I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

#294 - Accountability

The various Daoist temple masters below, never ones to shy away from a spectacle, were all chattering amongst themselves, continuously pressuring Liu Feng and mocking Zhang Xiaohua.

Listening to the crowd's jeers and seeing Liu Feng's flushed face, Zhang Xiaohua finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Senior Brother, say no more! Martial arts competitions are about fair contests. I, Xiaowang, am not one to be a sore loser. This match was won by Martial Nephew Zhang Chen. Do not speak further, lest we all lose face."

Zhang Xiaohua's voice was resolute as he spoke to Liu Feng. Then, he looked at Zhang Chen: "Martial Nephew, you truly have good skills. I truly underestimated you before. You won this time; you are the first place winner of the competition. I concede."

After saying these words, Zhang Xiaohua strode away, leaving the stage without hesitation, leaving Liu Feng and Zhang Chen standing on the platform.

Liu Feng, his face now gloomy, shot a glance at Zhang Chen and then said to the crowd below the stage: "Zhang Chen has won this competition. You may all disperse."

After speaking, he didn't even mention the rewards, but hastily walked off the stage.

Zhang Chen stood on the stage, watching the departing Liu Feng with some speechlessness. This fellow's behavior was too unsightly.

"Senior Brother Zhang, you're the first! You're the first! You'll definitely have a place among the future Star Gods. You must not forget me in the future. I want to be your subordinate deity!" Cheng Yu ran to the front of the stage, shouting and yelling.

Zhang Chen's eyes swept over the crowd below the stage and saw that everyone was staring at him with a look of amusement, without any congratulations for his first-place victory.

Zhang Chen's heart sank. He looked at the shouting Cheng Yu, jumped off the stage, embraced Cheng Yu, and then dispersed with the crowd.

A perfectly good competition ended in a disappointing manner.

"Zhang Chen, congratulations. You will be a Star God from now on." Cheng Yu's big eyes sparkled with brilliance, filled with joy.

"It's too early to congratulate me now. I think the temple master is afraid that he won't let this go easily," Zhang Chen said, stroking Cheng Yu's head, and getting up to walk towards his own courtyard.

"What do you mean?" Cheng Yu was stunned when he heard this: "Aren't you already the first place winner? Could there be any unexpected changes?"

Cheng Yu's young mind couldn't comprehend the complex intricacies.

Zhang Chen touched the little bean sprout's head but didn't explain.

When Zhang Chen returned to the courtyard and reached the gate, he stopped. He saw Liu Feng standing in the courtyard with a gloomy expression.

Zhang Chen put down the little bean sprout, stepped forward, and offered a salute: "Greetings, Temple Master."

"Zhang Chen, your wings have hardened. Even my words are no longer effective, is that so?" Liu Feng's voice was icy cold, and his face was so gloomy that it seemed like water could drip from it.

Zhang Chen sighed softly when he heard this: "Temple Master, this disciple does not understand your meaning."

He could only pretend not to understand.

"I told you to lose to the heir on the stage, why did you disobey my orders?" Liu Feng's voice was full of suppressed anger. If Zhang Chen had not been disobedient, the situation would not have been so difficult to salvage now.

Zhang Chen sighed softly when he heard this: "Temple Master, you have wronged this disciple. I originally just wanted to be stubborn, and then lose to the heir in action. Wouldn't that make the heir appear more capable? It would also prevent the people from the lower Daoist temples from questioning the fairness of the competition. But who knew that the heir would be so useless, that my sword would actually pierce into his protective ability?"

Zhang Chen was a little fox, how could he go against Liu Feng?

At this time, he pretended to be aggrieved and said: "If only the heir could have blocked one of my attacks, this disciple would have had the opportunity to abandon his sword and admit defeat, but who knew that the heir was just a showy figure, a silver-like wax spear."

Zhang Chen's voice was full of grievance.

"What about after that? Then why didn't you admit defeat when I told you to admit defeat?" Liu Feng questioned Zhang Chen: "You actually dared to contradict me on the stage. You are really amazing. You are not the same as when you first arrived."

Zhang Chen sighed helplessly when he heard this: "Temple Master, you know that I have a deep hatred for Zhang Xiaohua. Is it possible for me to bow my head to him? You might as well just kill me with a knife!"

Liu Feng was so choked with anger when he heard this that it took him a long time to say: "Do you really think that because Xie Lingyun favors you, you can defy my will and contradict me?"

Zhang Chen smiled when he heard this, and said calmly: "This disciple dares not, but what this disciple wants to say is that what the Pingbian Prince's Mansion can do, the Bureau of Investigation can also do."

"Are you threatening me? Are you using the Bureau of Investigation to manipulate me?" A dangerous light flashed in Liu Feng's eyes. He heard it. Zhang Chen was implying that the Pingbian Prince's Mansion could cause a dimensional blow to the Huangtian Dao's evangelism, so there was no reason why the Bureau of Investigation couldn't do it.

"You have misunderstood me. I am saying that the Pingbian Prince's Mansion can support the Huangtian Dao's evangelism, and the Bureau of Investigation can also do it?" Zhang Chen quickly retorted, refusing to admit the meaning of threat in his words even if he was beaten to death.

Liu Feng glanced at Zhang Chen when he heard this, not knowing whether he believed it or not. At this time, his words softened: "What do you know? The Bureau of Investigation only has supervisory powers, but it has no right to interfere with the Pingbian Prince's Mansion's decrees. The Bureau of Investigation has no right to tell us to preach in the Northern Territory at all."

Speaking of this, Liu Feng sighed faintly

"Do you know the power of the Pingbian Prince's Mansion? If we want to preach, we must rely on the support of the Pingbian Prince's Mansion. If we anger the Pingbian Prince's Mansion, our Huangtian Dao will suffer a fatal blow in the Northern Territory, even if the Bureau of Investigation has no right to intervene. Our decades of operation in the Northern Territory, decades of accumulation, countless disciples and followers rushing forward one after another, can all be turned to ashes with just one order from the Pingbian Prince's Mansion?" Liu Feng was trembling with anger when he said this: "Moreover, the title of the first place in this competition is also our Huangli Temple's explanation to the Pingbian Prince's Mansion. Ignoring my hints, you actually forcibly seized the first place. How can you ask me to explain to the Pingbian Prince's Mansion?"

Zhang Chen was silent when he heard this. He didn't refute Liu Feng's words. He just wanted to climb to the upper echelons of the Huangtian Dao and obtain higher-level Qi training formulas. Why was it so difficult?

Liu Feng looked at Zhang Chen with his eyes, took a breath: "You stay in the small courtyard recently, and you are not allowed to go down the mountain again. Wait for the news from the sect."

After Liu Feng finished speaking, he left straight away, leaving Zhang Chen and the little bean sprout standing behind, their eyes looking at Liu Feng's back without speaking.

"Senior Brother, the temple master is too much. Does he want to strip you of your first place qualification with these words?" the little bean sprout said, gnashing his teeth with hatred.

Zhang Chen didn't speak when he heard this, and after pondering for a long time, he said: "My things, they can't take them away so easily."

At this moment, in the underground secret room, in front of the pool of faith power, Wu Changming and Gu Mingyue were watching the incense power in the pool of faith. Wu Changming's voice was full of pride: "Senior Brother, your little prince has suffered a setback. It seems that the position of the Star God is not destined for him."

Wu Changming was very proud. As long as the quota didn't fall into Gu Mingyue's hands, he would have vented a bad breath.

Gu Mingyue's face darkened as he listened, remaining silent. Just then, the power of faith above the Pool of Faith twisted and morphed, creating a figure that stood above the pool, looking at the two.

Seeing the figure, the two knew it was a projection of the Great Teacher, and they respectfully bowed, saying, "Greetings, Master."

"Wu Changming, there has been a slight problem with the propagation of the faith in Jiangnan. You must immediately depart for the Jiangnan region and eliminate the enemies of the faith," said the Great Teacher.

Wu Changming respectfully bowed upon hearing this, saying, "Your disciple obeys."

His figure vanished from the spot as he finished speaking.

After Wu Changming left, the Great Teacher turned to Gu Mingyue: "I have already seen the message you sent earlier."

"I implore Master to make a decision," Gu Mingyue said respectfully.

"I have already sent Wu Changming away. You don't need me to teach you what to do next, do you?" the Great Teacher said.

"I fear that Wu Changming will fight me to the death if he finds out about this," Gu Mingyue said with a wry smile.

"You must understand the big picture. He's just an ordinary disciple; how can he compare to the importance of the Prince of Pingbian? The Yellow Sky Sect has already placed its bet on the Pingbian Royal Family. How can we allow any mistakes to occur?" At this point, the Great Teacher frowned and said, "Zhang Xiaohua is, after all, someone who has mastered supernatural abilities. To be defeated by a mere mortal, there must be something fishy going on. You should thoroughly investigate that Zhang Chen and see if there's anything strange about him."

The Great Teacher's dissatisfied voice echoed from below as he said, "That Zhang Xiaohua is also useless, a piece of trash who can't be helped. A dignified supernatural being actually lost to a mortal. It's truly a disgrace to us."

"Carry out my orders. I'm entrusting everything here to you. I'm about to enter seclusion. I'm leaving the entire Conferred God Ceremony to you. I'm afraid I won't have time to come out and check on it then," the Great Teacher's figure gradually faded.

"Master, has the reason for the loss of the power of faith been found?"

Seeing that the Great Teacher was about to leave, Gu Mingyue hurriedly asked.

"There's nothing unusual about the Taoist temple. It must be that the disciples down the mountain are not diligent in propagating the faith, leading to a decrease in the incense offerings collected. You don't need to worry." As the Great Teacher's figure disappeared into the pool, the secret chamber fell silent.

At this moment, Gu Mingyue stood blankly in front of the pool, his eyes fixed on the Pool of Faith, filled with inexplicable emotions. After a long while, he sighed softly, "Immortality! Master, you seek immortality for yourself, yet you are so unfeeling towards us. Take the position of Water God of the Miluo River, for example. Liu Feng has desperately begged you for three years, but you have always refused to budge, yet you give it to those useless ants. You are truly heartless towards us. We are your disciples!"

After Gu Mingyue finished speaking, he walked out of the secret chamber and arrived at the main hall, where he saw Liu Feng already standing in the hall, trembling with fear and trepidation.

"Uncle-Master..." Seeing Gu Mingyue walk in, Liu Feng hurriedly stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

"Alright, don't ask for forgiveness. This matter is not your fault," Gu Mingyue waved his hand, his voice full of gentleness. "I have already reported to the Great Teacher, and the Great Teacher has transferred Wu Changming away. From now on, all matters will be handled entirely by me."

Liu Feng's eyes lit up upon hearing Gu Mingyue's words. "Do you mean...?"

"Zhang Chen severely injured fellow disciple Chu Mingyue, disregarding the spirit of competition and the bond between fellow disciples. This is a grave crime. Strip him of his first-place qualification as a warning to others," Gu Mingyue said, his voice full of coldness.

Liu Feng said upon hearing this, "Since things have come to this, we can only do this. However, I fear that other Taoist temples will be unconvinced and secretly criticize us when this matter spreads."

"There is nothing that can be done for the sake of the greater cause," Gu Mingyue said.

Liu Feng could only nod in agreement upon hearing these words.

"Also, it's very abnormal that Zhang Chen's sword was able to pierce the protective divine power of the young prince. There must be something fishy going on," Gu Mingyue said.

"Logically speaking, Zhang Chen shouldn't have such abilities. This disciple went to investigate before and didn't detect any mysterious aura on him..." Liu Feng said.

"I will personally make a trip. I want to see what's so strange about this kid," Gu Mingyue said, standing up and disappearing from the hall.

Meanwhile, at the moment when the Great Teacher left, Zhang Chen's Devour skill inexplicably sensed that subtle aura in the void quietly disappearing without a trace. A thought popped into Zhang Chen's mind: "The Great Teacher is gone?"

"It makes sense. A being like the Great Teacher has countless matters to attend to every day. How could he have time to stay in the Taoist temple all the time?" Zhang Chen felt delighted. The departure of the Great Teacher's will meant that he could continue to steal incense offerings for his own use, and he could gain even more points.

He couldn't find a new source of points for the time being, so Huangli Temple was his source of wealth.

"You are Zhang Chen."

Just as Zhang Chen was thinking about continuing to be a rat, a footstep sounded outside the door, followed by Gu Mingyue walking in from the gate.

A golden light flashed in Zhang Chen's eyes, and then his pupils shrank as he saw the vast divine power around the other party, not at all inferior to that old fellow Wu Changming.

This was someone at the level of the Ten Heavenly Masters of the Yellow Sky Sect.

Zhang Chen pretended not to know the other party's background, then stood up and said with a confused look, "You are...?"

Gu Mingyue ignored Zhang Chen and took a step forward, arriving in front of Zhang Chen. He grabbed Zhang Chen's wrist, and the divine power in his body surged, scanning Zhang Chen's body. However, he didn't detect anything unusual.

"Huh, strange! This is a mortal with a body of flesh and blood," Gu Mingyue frowned and looked at Zhang Chen's entire body again. Finally, his gaze fell on the iron sword. After noticing the turbid aura on the iron sword, he suddenly understood. He waved his hand, and the iron sword flew up and landed directly in his hand: "This sword has a powerful mysterious power, and it's also a power of turbidity and corrosion. No wonder it could pierce the young prince's protective barrier with one sword."

"Where did you get this sword?" Gu Mingyue asked domineeringly.

"This disciple obtained it from the Bureau of Inspection," Zhang Chen had already prepared himself and directly pushed all the responsibility onto the Bureau of Inspection. Even if the other party was a person at the level of the Ten Heavenly Masters, he was not worthy of questioning Xie Lingyun.

"So it was obtained from the Bureau of Inspection." Gu Mingyue held the iron sword and looked at it before casually throwing it back to Zhang Chen, saying with regret, "Unfortunately, the power of turbidity on this iron sword is dissipating. In three to five days, it will turn into an ordinary mortal sword. No wonder you were able to defeat the young prince. It turned out to be because of this sword. It seems that Xie Lingyun values you quite a bit."