“True Heritage Disciple?”
Zhu Dafu was startled when he heard the voice from outside the room, and thought to himself with a heavy heart:
“This doesn’t sound like a friendly visit!”
However, he had no intention of turning the person away. Some things you just can’t hide from. So he spoke up and said:
“Please invite that senior brother in.”
“Okay, boss.”
Soon, a clerk from the Tianfu Shop brought someone in and pushed the door open.
Zhu Dafu didn’t recognize the visitor, but he still stood up and greeted him with a smile, asking:
“May I ask how to address you, senior brother?”
Despite Zhu Dafu’s friendly smile, the other man just kept a stern face and replied coldly:
“Zhao Yuanji.”
Not minding Zhao Yuanji’s coldness, Zhu Dafu continued to smile and said:
“So you’re Senior Brother Zhao. What business brings you to see your junior brother?”
This time, Zhao Yuanji didn’t answer. Instead, he casually glanced at the Tianfu Shop clerk standing nearby.
Zhu Dafu understood immediately and directly gave an order:
“Ziyu, you can leave us now.”
Hearing Zhu Dafu’s instruction, Ziyu said respectfully:
“Yes, boss.”
Then he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Seeing this, Zhao Yuanji’s expression softened a bit. He stepped forward, walked over to the main seat in the room, and sat down without waiting for an invitation.
Seeing how overbearing Zhao Yuanji was, Zhu Dafu’s eyes darkened for a moment. He knew this visitor meant trouble, so he dropped his smile, walked over to the side and sat down, saying calmly:
“If you have something to say, Senior Brother Zhao, just say it directly. Though I might not be able to help.”
Since the other man rejected his polite gesture, Zhu Dafu decided to drop the act.
After all, offending him or not, so be it. They were inside the Xuantian Sect, protected by the great formation. There was no way the other man would dare to attack him directly, right?
Seeing the change in Zhu Dafu, Zhao Yuanji showed displeasure in his eyes and spoke up:
“Is this the attitude you show toward your senior brother?”
Noticing Zhao Yuanji’s displeasure, Zhu Dafu didn’t care at all and shot back:
“And is this the attitude you show toward your junior brother?”
Bam! “How dare you!”
Enraged by Zhu Dafu’s words, Zhao Yuanji slammed his palm on the table, smashing the table and everything on it into dust in one blow.
But Zhu Dafu didn’t even blink. He said with a cold laugh:
“Senior brother, there’s no need for these games. If you have something to say, just say it. That table wasn’t cheap, you know – worth three hundred high-grade spirit stones. I’ll have to trouble you to cover the cost before you leave.”
Seeing that Zhu Dafu wasn’t intimidated at all, Zhao Yuanji gave him a long, hard look. Then he narrowed his eyes, thinking God knows what.
The next moment, Zhao Yuanji burst into loud laughter:
“Hahaha, Junior Brother Zhu, you’ve got some nerve! Your senior brother was just joking with you.”
Zhu Dafu didn’t reply. He just stared coldly at Zhao Yuanji.
Seeing this, Zhao Yuanji spoke again:
“I came here this time to help relieve your worries, Junior Brother Zhu.”
“Right now, you’re only at the Violet Mansion realm. I’m afraid you might not be able to handle the huge profits from the Tianfu Shop. So I want to give you a hand by buying into the shop. What do you think, Junior Brother Zhu?”
When he said the words “Violet Mansion realm,” Zhao Yuanji deliberately emphasized them without any attempt to hide it. The implied threat was completely obvious.
Zhao Yuanji wasn’t stupid. Putting on a show of force was fine, but if he directly threatened Zhu Dafu out in the open, and if Zhu Dafu recorded it and sent it to the Enforcement Hall, even someone with Zhao Yuanji’s status wouldn’t escape punishment.
After saying that, Zhao Yuanji tested the waters again:
“Of course, if there’s someone else behind the Tianfu Shop and you can’t make the decision, you can just say so. Then I can go talk to whoever is in charge.”
Seeing that Zhao Yuanji had finally revealed the real reason for his visit, Zhu Dafu didn’t want to beat around the bush with him anymore. He refused directly:
“Don’t trouble yourself over Tianfu Shop’s affairs, Senior Brother Zhao. If there’s nothing else, then please excuse me for not hosting you further.”
Seeing how Zhu Dafu didn’t know what was good for him and refused to say anything, Zhao Yuanji gave a cold snort and said:
“Hmph, fine then. You’re on your own, Junior Brother Zhu!”
With that, Zhao Yuanji was about to leave, but unexpectedly, Zhu Dafu stopped him:
“Senior Brother Zhao, this is a small business with small profits. You still need to pay for the things you broke.”
This time, Zhao Yuanji didn’t fly into a rage as expected.
He just gave Zhu Dafu a cold, dark look, left behind three hundred high-grade spirit stones, and left the Tianfu Shop without another word.
After Zhao Yuanji was gone, Zhu Dafu instantly collapsed back into his chair, his back drenched in cold sweat.
Zhao Yuanji was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator, while he himself was just a small Violet Mansion cultivator.
Confronting a Nascent Soul realm cultivator – even inside the Xuantian Sect, protected by the sect’s rules – the psychological pressure on Zhu Dafu was enormous.
What if Zhao Yuanji really threw caution to the wind and attacked? Even if he were punished by the sect afterwards, Zhu Dafu would still be dead!
But he couldn’t show weakness. Once he did, the troubles would never stop. Since he was going to offend the guy anyway, he might as well be straightforward about it and gamble that the other man wouldn’t risk his own life by attacking inside the Xuantian Sect.
After recovering a bit, Zhu Dafu looked at the table that had been smashed to dust and muttered to himself:
“It looks like I’d better not leave the sect for a while.”
On the other side.
After Zhao Yuanji came out of the Tianfu Shop, Li Xue, who had been waiting outside the whole time, immediately went up to him and asked:
“Senior Brother Zhao, how did it go?”
Zhao Yuanji didn’t answer directly. After leading Li Xue away from the market area, he gave an order:
“From today on, assign someone to keep an eye on Zhu Dafu. As soon as he leaves the sect, tell me immediately.”
“Uh… this?”
Hearing Zhao Yuanji’s order, Li Xue didn’t agree right away. After hesitating for a moment, he finally tried to persuade him:
“Senior Brother Zhao, for the sake of just one Zhu Dafu, we don’t need to take such a big risk by violating the Xuantian Sect’s rules.”
Zhao Yuanji gave Li Xue a cold, indifferent look and said icily:
“Li Xue, all you need to do is follow my orders. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Who said anything about violating the sect’s rules? Hmm?”
As he spoke, Zhao Yuanji’s powerful aura pressed down directly on Li Xue.
Li Xue was overwhelmed by the pressure, sweating cold and struggling to breathe, and quickly said:
“Yes, yes, yes. You’re right, senior brother. Li Xue understands.”
Even though he said that, Li Xue was cursing inwardly.
He was now full of regret. Back when he was still a menial disciple, he shouldn’t have been like everyone else – acting on impulse and signing a service contract with Zhao Yuanji just for cultivation resources.
If the contract period hadn’t expired yet, he would have left long ago. If Zhao Yuanji really violated the sect’s rules, Li Xue would be held jointly responsible.
Seeing Li Xue give in, Zhao Yuanji withdrew his aura, gave a cold snort, and led Li Xue toward his own cave dwelling.
Even though Li Xue was bound by the contract and couldn’t betray him, he was still a disciple of the Xuantian Sect. Zhao Yuanji didn’t dare to attack Li Xue directly inside the sect.
Besides, even with the contract, it could only force Li Xue and the others not to reveal any of his secrets and not to do anything that truly betrayed the sect.
After all, everyone had sworn a Dao oath when they joined the Xuantian Sect, promising not to betray the sect.
But violating some of the sect’s rules didn’t necessarily count as betraying the sect.
Just like how breaking some of a country’s laws doesn’t mean a person has betrayed that country.
The Xuantian Sect was an immortal cultivation sect. They naturally understood that people have desires and emotions, and that one’s Dao heart needs to be tempered through personal experience, not forcefully shaped by the sect’s restrictions.
With so many disciples under its wing, conflicts among them were inevitable. But appropriate competition actually helped the disciples grow.
If the sect tried to suppress everything with Dao oaths, it would only backfire and limit the disciples’ potential. That wasn’t what the Xuantian Sect wanted.
Therefore, as long as someone didn’t truly betray the sect, the Xuantian Sect relied on its established rules to discipline and punish its disciples for other matters.
Otherwise, if everything was handled with a blanket Dao oath, the sect’s rules would have no reason to exist.
