Commendation

The Daoists were all tall, and even in the sweltering heat, they wore Hunyuan crowns, swords at their sides and broad disciplinary rulers in their hands.

Disciplinary rulers were implements used to punish lower-ranking Daoists. If a Daoist broke the rules by swearing, for instance, he would be struck on the palms or slapped across the mouth.

The Daoist acolytes were all young and restless, while the lower monastery had strict rules. Without instruction and punishment, how could these acolytes possibly behave?

It could be said that almost every acolyte had been punished.

Even Shangxing's quick wits had been beaten into him. Seeing the cold expressions of the Daoists and the disciplinary rulers in their hands reminded him of his painful experiences, and his little face went deathly pale.

Zhou Wuji had grown up with Daoist Yiyuan, who treated him as his own son. With the wisdom of two lifetimes, he naturally could not be as mischievous and unruly as a real child, so he had never suffered such treatment.

Hidden Dragon Temple was small, too, and had no Daoists specifically tasked with enforcing discipline.

But one look at their appearance and the implements in their hands told him what these Daoists did.

The Daoists from the Discipline Hall all saw Zhou Wuji as well. Apart from their leader, Wuhe, they all knew him.

Wuhe was Zhihe's grand-disciple and had always stayed in the upper monastery.

Having accompanied his grandmaster here, Wuhe had taken a post in the Discipline Hall and had been throwing his weight around lately.

Learning that Zhou Wuji's disciple had caused trouble left him both surprised and delighted.

He was always hearing people in the lower monastery talk about how formidable Zhou Wuji was. Many of their claims were wildly exaggerated, which left him deeply unconvinced.