Chapter 101 - Armed and Ready

Chen Jingzhai’s choice surprised everyone.

Everyone turned toward Du Ling with strange looks in their eyes.

Du Ling could not turn down the challenge. She held her jade token and appeared on the Eight Trigrams Platform.

Her entire body was under the protection of the Restriction. Before the battle had even begun, Du Ling already had a depressed look.

“Master-Uncle, why have you challenged me? I am only ranked 1,821,” Du Ling questioned Chen Jingzhai. She pouted and stared at the latter.

Chen Jingzhai had obtained the top seat in the Zhengdu battle. Therefore, he did not need to initiate challenges.

He could have easily entered the top 100 spots. She could not understand his reasoning for challenging her at all.

Most female cultivators had good figures, and the female disciples of Yunchao Peak had exceptionally fair skin.

With her wronged expression, most of the disciples felt that she was adorable.

However, in Chen Jingzhai’s eyes, this was all an act.

He would play the role of a strict Master-Uncle now!

Chen Jingzhai was expressionless as he stared at her with a gaze as cold as ice.

He said, “I wanted to challenge Chen Qianqian. But, unfortunately, she was eliminated.”

Du Ling’s eyes were wide open as she asked, “Master-Uncle, what do you mean by that?”

Sister Qianqian, who was standing before her, had been embarrassed by Little Master-Uncle.

Did he want to battle Sister Qianqian again?

Could it be that Qianqian had unintentionally done something to offend him?

If she had not, Du Ling could not understand why Little Master-Uncle would still be angry at Qianqian even after she had been eliminated.

Chen Jingzhai swept a glance at her. He had no intention of explaining himself to her.

Du Ling still wanted to question him further. However, her jade token descended into the black and white fish eyes.

The Restriction was lifted!

Chen Jingzhai attacked first. With a gentle wave of his sleeve, a row of water arrows shot out toward Du Ling.

Each water arrow was about three feet long. They were formed from water and were translucent. There were a total of five arrows.

The water arrows traveled at high speeds. Even though their speed was not as quick as that of meteorites plummeting toward the ground, they were akin to sharp arrows traversing the sky.

Du Ling never imagined that Little Master-Uncle would take the initiative to attack first.

After barely managing to evade his attack, she immediately tried to counterattack. However, the five water arrows did not dissipate.

Instead, they instantly merged into a water spear behind her.

The water spear pierced through the space and hit her in the back.

The ferocity of the attack sent Du Ling flying forward.

Just as she was about to fall off the Eight Trigrams Platform, the spear transformed into a rope that wrapped around her ankle.

Instead of flying out of the platform, Du Ling was pulled back onto it by the water rope.

She was then left dangling in mid-air pathetically.

Chen Jingzhai’s face was calm. His gaze was indifferent, and he did not continue attacking.

Yet, the water rope seemed to understand his intentions.

The other end of the rope immediately lashed out at Du Ling’s back.

The water rope attacked without holding back. After two to three strikes, the spirit light on her body was shattered.

Then, Du Ling lost the protection of her spiritual item and was whipped twice by the rope.

She screamed in pain and admitted defeat miserably.

The light of Restriction shone on the Eight Trigrams Platform, causing the water rope to dissipate.

Du Ling’s jade token flew out from the black and white fish eyes, enveloped her within its light, and transported her back to her seat.

However, Chen Jingzhai did not leave. Instead, he held his jade token in his hand and continued with the next challenge.

The second inner disciple of Yunchao Peak, Ge Hongxia, was sent onto the Eight Trigrams Platform.

“Master-Uncle, I am merely ranked 1,700. This is my first meeting with you. Why have you challenged me? Has there been a misunderstanding?” Ge Hongxia asked with a straight face.

She was wearing the Taoist robes of Yunchao Peak and appeared valiant.

Chen Jingzhai merely looked at her calmly, not saying anything.

Ge Hongxia was perplexed.

However, she did not plan to battle Chen Jingzhai after witnessing Du Ling’s painful experience.

She admitted defeat right after the jade token disappeared into the black and white fish eyes.

Such was the rule of the Eight Trigrams Platform.

Even if a cultivator chose to admit defeat, they could only do so after the jade token disappeared into the black and white fish eyes.

Chen Jingzhai crossed his arms. He still had no intention of stepping off the platform.

He immediately challenged yet another disciple from Yunchao Peak.

This time, even fools understood that something was awry.

On the eighth seat, Lin Zhiyao gritted her teeth in frustration.

She glared at Chen Jingzhai on the Eight Trigrams Platform. She had nowhere to vent the rage welling up inside of her.

She never imagined that Chen Jingzhai would act so shamelessly and despicable.

Not only was he specifically challenging the female disciples of Yunchao Peak, but he had also begun doing so from the lowest ranking member.

Wasn’t he their Little Master-Uncle? So why wasn’t he acting like one?

How was this any different from bullying the weak?

“If that is the case…” Lin Zhiyao secretly snorted.

She immediately transmitted her thoughts to all the disciples of Yunchao Peak.

If Chen Jingzhai challenged any one of them, they were to surrender immediately.

Whether female or male disciples, they were all to do so.

She wanted to see whether Chen Jingzhai would remain on the platform shamelessly.

As such, a bizarre scene took place in the battle forum.

Chen Jingzhai stood on the Eight Trigrams Platform with his arms crossed while he challenged the disciples of Yunchao Peak one after another.

On the other hand, the disciples of Yunchao Peak would admit defeat immediately right after the jade token disappeared into the black and white fish eyes with a sullen face.

Chen Jingzhai won even without attacking.

The number of his victories accumulated effortlessly.

No one raised any objection. No one complained that he was not playing fair either.

Everyone just watched silently.

All of them knew something wasn’t right, but no one interfered.

At the Cloud Gathering Hall of Yunchao Peak, a mass of clouds floated in the middle of the hall.

The occurrence happening at the battle forum was cast onto the clouds.

The scene was clearly displayed, and even the expressions in the fighter’s eyes were visible.

A few elders were seated on the two sides of the hall. Sitting at the top seat was the female Peak Master of Yunchao Peak. She was wearing red brocade robes.

“This is going too far!” said Elder Zhang while standing up. Then, he shouted angrily, “What kind of Master-Uncle is Chen Jingzhai? How dare he bully our Yunchao Peak disciples?”

Elder Zhou sneered and retorted, “Is he really a Master-Uncle? He is also at the Beginning Foundation Plane, yet our disciples don’t even dare to fight him. Ha! Is it really that difficult for you to admit that our disciples are spoiled?”

“You!” said Elder Zhang with a reddened face. “Now is not the time for us to be infighting. Look at this! The Yunchao lineage is utterly humiliated! Chen Jingzhai is bullying our disciples using his position as a Master-Uncle.”

“Our disciples lack ability. Shame on them for being bullied,” Elder Zhou said nonchalantly. He teased, “Brother Zhang, you are now a Nascent Zhenjun. There is no need for you to be pretentious and feign ignorance.”

“You!” said Elder Zhang as he pointed at Elder Zhou. It was as though flames of rage were shooting out from his eyes.

“Alright,” said Jiang Hongyi, the Peak Master of Yunchao Peak, indifferently. “On the battle forum, there is no seniority. The rules of the free challenges are clearly stated. It is a fact that the disciples of our lineage are inferior to others.”

“Peak Master, Chen Jingzhai’s wrath is deliberately aimed at us,” exclaimed Elder Zhang. “Why does he only challenge the disciples of Yunchao Peak? Why doesn’t he challenge anyone else?”

Elder Zhou responded, “That’s surely because someone from our peak has offended him. Haven’t our disciples offended enough people over the years?”

He snorted. Then, he stood up and bowed to Jiang Hongyi, saying, “Peak Master, I’m sure you are aware of this. Even though Junior Brother Jingzhai has not made a name for himself after he joined our sect, he was supported by many disciples from various lineages. Many talented disciples willingly admitted defeat after they fought him. I’m sure there is a valid reason behind him openly targeting our disciples now.”

He continued, “I think Chen Qianqian being defeated pathetically in the battle just now has angered the other disciples of Yunchao Peak. They might have secretly denounced Junior Brother Jingzhai and enraged him.”

“Preposterous!” chided Elder Zhang in anger. “Zhou, do you still consider yourself a member of Yunchao Peak? Why are you siding with him? Not only are you not looking for Chen Jingzhai’s faults, but you are also blaming our disciples. What is your motive?”

“Within the sect, we are all branches of the same tree,” Elder Zhou answered coldly. “You are short-sighted, overprotective, and make too clear a distinction between our disciples and those of other peaks. This led to today’s result.”

“I am not in charge of matters of the sect. So why is it all on me?” asked Elder Zhang angrily.

“It was you who overly pampered your blood descendants, causing the female disciples to step more and more out of line!” said Elder Zhou, as he revealed a stern face. Then, he turned to Peak Master Jiang and said, “Disgracing ourselves on the battle forum once is enough. If this happens again next time, our Yunchao Peak will become the laughingstock of the peaks. So, Peak Master, please decide carefully!”

“Peak Master!” Elder Zhang called for Jiang Hongyi’s intervention in exasperation.

“Say no more,” Jiang Hongyi said calmly. “We will wait for the battle forum to end.”

Everyone in the Cloud Gathering Hall fell silent instantaneously.