Chapter 50

Chapter 50: No, I Can’t Beat You

Elder Liu paused mid-step, gave Rong Shu a measuring look, then spoke in a level tone: “Go on, what is it?”

Rong Shu did not answer directly, instead asking a question: “Before that, Elder, I want to confirm something with you. The lectures at Spirit Gathering Peak, are they free and open to all disciples? Does every disciple have the right to attend?”

The elder glanced at her with a hint of puzzlement, then nodded: “Naturally.”

Hearing this, Rong Shu let out a long breath and smiled: “So anyone can attend regardless of talent or aptitude. I thought that if one’s talent was too poor and one’s cultivation too low, there would be no face to come listen.”

The elder frowned and asked crisply: “Who said that?”

He added without softening his gaze: “The very purpose of setting up lectures at Spirit Gathering Peak is to look after disciples whose talent and cultivation are not high.”

He swept the hall and said coldly: “If anyone here thinks himself exceptionally gifted and profoundly cultivated, then there is no need to remain. He can get out right now.”

With the elder’s temper flaring, the disciples present hardly dared to breathe.

Those who had been sneering at Rong Shu earlier all lowered their heads, pretending they had heard nothing and that none of this concerned them.

Rong Shu listened with keen interest throughout the lecture, and as for what others felt, she did not concern herself.

She had not chosen a class at random.

Before this day, Rong Shu had investigated the background, temperament, standing, and cultivation of all lecturing Elders. The Elder lecturing now bore the surname Liu, a man upright to the core, who could not abide even the smallest underhandedness.

Elder Liu was a dual spiritual root cultivator who had nevertheless achieved the Golden Core, which spoke to years of grueling effort; compared to innate prodigies, he valued diligent and earnest disciples far more.

An hour later, the lecture ended and Elder Liu departed.

The moment he left, the disciples who had kept quiet instantly closed in around Rong Shu.

Several others who had not yet gone stopped to watch the show.

One of the troublemakers all but poked a finger at her nose as he spat his challenge: “Coward. Snitch. Do you dare go up on the arena and fight me?”

Rong Shu had deliberately not slipped away. Under the gaze of all, she answered calmly: “No, I do not dare. I cannot beat you.”

At those words, the onlookers all froze.

The disciple provoking her was also stupefied.

[Wait… this is not how it was supposed to go.]

Rong Shu lifted a finger and pointed at herself, speaking clearly: “I am twelve years old and have been in the sect for less than half a year.”

She tilted her head and asked, “And you… how old are you, and what is your root and cultivation?”

He answered by reflex: “Sixteen, two years in the sect, mid-grade single spiritual root, Qi Refining fourth layer.” At the end he shot Rong Shu a proud sideways glance.

Rong Shu continued in an even tone: “You are sixteen and have been in the sect for over two years.”

She pointed back to herself: “I have mid-grade dual spiritual roots and am at Qi Refining first layer.”

She gestured toward him: “You have a mid-grade single spiritual root and are at Qi Refining fourth layer.”

The point dawned on him, and his face slowly flushed, but he still stiffened his neck and blurted: “Then I will suppress my cultivation to fight you. That should be fine, and it will not count as bullying you.”

Rong Shu shook her head and answered plainly: “What if, in a moment of inattention, you fail to suppress it? I would be the one hurt, not you. Besides, in an arena match, if I am injured, I will have no recourse.”

Another disciple stepped out of the crowd then, eyes fixed on Rong Shu as he declared: “Then I will do it. I also entered the sect only half a year ago and am at Qi Refining first layer.”

Rong Shu looked honestly surprised and remarked with simple candor: “You are also at Qi Refining first layer?”

Her tone sounded as if to say: since we are both Qi Refining first layer, who exactly are you looking down on?

At that, the new disciple’s face reddened at once, but he forced himself to continue: “I… I want to challenge you. Three days from now, if you lose, you will roll out of Limitless Peak and publicly declare that you are unworthy to be Immortal Venerable Ze Yu’s disciple.”

Rong Shu’s lips curved in a light smile as she replied: “The sect’s rules state that once a disciple has chosen a master who imparts instruction, unless a grave error is committed, the master cannot be changed.”

She added with patient logic: “If I accept and lose, I cannot very well commit misdeeds just to fulfill a promise, can I? And it would have to be some monumental wrongdoing at that.”

The new disciple was struck dumb.

He could hardly nod in public to admit that he was inciting Rong Shu to go commit evil.

The onlookers followed her reasoning in spite of themselves and, imagining the scenario, realized something was indeed off.

Just then, a man in outer sect robes stepped from the nearby crowd. His expression was mild as he looked at Rong Shu, lacking the aggressiveness of the others, yet his words were pointed: “Rong Shu, as a personal disciple, according to the arena rules, you may not refuse challenges from inner sect or outer sect disciples.”

Rong Shu paused and studied the newcomer.

The delicate-featured man met her gaze frankly, not seeming to pick a fight, as if offering a kindly reminder.

Rong Shu quickly understood: this one had come prepared and would not be dismissed by a few words like the previous two.

Reminded by him, the disciples seeking trouble also reacted in unison and chimed in one after another: “That is right. You are a personal disciple and enjoy the treatment of one. We ordinary outer sect disciples admire you and wish to exchange pointers; that is not excessive, is it?”

Another added with righteous tone: “As for your low cultivation, your poor aptitude is one aspect, but the key is that you do not cherish your time, do not cultivate properly, and just want to run around and play.”

A third piled on with lofty rhetoric: “We are doing this for your own good. The very meaning of the arena is to let disciples spar and improve together. If there is something in cultivation you do not understand, one arena bout might grant you insight.”

They spoke in such resounding terms that they seemed not to be picking a fight with Rong Shu at all, but rather to be helping her cultivate.

Rong Shu was about to speak when a laugh rang out from the crowd, unrestrained and gleeful: “Holy crap, this is way too shameless.”

The troublemakers’ faces darkened in perfect unison.

A question mark seemed to float above Rong Shu’s brow as she thought, [Huh? Which fine fellow just said exactly what I was thinking?]