Chapter One Hundred: The Old Monster

These two brats are far too arrogant. They even sealed our mountain gate. Too much! With so little strength, they dare to seal a mountain? Who gave them the courage!

The young man’s face darkened as he shouted.

“So what do you plan to do?” Hearing this, the Taoist raised his head, a faintly amused smile on his face, and looked at him.

“Of course we teach them a lesson!” the young man said without hesitation. “With that bit of strength, who here couldn’t deal with them with a wave of the hand?”

“Yes, their strength is indeed not especially great. Though they may count as being at the pseudo-Core level, the gap between pseudo-Core cultivators is not so easy to define.” The Taoist nodded as if agreeing with him, but before the young man could even brighten, he went on, “Then this matter of teaching them a lesson will be left to you.”

The young man wilted at once and could only mumble in silence.

If it were really that simple, would they need to stand here like wooden figures?

In terms of strength, Zhou Yi and the other man had only just touched the threshold of the pseudo-Core stage. They had not even cultivated a single true technique, and the power they used was merely internal force; their essence, energy, and spirit had not yet merged into true mana.

Though the two were at pseudo-Core level, if one were to judge strictly, they could at most be counted as false pseudo-Core cultivators. How could they compare with the people present?

The people standing here were almost all hardened veterans tempered by life and death on Peerless Island. Even the weakest among them had already opened more than a hundred acupoints and stood at the first threshold of the pseudo-Core realm.

To put it bluntly, if they truly chose to be exacting, any one of them could easily deal with Zhou Yi and the other man. And yet, despite that, not a single one dared act rashly. They could only let the two seal their mountain gate without daring to strike back, gathering here instead to play the part of wooden statues.

This matter had arisen from greed in the first place. Their own disciples had been unable to resist temptation and had first sought to kill. Now that the other side had come for revenge, what was there to object to?

Moreover, they had not gone too far. They had only sealed the mountain gate; they had not killed anyone. Endure it, and it would pass.

After thinking for a moment, the Taoist continued, “Peerless Island is about to open. Once they go there, we can simply unseal the mountain gate. There is no need to make such a fuss over it.”

“Could it be...” The young man’s lips moved. After hesitating for a long while, he said timidly, “Could it be that we just let them keep acting so arrogantly, so smugly?”

“Think about it. This is our mountain gate. If we really let them keep this up, where are we supposed to put our faces? How are we supposed to keep living in the martial world after this?” The more the young man spoke, the more reasonable he felt, his voice growing louder and louder until, at the end, it was nearly a shout.

“Fine.”

“Then you go.” This time it was the nun among the first three speakers who spoke. Looking at the young man, she gave a cold laugh. “Go now and kill them. Do you dare?”

“Forget whether you dare. Do you dare even to injure them?”

The young man shrank even further at her words. If he truly dared, he would not be standing here trying to win with words. When Zhou Yi and the others sealed the mountain, he should have acted directly instead of running here like a stray dog to bark.

“Before, it was all struggles between disciples and followers. Win or lose, life or death, there was always something to be said for it.” Looking at the young man’s dispirited state, the Taoist let out an almost imperceptible sigh and said softly, “But if we make the move, then the nature of the matter changes. Do you really want to draw out that old monster from the Mountain-Sheltering Blade Sect?”

“No...” At the words “old monster,” everyone present shuddered together. A trace of terror and fear flashed through their eyes, and the young man’s voice twisted out of shape, so frightened that he cried out directly.

Sigh.

Thinking of that old monster, everyone fell silent after their fright. The surroundings once again sank into a dreadful stillness, even more silent than before.

The reason they, a whole group of pseudo-Core legends, had gathered together after their mountain gate was sealed was precisely because of that old monster.

One had to know that the old monster of the Mountain-Sheltering Blade Sect was a peerless fiend even on Peerless Island. If he were truly provoked, and came out to deal with a group of beaten remnants like them, would that not be a matter of lifting a hand?

Entering Peerless Island was difficult, but leaving it was no simple matter either. Their group had only managed to obtain exit tokens by great fortune and barely escaped the island alive.

As for the old monster of the Mountain-Sheltering Blade Sect, he had fought his way out directly. He and they were not in the same league at all.

Dealing with Zhou Yi and the other man was not hard. What was hard was this: if they truly drew out that old monster because of it, how were they supposed to end things?

That was the real issue. That was why everyone had gathered here.

Of course, Zhou Yi and the other man had astonishing talent; they could even be called the hope of the martial world. Perhaps they truly might accomplish things none of them could. But not everyone is so selfless.

If not for the enormous threat of that old monster, then even if they pitied the two men’s talent, after those two had sealed everyone’s mountain gate, they might not have killed them outright—but a lesson would have been unavoidable.

Yet precisely because Zhou Yi and the other man were members of the Mountain-Sheltering Blade Sect, and because there was such an old monster in that sect, everyone now, even with such thoughts in mind, dared not act on them.

Even if they wanted to teach Zhou Yi and the other man a lesson, they would still have to gather together and discuss whether they could combine their strength to resist for a while.

Only...

Forget it. Endure it.”

After another long silence, it was once again the Taoist who broke it. “Everyone disperse.”

“Peerless Island is about to open. There is not much time left.”

At that, although everyone was deeply unwilling, whenever another thought arose in their minds, the three words “old monster” would immediately appear, like a blazing sun, instantly evaporating all the chaotic thoughts in their hearts.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh.

With helpless sighs, the crowd left as they had come.

...

“This is the last one, right?” At the foot of a mountain peak, Zhou Yi flicked a water ball onto the ground. Watching the mist spread and extend toward the mountain, he turned to ask Song Hai beside him.

“To be precise, this is the last major sect in the martial world.” Song Hai, standing nearby, smiled and corrected him earnestly.

“The last one is enough. We can’t be bothered to waste time on the rest. This is about right.” With a sweep of his hand, Zhou Yi spoke grandly, wearing the air of a man who was very generous indeed.

“You call that generous after sealing the mountain gates of all those major sects?” Song Hai could not help rolling his eyes, speechless.

“Hm?”

“Hm?”

Just as the two were speaking, a figure approached rapidly from afar and appeared before them in an instant, causing both men to cry out in surprise.