"If I lose, you can have my head."
Jiang Chen's voice echoed through the Hall of Cloud Judgement, hanging in the air like a guillotine blade.
The eleven Active Elders stared at him. Some with amusement (like the Sword Elder), some with hunger (like the Pill Elder), and one with pure, unadulterated rage (Elder Wei).
Wei Hong stood up, his face twisting into a sneer. "Your head? What use is the head of a mortal scammer? I want to skin you alive and hang you from the main gate!"
"Deal," Jiang Chen nodded, pouring himself another cup of tea. "But if I win, I get the Desolate Cloud Peak and the boy. Do we have an accord?"
Wei Hong opened his mouth to shout, but before he could speak, the sky changed.
The bright blue sky above the Mystic Cloud Sect suddenly turned a deep, bruising purple. The clouds began to swirl, forming a massive vortex directly above the Hall.
A pressure—one far more terrifying than Wei Hong's weak Nascent Soul aura—descended. It felt like the sky itself was collapsing.
The disciples in the plaza below fell to their knees, gasping for air. Even the Golden Core guards turned pale.
On the platform, the Active Elders stood up respectfully. Even the arrogant Fang Lie (Sword Elder) bowed his head slightly.
"Grandfather!" Wei Hong cried out, his face lighting up with glee. "Grandfather is here!"
A beam of golden light shot down from the vortex, striking the center of the platform.
When the light faded, an old man stood there.
He wore robes embroidered with golden dragons. His hair was white, flowing down to his waist, and his eyes glowed with a terrifying light. He floated three inches off the ground, as if the dirt was unworthy of his feet.
[Enemy Detected: Grand Elder Feng.]
[Cultivation: Spirit Severing Level 1.]
[Status: The Backer of the Nepo Baby.]
Jiang Chen looked at the old man. Then he looked at the floating trick.
'Show off,' Jiang Chen thought, unimpressed. 'He's using telekinesis to hover. That burns a lot of Qi just to look cool.'
"Who dares disturb the recruitment?" Grand Elder Feng's voice boomed, sounding like thunder. "And who dares bully my grandson?"
Wei Hong immediately ran to the old man, pointing a trembling finger at Jiang Chen.
"Grandfather! It's him! That mortal sitting in the 12th Throne! He insulted me! He insulted the Sect! He claimed that the blind demon trash is a genius!"
Grand Elder Feng turned his gaze toward Jiang Chen.
The pressure of a Spirit Severing expert focused entirely on the 12th Throne.
The air around Jiang Chen warped. The stone floor cracked.
Ye Kai gritted his teeth, his knees shaking. The Ancient God Body was strong, but the gap between Foundation Establishment and Spirit Severing was like a grand canyon.
Su Ling hid behind Jiang Chen, rapidly sticking defensive talismans onto her forehead. "Master, the boss monster has spawned! We need to glitch him!"
But Jiang Chen?
He sat there.
He didn't stand up. He didn't bow.
He looked at Grand Elder Feng with a look of mild annoyance, like a customer waiting for a waiter.
[Defense Calculation: Jiang Chen (Nascent Soul 9) vs Grand Elder Feng (Spirit Severing 1).]
[Result: Threat Level - Moderate. Manageable.]
"So," Jiang Chen said, breaking the silence. "You are the one who taught Little Wei how to dress? No wonder he has no taste."
The entire hall gasped.
Did he just insult a Grand Elder? To his face?
Grand Elder Feng's eyes narrowed. He was used to people trembling before him. This mortal's calmness was... unnatural.
'Why is he not dead?' Feng thought. 'My pressure should have turned his organs to mush. Is he hiding his cultivation? Is he a peerless expert?'
Doubt.
The greatest weapon in Jiang Chen's arsenal.
"You have a sharp tongue, junior," Grand Elder Feng said coldly, retracting his aura slightly to probe. "You claim to be a friend of Grandmaster Xuan?"
"Xuan?" Jiang Chen scoffed. "If Xuan saw what his sect has become—bullying blind children and relying on nepotism—he would have choked on a chicken bone out of shame."
Grand Elder Feng frowned. "You want the Desolate Cloud Peak?"
"I want the trash," Jiang Chen corrected, pointing at the blind boy in the cage below. "And since the Desolate Cloud Peak is also trash, it fits my collection. Unless... you are afraid to bet?"
"Afraid?" Grand Elder Feng laughed. It was a cold, dry sound. "I am a Grand Elder of the Mystic Cloud Sect. I fear nothing."
He floated closer to Jiang Chen, his eyes gleaming with malice.
"I accept your bet," Grand Elder Feng declared. "But the stakes are too low."
He pointed a withered finger at Ye Kai and Su Ling standing behind Jiang Chen.
"You say the blind boy is a genius? Fine. But a Sect Leader is defined by all his disciples."
Grand Elder Feng smiled cruelly. "If you want the Peak, your two 'hidden geniuses' must also fight. Three matches. Three victories."
"If you win all three," Grand Elder Feng announced to the hall, "I will personally grant you the title of Guest Elder and give you the Desolate Cloud Peak forever."
"But if you lose even one match..."
The air temperature dropped to freezing.
"I will refine your soul into a lantern and hang it outside my grandson's room."
Wei Hong clapped his hands. "Yes! Make him a lantern, Grandfather!"
Jiang Chen looked at Ye Kai and Su Ling.
Ye Kai looked excited. "Master, do I get to punch someone?"
Su Ling looked terrified. "Master, the mortality rate of this scenario is 99.9%!"
Jiang Chen turned back to Grand Elder Feng. He snapped his fan open.
"Three matches? Fine. But don't cry when your disciples get broken."
"Arrogance!" Wei Hong shouted. "I will choose the opponents!"
Wei Hong stepped forward, his eyes scanning the crowd of Mystic Cloud disciples. He wanted to ensure Jiang Chen's humiliation was absolute.
"Match One!" Wei Hong shouted. "The Muscle-Brain!" He pointed at Ye Kai.
"Your opponent will be Iron Mountain! The strongest Body Cultivator of the Outer Sect!"
A massive disciple leaped onto the stage. He was seven feet tall, his skin dark as iron. He roared, and his muscles rippled like rocks.
"I will crush him!" Iron Mountain bellowed.
"Match Two!" Wei Hong pointed at Su Ling. "The twitchy girl!"
"Your opponent will be Shadow Viper! The top assassin of the Shadow Hall!"
A figure materialized from the shadows on the stage. He held two poisoned daggers and licked the blade. Su Ling whimpered.
"Match Three!" Wei Hong pointed at the cage. "The Blind Trash!"
"His opponent..." Wei Hong smiled wickedly. "Will be Gu Jian."
Gu Jian.
The genius Core Disciple. The one Jiang Chen had humiliated at the auction.
Gu Jian walked onto the stage, holding a gleaming sword. He glared up at the platform, his eyes locked on Jiang Chen.
"I will not lose to a blind cripple," Gu Jian spat.
The lineup was set.
Ye Kai vs. Iron Mountain.
Su Ling vs. Shadow Viper.
Wei Wu vs. Gu Jian .
Grand Elder Feng floated back to his cloud seat, looking down like a god watching insects fight.
"Let the slaughter begin."
Jiang Chen stood up. He walked to the edge of the platform and looked down at his three disciples.
"Listen up," Jiang Chen said, his voice amplified so the whole mountain could hear.
"They think you are trash. They think you are countryside bumpkins. They think you are stepping stones."
He looked at Ye Kai.
"Ye Kai. What is the First Rule of the Saitama Scripture?"
Ye Kai slammed his fist into his palm. "One punch, Master!"
He looked at Su Ling.
"Su Ling. What is the probability of them surviving if they step on your traps?"
Su Ling adjusted her glasses, her fear vanishing into cold calculation. "Zero, Master."
He looked at the cage. At the blind boy who hadn't moved.
"And you... Wei Wu."
"Open your eyes. It's time to wake up."
Jiang Chen turned back to the Elders and sat down.
"Start the first match," Jiang Chen yawned. "I have a Peak to move into."