He decided to immediately go to the Transmission Hall of Danxia Peak to exchange for a top-notch Alchemy technique.
...
Chen Ye and Li Qiuyun walked side by side along the mountain path from Herb Peak leading to Danxia Peak.
"I, dear Qing Jun, you, dear Qing Jun," Chen Ye looked at the pretty-faced, slender girl beside him and couldn’t help but tease, "Does this count as... ahem ahem..."
Li Qiuyun was lost in thought and was caught off guard by his sudden words, leaving her momentarily stunned. Once she grasped the meaning behind his words, her energetic, pretty face turned completely red in an instant.
"Uncle Chen! You... how can you speak such nonsense!" She said, both ashamed and angry, gently pounding Chen Ye’s arm with her fist.
As the two were playfully bantering, a discordant voice emerged from behind them.
"Junior Sister Li, Steward Chen, enjoying yourselves, I see."
They turned around and saw Zhao Qing had somehow caught up with them.
Ah, an old acquaintance...
Chen Ye ridiculed, one of Li Qiuyun’s several admirers.
By coincidence, his aunt happened to be a Guardian of Danxia Peak, which was why he frequented the place.
He probably heard about Li Qiuyun’s return to the Sect and came deliberately to find her.
Zhao Qing had a gentle smile on his face, but no matter how one looked, that smile seemed stiff, and his eyes carried an unmistakable shadow.
Looking at the intimacy between Li Qiuyun and Chen Ye, he felt a burning jealousy in his heart.
What elder relations? No such playful flirting between an elder and junior!
This Chen Ye, truly a shameless old man!
"Steward Chen is quite in high spirits these days,"
Zhao Qing’s tone seemed flattering but was laced with mockery,
"Not only gaining Junior Martial Uncle Bai’s favor, but now heading to such a prosperous place like the Peach Mountain District. Yet, I wonder, Steward Chen, by clinging so hard to the Xu Family and keeping their bloodline close, what exactly are you after?"
"Hah, I heard that although it’s the Xu Family bloodline, it’s still a bastard."
His words directly vocalized those unfounded sect rumors, with insult unmistakably intended.
"Zhao Qing! Don’t you dare spout nonsense and slander!" Li Qiuyun’s pretty face filled with anger as she sternly rebuked.
Chen Ye stopped her, looking at Zhao Qing’s smug expression, his eyes gradually turning cold.
He could ignore people’s slanders against him, but if it involved his disciples, it touched his most sensitive nerve.
Seeing Chen Ye’s dark expression, Zhao Qing felt even more triumphant and sneered: "What? Did I hit the nail on the head, and now you’re furious? Let me tell you, Chen Ye, don’t think that just because Junior Martial Uncle Bai supports you, you can do whatever you please! I, Zhao Qing..."
"Senior Brother Zhao,"
Li Qiuyun, upon hearing him directly address Chen Ye by name, frowned deeply and stepped forward, shielding Chen Ye,
"Uncle Chen is a Sect Steward, speaking disrespectfully like this, do you not fear the elders in the Precepts Hall finding out?"
"Elder?"
Zhao Qing acted like he’d heard the world’s biggest joke, he couldn’t hold back anymore!
Having tried to win Li Qiuyun’s favor for years, only to be admonished by some Spirit Plant Cultivator!
He, an Inner Sect Disciple, was already lowering himself to win over an Outer Disciple, yet that disciple was taking it as an advantage.
Seeing how Li Qiuyun defended Chen Ye, Zhao Qing, even more consumed by jealousy, said recklessly:
"Hah, just a Spirit Plant Cultivator, what kind of senior is that? I advise you to stay away from him to avoid tainting your reputation! Someone who uses his own disciple’s position to advance himself, what good could he possibly be! And you, Li Qiuyun, you think you’re so virtuous? Aren’t you just pretending to be pure to hook up with some True Inheritor?"
"You... you shut up!" Li Qiuyun trembled with anger, feeling even more aggrieved.
What could she do?
She had always shown reluctance towards Zhao Qing’s advances, yet he clung to her like a fly...
"Enough."
Chen Ye couldn’t bear watching any longer, he moved Li Qiuyun aside and stared directly at Zhao Qing, saying word by word:
"Zhao Qing, I respect you as an Inner Sect Disciple and won’t argue with you. But you’ve spoken out of line several times, and now you publicly sullied my disciple’s and Qiuyun’s reputation. If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you’ll really think that I, Chen Ye, am a pushover."
Zhao Qing heard this and laughed instead of getting angry: "Teach me a lesson? Just you? Fine! I’d like to see what skills you have besides tending to plants! The Sect prohibits deadly combat, but let’s have a match on the Magic Battle Platform, do you dare?!"
"Why wouldn’t I dare?" Chen Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly, readily accepting the challenge.
Li Qiuyun, upon hearing this, lost all color in her face and hurriedly grabbed Chen Ye’s sleeve, urgently saying: "Uncle Chen, no! Zhao Qing... he’s already in the late-stage Qi Cultivation and has his family’s True Inheritor’s teachings; you can’t treat him like an ordinary late-stage Qi Cultivator!"
Chen Ye patted her on the back of her hand: "It doesn’t matter; he insulted you and Qing Jun. As your senior, how could I just stand by?"
"No way!"
Li Qiuyun pleaded and held onto Chen Ye’s sleeve.
Uncle Chen didn’t understand the Magic Battle Platform’s intricacies, but she did!
First, in magical battles, it’s hard to employ forbidden tactics.
Uncle Chen, being a Loose Cultivator, probably had many hidden tricks up his sleeve.
Second is the unspoken rules. There’s an array protecting the Magic Battle Platform, but each peak’s platform is managed by that peak’s administrators.
If the combatant is acquainted with the higher-ups, they have the chance to manipulate the array discreetly!
If Uncle Chen were gravely injured due to the battle and his path was cut off...
"Hah, if you plead, I might spare you a little," Zhao Qing laughed coldly at the two.