Stranger Danger

Chu Wangsun stopped pretending and schooled his features. He then greeted Murong Xianxian calmly with a salute, “This one is Chu Wangsun of the Jixia Academy. Well met, Miss Murong.”

“Jixia Academy! A rare one who broke free from the pedantic and old-fashioned ways of Confucianism to practice both Confucianism and martial arts too. You’re definitely a one-of-a-kind talent.” Murong Xianxian smiled. “Your path is a difficult one though.”

Chu Wangsun replied expressionlessly, “Thank you for your guidance, Miss Murong.”

“Your name is Chu Wangsun?” Cui Qiuyuan’s eyes abruptly flashed with killing intent. He immediately made a grab for Chu Wangsun.

A piece of paper with the word “Benevolence” abruptly appeared above Chu Wangsun’s head. It was just a normal Xuan paper, and the seal script word looked perfectly ordinary as well. However, the moment the paper appeared, a vast, grandiose qi instantly filled the hall. It was anything but aggressive despite its immense power though. As the word suggested, its power felt gentle and warm.

Try as Cui Qiuyuan might, he was unable to get within one meter of Chu Wangsun no matter what.

“What is the meaning of this, senior?” Chu Wangsun looked at Cui Qiuyuan in puzzlement.

“What do I mean? Don’t you know what you did?” Cui Qiuyuan’s eyes burned with anger as a piece of rag appeared in his hand. Tattered and covered in bloodstains, it gave off a corrupted and filthy aura.

The rag floated forward like a living creature.

As soon as the rag made contact with the grandiose qi, the air began warping like a heat haze. The two distinctively different energies clashed like boiling oil against water—literally, as the rag abruptly caught on fire and burned violently, spreading its filthy aura even further.

As for the paper, it began to turn brownish as the corrupted energy visibly chewed through its power reserves.

A hint of gravity entered Chu Wangsun’s normally unflappable expression.

“Brother Cui! There’s no need to go straight to violence, is there?”

Qu Langhuan took a step forward and tried to stop the conflict, but Cui Qiuyuan exploded, “Mind your own business!”

Brimming with violence and anger, the Mortician curled his fingers like talons and swiped at Chu Wangsun.

Cui Qiuyuan’s outburst was worse than she had imagined. Qu Langhuan immediately froze with indecision. Neither Chu Wangsun nor Cui Qiuyuan were people she could afford to offend after all.

Blood Rakshasa said nothing. She clearly had no desire to help either party.

Murong Xianxian simply smiled beatifically as if this was a show.

“There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding, senior.”

Blood Rakshasa and Murong Xianxian could afford to sit by and do nothing, but Zhang Lingyang, Defeated and the Holy Son of Maitreya could not. Although Qu Langhuan was defending them, they were the inferior force in this hall, and they could not count on her to be firm when push came to shove. They must help Chu Wangsun if only to ensure that they would not be helpless if the three Truemen and one Grandmaster suddenly decided to turn on them.

Besides, they were all promising geniuses of the young generation and so were acquainted with each other to a certain extent. That alone was a good reason not to leave Chu Wangsun to his own devices.

However, right before they were about to intervene, their consciousness suddenly blanked out for exactly one breath. One breath wasn’t much time at all, but it was enough time for a battle to reach its conclusion.

During this one breath, Cui Qiuyuan pushed another inch through the wall of grandiose qi and suffered immensely as a result. His fingers had melted away like wax, leaving behind only an eerie skeleton. However, the paper above Chu Wangsun’s head was finally ripped in half.

As soon as the paper was torn, Cui Qiuyuan’s bony hand immediately seized Chu Wangsun by the throat.

Although his opponent was the Mortician, a famous Trueman on the Earth Champions Ranking, Chu Wangsun should not have been so helpless. The reason he was defeated this quickly was one, Murong Xianxian had injured him earlier, and two, he underestimated Cui Qiuyuan’s determination to kill him. By the time he realized his life was truly on the line, it was already too late.

Despite this, there was still a chance this sudden conflict could resolve peacefully. Now that Chu Wangsun was literally in his grasp, Cui Qiuyuan simply needed to engage him in “peaceful” conversation, and the misunderstanding between them would most likely be resolved. Hell, he knew that something was off judging from Chu Wangsun’s reaction. He knew there was a chance this Chu Wangsun wasn’t the young man who ruined his day earlier. He just needed to confirm it.

And yet, for whatever reason, he couldn’t. The anger and bloodthirst were so hot, so irresistible, that he gave in to it and tightened his grip. There was a loud crack, and Chu Wangsun’s hyoid bone was crushed just like that.

In fact, Cui Qiuyuan regretted his rash decision as soon as he crushed Chu Wangsun’s hyoid bone. However, it was already too late for regrets, not to mention that he personally wasn’t afraid of the world-acclaimed Jixia Academy. He decided to see this through until the end and kill Chu Wangsun here and now.

Having made his decision, bluish black corpse qi immediately burst from Cui Qiuyuan’s fingers. They felt cold and eerie.

“Corpse Massacre Hand”

The “Corpse Massacre Hand” enabled its practitioner to massacre the body and extinguish the soul with one hand. It was Cui Qiuyuan’s ultimate technique. As long as he could rip off his opponent’s head, he would be able to snuff out their life and extinguish their soul at the same time.

It showed how determined Cui Qiuyuan was to kill Chu Wangsun.

Zhang Lingyang and the others had jolted back to reality, but at this point, they were too late to save Chu Wangsun.

Right before Chu Wangsun would die, a grain-sized dot of light suddenly appeared from Chu Wangsun’s forehead. It was shining with undeniable radiance despite its miniscule size.

The light grew brighter, and it transformed into a white-haired, ordinary-looking old man wearing rags.

When the old man appeared, he looked down on Cui Qiuyuan as if he was alive. Then, he summoned a ruler into his hand and brought it down on the Trueman’s wrist.

The old man’s strike looked perfectly ordinary and casual. There was nothing special about it whatsoever. Yet somehow, it landed squarely on Cui Qiuyuan’s wrist before he could react.

Thwack!

A crisp sound resounded throughout the hall, and Cui Qiuyuan staggered back with his force and his aura completely dispelled. Somehow, the ruler strike had completely neutralized a Trueman.

“It is ungentleman-like for the big to bully the small!” The old man rebuked Cui Qiuyuan before turning around and hitting Chu Wangsun on the forehead with his ruler, yelling, “You think you’re so strong, don’t you? You think you can fight against a Trueman? Don’t you know your own measure, boy? Even if you lost, can’t you at least run away? You wasted all the jianghu experience I taught you and embarrassed me, boy!”

“Get lost!”

After he was done rebuking Chu Wangsun, the old man struck him on the forehead again. It was such a forceful strike that his forehead turned red and swollen in an instant.

Then, something unexpected happened. Chu Wangsun abruptly grew transparent and disappeared in no time.

“Those who are benevolent are favored by the heavens. I hope you’ll behave, all of you.”

The old man disappeared as well after saying that, though he shot Murong Xianxian a glance right before he was gone.

“Interesting. Who is that man?” Murong Xianxian asked.

“I think… I think he’s the Chief Libationist of the Jixia Academy!” Qu Langhuan answered with a tremor. The old man wasn’t the real Chief Libationist, of course. He was just a wisp of his spiritual intent. Despite this, it was powerful enough to repel a famed Trueman like Cui Qiuyuan effortlessly. As far as she was aware, the only one who could do such a thing was the Confucian Sage.

“I see. Eight hundred years ago, I paid the Jixia Academy and the Chief Libationist at the time a visit as well. However, that old man was extremely old-fashioned and stuck to his ways. I am glad that a more interesting character has replaced him,” Murong Xianxian remarked with interest.

Cui Qiuyuan did not say anything. Judging from his ashen face, it was clear that he was not feeling good right now.

Ye Qing was also licking his lips. He wasn’t expecting his murder attempt to draw out the bloody Confucian Sage of the Jixia Academy himself.

That’s right. He was the one who influenced Cui Qiuyuan’s emotions in secret and borrowed his hand to kill Chu Wangsun. His plan was going so smoothly too. Unfortunately, he failed to account for the fact that the Chief Libationist had left a wisp of spiritual intent on Chu Wangsun’s person, and the Sage ultimately managed to save him.

It was clear that the Chief Libationist valued his student a lot.

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