Those golden eyes instantly turned a bit colder, like a snake’s pupils. Lou Shuangzui turned his head to look, but someone was faster than him. The girl with long green hair in front of him tilted her head slightly, her tone calm but full of sarcasm.
“Of course, after all, Junior Brother Lou can reach Qi Refining in one night and Foundation Establishment in half a month, unlike some people who take five or six years to reach Foundation Establishment. Besides, Senior Uncle Lian only has this one disciple. If he doesn’t pamper Junior Brother Lou, who else would he pamper?”
The face of the outer disciple who had just spoken turned ugly. His face was sharply defined, thin and mean-looking, and his expression became even more sinister as his face darkened. “Mu Yunge!!!”
Lou Shuangzui had heard this name before. It was the rare Yin attribute disciple from Divination Peak. When Divination Peak sent gifts, they mentioned the name of their only inner disciple in the letter.
å
Mu Yunge was the only disciple of the Divination Peak Master, and the Yin-Yang attribute is independent of the Five Elements, considered a very talented attribute, rare and hard to come by.
Mu Yunge rolled her eyes, propping her face with her hand, and glared back unceremoniously. “What’s wrong? Did I say something incorrect, Junior Brother Liu?”
“You… you inner disciples are really—”
“Who are you attacking? Inner disciples rely on talent and effort. We don’t owe you anything.” A black-haired, black-eyed young man who had been watching for a while couldn’t hold back anymore. He joined in with Mu Yunge, frowning as he retorted.
Liu Qing from Transformation Peak’s face turned ashen. Perhaps he couldn’t swallow the humiliation, so he slammed the table and stood up, first glancing at the black-haired young man who had just spoken up—Li Muye, the senior disciple of Talisman Array Peak, with a lightning attribute, known for his strong offensive power and always carrying numerous talismans.
He didn’t dare confront Li Muye directly, so he turned his gaze to Mu Yunge.
The girl had a Yin attribute spiritual root, and the combat power of the Yin attribute wasn’t very high. Instead, it offered more insights into the path of creation. Moreover, she studied divination. Although the Divination Peak Master must have given his disciple some protective items, Mu Yunge was definitely easier to deal with than Li Muye.
Junior Brother Liu took two aggressive steps forward, intending to cause trouble for Mu Yunge.
Yan Zhige frowned, just about to stand up and shield Mu Yunge, when he saw Lou Shuangzui take out a whip from the box, decisively biting his finger to drip blood and recognize it as his master.
The whip was beautiful, its dark body like a night python lying dormant, with gilded patterns resembling a fiery dragon swimming, and a sharp golden spike at the end adorned with emerald green gems.
Lou Shuangzui swung the whip, the sound of it slicing through the air precisely landing in front of Junior Brother Liu. The coldness of the Netherworld Iron hit him in the face, startling Junior Brother Liu. He looked up and met Lou Shuangzui’s eyes, which seemed as if they were poisoned.
“Oh dear, a slip of the hand. Senior Brother won’t blame me, right?” The beautiful man with black curly hair curled his lips, sending a chill down one’s spine, as if being stared at by a beast.
Junior Brother Liu instinctively wanted to retreat, but then he remembered that this person had only joined the sect two months ago. Feeling ashamed of his earlier fear, he became even angrier. “You’ve only been here for two months and dare to stand up for others. Senior Brother must teach you the rules today.”
Lou Shuangzui laughed, channeling spiritual power into the whip. The next attack accurately tore the young man’s clothes. The young man reacted in time to block it, but his spiritual power wasn’t precise enough. Even though Lou Shuangzui was only at the third level of Foundation Establishment, two levels lower than him, he couldn’t block the attack.
The whip’s tail carried a hint of coldness, and after sweeping over the clothes, it quickly created a dark green corrosive surface. Wisps of corrosive smoke rose from the fabric, and what was initially just a tear rapidly expanded, almost ruining the entire shirt.
As Liu Qing frantically and fearfully stripped off the remaining clothes, Lou Shuangzui spoke slowly, his eyebrows and eyes like a beautiful but poisonous flower, his smile laced with venom. “I forgot to mention, Junior Brother, I have a mutated single spiritual root, a wood spiritual root with poison, deadly poison, almost like a blood-sealing throat.”
Hearing this introduction, Liu Qing became even more panicked, and his friends couldn’t stand it anymore. A yellow-haired outer disciple stood up, accusing Lou Shuangzui, “Junior Brother Lou, Senior Brother Liu was just joking. Isn’t this a bit too much?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Zhige stood between Lou Shuangzui and Liu Qing, sneering. “What? You didn’t stop Junior Brother Liu when he was about to attack Senior Sister Mu, but now you want to join in the fun? Joking? Who’s joking with you? Who finds it funny?”
“That’s not what I meant, right? Your inner disciples are stronger, and Senior Sister Mu might not necessarily lose to Junior Brother Liu.”
“Yeah, yeah, using poison is too much, isn’t it…”
“Do you have any shame?” Mu Yunge finally couldn’t hold back, angrily scolding the outer disciples who spoke up. “I study divination, who here doesn’t know that? Bullying people is justified now, huh? No wonder you’re from Transformation Peak, twisting words and forcing logic. Besides, poison is Junior Brother’s attribute, and he used it to save me. What’s wrong with that?”
The yellow-haired outer disciple’s face turned red, and he stammered, “You… you…” for a while, burning with anger. “Senior Sister, that’s not right. How can you discriminate?”
“Huh? If you have the ability, do something that doesn’t make people discriminate against you!”
—Transformation Peak, established by Wen Weili, has only his pseudo-spiritual root son as an inner disciple so far, with the rest being outer disciples. Moreover, because their Peak Master was also promoted from outer to inner disciple, and due to Wen Weili’s deliberate teaching, Transformation Peak disciples are most prone to conflict with inner disciples.
And with the upper beam not straight, the lower beam is crooked. They often cause trouble out of jealousy, using vile and disgusting means, and have a poor reputation within Chen Yue Sect, facing even more discrimination outside.
Yan Zhige, Mu Yunge, and even the former He Zhibai had been framed and insulted by Transformation Peak, so upon hearing that sarcastic tone, Mu Yunge quickly stood up for her junior brother.
She was also standing up for her past self.
The yellow-haired outer disciple’s face turned a mix of green and purple. He glared at Mu Yunge, but couldn’t find words to refute, only breathing heavily and clenching his fists.
This commotion had already attracted the attention of almost everyone in the Suspended Mirror Platform’s teaching hall. Other outer or inner disciples who didn’t want to get involved were quietly watching until a light cough sounded at the door.
The Eleventh Elder walked in, holding his whisk, and upon seeing the tense scene, he was momentarily stunned. Then, seeing the opposing sides, he couldn’t help but frown.
“What’s going on here? What’s the situation? And Liu Qing, where are your clothes?”
Liu Qing had been a troublemaker for a long time, often provoking inner disciples and bullying those who didn’t focus on combat.
Logically, such a person should be dealt with, but he always committed acts like bullying and slander, which weren’t punishable by death but were disgusting. Moreover, he was a representative of the outer troublemakers, and dealing with him casually might exacerbate sect conflicts, so he hadn’t been dealt with yet.
The Eleventh Elder felt annoyed just seeing him, especially since there were unfamiliar faces among the opposing group, likely the new disciple of Senior Brother Lian. These outer disciples targeting inner newcomers wasn’t a first.
He had heard that Senior Brother Lian cared a lot about his little disciple. If they couldn’t convict and deal with this matter, when Senior Brother came out of seclusion, he might argue with Transformation Peak again.
The yellow-haired outer disciple was delighted to see the elder enter. He didn’t hesitate to play the villain and complain first. “Elder, Junior Brother Lou actually used poison to attack fellow disciples, showing no camaraderie! Look, Liu Qing’s clothes have been corroded by the poison.”
The other like-minded individuals quickly chimed in, unanimously targeting Lou Shuangzui, thinking that since Lou Shuangzui was new, he might panic in such a situation.
They all started complaining at once. “He even whipped Senior Brother Liu.”
“Just because he’s an inner disciple, he thinks he can bully outer disciples.”
“Isn’t he just relying on being the first disciple of Sword Peak?”
…
The Eleventh Elder listened with a cold face until the voices gradually subsided, then turned to look at Lou Shuangzui, who showed no signs of panic. The first disciple of Sword Peak had a calm expression, even appearing a bit bored.
“Junior Nephew Lou, do you have anything to say?”
Those golden eyes coolly glanced over the people who had just spoken. Lou Shuangzui’s movements were slow, like a venomous snake memorizing its prey, remembering each one, making everyone he looked at feel a chill down their spine.
Then he looked up at the Eleventh Elder, curling his lips. “Elder, they were the ones who started the dispute. Senior Brother Liu even wanted to attack Senior Sister Mu, so I gave a small warning. If I intended to harm, my poison wouldn’t have just dissolved clothes, leaving not even a scratch.”
Mu Yunge also spoke up, raising her eyes. “Elder, I can testify.”
Yan Zhige raised his hand as well. “I can testify to this too.”
Gradually, several inner disciples also spoke up one after another.
Then the yellow-haired one couldn’t hold back anymore. He stood up. “Elder, they’re all inner disciples, of course, they’ll help each other. How can their testimonies count?”
Before the Eleventh Elder could speak, Lou Shuangzui laughed first. He lazily leaned back. “Your words are quite interesting. Speaking of which, your witnesses are all outer disciples. By that logic, doesn’t that mean your testimonies are also unreliable?”
“How can outer disciples bully inner disciples? Isn’t it the inner disciples who look down on others?”
“Really can’t? Then how come I heard… my master was once bullied by an outer white-eyed wolf?” Lou Shuangzui gently stroked the handle of the whip with his fingers, his eyes growing darker, malice blooming like a flower, almost sprouting from his pupils.
He stared intently into the yellow-haired one’s eyes, his curled lips almost dripping blood. “My master gave me the authority to revise documents and manage the peak, so I learned something these past two days. Someone was actually spreading rumors in front of my Sword Peak servant, Huamao, saying that all inner disciples are second-generation rich kids, pampered, making him harbor hostility towards inner disciples from the start?”
“You should know Huamao is young, with low cultivation, and hasn’t interacted with any inner senior brothers or sisters, yet he’s so sure all inner disciples are trash. Liu Qing, and this… Mo Si, do you know anything about this?” Mo Si was the name of the yellow-haired one.
When the familiar name Huamao came up, Liu Qing couldn’t control his expression for a moment. Realizing it, he quickly became angry out of shame. “Do you have evidence? You’re slandering!”
“Slandering?” Lou Shuangzui couldn’t help but laugh. In front of the Eleventh Elder’s unexpected but gradually serious expression, and the surprised gazes of Mu Yunge, Yan Zhige, and even Li Muye, he calmly took down a string of decorations from his book bag.
—Golden gems interspersed with a few transparent ones, and as Lou Shuangzui’s fingers gently stroked them, the scene replayed abruptly began.
“Uncle Wen gave me an entry gift before, containing hundreds of Recording Stones. They’re just sitting there, so I casually made them into decorations hanging on my book bag, conveniently allowing people to see what really happened earlier.”
“And as for Huamao’s matter, Huamao is young, and I was afraid he couldn’t act the part, alerting the snake, so I entrusted Miss Qian Mo to carry a Recording Stone with her.” Seeing the gradually stiffening expressions of the yellow-haired one and Liu Qing, the first disciple of Sword Peak with a poison spiritual root smiled as he took out another round Recording Stone from his sleeve.
Lou Shuangzui dragged out his words, his eyes narrowing dangerously. “You should remember what divisive words you said to Miss Qian Mo at that time, right? After all, it was just over a month ago.”
Author’s Note: