NOVEL NEXT Chapter 822: 823: Follow me, and I'll take you to greater heights
Chapter 822: Chapter 823: Follow me, and I’ll take you to greater heights
The Sword Sect, silent as a graveyard within the Sect Master Hall.
Watching Li Xiaobai repeatedly open the Starry Sky Battlefield and then effortlessly take away all challengers, everyone’s expressions were frozen stiff.
More than a dozen challengers were pocketed in succession, not even a single move made. He really wasn’t afraid of people seeking him out for revenge.
The list in the void disappeared, all challengers annihilated, and no one shook Li Xiaobai’s top spot on the leaderboard.
“So, what do you think, my fellow senior brothers and sisters? Do you still want to exchange pointers with your junior brother?”
Li Xiaobai glanced at the surrounding disciples and spoke indifferently.
“Heh, it’s just relying on that Gourd Treasure to win, what have you got to be so arrogant about?”
“Without the gourd, you’re nothing but a bloodied mess waiting to happen!”
“Exactly, it’s only because of that treasure that you’re in an unbeatable position, without the gourd, you’re nothing!”
“Such a treasure should be turned over to the sect. Clearly, with your insignificant cultivation, you are not sufficient to unleash its full power.”
A group of disciples had anger flickering in their eyes, feeling belittled, and they spoke agitatedly.
From the beginning to the end, the opponent had indeed only used the gourd to collect cultivators, barely using any cultivation. If it came down to real strength, they were confident they could defeat him!
“It seems you haven’t yet realized the chasm-like disparity between us. If that’s the case, then I won’t use the Gourd Treasure. Since we are at the Sword Sect, I’ll defeat my senior brothers and sisters with my swordsmanship, starting with you.”
Li Xiaobai pointed at the disciple who had been the most boisterous a moment ago.
This was a young genius, at the Human Immortal Realm, likely a core elite from the Inner Sect.
“Wait a second…”
“Actually, I had no intention of sparring with you…”
“I was just talking big…”
The disciple whose name was called immediately turned pale and waved his hands, trying to refuse.
But the next second, he disappeared from his spot, and the Starry Sky Battlefield emerged, with celestial spaces rippling in the void.
On the Starry Sky Arena, the two stood far apart.
“Senior Brother, don’t worry, I’ll be fast, it’ll only take a second, and you won’t feel a thing,” Li Xiaobai said with a laugh, flipping his wrist and drawing a longsword. Without waiting for the disciple to speak, he casually slashed through the void. A pitch-black Demon Sealing Sword Evocation tore through the sky, sweeping over the disciple’s body. In an instant, a black aura clung to him, turning him to dust, vanishing without a trace.
The Starry Sky Battlefield inside the great hall disappeared, and the place fell deathly silent.
The geniuses’ mouths hung open wide enough to fit an egg, their eyes filled with a dense fear. A living person had just been silently obliterated right before their eyes, eerily natural.
“That was Sword Intent just now, wasn’t it? He’s only at the Human Immortal Realm and has already grasped Sword Intent?”
“What Sword Intent was that, which turned Brother Yang to ash?”
“I’ve never seen such a thing. How can there be such a bizarre Sword Intent, not only jet-black but also highly corrosive!”
“I’ve never heard of it…”
“That is Demon Sealing Sword Evocation!”
From the high platform, the young Sect Master’s eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, recognizing the technique used by Li Xiaobai.
He felt increasingly that his choice was correct; this disciple was shrouded in mysteries from head to toe, and as long as he didn’t die young, his rise was only a matter of time.
However, cultivating this fellow was a bit costly for the Sect Disciples, one carelessness and another exceptional Sect Disciple of the Sword Sect would be slaughtered.
“Elders, if there is anyone else who wants their disciples to challenge Li Xiaobai, feel free to speak now, and I, as the Sect Master, will allow him to take on all challenges at once.”
“If no one else questions his strength, then I will treat those groundless talks from the elders earlier as if I had never heard them,” the young Sect Master said with a knock on the armrest of his chair and a stern voice.
He couldn’t afford to keep up a cold demeanor any longer; if he let Li Xiaobai do as he pleased, he estimated that it wouldn’t take more than the time of a cup of tea to have all the disciples here slaughtered.
“Sect Master, ultimately Li Xiaobai is just a disciple who has recently joined, and even if he has such strength, he still lacks a heart of reverence towards our Sword Sect. Such a disciple must be strictly supervised, and it’s better for the sect to manage the resources he holds for the time being.”
“After all, his cultivation level is still weak, holding the Huazi and the bathhouse will only attract the scrutiny of stronger figures and is not a good thing, ah!” Elder Ouyang’s eyes flashed with anger, and his gaze towards Li Xiaobai was filled with venomous resentment as the disciple’s presence had turned his previous comments into a complete joke, utterly losing face.
“Li Xiaobai, what do you think?” the young Sect Master asked him.
“I believe that good resources should be open to the entire sect. If it’s up to me to run a shop, I can ensure that all disciples within the Sword Sect can enjoy these resources. Elder Ouyang, on the other hand, wants to take back my shop for use by a small group of disciples, practicing such favoritism merely shows that Elder Ouyang’s vision and scope are too narrow.”
“If I were the Sect Master, I would certainly execute him in front of all the Sect Disciples as a demonstration of the fairness of our Sword Sect,” Li Xiaobai said with hands clasped behind his back and an indifferent tone.
“You scoundrel!”
“How dare this naive child disrespect me!” Elder Ouyang exclaimed furiously, his eyes shimmering with rage, almost unable to restrain himself from immediately crushing this arrogant and presumptuous disciple.
“He is just a frog in the well after all; Sect Disciples need competition and progress. Without some stimulation, how can they climb upwards? If everyone can enjoy the best resources, how can they strive for progress?”
“Yes, this involves the art of controlling people; it’s not about simply providing benefits.”
Many elders frowned as well. Li Xiaobai was indeed a genius with unrivaled strength and cultivation level among his peers, but his ideas appeared to be too naive.
“Progress, why should one strive for progress?”
“In the future, the sect should give me all these useless disciples’ resources, and I will lead them to soar.”
“As long as they stick with me, I’ll provide them territory when they want territory, resources when they want resources, and women when they want women. All you need to do is to comfortably remain loafers,” Li Xiaobai stated blithely. To him, all the core disciples of the sect were nothing but a bunch of calculating, self-righteous people. How far could such people really go?
In his eyes, the only use these disciples had was to spend in his shop, continually contributing a vast amount of Immortal Stones.
“I’m so pissed…”
“This is infuriating…”
The disciples dared not speak their anger, having witnessed the scene just now; they no longer had the courage to contest with him any longer.
“Well said, henceforth the sect will tilt resources in your favor. If you want something, just ask at the Steward Hall, and as long as your requests are not too excessive, I, as the Sect Master, will fulfill all of them.”
“Also, starting from this moment, the monthly stipends for True Disciples and Inner Sect Core Disciples will be cut in half. You have all lived too comfortably; it is time to experience the life of an ascetic!”
“That is settled then. In the absence of our leader, the Second Peak shall be temporarily assigned to Li Xiaobai from now on,”
“Anyone with objections can come to me,” the Sect Master declared.