Chapter 266: You Guys Dare to Offend Zhang Yangqing, But How Would I Dare?
Outside Dragon Tiger Mountain, there were always too many people asking to see Zhang Yangqing every single day.
Whether it was tourists coming to burn incense at Dragon Tiger Mountain, fellow disciples from various major schools across Dragon Country, or foreign transcendent powers.
They all came to Dragon Tiger Mountain for just one reason: to get a face-to-face meeting with Zhang Yangqing.
Zhang Yangqing’s influence had truly become global.
No matter where someone was from in the world, a natural admiration for the strong would always appear.
This made quite a few leaders of transcendent powers feel that the horror world might just be their chance to expand their own influence.
That’s why they sent some of their own top-tier talents to take part.
But the only ones who truly managed to expand their influence were a very select few.
The others not only failed to expand their influence, but because their Chosen Ones were so embarrassing, they actually lost popularity.
This dampened their enthusiasm quite a bit. After all, training a Transcendent takes a lot of resources, and no one wants to lose their people.
And that’s the real reason why, in the past, very few Transcendents participated in the horror world.
But ever since they found out that the horror world could farm resources, it wasn’t just these active transcendent powers – even the reclusive ones couldn’t sit still anymore.
The leaders of these major powers judged that if resources could be produced consistently, perhaps in the near future, Blue Star would welcome an era of spiritual energy resurgence.
But since they had no experience clearing the horror world, sending their strong people in would just be a waste. So, outside Dragon Tiger Mountain, there were even more people asking to see Zhang Yangqing.
Many transcendent powers sent people to Dragon Tiger Mountain simply hoping to get more contact with Zhang Yangqing, hoping to learn some clearance techniques and benefit from Zhang Yangqing’s experience sharing.
Of course, Zhang Yangqing was busy himself, and it wasn’t like anyone could see him just because they wanted to.
Having all these people blockading the main hall every day wasn’t a solution either.
Dragon Tiger Mountain had even specially built an extra guest reception hall for these sect disciples to wait in.
You wanting to come inside? That’s pretty much impossible. The back courtyards of major sects aren’t a place just anyone can enter – those are the rules.
You want to wait? We can’t do anything about that, but we still have to observe proper etiquette – those are also the rules.
Some disciples even suggested setting up an appointment system with a lottery.
But Su Muyu rejected that proposal. What difference does it make if you get a number?
After all, whether Zhang Yangqing sees you or not depends on whether he feels like it.
Rather than giving people numbers and having them wait anxiously in line, it’s better to just let them wait.
But Luo Hao, the one asking to see him today, was very special. He was the lead disciple of Xiaoyao Sect, a major Taoist school of the Kunlun Mountain tradition.
He was also a main member of the Kunlun Mountain Association. Young as he was, he was quite famous in Dragon Country’s cultivation world and held a certain status.
The so-called ‘Taoist schools’ (玄门, Xuan Men) is a general term for sects in Dragon Country with ancient lineages.
The Daoist sect (道门, Dao Men) is just one type of Taoist school.
But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was that Luo Hao used to frequently visit Dragon Tiger Mountain to spar with Zhang Yangqing.
Calling it ‘sparring’ was basically just him getting beat up by Zhang Yangqing every time.
You could say many people at Dragon Tiger Mountain knew him quite well.
Because of this, the Kunlun Mountain Association sent him to ask for a meeting with Zhang Yangqing.
Luo Hao’s talent was nothing to scoff at. Back in the day, he called himself the ‘Second of His Generation,’ with the ‘First’ naturally being Zhang Yangqing.
The title ‘Second of His Generation’ was self-proclaimed. Others didn’t recognize it, and he had no real achievements to back it up.
But why would anyone bother competing for second place?
I mean, no matter how good you are, you still can’t beat the number one, right?
In this era, it could be said that Zhang Yangqing suppressed a whole generation. So, while others were still disciples, he had already become a Celestial Master.
No one of his generation could surpass him.
Luo Hao being rejected was only to be expected.
But only Zhang Yangqing himself could reject him. Others couldn’t afford to offend him.
Inside Dragon Tiger Mountain’s guest reception hall, there were quite a few people.
This time, Luo Hao was representing the Kunlun Mountain Association, so Dragon Tiger Mountain had Zhang Xuanjing explain things to him.
When Zhang Xuanjing saw him, he looked completely speechless.
“Don’t you know our Celestial Master’s temper?”
The two talked casually, their tone like normal friends.
After all, their statuses were currently equal, and their strength was about the same.
Luo Hao said awkwardly, “That’s not right. Yangqing used to be so easy to talk to.”
After he said this, Zhang Xuanjing rolled his eyes.
He wondered if this guy had cultivated for so long that his brain had gone soft.
But what Luo Hao did next completely stunned Zhang Xuanjing.
Luo Hao just picked up his phone, found a number, and dialed.
Before long, someone answered on the other end.
“Master, I think how about this: you retire quickly and give me the position of sect leader. Otherwise, Zhang Yangqing can’t even be bothered to see me.”
Last time Luo Hao saw Zhang Yangqing, he was still a disciple of Dragon Tiger Mountain, not yet the Celestial Master.
So their statuses were equal. Whenever he visited, the old Celestial Master, being big on etiquette, would naturally have Zhang Yangqing host him.
He figured Zhang Yangqing wouldn’t see him this time because his own status wasn’t high enough.
After all, he was still a disciple of Xiaoyao Sect, while Zhang Yangqing was already the Celestial Master.
If he were the leader of Xiaoyao Sect, then Zhang Yangqing would surely show him some respect.
At least, that’s what he thought.
Just then, an irritable voice came from the other end of the line: “Are you sick in the head? If I’m not mistaken, he just got out of the horror world. You didn’t go looking for him at a time like this, did you?”
The young one didn’t understand etiquette and thought Zhang Yangqing was still his close buddy.
But the older one certainly understood. Luo Hao’s master was pretty annoyed.
You should be grateful he didn’t tell you to get lost, and you’re asking me for the sect leader position?
I sent you because you two are close, but you’re just doing stupid things!
After a thorough scolding from his master, Luo Hao seemed to ‘understand’ where he went wrong.
“Oh, I see. I was just thinking, with our relationship, same as back then, I could see him whenever I wanted, right?”
After Luo Hao said this, he got another scolding.
Curses aside, since Xiaoyao Sect was part of the Kunlun Mountain Association, his master still told him to get the job done.
Finally, after a moment of silence on the other end, his master sighed and said, “Just do your best.”
Then the line went dead.
Next, Luo Hao acted like nothing was wrong, chatted with Zhang Xuanjing for a bit, said he’d come back tomorrow morning, and left Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Watching Luo Hao’s departing back, Zhang Xuanjing seemed deep in thought.
You’re actually coming back tomorrow, huh?
Alright. You’ve got guts.
Tomorrow, I’ll just have to see how the Celestial Master deals with you.
Luo Hao was a frequent visitor to Dragon Tiger Mountain, and he’d been on the receiving end of Zhang Yangqing’s ‘discipline’ many times.
After assigning some tasks to the disciples, Zhang Xuanjing went back to his own cultivation.
After all, he’d started with these entry-level jobs too. He had his own things to do every day.
At Dragon Tiger Mountain, besides regular assessments,
completing daily work earned points. These points could be exchanged for cultivation resources and for the number of times you could enter the cultivation caves.
So, many disciples were eager to do the work.
At this stage, Dragon Tiger Mountain wasn’t planning to expand enrollment because they already had over three hundred people on the official roster.
That didn’t even include the unofficial ordinary people.
Even so, they were already considered a massive top-tier power in Dragon Country.
Other sects had less than a hundred people on their rosters because hiring more would just be for show. They couldn’t afford to support so many people with their cultivation resources.
And many were lay disciples who ran businesses outside to cover the sect’s expenses.
Most of these weren’t even considered true cultivators.
At this time, Zhang Yangqing was already resting, but the horror world was still going on intensely.
The first-tier Transcendents had now recovered thirty percent of their strength.
Their power was starting to show. Killing individual strange insects was no problem for them.
But they still couldn’t break through the patrol commander’s defense line, let alone fight against the Mother Worm.
Their guess was probably right. They’d need at least another two days to recover their peak strength.
But after two days, forget about an SSSS score – they might not even get an A.
So, some of the Transcendents who weren’t interested in playing anymore just clicked the settle button.
Those who were still fuming with anger continued killing inside.
Unexpectedly, just when only a few from the first tier had settled, someone from the second tier had already settled.
Among the second tier, there were many ordinary Chosen Ones. After they couldn’t get the black slime, they couldn’t be bothered to complete the hidden mission. They had some self-awareness.
They didn’t even need to wait for that family of four to go in. They just found the entrance, used the disinfectant to sneak in, cured themselves, and then settled immediately.
The third-tier Chosen Ones who were still alive also started arriving at the final stage, one after another.
Fewer than forty people had survived to this point. You can see how heavy the casualties were in this horror world.
The one who died the worst was undoubtedly the Chosen One from the Pyramid Country, Andyebula.
He lasted until the very end, all alone in the recovery center.
The caregivers and other patients were already dead. The cafeteria staff were nowhere to be seen.
He had enough medicine tablets, but he was short on food. Plus, there was no more disinfectant, and no caregivers were maintaining the recovery center, so the strange insects just broke through the doors and windows and swarmed in.
Facing an overwhelming number of bizarre insects, Andyebula, whose strength was barely a tenth of what it was, could only die a horrible death.
Even in death, he didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.
Why wouldn’t the doctor give him his discharge papers?
He genuinely thought this was just a survival game in the recovery center, and all he had to do was last a certain amount of time.
The next day, Zhang Yangqing appeared at the Shangqing Palace bright and early. After catching up on sleep, he felt much better.
As expected, Luo Hao came up the mountain asking for a meeting. Many disciples were eager to watch the drama unfold.
Especially the old Celestial Master’s seven personal disciples. They were all guessing how the Celestial Master would deal with Luo Hao today.
After all, that kid was truly clueless about etiquette yesterday.
Xu Xiu, the ‘Sword Fanatic,’ guessed, “I think the Celestial Master will ignore him for a few more days. Luo Hao is something else. A grown man, still acting like a clueless child.”
Zhang Yangqing’s status had now reached its peak. It wasn’t that he was deliberately acting aloof. His status demanded he act this way. That’s the dignity of a Celestial Master.
Many people understood this, but if Luo Hao still treated Zhang Yangqing like an ordinary disciple, wouldn’t that be a huge problem?
Mo Yun, the honest one, overheard his fellow disciples talking and walked over. “What’s going on, everyone? You all look a bit off.”
Mo Yun was the type who just worked hard and quietly, specializing in the Golden Light Mantra.
In the cultivation world, people like him – talented but still training like crazy – were the ones to watch.
Even Zhang Yangqing had praised the thickness of his spiritual energy.
Besides cultivating and doing his daily work, he didn’t really care much for gossip.
Xiao Xuan, who possessed the innate Thunder Body, was scrolling on his phone and answered, “Senior Brother Mo, you don’t go online much, do you? Right now, the cultivation world abroad is having conflicts over resources. You don’t need to guess – this time, the Kunlun Mountain Association definitely wants to get access to the horror world, so they sent Luo Hao to invite the Celestial Master out for negotiations.”
As Dragon Tiger Mountain’s top netizen, Xiao Xuan had lots of ‘online friends’ in the cultivation world and knew many things other Dragon Tiger Mountain disciples didn’t.
Recently, many associations had been holding meetings, and they were cleverly avoiding Dragon Tiger Mountain.
It seemed like they didn’t want Dragon Tiger Mountain to know their plans.
Dragon Country’s cultivation world values ‘face’ (reputation/saving face). It’s not as barbaric as abroad, where people will just show up at your door for a deathmatch over any conflict of interest.
People here still prefer to negotiate and find a solution.
Xiao Xuan had also heard quite a few rumors.
To put it bluntly, the Daoist Association naturally wouldn’t compete with Dragon Tiger Mountain for horror world slots.
After all, since Dragon Tiger Mountain was acquiring resources, they’d also provide a portion to the Daoist Academy.
This way, the Daoist sect was also developing. They were all in the same boat, and there was no need to fall out with Zhang Yangqing.
If they ever faced any difficulties in the future, they could always come and ask for help.
But the other sects weren’t so willing to accept this. Why should Zhang Yangqing be the only one allowed to keep going into the horror world to farm resources?
Even if we can’t get anything, at least let us go in!
Of course, individually, no single sect had the ability to challenge Dragon Tiger Mountain, so they brought their proposals to the various associations for discussion.
These were cultivation resources, not vulgar things like gold and silver.
The Kunlun Mountain Association, as one of the major Taoist school organizations in the country, had millennia of history and many strong people under its wing.
They wanted a piece of the pie. Would it be too much to discuss with Zhang Yangqing and ask for a few slots?
Your Dragon Tiger Mountain has already taken so many resources. You should let us have a turn too.
They figured that Zhang Yangqing wouldn’t give face to a single sect, but he would have to give at least some face to a Taoist school association, or even several associations combined.
“I heard that this time, not just the Kunlun Mountain Association, but quite a few other associations seem to be waiting for news. They also want access to the horror world.”
That’s what Xiao Xuan had heard. In this information age, with so many large-scale meetings happening recently in Dragon Country’s cultivation world, it was hard to keep things secret like before.
Hearing this, the Dragon Tiger Mountain disciples were furious.
Back then, they didn’t go. The Celestial Master had endured all those dangerous instances alone.
Now that there were benefits, everyone was suddenly so active. What kind of nonsense was this?
Just as the disciples were all talking at once, a notification popped up on Xiao Xuan’s phone. He immediately said to his fellow disciples nearby, “I heard Luo Hao has already entered the back courtyard’s side hall. Let’s go take a look.”
With that, who wanted to cultivate anymore? They all ran off to the back courtyard to watch the excitement.
They wanted to know exactly how Zhang Yangqing would deal with Luo Hao.
Because given Zhang Yangqing’s temper, if he started something, no one could stop him.
But when they reached the back courtyard, they saw a surprising scene.
Not only was Luo Hao perfectly fine, he was sitting there drinking tea. And it was really good tea, brewed with well water that ordinary people couldn’t even enjoy.
The Celestial Master didn’t look annoyed at all. In fact, he looked like he was welcoming an old friend.
Only Zhang Xuanjing was standing beside them, and from his expression, he looked just as confused.
“So this is the ‘nectar of the gods’ that’s made dozens of small sects fight each other? Truly top-grade.”
Luo Hao took a sip of tea and praised it.
From his expression, you could tell he wasn’t lying. He was genuinely enjoying it.
“You didn’t come all this way just for a drink of water, did you?”
The way Zhang Yangqing said this, it was like he didn’t know anything at all.
From his expression, you couldn’t detect any emotional fluctuation whatsoever.
This was Zhang Yangqing’s strength – he was so composed that you couldn’t find a single opening.
“I didn’t want to come, but those old fogies insisted on forcing me, so I had to resort to this.”
Luo Hao seemed a bit childish, but he was far from stupid.
A man who dared to call himself the ‘Second of His Generation’ had unbelievably high comprehension.
Luo Hao was a genuine friend of Zhang Yangqing. He had the right to be.
And if he was Zhang Yangqing’s friend, his skills couldn’t be too shabby.
During the time Zhang Yangqing cultivated at Dragon Tiger Mountain, Luo Hao visited often, so they were quite familiar.
Luo Hao also knew Zhang Yangqing’s temper very well.
Ever since the old Celestial Master passed away, no one could control Zhang Yangqing anymore.
So Luo Hao didn’t even try to hide anything. He said everything he could say.
The reason for his visit was to invite Zhang Yangqing to the Kunlun Mountain Sacrificial Ceremony.
The so-called Sacrificial Ceremony is a tradition for Taoist school cultivators of Kunlun Mountain.
During certain solar terms, they would offer sacrifices to heaven, praying for heaven’s blessings.
At that time, with the appearance of ‘purple mist from the east’ and ‘celestial radiance,’ the younger generation of cultivators participating in the ceremony would receive a heavenly baptism, enhancing their cultivation.
There was even a chance they would obtain a divinely granted power.
Many transcendent powers actually had this type of celebration.
Then they would invite people from other associations to come and witness the event.
According to Luo Hao, this was just an excuse the Kunlun Mountain Association was using to invite Zhang Yangqing out.
Then, together with other associations, they wanted to rely on their seniority to pressure Zhang Yangqing.
Luo Hao knew Zhang Yangqing was overwhelmingly strong. Given his temper, he wouldn’t tolerate some people. It would be bad if things turned into a big mess.
So, he deliberately offended Zhang Yangqing yesterday, and immediately told his master about it. That way, Zhang Yangqing could refuse to attend the Sacrificial Ceremony on the grounds that Luo Hao was ill-mannered.
At worst, the Kunlun Mountain Association would just blame him for mishandling things. With his sect protecting him, he’d get at most a verbal reprimand. They couldn’t possibly cripple him.
This way, the conflict wouldn’t escalate.
That was Luo Hao’s plan.
After he finished explaining, even Zhang Xuanjing looked surprised.
Zhang Xuanjing thought to himself, Here I thought you were stupid, but it turns out you calculated all this. But you’re spilling everything. Won’t you get scolded when you go back?
Luo Hao just looked indifferent. Zhang Yangqing is so smart, why would I try to hide it?
If he guessed, he’d just be unhappy. It’s better to just tell the truth.
The reason Luo Hao could be friends with Zhang Yangqing was because he knew a simple truth: in front of someone as wise as Zhang Yangqing, don’t try to be clever.
Zhang Yangqing liked straightforward people. It made communication much less troublesome.
Luo Hao would definitely offend some of the old-timers in the Kunlun Mountain Association by doing this.
But he didn’t care at all. You old geezers already have one foot in the grave. You dare to offend Zhang Yangqing because when you die, that’s it. But I’m the same age as Zhang Yangqing. How would I dare?
I don’t want to spend my entire life living under Zhang Yangqing’s thumb.
So he’d rather offend those old fogies than offend Zhang Yangqing.
