Chapter 145: The Knockdown

Great Sui Dynasty, Vast Starry Sky Sect.
A cloud of blood mist flew toward the sect gates at high speed, as if fleeing for its life. Before it even reached the destination, it crashed from the sky. Several disciples rolled out of the blood mist, tumbling all over the ground.

The gatekeeping disciples rushed over to check the situation, and were shocked to find that the one using the Blood Mist Escape Technique was none other than Nascent Soul-stage Elder Xuan Mingzi.

Their Vast Starry Sky Sect was a member of the Fearless Alliance. And because they had a Fusion Stage Patriarch, their status in the alliance was among the highest. Who would dare harm someone from their sect?

Moreover, this Elder Xuan Mingzi also held another important identity—he was the personal bodyguard of Young Master Yu.

If Elder Xuan Mingzi was in this state, then what of Young Master Yu? The gatekeepers immediately checked his condition and were relieved to find that he was unharmed.

The Fusion Patriarch of the Vast Starry Sky Sect had countless descendants, but none he favored more than this great-grandson—Young Master Yu.

If anything happened to Young Master Yu, the entire sect would be engulfed in the wrath of the Patriarch, and who knew who might suffer.

Xuan Mingzi, knowing how important Young Master Yu was, had forcibly brought him back while gravely injured, when it looked like Yuan Wuxing still wanted to keep attacking. As for bringing back the rest of the entourage—that was incidental. At the time, he barely had the presence of mind to tell who was who.

If something happened to Young Master Yu, there was no way he could escape the Patriarch’s wrath.

“Xuan Mingzi, why did we flee like that? You embarrassed me,” said Young Master Yu darkly. As the Patriarch’s favorite great-grandson, he never treated Xuan Mingzi like a proper elder—just a glorified guard.

“And now the Sword Tomb is about to open, and you brought me back and wasted time. What if I miss the chance to enter?”

Xuan Mingzi forced himself to speak despite his injuries. He had to explain clearly, or if Young Master Yu held a grudge and bad-mouthed him to the Patriarch, he’d be in serious trouble.

“The other side is definitely a prodigy—their combat power is overwhelming. I didn’t stand a chance. They clearly didn’t even see us as worth noticing. If I hadn’t taken you and fled, I wouldn’t have been the only one injured…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Young Master Yu frowned. Though unhurt, he had never been so humiliated, and he had now missed the Sword Tomb opening. If word got out, wouldn’t he become a laughingstock?

He didn’t think Yuan Wuxing had been excessive. If Xuan Mingzi hadn’t been so useless, he would’ve ordered him to beat those people within an inch of their lives.

As for who was right or wrong—how laughable. In the face of power, what “right” or “wrong” mattered? So what if they were the ones who bumped into someone? If he were as strong as the Human Sovereign Jiang, would anyone dare argue about right and wrong? They’d rush to apologize first.

In Young Master Yu’s view, the so-called “Human Sovereign respected by all across the Nine Provinces” was just someone who used strength to suppress others—not someone who convinced through reason. That’s what his Patriarch had taught him.

The Patriarch had also said that the current Human Sovereign only appeared gentle, but was in truth weak. That such a person could become the strongest—what a joke. The real Human Sovereign should be someone ruthless, like himself.

The Patriarch was a mighty Fusion cultivator—he had to be right.

Same with the Sword Pavilion. As long as the Sword Sovereign was around, everything the Pavilion did was right. His own Patriarch’s Patriarch had been beaten by the Sword Sovereign and hadn’t even dared fart in protest, still forcing a smile and praising the Sword Sovereign’s sword skills.

Now that the Sword Sovereign was gone, anything the Pavilion did was wrong—everyone joined in to suppress it, afraid another Sword Sovereign might rise.

That taught Young Master Yu one thing: there is no eternal reason—only eternal strength.

Unfortunately, his talent wasn’t exceptional, so he couldn’t become a Human Sovereign candidate. Otherwise, he would absolutely fight for it.

Xuan Mingzi and Young Master Yu reported the whole incident to the Patriarch, Yu Xingchen.

Yu Xingchen was furious. In the territory of Great Sui, someone dared look down on the Vast Starry Sky Sect, dared disrespect the Fearless Alliance—and they were only at Nascent Soul Stage!

No matter how monstrously talented Yuan Wuxing was, as long as he hadn’t grown into it, Yu Xingchen didn’t see him as a threat.

As for whether Young Master Yu was the one who caused the bump—Yu Xingchen didn’t care. He was just about to order his people into action when someone came rushing in and handed him an invitation.

It was from Zhang Konghu, a commander of the Human Sovereign Hall.

“Where is he?” Yu Xingchen couldn’t make sense of the flowery writing on the invitation.

“He’s waiting outside.”

“Absurd! Since when do commanders from the Human Sovereign Hall wait outside?” Yu Xingchen kicked the messenger aside, put on a smiling face, and went out to greet him.

Zhang Konghu finished his last bowl of rice, stowed the large bowl in his storage ring, and figured Yu Xingchen should have received the invitation by now.

Of course, Zhang Konghu hadn’t written the invitation himself. Before setting out, he had asked Commander Liu what to do.

Commander Liu knew what kind of guy Zhang Konghu was and wrote the invitation for him, even coached him on what to say.

“Commander Zhang, apologies for keeping you waiting. If you wanted to see me, you could’ve just come—no need for an invitation.”

Zhang Konghu shook his head. “It’s protocol.”

Hypocrite, Yu Xingchen cursed inwardly, but kept smiling and asked, “May I ask the reason for your visit?”

“Your Fearless Alliance is bold beyond measure. You dared threaten the Human Sovereign. The Human Sovereign is magnanimous, so he’s only sending a warning.”

Zhang Konghu slowly recited the lines Commander Liu had taught him.

Commander Liu had said the Human Sovereign Hall was a reasonable place—before beating someone, you had to explain why. Don’t let people get beaten without knowing the reason.

Zhang Konghu had even asked him, what was the difference between that and randomly beating people? Wouldn’t the Fearless Alliance just brush it off?

Considering Zhang Konghu’s capacity for understanding, Commander Liu had merely smiled and didn’t bother explaining.

Yu Xingchen and Xuan Mingzi looked stunned. Who in the Fearless Alliance would dare threaten the Human Sovereign? Had they lost their minds?

Just say you want to hit people! This excuse was way too flimsy!

“Hurry up and get beaten. I still have other places to go.”

That line wasn’t from Commander Liu.

Yu Xingchen was furious. Just because you’re from the Human Sovereign Hall, you think you can walk all over us?

Is there no reason anymore?

“Commander Zhang, let’s all just—”

Before he could finish half a sentence, Zhang Konghu sent him flying with a punch.

Yu Xingchen was dazed by the sheer force of the blow. As he tried to recover, Zhang Konghu flew in and hit him again.

That’s when he realized—there’s a huge gap even between Fusion Stage cultivators.

Yu Xingchen activated his Stellar Revolving Art. His skin turned black, and a soft light shimmered across his body. Upon closer inspection, one would see that the shimmer resembled the stars above.

This was the Vast Starry Sky Sect’s ultimate technique—an immortal-level spell. Only great contributors could learn it. It gathered the power of the stars to the user, suitable for both offense and defense.

Yu Xingchen was confident he could go toe-to-toe with Zhang Konghu.

But to his shock, Zhang Konghu didn’t even use his Wu Clan totem. He just shattered Yu Xingchen’s starlit skin with brute force.

Yu Xingchen coughed up blood repeatedly under the onslaught.

Once the beating was done, Zhang Konghu packed up, and before he forgot his lines, turned to head to the next sect.

“Ancestor, are you okay?”
Seeing him drenched in blood, Young Master Yu was terrified.

In his memory, his ancestor had always been invincible. How could he suffer such a defeat?

But really, despite the blood, so long as the damage didn’t touch the foundation, it was a light injury for a Fusion Stage cultivator and would recover quickly.

Zhang Konghu wasn’t the type to beat people to death.

Yu Xingchen sighed dejectedly. “Threatening the Human Sovereign—what a random excuse. But the scary part is they can use it to hit us. This is their way of saying: ‘The Human Sovereign Hall doesn’t need to reason with you—what are you gonna do about it?’”

“The Human Sovereign is giving us a warning. We bully the weak. The Human Sovereign Hall bullies us. The only reason they hadn’t acted before was because they were reasonable.”

“This is to make us understand what it feels like to be weak.”

Yu Xingchen sighed again. “The Vast Starry Sky Sect needs to keep a lower profile now. From now on, be polite to everyone.”

“What about Young Master Yu’s matter…” Xuan Mingzi asked tentatively.

Yu Xingchen glared. “He was the one being unreasonable—how could he possibly be right? Make sure he behaves himself out there. Maybe the Human Sovereign just didn’t like him and sent someone to slap the Fearless Alliance because of it.”

“Have him cultivate bitterly for three years—no leaving the sect, no women, only plain meals. Let him reflect. If I hear he’s acting up again—I’ll break his legs!”

Xuan Mingzi bowed and withdrew.

Similar scenes played out all across Great Sui. The once-arrogant sects no longer dared to throw their weight around.

From that day on, the Fearless Alliance quieted down.