Leaving the Mountain

"Those two brats really never let up. Aren't you going to do something about them?"

"Do what? It's not as though they've drawn your blood!"

"Exactly. You've accepted plenty of gifts from Wu Chao in the past. How could you have the cheek to throw your weight around and bully your juniors now?"

"Everyone, remember this: Venerable Hongku was forced to expel them from his tutelage. He didn't do it of his own accord!"

"I heard that Wu Jin stole and ate a spirit fruit from Venerable Lei, and Venerable Lei didn't even punish him!"

"It seems the ties between them truly can't be severed!"

"They were merely forced by circumstances!"

"If it weren't for Venerable Yinghua, they'd probably still be under Hongku!"

"What about the Substitute Death Incantation?"

"Hongku has become a Venerable. What need is there for a Substitute Death Incantation? Surely no one in our Sacred Land would target a Venerable?"

"True. In the past, none of the Venerables wanted to step down, but now there are even vacant Venerable positions!"

"No one will target Venerable Hongku, so there's no need for the Substitute Death Incantation!"

At the dining hall of the Yedie River Holy Land, Dharma Master Hongyi and the others discussed the matter from time to time, while other Dharma Masters occasionally joined the conversation in low voices.

In the distance, more than ten apprentices with bruised and swollen faces watched the Dharma Masters.

Once the Dharma Masters had finished their brief discussion, the apprentices' hearts sank.

Whether or not they had provoked Wu Chao, they all had to chip in to see this former top apprentice of the Holy Land off the mountain.

Wu Chao had been exceptionally thorough. Whether he knew them or not, as long as they were apprentices of the