“Why are you still standing there?” Ye Chen glanced at the three of them and said coldly, “Get moving.”
“Ye Chen, don’t go too far!” Liu Hongyu shouted angrily.
“Insolent!” Ye Chen’s expression darkened.
A terrifying pressure descended from the sky. “You’re just a mere Menial Disciple, and you dare speak to me like that?”
“Pfft!” Liu Hongyu’s face turned white, and she coughed up blood before collapsing to the ground. The pressure of a Tribulation Realm cultivator was not something just anyone could endure. If Ye Chen hadn’t held back, she would’ve died on the spot.
Li Qinghuan and Lu Mengyao trembled all over. Faced with that sudden overwhelming pressure, their legs gave out, and they dropped to their knees. A wave of fear surged in their hearts. Their bodies trembled as if thrown into an icy abyss.
They were well aware that Ye Chen could kill them in the blink of an eye. Now, they were no longer his disciples and had no right to order him around or confront him like they did in their past life. Now, they were nothing more than registered disciples of the menial disciples’ quarters…
Under such terrifying pressure, the three of them instantly sobered up, cold sweat pouring from their foreheads. Liu Hongyu was still full of unwillingness, but she dared not make another sound. If Ye Chen really did kill her, it would be too much of a loss. Still, she engraved this humiliation deep into her heart. One day, she would settle this with Ye Chen.
“Do you realize your mistake?” Ye Chen stared expressionlessly at Liu Hongyu kneeling outside the courtyard.
Did she really think he’d continue to indulge her?
In their previous life, he had been blind—he had pitied them and taken them in as disciples, caring for them wholeheartedly. But after enduring their betrayal, he no longer held the slightest sympathy. Respecting others’ fates—this was their karma.
Hearing Ye Chen’s reprimand, a flicker of rage flashed through Liu Hongyu’s heart, but in the face of overwhelming power, she could only lower her head and admit fault. “Disciple… understands her mistake! I ask for Uncle-Master Ye’s forgiveness!” Her face flushed red as she clenched her teeth. Her pride was utterly shattered at this moment.
Satisfied, Ye Chen nodded and waved his hand, dissipating the pressure. “That’s better. A person should know their place. Don’t act so high and mighty, thinking you’re superior to everyone else. A Menial Disciple should do a Menial Disciple’s work.”
He glanced at the three of them without mercy.
In this life, they were no longer the personal disciples of Sword-Hiding Peak, nor the Empresses famed across the Eight Desolations. They were just ordinary Menial Disciples now—there was no need to act so arrogant. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
Hearing this, the three kneeling women clenched their teeth in anger. They hated it, but had no choice except to respond stiffly, “Yes, disciple understands!”
“Since you understand, then get to work.” Ye Chen waved them off.
Without the pressure weighing down on them, the three got up from the ground. Each of them still burned with suppressed fury. They wanted to kill Ye Chen right then and there—but they didn’t have the power. This humiliation, they would remember forever.
“Yes!” Liu Hongyu bit down hard as she answered, dragging out the last syllable to show her dissatisfaction. Then the three of them quickly turned and left, not daring to linger, afraid Ye Chen might suppress them again…
Crack! Crack!
Two waves of energy erupted from within the courtyard.
“5th stage Qi Refining Realm!”
“Master, I’ve broken through to the 5th stage Qi Refining Realm!” Zhao Ling’er and Jiang Qingshu opened their eyes and jumped up excitedly, shouting happily at Ye Chen.
They had already shown signs of breakthrough earlier. Now, under the Spirit Gathering Array’s enhancement, they successfully advanced!
Just as Liu Hongyu and the others were leaving, the joyful voices from the courtyard struck their ears. Their bodies trembled violently. Their fists clenched tightly, but they didn’t look back and instead walked away quickly…
Once, they too had cultivated in this courtyard, basking in the dense spiritual energy from the Spirit Gathering Array, watching their cultivation levels soar…
Now, all of this had nothing to do with them. Even stealing a whiff of that spiritual energy was a luxury. Thinking that this was once all theirs—and now they were left to scrape by in the menial disciples’ quarters—made Liu Hongyu, Li Qinghuan, and Lu Mengyao’s hearts burn with rage.
They believed Ye Chen was doing this on purpose—humiliating them.
Ye Chen, just you wait!
Sooner or later, you’ll regret this…
The three of them silently swore in their hearts that they would make Ye Chen kneel before them and beg for mercy!
“So it really was about the cultivation resources!” Lu Mengyao muttered gloomily, her face full of envy and resentment. “Those two useless girls just stayed at Sword-Hiding Peak for a few days and already broke through to the 5th stage Qi Refining Realm!” Find the original chapter at novelping . com.
“Damn it! If the menial disciples’ quarters had spiritual energy that dense, I would’ve broken through long ago too…”
Despite her constant effort, she was still stuck at the 1st stage Qi Refining Realm. Yet disciples with the same aptitude had already reached the 5th stage. She firmly believed her slow progress was due to lack of cultivation resources.
“Exactly,” Li Qinghuan nodded in agreement. “If we had more spirit stones, with our comprehension and aptitude, there’s no way we’d still be stuck at the 1st stage Qi Refining Realm!”
They didn’t believe there was anything wrong with their talents. The blame lay entirely on the lack of resources.
“We can’t let them surpass us!” Liu Hongyu growled, her expression filled with resentment. “If we fall behind, we’ll be kicked out during the sect assessment.”
“That glory used to belong to us!”
She clenched her fists. She had hoped to shine in the sect assessment, to prove that Liu Hongyu was no waste, that the Nine Main Peaks’ Peak Masters had misjudged her. She also wanted Sect Master Han Mengli to see her potential and accept her as a disciple—maybe even as the chief disciple!
But now, Zhao Ling’er and Jiang Qingshu had already reached the 5th stage Qi Refining Realm, and their cultivation speed was many times faster than theirs. At this rate, the gap would only widen. By the time of the sect assessment, what would she use to compete with Zhao Ling’er and Jiang Qingshu?
Li Qinghuan and Lu Mengyao seemed to realize this too, and a deep sense of crisis hit them.
“How about we go ask Qian Tang to give us more cultivation resources?” Lu Mengyao suggested. “Even if he won’t give us Marrow-Cleansing Pills, he should at least spare some spirit stones, right?”
She always preferred taking shortcuts. When it wasn’t about cultivation, her mind was always spinning with ideas.
Liu Hongyu and Li Qinghuan exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. “That’s the only way…”
They had no better options. If they wanted to quickly raise their cultivation levels, they needed more resources.
As for Ye Chen—that was out of the question. Their only hope now rested with the elder of the menial disciples’ quarters…