In the square, He Yuntao and other inner sect disciples felt a deep fear; they hadn’t expected this person to make a move against them directly within the Elder Hall.
The killing intent in his words was unmistakable, and they did not doubt the truth of his words for even a moment.
This was definitely not a bluff.
What frightened these inner sect disciples even more was that he struck on the square, and the elders in the Elder Hall had no response whatsoever.
What does this imply?
It implies that the elders tacitly approved of this behavior.
A bunch of idiots.
Chai Daoqi naturally understood why the elders of the Elder Hall didn’t intervene; his junior brother had the sect leader’s instructions to expand his winning streak in Martial Arts Mountain as much as possible to bring honor to the sect.
This was considered fulfilling the sect leader’s task, and the elders within the Elder Hall were all aware of it.
"Chai Daoqi!"
In a distant courtyard several miles from the square, a youth with a chill in his eyes spoke.
"Senior Brother Wang, Chai Daoqi is too overbearing; are the elders of the sect just going to sit idly by and do nothing?"
"If the sect elders continue to ignore it, it might dishearten the disciples."
Listening to the people around him, the young man’s eyes narrowed slightly; he also couldn’t understand why the elders of the Elder Hall had yet to appear?
Even though sect rules didn’t prohibit disciples from challenging fellow sect disciples on Martial Arts Mountain, it was still understandable why the elders were unwilling to intervene. However, Chai Daoqi was oppressing these inner sect disciples so blatantly with his Innate Second Realm power, the elders should not remain indifferent.
Unless there’s an inside story he doesn’t know about.
Thinking of this, Wang Shan’s eyes sparkled, especially when he sensed a particular aura heading toward the square, his face broke into a smile.
No matter what the inside story is, someone has already begun to act before him.
...
"Chai Daoqi, bullying the sect disciples with your superior realm, aren’t you afraid of being laughed at?"
A disdainful voice echoed across the square, and the next moment, a hawk-eyed young man appeared on the square.
"I wondered who dared to cause trouble here, turns out it was you, Tu Bin, pulling strings from behind."
Chai Daoqi looked at the newcomer and snorted lightly. He and Tu Bin had entered the sect at the same time, becoming competitors from the moment they joined, having crossed swords in the sect several times.
But their enmity extended even before they joined the sect.
Tu Bin is a prince of the Celestial Vault Dynasty, one of the Ten Great Dynasties in the Canglan Domain, while he is from the Red Flame Dynasty. The two dynasties are neighbors, and the feud between them has lasted for thousands of years.
Not only in their generation, pushing back several generations, princes from both dynasties entering the Canglan Sect always had intense rivalries.
"Don’t throw mud at me; I’ve never instructed any disciple. I only dislike your behavior of bullying the weak, Chai Daoqi."
Tu Bin naturally wouldn’t admit he had instructed the inner sect disciples to come to the Elder Hall to seek justice from the elders. It’s evident from the elders’ lack of appearance that they won’t meddle in this matter.
"Dislike it, then make a move."
"Who’s afraid of whom?"
The two stared at each other, releasing fierce fighting spirit, the powerful aura causing many disciples in the square to retreat.
"You reckless fools, what do you think the Elder Hall is? Do you all want to end up in the Detention Room?"
Zhao Yulin’s chiding voice echoed from within the Elder Hall, and in the next moment, a tremendous energy surged forward, causing both Chai Daoqi and Tu Bin to stagger back, quickly looking toward the hall entrance.
Zhao Yulin’s figure appeared at the hall’s entrance, his gaze sweeping over the scene, and the square hall instantly fell silent.
"Chai Daoqi, as a sect steward, why are you making a move against sect disciples?"
Upon hearing Elder Zhao’s words, Chai Daoqi curled his lip; he didn’t believe Elder Zhao couldn’t know what was happening on the square.
"Elder Zhao, these disciples targeted my junior brother, and as his senior brother, I naturally have to stand up for him."
Zhao Yulin’s gaze shifted to Tu Bin: "Tu Bin, why are you here?"
"Elder Zhao, Chai Daoqi as a sect steward but bullying sect disciples, I couldn’t stand it, so I stepped in to stop him."
Just as Tu Bin finished his words, a disciple suddenly plucked up the courage to speak: "Elder Zhao, Lin Chen disregards the bond between fellow sect disciples, challenging even his fellow brothers on Martial Arts Mountain. We merely came to ask the elder to make a ruling, but Steward Chai... Steward Chai indiscriminately oppressed us."
"Idiot!"
Tu Bin cursed in his heart upon hearing the disciple speak.
Even he, facing Elder Zhao’s inquiry, hadn’t mentioned Lin Chen challenging fellow sect disciples on Martial Arts Mountain.
These disciples had been standing in the square so long, Elder Zhao surely knew what was happening?
After several two-hour periods, Elder Zhao hadn’t appeared, clearly intending not to intervene in this matter, considering Lin Chen hadn’t breached sect rules.
Now mentioning this before Elder Zhao, does one desire Elder Zhao to punish Lin Chen?
That’s evidently not possible. Since Elder Zhao won’t punish Lin Chen, who will be punished?
The answer is obvious.
"Because Lin Chen challenged you on Martial Arts Mountain, you all gathered here to seek justice?"
Zhao Yulin’s face turned cold: "Is there any rule in the Canglan Sect that prohibits disciples from challenging fellow sect disciples on Martial Arts Mountain?"
Under Zhao Yulin’s gaze, the disciple who spoke instantly turned pale, cold sweat flowing throughout his body, stammering: "No... no."
"Since the sect has no such rule, what justice do you need?"
Zhao Yulin’s gaze moved away from the disciple and swept over all the disciples present, each of whom lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes. At this moment, they felt immense pressure sweeping over them.
Tu Bin looked at all the low-headed disciples, inwardly cursing, but he couldn’t remain silent now and had to muster the courage: "Elder Zhao, the sect indeed has no such rule, but since Junior Brother Lin has entered the Innate, he should challenge the thirtieth rank directly on Martial Arts Mountain according to the rules all sect disciples abide by. If the challenge fails, he should give up. Continuing to challenge in this manner might damage the sect’s reputation."
The Canglan Sect does not have a rule that prohibits disciples from challenging fellow sect disciples on Martial Arts Mountain; he could only use the sect’s reputation as a talking point.
No matter what, Lin Chen’s actions will undoubtedly be widely publicized by disciples from other sects, and then the Canglan Sect will face ridicule from other sects.
"Of course, it might be because Junior Brother Lin has just entered Innate not long ago and is not aware of the rule that losing means leaving Martial Arts Mountain, which is understandable. Just explain to other sects then."
Tu Bin added a sentence, which seemed like a way out for Lin Chen, but in reality, it was telling everyone that Lin Chen challenged the thirtieth rank and lost, yet was unwilling to leave Martial Arts Mountain and wanted to continue challenging.
"Explain, what is there to explain?"
Zhao Yulin squinted his old eyes slightly and said loudly: "Since entering Martial Arts Mountain, Lin Chen has never challenged beyond his rank. The Sect Leader knows this and specifically instructed Lin Chen not to challenge beyond his rank, not to surpass fellow sect disciples, and to try to win as many consecutive victories as possible."
The disciples present were all stunned upon hearing this.
It was actually instructed by the Sect Leader.
But why would the Sect Leader give such instructions?
Tu Bin’s eyes showed a hint of shock; compared to these disciples, he caught the key point.
Lin Chen had never challenged beyond his rank, meaning Lin Chen has been improving his ranking match by match since entering Martial Arts Mountain’s ten thousand rank.
According to what the sect disciples said, Lin Chen’s ranking had already entered the top hundred.
Merely entering the top hundred without challenging ranks wouldn’t draw the Sect Leader’s attention.
Unless...
Unless Lin Chen has been continuously winning on Martial Arts Mountain.
Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine consecutive victories; only this possibility would make the Sect Leader give such instructions.
"All of you get lost; if I hear anyone discussing this matter again, don’t blame me for being ruthless."
Zhao Yulin noticed the shock in Tu Bin’s eyes and also noted the thoughtful expressions on many Inner Sect disciples’ faces, realizing these people had already guessed.
Guessing is one thing, but before Lin Chen achieves his goal, the sect cannot announce it.
This is leaving a way out for Lin Chen.
Chai Daoqi snorted lightly at Tu Bin, ignored him further, and bowed to Elder Zhao, disappearing from the spot.
...
...
Despite Zhao Yulin’s warning, the news about the plaza immediately spread to all Inner Sect disciples and many Direct Disciples.
Some held skeptical attitudes.
Some were in disbelief.
But one day later, a message officially released by Martial Arts Mountain made the whole Canglan Sect’s disciples explode once again.
[Martial Arts Mountain News: Canglan Sect disciple Lin Chen has consecutively won nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four matches since entering Martial Arts Mountain, specially transmitting this news to various sects.]
Nine thousand nine hundred and sixty-four matches!
This consecutive victory number caused a sensation among the Canglan Sect’s disciples.
...
"Damn Martial Arts Mountain, is there no better time to release the news?"
Compared to the excitement of the Canglan Sect disciples, Chai Daoqi was cursing at the moment.
Martial Arts Mountain releasing the good news seems to increase the fame of his Junior Brother, but actually, it is reminding other sects to start blocking his Junior Brother.
Ten thousand consecutive victories would make the Canglan Sect’s reputation illustrious, which the other sects are unwilling to see. They will inevitable use all means to stop Junior Brother’s consecutive victories.
"This is Martial Arts Mountain’s longstanding rule; whenever there is close to ten thousand consecutive victories, they will announce it to all sects. Master has long anticipated this, only thought Martial Arts Mountain would wait until Lin Chen was in the top ten to announce it, didn’t expect this time to be announced much earlier."
Du Xiaofeng looked at his third disciple’s anger, his old face showing no emotional fluctuation.
At the same time, atop Martial Arts Mountain preparing to challenge the next opponent, Lin Chen suddenly found he couldn’t choose the next opponent.
[Do you want to initiate the ten thousand consecutive victories challenge? Choosing to initiate this challenge, each victory will earn you ten thousand points.]
Seeing the prompt appearing before him, Lin Chen’s eyes slightly narrowed, finally choosing [Initiate].
His goal has always been ten thousand consecutive victories, and since initiating will earn ten thousand points each match, such benefits should not be missed.
[Ten thousand consecutive victories challenge initiated, challenge begins in three days.]
Martial Arts Mountain’s voice prompts appeared once again, and the next moment Lin Chen found himself kicked out by Martial Arts Mountain.