"Li Xiaoya! You've gone too far! Apologize to your senior brothers and Senior Sisters at once!" Elder Ma was secretly delighted, but he threw his seniority around as he barked at Li Xiaoya.
"Ah! I'm truly sorry, Elder Ma!" Li Xiaoya suddenly bowed respectfully to Elder Ma and apologized.
"I told you to apologize to your senior brothers and Senior Sisters!" Elder Ma froze, then snapped coldly.
"Ah! But I wasn't talking about them!" Li Xiaoya shrugged, looking utterly unconcerned.
"Hmph! You weren't talking about your senior brothers and Senior Sisters? Do you think I'm deaf? If you don't explain yourself today, don't blame us for dealing with you under the sect rules!" Elder Ma thundered. He looked furious, but inside, he was overjoyed. This would let him deal a heavy blow to Heavenly Venerable Daoling's prestige and utterly disgrace this supposedly greatest teacher under heaven. Hmph, hmph!
Although Heavenly Venerable Daoling enjoyed great prestige within the sect, Li Xiaoya had little friendship with these elders. After his earlier remarks, they all glared at him, and some even echoed Elder Ma's demand that he be punished under the sect rules.
"Oh!" Li Xiaoya dug at his ear like an insolent rogue, making the elders bristle at the sight. Yet Heavenly Venerable Daoling remained silent and expressionless, which infuriated them even more. The entire hall erupted into a clamor as they voiced their displeasure with Li Xiaoya's attitude.
"Ah! Senior brothers and Senior Sisters, you've truly misunderstood!" Only after a while did Li Xiaoya cup his hands toward the elders. "I'm truly sorry for causing this misunderstanding!"
"Hmph! Li Xiaoya! Spoken words are like spilled water! You still want to argue your way out of this?" Elder Ma snorted, refusing to let the matter drop.
"Ah! Yes, I said it! But