How Could the Misty Cloud Sect Ever Thrive with This Bunch of Vermin?

Inside the Misty Cloud Sect's Discussion Hall.

At the former sect master's command, every figure of any standing in the Misty Cloud Sect had gathered here, except for Sect Master Yun Yun.

Unlike before, when the atmosphere had been solemn yet harmonious, the hall was now deathly still and oppressively tense. From the white-haired elders to the lavishly dressed sect stewards, everyone stood before their seats, not even daring to sit down.

Aside from Nalan Yanran, a Da Dou Shi, everyone present was a Dou Ling or Dou Wang. Normally, never mind standing, they could have carried a crushing burden without so much as changing expression. Yet now, cold sweat streamed down their bodies. Some with weaker nerves had even collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Naturally, the one who could frighten them to this extent was the former sect master, Yun Shan—now Yun Congxin!

Earlier, when sending Xiao Yan down the mountain, Yun Congxin had spoken to the Misty Cloud Sect Elders led by Yun Leng in an undeniably harsh tone. It had left them trembling with fear, unsure why the former sect master was angry.

The former sect master was not as easily placated as Yun Yun. If his thunderous fury erupted, which of the elders present could bear it?

"This..."

Gu He, who had just arrived at the Discussion Hall, was startled by the oppressive atmosphere. He motioned for Liu Ling to administer a dose of Clear Mind Powder to the elder who had fainted, then walked straight toward his own seat.

"Mr. Gu He..." Upon seeing Gu He, Yun Leng reacted as though he had found a straw to cling to in a flood. He hurried over and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Gu He, do you know why the former sect master is so furious? I haven't seen him this angry in years..."

Gu He gave a bitter smile. He, too, had no idea why Yun Congxin had treated an outsider like Xiao Yan so kindly, yet flown into a rage at the Misty Cloud Sect's own people.

He glanced at Nalan Yanran, who stood to one side with her head lowered, like a student afraid to go home after failing an exam. Her face was pale, her mind weighed down with worries.

"I don't know..."

"If there's anything you want to know, why not ask me directly?" Yun Congxin's voice came from the doorway, interrupting Yun Leng and Gu He's whispered conversation.

The Discussion Hall's doors swung open on their own, and Yun Congxin strode inside. After smiling and nodding to Gu He in greeting, he immediately turned a cold face toward Yun Leng and snapped, "Get back to your place."

Yun Congxin walked to the sect master's seat with practiced ease, then smiled at Gu He. "Please sit, Mr. Gu He. Today's farce has made us a laughingstock before you. The atmosphere in the Misty Cloud Sect these days is truly revolting. Now that I have emerged from seclusion, I naturally cannot turn a blind eye. But this has nothing to do with you, Mr. Gu He. Your character is lofty and unblemished. You and that disappointing disciple of mine are among the few clear streams here. If you have other matters to attend to, please feel free."

There was no helping it—Alchemists enjoyed such lofty status. As the Jia Ma Empire's only sixth-tier Alchemist, Gu He held an exalted position. On top of that, he conducted himself uprightly, so Yun Congxin thought highly of him, and his tone unconsciously softened whenever he spoke to him.

Although Gu He was a Guest Elder of the Misty Cloud Sect, his ties to it did not run particularly deep. He heard the meaning beneath Yun Congxin's words and understood that Yun Congxin wanted to clean house behind closed doors.

Thus, with a bitter smile, he rose to take his leave and departed with Liu Ling.

Watching Gu He leave, Yun Congxin probed with his Soul Power and said, "Yun'er is hurrying back, but she'll need a little more time. We'll wait for her. Everyone, sit."

Only after receiving Yun Congxin's permission did everyone from the Misty Cloud Sect dare take their seats.

"While Yun'er is on her way, I'll say a few brief words first." Yun Congxin took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

"You're all old hands in this sect, so I'll spare you the empty platitudes." Sweeping his gaze over them, Yun Congxin said coldly, "Whoever organized this farce, step forward."

Yun Leng and two Misty Cloud Sect Elders sprang to their feet, walked before Yun Congxin, and smoothly dropped to their knees.

Their little sequence of moves flowed with remarkable polish. Clearly, this was not their first time.

Yun Congxin took another sip of tea to tamp down his anger. "Whose idea was it to have nearly a thousand Misty Cloud Sect disciples watch?"

One of the elders kneeling behind Yun Leng replied, "Former Sect Master, it was mine."

Without another word, Yun Congxin slapped down. His powerful dou qi condensed into an enormous, almost solid palm that smashed the elder straight into the floor tiles.

"And whose idea was it to invite those old fellows from the Imperial Capital to witness the event?"

"Former Sect Master, it was mine."

With a boom, another slap swept past Yun Leng's temple and smashed the other Misty Cloud Sect Elder into the shattered tiles as well.

For a moment, everyone in the Discussion Hall fell as silent as cicadas in winter. They lowered their heads and pretended to be statues, wishing they could crawl into a crack in the floor.

Yun Congxin took another sip of tea to cool his anger. "Needless to say, they were both acting according to your wishes? Grand Elder?"

Yun Congxin placed heavy emphasis on the words "Grand Elder," frightening Yun Leng into kowtowing repeatedly.

"Don't put on that act of bitter regret! Do you think I don't know you? You must still be unconvinced deep down, aren't you?" Yun Congxin said with a cold laugh.

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare..."

"You already dared!" Yun Congxin thundered. "Don't think this outcome is already the most humiliating one possible. It could have been even worse!"

"Let me ask you: if our Misty Cloud Sect made such a grand display, and the person who came up was some mediocrity who hadn't even reached Dou Zhe, or simply a cripple, what would have happened?"

What would have happened?

The Misty Cloud Sect had gone to enormous lengths, inviting the Imperial Capital's Three Great Families to watch and assembling nearly a thousand people in formation. It had been a grand spectacle indeed.

If they had presented a clash of dragon and tiger, that would have been fine. But what if the challenger had been nothing more than a cripple with a mere three-stage dou qi? What if Xiao Yan had never come at all?

Had the Misty Cloud Sect poured in all that effort just to let the old fellows from the Imperial Capital watch its prodigy of a young sect master duel a cripple?

Then no one would have paid attention to the seventeen-year-old Da Dou Shi whom the Misty Cloud Sect had painstakingly nurtured. Everyone would only have said that the sect truly spared no expense, putting on such a grand show just to torment a cripple.

How would the Jia Ma Empire have judged this farce then? Throwing their weight around? The strong bullying the weak? Making a mountain out of a molehill?

No, no, no. None of those quite fit. Only one word suited it best.

A joke!

"Speak! What would have happened?!" Yun Congxin slammed the table and rose, roaring the question.

"We... we would have become a laughingstock."

"So you do know we would have become a laughingstock!" Yun Congxin kicked Yun Leng in the chest, sending him flying.

Yun Congxin failed to hold back the force of that kick. Though he had used no dou qi, he still sent Yun Leng hurtling like a cannonball fired from its barrel, punching through the Discussion Hall's doors without even stopping.

Exasperated that rotten iron would not become steel, Yun Congxin swept a piercing gaze over everyone present. Not a single person dared meet his eyes, terrified of drawing the former sect master's wrath onto themselves.

Fuck, how could the Misty Cloud Sect ever thrive with this bunch of vermin?