Chapter 14: Fight

The New Disciples who had paid money originally thought nothing would happen to them, but they never expected the Senior Disciples in front of them to keep beating them anyway. Some of these disciples couldn’t stand it. They felt deeply wronged in their hearts, thinking to themselves, “We already paid the money, why are you still hitting us?” By this time, they were already knocked to the ground and were being kicked by those Senior Disciples. The more they thought about it, the more aggrieved they felt, and finally one of them shouted out loudly:

“We already paid! Why are you still hitting us?”

“Ha ha ha ha…”

The Senior Disciples burst into loud laughter, kicking even more vigorously. Meanwhile, in a Pavilion Tower near the Main Hall, several teachers were drinking tea by the window while looking towards the Main Hall’s entrance. Among them was the middle-aged teacher who had just taught Xu Ziyan and the others.

“Brother Min, it looks like these New Disciples are going to lose another layer of skin today!” A slightly younger person said to the teacher who taught Xu Ziyan’s class.

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let them know shame so they can find courage.”

“Oh?” The younger man was startled by these words, then chuckled lightly. “Brother Min, your attitude is unusual today! Weren’t you always the one who couldn’t stand seeing the Senior Disciples bully the new ones?”

“Hmph, Senior Disciples bullying New Disciples is naturally wrong. But if a New Disciple shows no desire to improve, then teaching her a lesson might not be a bad thing.”

“Oh?”

Now the others became interested too. Someone quickly asked, “Did someone offend you?”

“Hmph, just a little girl who doesn’t know her place.” Brother Min’s face grew even longer and darker as he said gloomily:

“She looked around endlessly during my lecture. When I finished, all the other disciples were thinking and understanding, but she was the only one gazing elsewhere. If we don’t teach such a disciple a lesson, how could she ever show the slightest improvement?”

“Which one are you talking about?”

“That girl in the blue dress standing on the Main Hall steps.”

Everyone on the Pavilion Tower looked toward Xu Ziyan. Meanwhile, in front of the Main Hall, after the Senior Disciples heard the New Disciples’ cries of injustice and finished laughing, they harshly disciplined those who had paid, then looked up at the remaining New Disciples who hadn’t paid. They arrogantly shouted:

“Listen up! Today, we Senior Disciples are going to teach you New Disciples a lesson. We don’t just want your money—we’re also going to beat you severely to make sure you learn the rules. Come on, step forward willingly, kneel down one by one, and stick your butts up for us.”

The remaining New Disciples’ faces were full of panic. The ones who paid first were from better-off families who could afford to give some money. The rest were from poorer families in the clan. Where would they get money to give the Senior Disciples? Even if their families managed to scrape together a little, it was their only savings, so they had hesitated initially and didn’t come forward to pay.

Now, seeing that even paying meant getting beaten, they were even less willing to hand over their only savings. They had considered resisting, but seeing the opponents’ Cultivation Level, they clearly weren’t a match. Thinking about being humiliated at will, fear showed on their faces. The Senior Disciples, seeing their terrified expressions, felt even more pleased and couldn’t help laughing even louder.

Xu Li, Xu Tieniu, Xu Ling, and Xu Dezhi standing near Xu Ziyan were also full of panic, especially Xu Li. The thought of herself, a girl, having to kneel on the ground and stick her bottom up high made her feel like she’d rather die. Her face had turned completely pale. Only Xu Ziyan and Xu Qingxue remained very calm.

Xu Ziyan was calm because her Cultivation Level was higher than the Senior Disciples’, so she wasn’t afraid of them. Her only worry was revealing her true strength. As for Xu Qingxue, it was just her nature—always cold and icy, her face showing no change at all. However, no change on her face didn’t mean she wasn’t angry inside. Hearing the demand to kneel and stick up her bottom, Xu Qingxue could no longer contain her fury and sharply yelled:

“Beasts!”

“Oh?”

Everyone present turned to look, shocked, gazing toward the Main Hall entrance, everyone wanting to see who had shouted those two words, “Beasts!”

Everyone heard it was a female voice, so their eyes swept over Xu Ziyan, Xu Qingxue, and Xu Li.

“Ha!”

One Senior Disciple laughed, leering at the three girls as he said:

“So there are three chicks over there. Come on, hurry over, stick your butts up, let your big brother spank them a couple times, and we’ll forget about your money.”

“Ha ha ha ha…” A group of Senior Disciples laughed wildly. Someone else shouted, “Come here, come to big brother, I won’t spank your butt, just let me touch your chest once.”

“Ha ha ha ha…”

Xu Qingxue’s small, cold, pale face turned even whiter. She moved her foot, about to charge forward recklessly. Xu Ziyan, beside her, sighed inwardly, thinking, “If you go over there, you’ll only suffer humiliation.” After her previous encounter with Xu Qingxue, Xu Ziyan had developed a bit of fondness for this girl who appeared cold on the outside but was proud and stubborn inside. Besides, Xu Ziyan herself clearly understood that today, she couldn’t avoid it—there was no other way but to take action. So as soon as she saw Xu Qingxue move, she reached out, grabbed her arm, and pulled her behind.

Xu Qingxue, suddenly pulled behind Xu Ziyan, was stunned for a moment, then excitement shone in her eyes. During their previous exchange, she had noticed Xu Ziyan wasn’t using her full strength and hadn’t been able to gauge Xu Ziyan’s depth. Now, seeing Xu Ziyan about to act, she couldn’t help but feel thrilled.

Xu Ziyan slowly descended the steps and walked forward. Xu Qingxue followed closely behind without hesitation. Xu Li, Xu Tieniu, Xu Ling, and Xu Dezhi hesitated briefly, then also followed step by step behind Xu Ziyan down the steps. These few people now felt more settled inside. Seeing Xu Ziyan bravely step forward, they also felt that since they couldn’t avoid it today, they shouldn’t just take the humiliation and beating. Even if they couldn’t win against the Senior Disciples, they should still resist.

“Huh? Brother Min, that little girl you mentioned is walking out. What is she going to do?”

“Hmph, she doesn’t know what’s good for her!” Brother Min snorted coldly.

Xu Ziyan walked forward slowly. The New Disciples in front of her parted to both sides, all looking at her with surprised eyes. Xu Ziyan calmly passed through the New Disciples, reached the front of the Senior Disciples, but didn’t stop. Still maintaining her original slow pace, she walked forward and coldly spat out two words:

“Move aside!”

“Little chick…”

“Slap!”

A resounding slap. The Senior Disciple standing in front of Xu Ziyan who had called out “little chick” was slapped on the face by Xu Ziyan. His body rapidly spun in place, then swayed a couple times before actually tilting backward. With a “thud,” he fell to the ground and passed out.

“Sss~~”

A collective intake of cold air arose from the crowd. The New Disciples were one thing, but the Senior Disciples knew the Cultivation Level of the person Xu Ziyan had slapped unconscious. He was at the Eighth Layer of Houtian. And yet, he was knocked out cold by just one slap from Xu Ziyan.

But when they used their spirit eyes to check, they found Xu Ziyan was only at the Sixth Level of Houtian. Their hearts settled, thinking that disciple was just caught off guard and fell victim to Xu Ziyan’s sneak attack. So, another youth also at the Eighth Layer of Houtian stepped forward to meet Xu Ziyan.

Actually, earlier on the steps, Xu Ziyan had already assessed the Cultivation Levels of these Senior Disciples in front of her. None were exceptionally powerful; the strongest was only at the Ninth Layer of Houtian, and the weakest were at the Sixth Level of Houtian. Xu Ziyan once wondered, could the highest Cultivation Level among the disciples in the clan’s Outer Hall really be just the Ninth Layer of Houtian?

Seeing the youth approach, Xu Ziyan didn’t halt her steps, still walking forward slowly. She knew this time the opposing disciple would be prepared and wouldn’t be knocked out by a single slap unless she used her real power.

But that wasn’t what Xu Ziyan wanted to do. Moreover, she wanted to test the foundational knowledge she had just mastered inside the Main Hall. So, Xu Ziyan controlled her Cultivation Level to the peak state of the Sixth Level of Houtian and faced the youth ahead.

The two quickly closed the distance. The youth suddenly leaped into the air. Mid-air, his body spun rapidly, executing a whip kick aimed horizontally at Xu Ziyan’s chest.

Xu Ziyan took a step sideways and extended a finger, pointing toward the youth’s ankle. The youth quickly retracted his extended leg. Curling his body in the air, he stretched out a hand, opening it like an eagle’s claw, and grabbed for Xu Ziyan’s face.

Xu Ziyan flipped her right hand, like golden threads entangling a wrist, and wrapped it toward the youth’s wrist. The youth changed his claw into a fist and punched toward Xu Ziyan. Simultaneously, Xu Ziyan also flipped her palm, forming a fist, and met the youth’s punch head-on.

“Boom!”

Their fists collided. The youth’s figure faltered and dropped from the air. Xu Ziyan, however, staggered back two steps but quickly stopped, her face showing no change in color.

Xu Ziyan had suppressed her Cultivation Level to the Sixth Level of Houtian, but after all, she was truly at the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage. The True Qi inside her naturally protected Xu Ziyan well. So, even with her Cultivation Level at the Sixth Level of Houtian, she couldn’t repel the Eighth Layer Houtian youth, but she herself suffered no damage at all.

The youth, seeing that Xu Ziyan had only retreated slightly two steps and seemed completely unharmed, narrowed his eyes and grew wary. Could she not be at the Sixth Level of Houtian? But no, she clearly is at the Sixth Level of Houtian! How could someone at the Sixth Level of Houtian withstand his own Eighth Layer Houtian strike?

But when he felt the surrounding gazes, a wave of shame and anger welled up inside him. His full-power strike actually couldn’t defeat a New Disciple at the sixth level of Houtian? How would he manage in the Outer Hall after this? So, without further hesitation, he stomped his right foot on the ground, and his figure shot toward Xu Ziyan like an arrow released from a bow.