The second elder on the second floor swiftly turned his gaze toward Chu Xingchen, who had spoken. Unable to sense this handsome young man's cultivation, his expression finally changed.
"Who might you be, fellow Daoist?"
Chu Xingchen shook his head slightly, picked up a pair of chopsticks beside him, and gently extended them forward.
An unfathomably profound surge of Sword Qi erupted wildly from the chopsticks. Together with spiritual energy, it formed a little white dragon that coiled and roamed around them.
Was this a divine ability?
Suppressing his astonishment, the second elder took a deep breath. His manner swiftly softened as he cupped his hands. "This man is a traitor to our Clearwind Sect, and he has injured our disciples as well. Fellow Daoist, by reason or sentiment, you should not stop me."
Chu Xingchen sighed. "Fellow Daoist, I don't want to use my strength to pressure you either, but I share a certain karmic connection with this man. Could you spare his life? I can offer compensation."
The second elder pondered briefly, then shook his head. "If we let him off just like that, our Clearwind Sect will have no authority left in the outside world."
"Let me off?" Li Xingtian, sprawled helplessly on the floor, burst out laughing. "Ever since I joined your Clearwind Sect as an Outer Sect disciple, have you ever treated me as a disciple?"
"I spent all three years since joining mining spirit ore. Seventeen disciples were recruited from my village back then! I'm the only one still alive!"
"Your idea of letting me off was to stop making me mine, only to send me digging up spirit plants in that wild forest where even the inner disciples didn't dare go?"
The second elder's heart jolted. He hurriedly interrupted with an angry shout. "Traitor! You still dare slander our Clearwind Sect!"
Chu Xingchen froze at those words, then sneered.
So I'm the one in the right. I knew Li Xingtian, with his trait for loyalty and devotion, wouldn't just betray his sect.
He used the system's trait panel to examine the old man upstairs.
[Shangguan Hong] [Cultivation: golden core middle stage] [Blue trait: Deep Schemer] [White trait: Decent Aptitude] [Black trait: On the Brink of Old Age] [Black trait: Haunted by Heart Demons]
The instant he saw those traits, Chu Xingchen's confidence soared. So I'm fighting a sickly old wreck!
Now I have the advantage in strength and the moral high ground. Doesn't that make me invincible?
Chu Xingchen sneered and loudly rebuked him. "I thought the Clearwind Sect was some righteous, reputable cultivation sect. Turns out you're nothing but bloodsucking vermin."
"How could the Heavenly Dao Alliance of the Central Continent wallow in the same filth as you?"
"Now, you old dog, either tuck your tail between your legs and crawl back home, or I'll twist off your dog's head and kick it around like a ball!"
As he finished speaking, the spiritual dragon of Sword Qi coiled around the chopsticks suddenly roared and rapidly expanded, then fixed a predatory stare on the second elder.
It looked ready to lunge at him at the slightest disagreement.
By then, everyone else in the tavern had long since fled without a trace.
Only the Clearwind Sect disciples remained, hiding off to the side as they watched the two face off.
How could the second elder truly dare fight now? He could not sense the true cultivation of this seemingly young man at all, which meant he was at least in the golden core middle stage.
Even setting aside the actual cultivation of the youthful-looking man before him-
With that divine ability alone, even if his opponent were just some wet-behind-the-ears brat in the golden core early stage, he would be hard-pressed to win.
What was more, the words "Central Continent" struck like heavenly thunder in the Southern Zhan Continent.
How could the Clearwind Sect afford to provoke a sect capable of establishing itself in the Central Continent?
Although he knew the brat before him might be bluffing, who would dare gamble on that?
The second elder's expression remained unchanged, but he was already carefully considering what to say without losing face.
Just then, an ingratiating voice came from outside the door.
"Fellow Daoists... please don't fight, don't fight."
Chu Xingchen swept his spiritual sense over and found a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of a Bureau Chief of the Black Tortoise Kingdom's Demon-Suppression Bureau.
His cultivation was at the foundation establishment middle stage.
The middle-aged man said, "Seniors, what matter can't be settled with a proper discussion? Why must you resort to fighting? Besides, this is a mortal town. Once you start fighting..."
"Leaving aside how many mortals might die, it wouldn't be worth shouldering all that karma for no reason. What do you think, seniors?"
The second elder immediately relaxed inwardly and gently stroked his beard.
"Since this Bureau Chief has spoken, fellow Daoist, our Clearwind Sect will give you face."
Chu Xingchen slowly withdrew the chopsticks.
Although killing him would be easy, it would inevitably bring trouble later. Most importantly, this was the Black Tortoise Kingdom's territory.
Offending the authorities over this old man would hardly be sensible.
Besides, this old man was on the brink of old age and haunted by heart demons. He might drop dead within a couple of days of getting home.
Chu Xingchen still had to remain in the Black Tortoise Kingdom for some time.
He said nothing more, simply reaching out to grab Li Xingtian from where he lay helplessly on the floor before turning into a streak of rainbow light and departing.
The second elder also slowly breathed a sigh of relief. After cupping his hands in thanks to the Bureau Chief of the Demon-Suppression Bureau, he flew downstairs.
His sharp gaze landed on the senior disciple at the fifth level of qi refining, whose palm still had a chopstick embedded in it. Silently, the second elder reached out and pulled the chopstick straight out.
The senior disciple grunted in pain but dared not react too strongly.
The second elder glanced sidelong at this good-for-nothing Outer Sect disciple. "You useless lot should return to the sect."
The five Outer Sect disciples hurriedly answered together.
"Yes!"
The second elder gazed in the direction Chu Xingchen had left, remaining silent for a long time.
As always, Chu Xingchen took precautions to throw off any pursuers.
Only after darting back and forth through several locations did he leisurely take Li Xingtian toward the Ruined Temple.
Forcing down his pain, Li Xingtian said, "Thank you for saving me, senior."
Chu Xingchen replied, "About that-you should thank my eldest disciple first."
"Huh?" Li Xingtian looked utterly confused.
But Chu Xingchen did not answer.
After all, he had largely owed his ability to display a divine ability at that critical moment to his eldest disciple. She truly deserved her golden Genius trait!
She had actually gained an initial grasp of a divine ability in just these few short days!
And she had mastered it at the most crucial moment. The synchronized reward he received from the system had allowed him to master that divine ability too.
Otherwise, Chu Xingchen doubted he could have scared off the Clearwind Sect elder so easily.
I'll reward her properly when we get back!
All the chicken drumsticks today are hers!
Chu Xingchen was, after all, already a golden core True Person, so he brought Li Xingtian back to the Ruined Temple in no time.
At that moment, Li Yingling was controlling the Wooden Sword as she practiced Wandering Dragon, with several wandering dragons formed from trickling streams of water coiling around the blade.
She seemed to be having quite a good time.
Still, Li Yingling noticed the two flying toward her. She put away the Wooden Sword and quickly ran out to welcome her master back.
She watched the two slowly land.
Before Chu Xingchen could speak-
Li Yingling glanced at the gravely wounded Li Xingtian and said with a conflicted expression, "Master... even if he refused, you didn't have to beat him half to death and bring him back, did you?"
Chu Xingchen said irritably, "You really understand your master's style, don't you? Next time, I'll let you handle this sort of thing."
Li Yingling looked even more conflicted, then said timidly,
"Master... I don't have any experience with this sort of thing. You can't blame me if I don't do a good job."
Li Xingtian hurriedly explained, "It wasn't this senior who injured me... please don't misunderstand, fairy."
Chu Xingchen helped Li Xingtian straight into the Ruined Temple, glanced at Li Yingling, and said irritably,
"This mischievous girl likes tricking people. She's just pulling your leg."
Li Yingling chuckled and followed Chu Xingchen into the Ruined Temple.
Before you continue