Chapter 222
Chapter 222 – Offending One’s Superiors, Punishable by Death
Gou Lezhan gazed off into the distance where Xu Disheng had disappeared. “Know my place…?” he muttered underneath his breath.
He Ziming was extremely bright. He looked deeply at the severely injured Yuan Qi in the distance, then came forward. In a neither servile nor overbearing tone, he said, “Envoy Gou, Soul Suppressor Sacred Son’s words to you just now had two layers of meaning.”
Chu Luo, Li Zhao, Quan Hongyu, and the others watched with astonishment, not understanding He Ziming’s meaning.
Gou Lezhan furrowed his brows and turned to He Ziming. “Didn’t Soul Suppressor Sacred Son’s mean that if I don’t have enough spirit stones, I shouldn’t make unreasonable requests? What other meaning is there?”
“Envoy Gou, what cultivation stage are you at? Don’t tell me you would tolerate a Sea of Qi stage disciple being up in your face like that, insulting you so directly?”
He Ziming swept a glance around him, then continued in a firm tone. “Do you all know why Soul Suppressor Sacred Son got angry? In the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s long, ancient legacy, the only thing that has always been absolutely indispensable is respect!”
“Even someone as esteemed as Soul Suppressor Sacred Son has always shown utmost respect in front of Celestial Tide Spirit Master, a Spirit Master in authority. But regardless of what kind of character or capability one possesses, Yuan Qi, a mere Sea of Qi stage disciple, had the audacity to point his finger at a Dao Foundation stage Deacon and reprimand him!”
“The reason why Soul Suppressor Sacred Son got angry was because Yuan Qi had treated someone who was more powerful than him without the slightest shred of respect. Him pointing at you and reprimanding you is not just a slap to your face, it’s also a slap on Soul Suppressor Sacred Son’s face, and even the Shangqing Sacred Sect’s face!”
“The Sacred Son deliberately left him alive to see if you could match up to your status as a Dao Foundation stage cultivator!”
As He Ziming spoke, Gou Lezhan’s eyes began to slowly widen, and the light in his eyes rekindled as the Dao Foundation stage aura that had been dormant for a long time began to surge up within him.
Gou Lezhan flicked his sleeves resolutely and said coldly, “Thank you for dispelling my doubts, Martial Nephew. May I inquire what the punishment ought to be for disrespecting one’s elders in the Shangqing Sacred Sect?”
Although He Ziming could tell he already knew the answer, he matched his energy and cupped his hands firmly. “Martial Uncle, according to the sect rules, disrespecting one’s master or elders is punishable by immediate death!”
He Ziming’s way of addressing him had changed from ‘Envoy Gou’ to ‘Martial Uncle’, matching his change.
A resplendent blade of sword light appeared in Gou Lezhan’s palm. With a cold, solemn expression, he waved his sleeve, unleashing its might. “Yuan Qi of Cloud Abyss Peak. I, Gou Lezhan, Envoy of the Anxi Province, will put you down according to the sect rules, for insulting a senior of the sect without reason, thereby disregarding your superiors and looking down on the sect.”
The blazing sword light, imbued with the power of heaven and earth, swept towards Yuan Qi, who was struggling bitterly on the ground. When he saw the sword light approaching, his eyes filled with despair, and he began to shout. “Sacred Son, save me! Sacred Son! Senior Martial Brother Xu! Envoy Gou, I know I was in the wrong! I was—”
The sword light smashed into Yuan Qi mid-cry, decimating him into smithereens. Under the annihilation of the profound qi, his entire figure burst into countless tiny motes of profound light. His blood, flesh, and mind were extinguished in that instant, dissipating into the air.
Behind him, the disciple that Gou Lezhan brought with him had recorded this scene in a recording jade slip, which was to be sent to Affairs Hall, where they would erase the sect’s records of Yuan Qi.
The people who used to serve as his trusted lackeys, Quan Hongyu and He Qiwen, lowered their heads silently. They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
At this moment, the two of them had come to terms with an extremely terrifying fact. Despite his average, mediocre appearance, Gou Lezhan was a bona fide peak Dao Foundation stage cultivator!
Although he had been heavily repressed by Xu Disheng and hadn’t shown any fangs thus far, he definitely wasn’t a figure that Sea of Qi stage disciples of the younger generation like them could lightly insult!
Watching this from the side, He Ziming said, “Soul Suppressor Sacred Son has a calm, indifferent temperament. He doesn’t have many demands regarding the temperament of the Peak’s disciples. Yuan Qi had a promising future in Cloud Abyss Peak, but he got ahead of himself, daring to scold a peak Dao Foundation stage Envoy. It isn’t surprising in the slightest for him to go out like this.”
Zhang Haobo spat on the ground angrily. “The one who didn’t know his place was no one but himself. There’s no one he can blame but himself for walking down the road straight to hell!” he mocked, sounding pleased about his demise.
“As the saying goes, ‘nothing can be accomplished without rules and customs’. Superior and subordinate, social hierarchy… Those are fundamental concepts to our human race. Daring to overlook these boundaries without regard would only lead to an end like Yuan Qi’s… death without even a burial.”
“He got what he deserved! He’s not even worthy of pity!”
“Serves him right!”
… …
Among the disciples of Cloud Abyss Peak, there were many who held resentment for him, and were now overjoyed at his demise.
Only Chu Luo’s face was filled with grief. He muttered under his breath, “Ma Chen… That bastard Yuan Qi sought out his own death. He’s dead now… but it’s a shame you weren’t here to see it.”
… …
Days flew, nights passed, and in the blink of an eye, several years had gone by. In the Anxi provincial capital, there were some rare signs of liveliness.
For the last ten years, the commoners of the Anxi Province were subject to heavy oppression. They had endured miserable circumstances worse than hell. Now, a Meridian Measurement Ceremony was being held, which hadn’t taken place in a long time, and it fanned the embers of hope in their hearts.
The lords of the ‘presiding sect’ had personally declared to the commoners that as soon as someone were discovered to have profound meridians, they would not only be allowed to enter the ‘presiding sect’ to start their cultivation journey, but they would also be rewarded with generous treasures. They would be able to break away from the hierarchy of commoners and even stand above the martial artists of the capital city!
“Soul Suppressor Sacred Son, all the people under 30 years old in the Anxi Province are gathered in the extended plaza in front of Evening Valley Palace. There are 23,000 people in total.”
It was He Ziming speaking. He was carrying a jade slip, and wore a respectful expression as he spoke.
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If it were an ordinary Meridian Measurement Ceremony, only children from 5 to 10 years of age would be selected to take part. However, the Anxi Province was a place that had been selected for a 100-year experiment where the citizen’s environment was improved upon, to see how it would affect the talents that appeared. As a result, the requirements were much more relaxed, and anyone under 30 years of age was allowed to participate in the Meridian Measurement Ceremony.
“Okay.”
“Ancestor sent Sacred Son a jade slip, but since Sacred Son was in meditation, I did not dare to disturb you,” He Ziming said after a pause. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a scarlet jade slip, which he handed over to Xu Disheng.
Xu Disheng took the scarlet-colored jade slip and examined its contents carefully. After a while, his brows furrowed.
The contents recorded within left him somewhat angered, even with his temperament.
Even without officially doing the Meridian Measurement Ceremony, Xu Disheng could conclude with just a sweeping glance that among the tens of thousands of Anxi Province citizens, there were many people with profound meridians. Among those, there were probably even people with rare middle class Spiritual Root Sequences, and even rarer, upper class Spiritual Root Sequences.
If everything worked out as planned and he was able to bring these seedlings back to the sect with him, his own position would definitely rise greatly!
However, in the jade slip that Celestial Tide Spirit Master sent, he informed him that the circumstances had changed!
Sacred Son Bai Lu was apparently on his way already, carrying the decree of Shangqing Mountain Range’s Red Lotus Primordial Lord. The decree stated that he was to replace Xu Disheng in his post at the Anxi Province!
This experiment had been set into motion by the Mountain Masters and the Primordial Lords of the Yuluo Province. Having recently received more precise information on the circumstances, Red Lotus Primordial Lord wanted to take all of the people with profound meridians from the Anxi Province into the First Mountain, Shangqing Mountain Range!
There were many complex, entangling plots and schemes among the Primordial Lords of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. Xu Disheng had no way of glimpsing the bigger picture. The only thing he knew was that he was on the verge of being herded back to the Shangqing Sacred Sect, and the fruits of his last ten years of effort were about to be harvested by someone else.