Whoosh...

The words had barely left his mouth when the whole place erupted, a tide of shocked voices and countless horrified gazes crashing onto Long Wuxian.

“Not even a thing?”

God. How big was this guy’s courage?

Cursing the leading elder as “not even a thing” in front of everyone… just how fearless was he?

Just for that one sentence, that leading elder had more than enough reason to kill Long Wuxian on the spot.

As for that elder himself, even he froze at Long Wuxian’s words, wondering for a moment if his ears had misheard.

Did this brat not know who he was? A highly respected elder of the School of Chi! A late-stage Saint Emperor, a peerless powerhouse!

Yet now, some outer-sect disciple actually dared to call him “not even a thing.”

This brat…

Sure enough, a surge of fury burst out from inside him. The fat around the leading elder’s belly actually started trembling, proof that he was truly enraged.

“You little beast, you dare insult this elder! Just for that alone, you deserve to die a thousand, ten thousand times! Fine. Since you won’t kill yourself, this elder will personally make a move and blast you into dust!”

The leading elder ground his teeth and moved as if to strike at Long Wuxian. Only by killing Long Wuxian with his own hands today could he salvage his dignity.

“Stop. Right. Now!”

A thunderous shout rang out from not far away. Everyone turned to look and saw an old man slowly walking over.

“It’s Elder Feng… h-he’s here too?”

“Old Feng has a special status in the sect. He’s not from the Elder Council, but no one in the Council dares provoke him. So why’s he stepping in to stop the presiding elder? Is he planning to help Long Wuxian? That shouldn’t be…”

“Just watch, it’s getting more and more fun. Elder Feng and Beifeng Xue are life-and-death brothers. They say Elder Feng once saved Beifeng Xue’s whole family. Beifeng Xue treats him like his own father!”

Elder Fengshen’s appearance flipped the situation again. People didn’t know why he would help Long Wuxian, but the fact that he stepped in to block the presiding elder at this moment clearly meant he was taking Long Wuxian’s side.

Long Wuxian glanced at Elder Fengshen walking toward him and smiled slightly, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes. He’d known Elder Fengshen would definitely appear.

The presiding elder and the elders of the Council all looked toward Elder Fengshen, surprise in their eyes. They had just realized that Xuan Ming’s cultivation had already reached the peak of the Saint Emperor Realm, even brushing against the bottleneck. He was no longer just late-stage Saint Emperor.

“Elder Feng, you’ve advanced.”

Elder Bai spoke with a smile.

But the presiding elder’s face turned extremely ugly. His own cultivation wasn’t much lower than Elder Feng’s, but because Elder Fengshen was the number-one Illusion Spirit Master in the Southern Region, his status in the sect was even higher than the sect master’s. If he ever refused to refine pills for them, the entire School of Chi would be doomed.

Besides, Elder Fengshen had a stubborn temper and did everything by his own whims. Once offended, he wouldn’t give face to anyone. Because of that, even the Elder Council didn’t dare mess with him in daily life.

For a cultivator, having a good relationship with an Illusion Spirit Master was crucial. When you needed them to refine a pill, you had to lower yourself and beg. Even if you couldn’t build a good relationship, no one wanted to make an Illusion Spirit Master their enemy.

Not to mention, Elder Fengshen’s strength now was no less than that of the Grand Elder and the sect master. Under these circumstances, the presiding elder had even less right to act arrogant in front of him.

“Hehehe, congratulations on your breakthrough, Elder Feng.”

“Yes, Elder Feng usually doesn’t get involved in sect affairs. What brings you out today?”

The elders greeted him one after another.

“Hmph! If I hadn’t come out, you’d have already executed my brother!”

Elder Fengshen snorted coldly.

“…”

The entire plaza fell silent for a long moment.

“My brother Long Wuxian did make mistakes today, but they’re not enough to warrant execution on the spot! And presiding elder, you want to kill my brother—did you ever ask me?”

Elder Fengshen’s aura flared. The sheer pressure alone forced the presiding elder back several steps.

But what rocked the crowd the most wasn’t Elder Fengshen’s dominance. It was how he addressed Long Wuxian.

“Wait… Elder Feng and Long Wuxian are brothers? You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

The presiding elder himself felt dizzy. If this spread, it would be a huge headline for the School of Chi.

Long Wuxian smiled. This Elder Fengshen really wasn’t bad. Choosing him as a friend back then had definitely been the right call.

Of course, Elder Fengshen didn’t lose out calling him brother. Once Long Wuxian soared through the Immortal Realm in the future, he definitely wouldn’t forget Elder Fengshen.

To outsiders, Elder Fengshen calling Long Wuxian “brother” meant Long Wuxian had gotten a huge bargain and found himself a massive backer.

But to Elder Fengshen, being able to become brothers with Long Wuxian was his great fortune.

Putting cultivation aside—because cultivation was temporary—given Long Wuxian’s talent, surpassing him in realm was only a matter of time.

On top of that, as an Illusion Spirit Grandmaster, Elder Fengshen felt that even in terms of Illusion Spirit Arts, he might not actually be above Long Wuxian. It was probably a close match at best.

“Elder Feng, you’re not just joking around with us, are you?”

The leading elder stared, unable to believe it.

“I don’t have time to joke with you. Long Wuxian broke the rules; the sect will punish him. But it’s not your place to decide he dies with just a few words.”

Elder Fengshen was utterly overbearing and didn’t give him the slightest face.

“T-this damned little beast… How did he manage to get close to Elder Feng?”

Xiu Xu almost spat blood. In her eyes, Long Wuxian had always been nothing but an ant to toy with as she pleased. Even if she couldn’t kill him herself right now, with her family’s power, destroying an outer sect disciple should’ve been effortless.

Yet of all people, Long Wuxian just had to latch onto Elder Fengshen. A single Elder Fengshen outweighed all of her backers put together.

You had to know—even her own father wanted to curry favor with Elder Fengshen, and the man didn’t necessarily give him the time of day.

“Elder Feng, you’ve seen what happened today. Long Wuxian is ruthless; he killed his fellow disciples, insulted an elder, disrespected his seniors, and completely ignored the sect rules! With such a serious matter, even if he’s close to you, shouldn’t he still be punished? If we just let it go, how do we explain it to the inner—”

“Enough!”

Before the presiding elder could finish, Elder Fengshen’s roar shook him back several more steps.

“I don’t like repeating myself. What are you, exactly? My people are not for you to judge or punish!”

Elder Fengshen shot him a glare. The presiding elder almost collapsed to the ground in fright.

Helpless as he was, even as a late-stage Saint Emperor expert, he just couldn’t act tough in front of Elder Fengshen.

And he knew Elder Fengshen’s temper very well. If he kept tangling with him, the one who’d suffer in the end might very well be himself. The reason was simple: Illusion Spirit Grandmasters were a proud bunch. If anyone threatened their reputation, they would chase that person to the ends of the earth, no matter who it was.

“Elder Fengshen, your reach in the Elder Council really is something. Hahaha…”

At that moment, a long, leisurely laugh echoed out, and a figure swept onto the plaza like a gusting wave.

The newcomer was also an elder of the sect. He was tall and lean, but his aura was immensely powerful. His cultivation had already reached the peak of the Immortal Emperor Realm.

When people saw who it was, everyone in the plaza showed respect.

This was Yun Zifei, the Grand Elder of the Elder Council, second strongest in the School of Chi and the one most likely to break through the Saint Emperor bottleneck in the near future.

“Grand Elder…”

The Spirit Stone Elder opened his mouth, but Yun Zifei cut him off with a wave.

“I already know what happened. Long Wuxian did cause trouble in the inner sect, killed his fellow disciples, and brought considerable loss to the inner sect. Punishment is inevitable… But as far as I know, Xiu Er and his group actually crippled the cultivation of the new inner-sect girl Feiyue in Saint Demon Mountain. Even if Long Wuxian hadn’t taken action, I came today to arrest that pack of traitorous scum. So in this matter, Long Wuxian actually removed a hidden danger for the School of Chi. His approach was wrong, but not enough to warrant death.”

Yun Zifei spoke calmly.

You could tell that as Grand Elder, he was at least a righteous man. He judged by facts and didn’t take sides.

“The Grand Elder is right. In my opinion, just lock Long Wuxian in the back mountain again for a while as punishment. What does everyone think?”

Elder Fengshen said with a smile.

The moment he spoke, a chill ran through the crowd. This move was too sinister. If they locked him up again, the back mountain would probably be dug hollow by Long Wuxian.

At this point, who in the School of Chi didn’t know that Long Wuxian could use the chill of the back mountain for cultivation? He’d stayed in there so long, came out without a scratch, and his cultivation had jumped straight to late-stage Immortal Emperor…

“Elder Fengshen, aren’t you being just a bit too protective?”

Yun Zifei said dryly.

“Fine, then how do you want to punish him? Let’s make this clear: if you suggest anything that might cost his life, I’ll be the first to disagree.”

Elder Fengshen was as hardline as ever. If things blew up, he wasn’t giving even the Grand Elder any face.

“Elder Feng, I’m curious. Why do you value this kid so much? And don’t tell me it’s because he’s a rare talent, or that he has exceptional talent. That’s not your style.”

Yun Zifei asked, puzzled.

“Of course not. ‘Exceptional talent’? Even if the Saint Dragon Hall’s heir came here, I wouldn’t care. The reason’s simple. Besides his monstrous talent, Brother Wuxian is also a very powerful Illusion Spirit Grandmaster. His Illusion Spirit Arts surpass even mine. That alone is enough for me to call him brother. Isn’t that perfectly reasonable? And you want to execute a powerful Illusion Spirit Grandmaster? Heh, I doubt even the sect master would agree to that.”

Elder Fengshen sneered. With Long Wuxian’s identity as an Illusion Spirit Grandmaster now revealed, the plaza exploded again.

“What? An Illusion Spirit Grandmaster? And his Illusion Spirit Arts are above Elder Feng’s? Come on, that’s impossible.”

“God… Even if Elder Feng wants to protect Long Wuxian, he doesn’t need to make up a joke like that, right? Even if Long Wuxian is an Illusion Spirit Master, with just late-stage Immortal Emperor cultivation, how strong could his Illusion Spirit Arts be? Stronger than Elder Feng’s? No way.”

“Not necessarily. When he showed up earlier, he released Saint Emperor-level soul power. He’s probably one of those whose soul realm is higher than his cultivation. And since he’s not that strong in pure cultivation, there’s only one reasonable explanation—Long Wuxian is a very powerful Illusion Spirit Grandmaster!”

“Yeah. If that’s true, then Long Wuxian’s value shoots through the roof. Even the sect master would have to treat him seriously.”

Everyone present was stunned, shock all over their faces. Elder Fengshen’s words were simply explosive.