Liu Zhen was floored when he learned of Jiang Chen’s true ident.i.ty. The young lord of Sacred Peafowl Mountain was the highest status that existed in the Upper Eight Regions! It was an unimaginable height to a small wandering cultivator like him. But now, living proof of that height was standing right in front of him!
Naturally, Liu Zhen was overwhelmed by emotion and excitement. He knew that this was a turning point, his one and only chance to turn around his miserable life. If he successfully seized this opportunity, he would be able to rewrite his life into something completely new and even take full revenge against those who had shamed him in the past.
…...
On this day, Third Master Jing hurriedly sought out Jiang Chen. “Sir Shao, are you free right now?”
“What is it?” Jiang Chen knew that something had happened from his hasty expression.
“Something’s happened to Captain Gu…” Third Master Jing sounded a bit depressed. “He’s been beaten up in Frostmoon City.”
“Captain Gu is a member of the Moon G.o.d Sect and a captain of Bleakmoon Hall, isn’t he?” Jiang Chen looked startled. “Isn’t that breaking sect laws? Has the sect taken action against the offender?”
Third Master Jing smiled wryly as he sighed. “The thing is, the culprit belongs to the Moon G.o.d Sect as well.”
“Where is he now? How badly is he wounded? Come, let’s go to him.” Jiang Chen wasn’t an ungrateful sort. Gu Xintang had done a lot of work to save Jiang Chen’s father. Although it was inconvenient for him to interfere with Moon G.o.d Sect’s internal matters, he couldn’t sit by and do nothing now that Third Master Jing had come to him for help.
“Should we ask Emperor Peerless to join us too?” Third Master Jing reminded.
Jiang Chen knew that Third Master Jing had actually been looking for Emperor Peerless and not him. This was a fight after all. If a captain in Bleakmoon Hall couldn’t beat his opponent, there was no reason for Third Master Jing to believe that Jiang Chen could do the unexpected. On the surface, his combat ability appeared even less than Third Master Jing and Gu Xintang.
Jiang Chen nodded and went to inform Emperor Peerless. The great emperor frowned. “Who attacked him? Little Gu is an honest man. Why would anyone bully someone like him?”
Third Master Jing smiled ruefully. “Well, in our city, honest men are the easiest to bully.”
The third master himself looked shamefaced when he said this. After all, he had bullied so many honest men in the past that he cultivated an ill reputation. If Jiang Chen hadn’t taken him down a peg, he might have continued his villainous ways. Recently however, the third master was acting a lot less like the scoundrel he used to be and seemed like he wished to turn over a new leaf.
Emperor Peerless was very unhappy, to say the least. He’d already mentioned admiring Gu Xintang back at the Ten Ultimates. Granted, that had been the Sable Cells and not Frostmoon City. No one in Frostmoon City knew that Gu Xintang was a man who’d earned the great emperor’s appreciation. This still greatly displeased the great emperor. He angrily had the third master lead the way.
Third Master Jing and Gu Xintang shared a firm bond of friends.h.i.+p with each other. Faction wise, they were both Blue Moon members. The one who’d beat up Gu Xintang this time belonged to the Purple Moons, so the fight wasn’t just a matter of personal grudge, but of orthodoxy as well.
Purple Moon and Blue Moon were the two most popular factions in Moon G.o.d Sect at the moment. Purple Moon had the greatest foundation while Blue Moon had produced the strongest holy maiden in the sect’s history, Holy Maiden Qingxuan. Both factions constantly b.u.t.ted heads because of this.
Surprisingly, the location of the beatdown was in a bustling area in Frostmoon City. Gu Xintang was currently surrounded by a group of men while his were sprawled all over the ground. His attackers were obviously Bleakmoon Hall enforcers as well, but their attire was slightly different from his. Patently, they belonged to another squad.
Among them, a man with an aquiline nose was ordering his men to attack Gu Xintang while he stood with folded arms. Gu Xintang was visibly hurt, but he hadn’t surrendered to his enemy and was fighting with all his might. The man with an aquiline nose was surnamed Sun and he was yelling viciously, “Gu Xintang, I warned you a long time ago to stay away from Ah Li! Have you checked yourself in a pool of pee, you worthless fool? How do you think you’re in any way worthy of Ah Li?!”
Gu Xintang couldn’t spare the energy to answer the taunt because he was being attacked on all fronts. However, it was obvious from his look of grief and indignation that he held a deep hatred of this man.
“Brothers, beat him as hard as you can! He’ll think that I’m a pushover if he isn’t taught a lesson.” The man with an aquiline nose was also a Bleakmoon Hall captain. He was slightly higher than Gu Xintang in the ranks, and had great backing and a wide personal network in Moon G.o.d Sect.
The advantages he possessed made him extremely arrogant and willful. The Ah Li mentioned was Gu Xintang’s partner. They loved each other and had even been preparing to formally commit each other as dao partners. However, Sun had appeared out of nowhere one day, taken one look at Ah Li, and unceremoniously tried to take her from Gu Xintang.
Although Ah Li didn’t like Sun at all, she found it difficult to do anything when he shamelessly dogged her steps every day. She had no choice but to hide from him, but Gu Xintang didn’t have the same luxury. They were both captains of Bleakmoon Hall and had to see each other everyday. This resulted in Sun verbally attacking Gu Xintang every chance he had.
The two rivals had run into each other today, and Sun decided that the opportunity was ripe for a beating. They weren’t within sect territory, so this didn’t count as infighting. Even if it did count, he could easily use his connections and scrub his crimes clean. It was the advantage of being a widely connected and very underhanded man.Sun had obviously planned on giving Gu Xintang a thorough beating from the start because the men he’d brought were all extremely powerful fighters. Caught off guard, Gu Xintang wasn’t a match for Sun’s devious schemes at all. Captain Gu’s original plans were to eat lunch and drink with Third Master Jing. When the third master saw what was happening to his friend, he immediately escaped to bring back reinforcements.
Sun was aware that Third Master Jing was Gu Xintang’s best friend. However, he couldn’t attack Third Master Jing as he could the latter. Third Master Jing was the vice head of the first division. Things would not be nearly as simple if he beat up Third Master Jing in Frostmoon City because the man had considerable backing himself. He might not wield as much power as Sun did in the Moon G.o.d Sect, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stir the pot if he really wished to. This was why Sun didn’t stop Third Master Jing from leaving. He’d simply laughed at the vice head and called him chicken in leaving his brother behind to suffer. He also took the opportunity to taunt Gu Xintang that his friends were all trash and cowards.
While Sun was hooting at Gu Xintang, one of his subordinates suddenly walked over and reported in a low voice, “Captain Gu, Third Master Jing has returned.”
“He’s nothing.” Sun smiled disdainfully in response. “Don’t tell me he’s planning to take revenge? I let him go earlier is because he’s the vice head of the first division. If he’s stupid enough to get back into the fight, then beat him up as well!”
“I think he brought some people with him…”
Sun sneered. “So what? Who can he bring from that mere first division of his? Here in Moon G.o.d Sect, he’ll have to bring the holy maiden herself to stop me. Otherwise, all other small fries are just…”
“Are just what?” A cold voice cut through the air powerfully. It forcefully slammed into Sun’s chest like an invisible sword. Sun paled and felt a burst of pain and upheaval in his chest. In the next moment, he spat out a mouthful of blood. The technique that transformed voice into thunder had, of course, been executed by Emperor Peerless.
The emperor walked into the fray without even stopping. With incredible ease like a tiger in a flock of lambs, he grabbed the cultivators surrounding Gu Xintang and threw them away like rag dolls. The enforcers were scared witless and weren’t able to resist at all.
Gu Xintang immediately relaxed when he saw Emperor Peerless, but his wounds made him wobble about and look deathly pale. He clutched his wounds and leaned powerlessly against a wall. The captain flashed a ghastly smile. “Thank you for helping me, senior.”
Emperor Peerless waved his hands in response before striding straight towards Sun. “What’s your name?”
Sun was greatly surprised to see the reinforcements Third Master Jing had brought were able to throw his men around like rag dolls. How on earth had he managed to get someone as strong as this?
Sun hadn’t brought many men with him, but they were all seventh level emperor realm that were as strong or stronger than Gu Xintang. However, none of them had been able to put up even a bit of resistance before this stranger at all. This made the color drain from his face. He was slightly stronger than Gu Xintang, but that was all. If his companions couldn’t withstand a single blow from the stranger, then there was no reason that he would be able to even if he hadn’t endured that vocal blow from earlier.
“My… my name is Sun Yuan. I’m a descendant of the Sun Family of the Moon G.o.d Sect. My aunt is the previous generation’s holy maiden, and my cousin is one of this generation’s holy maiden. As for me, I’m…”
Emperor Peerless immediately slapped him across the face before with a sneer. “You what? Do you think you can escape punishment by blabbing all this?”
Sun Yuan was stupefied and frightened by Emperor Peerless’ boldness as he clutched his face. He never imagined that the stranger would dare to slap him after he reeled off his background!
“How… how dare you slap me? Do you know who I am?!” Sun Yuan cried out. This was obviously the first time he’d taken a loss like this.
Emperor Peerless responded indifferently, “If you can beat up others, why can’t I beat you up?”
“I… Gu Xintang is nothing compared to me! He doesn’t even deserve to pick up my shoes!” Su Yuan yelled hysterically.
“In my eyes, you are the one who don’t deserve to hold his shoes. How much do you think you’re worth without your family and without those relatives of yours?” Emperor Peerless was a wandering cultivator, so what he couldn’t stand the most were arrogant, out-of-control fops who did whatever they wanted just because they were backed by their families. Ordinarily speaking, he might have chosen to stay out of all this. But he had indeed taken a liking to Gu Xintang; at the very least, he was very satisfied with the captain’s performance back in the Sable Cells. Naturally, it was only right to return the favor and back up the captain.