Chapter 223: Respect Depends on Your Strength!
Xiao Xuan was overthinking things. Zhang Yangqing had brought him along simply because he found him less rigid. Had it been any other senior or junior brother, the whole trip would likely have been filled with either inquiries about cultivation or awkward silence.
Xiao Xuan, finally getting a break, naturally steered clear of such boring topics.
The two arrived at the airport as scheduled.
It was already 10 PM, but the airport was still quite crowded.
Zhang Yangqing was wearing a hat, mask, glasses, and casual clothes. It seemed no one recognized him.
Xiao Xuan had only changed his outfit. His public recognition wasn’t that high; one might even say he was practically invisible.
As they sat waiting to board, a flurry of camera flashes erupted nearby, and a large group of people approached noisily.
As Zhang Yangqing’s proper attendant, Xiao Xuan immediately stood up, ready to intercept any reporters—that was part of his job.
But he was puzzled. Even dressed like this, could the Heavenly Master still be recognized by reporters?
What happened next, however, took Xiao Xuan by surprise. The reporters and media gathered there weren’t for Zhang Yangqing, but for someone else.
“Senior Brother, seems like a big celebrity has arrived,” Xiao Xuan said, hopping a couple of times to get a better look at the crowd surrounding someone.
“What big celebrity?” Zhang Yangqing asked casually.
“If I’m not mistaken, she seems to be Chu Yiyi, the popular female disciple from the Yuqiong Sect.”
As he said this, Xiao Xuan immediately regretted it.
When not cultivating, he spent his time surfing the internet, always worried Zhang Yangqing might catch him slacking off.
Thinking this, he glanced furtively at Zhang Yangqing, and seeing no sign of reproach, he let out a sigh of relief.
He then began explaining this female disciple’s background, based on rumors and hearsay he’d picked up.
After all, he needed to stay informed about matters in the cultivation world.
Ever since Zhang Yangqing’s meteoric rise to fame, Daoist sects had begun appearing in the public eye.
With so many people wanting to join the Dragon-Tiger Mountain, it simply couldn’t accept all of them.
Those who remained were essentially the cream of the crop, seen as geniuses in the eyes of the世俗.
As for those still wishing to cultivate the Dao, they naturally sought out other sects.
The Yuqiong Sect was a respectable orthodox sect with a Daoist lineage, but compared to others, its reputation wasn’t that extensive.
Chu Yiyi had recently been photographed by chance at the mountain gate. Her stunningly beautiful and pure face quickly went viral online.
This brought a huge wave of attention to the Yuqiong Sect, making it second only to the Dragon-Tiger Mountain in terms of applicants.
Chu Yiyi had thus, rather unexpectedly, become a major流量明星 in the Daoist world.
While she didn’t possess Zhang Yangqing’s terrifying strength and influence, she still had many fans drawn to her looks.
This was the whole story as Xiao Xuan knew it—maybe not entirely accurate, but pretty close.
“What’s she doing here?” Zhang Yangqing was confused. He knew of the Yuqiong Sect; it was somewhere near the Kunlun Mountains, quite far from here.
“Oh, she’s been seeking an audience with you for some time, visiting every day. But you were always in the Strange Tales World. This morning, after being turned away again, she probably went back to pack and prepare for the Daoist Conference.”
Xiao Xuan said this with a hint of envy. He had actually spoken to Chu Yiyi before, but she didn’t seem particularly interested in him.
Since Zhang Yangqing didn’t necessarily appear outside the mountain gate in the afternoons, cultivators who failed to see him usually just left.
Requesting an audience was just hoping Zhang Yangqing would give them a chance.
If Zhang Yangqing refused, they wouldn’t dare pester him persistently. After all, the Dragon-Tiger Mountain had its temper too. Getting blacklisted and thrown out would be disastrous.
Xiao Xuan even took out his phone, found pictures of Chu Yiyi, and showed them to Zhang Yangqing.
Zhang Yangqing thought she was quite good-looking, but he wasn’t particularly interested.
The question was, why were these photos in Xiao Xuan’s album? And there seemed to be quite a few of them?
So this is what you look at when you’re not cultivating, huh?
Seeing the look in Zhang Yangqing’s eyes, Xiao Xuan realized his mistake and hurriedly said, “Senior Brother, I was wrong. I’ll delete them right now. I’ll focus on cultivation from now on, with single-minded devotion.”
But Zhang Yangqing waved his hand. “It’s fine. We’re all men, I understand. At the mountain gate, I am the Heavenly Master. Here, I’m just your senior brother.”
Actually, Xiao Xuan had expected Zhang Yangqing to say something like this; he was just testing the waters.
Xiao Xuan was smart. He knew that at the Dragon-Tiger Mountain, Zhang Yangqing had to maintain the Heavenly Master’s dignity. Being stricter with him was only natural. Now, without that significant status difference between them, they could speak more freely.
On time, the two successfully boarded the flight to the city where Mount Wudang was located.
Having booked their tickets early, they had adjacent seats.
To avoid trouble, Zhang Yangqing chose the window seat, while Xiao Xuan took the aisle seat, continuing his role as a human shield.
Both kept a very low profile, not wanting to draw attention.
On the night flight, many people began yawning, some even closing their eyes to rest.
After the plane took off, a commotion arose in the cabin.
Passengers ahead seemed to be arguing. The cause was a passenger named Zhao Kai, also a disciple from a mystical sect and a suitor of Chu Yiyi, who wanted to switch seats.
Chu Yiyi didn’t want him sitting nearby and tried to persuade the person next to her not to switch.
With a beauty making such a request, the guy in the adjacent seat naturally righteously refused Zhao Kai’s request to switch and sternly condemned his inappropriate behavior.
Not only that, to gain favor with the beauty, the guy even puffed out his chest and guaranteed with his dignity that he absolutely would not switch.
But so-called dignity just had its price. When Zhao Kai pulled out a wad of cash, the guy decisively chose to take the money and leave.
To him, what was dignity worth?
He wouldn’t know this beauty after getting off the plane anyway. With money, he could meet plenty of other beauties.
Many onlookers in the cabin shot him looks of disdain, while some regretted not having bought that seat themselves—what an unexpected windfall that would have been!
Then came the sounds of Zhao Kai and Chu Yiyi arguing, which even the flight attendants couldn’t stop.
People from the Dragon Country loved watching drama. Those nearby were already speculating about their relationship.
From their conversation, it was clear both had significant backgrounds, and not small ones either.
Even before joining their respective sects, both were disciples from powerful and influential families.
To some extent, one could say they had known each other since childhood.
This made those who might have considered intervening abandon any thought of helping. They really couldn’t afford to get involved.
Zhang Yangqing and Xiao Xuan’s seats were far away. Even if a fight broke out over there, it likely wouldn’t affect them.
After listening for a while, Zhang Yangqing lost interest, closed his eyes to rest, and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Xiao Xuan, however, was quite interested, leaning over the back of the seat in front of him to watch the show.
At this moment, he could have played the hero and rescued the damsel, but that would have been if he were traveling alone.
With Zhang Yangqing here, he was Zhang Yangqing’s shield. He wasn’t particularly interested in heroics and didn’t want to draw trouble their way.
He was just adding a bit of entertainment to the boring journey.
But that’s how things often go. The more Xiao Xuan felt something had nothing to do with him, the more it seemed to involve him.
Chu Yiyi’s strength was no match for Zhao Kai’s. She didn’t want that annoying, persistent guy sitting beside her all night. That’s when she spotted Xiao Xuan, who was watching the drama.
“Senior Brother Xiao Xuan! What are you doing here?”
That sweet voice, tinged with surprise, echoed through the cabin.
Hearing this, Xiao Xuan was shocked. Damn it! I was just watching the show. How did she spot me?
Ugh, when I tried to chat you up before, you barely paid me any attention. Now that you’re in trouble, you remember I’m ‘Senior Brother Xiao Xuan’?
At that moment, Xiao Xuan finally understood why Zhang Yangqing disliked getting involved with women.
Because some women only brought trouble.
Seeing Chu Yiyi approach, Xiao Xuan felt awkward.
Her pleading eyes seemed to beg for his help.
After all, Xiao Xuan was a disciple of the Dragon-Tiger Mountain, formidable in strength. Dealing with a Zhao Kai shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Besides, she could probably tell Xiao Xuan seemed somewhat interested in her.
Who knew that at this moment, Xiao Xuan would show some backbone and flatly refuse: “Junior Sister Yiyi, we disciples of the Dragon-Tiger Mountain never stir up trouble when we’re out and about.”
This sentence indirectly told her: I won’t help you.
At that moment, Zhao Kai also caught up.
However, Zhao Kai’s demeanor showed no fear of Xiao Xuan, though he didn’t want conflict with him either. He continued to pester Chu Yiyi.
The man and woman started arguing again. Since their quarrel was quite heated, many nearby began commenting, and the entire cabin grew noisy.
Xiao Xuan’s head was about to explode. Couldn’t you two argue somewhere else? If you wake the Heavenly Master, what if he throws us all off the plane?
Here, he only feared Zhang Yangqing; no one else.
Even though he tried his best to persuade everyone to quiet down, not just Chu Yiyi and Zhao Kai, but not a single person around showed him any respect.
Just as he was about to shoo these two away, Chu Yiyi had a sudden idea: she would ask to switch seats with the mysterious man next to Xiao Xuan.
She figured if she sat next to Xiao Xuan, he definitely wouldn’t switch seats with Zhao Kai.
And Zhao Kai wouldn’t dare offend Xiao Xuan. Problem solved.
But Zhao Kai couldn’t let Chu Yiyi succeed. He wanted to be the first to reach an agreement with the mysterious man next to Xiao Xuan. It seemed there was nothing money couldn’t solve for him.
The situation had escalated beyond Xiao Xuan’s control. He couldn’t very well attack the two in front of him, but he thought of a solution.
He stepped in front of Chu Yiyi and Zhao Kai, lowered his voice, and whispered, “Are you two out of your minds? I’m acting as a shield here. Can’t you two really figure out who this is?”
As he spoke, he frantically hinted with his eyes, practically spelling out ‘This is our sect’s Heavenly Master’ on his face.
Hearing this, Chu Yiyi covered her mouth in shock. Her eyes suddenly grew dreamy as an image of a handsome, imposing figure appeared in her mind, perfectly matching the man asleep in the seat.
But thinking about it, looking at Xiao Xuan’s behavior, wasn’t he just acting as an attendant to this mysterious man?
In the entire Dragon-Tiger Mountain, the only one who could have Xiao Xuan as an attendant was probably that person.
Considering the upcoming Daoist Conference, the mysterious man’s identity seemed even more certain.
Most importantly, she was a fervent fan of this mysterious man, and she hadn’t recognized him earlier!
Zhao Kai, upon hearing the hint, also guessed the mysterious man’s true identity.
He was so frightened his legs went weak, nearly collapsing to his knees.
He managed to support himself on the back of a nearby seat to avoid falling.
Good heavens, the Heavenly Master Zhang is here and you didn’t say so earlier?
Thank goodness he hadn’t woken Heavenly Master Zhang. Otherwise, with Heavenly Master Zhang’s status, he might not personally take action against a minor character like him, but his own master would definitely break his legs.
After all, in the Dragon Country’s cultivation world, who wouldn’t want to curry favor with Heavenly Master Zhang?
If he offended Heavenly Master Zhang, he’d be narrowing his own path considerably.
Suddenly, Chu Yiyi beside him lost her appeal. Now, he wanted more to please Heavenly Master Zhang before him.
Seeing the surrounding crowd still chattering, Zhao Kai said in a low voice, “What are all of you making noise for? It’s the middle of the night. Don’t disturb others’ sleep. Have you no common decency?”
The onlookers felt a chill. What audacity to blame others first! Weren’t you two the ones shouting and yelling? What does it have to do with us?
If you want to throw someone off, throw yourself off first.
However, due to Zhao Kai’s status, no one said anything.
Under Xiao Xuan’s gesture, the two wisely returned to their seats, silent as if struck dumb, not daring to make a sound.
Seeing the entire cabin quiet down as if nothing had happened, and then turning to see Zhang Yangqing still fast asleep, Xiao Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He hadn’t expected Zhao Kai and Chu Yiyi to show him so little respect. No matter what he said, others paid no heed.
Nor had he expected that merely hinting at the Heavenly Master’s identity would make these usually arrogant mystical sect disciples tremble as if meeting a deity.
And this was just hinting at Zhang Yangqing’s identity. He didn’t dare imagine the uproar if Zhang Yangqing directly revealed himself.
Wouldn’t these two disciples probably kneel on the spot in fright?
Xiao Xuan felt quite smug inside. He felt he had finally experienced what it was like for those followers in the Strange Tales World to be Zhang Yangqing’s underlings.
Just the mention of his name was enough to scare off armies.
“It seems that with strength, one is respected wherever one goes.”
Xiao Xuan also understood Zhang Yangqing’s well-intentioned strictness with him.
The cultivation world of the Dragon Country was full of talent. Those core disciples who entered major sects were all geniuses, weren’t they? Very few would give Xiao Xuan much face.
To put it bluntly, he had some skill but wasn’t top-tier.
But even in this cultivation world teeming with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, and clouds of geniuses, very few dared to disrespect Zhang Yangqing.
Wherever Zhang Yangqing went, he was the most dazzling sun.
Xiao Xuan usually felt he was only slightly behind Zhang Yangqing. Now he realized the gap between them was like a chasm.
Just on this trip, before even reaching Mount Wudang, Xiao Xuan had seen what reality was.
Within his own Dragon-Tiger Mountain, his fellow disciples would show him some consideration.
But outside, no one feared him. What they feared was Zhang Yangqing.
All the respect the Dragon-Tiger Mountain commanded was earned by Zhang Yangqing alone.
Just imagine, if the Dragon-Tiger Mountain didn’t have Zhang Yangqing, Chu Yiyi wouldn’t have turned to him for help, and Zhao Kai might have even been openly disrespectful.
This further strengthened Xiao Xuan’s resolve to cultivate diligently.
When the plane reached its destination, Zhang Yangqing naturally woke up, and the two disembarked together.
At this point, Xiao Xuan thought Chu Yiyi and the other might come over to strike up a conversation.
After all, Chu Yiyi had been trying to see Zhang Yangqing for so long without success.
Surprisingly, neither made a move, which puzzled Xiao Xuan.
Actually, they weren’t foolish. The reason Heavenly Master Zhang was so heavily disguised was precisely to travel discreetly.
Approaching him now and potentially exposing his identity wouldn’t leave a good impression; it might even make him angry.
On the plane, they could disregard others’ feelings because, to a certain extent, they were indeed above ordinary people. Even if others resented them inwardly, they wouldn’t dare say anything, as they couldn’t afford to offend them.
But in front of Zhang Yangqing, they had to carefully consider and actively align with his intentions, because they couldn’t afford to offend him either.
On Mount Wudang, upon hearing Zhang Yangqing was coming, Sect Leader Qingxu hadn’t slept all night.
As fellow Daoists, no elaborate ceremony was needed.
Still, he had fasted for a day in advance, bathed, and donned his Daoist robes.
He wore the Jade Purity Lotus Crown, one of the three main crowns of Daoism.
The three are the Jade Purity Lotus Crown, the Grand Purity Fish-tail Crown, and the Supreme Purity Hibiscus Crown.
Named for its shape resembling a blooming lotus, it is called the Lotus Crown.
Those capable of wearing such a crown were invariably sect leaders.
Sect Leader Qingxu prepared to personally descend the mountain to welcome him, demonstrating the utmost respect for Zhang Yangqing.
Because Zhang Yangqing’s arrival was a great honor for Mount Wudang.
For an ordinary Daoist Conference, only about a dozen sects would attend, holding some ritual ceremonies.
Normally, there would be around a hundred people.
But someone had leaked the news of Zhang Yangqing’s attendance. A vast number of sects—over a hundred—had arrived, with attendees numbering over a thousand. Even non-Daoist sects had shamelessly shown up.
Sect Leader Qingxu knew these people didn’t care about the Daoist Conference itself; they were purely here to curry favor with Zhang Yangqing.
In a sense, Zhang Yangqing had already become the bellwether of the Dragon Country’s cultivation world. Wherever he went, that place would inevitably be bustling and extraordinarily lively!
