"Hong Yu, are you willing to beco my disciple?"
The ancient voice was surprisingly resonant, and it ca not from within the main hall, but from just outside.
As the voice spoke, a figure robed in white appeared at the entrance to the main hall.
The newcor was dressed entirely in white, with long white eyebrows, a long white beard, and long white hair. Though he looked to be past sixty, a sharp, brilliant light glinted in his eyes. His transcendent bearing gave him the ethereal and mysterious air of an enlightened master.
He was Elder Bai of the Outer Sect Martial Arts Hall!
Elder Bai gazed at Hong Yu, his eyes resting on the boy's defiant face. He smiled, a gentle expression as warm as the sun. "Kiddo, what are you spacing out for? Don't tell you look down on an old man like ?"
His voice was soft, laced with a world-weary tone.
But it flowed through Hong Yu's heart like a clear stream, warming a spirit that had grown cold with despair.
Inside the main hall, he had suffered over a hundred rejections and endured hundreds of cold, insulting glares. The pain and humiliation, the mockery and contempt on every face, were seared into his heart. A seed of despair had been planted, and it was about to sprout and grow into a twisted hatred.
But just then, Elder Bai's appearance filled his dim world with light and hope once more.
Fighting back the tears that stung his eyes, Hong Yu bit his lower lip and fell heavily to his knees.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
After three heavy kowtows, his forehead was already bright red.
He made no attempt to use his Eight Desolates Saint Slaying Technique to dull the pain. With his back held straight, he declared in a loud, earnest voice, "Disciple Hong Yu pays his respects to Master!"
Hearing the choked emotion in the boy's voice, Elder Bai sighed and helped him to his feet with a weathered hand.
Elder Bai gently brushed the dust from Hong Yu's forehead. His white beard trembled as he nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent, excellent. Worthy of being the disciple I, Bai Yunfeng, have taken a fancy to. A spirit this proud is enough to stand tall in the world! You're infinitely better than those bullshit geniuses with their so-called Ancient Inheritances!"
As he spoke, Bai Yunfeng took Hong Yu's hand and turned to leave.
"Elder Bai, are you openly defying the Sect Leader's will?" a cold voice suddenly called from within the main hall.
Both Bai Yunfeng and Hong Yu stopped in their tracks.
They slowly turned...
There stood Elder Luo, arms crossed, glaring at the two of them with a hostile expression.
Seeing that hard, cold face, Hong Yu instinctively clenched his fists.
During his earlier attempts to find a master, this very sa Elder Luo—along with Elder Zhu—had attacked him without a word, as if swatting away a fly. If Hong Yu hadn't reacted in ti, that rciless palm strike would have severely injured him.
Seemingly sensing the twitch in Hong Yu's hands, Bai Yunfeng glanced at him. "What is it? You want revenge?"
"Yes!"
Hong Yu nodded.
Bai Yunfeng chuckled. "That's simple enough!"
The words had barely left his lips when Bai Yunfeng abruptly raised his hand.
His grizzled eyebrows twitched. A powerful wave of energy surged from his palm, sending out a ripple that was nearly invisible to the naked eye. It expanded outward, much like the concentric circles created by the twitch of a fishing rod, and in an instant, it reached Elder Luo.
Elder Luo's expression turned cold. "Bai Yunfeng, you're only at the Celestial Soul Realm. You really think you can take down?"
"Mountain and Sea Seal!"
Elder Luo's hands flew through a Seal Technique in front of his chest.
An azure light coalesced into a solid, profound blue Hand Seal that bore down on Bai Yunfeng and Hong Yu.
However...
His powerful Martial Skill had only just materialized when it abruptly froze in mid-air. With a series of muffled THUDS, the Seal Technique was battered apart, shattering and exploding.
"How is this possible?"
A look of shock spread across Elder Luo's face.
Greatly alard, he tried to dodge, but it was too late.
HUMMM!
Layer upon layer of incredibly profound, vibrating ripples had already wrapped around his body, trapping him in their center.
"Petty parlor tricks! Get off !"
Elder Luo roared as the full power of his Mid-stage Celestial Soul Realm cultivation erupted.
But his powerful aura, strong enough to shatter a Mortal-level Middle-grade Primordial Weapon, vanished without a trace upon contact with the vibrating ripples, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.
Bai Yunfeng remained perfectly calm as he slowly closed his fingers into a fist. "Down you co!"
At his calm command, Elder Luo cried out in alarm as he was yanked from the high platform and sent crashing to the ground in front of them. Bai Yunfeng stepped forward, planted a foot on Elder Luo's chest, and, ignoring the man's struggles and curses, glanced sideways at Hong Yu. "My good disciple, how did this old bastard hurt you earlier?"
"Huh?"
Hong Yu was stunned.
He still hadn't recovered from the shock.
'This master of mine is a bit too overbearing!'
'Without a word, he captured an Inner Sect Elder with Real Power, and now he's got him pinned underfoot. It's obvious he wants to vent my anger!'
At this thought, a wave of warmth spread through Hong Yu's heart.
He understood his master was doing this simply to help him quell his resentnt and vent his frustration, lest it fester and twist his path in the future.
Seeing the glint in Hong Yu's eyes, how could Elder Luo not understand Bai Yunfeng's intentions?
His face twisted with rage as he roared, "Bai Yunfeng, you old bastard! This is the Sword Sect's main hall! How dare you lay hands on a fellow Elder? You're desecrating the ancestors of the Sword Sect and violating the Sect's rules! If you dare let this lowly disciple of yours touch a single hair on my head today, I guarantee you'll regret it."
"Heh heh. You can lay a hand on my disciple, so why can't I do the sa to you?"
Bai Yunfeng snorted fearlessly, glanced at the empty Sect Leader's throne, and scoffed again. "Disciple, now's the ti for payback! Go all out. Don't hold back on my account. Beat him until you're satisfied!"
Hong Yu was still sowhat hesitant.
But soon, his hesitation hardened into resolve.
All he heard was Elder Luo's furious cursing. "Bai Yunfeng, you old fossil, you deserved to have your whole family die! And you, Hong Yu, you little animal! If you dare to touch , I guarantee I'll make you wish you were dead—"
SMACK!
A crisp slap landed with enough force to send two of Elder Luo's molars flying.
"Y-you... You actually dared to hit ?"
Elder Luo stared at Hong Yu in disbelief.
Hong Yu's expression was calm. "You can curse , I don't care. But I will not allow you to curse my master. For a foul-mouthed person like you, the simplest and most brutal thods are the most effective..."
And then...
CRACK! BOOM! BAM!
Slaps, punches, kicks, even Martial Skills were thrown into the mix...
Amidst screams of pain and the sounds of a savage beating, Elder Luo was left a bloody pulp on the ground, his face swollen and two-thirds of his teeth shattered. He was barely breathing. With his cultivation sealed by Bai Yunfeng, he had been powerless to resist, forced to take the beating like a common man.
"Bai Yunfeng, you've gone too far!"
Elder Zhu's face was livid.
But she had only just stood up when a single glare from Bai Yunfeng sent her sinking back into her seat.
Recalling how Bai Yunfeng had captured Elder Luo with a single, simple palm strike, she couldn't help but swallow nervously.
Li Tie and the other powerful experts could only stare, dumbfounded, at Hong Yu and Bai Yunfeng.
This master and disciple pair, who had been together for less than fifteen minutes, already acted with the kind of tacit understanding one would expect from a duo who had been together for decades.
"Had enough, disciple?" Bai Yunfeng asked.
Hong Yu let out a long breath. Much of the indignation and resentnt from the unfair treatnt he had suffered earlier had faded. He nodded. "I've had enough!" Then, he couldn't resist adding, "That felt great!"
"As long as it felt great, that's all that matters!"
Bai Yunfeng nodded.
With a heavy KICK, he sent Elder Luo flying, where he landed in a heap further inside the main hall.
Bai Yunfeng took a few slow steps forward, his calm gaze sweeping across the hundred-odd Elders in the main hall.
Though his gaze was calm, every expert who t it felt a chill run down their spine, their expressions filled with extre apprehension.
The corners of Bai Yunfeng's lips curled into a cold smile. "All of you know what kind of man I, Bai Yunfeng, am. Years ago, you all conspired to drive out of the Inner Sect, and I swore I would never again ddle in its affairs. But today is different. You all ganged up to target my disciple. As his master, I cannot let that stand. So I'll make myself clear right here and now..."
Bai Yunfeng's aura suddenly erupted from his body.
In that mont, his stooped figure seed to transform into a towering mountain peak, and his calm, cold voice was like the biting frost of deep winter, sending a shiver of fear through all who heard it...
"From this mont on, Hong Yu is my disciple. I don't care who ordered you to target and suppress him. I don't care about any of that. But..."
Bai Yunfeng paused, then continued, "From this day forward, if anyone dares to touch a single hair on his head, I, Bai Yunfeng, swear this: even if I must bear the infamous na of one who slaughters his own sect-mates and betrays his Clan, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The mont the four words "to the ends of the earth" were spoken, four deafening explosions erupted around Bai Yunfeng.
Clouds of dust and smoke billowed from each point, the clear result of his aura condensing to its absolute limit before exploding outward.
With a cold snort, he turned and led Hong Yu away.
He left behind a hall full of Elders and disciples, all staring at one another in stunned silence...
The Inner Sect Disciples who had just been mocking Hong Yu for being unable to find a master couldn't help but glance at their own masters, then at the departing figures of Bai Yunfeng and Hong Yu. A sudden wave of envy washed over them. 'Damn it, why don't I have a master that badass?'
The disciples were envious of Hong Yu for having such a fiercely protective and domineering master.
The Elders, however, had much more to consider.
Bai Yunfeng held an extrely special position within the Sword Sect; even the Sect Leader was unwilling to confront him.
Moreover...
Bai Yunfeng had accepted Hong Yu as a disciple and thrashed Elder Luo in front of everyone to let the boy vent his anger. The Sect Leader couldn't possibly be unaware of these events. Yet, he had chosen to turn a blind eye. The implication was self-evident: faced with Bai Yunfeng's sheer power, Sect Leader Wang Jiankun, and even the one within the Forbidden Land, had all chosen to compromise.
Li Tie watched the distant figures of the master and disciple, gently rubbing his brow. He murmured to himself, his tone less a sigh of exasperation and more one of wistful admiration...
'Now that's the Old Bai I know! With this master and disciple paired up, things are about to get very interesting in the Cyan Nether Sword Sect!'
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