Chapter 98 - 62: Vice Temple Master

Chapter 98: Chapter 62: Vice Temple Master

Bamboo Forest Peak. The Patrol Disciple resting area.

Gently patting his junior sister’s head, Li Yinsheng looked at the Golden Characters before him, his heart stirring slightly.

Looking at the description of this Cultivation Aspiration, the Direct Lineage disciple of Shouyi Temple lying on the ground—who had snatched the Cultivation Fruit from his junior sister’s hands—wasn’t just someone used to acting arrogantly and domineeringly.

She inherently held malice toward Xuanzhen Temple, and this malice likely stemmed from the entirety of Shouyi Temple.

Otherwise, the triggered Cultivation Aspiration wouldn’t have directly listed the entire Shouyi Temple as a target, demanding his junior sister defeat everyone in Shouyi Temple from official disciples to Daoists.

Li Yinsheng had long known that Shouyi Temple coveted Xuanzhen Temple’s Spirit Vein, but he truly hadn’t expected it to be this exaggerated.

He wondered, "Does the entire Shouyi Temple really harbor such malice toward Xuanzhen Temple? Is that really necessary? Xuanzhen Temple doesn’t seem to have any long-standing feud with Shouyi Temple, right?"

Li Yinsheng frowned. With a point of his finger, the Female Cultivator surnamed Fu, who had nearly been crushed by his Artifact Manipulation Skill, was lifted a foot off the ground.

By now, she was bleeding from her facial orifices, her eyes bloodshot and bulging. Feeling the crushing pressure on her body slightly loosen, she hastily struggled and begged for mercy. "Senior, please... spare my life. I am from Shouyi Temple..."

"Junior, do you know of Xuanzhen Temple?" Li Yinsheng asked directly.

"I know it, I know it!" the Female Cultivator frantically nodded in admission.

Severely injured and under the threat of death, her Heart and Spirit had crumbled. Her mind was a chaotic mess, leaving her completely unable to think of lying; she could only answer on pure instinct.

"Where did you hear about it?" Hearing her admission, Li Yinsheng didn’t loosen the Artifact Manipulation Skill; instead, he increased the pressure, twisting her body until her bones CRACKED.

"Vice Temple Master Zhao... It was Vice Temple Master Zhao! He told us when he arrived..." she stammered in even greater panic.

"What did he say?" Li Yinsheng added another fraction of force.

"He said if we encounter anyone from Xuanzhen Temple, we shouldn’t show them any mercy..."

The moment the Cultivator finished speaking, she felt the force on her body vanish, finally allowing her to gasp for breath.

"Since that is the case, I should go find your Vice Temple Master and demand an explanation," Li Yinsheng said with a smile. He once again grabbed the Female Cultivator by the neck using his Artifact Manipulation Skill. "You’re coming with me to be a witness!"

Summoning his Talisman Crane from nearby, he had Mu Xiaoyu climb on first. He then offered a few comforting words to the frightened Female Cultivator from Huang Bamboo Temple before stepping onto the Talisman Crane himself and soaring into the sky.

He had previously swept the area with his Divine Sense. The people of Shouyi Temple did not reside with the disciples of other Daoist Temples.

They had their own temporary encampment located in an area between the mountainside and the peak. The disciples who came this time, the two Stewards he had seen earlier, and Vice Temple Master Zhao were all stationed there.

Having been comforted by Li Yinsheng, the Huang Bamboo Temple Female Cultivator behind the stall was no longer in her initial state of panic.

Watching Li Yinsheng fly off on the Talisman Crane, seemingly intent on settling a score with Shouyi Temple, she immediately realized what was happening.

"Oh no, I need to report this to a Steward!"

Ignoring the Cultivators drawn over by the recent commotion, she hastily packed up the remaining Cultivation Fruits from her stall, cast an Armor-Horse Skill on herself, and hurried away.

At the Shouyi Temple encampment. Inside the largest Bamboo House in the center.

The sky had already grown dark, but several Magical Artifact lamps illuminated the Bamboo House brightly.

Steward Xu, who had been repeatedly swatted out of the sky by Li Yinsheng’s Talisman Crane, wore a resentful expression.

"Zhao, tell me, isn’t that brat from Xuanzhen Temple a bit too arrogant?" Steward Xu said angrily. "I’ve already been extremely tolerant of him, yet he pushes his luck. He humiliated me five times in a single day!"

Sitting across from Steward Xu was an old man in a white robe who looked to be over seventy years old.

Though his face was covered in wrinkles and his hair was almost entirely white, his eyebrows and beard were a deep cinnabar red.

The Talisman patterns embroidered on his Daoist Robe, however, were not cinnabar red but a pale gold that faintly shimmered with a crimson hue.

"Junior brother," Vice Temple Master Zhao said, his brows furrowed, making the wrinkles on his forehead even more pronounced. "According to what you’ve said, this kid is incredibly young, yet his Cultivation already far surpasses yours. He does indeed have the qualifications to act a bit brazen."

Steward Xu was left speechless.

The logic was sound. Given such high Cultivation at such a young age, any amount of arrogance wouldn’t be uncalled for. However, he couldn’t help but think, "Senior brother, you’re saying this right to my face. Could you at least consider my dignity?"

Looking at his somewhat sullen junior brother, Vice Temple Master Zhao continued. "Your Cultivation within our temple is already quite impressive. For this person to suppress you so easily, his Cultivation might not be beneath mine.

"While his methods are likely still very immature, he has the Cultivation to back them up, and he is staying in a residence arranged by Huang Bamboo Temple.

"If we were to make a move against him directly in that residence, I’m afraid the commotion would be too large and draw Huang Bamboo Temple’s intense dissatisfaction. It would be very difficult to clean up the mess then," Vice Temple Master Zhao said, shaking his head.

"Senior brother, are you telling me I have to just swallow this insult?" the Cultivator surnamed Xu asked, his face full of gloom.

"Do not forget that we are here on important business. If not for the talismanic coins, you must at least consider these Cultivation Fruits," Vice Temple Master Zhao reminded him.

"If we take things too far and back Huang Bamboo Temple into a corner, they might toughen up and insist on kicking us off this peak. If that delays the temple’s official business, neither of us can bear the consequences."

"Your words make sense, but swallowing this foul anger is truly... Sigh!" The Cultivator was deeply unwilling to let it go.

"Heh heh, rest assured, I am not asking you to swallow it entirely," Vice Temple Master Zhao consoled him with a chuckle.

"Didn’t he bring a female disciple along on this trip? I have already instructed our disciples that if they encounter that Female Cultivator from Xuanzhen Temple, they should find an excuse to stir up trouble and test their true depths."

"What use is testing a mere disciple with such low Cultivation?" the Cultivator surnamed Xu asked in confusion.

"Xuanzhen Temple has been destitute for so long and hasn’t taken in any apprentices, yet now, uncharacteristically, they suddenly have a new disciple. How could we not test her?" Vice Temple Master Zhao said.

"Furthermore, through this test, we can also gauge Li Yinsheng’s temperament—whether he will endure it in silence or come knocking on our door."

"He will definitely come knocking on our door! This person is incredibly arrogant. He dared to humiliate even a Steward like me, let alone a few disciples!" Steward Xu’s face lit up with joy.

Once Li Yinsheng showed up at their doorstep, they could teach him a lesson. He realized, "So my senior brother does intend to help me vent this anger after all."

Vice Temple Master Zhao chuckled and said, "You said he is arrogant and seeks revenge for the smallest grievance. If he comes here to cause a scene because his disciple was bullied, we can naturally use the opportunity to teach him a lesson.

"After all, it would be him blowing a squabble between juniors out of proportion and coming to our Shouyi Temple encampment to cause trouble. Even if we discipline him then, we’ll still have the moral high ground. The worst that could happen afterward is having to offer a token verbal reprimand to our own disciples."

"Exactly, exactly. That way, Huang Bamboo Temple would at most be secretly dissatisfied, but they absolutely wouldn’t go so far as to directly evict us," Steward Xu laughed.

But he quickly grew a little worried. "What if that brat just swallows it?"

"Then it proves he has some shrewdness, and you really will have to swallow this anger, junior brother. Huang Bamboo Temple is already quite displeased with us; we cannot cause too much trouble on their turf," Vice Temple Master Zhao said solemnly.

"Very well," Steward Xu said. "I hope that brat takes the initiative to come here.

"By the way, Zhao, have you reported back to the temple that this brat’s Cultivation and talent far exceed our expectations? The Temple Master needs to know so he can make preparations," Steward Xu added.

"With that brat’s talent," he reminded him, "the Dharma Vein might not dissolve Xuanzhen Temple. If that happens, Xuanzhen Temple’s Spirit Vein might..."

"I already informed the temple using a Tongyin Talisman," Vice Temple Master Zhao smiled. "How could I neglect such an important matter?"

"Then how did the Temple Master reply?" Steward Xu asked.

"He hasn’t replied yet," Vice Temple Master Zhao said, shaking his head.

"Then..." Steward Xu was about to speak again when he suddenly felt the space above him darken slightly.

Vice Temple Master Zhao noticed it too, and the two of them looked up almost simultaneously.

The roof was gone.

It was already dark outside. With the roof suddenly replaced by the night sky, it naturally made the space above feel pitch black.

The Bamboo House, now stripped of its roof, was left with four bare walls, resembling a circular fence.

Up above, Li Yinsheng, leading Mu Xiaoyu, stood on the Talisman Crane. He looked down at the two men standing inside the fence and cupped his hands.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoists."