongside him. With his Low-Grade Three-Spirit Root, compared to the surrounding disciples who casually possessed Two-Spirit Roots or even Heavenly Spirit Roots, Mu Zhengfeng was usually too ashamed to face anyone and did not even dare speak loudly. He could only throw his weight around before the sect's servant disciples—until Hu Donghan appeared.
When cultivators joined the Yin Soul Sect, the sect did not conceal their respective talents from top to bottom.
First, it allowed cultivators with better talent to receive more care. Second, it was also for the sect's internal system of competition.
Hu Donghan, speaking of him, had entered the Yin Soul Sect by clinging to his child bride's thigh. With talent like his Middle-Grade Four-Spirit Root, there was no need to say more. The moment he entered Overlapping Peaks, he immediately became the very bottom of the pile.
Mu Zhengfeng was actually quite an interesting case.
At first, when he discovered that Hu Donghan merely possessed a Middle-Grade Four-Spirit Root, Mu Zhengfeng became suspicious of everything. He assumed Hu Donghan was some relative of an ancestor of the Yin Soul Sect, constantly circling around Hu Donghan and calling him "Senior Brother" every other breath, so warmly that it was almost intimate.
Later, after this fellow had sounded Hu Donghan out and eavesdropped on some inside information from other disciples, he finally confirmed that Hu Donghan was nothing like the ancestor's relative he had imagined. He was merely an ordinary outer disciple with neither roots nor branches.
At once, Mu Zhengfeng's attitude took a complete one-hundred-eighty-degree turn. Where he had once bowed and scraped before Hu Donghan with a fawning face, he suddenly became lofty and arrogant, strutting about in pomp. Whenever he encountered Hu Donghan, he would seize upon Hu Donghan's Middle-Grade Four-Spirit Root and mock him with every ounce of venom he could muster. And like a true clown, he often shouted loudly on purpose to draw everyone's attention—just like what had happened at the Outer Affairs Hall.
Among all the outer disciples of Overlapping Peaks, only Hu Donghan had poorer talent, weaker strength, and less background and support than Mu Zhengfeng. If he did not provoke Hu Donghan, whom else could he provoke?
Persimmons were meant to be squeezed where they were soft!
As for Hu Donghan, he was as speechless as speechless could be over Mu Zhengfeng's transformation.
In Hu Donghan's eyes, Mu Zhengfeng was simply consumed by extreme inferiority, which was why he had become such a thing. Having lived two lives, Hu Donghan naturally could not be bothered to lower himself to Mu Zhengfeng's level, so he let him carry on with his nonsense—at most, he would treat it as being bitten by a dog!
Thus, Hu Donghan's attitude toward Mu Zhengfeng remained the same.
He merely said, "Idiot," then walked around Mu Zhengfeng and left the Outer Affairs Hall.
Mu Zhengfeng, meanwhile, was provoked by Hu Donghan's single word, "Idiot."
However, Hu Donghan had already left the Outer Affairs Hall, and there were four law-enforcement disciples stationed on either side of its entrance. If Mu Zhengfeng ran out to provoke him now, he would be making trouble right before the law-enforcement disciples—given Mu Zhengfeng's mouse-like courage, he absolutely did not dare do that!
"Y-you..." Mu Zhengfeng could only point at Hu Donghan, so furious that he stamped his feet.
The many outer disciples within the Outer Affairs Hall all burst into laughter, then went back to their own business—in their eyes, Mu Zhengfeng truly was nothing more than a pitiful clown.
Although this pitiful clown had brought them a moment of amusement earlier, none of them had any intention of helping him.
A clown was a clown, existing only for others' entertainment.
Mu Zhengfeng had already been stamping his feet in rage, and now, upon hearing the laughter around him, his vision went black and he nearly fainted on the spot.
To Hu Donghan, Mu Zhengfeng was ultimately nothing more than an insignificant passerby.
After leaving the Outer Affairs Hall, Hu Donghan called over a servant disciple and instructed him to deliver three meals a day, then returned to his room.
Once back in his room, Hu Donghan quickly cast aside everything that had happened earlier. Holding a Spirit Stone in his hand, he swallowed a Lesser Qi-Nourishing Pill and began cultivating.
Before he knew it, five days had passed.
Inside the room, a multicolored Spirit Shield swirled around Hu Donghan's body as his hands formed seals. After several hand seals, he flicked his arm, and another Spirit Force Bolt shot out and smashed into the wall, blasting a fist-sized crater into it.
By now, the walls of Hu Donghan's crude room were covered in more than a hundred craters of varying sizes—marks left behind from his spell practice.
Drawing back his spirit force and dispelling the Spirit Shield around him, Hu Donghan closed his eyes and made a rough calculation in his heart.
The five Spirit Stones and two Lesser Qi-Nourishing Pills have all been used up. My Qi Refining First Layer cultivation has now been completely stabilized. I have also roughly mastered both the Spirit Bolt Technique and Spirit Shield Technique. They consume much less spirit force than when I first used them, yet their power has increased considerably. If I use the Spirit Shield Technique for protection first, then with my Qi Refining First Layer cultivation, I can probably unleash five Spirit Bolt Techniques. Of course, once the Spirit Shield is struck, its spirit force consumption doubles, and I can only use three Spirit Bolt Techniques...
Still, no matter what, with my current cultivation, killing a few weak Yin Souls should not be a problem.
Now it is time to complete the introductory trial mission! The sect's introductory trial mission is merely to kill ten Yin Soul ghosts. Even acting alone, as long as I roam the surrounding area and kill them, one or two days should be enough to finish it. Next, I need to find a way to get a Ghost Wraith...
After restoring some of his spirit force, Hu Donghan finally left his room, beckoned over a servant nearby, and instructed him to bring hot water and food.
After thoroughly washing himself and eating, Hu Donghan finally fell into a deep sleep.
He would be leaving on a mission tomorrow, so he had to replenish his energy.
This was also the soundest sleep Hu Donghan had enjoyed since entering the Yin Soul Sect three months ago.
(End of Chapter)
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