Chapter Eighty-Two: Confrontation

This time’s harvest left Luo Tian extremely satisfied. The spoils included the corpse of a peak Yuan Dan realm cultivator, a storage ring with vast capacity, the wood-element true spirit “Boundless Life-Giving Tree,” as well as several valuable manuals and medicinal herbs. Though not numerous, their worth was beyond measure.

Naturally, Luo Tian was in high spirits. Yet, as he approached the entrance of the secret realm, his mood soured slightly.

From a distance, he could see the disciples of the Great Yuan Sect and the Divine Sun Sect locked in confrontation. The two groups stood face to face, tensions high, and it seemed a full-scale brawl was only a breath away.

What on earth is this about? Luo Tian frowned in displeasure. The Great Yuan Sect was truly too much—blocking the exit and refusing to let anyone leave?

He was in a hurry to return to Mount Ziyang and resume his post as senior brother. After all, he’d been away for twenty days; surely a new batch of junior disciples was eagerly awaiting him, ready to offer contribution points and experience.

As he drew closer, both groups, who had been at odds, finally noticed this lone, belated figure.

Although there was a twenty-day limit to the secret realm, most disciples typically gathered here around the tenth day. By then, the treasures worth collecting had mostly been found, and the remaining regions, dominated by powerful magical beasts, were simply too dangerous. Besides, the cultivation environment within the secret realm was excellent—there was no need to rush out.

Thus, both sects’ disciples waited here peacefully for the appointed time, taking the opportunity to leave with their fellow sect members.

“Senior Brother Luo!” suddenly came a voice from within the Divine Sun Sect’s ranks. With only a dozen or so left, the call stood out sharply.

“Junior Brother Tang Lin, what’s going on here?” Luo Tian asked, noting that of the seventy who’d entered the secret realm, barely half remained between the two sides. The losses were heavy.

These disciples were truly unfortunate—not only did they have to fend off magical beasts, but they also had to watch out for treacherous fellow cultivators. Of course, it wasn’t out of the question for one’s own sect to stab someone in the back. With profit on the line, losing self-control was only natural.

Striding closer, Luo Tian met the complex, lingering gazes of the crowd without a change of expression.

“These bastards from Great Yuan Sect won’t let us through, and they even attacked Junior Brother Shen! Outrageous!” Tang Lin exclaimed. He had not been highly regarded in the Tang family, but upon Tang Yueran’s advice, he had sought guidance from Luo Tian before the regional competition. The results were clear—he’d broken through in time to participate in the Mount Ziyang martial gathering. As such, he was especially warm toward Luo Tian.

The Shen family? Luo Tian, though not fond of the Shen clan due to Shen Lingfeng and Shen Lingbo, wasn’t about to condemn every last one of them. He glanced at the Shen disciple sitting on the ground, leg obviously badly wounded, and a cold glint flickered in his eye. “Friends from Great Yuan Sect, for what reason have you injured a disciple of Divine Sun Sect?”

Bah! Liu Longfei couldn’t help but roll his eyes. This guy had a strange habit—always wanting others to call him senior brother, as if a little bit of guidance made him superior. If not for being injured by those three Great Yuan fools yesterday, would Luo Tian be presiding over justice here now?

He rubbed his chest, grimacing; his back and legs still ached from the beating. Who knew why the secret realm’s power had vanished quietly? If not for that, he’d still be full of vigor, a robust hero.

“Nonsense! Don’t act so chummy with us!” sneered a disciple who appeared to lead Great Yuan Sect’s group, black light flickering about him. He curled his lip with disdain. “If you want to befriend disciples of our Great Yuan Sect, you’d best know your place.”

Luo Tian was taken aback, his mood worsening. “Why don’t you come test for yourself whether I’m worthy?”

Anyone standing in the way of his path as senior brother was bound to be taught a lesson. A white glow rose quietly from Luo Tian’s body, making it clear he was ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

“You—” The disciple from Great Yuan Sect noticed that Luo Tian was a cultivator at the ninth turn of the Qi Condensation realm and faltered internally. “What, you want to start a fight? Our Great Yuan Sect isn’t afraid of you!”

The Great Yuan disciples were already somewhat stronger on average and now outnumbered the Divine Sun group. He was happy to escalate the conflict to a sect level.

“Senior Brother Luo, here’s what happened!” said a disciple from the Chen family of Divine Sun Sect, who had received Luo Tian’s guidance before. Sensing things were about to go wrong, he quickly explained, “Yesterday, not long after we gathered here, these Great Yuan Sect fellows surrounded us. The ringleaders were those three—Huo Jiang, Ye Lei, and He Yiming! They kept insisting Senior Brother Liu Longfei had tricked them and demanded the return of what was ‘theirs’. And as soon as Senior Brother Liu arrived, they beat him up without a word!”

Liu Longfei shot the Chen disciple a resentful look—he wasn’t keen on having his wounds exposed so publicly. It was humiliating enough.

“That’s a lie! A baseless accusation!” A Liu family disciple leaped out indignantly. “How could Senior Brother Liu possibly have bested those three? How could he have taken their things?”

Hearing this, Liu Longfei’s face darkened further. Why couldn’t he defeat those three idiots? Granted, he hadn’t taken their belongings, but if it really came to blows, his chances weren’t zero—they were just slim.

So this is what happened? Luo Tian cast a peculiar glance at the indignant Liu Longfei, then at the three pitiful Great Yuan Sect disciples. Little did they know, the “missing” items were lying quietly in his own storage pouch.

“Nonsense! Who do you think I am, that I’d take your things? My treasures are missing and I haven’t even settled the score with you. Yet yesterday you dared ambush me?” Liu Longfei fumed. The Great Yuan Sect truly had a knack for slinging mud. They’d all fainted in that wretched place together—how could they just assume it was him? If he hadn’t escaped quickly that day, those three would’ve found an excuse to rob him outright!

“If you say you didn’t take them, then hand over your storage pouch and let us check! If nothing’s there, you’re free to leave. That would clear your name,” Huo Jiang said, a burly figure with shrewd eyes. He knew full well Liu Longfei would never comply.

“Have you eaten too much dung? Your words stink!” Liu Longfei nearly jumped with rage. Hand over his storage pouch for inspection? That was an intolerable humiliation, a flagrant trampling of dignity and honor—a denial of personhood. “I’d never let you look through my pouch! Seems you didn’t learn your lesson yesterday—come on, let’s fight again and I’ll teach you some respect!”

“You misunderstand. It’s not just your pouch we want to check.” Ye Lei, a tall, skinny youth who looked frail but projected an imposing air, spoke up. “We want to check every Divine Sun Sect disciple’s storage pouch, to prevent any transfer of stolen goods!”

“Impossible!”

“Bastard, we’ll fight you all!”

The Divine Sun Sect disciples erupted in loud protest.

If they allowed the Great Yuan Sect to search all their pouches, they’d never be able to hold their heads up again.

“The three of you can attack together. I’ll face you alone. If I lose, I’ll compensate you for your losses,” Luo Tian stepped forward, sweeping a cold gaze over the Great Yuan Sect disciples, his tone indifferent.