All disciples of the Medicine Spirit Sect were alchemists. As is well known, alchemists are fragile and incapable of looking after themselves, which is why every single one of them carries defensive talismans, magical artifacts, and the like to protect themselves.
Lin Pu had already reached the peak of the Qi Condensation stage at just twenty-five years old, making him an outstanding standout among his peer group.
Moreover, owing to his status as a direct blood descendant of the six major clans, he always strutted around the Medicine Spirit Sect as though he owned the place, paying no heed whatsoever to anyone his own age.
At that moment, clutching an offensive talisman in his palm, he whirled around and delivered a heavy strike directly at Chenhan’s back.
To everyone’s surprise, the blow landed squarely on the spiritual sword strapped across Chenhan’s back, causing the scabbard to rattle with a resounding clank.
Chenhan nearly staggered forward, but he quickly steadied his footing, spun around, and fixed a dangerous, narrowed glare on Lin Pu. “You hit me?”
Lin Pu lifted his chin. “That’s right, I hit you! You have no right to eat here now get lost and clear out!”
Before his voice had even faded, he took a direct hit from Chenhan’s elbow strike. Having clearly never anticipated that Chenhan would dare to fight back, Lin Pu was completely caught off guard.
Bam!
With a deafening crash, Lin Pu whizzed backward, his entire body smashing heavily into a wall several yards away, his mouth twisted crookedly and his eyes out of alignment.
“Murder! There’s been a murder!” Several of Lin Pu’s sycophantic followers shrieked as they rushed toward the wall.
Three or four of them joined forces to pry Lin Pu out of the indentation in the wall. With his tongue lolling out and his entire body trembling, Lin Pu stammered in slurred, incoherent speech, “Mas… ter, Mas… ter.”
Hearing this, someone immediately sent a voice transmission to Immortal Zhulan: “Master, Senior Brother Lin Pu has been beaten up!”
A dozen or so individuals formed a tight, enclosing circle around Yan Mingqiu and Chenhan, determined to contain the main culprits and prevent them from escaping before Immortal Zhulan arrived.
Having witnessed the entire spectacle, Yan Mingqiu quietly shielded Chenhan behind him and offered comforting reassurance. “Good hit. Don’t worry, they threw the first punch, so they’re completely in the wrong. Besides, everyone has a master, I can call mine too.”
With that, Yan Mingqiu picked up a voice-transmission jade slip, channeled his spiritual energy into it, and broadcasted: “Master, hurry to the Spirit Dining Hall! Your disciple is being bullied again.”
Now it became a race to see whose master would arrive first.
To everyone’s astonishment, the two immortals arrived side by side.
Gazing at Lin Pu, whose face was twisted and who was drooling incessantly, Zhulan was consumed by fiery rage. “What on earth does this look like?!”
He produced a medicinal pill and forced it down Lin Pu’s throat.
Meanwhile, Yun Feng grabbed his little disciple’s hands, inspecting him up and down with an anxious tone, “Are you hurt anywhere? Tell Master quickly so I can treat you.”
Clutching his chest, Yan Mingqiu put on an expression of utter grievance. “Master, my fragile young heart has been wounded. They said that my coming to the Spirit Dining Hall to eat is a waste of food, that my Qi Condensation cultivation makes me unworthy to dine here, and that I’m a disgrace to the Medicine Spirit Sect.”
Lin Pu, having recovered somewhat, retorted in a frenzy of indignation, “You’re lying! I didn’t say any of that today!”
“You may not have said it today, but you’ve said it every other day! Why else do you think I’m always so reluctant to come and dine here? It’s entirely because of you, you’re always humiliating me,” Yan Mingqiu argued with righteous confidence.
“Furthermore, he just tried to stop Chenhan from eating here and told us to get lost,” Yan Mingqiu added, reaching out to tug gently on Chenhan’s sleeve.
At that, Yun Feng realized that “Chenhan” was the name Yan Mingqiu had bestowed upon the youth.
Yun Feng turned around, releasing the oppressive pressure of a Deity Transformation stage cultivator directly toward Lin Pu. “I told you the last time: if there is ever a next time, I will undoubtedly cripple your cultivation and toss you right off Qiwang Mountain.”
Under the suffocating pressure, Lin Pu felt as though every bone in his body was about to shatter, and blood began to seep from his facial orifices.
Knowing his own disciple’s disgraceful character well, Zhulan was well aware that everything Yan Mingqiu claimed was entirely plausible.
Eager to smooth things over, Zhulan stepped forward immediately. “Yunshang, let’s talk this out reasonably. Talk it reasonably there’s no need to resort to physical violence over such a trivial matter.”
As he spoke, Zhulan released his own Deity Transformation stage pressure to counter Yun Feng’s, the two of them clashing in an invisible battle of wills.
Yun Feng steadily increased his pressure. “The Sect Leader considers this a trivial matter? My disciple’s heart has been wounded! External injuries are easy to cure, but emotional wounds are not so easily healed.”
Zhulan felt a surge of fresh blood rise in his throat, clamping his mouth shut to forcefully swallow it back down.
Right now, his own disciple had been beaten black and blue, yet he was utterly powerless to stand up for him. Was it because he didn’t want to protect his disciple? No, his lack of sheer strength simply wouldn’t allow it!
As the Sect Leader, his cultivation level actually fell short of a mere peak master if word of this got out, where on earth would he put his face?
At that exact moment, three white-robed, long-bearded elders quietly materialized, joining forces to neutralize the two immortals’ opposing pressures.
The First Elder took charge. “Peak Master Yun, we are already aware of how events transpired. What Lin Pu said is not entirely without reason; after all, we constructed the Spirit Dining Hall with the primary intent of accelerating our sect disciples’ cultivation progress. Yet Yan Mingqiu has been on the mountain for ten years and remains merely in the mid-stage of Qi Condensation, which proves that the spiritual dining hall’s provisions yield no benefit for him whatsoever. Rather than wasting them, it would be far better to cede his share to other disciples. This is what we call rational resource allocation.”
Yun Feng cast a sidelong glance at him. “Rational resource allocation? In my view, the First Elder’s cultivation hasn’t made an inch of progress in fifteen years. Why don’t you take your own share out and divvying it up? Your portion is massive, it’d be enough to feed dozens of disciples.”
At those words, the First Elder was left gasping with rage, his beard bristling as he came dangerously close to lashing out.
Zhulan: “…” He couldn’t help feeling like he had just caught a stray bullet of insult.
Though Yan Mingqiu had spent ten years on the mountain without making much headway in his cultivation, he had mapped out the intricate web of relationships within the Medicine Spirit Sect like the back of his hand.
Those three elders were firmly in cahoots with Zhulan; together, they had effectively seized control of the entire Medicine Spirit Sect, leaving Yucang Peak thoroughly isolated on the outside.
With a four-against-one disadvantage right now, his master stood no chance of winning, and he refused to let his master get hurt on his account.
Stepping forward, Yan Mingqiu challenged them openly, “Don’t you all just think I’m unworthy? If I defeat Lin Pu, will that make me worthy of eating here?”
The First Elder let out a cold, mocking laugh. “What did you say? You defeat Lin Pu? The mid-stage of Qi Condensation versus the peak of Foundation Establishment? Are you joking?”
Yan Mingqiu straightened his posture. “I’m not talking about right now. Give me one month’s time, and I will definitely beat Lin Pu black and blue.”
Gently stroking his long beard, the First Elder couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Ignorant child. Even if you were given a whole year, you’d never stand a chance against him.”
Zhulan gave a couple of dry coughs, flashing a thumbs-up toward Yan Mingqiu. “Such lofty ambition! I admire your spirit. Why don’t we set a ‘one-month pledge’? One month from now, how about you and Lin Pu have a proper bout on the Duel Stage?”
Watching that insincere, snake-like smile, Yan Mingqiu saw right through his hypocrisy. Zhulan was smiling on the surface while plotting murder underneath.
Stepping onto the Duel Stage required signing a life-and-death waiver; once a combatant stepped foot on that platform, life or death would be left entirely to fate.
Noticing Yan Mingqiu hesitate, Lin Pu grew a bit anxious. “What’s the matter? Too scared? Weren’t you the one boasting just moments ago?”
Lin Pu had always found Yan Mingqiu an eyesore. Glaring at him now, he muttered viciously to himself: Whether it’s family background or innate talent, I outshine you in every possible way—so why does Senior Brother’s gaze only ever linger on you? Isn’t it just because you were born with a seductress’s face? Once we’re up on the Duel Stage, I’m going to carve a few nice gashes across this loathsome face of yours and see how you plan on seducing Senior Brother after that!
Yan Mingqiu glanced sidelong at him, a faint, provocative smirk playing on his lips. “One month from now, see you on the Duel Stage.”
Yun Feng cast a worried, protective gaze toward his disciple.
Meanwhile, Zhulan led Lin Pu back to Biluo Peak. Entering the study, Zhulan ordered everyone else to withdraw, and the steward sensibly pulled the doors shut behind them.
Casting a sound-proofing barrier, Zhulan addressed him directly, “Pu’er, I know your capabilities well enough to know that defeating Yan Mingqiu should be a walk in the park. But what I want goes far beyond merely beating him.”
Lin Pu bowed his head. “Your instructions are my command, Master.”
A ruthless glint flashed across Zhulan’s eyes. “I want you to kill him.”
Lin Pu froze. Bullying Yan Mingqiu and beating him half to death was well within his comfort zone, but actually taking Yan Mingqiu’s life was a step he didn’t quite dare to take.
“Master, is… is that really okay? Yan Mingqiu is, after all, Immortal Yunshang’s personal disciple.”
Zhulan let out a cold snort. “He who achieves great things does not sweat trivial details. You know how long I’ve been stuck at the early stage of Deity Transformation, don’t you? I’ve exhausted every accessible resource within the sect, yet I still haven’t been able to break through to the next realm.
What you may not know is that your grand-master left behind quite a few extraordinary treasures for Yunshang. Yunshang is constantly wandering outside; once Yan Mingqiu is dead, there will be no one left keeping watch over his turf, and at that point, I’ll find a way to borrow those treasures for our own use.
I will arrange everything. As long as you’re on the Duel Stage, life or death is immaterial—that is a rule established by the founding patriarch of the Medicine Spirit Sect himself, and even Yunshang will have no choice but to comply. Rest assured, the three elders and I will have your back; we will never allow him to pull any dirty tricks.
As long as you successfully eliminate Yan Mingqiu, I will grant you the exact same authority as Jiusi. You will have free access to all rare spiritual plants in the Spirit Herb Peak, and unrestricted entry to the topmost level of the Scripture Pavilion.”