Have You, Your Excellency, Ever Defeated a Cultivator Across a Minor Realm

Early the next morning.

Su Ji pushed open his door and saw Lin Yuan already waiting outside the courtyard.

A smile was plastered all over that face.

“Daoist friend, you're awake?”

Lin Yuan rubbed his hands together, his demeanor as respectful as a servant's.

“Did you rest well last night?”

“Passable.”

Su Ji stretched lazily.

“Take me to see your sect master.”

Lin Yuan's smile stiffened for a moment.

“Well... Daoist friend, perhaps we should wait a bit longer?”

“The sect master has been in seclusion recently...”

“Is that so?”

Su Ji looked at him with a faint, knowing smile.

“Then go right now and drag him out of seclusion.”

“Tell him someone wishes to see him.”

Cold sweat beaded on Lin Yuan's forehead.

He opened his mouth, then finally clenched his teeth and nodded.

“Yes... I'll go at once...”

But before Lin Yuan could even leave—

A disciple's voice came from outside the gate: “Elder Lin, the sect master requests your presence in the assembly hall.”

...

Xiaohai Sect, Assembly Hall.

Quite a few people had already gathered in the hall.

Apart from the sect master seated in the main position, seven or eight elders stood below.

The atmosphere was heavy.

“Lin Yuan, you'd better give me a proper explanation.”

The speaker was a burly, middle-aged man, none other than the sect master of the Xiaohai Sect—Sun Tianhai.

His face was ashen, his gaze fixed on Lin Yuan, who was kneeling on the ground.

“That special quota was meant for Young Master Zhou!”

“How dare you make a decision on your own and give it to some unknown outsider?”

“Do you have any idea how much influence the Zhou family has in the Chaotic Star Sea?”

“You're pushing the Xiaohai Sect straight into a fire pit!”

Lin Yuan knelt on the ground, forehead pressed against the floor.

Cold sweat trickled down his temples.

“Sect master... I know I was wrong...”

“Wrong?”

Sun Tianhai let out a cold laugh.

“You don't know the first thing about wrong!”

Dead silence filled the hall.

The other elders exchanged glances but said nothing.

They all knew exactly how much weight the Zhou family carried in the Chaotic Star Sea.

That family were true local powerhouses—and they had the Bihai Sect backing them.

Offending the Zhou family meant offending the Bihai Sect.

The Xiaohai Sect might count as one of the three great powers, but compared to the Bihai Sect, they still fell far short.

“Sect master...”

Lin Yuan spoke with difficulty.

“That person... is not easy to deal with either...”

“Not easy to deal with?”

Sun Tianhai let out another cold snort.

“No matter how hard he is to deal with, can he be harder than the Zhou family?”

“You go right now and bring that person here!”

“I want to see for myself what kind of figure is worth you, Lin Yuan, protecting so dearly!”

Lin Yuan opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his head.

“Yes...”

Just then.

A lazy voice drifted in from outside the hall.

“No need to call for me.”

“I came on my own.”

Everyone's gaze instantly turned toward the hall's entrance.

A young man strolled in slowly.

Behind him followed a stunningly beautiful young woman.

It was Su Ji and Su Jiu.

Sun Tianhai's brow furrowed.

He looked Su Ji up and down, his spiritual sense sweeping over him.

Mid-stage Golden Core?

This was the “hard to deal with” person Lin Yuan had talked about?

“So you're the rogue cultivator who took Lin Yuan's pass token?”

Sun Tianhai's tone was hostile.

Su Ji didn't answer.

He simply walked to the center of the hall, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Then he pulled out another chair for Su Jiu: “Make yourself at home.”

That single action instantly dropped the temperature in the hall to freezing.

“How dare you!”

An elder slammed the table and shot to his feet.

“Who do you think you are!”

“How dare you sit down in the assembly hall of the Xiaohai Sect!”

Su Ji raised his eyes and glanced at him.

Just that glance.

The elder's words caught in his throat—he couldn't speak another syllable.

An indescribable pressure hit him, as if he were being stared down by some primordial beast.

His body froze uncontrollably, cold sweat pouring from his forehead.

“What's the matter?” Su Ji's voice was calm. “Go on.”

The elder opened his mouth, but in the end, he slumped back into his seat, defeated.

Sun Tianhai's brow knitted even deeper.

He was the sect master of the Xiaohai Sect, a cultivator at the early Void Refinement stage—by any measure, a regional power in the Chaotic Star Sea.

Yet at this moment, facing this young man of the Golden Core stage, he actually felt a hint of unease.

The feeling was absurd, but undeniably real.

“You've got some nerve,” Sun Tianhai said in a low voice. “Do you know where you are?”

“The assembly hall of the Xiaohai Sect.” Su Ji leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs. “I know that.”

“Since you know, how dare you act so brazenly!”

“Brazen?” Su Ji chuckled. “This is what you call brazen?”

He pointed at Lin Yuan, who was still kneeling on the ground.

“Your sect's elder here goes around playing the good guy outside, swindling spirit stones from outsider cultivators.”

“What would you call that?”

The hall fell utterly silent.

Several elders' expressions shifted.

Of course they knew about it—they'd simply chosen to turn a blind eye.

After all, Lin Yuan always gave them a cut of the spoils.

But having it thrown in their faces directly was a different matter entirely.

Sun Tianhai took a fresh measure of Su Ji.

With so many high-level cultivators present, this kid didn't flinch—and he even dared to spout such bold words...

Add to that the fact that he'd managed to make Lin Yuan hand over his token in defeat...

This kid was probably not as simple as he looked.

Easy now. Test the waters first.

“Since you already know about Lin Yuan's deeds, you must be one of his victims.”

“This old man offers an apology on behalf of the Xiaohai Sect.”

“As for your losses, this old man will see that they're repaid in full.”

“I just ask that you not spread this matter to others.”

“So Sect Master Sun wants to buy my silence with money?”

“I wouldn't dare say that.” Sun Tianhai shook his head. “I only hope you can leave the Xiaohai Sect some dignity.”

“Dignity?” Su Ji laughed. “Do you still have any dignity left in the Xiaohai Sect?”

Sun Tianhai's face instantly darkened.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing much.” Su Ji stood up and walked to the center of the hall.

“I just find it interesting that everyone in the Xiaohai Sect seems to enjoy bullying the weak and fearing the strong.”

“Anyone weaker than them, they push around in every way.”

“Anyone stronger than them, they roll over for immediately.”

He paused, a hint of mockery in his tone.

“Is that the rule of the Xiaohai Sect?”

The temperature in the hall dropped to rock bottom.

The elders' faces all turned ugly.

Sun Tianhai stared hard at Su Ji, a flicker of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

“Are you provoking the Xiaohai Sect?”

“Provoking?” Su Ji shook his head. “I'm just stating the facts.”

“Fine! Very well!” Sun Tianhai sneered. “Since you look down so much on the Xiaohai Sect, this old man would like to ask you one thing.”

“Have you ever defeated a cultivator a minor realm above you?”

Su Ji blinked.

The question caught him off guard.

“No,” he answered honestly.

Sun Tianhai's face twisted into a sneer.

“Then have you ever fought several cultivators of the same realm for half a shichen without losing?”

“No.”

“Ha.” Sun Tianhai's smile grew wider. He'd thought this kid might be a prodigy from some major sect—but with answers like these, he was likely just a spoiled fool from some rich background. “Then what right do you have to talk big here?”

“Why don't you go ahead and summon that bodyguard protector of yours?”

“I imagine he's the one who got the better of Lin Yuan, isn't he?”

Let me see just which family's young master you are, and whether you're worthy of making me swallow this insult.