Chapter 36: Chapter 36: The Lines Are Ready

Jiang Xu looked at Zong Ziqi, only to find Zong Ziqi staring right back at him. Both wore the exact same dumbfounded expression.

"Fellow Daoist Zong, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I heard. Yan Chunyu specifically named the two of us to join her Sect mission team."

Indeed, he hadn’t misheard.

But Jiang Xu didn’t know this Yan Chunyu at all.

He had only seen her once in the Outer Sect area of the General Affairs Hall, dressing down a few Outer Disciples.

And Jiang Xu was pretty sure he had ducked out of sight quickly enough that Yan Chunyu couldn’t have seen his handsome face.

’So how on earth did I attract Yan Chunyu’s attention?’

Jiang Xu racked his brains but couldn’t figure it out.

’Could it be that my talent and looks are so outstanding that not even a crowd can hide my magnificence?’

Jiang Xu mulled it over for a while and decided that must be it.

’But I didn’t accept any missions when I went to the General Affairs Hall. How did I end up on Yan Chunyu’s team?’

"Fellow Daoist Zong, what’s going on? I never accepted this mission!"

Zong Ziqi explained:

"I didn’t accept it either. Most likely, Yan Chunyu exercised her special privilege as one of the Top Ten Inner Disciples. She can compel Outer Disciples to participate in her Sect missions. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her privileges."

"Why would there be such a strange privilege?"

"Because there are many exceptional people among the Outer Disciples. Although they couldn’t enter the Inner Sect due to age or aptitude, it doesn’t mean they’re any worse than Inner Sect Disciples.

On the contrary, because they’ve always lived in such a high-pressure, competitive environment, many of them have far more survival experience than some of the coddled Inner Sect Disciples.

Some Inner Sect Disciples only focus on their Cultivation, have little contact with the outside world, and yet they love taking on high-difficulty missions.

For the safety of these chosen ones, the Sect specifically granted them the right to forcibly bring Outer Disciples on missions with them. The idea is to have those old hands look after them."

As Jiang Xu listened, something started to feel off.

’Why do I get the feeling Zong Ziqi is directing that at me?’

"Fellow Daoist Zong, in that case, why didn’t you bring a few Outer Sect cannon fod— Ahem, Outer Sect elites with you to eliminate that Mother-Child Spirit-Devouring Insect? Maybe you wouldn’t have been so severely injured then."

"Do you even have to ask? Of course it’s because I was too arrogant back then, thought I was all that. Thinking back now, I was just a greenhorn who knew nothing. I charged in headfirst, got my head bashed in, and now I’ve learned to be more down-to-earth."

Hearing Zong Ziqi’s self-deprecating words, Jiang Xu gave an awkward laugh.

’It seems the Sect’s arrangement actually makes a lot of sense. After all, there’s someone who suffered for not using it standing right in front of me...’

But one of them had lost all his Cultivation and had only just reached the Body Refining Early Stage—a fact that only Jiang Xu knew.

The other had only just been promoted from being a Spirit Plant Cultivator and hadn’t shown any special abilities. In the Outer Sect, people like Jiang Xu were a dime a dozen.

’I really have no idea what ability the two of us have to help someone at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.’

"Fellow Daoist Zong, why do you think Yan Chunyu wants to take us? We’re clearly dead weight. We might even end up ruining her plans."

Zong Ziqi suddenly started laughing, as if he’d thought of something.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I just remembered something."

"What is it?"

"I once followed my master’s instructions and competed with Yan Chunyu for a spot among the Top Ten Inner Disciples. In the end, I defeated her quite easily. After that, I heard she started cultivating extremely hard, as if she wanted to challenge me again.

I never really cared about it and had almost forgotten the whole thing. I was confident that if I could beat her once, I would never lose to her again.

But looking at it now, I was clearly too arrogant."

Jiang Xu suddenly remembered someone mentioning this to him at the General Affairs Hall.

Jiang Xu hadn’t paid it much mind then, but thinking about it now, ’Could Yan Chunyu be planning to use this opportunity to humiliate Zong Ziqi?’

"That’s not right. When I was at the General Affairs Hall, I saw Yan Chunyu defending you. She even struck those people who were mocking you. She looked really angry."

"Oh?" Zong Ziqi raised an eyebrow, then quickly figured it out:

"That’s because Yan Chunyu has a high opinion of herself. She believes that trash like them aren’t qualified to humiliate me. After all, she once lost to me. If they humiliate me, wouldn’t that be an even bigger slap in the face to her, who couldn’t even beat me?"

"But if she wants to humiliate you... why drag me into it? I’ve never done anything to offend her!"

After thinking for a long time, Jiang Xu was even more confused.

"Maybe she has some kind of twisted mentality. She wants to put me down in front of a nobody, thinking that’ll hurt me more."

HISS—!

Jiang Xu sucked in a sharp breath.

’I never thought that girl who seemed so beautiful could be so vicious!’

If that was the case, then this probably had nothing to do with him.

’I’m probably just here to make up the numbers...’

’I wonder if being selected for this mission means I won’t have to do any other tasks.’

Worried, Jiang Xu returned to his cave residence.

’I can’t believe my plans have been ruined once again!’

’I hope the mission Senior Sister Yan has taken isn’t too difficult. We can get through the humiliation ritual quickly, and then I can get back.’

’Otherwise, it’ll be hard to prepare for my trip to the Talisman Pavilion.’

...

「The next day, at noon.」

Jiang Xu arrived early at the entrance of the General Affairs Hall, along with Zong Ziqi.

Seeing Zong Ziqi’s calm expression, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but tease him:

"Fellow Daoist Zong, are you ready? Are you going to beg for mercy or talk tough in a bit?

If you don’t know how to talk tough, I’ll think of a line for you. How about this one?

You just say—’Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. Never bully a young man for being poor!’"

At first, Zong Ziqi didn’t react much, but he started laughing when he heard the last part.

"Hey, that’s a good one. ’Never bully a young man for being poor.’ I’ll say that later."

Just as Jiang Xu was joking with Zong Ziqi, three figures descended from the sky, riding on Magical Artifacts.

Jiang Xu looked up and saw that the leader was none other than Yan Chunyu, whom he had seen the other day.

Behind Yan Chunyu followed two disciples dressed in the white robes that symbolized their status as Inner Sect Disciples.

A man and a woman.

The man looked to be in his twenties, with a plain, average face—the kind you wouldn’t be able to pick out of a crowd. After activating his Spiritual Eye Technique, Jiang Xu sensed his Cultivation was at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.

The woman, on the other hand, had bright eyes and pearly teeth, a delicate face, and a petite, charming appearance. Her large eyes seemed to speak for themselves.

Under Jiang Xu’s Spiritual Eye Technique, her Cultivation registered as the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

The three of them walked straight toward Jiang Xu and Zong Ziqi, and Jiang Xu felt a little nervous.

’My nervousness isn’t for any other reason than the iconic scene that’s about to unfold.’

’Quick! Quick! Get the line ready! I have to wait until the emotional peak to say it!’