Why don't you go check out this kid's background

Su Ji raised an eyebrow.

“Special-channel assistance?”

“That’s right.”

Sun Tianhai nodded.

“This spot was originally reserved for the Young Master Zhou.”

“But since you’re here, little brother, I’ll give it to you.”

“As for the Zhou family…”

He waved his hand.

“I’ll explain it to them myself.”

Su Ji was silent for a moment.

“Master Sun, aren’t you afraid the Zhou family will come looking for trouble?”

“Afraid?”

Sun Tianhai laughed.

“If I were afraid, I wouldn’t have survived all these years in the Chaotic Star Sea.”

“Besides…”

He looked at Su Ji.

“I’ve witnessed your strength with my own eyes.”

“How could that boy from the Zhou family compare to you?”

“I’m betting on you.”

“I’m betting that you’ll achieve great things in the future.”

“After all, we don’t have any irreconcilable grudge between us, do we?”

“I’m the one who got beaten, and I’m not making an issue of it. Would Lin Yuan dare to complain?”

“If he does, I’ll kick him out of the Howling Sea Sect.”

“And as for the sect’s main hall…”

“I’ve disliked that run-down place for a long time. It’s a good thing it got smashed—out with the old, in with the new.”

“Thanks to you, little brother, I’ll finally get to use a new main hall!”

“Two blessings at once!”

Su Ji blinked.

“How do you figure that’s two blessings at once?”

After hearing this, Su Ji smiled.

“All right.”

“Then I’ll thank you, Sect Master Sun.”

“No need, no need.”

Sun Tianhai waved his hand repeatedly.

“We’re practically family. No need to stand on ceremony.”

As he spoke, he poured Su Ji another cup of tea.

“Then you and your companions can stay at my Howling Sea Sect with peace of mind.”

“If you need anything, just ask.”

“This old man will make sure you get it.”

Su Ji picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

“Then I’ll thank you in advance, Sect Master Sun.”

Sun Tianhai picked up his own cup and filled Su Ji’s again.

“Little brother, there’s one more matter I need to deal with.”

He turned around and shouted toward the door.

“Lin Yuan, get in here!”

A moment later, footsteps sounded outside.

Lin Yuan entered with his head lowered, trembling with fear.

“Sect Master…”

“Shut up!”

Sun Tianhai slammed his palm onto the table, making the teacups jump.

“You blind, useless fool!”

“Little brother came to my Howling Sea Sect, and you put him in a place like that?”

Lin Yuan’s face instantly turned deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but when he saw Sun Tianhai’s livid expression, he swallowed his words.

The Howling Sea Sect had suffered such a loss. Someone had to take the blame, right?

Was it Su Ji’s fault?

His fists were bigger, so he definitely couldn’t be wrong.

Was it the sect master’s fault?

The sect master’s fists weren’t small either. He probably couldn’t be wrong, either.

Then whose fault was it?

It could only be his, Lin Yuan’s. He had simply been blinded by greed.

It was easy to invite a god in, but hard to send one away.

“What are you waiting for?”

Sun Tianhai was just about to point at Su Ji, but his finger curled halfway and naturally reached for the teacup on the table instead. He took a sip before continuing.

“Get little brother moved to the finest guest quarters!”

“The best courtyard in the entire Howling Sea Sect. Understand?”

“Yes… yes…”

Lin Yuan nodded repeatedly.

“And one more thing.”

Sun Tianhai stood up and walked over to Lin Yuan.

Lowering his voice, he gritted his teeth and said,

“From today onward, you’ll attend to little brother’s every need.”

“If he tells you to go east, you don’t go west.”

“If he tells you to chase a dog, you don’t go after a chicken.”

“If you dare say no even once…”

Sun Tianhai placed a hand on Lin Yuan’s shoulder, pressing down so hard that Lin Yuan’s body trembled.

“Then bring me your head!”

Cold sweat poured down Lin Yuan’s forehead.

“Yes… understood…”

“Understand my ass!”

Sun Tianhai kicked him in the butt.

“Now get lost!”

Lin Yuan scrambled out of the room on his hands and knees.

Once he was gone, Sun Tianhai returned to his chair. The anger on his face vanished instantly, replaced by his usual smiling expression.

“Little brother, I hope you didn’t find that embarrassing.”

“That useless fellow was the one who caused all this trouble.”

“If it weren’t for him, my Howling Sea Sect would still be perfectly fine.”

“Why would we have to attend to—cough, cough…”

He suddenly coughed twice, forcibly swallowing the rest of his sentence.

Watching him, Su Ji couldn’t help laughing.

What an old fox.

On the surface, he was scolding Lin Yuan, but in reality, he was hinting at Su Ji.

He was saying: You see? For your sake, I even scolded one of my own elders.

You’d better appreciate it.

“Sect Master Sun, you’re too kind.”

Su Ji lifted his teacup and took a small sip.

“I bear some responsibility for what happened with Lin Yuan, too.”

“No, no.”

Sun Tianhai waved his hand repeatedly.

“That boy brought it upon himself.”

“What does any of it have to do with you?”

The two exchanged a few more polite words.

Lin Yuan came back in.

“Sect Master, everything has been arranged.”

“Good.”

Sun Tianhai nodded.

“Then take little brother there.”

“And remember what I just told you.”

Lin Yuan kept his head lowered, not daring to say another word.

Su Ji stood up.

“Then thank you, Sect Master Sun.”

“No need to thank me, no need.”

Sun Tianhai personally saw them to the door.

“If you need anything, little brother, just let me know.”

“This old man will make sure you get it.”

“Then we’ll be going.”

Su Ji led Su Jiu and followed Lin Yuan outside.

After they had gone some distance, the smile vanished from Sun Tianhai’s face.

He turned around and looked at the elders who had been watching from the shadows.

“What are you all standing around for?”

“Go investigate that boy’s background!”

“Yes!”

Several elders hurriedly answered and left.

Sun Tianhai stood where he was, gazing in the direction Su Ji had gone.

“The Heaven-Shattering, Peerless Emperor Venerable Sword Art?”

“An ordinary person wouldn’t dare give a technique a name like that…”

“That boy is definitely no simple character.”

“Could he be the illegitimate son of some Exalted Lord?”

“Lin Yuan, you damn fool…”

…

Meanwhile.

Lin Yuan led the way in silence.

He felt thoroughly miserable.

He had clearly been the one to spot this fat sheep first.

But look how things had turned out.

Not only had he failed to gain anything, he had instead gotten himself into a huge mess.

Now he even had to serve the man.

What kind of nonsense was this?!

“Elder Lin.”

Su Ji suddenly spoke.

Lin Yuan’s body stiffened.

“What can I do for you, little brother?”

He had even changed the way he addressed Su Ji.

“Nothing.”

Su Ji smiled.

“I just wanted to ask whether you’re feeling resentful.”

Lin Yuan’s expression changed instantly.

“N-no, I wouldn’t dare…”

“Wouldn’t dare?”

Su Ji walked in front of him.

“Oh, so you wouldn’t dare, rather than not feeling resentful.”

Cold sweat once again appeared on Lin Yuan’s forehead.

“You’ve misunderstood, little brother…”

“Misunderstood?”

Su Ji cut him off.

“Elder Lin, let’s be honest with each other.”

“You’re definitely thinking this right now.”

“Am I wrong?”

Lin Yuan’s face turned deathly pale.

Because Su Ji had hit the nail on the head. That was precisely what he had been thinking.

“I… I wasn’t…”

“Don’t rush to deny it.”

Su Ji patted him on the shoulder.

“I understand you.”

“If I were in your place, I’d think the same way.”

Lin Yuan froze.

“But…”

Su Ji’s tone suddenly turned cold.

“Don’t do anything stupid and cause trouble for me when it isn’t necessary. It’s not as if you’ve suffered much of a loss, have you?”

“Look on the bright side. If your Howling Sea Sect ever encounters some catastrophe, perhaps I’ll be able to shield you from it. Then your sect won’t have spent those spirit stones for nothing, will it?”

Lin Yuan’s entire body began to tremble violently.

Su Ji released his grip and retreated to Su Jiu’s side.

“All right. Keep leading the way.”

Lin Yuan swallowed hard.

“Yes…”

He turned around and continued forward.

…

Meanwhile.

The Boundless Sea.

Dark clouds blanketed the sky above the ocean.

“Rumble—”

Deep, muffled thunder rolled through the clouds.

The sea wind howled, whipping up wave after wave of towering breakers.

Along the shore, quite a few cultivators had already gathered.

They stood in groups of twos and threes, gazing at the oppressive black sky and whispering among themselves.

“The thunder has been rumbling for two and a half hours already,” one cultivator said.

“Going by the usual pattern, it should continue for another two and a half days.”

“Once the thunder stops, the stars will fill the sky.”

Another cultivator chimed in.

“When that happens, the entire sea will be bathed in starlight.”

“Now that will be a spectacular sight.”

“Spectacular, sure.”

A third cultivator sighed.

“Unfortunately, with our level of strength, all we can do is scavenge scraps around the outskirts…”

“Who says otherwise?”

Someone nodded in agreement.

“Hard to say… Perhaps things will be different this time.”

“How could they be different? Our strength is what it is…”

“The disciples of those major sects and great clans have more resources than us and stronger techniques. What do we have going for us? The fact that, when you’ve got nothing else to do, all you can do is play with birds?”

“I heard the Azure Sea Sect has a remarkable figure with them this time.”

“Oh?”

Everyone around them grew interested.

“What kind of remarkable figure?”

The cultivator lowered his voice.

“Apparently, she’s a female sword cultivator.”

“She’s young, but her attainments in the sword dao are extraordinarily high.”

“How high are we talking?”

“Let me put it this way.”

The man held up one finger.

“They say she can split the entire Boundless Sea in two with a single strike…”

“Hiss—”

Everyone around them drew in a sharp breath.

“She’s that powerful?”

“Of course.”

The man continued.

“And I heard that she came this time specifically for something within that celestial star-sea phenomenon.”

“If she were to take a liking to someone…”

He paused, a look of longing appearing on his face.

“That person would rise to great heights.”

“Give it a rest.”

Someone beside him poured cold water on his enthusiasm.

“You? You think she’d even look at you?”

“I never said it would be me,” the man retorted indignantly.

“I meant that if anyone could win her favor…”

“All right, all right.”

Someone cut him off.

“Stop dreaming.”

“A major figure like that is far beyond the reach of small fry like us.”

“True…”

The man sighed.

Then they each went their separate ways.

Only the ever-churning sea remained.