On Lingle Peak of the Yuxu Sect.
Inside her room, Lu Yujiao sat by the window, holding a Blaze Talisman between two fingers and observing it closely against the daylight.
This was a spirit talisman she had obtained by chance; according to its previous owner, it had been purchased from Tongyi Pavilion.
Lu Yujiao had tested its power, and it was several degrees stronger than an ordinary Blaze Talisman.
She turned the spirit talisman over and over in her hands, but aside from noticing its unusual spiritual light, she could not discern anything else remarkable about it.
Setting it down in disappointment, Lu Yujiao muttered to herself, “Even Father couldn't draw a spirit talisman like this.”
Her father, Master Lu Yue, was not only the Peak Master of Lingle Peak in the Yuxu Sect, but also the sect's sole Tier-2 talisman master. Her own talisman crafting had been taught by him.
By virtue of his status as a talisman master, her father held a position slightly superior to the other peak masters in the Yuxu Sect.
Yet even her father could not craft a Blaze Talisman with such astonishing power.
Lu Yujiao could not help but wonder who had created this Blaze Talisman.
“I wonder which senior made it. If I ever get the chance, I must ask for guidance in person.”
Even better... if she could take them as her master, with her talent, it probably would not take long before she could craft such amazing spirit talismans herself, right?
As she was thinking, a knock suddenly sounded on the door. “Senior Sister Lu, are you there?”
Putting the spirit talisman back into her mustard-seed bag, Lu Yujiao stood up and opened the door. Seeing a familiar outer disciple standing outside, she asked, “What is it?”
The junior disciple said respectfully, “Senior Sister, on the front line, Senior Brother Zhan Xuan got into a conflict with Chen Er. They're asking you to go take a look.”
Lu Yujiao frowned. “What happened?”
Gauging her reaction, the disciple cautiously said, “Word is that Chen Er stole a spirit talisman from you. Senior Brother Zhan Xuan asks that you and the outer elders go over to verify it.”
Lu Yujiao raised an eyebrow and sneered. “Chen Er actually has the nerve? Come, let's take a look.”
...
In a corner of the defensive line, Chen Er's shoulders were pinned down by several outer senior brothers, forcing him to kneel on the ground.
Not far from him, Jiang Hong and Li Xu—who had come from the Guangle Village Immortal Destiny Gathering along with him—were dressed in handyman disciple robes, kneeling there as well and trembling uncontrollably.
The men holding Chen Er down offered flattering smiles toward a man in fine silk robes. “Senior Brother Zhan, this kid doesn't know what's good for him. We'll teach him a lesson for you.”
The inner disciple named Zhan Xuan patted the water off his robes, staring darkly at Chen Er without saying a word.
Chen Er clenched his fists.
Just a moment ago, Jiang Hong had been pouring tea for Senior Brother Zhan Xuan. Right at that moment, a spirit beast roared in the distance, startling Jiang Hong into a hand tremor that accidentally spilled tea over Senior Brother Zhan Xuan.
Senior Brother Zhan Xuan had slapped him across the face on the spot. Cultivators possessed great physical strength, and the blow immediately knocked out several of Jiang Hong's teeth.
Not content with that, Zhan Xuan began raining punches and kicks on him, not even sparing Li Xu who was standing beside them with his head bowed, trembling. He beat both of them together.
In the eyes of inner disciples, these handyman disciples were merely servants to be ordered around and beaten at will. The surrounding disciples only glanced over coldly, and not a single person stepped forward to stop it.
Chen Er could not bear the sight. Moreover, since he, Jiang Hong, and Li Xu were fellow villagers from the Mortal Realm who had come together, he felt a bond of camaraderie between them, so he spoke up in their defense.
Unexpectedly, Zhan Xuan not only failed to stop, but turned to teach him a lesson as well.
Pinned to the ground on his knees, Chen Er raised his head with effort and said, “Senior Brother, beating fellow disciples... if the steward elders find out, it might reflect poorly on you.”
Zhan Xuan let out a cold laugh. “Oh? And so what if I beat you?”
He stared at Chen Er's face and recognized him. “I remember you. You're the one always running over to Junior Sister Lu's place, aren't you?”
Noticing the malice in Zhan Xuan's eyes, Chen Er secretly thought oh no. This Senior Brother Zhan Xuan was clearly interested in Lu Yujiao and found him an eyesore.
Bitterly smiling in his heart, Chen Er felt waves of helplessness.
Lu Yujiao called on him frequently to run errands with casual contempt. If Zhan Xuan was targeting him because of this, it was truly an uncalled-for calamity.
Yet Zhan Xuan clearly did not care whether he was innocent or not—if he wanted to hit him, he hit him.
Taking a sip of tea, Zhan Xuan sneered. “Know your place. You're just a dog from the Mortal Realm.”
With that, he tossed aside his teacup, walked over, and kicked Chen Er squarely in the chest.
This kick spared no strength at all. With a crack, Chen Er's ribs fractured, and he began coughing uncontrollably as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Had he not spent all his free time lately immersing himself in cultivation and drawing Qi into his body to reach the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm, this kick might have killed him outright.
Dizzy and lightheaded, Chen Er forced his head up only to see Zhan Xuan smirking as he aimed another kick at him.
Unable to dodge in time, and seeing that his senior brother held nothing back, acting as though he had no qualms about beating him to death, Chen Er coughed up blood, sudden realization dawning upon him.
The sect forbade fratricide, but the disciples in this area were all on good terms with Zhan Xuan. Even if they truly beat him to death, as long as everyone aligned their stories and claimed it was a spirit beast attack, would the sect really investigate deeply?
Chen Er felt both sorrowful over his own powerlessness and enraged by the overbearing arrogance of these people.
Looking at Jiang Hong and Li Xu, whom he had just spoken up for, they were huddled together, trembling silently with their heads down. Chen Er sighed internally without blaming them. As handyman disciples, their words carried no weight, and surviving was difficult enough as it was.
As he struggled to dodge amid burning agony all over his body, Chen Er suddenly remembered the two spirit talismans Shi Yu had given him earlier.
Seeing Zhan Xuan launch another attack, in a panic he pulled one out from his robes, channeled a strand of spiritual energy into it, and threw it forward.
“Bang!”
“Boom—”
A massive fireball exploded and surged skyward, roaring flames spreading outward in an instant. At the heart of the flames, a deep red aura churned endlessly through the air, emitting sharp crackling sounds.
Zhan Xuan was horrified. In his haste to dodge, he hastily cast several defensive spells and summoned an artifact, yet he was still singed by the flames, instantly left in a wretched state.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Chen Er froze in place as well, never expecting the spirit talisman Shi Yu gave him to be so powerful.
The commotion caused by the Blaze Talisman was quite grand, and from the corner of his eye, he could see many people rushing over.
Chen Er breathed a subtle sigh of relief. Fortunately, the commotion was loud enough that he no longer had to worry about Zhan Xuan killing him under everyone's eyes. Even as an inner disciple, Zhan Xuan would not dare to openly break sect rules in front of a crowd.
Before he could fully exhale, Chen Er saw Zhan Xuan glare at him fiercely. “Where did this spirit talisman come from?”
The disciples around Zhan Xuan who were close with him joined in one after another:
“He's just an outer disciple—a mortal from the Mortal Realm! How could he have spirit stones to buy a spirit talisman? He must have stolen it!”
“He often goes to curry favor with Senior Sister Lu. I bet he took the chance to steal it from her!”
One after another, their tone grew increasingly assertion-filled and firm.
With his face bruised and eyes swollen, Chen Er grit his teeth and shook his head. “I didn't steal it! A friend gave this spirit talisman to me!”
“Heh, a mortal from the Mortal Realm like you—where would you get a friend who could give you a spirit talisman?”
“Why don't you tell us who could be so generous!”
Chen Er fell silent. He did not know where Shi Yu got the spirit talisman from either.
Fearing that dragging Shi Yu into this out of nowhere would bring her trouble, Chen Er remained tight-lipped.
In the eyes of the others, his silence was taken as a sign of guilt.
Zhan Xuan swallowed a Rejuvenation Pill, smoothed his robes, and looked at him coldly. “Speak up.”
The onlookers added, “Can't say it, can you?”
“This Blaze Talisman looks several times stronger than an ordinary one. Only Senior Sister Lu could have drawn it.”
“I think this matter should be reported to the outer elders and Senior Sister Lu. Theft is despicable and should be handled according to sect rules. Just wait to be expelled from the sect!”
“I'll go inform Senior Sister and the elders right now.”
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