The two sides had already been unhappy with each other because of the injuries inflicted by Peng Wuyan, leaving Elder Xu with pent-up anger he hadn’t been able to vent out. Now that Zu An had stepped forward, he finally saw a means of venting his frustration. He felt incredibly refreshed!

“I don’t really care about your daoist sects’ affairs, but what I see is someone who lost but isn’t willing to admit it, and is instead trying to use other methods to slander the winning disciple. As a judge, how can I not do a thing?” Zu An replied with a sneer.

“Well said!” Elder Huo Ling loudly voiced her agreement.

To be honest, she had actually looked down on Zu An a bit. After all, the world of warriors and the court were somewhat at odds with each other. In the eyes of the world of warriors, Zu An couldn't help but appear like a hired thug. Furthermore, he didn’t even have any cultivation, so they assumed he was just a pretty boy who had gotten his position through nepotism. Right now, however, when they were completely surrounded on all sides, it was actually the very same pretty boy she had looked down on who was supporting her disciple. She felt both moved and ashamed.

As Zu An spoke, he walked directly onto the stage. He supported the somewhat weak Pei Mianman and asked, “How do you feel? Hurry and get some rest. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Okay~” Pei Mianman replied, giving him a deep look. The emotions in her eyes looked as if they were about to spill out.

Even though she had won against Zhi Yin, in terms of real cultivation, she was still lacking. His frantic retaliation had left her with injuries too, and her ki had been exhausted severely. Unfortunately, the sect masters wanted to examine her, so she hadn’t gotten a chance to rest.

As expected, it’s still Ah Zu who cares the most about me.

“Ah, my goosebumps are about to fall off,” Yun Jianyue muttered, making a show of rubbing her arm and shivering. “Do they think everyone here is dead or something? They’re still showing each other a public display of affection.”

Qiu Honglei explained, “Others don’t know about their relationship. I don’t think they’ll notice anything.”

Yun Jianyue couldn't help but shoot her a look, saying, “Sometimes, I really wonder whether you’re going to get jealous.”

Qiu Honglei smiled and replied, “Witches such as us, who wish for the entire world to be in chaos, are the ones who should make others jealous. Being jealous of others is a sign of powerlessness. Isn’t that what master taught me before?”

Yun Jianyue was speechless.

…

Meanwhile, the other disciples didn’t think too much of it because they didn’t know about Zu An and Pei Mianman’s relationship. Still, many of the male disciples were incredibly jealous. Helping Lady Pei when she was in such a hopeless situation would definitely win a good impression from her, right?

However, they knew themselves. In such a situation, they wouldn’t dare to step forward for her even if they had three gallbladders in their body.

Elder Xu said with a sneer, “This is no longer merely about the competition, but rather concerns the safety of all the daoist sects, and perhaps even the common people. Once, a long time ago, a disciple of the daoist sects stumbled upon a treasure and their cultivation advanced greatly. However, no one expected it to be an evil object. One day, all of the blood essence of the sect’s disciples was swallowed up, creating a great tragedy. Afterward, the experts of the different sects had to rush to seal that evil object, and paid a great price to do so. We are merely doing this to avoid repeating that disaster.”

The sect representatives inwardly nodded. Apart from making things difficult for Jadefall Palace, they had also expressed their agreement because they thought of that event.

Still, now that it involved Big Manman’s interests, how could Zu An entertain such a claim? He retorted, “Isn’t that a completely groundless accusation? In my experience, there have always been people in the world who hypocritically talk about compassion, duty, integrity, but in reality are nothing more than treacherous bastards.”

Elder Xu roared furiously, “What did you say?”

You have successfully trolled Xu Chuan for +711 +711 +711…

The other sect masters who had supported the examination of Pei Mianman’s treasure became unhappy as well.

“Whomever is getting worked up right now, that is who I was talking about,” Zu An said with a smile, staring directly at Elder Xu.

The nearby younger disciples couldn't help but laugh. They could only lower their heads and hope their smiles wouldn’t be seen.

“Disrespectful!” Xu Chuan snapped, practically about to explode from anger. The insults commonly used on the forums of another world were absolutely lethal against the inhabitants of this world.

“Who’s disrespectful?” Zu An quickly replied.

“You are the disrespectful bastard!” Elder Xu instinctively replied. However, when he saw people’s strange expressions, he immediately realized that he had fallen for Zu An’s trick. His face turned dark purple.[1]

You have successfully trolled Xu Chuan for +888 +888 +888…

Just then, one person stood up and said, “This brother over here, there is no meaning in just being all talk. This is a world that relies on cultivation. Mount Luofu’s Luo Dongjiang wishes to ask you for an exchange of pointers.”

That person was Mount Luofu’s representative disciple, Luo Dongjiang. When he saw that his elder was about to faint from anger, he stepped forward to help Elder Xu out of embarrassment.

With that reminder, Elder Xu finally came to his senses. Right, what kind of status do I have? And yet I’m trying to argue with a youngster. It just lowers my status.

Worried that Zu An wouldn’t accept, he even tried to provoke him. “Rather than saying that this old one is bullying you, how about having Dongjiang exchange some moves with you? Don’t worry, he will make sure to hold back and not endanger your life.”

Even though there wouldn’t be danger to Zu An’s life, superficial wounds were still completely expected. Luo Dongjiang naturally picked up on that implication and nodded slightly toward Elder Xu.

The disciples all looked at Zu An sympathetically. A hero who saved a damsel in distress wasn’t an easy role to play. This pretty boy didn’t even have the slightest ki fluctuations coming from him and seemed just like a normal person. Any normal disciple could crush him, let alone a representative disciple. He had probably stepped forward previously because he was relying on his identity as a court official, right? But in this world of conflict, people only respected the strong. Who cared about one’s status?

Many disciples from Heavenly Sorrow Sect cheered loudly. They wanted Luo Dongjiang to properly discipline Zu An. The first reason was that the two sides already had a grudge from the events at King Yan Manor, and the second was that the situation involved Zhi Yin and their sect’s glory, so they naturally viewed Zu An as the enemy.

Only Zhao Xiaodie muttered, “You’re all looking down on him too much…” She had faced Zu An before. Back then, he had been able to toy with her easily. Even now, she could still feel a throbbing from her bottom that reached all the way to her soul.

“What did you say, senior sister?” a gloomy-looking young man asked, turning around. He was the ninth junior disciple, Cai Yu. He had previously challenged Zu An, but nothing had been settled then, so he held a grudge.

“Nothing,” Zhao Xiaodie said with a forced smile. No one would believe her even if she said anything, so she could only let them see it for themselves.

…

Zu An gave Luo Dongjiang a look of disdain and remarked, “You? You’re not qualified.”

The entire place rose up into a commotion. This level of confidence really was something else! Even Wang Wuxie and the other sect leaders were a bit confused, thinking, Is this kid really that awesome, or does he only know how to shoot his mouth off? But isn’t this going a bit too far even for bragging?

Tranquility Temple’s fatty Jie Se asked Master Jian Huang, “Master, what do you think?”

Master Jian Huang said slowly, “The way he spoke was extremely calm, without the slightest bit of cowardice. There wasn’t even the slightest sliver of emotion, almost as if he were merely stating the obvious.”

The little monk Jie Se replied in surprise, “Could it be that he is actually a hidden expert?”

“We’ll find out soon,” Master Jian Huang said, staring at the stage.

Luo Dongjiang’s entire face was red as he drew his sword and thrust it at Zu An, exclaiming “Then let me see if your distinguished self’s skills are really as formidable as your mouth!”

You have successfully trolled Luo Dongjiang for +444 +444 +444…

In his rage, he completely forgot about Elder Xu’s warning. He didn’t hold back in the slightest.

Qiu Honglei nervously grabbed Yun Jianyue’s elbow and asked, “Master, is he really as awesome as you said he was?”

Yun Jianyue was getting a bit annoyed. She brushed Qiu Honglei’s hand away and snapped, “Are you doubting your master’s judgment?”

Qiu Honglei chuckled awkwardly. She normally had a hundred percent confidence in her master, but when it came to Zu An, she couldn't help but become a bit flustered.

Luo Dongjiang’s sword was about to hit Zu An, but he didn’t move at all. Many people sneered in disdain, thinking, Looks like this guy has already lost his wits. Still, they figured that made sense. Luo Dongjiang’s full-power attack wasn’t something too many of them could react to.

Just then, a white figure flickered and Luo Dongjiang’s sword was deflected by a gentle force. He looked up in shock to see Wang Wuxie at the center of the stage.

Wang Wuxie said, “This matter is something that can be considered at length. There is no need for it to become a life and death conflict.” He still had his identity as the State Teacher, after all. If a court Imperial Envoy died here and he didn’t do a thing, things would become much more troublesome.

With Wang Wuxie stepping forward, Luo Dongjiang naturally didn’t dare to disrespect him. He could only glare hatefully at Zu An.

Zu An said indifferently, “You should thank the State Teacher for saving your life just now.”

Luo Dongjiang was stunned. That was actually what he had wanted to say. He hadn’t expected the opponent to say it first. He thought, Does this guy have absolutely no sense of shame?

You have successfully trolled Luo Dongjiang for +999 +999 +999…

Everyone else present thought the same thing. Wang Wuxie twitched. He felt a bit of regret for saving Zu An just then.

Even after thousands of years pass and this brat’s tomb is opened up, everything else will have already rotted, but his mouth will definitely still be fine.

Elder Xu was about to explode from anger. He spat, “You little rascal… Seeing as you say that Dongjiang isn’t qualified to face you, I will impart my teachings to you. I just hope that you will not hide behind Sect Master Wang!” He didn’t even care about being a senior who bullied juniors anymore. He seized Zu An’s response as a pretext to lash out.

You have successfully trolled Xu Chuan for +999 +999 +999…

Zu An gave him a look and shook his head, saying, “You overrate yourself too much. I don’t even need to use my hands to deal with you.”

Elder Xu was speechless.