Without Lesser Paths, How Could There Be a Great Dao?

Gu Rong glared at Qian Xunling. If he hadn't claimed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's seat first, Qian Xunling would probably have sat in it. What a breach of propriety that would have been.

Gu Rong wasn't the only one. Everyone who had seen Qian Xunling enter the hall ahead of him had the same thought, and they all turned to look at Qian Xunling, who was seated beside the Elephant Armor Sect, one of the Lower Four Sects.

Who was this man?

They had never seen or heard of him.

Only Tang Yuehua and the others were surprised; they hadn't expected the young man to be from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Xue Ye paid no attention to the little interlude. Instead, he asked Ning Fengzhi curiously, "My esteemed subject, won't you introduce this handsome young man?"

Ning Fengzhi smiled and looked at Qian Xunling. "Your Majesty, the immortal's given name is Ling, and he is known as the Golden Martial Immortal. He is a healing-type Soul Master, and his Soul Power should be at the Soul Ancestor level. However, his Martial Soul's healing effect is excellent, far surpassing my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. I'm certain its effectiveness should be about the same as the Nine Heart Begonia's."

"Oh? He's that impressive?"

Xue Ye was surprised. The current clan leader of the Nine Heart Begonia had also come at his invitation. She was a woman, and she looked at Qian Xunling.

"He's a Soul Master? And at the Soul Ancestor level?" Tai Nuo asked in surprise. "That can't be right. He clearly isn't giving off any Soul Power."

At Tai Nuo's sudden interruption,

everyone was somewhat displeased.

But they truly hadn't detected any Soul Power from Qian Xunling.

He looked no different from an ordinary person.

At that moment, Qian Xunling was focused entirely on eating, as was Bibi Dong beside him. The two of them wolfed down their food.

They paid no attention whatsoever to the gazes on them.

Ning Fengzhi smiled awkwardly. "Please forgive him, Your Majesty. The immortal has always been so free and unrestrained. I hope you'll be lenient."

In truth, Ning Fengzhi hadn't expected Qian Xunling and Bibi Dong to be wolfing down their food like this either. What had those two been through lately?

Only Qian Xunling and Bibi Dong knew. To avoid finding himself without money on his travels again, Qian Xunling had been living frugally for the past two months. Even Bibi Dong's cooking practice had been stopped.

Tai Tan spoke up then. "Your Majesty, the ceremony is more or less over. Shouldn't we discuss the real business?"

The smile on Xue Ye's face instantly gave way to a grave expression.

Over the years, the Clear Sky Sect had risen at a frenzied pace and grown arrogant and overbearing. It had also repeatedly expanded its sphere of influence without permission, taking in numerous Soul Masters and even ordinary people.

It had long since overstepped the bounds of what a sect should be, displeasing both the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the other sects. Xue Ye maintained an appearance of harmony, but in truth he was quite dissatisfied with the Clear Sky Sect as well.

"Speak freely," Xue Ye said with a smile nonetheless.

Tai Tan said, "Your Majesty, during this time, several more mineral veins have been discovered within our Clear Sky Sect's sphere of influence. According to the law, whoever discovers an unknown mineral vein first owns it. But we recently heard that Heaven Dou had sent troops to garrison the area. Might Your Majesty know about this?"

His tone made it sound as though the Clear Sky Sect were the host.

Even Xue Ye, Ning Fengzhi, and Yu Yuanzhen clenched their fists at this.

Everyone knew those veins had only been discovered after the Clear Sky Sect expanded its sphere of influence. Besides, they weren't unknown veins at all; they were known but unclaimed, located between several major powers. None of them had tried to seize the veins, that was all.

Now the Clear Sky Sect actually wanted to monopolize them.

Xue Ye looked at Tang Xiao and Tang Hao.

On this visit, Tang Xiao appeared to be in charge, but in truth, Tai Tan and the four great clans handled all the important matters. Of course, the Clear Sky Sect had given its tacit approval behind the scenes.

"I do. Since your sect discovered them first, they belong to your sect," Xue Ye said, concealing his dissatisfaction.

Tai Tan closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth rising. The disciples of the Strength Clan and even those of the other clans standing behind him also looked rather pleased with themselves.

Tang Hao and Tang Xiao acted as though the matter had nothing to do with them, content to watch.

Just then, however, Qian Xunling mumbled around a mouthful of meat, "So what you're saying is, your Clear Sky Sect wants to keep those mineral veins all to itself? According to the law, Heaven Dou's army can be stationed anywhere. Even stationing it at your Clear Sky Sect would be within the rules, wouldn't it?"

Tai Tan's eyes snapped open. "Is it your place to speak?" he demanded angrily.

Qian Xunling smiled, looked at Tai Nuo, and asked in return, "Then when he asked who I was just now, was it that fellow's place to speak?"

"Bastard!" Tai Tan slapped the table.

Where had this hotheaded youngster suddenly come from?

Tai Tan looked at Ning Fengzhi, strongly suspecting that he was behind this, but Ning Fengzhi and Xue Ye both looked surprised.

Inwardly, however, they were thoroughly delighted.

The Platinum Bishop and the others smiled as they watched the show.

Tai Nuo glanced around. Seeing that Qian Xunling had spoken, he no longer held himself back. "So what if I spoke? I'm a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect. What about you? Who the hell are you?"

Ning Fengzhi wanted to speak, but Qian Xunling beat him to it. "I already said it: when the master is present, the dog should keep its mouth shut. But after being here this long, I can see that this old fellow called Tai Tan isn't a good dog either, and his masters aren't much better."

He had actually dared to insult Tai Tan to his face.

And with one remark, he had insulted every Clear Sky Sect disciple present.

That included Tang Xiao and Tang Hao, who had originally planned to ignore him.

Now, however, both of them turned to Qian Xunling, their gazes hostile.

Tai Tan gave a cold chuckle. "Last night, Tai Nuo said he had run into a fellow who wasn't afraid of death, one who could only toy with a few notes on a zither."

As he spoke, Tai Tan rose to his feet.

At once, almost everyone in the hosts' and guests' seats held their breath and focused their attention.

Ning Fengzhi stood. "Elder Tai Tan, the immortal speaks without restraint. Could you give our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect some face and let this matter rest?"

"He's one of your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's people?" Tai Tan didn't want to lose his temper here either, so he asked.

Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly.

But Qian Xunling stood up and said, "Old fellow, I'm not from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. I stand alone. What can you do to me?"

He had guts!

Xue Ye's admiration for Qian Xunling reached its peak at that moment.

Qian Xunling had done what Xue Ye had always wanted to do.

Even Spirit Hall's Platinum Bishop had almost raised a thumb to Qian Xunling. He, too, could no longer stand the Clear Sky Sect's increasingly overbearing manner.

But Ning Fengzhi said bitterly, "Immortal, why must you do this?"

Qian Xunling stared at Tai Tan and sneered.

Tai Tan sneered as well. "Boy, even if you are a healing-type Soul Master, in my eyes, that's the same as your zither skills-both are lesser paths. I think the same as Tai Nuo. Today, I'll also show you that Soul Power level is the true great Dao!"

Tang Xiao looked at Qian Xunling. "Last night, you repeatedly insulted the name of my Clear Sky Sect, but Yuehua pleaded for you, so I intended to let you off. Yet today, in front of such a large gathering, you're still refusing to let the matter go. As the young sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, I won't sit by and do nothing."

"Of course, I won't let Tai Tan take your life, but I will make you pay a fitting price."

"Eldest brother." Tang Yuehua tugged at Tang Xiao's arm, but he shook his head. "Third sister, this brat is already slapping us in the face, and the Clear Sky Sect's face as well. We must give him a taste of his own medicine. Otherwise, how is our Clear Sky Sect supposed to conduct itself in the future?"

Qian Xunling ignored Tang Xiao and looked at Tai Tan with a sneer. "Old fellow, who gave you the courage to look down on a lesser path like the art of the zither? Still, it's only natural. How could old eyes like yours see any further? After all, you're a bunch of iron-pounding brutes."

"Iron-pounding brutes?" Tai Tan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Qian Xunling took out a lump of iron and continued, "You should know that if you trace Soul Masters back to their origins, they too began on lesser paths before evolving into the great Dao of today. An old thing like you doesn't even know such a simple truth. Without lesser paths, how could there be a great Dao?"

"A mouthful of twisted nonsense. I'll beat you until you're searching the floor for your teeth!" Tai Tan strode swiftly toward Qian Xunling. Just then, Gu Rong appeared beside Qian Xunling in an instant and stared at Tai Tan. "Sir, children don't know how to mind their words. I apologize to you on his behalf. How about we put this matter behind us?"

"Do you think that's possible?" Tai Tan was furious, but he was also somewhat wary of the Titled Douluo before him.

Just then, the lump of iron shot from Qian Xunling's hand toward Tai Tan.

Tai Tan raised a hand and caught it, chuckling. "This is the lesser path you were talking about? How laughable."

Qian Xunling clenched his hand. Boom! Shards of iron tore Tai Tan's enormous palm to pieces, leaving it a bloody mess with stark white bone exposed. Blood spilled all over the floor.

"Ugh!" Tai Tan looked at his blood-soaked palm in pain and cried in shock, "My hand! My hand!"

Everyone else stared at the scene in disbelief.

What had just happened? They had only seen Qian Xunling throw a lump of iron, then clench his hand with Soul Power, and the lump had exploded in Tai Tan's palm.

Most importantly, it had been powerful enough to cut through the flesh of Tai Tan, a Soul Douluo and the patriarch of the Strength Clan, which specialized in defense.

That little thing dealt tremendous damage.

Xue Ye's eyes lit up again, and he once more felt interest and admiration for the thing Qian Xunling had thrown.

He began to consider whether he should protect Qian Xunling.

If that lump of iron were put to use by Heaven Dou's army, it would undoubtedly serve as a powerful deterrent.

"I'll kill you!" After using Soul Power to staunch the bleeding, Tai Tan swung his other fist at Qian Xunling, wreathed in Soul Power at the Soul Douluo level.