Was this old geezer so blind with age that he'd taken in a Devil Race Sacred Son and was still shielding him?
Setting that aside, Chen Changsheng had indeed struck first.
Ouyang said in a low voice, "Your disciple had no manners. What's wrong with my junior brother disciplining him for you?"
Dongxu Zi likewise lowered his voice. "You beat him seriously injured over bad manners? Do the rules of your Little Mountain Peak outweigh those of my Azure Cloud Peak?"
"There's something wrong with that new disciple of yours!"
"Don't make me laugh. Which one of you on Little Mountain Peak isn't a problem child?"
"My junior sister's here. Give me some face."
"You're still yanking my beard. As Sect Master, don't I deserve some face?"
"What do you want? Just say it!" Ouyang said impatiently.
"Go back and talk your junior brother into letting this matter drop!" Dongxu Zi said after some thought.
Ouyang said, utterly exasperated, "I want him to drop it too, but he's already sworn a heavenly dao oath. How can he?"
"So you can't do it? Then neither can I!" Dongxu Zi declared, shamelessly digging in his heels.
Looking at the old man playing shameless with him, Ouyang was completely helpless. From childhood until now, he had never won a war of words against this old man.
"Ask for something else. I really can't do this. Otherwise, we'll leave and set up our own sect!" Ouyang threatened.
"The Sect Grand Competition is next month. I need a dragon and a phoenix, two auspicious beasts to lend the occasion some grandeur!" Dongxu Zi finally revealed his true aim.
"No! You know perfectly well that bringing those things out will definitely invite heavenly punishment!" Ouyang shook his head and refused again.
Dongxu Zi immediately grew angry, his voice rising. "No to this, no to that! Was my disciple beaten for nothing? You want an everlasting lamp lit? Go light a ghost! If you're so capable, light me!"
Seeing that Dongxu Zi really seemed ready to play shameless to the bitter end, Ouyang could only say helplessly, "Fine, fine. I'll get you a dragon and a phoenix for next month's Sect Grand Competition."
With their bargain struck, Dongxu Zi tugged his beard free and once again assumed the air of an immortal sage. He looked kindly at Hu Tutu and said, "Little girl, you have fine natural talent. It seems Hu Yun has taken in another good disciple. Come along, follow me!"
Hu Tutu looked at Dongxu Zi before her, then at Ouyang, who nodded to her. She wondered whether her eyes had deceived her just now.
That was the Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect!
The Azure Cloud Sect, one of the Nine Great Sacred Lands!
The Sect Master of the Azure Cloud Sect, one of the leading powers of the Cultivation World, had just had his beard yanked by her senior brother while the latter cursed at him.
And the Sect Master had not even gotten angry. Instead, he had traded curses with her senior brother.
Hu Tutu rubbed her eyes, wondering whether she had just hallucinated.
But seeing her senior brother nod to her, Hu Tutu obediently followed Dongxu Zi to the altar.
Dongxu Zi glanced at Ouyang, who tactfully left the hall, carefully shut the door, and sat on the stone steps outside.
Rather than merely being his Sect Master, Dongxu Zi could actually be considered half a master to him.
In the early years, his own unreliable master had roamed everywhere and rarely returned. When he and Leng Qingsong first arrived at Little Mountain Peak, it had still been a barren wasteland.
From opening up Little Mountain Peak to establishing it, the Sect Master inside had run around arranging everything.
Naturally, Ouyang and Dongxu Zi were very close.
So close, in fact, that Dongxu Zi had even made off with the two stone lions squatting outside Little Mountain Peak's gate to guard it.
The dragon and phoenix he had just promised Dongxu Zi were actually no different from those stone lions: he would simply bring them to life with his true qi.
But divine beasts such as dragons and phoenixes were born bearing the resonance of the Dao, and casually bringing them to life would invite a lightning tribulation of heavenly punishment.
Ouyang had once tried it out of curiosity and had nearly been struck dead in the lightning tribulation.
Ouyang vaguely sensed that bringing such divine beasts to life would only harm him and offer no benefit.
Why had Dongxu Zi suddenly asked for them this time?
Even if he brought them to life, these divine beasts were extremely proud. They would rather die than obey a cultivator's commands, even if Ouyang himself gave the orders.
Apart from getting to see what divine beasts looked like, bringing such things to life was utterly useless.
Ouyang sighed, pulled his copy of the Complete Beginner's Guide to the Five-Element Escape Arts from his pocket, and began reading.
In the rear hall, Dongxu Zi looked at the uneasy Hu Tutu before him and said with a chuckle, "Little girl, it's all right. We're only lighting a lamp. There's no need to be nervous."
Hu Tutu said obediently, "I understand, Grandpa Sect Master."
The childish "Grandpa Sect Master" made Dongxu Zi roar with laughter. His junior brother Hu Yun had finally taken in a genuinely well-behaved disciple.
She was countless times better than the little bastard outside who yanked his beard at the slightest provocation!
Dongxu Zi raised his horsetail whisk and swept it through the air. An oil lamp flew from the altar and settled before Hu Tutu. His expression turned solemn as he said:
"Hu Tutu, are you willing to enter our Azure Cloud Sect and abide by its rules and laws?"
"This disciple is willing!"
"Hu Tutu, are you willing to uphold justice, vanquish devils and defend the Dao, and keep heaven and earth pure?"
"This disciple is willing!"
"Hu Tutu, are you willing to seek the Dao wholeheartedly, without coveting worldly power or wealth?"
"This disciple is willing!"
"Very good. In these three pledges, you must remain true to your heart. Should you harbor disloyal intentions, your cultivation shall be crippled and you shall be expelled from the sect!"
"This disciple understands!"
Listening to Dongxu Zi's three questions, Hu Tutu had originally expected a great sect to have many prohibitions and laws. She had not imagined they would be so simple and clear.
These precepts made no distinction whatsoever between humans and demon cultivators. She had no trouble agreeing to them.
Dongxu Zi swept his whisk again. A lock of hair drifted down from Hu Tutu's head and flew into the oil lamp before her.
A blue flame suddenly flared from the lamp. It transformed into a little fox, leaped once in midair, then dropped into the oil lamp and became an ordinary flame.
Seeing the fox take shape, Hu Tutu's heart clenched. Was her identity as a fox demon about to be exposed?
Dongxu Zi seemed not to have noticed anything. He smiled faintly at Hu Tutu and said, "All right, that's done. You can go back now."
Hu Tutu let out a long sigh of relief inwardly, secretly delighted. So the Sect Master hadn't discovered that she was a fox demon!
Reassured, Hu Tutu grew bolder. Blinking her large eyes at Dongxu Zi, she asked, "Grandpa Sect Master, are everyone's everlasting lamps in our Azure Cloud Sect kept here?"
Dongxu Zi nodded. "Naturally. The everlasting lamps of everyone in the Azure Cloud Sect are all here."
Hu Tutu looked around and asked curiously, "Then what does Eldest Senior Brother's everlasting lamp look like?"
Dongxu Zi's expression turned awkward. "What's there to see in that brat's everlasting lamp?"
Hu Tutu clung to Dongxu Zi and wheedled, "Grandpa Sect Master, just let me see it, please? Pretty please? I'm begging you!"
Unable to resist Hu Tutu's pleading, Dongxu Zi held out a hand, and an oil lamp flew from the altar.
The flame of this oil lamp was fainter than that of any other lamp on the altar. It even looked as though it might go out at any moment.
Hu Tutu stared in shock at the oil lamp in Dongxu Zi's hand and blurted:
"This... why is it like this?"
Before you continue