The lively atmosphere in the plaza suddenly cooled after Su Ji's light and airy rhetorical question.
There was no way to respond to that.
Could they say, "Yes, yes, yes, we just look down on you?"
Even when beating someone, you don't slap them in the face.
Furthermore, while the Xiangsi Sect might not be a match for the Puppet Heaven Holy Land, that didn't mean they couldn't beat them.
Sigh...
It put them in a completely awkward position.
Especially the sect representatives who had just presented their "generous gifts," they felt their faces burning, as if they had been publicly slapped by an invisible hand.
They wanted to lash out, but the moment they remembered the rumors of this young man "slaying a Golden Core cultivator with a single sword strike," they forcefully swallowed their anger.
An elder of the Qingfeng Sect, dressed in a green Daoist robe and exuding an air of transcendent mastery, finally reached the limit of his patience.
He stood up abruptly, his gray beard trembling slightly with rage.
"Sect Master Su!"
His voice and expression were severe, looking as if he were deeply pained.
"The succession ceremony is a grand event for a sect, utmost in its solemnity! As the master of a sect, your words and actions are frivolous, utterly lacking the demeanor of a sect master! And now you publicly humiliate the guests from all over, what kind of behavior is this?! You..."
The old man spoke with righteous indignation, spit flying everywhere, looking very much like he wanted to act on behalf of the heavens and teach this arrogant junior a lesson.
Many cultivators secretly nodded, feeling that these words spoke their minds.
Su Jiu's heart leapt into her throat. She looked at Su Ji nervously, terrified that he would fly into a rage and draw his sword to chop the old man down.
However, Su Ji's reaction exceeded everyone's expectations.
Not only did he not get angry, but he also acted as if he were deeply stung by those words. The lazy smile on his face slowly faded, replaced by an indescribable sense of desolation?
He gently set down the wine cup in his hand, letting out a soft clack.
In the dead silence of the plaza, the sound was exceptionally clear.
Su Ji slowly stood up. He did not look at the Qingfeng Sect elder, but instead gazed at the distant sky and let out a long sigh.
"Yes... I, Su Ji, am nothing but a rogue cultivator by origin. Through a stroke of luck and some fortunate encounters, I managed to sit in the seat of Sect Master."
His voice was not loud, but it carried a strange penetrating power, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
"I originally thought that by slaying Lin Qingliu, who colluded with foreign enemies and brought disaster to the sect, I had made a great contribution to the Xiangsi Sect."
"I originally thought that by forcing back the envoy of the Holy Land, reclaiming justice and face for the Xiangsi Sect, I had vented the frustration of the entire sect."
"But in the end..."
Su Ji laughed self-deprecatingly, a smile full of bitterness.
"In the eyes of everyone here, I, Su Ji, am still just an unpresentable clown, and my Xiangsi Sect is still a soft persimmon that anyone can pinch."
He slowly turned his head, his eyes actually looking a bit red.
He looked at the crowd below the stage, his tone sorrowful.
"Fellow Daoists, ask yourselves, are these congratulatory gifts you brought truly meant to congratulate me on succeeding as Sect Master, to congratulate my Xiangsi Sect on being reborn from the ashes?"
"No!"
He slammed his hand on the table, his voice suddenly rising.
"You are here to watch me, Su Ji, make a fool of myself! You are here to probe the depths of my Xiangsi Sect! You think I, Su Ji, am easy to bully, and my Xiangsi Sect is easy to humiliate!"
These words were like a heavy hammer, smashing ruthlessly onto everyone's hearts.
Those cultivators who originally thought the Qingfeng Sect elder had a point now lowered their heads guiltily.
Because what Su Ji said was the truth.
Su Jiu watched from the side, dumbfounded. She opened her mouth to say something but didn't know where to start.
Senior Brother's acting skills... aren't they a bit too good?
If she didn't know Su Ji's true nature, even she would have almost believed it.
Just as everyone was at a loss from this sudden true display of emotion, the sorrow and desolation on Su Ji's face vanished without a trace in an instant.
He sat back down in the main seat, crossed his legs, and a familiar, cynical curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Since everyone thinks I, Su Ji, am a sucker, then I see no need to continue this succession ceremony."
He picked up the gift list from the table and casually tossed it to Li Fan behind him.
"Old Six... Elder, return all this garbage for me."
Li Fan caught the gift list expressionlessly, without the slightest hesitation.
The expressions of the crowd below changed drastically.
Returning the gifts?
This was even more severe than a public slap in the face!
This was tearing away all pretense of cordiality!
"Sect Master Su! Let's not go that far, let's not go that far. My subordinates mishandled things. I will make up for the congratulatory gifts another day."
The red-haired middle-aged man from the Blood Fiend Sect quickly stood up, trying to ease the tension.
Of course, he added a sentence in his heart.
Anyway, you probably don't have another day left.
It was just a verbal promise.
The Qingfeng Sect elder trembled with rage even more. "Boy, do not be too arrogant!"
Su Ji, however, acted as if he hadn't heard him, his face full of anger: "Thirty years on the east side of the river, thirty years on the west side, do not bully the youth for being poor today!"
However, after saying this, he leisurely picked up his wine cup, took a sip, and then spoke slowly.
"Did you guys think I was going to say that?"
"That's too boring."
"I, Su Ji, cannot wait that long."
He scanned the crowd below.
"How about this."
"Today, I suddenly don't want to hold any succession ceremony."
"Let's... hold an auction instead."
"An auction?"
Everyone was stunned, clearly unable to keep up with Su Ji's train of thought.
"We will auction... my, Su Ji's, forgiveness."
Su Ji pointed at the mountain-like pile of congratulatory gifts on the table and spoke faintly.
"Didn't you think I, Su Ji, was easy to bully, and the Xiangsi Sect was easy to bully?"
"Now, I am giving you an opportunity, an opportunity to make up for your mistakes and regain the friendship of my Xiangsi Sect."
"Those without money, or those who think I, Su Ji, am not worthy..."
He paused, the smile on his face turning sinister.
"Then don't blame me, Su Ji, for personally visiting your sects in the future to properly reason with you."
As his words fell, the entire venue went into an uproar!
Arrogant!
Too arrogant!
"You... your actions are simply those of a demonic cultivator!"
The Qingfeng Sect elder was so angry that his lips were trembling. He pointed at Su Ji, furious beyond measure.
"What a demon."
Instead of getting angry, Su Ji laughed. He locked his gaze onto the Qingfeng Sect elder.
"Since this elder has such a backbone, let's start with your Qingfeng Sect."
"Come on, make an offer."
"How many spirit stones do you think the Qingfeng Sect is worth?"
"If you can't make the decision, go ask your sect master right now."
"You!"
The Qingfeng Sect elder's blood surged, and he almost spat out a mouthful of old blood.
As a dignified great cultivator at the late stage of the Golden Core realm and an elder of a sect, when had he ever suffered such a humiliating insult!
"Today, this old man shall enforce justice on behalf of the heavens and slay you, arrogant demon!"
He roared in anger, the pressure of the late Golden Core stage exploding forth. A longsword flowing with azure light appeared out of thin air in his hand as he prepared to charge up the high platform.
Su Ji remained firmly seated like a fisherman on a platform, not even batting an eyelid.
He merely gave a casual order to Li Fan behind him.
"Old Six, help him calm down."
"Yes, Sect Master."
Li Fan's tower-like figure moved.
He took a single step forward, and a Golden Core stage aura—far more condensed and tyrannical than that of the Azure Sword Sect elder—instantly engulfed the entire plaza like an awakening primordial behemoth!
Thud!
Under the crushing weight of this pressure, the Azure Sword Sect elder, who had been so aggressive just a moment ago, could not even manage to take a single step. His knees gave way, and he collapsed to the ground in a pathetic kneel.
With a sharp clatter, the azure sword slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
e, Immortal Body, Transmigration, System, Progression Fantasy, Academy Setting, Third-Person Perspective. Alternate Title: Transmigrating into a High Martial World and Reading Live Comments. Bad news: I transmigrated. This is a terrifying high-martial world, and my original, pathetically weak body fell into a coma and never woke up. Good news: I got a Popularity Points system upon arrival. I can see live comments and even create an unkillable alternate identity. Starting out, the alternate identity has all stats at 1. The system tells me that to grow stronger, I must participate in the plot, gain popularity points to allocate stats and grow stronger, and ultimately awaken my original body. And so, carrying my original body on my back, I officially entered Huaqing Academy, where the story's protagonist resides. From that moment on, Chen Guan kicked the original plot to pieces. Live Comments: [Doesn't anyone find this mysterious coffin guy creepy? He can summon indescribable grey misty hands.] [Is this guy a hero or a villain? What kind of onion became a spirit?] [By the way, does anyone know who's in the coffin? Shouldn't the debt for saving his life be repaid by now?] [According to unofficial histories, the person in the coffin was Chen Guan's first love. Their love was once passionate and earth-shattering, but they were separated by life and death due to worldly circumstances. What a star-crossed pair.] ... Years later, the world knew of a demon god born from a coffin, shrouded in grey mist, impossible to gaze upon directly. His foremost divine emissary often wielded a scythe, reaping lives like the god of death. As war approached, facing former friends and a boundless sea of enemies, Chen Guan merely raised his scythe. "Would you like to dance as well?"
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
