Coercion and Temptation

"Have you two junior brothers given it some thought?"

"Your senior brother only has your best interests at heart. The Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce is ultimately an outsider. For now, your transaction has earned you the protection of a Spirit Transformation Exalted Lord."

"But what about later? Can the Azure Cloud Chamber of Commerce shelter you for the rest of your lives?"

Chu Yunfei patiently coaxed them, using both kindness and threats.

"But I am different. As long as you're willing to let me have the Dark Nether Sword Token, though I can't protect you for life, I can at least protect you until you've grown."

"I know every disciple in the sect considers himself a genius. But if a genius dies before his time, he's no more than a mediocrity."

"Are you two junior brothers really going to damage the bonds between us over a single sword token?"

What a sanctimonious hypocrite! Utterly deceitful!

Feng Zhuo cursed him inwardly.

"Senior Brother Chu, you must be joking."

Reckoning that his master was about to arrive, Feng Zhuo boldly spoke up. "To say nothing of the fact that we don't have the Dark Nether Sword Token."

With so many people around to overhear, Feng Zhuo didn't want a crowd coveting his little senior brother's Storage Bag for no reason.

"Even if we did, it wouldn't be convenient for us to let you have it, Senior Brother."

"Cultivators walk a path against the heavens in the first place. We contend with heaven and fight with men. If we have to give up even the fortuitous opportunities we've already obtained, what's the point of cultivating? We might as well drop dead on the spot!"

"Sharp-tongued brat!"

Chu Yunfei said coldly, "You won't drink a toast, so you'll drink a forfeit! Let's see how you live in peace with that Dark Nether Sword Token in your possession from now on! Don't come begging me when the time comes!"

"What a fine toast or forfeit!"

Ling Shuanghua and Ye Wuhen arrived with reinforcements just in time.

Yunxiaozi heard Chu Yunfei's threat the moment he arrived and was uncommonly furious.

His cultivation had merely been damaged. Did the people in the sect think he was dead?!

"Martial Nephew Chu, do you think nothing of me, or do you look down on Senior Brother Lingxiaozi as well?!"

"Today you're forcibly taking my disciple's belongings. Will you take my disciples' lives tomorrow?!"

"And I had no idea you were so capable! Even I wouldn't dare guarantee that my two young disciples will grow up without a hitch, yet you dare make such a boast!"

"I must let Senior Brother see just what sort of character the fine disciple he raised has!"

"Martial Uncle Yunxiaozi?!" Chu Yunfei's pupils contracted slightly, and he couldn't help glancing at Su Ruanruan out of the corner of his eye.

She had never told him those two were from Carefree Peak!

Yunxiaozi's arrival threw Chu Yunfei into a panic for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Greetings, Martial Uncle."

Chu Yunfei bowed, his face full of apology. "I didn't know these two junior brothers were your personal disciples, Martial Uncle. Forgive my discourtesy."

"Since they are your personal disciples, what I said just now was indeed mistaken."

"My master and you studied under the same master, so the two of you and I should naturally be like brothers under the same master as well. As for a mere Dark Nether Sword Token, I would naturally be willing to let you two have it."

What was he talking about? Little Senior Brother had bought the Dark Nether Sword Token with Spirit Stones. It wasn't his money, so what was there for him to give up?

Feng Zhuo was displeased. "Senior Brother Chu, you keep saying things I can't understand."

"I told you three or four times earlier that Little Senior Brother and I didn't know anything about a Dark Nether Sword Token, yet you insisted we let you have it."

"And now you say that the bond between us should be like that of disciples under the same master, and that you're going to let us have the Dark Nether Sword Token."

"One moment you're letting me have it, and the next I'm letting you have it."

"Senior Brothers, Second Senior Sister, is there something wrong with my wording? Why is it that Senior Brother Chu alone understands it so differently from everyone else?"

"Don't worry, Little Junior Brother."

Ling Shuanghua shoved Chu Yunfei aside. "Perhaps you speak a little like the people of the Western Regions, Little Junior Brother. Senior Brother Chu is so precious and exalted that it's only natural he wouldn't be used to hearing it."

"You!"

Furious, Chu Yunfei gritted his teeth. "Martial Uncle, I won't impose on you any longer. I'll return to the sect first!"

Su Ruanruan hurried after him.

She knew well enough whether to stay and face five alone or catch up for a one-on-one.

Cang Wuya loosely held Feng Zhuo, who had been jostled back repeatedly, in his arms and explained, "Chu Yunfei came from the mortal world. More than anything, he hates hearing people mention his origins in front of him."

Who in the Supreme One Divine Sect didn't know that Lingxiaozi had brought Chu Yunfei out of a den of beggars when he went to the mortal world to slay an evil demon years ago?

"Hmph! Who does he think he's fooling, pretending to be magnanimous?" Ling Shuanghua had more to say. "After what happened today, when it comes to being petty, if Chu Yunfei ranks second, I'm afraid no one could rank first!"

"Has Heaven-Soaring Peak bullied Carefree Peak too?"

Second Senior Sister disliked the people of Crimson Firmament Peak because Chixiao had refused to refine a life-saving pill for their master. Then why did she dislike Chu Yunfei?

Ling Shuanghua shook her head, understanding what Feng Zhuo meant. "Martial Uncle Lingxiaozi and Master studied under the same master. He's usually quite good to us. As for disliking Chu Yunfei, that's just my woman's sixth sense."

"At the sect, I often hear our junior brothers and sisters talking about Chu Yunfei. They have nothing but praise for him; there's never been a single blemish."

"The whole sect is full of his admirers. Whether male or female, not a single disciple even feels jealous of him."

"Doesn't that just show he's a good person, so charming that everyone in the sect likes him?"

"But isn't there another possibility?"

Ling Shuanghua had never believed that anyone in the world could truly be so flawless. Seeing him today had confirmed it.

The only thing that puzzled her was why Chu Yunfei had been so careless today with the mask he'd maintained for decades.

Was he confident that even if they revealed his true colors, no one would believe them?

Elsewhere.

"Senior Brother Chu, wait for me!"

"Junior Sister Ruanruan!"

Chu Yunfei forcibly suppressed his anger. "You never told me those two were from Carefree Peak!"

Su Ruanruan looked innocent. "Carefree Peak? Which peak is that? I don't know anything about Carefree Peak, and I didn't know Senior Brother Feng Zhuo and his fellow disciple were from there."

"I just thought that since you were competing with the people in Private Room A-1 for the Dark Nether Sword Token, you must need that fortuitous opportunity. I happened to know who had bought the token, so I told you."

Everything she said implied that she had only been thinking of her senior brother.

So you were thinking of me, were you!

Once he got back, he would have Elder Yu check Su Ruanruan's fate again to see whether something had gone wrong.

Otherwise, in this generation of the Profound Firmament Continent, the Heavenly Dao must have lost its mind to choose a person of such character as its Child of the Heavenly Dao!!

"Fine. Just fine!"

Chu Yunfei had no time to keep arguing with Su Ruanruan.

If Martial Uncle Yunxiaozi told his master what had just happened, the image he had painstakingly cultivated for more than a decade would likely be ruined in his master's eyes!

He had to return to the sect ahead of them and plead his case before his master!

But until he confirmed that Elder Yu had been mistaken, he couldn't afford to offend Su Ruanruan!

Having thought it through, Chu Yunfei forced down his anger and pulled an apologetic look onto his face. "Thank you for your kindness, Junior Sister Ruanruan."

"I just missed out on a great fortuitous opportunity, so I spoke a little sharply to you. Please forgive me."

"I understand."

Su Ruanruan was very understanding. "You missed out on the Dark Nether Sword Token today, Senior Brother, and I missed out on a fortuitous opportunity too, so I understand how you feel."

"But that Dark Nether Sword Token..."

Su Ruanruan still hadn't given up and meant to get Chu Yunfei to deal with Feng Zhuo and the others. "Senior Brother, you lost so much face today, and your fortuitous opportunity was snatched away. If you don't teach those two from Carefree Peak a lesson, I'm afraid it will damage your standing among the sect's disciples..."

Su Ruanruan's words carried an implication, but they were just what Chu Yunfei wanted to hear.

In front of others, however, Chu Yunfei smiled with easy grace. "So be it! Since the two junior brothers from Carefree Peak have Martial Uncle behind them and aren't willing to let me have the Dark Nether Sword Token, I suppose I wasn't destined for this fortuitous opportunity."

As for teaching them a lesson?

Chu Yunfei and Su Ruanruan exchanged a glance, smiling without a word.