A young cultivator appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the red sun with his bare hands. The flames instantly extinguished, and a tiny sword was pulled out of it.
The man examined the flaming sword closely before sighing in admiration. âThe Sun, a top-three immortal foundation even if you compare it to all the other immortal swords out there! To think that it is possible for someone to obtain it during a last-minute breakthrough! Still, the lass from the Bao Clan is fine. There is no need to go this far.â
âUnhand my sword!â Xiao Yu channeled his Dao power repeatedly but could not break his sword free.
Meanwhile, Cui Yu finally recovered from his shock and realized that the situation was off. He yelled, âWho are you? How dare you step into a fight meant for children as an adult! Have you no shame?â
The young cultivator smiled. âI just want to take a closer look at the legendary immortal sword, thatâs all! To tell you the truth, it is a bad idea to make a last-minute breakthrough. You can very well drag down your Dao Foundation by a whole tier. Luckily for this boy, he managed to forge an immortal foundation despite it. That said, you are far too impatient for your age, you know that?â
He then released his grip on the immortal sword. It flew back to Xiao Yu and entered his forehead.
The boy grunted before saying coldly, âThe likes of you donât understand how gifted I am!â
Cui Yu couldnât be bothered to verbally assault the young cultivator. He hurried to Bao Yunâs side and inspected her injury. A short while later, they finally realized that the dagger had only penetrated her lightly. So lightly, in fact, that it wasnât even an inch into her flesh. The reason it looked so scary was because her dress had covered up most of the blade. At her current levelâshe was tempering her spiritâshe wouldnât even need to put an ointment on the wound. It would heal as good as new in two hours.
As for why the Dao Foundation mystic artifact had only cut a small hole in the girlâs clothes when it had penetrated Wei Yuanâs impossibly tough body with ease, it was because her dress wasnât ordinary, of course. Even more exceptional was the fact that it appeared perfectly mundane even to a cultivatorâs eye.
That said, the full force of a Dao Foundation mystic artifact wasnât something she could withstand right now. That was why she was knocked out despite suffering only a minor flesh wound.
Cui Yu and the others carefully lifted her upper body before stimulating her consciousness with a wisp of Dao energy. When she awakened and noticed that her arms and chest were covered in blood, she immediately let out a cry of shock and turned as pale as a sheet.
Cui Yu hurriedly consoled her, âRelax, itâs all Wei Yuanâs bl⊠Wei Yuan!â
It was only now they recalled the poor boy and hurriedly checked on him. When they saw that blood was still steadily oozing from the wound, everyone scrambled to tend to him. They were doing a poor job, though. Although they had all learned a little about the art of healing, they were at the stage where their focus was primarily on advancing their cultivation. Save for a few exceptionally gifted individuals, none had devoted much effort to such techniques. Besides that, no one had brought any healing items with them because why would they? This was a task for servants, not scions.
Still, the crowd didnât panic. First, they stopped the bleeding and sealed the wounds. Then, they sent someone to carry him to the Xuanming Hall promptly.
Wei Yuanâs injuries were so severe that his classmates were livid. They were all jabbing fingers at the Traditional Party students and yelling at the top of their lungs.
Cui Yu channeled his Dao energy and shouted with a voice that could be heard from a hundred zhang away, âWho is this exceptionally gifted senior brother who secretly reached the Dao Foundation stage but told no one about it? Whatâs the matter, are you afraid that you would embarrass yourself?â
Many Traditional Party disciples wordlessly stepped out of the way until one boy was revealed. Even they thought that this was an ugly look and did not wish to side with him. The boy who started it all looked both humiliated and furious. However, he was aware that he was in deep shit not because he injured Wei Yuan, but because he injured Bao Yun. Thus, he kept quiet.
His silence didnât equate to Cui Yuâs silence, though. His eyes suddenly turned purple, and he quickly took a look at the boy and the cultivator in the sky. Then, he sneered internally,
I see! Theyâre just a bunch of pretentious bastards!
Cui Yu dragged out his voice and said sarcastically, âI see! Your Dao Foundation is on the
bottom rung
of the Earth-tier! No wonder you acted with such haste; a couple more months past today, and you wouldnât even get the chance to show off anymore! I am most impressed by the shoddiness of your bloodline; from which collateral branch and concubine did you spawn from, pray tell?â
It was a vile insult to put it lightly. The face of the young cultivator darkened as he rebuked, âHe is a direct descendent of the Xu Clan! The Xu Clan may be inferior to the Cui Clan, but that doesnât mean weâll tolerate an attack on our honor!â
In response, Cui Yu said, âLast I heard, the Xu Clan doesnât produce Earth-tier trash!â
He wasnât just insulting the attacker, but also the cultivator himself. Although the cultivatorâs aura was much greater than Xu Du as a matter of course, his Dao Foundation was Earth-tier. It was on the top rung of the tier, but still, it was only Earth-tier.
The young cultivator turned ashen with anger. âYouâre so young, yet you speak with not one whit of caution. Didnât your elders teach you manners?â
Before he even finished, Cui Yu pointed a finger at his nose and said, âI am a direct descendant of the eldest son of the Cui Clan! My mother hails from a prestigious family as well! You, a mere servant, dare to speak of the elders of the Cui Clan with your mouth? I gave you an inch, and you forget yourself completely!â
The young cultivator was so furious that his hands were shaking. âSays the hedonistic son who only knows how to abuse his clanâs authority!â
Cui Yu clasped his hands behind his back, sneering. âExcuse you? When the day comes where I finish my Dao Foundation, youâre the one who will be addressing me as âSenior Brotherâ despite being over a decade older! Didnât
your
elders teach you any manners at all?â
The young cultivator was so furious that he laughed. âAnd youâre so sure that youâll form a Heaven-tier Dao Foundation?â
Cui Yu replied calmly, âI may not be as talented as Brother Xiao Yu, but my surname is Cui. Even if my Dao Foundation turned out to be an Earth-tier trash, my clan will make it Heaven-tier one way or another.â
âThe Xu Clan is one of the Seven Surnames as well!â
Cui Yu sneered. âDoes the Xu Clan possess the wealth to waste on the likes of you? Xu Clan, Xu Clan. Youâre a servant. They probably didnât even spend a fraction of their cultivation resources on you, and here you are playing the loyal hound. How shameful.â
The students of the Reform Party just listened without attempting to do anything. When it came to verbal wars, Cui Yu was their undisputed king. In fact, the first time they fought against the Traditional Party was because he accidentally spoke a little too much.
In terms of Dao Foundation talent, it was clear that the young cultivator was superior to Xu Du. However, he was the one taking care of the boy instead of the other way around. This could only mean that his status was far below Xu Duâs. As a member of an aristocratic family, Cui Yu was very familiar with such politics. That was why he kept attacking the young cultivatorâs status.
The young cultivator was beyond furious, but he couldnât actually attack Cui Yu. In the end, he could only pick Xu Du up, tell Bao Yun that he would give the Bao Clan an answer at a later date, and took his leave. He didnât bother arguing with Cui Yu any longer.
For obvious reasons, no one was in the mood of sparring any longer. Shortly after this, the elders of the Bao Clan, the Cui Clan, and the Xiao Clan rushed over and fed Bao Yun all sorts of elixirs and immortal pills. She was fully healed before she even made it to the Xuanming Hall.
Wei Yuan had to lie down in the Xuanming Hall for quite some time, though. Thankfully, the dagger was simplistic in its design with no treacherous effects or vile curses attached to it. A penetrating wound was also a minor wound for a cultivator. The Daoist threw some medicinal powder on his back, and the wound immediately started healing at a visible rate.
The main reason Wei Yuan was severely injured was because he hadnât begun refining his blood yet. Although his physical body was strong, his recovery speed was just slightly better than an ordinary humanâs. If anything, the imbalance between his immortal flesh and his mortal blood was the reason why he was healing much slower than he shouldâve been.
An hour passed, and Zhang Sheng finally showed up. Wei Yuanâs wound had already closed at this point. If he came an hour later, then there wouldnât even be a wound to speak of.
The scholar looked at his wound expressionlessly and asked, âWho did it?â
The Daoist of the Xuanming Hall was concocting a poison to wash Wei Yuanâs wound and melt off the extra flesh. Despite wearing a full face of beard and mature appearance, he was actually a half-baked healer who hadnât yet graduated from his studies. He had accidentally put too much Flesh Growing Powder on Wei Yuanâs back just now, and he was currently trying to fix his mistake.
When he heard Zhang Shengâs question, the Daoist interrupted, âItâs just a minor issue. The kids were fooling around when a child from the Xu Clan accidentally went too far. They had already sent someone to apologize just now.â
They did?
Zhang Sheng looked around. The Xuanming Hallâs sick ward was small and cramped. If a couple more people were standing in the room, they would not be able to turn around without experiencing difficulties. On top of that, there was no unnecessary furniture in the room whatsoever, nor any decor to speak of.
Right now, the sick ward was spotlessly clean. There was neither get-well-soon fruits, gifts, or even a letter. Where was the apology he spoke of, pray tell?
The Daoist suddenly hit himself in the head and said, âI forgot to mention that the Xu boy injured two people in total. The other person is Bao Yun. The Xu clan members did show up with a lot of gifts, but it all went to the Bao Clan.â
âAnd did anyone pay my disciple a visit?â
The Daoist gave it some thought. âSomeone took a look, but thatâs it. They didnât say a word.â
Zhang Sheng immediately turned to leave.
âShifu!â Wei Yuan hurriedly called out to his master. He knew his master well enough to know that the situation would probably escalate out of control if he allowed him to leave. âItâs just an unfortunate mistake during a private spar. Itâs no big deal.â
Zhang Sheng replied coldly, âThere are two Dao mystic artifact Dao imprints in your body. I can pretend that the first imprint isnât intentional, but there is no explaining away the second one! As if thatâs not enough, they didnât even offer you a single word of apology! No, this cannot be overlooked! You are my disciple. How can you be so timid and trouble-averse that you seek to smooth over even such an assault on your person?â
Wei Yuan kept persuading, âMy lack of skill is ultimately the reason this accident happened. Iâm the one who was wronged, so I should be the one to take revenge. Besides, it just isnât right to bring an elder into a studentâs fight. With how mediocre that guy is, I can handle him with one hand once Iâve tempered my bones.â
Zhang Sheng disagreed. âRevenge is not a dish served cold.â
It was at this moment a voice came from outside. âAre you in there, Wei Yuan? Junior Nephew Wei?â